be referred on any future occasion, and to
the bond and affidavit. Thence to the office and there sat till noon,
and then home to dinner, and after dinner (it being a foul house to-day
among my maids, making up their clothes) abroad with my Will with me
by coach to Dr, Williams, and with him to the Six Clerks's office, and
there, by advice of his acquaintance, I find that my case, through my
neglect and the neglect of my lawyers, is come to be very bad, so as
that it will be very hard to get my bill retayned again. However, I got
him to sign and swear an affidavit that there was treaties between T.
Trice and me with as much advantage as I could for me, but I will say
that for him he was most exact as ever I saw man in my life, word by
word what it was that he swore to, and though, God forgive me, I could
have been almost naturally willing to have let him ignorantly have sworn
to something that was not of itself very certain, either or no, yet out
of his own conscience and care he altered the words himself so as
to make them very safe for him to swear. This I carrying to my clerk
Wilkinson, and telling him how I heard matters to stand, he, like a
conceited fellow, made nothing of it but advised me to offer Trice's
clerks the cost of the dismission, viz., 46s. 8d., which I did, but they
would not take it without his client. Immediately thereupon we parted,
and met T. Trice coming into the room, and he came to me and served me
with a subpoena for these very costs, so I paid it him, but Lord! to see
his resolution, and indeed discretion, in the wording of his receipt,
he would have it most express to my greatest disadvantage that could be,
yet so as I could not deny to give it him. That being paid, my clerke,
and then his began to ask why we could not think, being friends, of
referring it, or stating it, first ourselves, and then put it to some
good lawyer to judge in it. From one word to more we were resolved to
try, and to that end to step to the Pope's Head Taverne, and there
he and his Clerke and Attorney and I and my Clerke, and sent for Mr.
Smallwood, and by and by comes Mr. Clerke, my Solicitor, and after I had
privately discoursed with my men and seen how doubtfully they talked,
and what future certain charge and trouble it would be, with a doubtful
victory, I resolved to condescend very low, and after some talke all
together Trice and I retired, and he came to L150 the lowest, and I bid
him L80. So broke off and the