ham College to have seen Mr. Hooke and a new invented
chariott of Dr. Wilkins, but met with nobody at home! So to Dr.
Wilkins's, where I never was before, and very kindly received and met
with Dr. Merritt, and fine discourse among them to my great joy, so
sober and so ingenious. He is now upon finishing his discourse of a
universal character. So away and I home to my office about my letters,
and so home to supper and to bed.

12th. By coach to the Duke of Albemarle, where Sir W. Batten and I only
met. Troubled at my heart to see how things are ordered there without
consideration or understanding. Thence back by coach and called at
Wotton's, my shoemaker, lately come to towne, and bespoke shoes, as also
got him to find me a taylor to make me some clothes, my owne being not
yet in towne, nor Pym, my Lord Sandwich's taylor. So he helped me to a
pretty man, one Mr. Penny, against St. Dunstan's Church. Thence to the
'Change and there met Mr. Moore, newly come to towne, and took him home
to dinner with me and after dinner to talke, and he and I do conclude my
Lord's case to be very bad and may be worse, if he do not get a pardon
for his doings about the prizes and his business at Bergen, and other
things done by him at sea, before he goes for Spayne. I do use all the
art I can to get him to get my Lord to pay my cozen Pepys, for it is
a great burden to my mind my being bound for my Lord in L1000 to him.
Having done discourse with him and directed him to go with my advice to
my Lord expresse to-morrow to get his pardon perfected before his going,
because of what I read the other night in Sir W. Coventry's letter, I to
the office, and there had an extraordinary meeting of Sir J. Minnes, Sir
W. Batten, and Sir W. Pen, and my Lord Bruncker and I to hear my paper
read about pursers, which they did all of them with great good will and
great approbation of my method and pains in all, only Sir W. Pen, who
must except against every thing and remedy nothing, did except against
my proposal for some reasons, which I could not understand, I confess,
nor my Lord Bruncker neither, but he did detect indeed a failure or two
of mine in my report about the ill condition of the present pursers,
which I did magnify in one or two little things, to which, I think, he
did with reason except, but at last with all respect did declare the
best thing he ever heard of this kind, but when Sir W. Batten did say,
"Let us that do know the practical part of th