poke with Sir G. Downing, to see what was done yesterday at the
Treasury for Tangier, and it proved as good as nothing, so that I do see
we shall be brought to great straits for money there. He tells me here
that he is passing a Bill to make the Excise and every other part of the
King's Revenue assignable on the Exchequer, which indeed will be a very
good thing. This he says with great glee as an act of his, and how poor
a thing this was in the beginning, and with what envy he carried it on,
and how my Lord Chancellor could never endure him for it since he first
begun it. He tells me that the thing the House is just now upon is
that of taking away the charter from the Company of Woodmongers, whose
frauds, it seems, have been mightily laid before them. He tells me that
they are like to fly very high against my Lord Chancellor. Thence I
to the House of Lords, and there first saw Dr. Fuller, as Bishop of
Lincoln, to sit among the Lords. Here I spoke with the Duke of York and
the Duke of Albemarle about Tangier; but methinks both of them do look
very coldly one upon another, and their discourse mighty cold, and
little to the purpose about our want of money. Thence homeward, and
called at Allestry's, the bookseller, who is bookseller to the Royal
Society, and there did buy three or four books, and find great variety
of French and foreign books. And so home and to dinner, and after dinner
with my wife to a play, and the girl--"Macbeth," which we still like
mightily, though mighty short of the content we used to have when
Betterton acted, who is still sick. So home, troubled with the way
and to get a coach, and so to supper and to bed. This day, in the
Paynted-chamber, I met and walked with Mr. George Montagu, who thinks
it may go hard with my Lord Sandwich, but he says the House is offended
with Sir W. Coventry much, and that he do endeavour to gain them again
in the most precarious manner in all things that is possible.

7th. Up, and at the office hard all the morning, and at noon resolved
with Sir W. Pen to go see "The Tempest," an old play of Shakespeare's,
acted, I hear, the first day; and so my wife, and girl, and W. Hewer by
themselves, and Sir W. Pen and I afterwards by ourselves; and forced
to sit in the side balcone over against the musique-room at the Duke's
house, close by my Lady Dorset and a great many great ones. The house
mighty full; the King and Court there and the most innocent play that
ever I saw; and a cur