st broken
condition; nobody adhering to any thing, but reviling and finding fault:
and now quite mad at the Undertakers, as they are commonly called,
Littleton, Lord Vaughan, Sir R. Howard, and others that are brought over
to the Court, and did undertake to get the King money; but they despise,
and would not hear them in the House; and the Court do do as much, seeing
that they cannot be useful to them, as was expected. In short, it is
plain that the King will never be able to do any thing with this
Parliament; and that the only likely way to do better, for it cannot do
worse, is to break this and call another Parliament; and some do think
that it is intended. I was told to-night that my Lady Castlemayne is so
great a gamester as to have won L5000 in one night, and lost L25,000 in
another night, at play, and hath played L1000 and L1500 at a cast. Thence
to the Temple, where at Porter's chamber I met Captain Cocke, but lost our
labour, our Counsellor not being within, Pemberton, and therefore home and
late at my office, and so home to supper and to bed.

15th. Up betimes, and with Captain Cocke my coach to the Temple to his
Counsel again about the prize goods in order to the drawing up of his
answer to them, where little done but a confirmation that our best
interest is for him to tell the whole truth, and so parted, and I home to
the office, where all the morning, and at noon home to dinner, and after
dinner all the afternoon and evening till midnight almost, and till I had
tired my own backe, and my wife's, and Deb.'s, in titleing of my books for
the present year, and in setting them in order, which is now done to my
very good satisfaction, though not altogether so completely as I think
they were the last year, when my mind was more at leisure to mind it. So
about midnight to bed, where my wife taking some physic overnight it
wrought with her, and those coming upon her with great gripes, she was in
mighty pain all night long, yet, God forgive me! I did find that I was
most desirous to take my rest than to ease her, but there was nothing I
could do to do her any good with.

16th (Lord's day). Up, and to my chamber, where all the morning making a
catalogue of my books, which did find me work, but with great pleasure, my
chamber and books being now set in very good order, and my chamber washed
and cleaned, which it had not been in some months before, my business and
trouble having been so much. At noon Mr. Holliard