29th. Up and down the streets is cried mightily the great victory got by the Portugalls against the Spaniards, where 10,000 slain, 3 or 4000 taken prisoners, with all the artillery, baggage, money, &c., and Don John [He was a natural son of Philip IV. King of Spain, who after his father's death in 1666 exerted his whole influence to overthrow the Regency appointed during the young King's minority.] of Austria forced to flee with a man or two with him.
30th. Public matters are in an ill condition: Parliament sitting and raising four subsidys for the King, which is but a little, considering his wants; and yet that parted withal with great hardness. They being offended to see so much money go, and no debts of the public's paid, but all swallowed by a luxurious Court; which the King it is believed and hoped will retrench in a little time, when he comes to see the utmost of the revenue which shall be settled on him; he expecting to have his 1,200,000l. made good to him, which is not yet done by above 150,000l. as he himself reports to the House. The charge the Navy intended to be limited to 200,000l. per annum, the ordinary charge of it, and that to be settled upon the Customes. The King gets greatly taken up with Madam Castlemaine and Mrs. Stewart, which Heaven put an end to!
JULY 1, 1663. Being in the Parliament lobby, I there saw my Lord of Bristoll come to the Commons House to give his answer to their question, about some words he should tell the King that were spoke by Sir Richard Temple. A chair was set at the bar of the House for him, which he used but little, but made an harangue of half an hour bareheaded, the House covered. His speech being done, he come out into a little room till the House had concluded of an answer to his speech; which they staying long upon, I went away. And by and by out comes Sis W. Batten; and he told me that his Lordship had made a long and a comedian-like speech, and delivered with such action as was not becoming his Lordship. He confesses he did tell the King such a thing of Sir Richard Temple, but that upon his honour the words were not spoke by Sir Richard, he having taken a liberty of enlarging to the King upon the discourse which had been between Sir Richard and himself lately; and so took upon himself the whole blame, and desired their pardon, it being not to do any wrong to their fellow- member, but out of zeal to the King. He told them, among many other things, that as to religion he was a Roman Catholick, but such a one as thought no man to have right to the Crown of England but the Prince that hath it; and such a one as, if the King should desire counsel as to his own, he would not advise him to another religion than the old true reformed religion of this kingdom as it now stands; and concluded with a submission to what the House shall do with, him, saying, that whatever they shall do,—"thanks be to God, this head, this heart, and this sword; (pointing to them all) will find me a being in any place in Europe." The House hath hereupon voted clearly Sir Richard Temple to be free from the imputation of saying those words; but when Sir William Batten come out, had not concluded what to say to my Lord, it being argued that to own any satisfaction as to my Lord from his speech, would be to lay some fault upon the King for the message he should upon no better accounts send to the impeaching of one of their members. Walking out, I hear that the House of Lords are offended that my Lord Digby [Digby, Earl of Bristol.] should come to this House and make a speech there without leave first asked of the House of Lords. I hear also of another difficulty now upon him; that my Lord of Sunderland [Henry, fourth Lord Spence, and second Earl of Sunderland, Ambassador to Spain 1671. Ob. 1702.] (whom I do not know) was so near to the marriage of his daughter, as that the wedding-clothes were made, and portion and every thing agreed on and ready; and the other day he goes away nobody yet knows whither, sending her the next morning a release of his right or claim to her, and advice to his friends not to enquire into the reason of this doing, for he hath enough for it; and that he gives them liberty to say and think what they will of him, so they do not demand the reason of his leaving her, being resolved never to have her. To Sir W. Batten, to the Trinity House; and after dinner we fell a-talking, Mr. Batten telling us of a late triall of Sir Charles Sedley [Sir Charles Sedley, Bart., celebrated for his wit and profligacy, and author of several plays. He is said to have been fined 500l. for this outrage. He was father to James II.'s mistress, created Countess of Dorchester, and died 1701.] the other day, before my Lord Chief Justice Foster [Sir Robert Foster, Knt. Chief Justice of the King's Bench. Ob. 1663.] and the whole bench, for his debauchery a little while since at Oxford Kate's. [The details in the original are too gross to print.] It seems my Lord and the rest of the Judges did all of them round give him a most high reproofe; my Lord Chief Justice saying, that it was for him, and such wicked wretches as he was, that God's anger and judgments hung over us, calling him sirrah many times. It seems they have bound him to his good behaviour (there being no law against him for it) in 5000l. It being told that my Lord Buckhurst was there, my Lord asked whether it was that Buckhurst that was lately tried for robbery; [See an account of this, February 22nd, 1661-2.] and when answered yes, he asked whether he had so soon forgot his deliverance at that time, and that it would have more become him to have been at his prayers begging God's forgiveness, than now running into such courses again. This day I hear at dinner that Don John of Austria, since his flight out of Portugall, is dead of his wounds: so there is a great man gone, and a great dispute like to be indeed for the crown of Spayne, if the King should, have died before him. My cousin Roger told us the whole passage of my Lord Digby to-day, much as I have said here above; only that he did say that he would draw his sword against the Pope himself, if he should offer any thing against his Majesty, and the good of these nations; and that he never was the man that did either look for a Cardinal's cap for himself, or any body else, meaning Abbot Montagu: [Walter, second son to the first Earl of Manchester, embracing the Catholic religion while on his travels, was made abbot of Ponthoise through the influence of Mary de' Medici: he afterwards became Almoner to the Queen-Dowager of England: and died 1670.] and the House upon the whole did vote Sir Richard Temple innocent; and that my Lord Digby hath cleared the honour of His Majesty, and Sir Richard Temple's, and given perfect satisfaction of his own respects to the House.
2nd. Walking in the garden this evening with Sir G. Carteret and Sir J. Minnes, Sir G. Carteret told us with great content how like a stage-player my Lord Digby spoke yesterday, pointing to his head as my Lord did, and saying, "First, for his head," says Sir G. Carteret, "I know when a calfe's head would have done better by half: for his heart and his sword, I have nothing to say to them." He told us that for certain his head cost the late King his, for it was he that broke off the treaty at Uxbridge. He told us also how great a man he was raised from a private gentleman in France by Monsieur Grandmont, and afterwards by the Cardinal, who raised him to be a Lieutenant-generall, and then higher; and entrusted by the Cardinal when he was banished out of France with great matters, and recommended by him to the Queene as a man to be trusted and ruled by: yet when he come to have some power over the Queene, he begun to dissuade her from her opinion of the Cardinal; which she said nothing to till the Cardinal [Cardinal Mazarin.] was returned, and then she told him of it; who told my Lord Digby, "Et bien, Monsieur, vous estes un fort bon amy donc:" but presently put him out of all; and then, from a certainty of coming in two or three years' time to be Mareschall of France, (to which all strangers, even Protestants, and those as often as French themselves, are capable of coming, though it be one of the greatest places in France,) he was driven to go out of France into Flanders; but there was not trusted, nor received any kindness from the Prince of Conde, as one to whom also he had been false, as he had been to the Cardinal and Grandmont. In fine, he told us that he is a man of excellent parts, but of no great faith nor judgment, and one very easy to get up to great height of preferment, but never able to hold it.
3rd. Mr. Moore tells me great news that my Lady Castlemaine is fallen from Court, and this morning retired. He gives me no account of the reason, but that it is so: for which I am sorry; and yet if the King do it to leave off not only her but all other mistresses, I should be heartily glad of it, that he may fall to look after business. I hear my Lord Digby is condemned at Court for his speech, and that my Lord Chancellor grows great again. With Mr. Creed over the water to Lambeth; but could not see the Archbishop's hearse: so over the fields to Southwarke. I spent half an hour in St. Mary Overy's Church, where are fine monuments of great antiquity.
4th. Sir Allen Apsley [Sir Allen Apsley, a faithful adherent to Charles I., after the Restoration was made Falconer to the King, and Almoner to the Duke of York in whose regiment he bore a commission. He was in 1661 M.P. for Thetford, and died 1683.] showed the Duke the Lisbon Gazette in Spanish, where the late victory is set down particularly, and to the great honour of the English beyond measure. They have since taken back Evora, which was lost to the Spaniards, the English making the assault, and lost not more than three men. Here I learnt that the English foot are highly esteemed all over the world, but the horse not so much, which yet we count among ourselves the best: but they abroad have had no great knowledge of our horse, it seems. To the King's Head ordinary; and a pretty gentleman in our company, who confirms my Lady Castlemaine's being gone from Court, but knows not the reason; he told us of one wipe the Queene a little while ago did give her, when she come in and found the Queene under the dresser's hands, and had been so long: "I wonder your Majesty," says she, "can have the patience to sit so long a- dressing?"—"I have so much reason to use patience," says the Queene, "that I can very well bear with it." He thinks it may be the Queene hath commanded her to retire, though that is not likely. Thence with Creed to hire a coach to carry us to Hide Parke, to-day there being a general muster of the King's Guards, horse and foot but they demand so high, that I, spying Mr. Cutler the merchant, did take notice of him, and he going into his coach, and telling me that he was going to the muster, I asked and went along with him; where a goodly sight to see so many fine horses and officers, and the King, Duke, and others come by a- horseback, and the two Queenes in the Queene-Mother's coach, (my Lady Castlemaine not being there). And after long being there, I light, and walked to the place where the King, Duke, &c. did stand to see the horse and foot march by and discharge their guns, to show a French Marquisse (for whom this muster was caused) the goodness of our firemen; which indeed was very good, though not without a slip now and then: and one broadside close to our coach we had going out of the Park, even to the nearnesse as to be ready to burn our hairs. Yet methought all these gay men are not the soldiers that must do the King's business, it being such as these that lost the old King all he had, and were beat by the most ordinary fellows that could be. Thence with much ado out of the Park, and through St. James's down the waterside over to Lambeth, to see the Archhishop's corps, (who is to be carried away to Oxford on Monday,) but come too late. This day in the Duke's chamber there being a Roman story in the hangings, and upon the standard written these four letters— S. P. Q. R., Sir G. Carteret came to me to know what the meaning of those four letters were; which ignorance is not to be borne in a Privy Counsellor, methinks, what a schoolboy should be whipt for not knowing.
6th. At my office all the morning, writing of a list of the King's ships in my Navy collections with great pleasure.
7th. In Mr. Pett's garden I eat some of the first cherries I have eat this year, off the tree where the King himself had been gathering some this morning. Deane tells me that Mr. Pett did to-day, that my Lord Bristoll told the King that he will impeach the Chancellor of High Treason: but I find that my Lord Bristoll hath undone himself already in everybody's opinion, and now he endeavours to raise dust to put out other men's eyes, as well as his own; but I hope it will not take, in consideration merely that it is hard for a Prince to spare an experienced old officer, be he never so corrupt; though I hope this man is not so, as some report him to be. He tells me that Don John is yet alive, and not killed, as was said, in the great victory against the Spaniards in Portugall of late.
9th. Sir W. Pen tells me, my Lady Castlemaine was at Court, for all this talk this week; but it seems the King is stranger than ordinary to her.
10th. I met Pierce the chirurgeon, who tells me that for certain the King is grown colder to my Lady Castlemaine than ordinary, and that he believes he begins to love the Queene, and do make much of her, more than he used to do. Mr. Coventry tells me that my Lord Bristoll hath this day impeached my Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords of High Treason. The chief of the articles are these: 1st. That he should be the occasion of the peace made with Holland lately upon such disadvantageous terms, and that he was bribed to it. 2nd. That Dunkirke was also sold by his advice chiefly, so much to the damage of England. 3rd. That he had 6000l. given him for the drawing-up or promoting of the Irish declaration lately, concerning the division of the lands there. 4th. He did carry on the design of the Portugall match, so much to the prejudice of the Crown of England, notwithstanding that he knew the Queene is not capable of bearing children. 5th. That the Duke's marrying of his daughter was a practice of his, thereby to raise his family; and that it was done by indiscreet courses. 6th. As to the breaking-off of the match with Parma, in which he was employed at the very time when the match with Portugall was made up here, which he took as a great slur to him, and so it was; and that, indeed, is the chief occasion of all this fewde. 7th. That he hath endeavoured to bring in Popery, and wrote to the Pope for a cap for a subject of the King of England's (my Lord Aubigny [Brother to the Duke of Lennox, and Almoner to the King.]); and some say that he lays it to the Chancellor, that a good Protestant Secretary, (Sir Edward Nicholas) was laid aside, and a Papist, Sir H. Bennet, put in his room: which is very strange, when the last of these two is his own creature, and such an enemy accounted to the Chancellor, that they never did nor do agree; and all the world did judge the Chancellor to be falling from the time that Sir H. Bennet was brought in, Besides my Lord Bristoll being a Catholique himself, all this is very strange. These are the main of the Articles. Upon which my Lord Chancellor desired the noble Lord that brought in these Articles, would sign to them with his hand; which my Lord Bristoll did presently. Then the House did order that the Judges should, against Monday next, bring in their opinion, Whether these articles are treason, or no? and next, they would know, Whether they were brought in regularly or no, without leave of the Lords' House?