shall remember it by to his grave, meaning the
loss of his arme; when, God knows! he is as idle and insignificant a
fellow as ever come into the fleete. He tells me that in discourse on
Saturday he did repeat Sir Rob. Howard's words about rowling out of
counsellors, that for his part he neither cared who they rowled in, nor
who they rowled out, by which the word is become a word of use in the
House, the rowling out of officers. I will remember what, in mirth, he
said to me this morning, when upon this discourse he said, if ever there
was another Dutch war, they should not find a Secretary; "Nor," said I,
"a Clerk of the Acts, for I see the reward of it; and, thanked God! I
have enough of my own to buy me a good book and a good fiddle, and I
have a good wife;"--"Why," says he, "I have enough to buy me a good
book, and shall not need a fiddle, because I have never a one of your
good wives." I understand by him that we are likely to have our business
of tickets voted a miscarriage, but [he] cannot tell me what that will
signify more than that he thinks they will report them to the King and
there leave them, but I doubt they will do more. Thence walked over St.
James's Park to White Hall, and thence to Westminster Hall, and there
walked all the morning, and did speak with several Parliament-men-among
others, Birch, who is very kind to me, and calls me, with great respect
and kindness, a man of business, and he thinks honest, and so long
will stand by me, and every such man, to the death. My business was
to instruct them to keep the House from falling into any mistaken vote
about the business of tickets, before they were better informed. I
walked in the Hall all the morning with my Lord Brouncker, who was in
great pain there, and, the truth is, his business is, without reason, so
ill resented by the generality of the House, that I was almost troubled
to be seen to walk with him, and yet am able to justify him in all, that
he is under so much scandal for. Here I did get a copy of the report
itself, about our paying off men by tickets; and am mightily glad to see
it, now knowing the state of our case, and what we have to answer to,
and the more for that the House is like to be kept by other business
to-day and to-morrow, so that, against Thursday, I shall be able to draw
up some defence to put into some Member's hands, to inform them, and I
think we may [make] a very good one, and therefore my mind is mightily
at ease about it.