lying a
morning or two longer than ordinary for my cold do make me hard to rise
as I used to do, or look after my business as I am wont. To my chamber
to make an end of my papers to my father to be sent by the post
to-night, and taking copies of them, which was a great work, but I did
it this morning, and so to my office, and thence with Sir John Minnes to
the Tower; and by Mr. Slingsby, and Mr. Howard, Controller of the Mint,
we were shown the method of making this new money, from the beginning to
the end, which is so pretty that I did take a note of every part of it
and set them down by themselves for my remembrance hereafter. That being
done it was dinner time, and so the Controller would have us dine with
him and his company, the King giving them a dinner every day. And very
merry and good discourse about the business we have been upon, and after
dinner went to the Assay Office and there saw the manner of assaying
of gold and silver, and how silver melted down with gold do part, just
being put into aqua-fortis, the silver turning into water, and the gold
lying whole in the very form it was put in, mixed of gold and silver,
which is a miracle; and to see no silver at all but turned into water,
which they can bring again into itself out of the water. And here I
was made thoroughly to understand the business of the fineness and
coarseness of metals, and have put down my lessons with my other
observations therein. At table among other discourse they told us of two
cheats, the best I ever heard. One, of a labourer discovered to convey
away the bits of silver cut out pence by swallowing them down into
his belly, and so they could not find him out, though, of course, they
searched all the labourers; but, having reason to doubt him, they did,
by threats and promises, get him to confess, and did find L7 of it in
his house at one time. The other of one that got a way of coyning money
as good and passable and large as the true money is, and yet saved fifty
per cent. to himself, which was by getting moulds made to stamp groats
like old groats, which is done so well, and I did beg two of them which
I keep for rarities, that there is not better in the world, and is as
good, nay, better than those that commonly go, which was the only thing
that they could find out to doubt them by, besides the number that the
party do go to put off, and then coming to the Comptroller of the Mint,
he could not, I say, find out any other thing to rai