Diary, 1665 N.S. Complete | Page 8

ships in the Straights, but are
now the Phoenix and Nonsuch! Home to dinner, thence with my wife
to the King's house, there to see "Vulpone," a most excellent play; the
best I think I ever saw, and well, acted. So with Sir W. Pen home in his
coach, and then to the office. So home, to supper, and bed, resolving by
the grace of God from this day to fall hard to my business again, after
some weeke or fortnight's neglect.

15th (Lord's day). Up, and after a little at my office to prepare a fresh
draught of my vowes for the next yeare, I to church, where a most
insipid young coxcomb preached. Then home to dinner, and after
dinner to read in "Rushworth's Collections" about the charge against
the late Duke of Buckingham, in order to the fitting me to speak and
understand the discourse anon before the King about the suffering the
Turkey merchants to send out their fleete at this dangerous time, when
we can neither spare them ships to go, nor men, nor King's ships to
convoy them. At four o'clock with Sir W. Pen in his coach to my Lord
Chancellor's, where by and by Mr. Coventry, Sir W. Pen, Sir J. Lawson,
Sir G. Ascue, and myself were called in to the King, there being several
of the Privy Council, and my Lord Chancellor lying at length upon a
couch (of the goute I suppose); and there Sir W. Pen begun, and he had
prepared heads in a paper, and spoke pretty well to purpose, but with so
much leisure and gravity as was tiresome; besides, the things he said
were but very poor to a man in his trade after a great consideration, but

it was to purpose, indeed to dissuade the King from letting these
Turkey ships to go out: saying (in short) the King having resolved to
have 130 ships out by the spring, he must have above 20 of them
merchantmen. Towards which, he in the whole River could find but 12
or 14, and of them the five ships taken up by these merchants were a
part, and so could not be spared. That we should need 30,000 [sailors]
to man these 130 ships, and of them in service we have not above
16,000; so we shall need 14,000 more. That these ships will with their
convoys carry above 2,000 men, and those the best men that could be
got; it being the men used to the Southward that are the best men for
warr, though those bred in the North among the colliers are good for
labour. That it will not be safe for the merchants, nor honourable for the
King, to expose these rich ships with his convoy of six ships to go, it
not being enough to secure them against the Dutch, who, without doubt,
will have a great fleete in the Straights. This, Sir J. Lawson enlarged
upon. Sir G. Ascue he chiefly spoke that the warr and trade could not
be supported together, and, therefore, that trade must stand still to give
way to them. This Mr. Coventry seconded, and showed how the
medium of the men the King hath one year with another employed in
his Navy since his coming, hath not been above 3,000 men, or at most
4,000 men; and now having occasion of 30,000, the remaining 26,000
must be found out of the trade of the nation. He showed how the
cloaths, sending by these merchants to Turkey, are already bought and
paid for to the workmen, and are as many as they would send these
twelve months or more; so the poor do not suffer by their not going, but
only the merchant, upon whose hands they lit dead; and so the
inconvenience is the less. And yet for them he propounded, either the
King should, if his Treasure would suffer it, buy them, and showed the
losse would not be so great to him: or, dispense with the Act of
Navigation, and let them be carried out by strangers; and ending that he
doubted not but when the merchants saw there was no remedy, they
would and could find ways of sending them abroad to their profit. All
ended with a conviction (unless future discourse with the merchants
should alter it) that it was not fit for them to go out, though the ships be
loaded. The King in discourse did ask me two or three questions about
my newes of Allen's loss in the Streights, but I said nothing as to the
business, nor am not much sorry for it, unless the King had spoke to me

as he did to them, and then I could have said something to the purpose I
think. So we