joie of salmon, and what else was to be had.
And here we talked of the ill-humour of my wife, which I did excuse as
much as I could, and they seemed to admit of it, but did both confess
they wondered at it; but from thence to other discourse, and among
others to that of my Lord Bruncker and Mrs. Williams, who it seems do
speake mighty hardly of me for my not treating them, and not giving
her something to her closett, and do speake worse of my wife, and
dishonourably, but it is what she do of all the world, though she be a
whore herself; so I value it not. But they told me how poorly my Lord
carried himself the other day to his kinswoman, Mrs. Howard, and was
displeased because she called him uncle to a little gentlewoman that is
there with him, which he will not admit of; for no relation is to be
challenged from others to a lord, and did treat her thereupon very
rudely and ungenteely. Knipp tells me also that my Lord keeps another
woman besides Mrs. Williams; and that, when I was there the other day,
there was a great hubbub in the house, Mrs. Williams being fallen sicke,
because my Lord was gone to his other mistresse, making her wait for
him, till his return from the other mistresse; and a great deale of do
there was about it; and Mrs. Williams swounded at it, at the very time
when I was there and wondered at the reason of my being received so
negligently. I set them both at home, Knipp at her house, her husband
being at the doore; and glad she was to be found to have staid out so
long with me and Mrs. Pierce, and none else; and Mrs. Pierce at her
house, and am mightily pleased with the discretion of her during the
simplicity and offensiveness of my wife's discourse this afternoon. I
perceive by the new face at Mrs. Pierces door that our Mary is gone
from her. So I home, calling on W. Joyce in my coach, and staid and
talked a little with him, who is the same silly prating fellow that ever he
was, and so home, and there find my wife mightily out of order, and
reproaching of Mrs. Pierce and Knipp as wenches, and I know not what.
But I did give her no words to offend her, and quietly let all pass, and
so to bed without any good looke or words to or from my wife.
7th. Up, and to the office, where we sat all the morning, and home to
dinner, and then to the office again, being pretty good friends with my
wife again, no angry words passed; but she finding fault with Mercer,
suspecting that it was she that must have told Mary, that must have told
her mistresse of my wife's saying that she was crooked. But the truth is,
she is jealous of my kindnesse to her. After dinner, to the office, and
did a great deale of business. In the evening comes Mr. Reeves, with a
twelve-foote glasse, so I left the office and home, where I met Mr.
Batelier with my wife, in order to our going to-morrow, by agreement,
to Bow to see a dancing meeting. But, Lord! to see how soon I could
conceive evil fears and thoughts concerning them; so Reeves and I and
they up to the top of the house, and there we endeavoured to see the
moon, and Saturne and Jupiter; but the heavens proved cloudy, and so
we lost our labour, having taken pains to get things together, in order to
the managing of our long glasse. So down to supper and then to bed,
Reeves lying at my house, but good discourse I had from him: in his
own trade, concerning glasses, and so all of us late to bed. I receive
fresh intelligence that Deptford and Greenwich are now afresh
exceedingly afflicted with the sickness more than ever.
8th. Up, and with Reeves walk as far as the Temple, doing some
business in my way at my bookseller's and elsewhere, and there parted,
and I took coach, having first discoursed with Mr. Hooke a little, whom
we met in the streete, about the nature of sounds, and he did make me
understand the nature of musicall sounds made by strings, mighty
prettily; and told me that having come to a certain number of vibrations
proper to make any tone, he is able to tell how many strokes a fly
makes with her wings (those flies that hum in their flying) by the note
that it answers to in musique during their flying. That, I suppose, is a
little
Continue reading on your phone by scaning this QR Code
Tip: The current page has been bookmarked automatically. If you wish to continue reading later, just open the
Dertz Homepage, and click on the 'continue reading' link at the bottom of the page.