and his lady and some Scotch people at supper.  Pretty odd company; though my Lord Bruncker tells me, my Lord Lauderdale is a man of mighty good reason and judgement.  But at supper there played one of their servants upon the viallin some Scotch tunes only; several, and the best of their country, as they seemed to esteem them, by their praising and admiring them:  but, Lord! the strangest ayre that ever I heard in my life, and all of one cast.  But strange to hear my Lord Lauderdale say himself that he had rather hear a cat mew, than the best musique in the world; and the better the musique, the more sicke it makes him; and that of all instruments, he hates the lute most, and next to that, the baggpipe.  Thence back with my Lord to his house, all the way good discourse, informing of myself about optiques still, and there left him and by a hackney home, and after writing three or four letters, home to supper and to bed.

29th (Lord’s day).  Up and all the morning in my chamber making up my accounts in my book with my father and brother and stating them.  Towards noon before sermon was done at church comes newes by a letter to Sir W. Batten, to my hand, of the late fight, which I sent to his house, he at church.  But, Lord! with what impatience I staid till sermon was done, to know the issue of the fight, with a thousand hopes and fears and thoughts about the consequences of either.  At last sermon is done and he come home, and the bells immediately rung soon as the church was done.  But coming; to Sir W. Batten to know the newes, his letter said nothing of it; but all the towne is full of a victory.  By and by a letter from Sir W. Coventry tells me that we have the victory.  Beat them into the Weelings;

[In a letter from Richard Browne to Williamson, dated Yarmouth, July 30th, we read, “The Zealanders were engaged with the Blue squadron Wednesday and most of Thursday, but at length the Zealanders ran; the Dutch fleet escaped to the Weelings and Goree” ("Calendar of State Papers,” 1665-66, p 591).]

had taken two of their great ships; but by the orders of the Generalls they are burned.  This being, methought, but a poor result after the fighting of two so great fleetes, and four days having no tidings of them, I was still impatient; but could know no more.  So away home to dinner, where Mr. Spong and Reeves dined with me by invitation.  And after dinner to our business of my microscope to be shown some of the observables of that, and then down to my office to looke in a darke room with my glasses and tube, and most excellently things appeared indeed beyond imagination.  This was our worke all the afternoon trying the several glasses and several objects, among others, one of my plates, where the lines appeared so very plain that it is not possible to thinke how plain it was done.  Thence satisfied exceedingly with all this we home and to discourse many pretty things, and so staid out the afternoon till it began