# Diary of the times of Charles II/Volume 1/Mr. Sidney to the Earl of Sunderland(B)

MR. SIDNEY TO THE EARL OF SUNDERLAND.
The Hague.
My Lord,
We are as idle here as you can possibly be in England, for there is nothing at all to be done. The Prince, the Pensioner, and every body almost is out of town; there is only just enough of the States left to give Monsieur de Lira his audience de congé which he had yesterday, before he delivered a memorial, of which I send you a copy. I thought you would be glad to hear some particulars of my negotiation, and, not having an opportunity of writing at large, I sent you a few lines in cypher, by which you will see how people are disposed in this country. I take this time to go and see Amsterdam, and, if I can, I will be here ​by the next post, but, if not, I think it will be no great matter, for I am sure there will be nothing to be writ.
I was with Monsieur Serichamps, who told me of a letter he received yesterday from Frankfort, that saith they are in great apprehensions of the King of France at Strasburg; that by his motions and proceedings they do not imagine he can have any design but to beseige it: and they did verily believe his forces would sit down before it in ten or fourteen days. Here they begin to apprehend the Elector of Brandenburg; they finding by his letter that he is angry, and hearing that he is raising more troops; and so I find 'tis all the world over. Monsieur d'Avaux, speaking of the greatness of the King, his master, said, that one of his happinesses was "de faire peur à tout le monde." Monsieur Serichamps told me another thing, which I take it is fit for you to know. When Monsieur le Marischal de l'Estrades went to Amsterdam to see what mischief he could do there, he did say that he had contributed very ​much towards our late troubles in England, and that he was not so old but that he might do something like it once more.
August 9th.I went to the Prince. Monsieur Crampricht came to me. Whilst he was with me, the French Ambassador came in, and Crampricht went away. He seemed surprised at my having audience, and made scruple of sitting down. The same day the minister of the English church came to me, and told me of two nonconformists that were come over, Poole and Hill; one of them was come to print a book; his employment is worth one thousand guilders a year, that at Amsterdam is worth two thousand.
10th.I went to the English church, where I heard Dr. Hooper; then I went to the French ​Ambassador, where I was received with ceremony. I dined with Monsieur de Lira. He showed me a ​memorial of his, to show how willing his master was to agree to any proposals that shall he thought of advantage to the common interest.
13th.I came from the Hague to Lejden, then to Harlem, then to Amsterdam, passed the water to Bucksloer, took another boat and came to Demeren, one of the States towns, upon the borders of the Beemster, which is a fine country. Going from Harlem to Amsterdam, one sees where the branch of the sea that is called the Ty broke in. On the other side is the Harlem Meer. I went all over the Deempster to see for horses, and came at night to Amsterdam.
14th.I went to see the Stadt House, the Court of Admiralty, the East India House, the Spein House, the house for old people; and I met Monsieur Valconier in the street; he hath half a ton of gold in the East India Company. He is a great friend to the Jews, and, though he governs the whole town, he walks about without a footman. He was taxed at two ton of gold. I went to see the magazin, the East India stores, and, coming home, I went into the Jews' synagogue.
​15th.I went to see Monsieur Valconier, who was very civil, and took it mighty kindly my coming to see him. He told me I was come into a poor country, that was quite ruined by the war, but that they should still make a shift to live, if they could continue at peace with the King of France and England; but that without trade they could not live, for that in the seven provinces there was but 500,000 acres, and 1,000,000 of people, 300,000 in Amsterdam. He offered me the civilities of the town. I went to the synagogue, and saw their service. The Jews are not suffered to be buried, in the town, but two leagues off. I went home afterwards with Don Jeronimo d'Acosta, where he showed me some fine jewels; he told me such a pearl was not to be had, and that he would willingly give two hundred crowns apiece for them. I afterwards went to see another merchant, who had a necklace which he valued at 5,000 crowns, and one bigger than that. I saw the hospital for boys and girls, the Gust Huis, and the Nunnery, which are Ursulines; in the afternoon I saw several fine merchants' houses, Mr. Gerard's and his mother's, and then Mr. Stiles, who is worth ten ton of gold, and we talked a good deal with him; we met a man whose ​name is Ormes, who had paid since this war £15,000 with paying the two hundredth penny. The town of Amsterdam hath paid £40,000 with paying the two hundredth penny. They are mightily inclined to France; Monsieur d'Estrades and Monsieur d'Avaux gain vastly, and I was told that I should never do my business here. This town of Amsterdam hath a provision of corn for fourteen years; they are obliged to have it for seven: they have great credit. An action in the East India Company goes at £422; money in the bank is worth four in the hundred more than ready money. The Jews lend the King of Spain money, and he engages the excise and custom at one of his great towns.
17th.I went to see the Lutheran church, where there was a great congregation; then I went to see the Armenian, which was but small, though there be many in the town, and rich men: I saw the reformed church, which is the religion of the country, and none of any other can bear any office in the State. I saw the fortifications and the sluices. Coming home I saw a curtain in the window, where all those are married that are not of the allowed religion every Sunday.
18th.At four in the morning I arrived at the ​Hague, and had letters given me from Mr. Saville, the Duke of York, Lady Sunderland, Dowager, and others.
* ↑ Envoy from Lorraine.
* ↑ Le Maréchal de l'Estrades was Ambassador at the Hague when Temple negotiated the Triple Alliance, and with Colbert had been one of the French Ambassadors at Nimeguen.
* ↑ Minister at the Hague from the Emperor.
* ↑ The following passage is taken from a very interesting manuscript journal of Dr. Lake, Archdeacon of Exeter, who had been preceptor to the Princesses Mary and Anne, which is in the possession of Mr. Elliott of Egland:—January 28, 1678. "I had notice that Dr. Hooper, Chaplain to the late Archbishop of Canterbury, was designed to succeed Dr. Lloyd as Chaplain to the Princess of Orange in Holland, and Almoner, and accordingly was preparing for his journey, and Dr. Lloyd to return; who, by means of the Bishops of London and Rochester, was preparing to wait on her into Holland: whilst Dr. Doughty and myself, who had been her Highness's Chaplains and Tutors many years, were for some, I know not what reasons, laid aside, which occasioned great discourses, both in the court and city, to the prejudice of Dr. Lloyd." Dr. Lake was a high churchman. Dr. Lloyd and Dr. Hooper the reverse, and we cannot be surprised to find that matters were conducted very little to his taste. He says, February 14, " About this time I had a letter out of Holland, from Mr. Lee, that the Princess was grown somewhat fat» and very beautiful withal; that she did sometimes go with Dr. Lloyd's connivance to the English congregation at the Hague; whereat I was much troubled, and so were all other honest and loyal persons who had notice of it, for this church is served by a non-conformist minister out of England, and maintained by the States to draw people hither for the increase of trade, nor would Dr. Brown suffer the late Princess Royal to be drawn thither, though in the worst of times, when there was hardly any face of a church in England ; and yet the present Bishop of Winchester hath preached in that church when he was Chaplain to the Queen of Bohemia, for which his Lordship suffered much in his reputation." In 1691, when William was absent in Holland, Dr. Hooper, without any application of his own, was made Dean of Canterbury by Queen Mary. In 1703 he was nominated to the bishopric of St. Asaph, and in a few months afterwards, though very reluctantly, and at the request of Bishop Ken himself, he succeeded that prelate in the see of Bath and Wells, over which he presided for twenty-three years, having, it is said, refused the see of London on the death of Compton, and that of York on the death of Dr. Sharp. Evelyn, who had heard him preach on the 5th of November before the King on the usurpation of the church of Rome, exclaims, "This is one of the first pulpit men in the nation."—Hooper's Life, Biog. Dic.—Evelyn's Mem., i., 536. The Bishop of Winchester alluded to above was Dr. Morley, who died at a very advanced age in 1684. Speaker Onslow says of him, "that he was a generous and charitable man, and of great public spirit. He left but a small estate to his family, considering what he might have done for them."—Burnet, ii., 428.