I got an extreme cold, such as was afterward so epidemical, as not only to afflict us in this[Pg 107] island, but was rife over all Europe, like a plague. It was after an exceedingly dry summer and autumn.

I settled affairs, my son being to go into France with my Lord Berkeley, designed Ambassador-extraordinary for France and Plenipotentiary for the general treaty of peace at Nimeguen.