I sold my East India adventure of £250 principal for £750 to the Royal Society, after I had been in that company twenty-five years, being extraordinarily advantageous, by the blessing of God.
23d January, 1682-83. Sir Francis North, son to the Lord North, and Lord Chief Justice, being made Lord Keeper on the death of the Earl of Nottingham, the Lord Chancellor, I went to congratulate him. He is a most knowing, learned, and ingenious man, and, besides being an excellent person, of an ingenious and sweet disposition, very skillful in music, painting, the new philosophy, and politer studies.