The Bank lending the £200,000 to pay the array in Flanders, that had done nothing against the enemy, had so exhausted the treasure of the nation, that one could not have borrowed money under 14 or 15 per cent on bills, or on Exchequer Tallies under 30 per cent. Reasonable good harvest weather. I went to Lambeth and dined with the Archbishop, who had been at Court on the complaint against Dr. Thomas Watson, Bishop of St. David's, who was suspended for simony. The Archbishop told me how unsatisfied he was with the Canon law, and how exceedingly unreasonable all their pleadings appeared to him.
September, 1696. Fine seasonable weather, and a great harvest after a cold, wet summer. Scarcity in Scotland.