Diary of the times of Charles II/Volume 1/Mr. Sidney to the Earl of Sunderland, September 16
MR. SIDNEY TO THE EARL OF SUNDERLAND.
My Lord,
It is very unlucky that you have lost your cipher, for our friend here deferred taking any resolution till I had an answer of what I writ to you of the 8th, which I am afraid will now come too late, but yet I have sent you a copy of mine. In my last I writ you word that Monsieur Van Beuninghen was of opinion that the Treaty of Guarantee had best be treated of here; since I spoke to the Prince of it, and he saith he was once of that mind, but now he hath considered of it, he thinks it will be as well if it be done in England; he shall send Monsieur Van Beuninghen again to Amsterdam about it, and to-morrow we shall know what he saith: I believe you will have a good account of it, if the surprising news we hear every day out of England does not make them change their minds. They do begin to suspect most extremely that the next Parliament will not answer our expectations, which makes them something backward in desiring so much with us.
The Prince and Princess are at Hounslerdyke; on Saturday he did me the honour to come and dine with me, where he had but an indifferent entertainment as you may imagine, for he let me know of his coming but an hour before; by good luck I had invited the Secretary of the Admiralty at Amsterdam, and two or three more, so that we had something to eat; all yesterday he was a-hunting, and to-day he hath sent me a buck and some gibier, which he intends to eat at my house to-morrow. The States will break up some time next week, and then he goes to Soesdyke, a house of his beyond Utrecht, where he will stay till towards winter. I desire you will speak to the King for leave for me to come over for a month, and pray let me have it as soon as I can; he said before I left England that he would not refuse it me, and I hope he hath not changed his mind; it may be between this and the seventeenth of October I may have a good opportunity; if not, I will desire a yacht, if you will have the kindness to send me one.