Page:Diary of the times of Charles II Vol. I.djvu/44

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xxxii
INTRODUCTION.

that now I must abscond or else bring your name upon the public stage, which you, if you please, may see I am very unwilling to do, I must now beg of your Lordship to order me another quarter's money, or I must return to London sooner than I am willing.

"How I wish I were to accompany King William in his progress into Cheshire; that I might once before I die make a visit to the good old wooden house at Stoak, within three miles of Nantwich, where I was born and bred; and, if your Lordship does attend on the King in his progress, let me beg of you to make a step to Stoak; 'tis but fourteen miles from West Chester, and I hear the King goes to Chester. You will find my cousin, Edward Mynshull, will give you a very generous entertainment, and so will my cousin, Sir Thomas Mainwaring, of Badelly; and Stanley, of Houghton; and Chemley, of Vale Royal; and forty more of my relatives there, if you please to do them the honour of visiting their innocent, clownish habitations; and when you have viewed Stoak Hall, where I was born (for so it is vulgarly called), then I must beg of your Lordship to tell me whether you don't think it was an agreeable portion for me to be attended from your door by a Constable and