Tony Eldridge on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Sam shows he is a shrewd political operator at the office but, at home, tempts fate by even hinting that Bess is not such a good dancer as she fancies herself to be. No change there, then.

Robert Gertz on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Sam saves the day! Nothing like convincing the fellows that you're looking out for their interests as well as your own.

"Sir W. Batten ashamed and vexed..." And I'm not surprised. Batten the famed operative and turncoat seems to have really had his eye off the ball on this one. Sam's point on Butler being likely to use his unwarranted promotion to the board's discredit...Something a sharp old fox like Sir Will should have been on top of...Must have been especially galling.

Coventry seems to be out of the office these days. His duties as secretary to the Duke of York would I suppose be likely keeping him away...If so,lucky for Sir Will B.

***

At long last, our dance has begun...Welcome Mr. P.

Poor Bess...I'm reminded of that "Malcolm in the Middle" episode where Mom took up dancing and was convinced she was the new Ginger Rogers.

Not to mention I doubt our Sam is exactly Fred Astaire...

"And turn and bow to your partner and...Uhhnn..."

"Sorry, Mr. Pemberton."

"Not at all, Mrs. Pepys. Shall we begin the rustic dance again?" Slight move farther away as Bess eagerly repeats her steps...

"No, no Bess." Sam impatently interrupts, knowing best as always...And his six shillings after all. "It's like this." He spins and tripping delicately over his feet, heads floorward...Pemberton rather gracefully making the save.

"Uh...Pardon me. Just a bit rusty in my rustic dance."

Ashwell and Hewer struggling desperately to restrain smiles...

"Not at all Mr. Pepys. Perhaps...You would care to join us? While it's clear you are fairly accomplished..."

Oh, please...Bess glares as Sam beams. See...And he's the expert.

"...A gentleman of your position ought to have the latest dances at his command. And studying with your beautious lady..."

Bess' turn to beam...

"...Will no doubt improve her mastery even as it allows you both to better perform as a couple."

There a hidden meaning in there? Sam eyes Bess who shrugs.

in Aqua Scripto on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Not many would be this forthright "...but Sir W. Pen told me I must sign it or give it him again, for it should not go without my hand..." those that have had the audacity to challenge the top mangement have found the door can be very painful to ones ego and derrierre.
Autocratic leaders be the norm , that be why there be many gibbets around town. Even in this day and age the Armond Hammers be in fashion.

andy on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

and not sign them myself

I wonder whether his colleagues were really saying that the doctrine of collective responsibility applies - sometimes in a cabinet you sign up to things that you don't agree with personally to present a united front to the public world.

Sam will no doubt need his colleagues to support him in something or other in due course. By refusing to accept this collective responsibility he makes it less likely that they will go that extra mile for him.

Xjy on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Today marks a crucial point for Sam!
He's really putting his stamp on business without fear or favour. He is now so well established that he can point out their collective irresponsibility to his senior colleagues over and against their expressed displeasure and push his own take through, and the others accept it as an acceptable part of office practice.
And at home he is enjoying the dance but maintaining a critical attitude at the same time.
A cavalier for enjoyment, a roundhead for diligence and business sense. Just the right combination for a highwire artiste of the Restoration!

Robert Gertz on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

"...to my vyall and song book a pretty while..."

So, for the moment, Music and the dear viol have again asserted place in Sam's life despite his worries a few days ago.

No doubt he'll be fretting over the wasted time in a day or two but it's nice to see him unable to repress that side...

Don McCahill on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Up betimes and to my vyall and song book a pretty while

Didn't we determine "betimes" was 5 a.m. a few weeks back. I can just imagine the household lying in bed, listening to Sam's squeaky violin and (probably) squeakier voice as he heralds in the new day.

And what would the neighbors think?

Australian Susan on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Neighbours

Still happens today. One of my daughters has had three voice students living in her block, who were in the habit of practiscing opera segments at 1 am........

A. De Araujo on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

"but I fear will hardly do any great good at it"
She does not know how to dress, she is a lousy speller and does not how to dance and to top it all is very conceited; now it would be nice to know what Captain Ferrer thinks of all this.

Robert Gertz on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

“...but I fear will hardly do any great good at it because she is conceited that she do well already, though I think no such thing...”

I'll bet Mr. Pemberton has some nice things to say to Bess.

Funny. Sir Will Penn notes to himself after Sam repeats the above remark in office. That's exactly what I said when little landlubber Pepys first showed in the office.

alanB on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

I'm with Sam on this one. Sir William should count himself lucky that he has not been introduced to our Sam's salted eel:)

in Aqua Scripto on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Not a Lark nor a Rooster in the back yard "Didn’t we determine “betimes” was 5 a.m. a few weeks back. I can just imagine the household lying in bed, listening to Sam’s squeaky violin and (probably) squeakier voice as he heralds in the new day." So for a lark Samuell will gets the day started with 'sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full...".

in Aqua Scripto on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

"...putting him into a place he is no wise capable of, and that in an Admiral ship..." The Rainbow, as Pen and Batten, both doth know, has serve Admirals in past conflicks, been around forever, could even have done duty in bringing home Curran{t}s from the Levant, when it be not needed for more vigorous work. [ ships at this time were not dedicated to one function.]
That be Samuells forte to have a standing navy. Civil service [functions] like work be conscripted or farmed out [out sourced, I believe the word be]when required, Tax collection be farmed out,and other work now deemed to be government domain. [strange how ideas are being re-issued, to farm out work to the needy? ]

Araucaria on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

"Betimes" is not really all that early.

At 5am there is quite a bit of daylight already. Sam is just observing Daylight Savings Time a few centuries before it is officially enacted. No need for an alarm clock, just wake up when it gets light (as I did myself around 5:40(DST)/4:40 (standard) this morning.

TerryF on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

The books bought today about religion trends

"a book [“Fair warning, or, XX prophesies concerning the return of popery: The second part - by Archbishop Whitgift, Archbishop Laud, Archbishop Bancroft, Bishop Sanderson, Bishop Gauden, Mr. Hooker & others ;”] lately printed and licensed by Dr. Stradling, the Bishop of London’s chaplin, being a book discovering the practices and designs of the papists, and the fears of some of our own fathers of the Protestant church heretofore of the return to Popery as it were prefacing it.

"The book is a very good book; but forasmuch as it touches one of the Queenmother’s fathers confessors [Père Sarabras], the Bishop [of London, Gilbert Sheldon], which troubles many good men and members of Parliament, hath called it in [recalled it?], which I am sorry for."

L&M note that page 47 of the book repeats the common story that Father Sarabras tossed his hat in the air to celebrate the fall of the head of Charles 1, elder son of the Queen Mother.

Hmmm, I recall Sam'l himself owned up to having made an intemperate remark in that vein.

For what is Sam'l sorry? Is he expressing sympathy with the QM,
Bp. Sheldon, or...?

* * *

"Another book I bought, being a collection of many expressions of the great Presbyterian Preachers upon publique occasions, in the late times, against the King and his party, as some of Mr. Marshall, Case, Calamy, Baxter, &c., which is good reading now, to see what they then did teach, and the people believe, and what they would seem to believe now."

Reality-check? Is he really uninformed? Covertly sympathetic? He hasn't expressed anxiety about the nonconfornists for a while....

jeannine on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Hmmm, I don't know if I'm more impressed with Sam speaking up at the office or keeping his mouth shut about his views on Bess's dancing abilities. Perhaps he's been was relying on that old Serenity Prayer....
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.
And please, if I look like I'm about to screw up, send me a quick cases of laryngitis"

in Aqua Scripto on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Great point Terry F.: Reading diverse view points maketh the man.

Bradford on 26 Apr 2006  •  Link

Now if we only had an independent observer of Sam's dancefloor prowess.

TerryF on 27 Apr 2006  •  Link

"the...designs of the papists, and the fears of...the Protestant church heretofore of the return to Popery as it were prefacing it."

OED Preface, v. 3. fig. To introduce, precede, herald. Oba.

In the hypothetical, "as it were" mode, methinks it unprecedented to extend the experimental method to a thought - e.g., how plausible is it that Popery were to return?

language hat on 27 Apr 2006  •  Link

Popery

I hope this isn't too off-topic, but I become more and more perplexed the more I read about 17th-century history at the wildly divergent attitudes of the British monarchy (post-Elizabeth) to Catholicism. On the one hand, there was vicious persecution of Catholics, who were said to be traitors plotting the return of the Pope to rule England; on the other, not only did the kings marry fervent Catholics like Henriette Marie, they actually supported Catholic powers like France against fellow Protestant states like the Netherlands (this during the period before the rivalry between England and the Netherlands grew so severe and turned into the Anglo-Dutch wars). For heaven's sake, Charles I refused to support the exiled (Protestant) King of Bohemia (the elector Palatine, called the Winter King) even though the latter was married to his own sister! Can anyone point me toward useful books or links on this topic?

in Aqua Scripto on 27 Apr 2006  •  Link

Luverly point: LH: Public thought, private thought, never the same in most cases, the money trail be the only clue, those that have the means to accumulate wealth have control and those that fritter it away are the followers. At this time the Merchants have the way, and boys of the upper house had to play along, so that they could get a share. Religious belief be one thing but eating be of the moment as St Augustine* once be quoted: 'I want to be good but let that be tomorrow: [paraphrase of a sort] Charles was exposed to his mothers thoughts when young ,'tis why the Jesuits say "give me your son before aged seven then he be ours for the rest of time", then he had to scurry around Europe on hand outs, now that he has own King_dom, he wants to keep it, i.e the monies that it dothe bring to him, to supply his daily pleasures. 'Umans on the most part are partial to eating and enjoying life thereby put off 'til the morrow the problems of what takes place when thy grey cells fail to keep the body temporal functioning and the body spiritual is in residence.
Of course one must never mention money, must find words that obscure thy way of getting crass loot, use better educated words of persuasion.
An aside I saw this the other day " This monitor is for your safety and to prevent inventory shortages", "not I'm watching out for thieves".
We must always use our superior language to get the monies out of your pocket in to mine.
* Da mihi castatatem et continentiam,sed noli modo.
St Augustine, Confessions, VIII, 7

A. Hamilton on 27 Apr 2006  •  Link

Fear of Catholics, fear of kings

Neat juxtaposition in Sam's two books of the day. Maybe a clue in there to LH's query? Stuarts had to be leery of the Calvinists and their rejection of king as head of church, and were probably more comfortable with continental royalty brought up in Catholic tradition because of their acceptance of royal authority. Also the foreign policy question may trump religious considerations and the royal question: is it better to align with sea rival Holland or France? Etc.

A. Hamilton on 27 Apr 2006  •  Link

Second thought

In addition, it was very English, uniting Presbyterians and Anglicans (and therefore good for the king), to resist any thought of resubmitting to Rome and losing the independence of the C of E. Jamie Duke of York crossed that line around 1668, ensuring his eventual loss of the crown.

language hat on 27 Apr 2006  •  Link

Public thought, private thought

I understand the doublethink thing, and I certainly see the benefits for Charles of allying with Spain or France as seemed profitable at the moment... but I can't help thinking of Truman or Ike marrying an avowed Communist at the height of the cold war, or sending money and troops to help Russia put down the Hungarian rebellion (comparable to Charles I helping Spain against the Dutch), and it just seems too weird. How did the common man, or even the dukes and earls, feel about such policies coexisting with all the hysteria about popery? It boggles my mind.

in Aqua Scripto on 28 Apr 2006  •  Link

Truman and Ike had the backing of both the the monied and the taxpayer and never needed extra monies for their own pleasures from another source. And they were never suckled by a Socialist. Both Truman and Ike were products of the sod of Kansas, known for independance, self reliance.[buck stops here mode] Charles philosophy be not with the money earners.
Carlos II be in the period of
Decartes,Hobbes,Spinoza , John Bunyon et al and those that question all past doctrines that be available from a enslaved Press trying to break its bondage.
'Tis be the time of Peoples breaking bondage from the fatherly system of the lords;and who shoved them off the lands so that they could get at the raw materials [ enclosures] then wanted them back to wet feed the mewing offspring of his loins for bread and board. [ Cheap labour sound familiar] Carlos had Power but it not be like his friend the Sun king with excessive rights that finally led to the changes that we question today.

GrahamT on 28 Apr 2006  •  Link

Re: Popery
The book "Tribes of Britain" by David Miles, has much material about the changes of religious leanings of the people and rulers of Britain in the context of the European Religious wars and linguistic groups in Britain. For example, the Scots, Irish and Welsh saw the imposition of both English language and Protestatism as two parts of the same colonial sword, and rejected both. The English saw Catholicism in a similar light, being foreign and associated with the Spanish and French expanding empires.
The Stuarts, with their Scottish background, were perhaps less protestant than some of their predecessors, and certainly less than their Orange and Hanoverian successors, but had to hide it from their subjects. Not well enough in James' case.
The book is well worth reading for its overview of 26,000 years of British history. Pepys is quoted several times.

language hat on 28 Apr 2006  •  Link

Thanks, InAqua and GrahamT -- you both make sense.

Australian Susan on 29 Apr 2006  •  Link

Paranoia about Catholics stems from the 1570 excommunication of Elizabeth I by the Pope (heavily influenced by Spanish politics and armies). This made it very difficult for an English Catholic to state he was a loyal subject of the Queen when the head of the Catholic Church tells him his monarch should not be obeyed, is an unlawful ruler and it is the duty of Catholics to overthrow her etc. Elizabeth, with her famous "I do not want to make windows into men's souls"speech, (1561) tried to not bring things to a head, but from the 1570s on, was forced to allow arrests, executions and persucution of often totally innocent men - such as Edmund Campion. From that time on, the mythology that Catholics could not be counted as loyal subjects and were untrustworthy grew. If we think this is an absurd and unjustified thing to do, look at what happened in 1914 to people who did nothing worse than owning a Dachshund called Fritz, let alone having a German surname!
Charles I's rejection of his brother-in-law was political (just as George V refused safe haven to his cousins, leaving the Romanovs to be shot). Our present Charles has, as a main motivation, concern only with keeping his status safe. Catholic historiography may make much of his deathbed confession of faith and backtrack this, but I have doubts. James II was arrogant and stupid, but that does not mean that his faith may not have been genuine. But most people toe the line of expediency: most of Mary I's subjects switched back to attending Catholic Masses with no problems - in fact the number of martyrs her short reign produced is remarkable and moving. Thinking of the present times in the 1660s, remarkably few people have been executed for thier roles in the previous Commonwealth period and some quite key players well known to us in the Diary (e.g. Penn & Sandwich) have prospered. Even over the water , pragmatism can hold sway "Paris is worth a Mass" said the Hugeunot Henry of Navarre, wanting to become Henry IV of France.

in Aqua Scripto on 29 Apr 2006  •  Link

One of the best moves made, cuts down of retribution and more retribution: "... remarkably few people have been executed for thier [sic -their-] roles .." Revenge might be sweet but it carries on for centuries, totally disables the economy, which then destroys the country and creates more bloody revolts by the offspring. Revolutions that settle down without heavy bloodshed usually grows, other type usually has more generations to get even. Just hang those bad guys that both the winners and losers agree that were dispicable to both sides.
Never waste real talent on a gibert, otherwise thy spite thy own face.

dirk on 1 May 2006  •  Link

Political information sent to the Duke of Ormond today.

Letter dated: Paris, 5 May 1663 (i.e. 25 April 1663 British calendar)

"[...] The French Ambassador at the Court of England, Monsieur de Comminges, has hope, it is thought, of obtaining from the King liberty of conscience [for those of the Roman obedience]."

Source:
Bodleian Library
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

San Diego Sarah on 25 Apr 2016  •  Link

"L&M note that page 47 of the book repeats the common story that Father Sarabras tossed his hat in the air to celebrate the fall of the head of Charles 1, elder son of the Queen Mother." Seems to me Charles I was husband of Henrietta Maria, the now-Queen Mother. But no one else is contesting this ... makes me nervous.

San Diego Sarah on 25 Apr 2016  •  Link

"... they say is removed as to her bed from her own home to a chamber in White Hall, next to the King’s own;" Surely Pepys has known this for a while ... when he and Elizabeth were staying in the Montagu house in Whitehall over New Years, Mrs. Sarah observed Charles II popping in and out of Lady Castlemaine's house next door.

Arthur Perry on 26 Apr 2016  •  Link

"... she is conceited that she do well already, though I think no such thing.".
I just listened to a story today about the Dunning-Kruger effect, a cognitive bias in which relatively unskilled persons suffer illusory superiority, mistakenly assessing their ability to be much higher than it really is: http://m.thisamericanlife.org/rad…

Terry Foreman on 21 Jul 2021  •  Link

"So in the evening home, and after supper (my father at my brother’s) and merrily practising to dance, which my wife hath begun to learn this day of Mr. Pembleton, but I fear will hardly do any great good at it, because she is conceited that she do well already, though I think no such thing."

L&M: The lessons continued until the following 27 May.