Wednesday 25 September 1667

Up as soon as I could see and to the office to write over fair with Mr. Hater my last night’s work, which I did by nine o’clock, and got it signed, and so with Sir H. Cholmly, who come to me about his business, to White Hall: and thither come also my Lord Bruncker: and we by and by called in, and our paper read; and much discourse thereon by Sir G. Carteret, my Lord Anglesey, Sir W. Coventry, and my Lord Ashly, and myself: but I could easily discern that they none of them understood the business; and the King at last ended it with saying lazily, “Why,” says he, “after all this discourse, I now come to understand it; and that is, that there can nothing be done in this more than is possible,” which was so silly as I never heard: “and therefore,” says he, “I would have these gentlemen to do as much as possible to hasten the Treasurer’s accounts; and that is all.” And so we broke up: and I confess I went away ashamed, to see how slightly things are advised upon there. Here I saw the Duke of Buckingham sit in Council again, where he was re-admitted, it seems, the last Council-day: and it is wonderful to see how this man is come again to his places, all of them, after the reproach and disgrace done him: so that things are done in a most foolish manner quite through. The Duke of Buckingham did second Sir W. Coventry in the advising the King that he would not concern himself in the owning or not owning any man’s accounts, or any thing else, wherein he had not the same satisfaction that would satisfy the Parliament; saying, that nothing would displease the Parliament more than to find him defending any thing that is not right, nor justifiable to the utmost degree but methought he spoke it but very poorly. After this, I walked up and down the Gallery till noon; and here I met with Bishop Fuller, who, to my great joy, is made, which I did not hear before, Bishop of Lincoln.

At noon I took coach, and to Sir G. Carteret’s, in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, to the house that is my Lord’s, which my Lord lets him have: and this is the first day of dining there. And there dined with him and his lady my Lord Privy-seale, who is indeed a very sober man; who, among other talk, did mightily wonder at the reason of the growth of the credit of banquiers, since it is so ordinary a thing for citizens to break, out of knavery. Upon this we had much discourse; and I observed therein, to the honour of this City, that I have not heard of one citizen of London broke in all this war, this plague, this fire, and this coming up of the enemy among us; which he owned to be very considerable.1 After dinner I to the King’s playhouse, my eyes being so bad since last night’s straining of them, that I am hardly able to see, besides the pain which I have in them. The play was a new play; and infinitely full: the King and all the Court almost there. It is “The Storme,” a play of Fletcher’s; which is but so-so, methinks; only there is a most admirable dance at the end, of the ladies, in a military manner, which indeed did please me mightily. So, it being a mighty wet day and night, I with much ado got a coach, and, with twenty stops which he made, I got him to carry me quite through, and paid dear for it, and so home, and there comes my wife home from the Duke of York’s playhouse, where she hath been with my aunt and Kate Joyce, and so to supper, and betimes to bed, to make amends for my last night’s work and want of sleep.

18 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I saw the Duke of Buckingham sit in Council again, where he was re-admitted, it seems, the last Council-day:"

L&M note this had been 23 September, when he was also restored to his place in the Bedchamber.

Paul Chapin  •  Link

"wonder at the reason of the growth of the credit of banquiers, since it is so ordinary a thing for citizens to break, out of knavery ... I have not heard of one citizen of London broke in all this"

I don't understand the use of "break/broke" in this passage. Is it as in 'breaking and entering', or 'out of money', or 'breaking a promise' (to repay a debt), or something else? Since Lord B considers it a "remarkable fact", it would be nice to know exactly what's being asserted.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Paul, "to break" seems to be an old form of the idiom "to go broke" or "to be bankrupt" -- though, with Evelyn, it is hard to believe none did!

Mary  •  Link

Bankers' solvency.

An L&M footnote refers to the plight of Backwell (goldsmith/banker) who, in 1665, suffered a run on his bank and was bailed out by an Exchequer grant. The government could not afford to allow a banker to be broken.

martinb  •  Link

"The government could not afford etc"

Yep, I think we've heard that one before somewhere...

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...and betimes to bed, to make amends for my last night’s work and want of sleep."

Hmmn...This doesn't sound like our superhuman Sam. Has age and a terrible couple of years finally started to take toll?

JKM  •  Link

the King at last ended it with saying lazily, “Why,” says he, “after all this discourse, I now come to understand it; and that is, that there can nothing be done in this more than is possible,” which was so silly as I never heard....

Cf Dilbert: http://www.untethereddreams.com/i…

Australian Susan  •  Link

"...only there is a most admirable dance at the end, of the ladies, in a military manner, which indeed did please me mightily...."

A vision swam before my eyes of a chorus line of 20th century Principal Boys, with much slapping of rounded thighs..... But, whatever the "military manner" was, Sam enjoyed it so much, he takes Bess the next day.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Or some grand Busby Burkely dance set, with Eleanor Powell in sequined outfit vaguely resembling a military unirorm above the ballerina frillies tapping her way round a chorus of beauties.

Sam snoozing...

Finds himself on stage in favorite gold-lace cuffed suit with straw hat in hat.

Girl chorus clustering round...

"Sir... 'Beautiful girl, what a gorgeous creature...Beautiful girl...'" Hewer hisses from left wing.

Finds Bess to his right in fluffy dress...Frowning at him...

Don't blow my first big break, Sam'l.

"...'Somebody call a preacher...'" Hewer hisses...

Hmmn...Oh, well. Sam taps cane on floor, extends hand to Bess.

"What can I do...But give my heart to you..."

Ooooh...Chorus clusters again...Knipp pulling back at Bess' glare.

***

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Here I saw the Duke of Buckingham sit in Council again, where he was re-admitted, it seems, the last Council-day:"

L&M note on 23 September, when he was restored to the Council and to his place in the Bedchamber. For his disgrace, see http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Sir G. Carteret’s, in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields,...the house that is my Lord’s, which my Lord lets him have:"

The present nos. 57 and 58, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, leased by Sandwich [now apparently sub-let by Carteret?]. (L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"It is “The Storme,” a play of Fletcher’s; which is but so-so, methinks; only there is a most admirable dance at the end, of the ladies, in a military manner"

L&M note this is an addition to the play; none is required by the original text. [Pepys loves the inventions of any Restoration Busby Berkeley!]

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Christine Voth, Lecturer in Medieval Studies at the University of Göttingen, has an article in this week's History Today on information gleaned from ancient medical manuscripts, collectively known as Bald’s Leechbook.

Most of the manuscripts were written before the Norman Conquest of 1066 but the manuscript shows evidence of many readers using it later, in a time when Old English had become the language known today as Middle English, and learning was needed to comprehend it.

Considering this, a surprising number of later medieval readers left their marks on its pages. In the late 12th and early 13th centuries readers started using a mark to indicate a section of interesting text: today's equivalent of highlighting. Nota marks occur throughout Bald's Leechbook, and some chapters have remarkably more, suggesting these were of particular interest to later readers.

The chapter on eye diseases and the dimming of eyesight is one of them. It's reasonable to think that the readers of manuscripts, or those writing or copying manuscripts, would find these medical remedies interesting: failing eyesight due to reading or writing by candlelight was a common ailment in the Middle Ages.

"It was common enough that eyeglasses were invented by the end of the 13th century."

We must have lost the science, or Pepys should have had a pair perched on his nose long ago. For more information on Bald's Leechbook, see

http://www.historytoday.com/chris…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"After this, I walked up and down the Gallery till noon; and here I met with Bishop Fuller, who, to my great joy, is made, which I did not hear before, Bishop of Lincoln."

L&M: William Fuller (Bishop of Limerick) was an old acquaintance of Pepys. The congé d'élire for his appointment to Lincoln was issued on 4 September, and the election held on the 17th: CSPD 1667, p. 466.
----------------
Congé d'élire; Law French: congé d'eslire, "leave" or "permission to choose") is a licence from the Crown in England issued under the great seal to the dean and chapter of the cathedral church of a diocese, authorizing them to elect a bishop or archbishop, as the case may be, upon the vacancy of any episcopal see in England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Con…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Upon this we had much discourse; and I observed therein, to the honour of this City, that I have not heard of one citizen of London broke in all this war, this plague, this fire, and this coming up of the enemy among us;"

L&M: Cf. the similar observation: https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
For the help which the government found it necessary to give to bankers in distress, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... So, it being a mighty wet day and night, I with much ado got a coach, and, with twenty stops which he made, I got him to carry me quite through, and paid dear for it, and so home, ..."

This sounds as if the coachman was picking up people and dropping them off, along something like a bus route. Pepys paid the coachman a hefty tip to be to be dropped off at home, which was off his route.

(On rainy evenings in London I've been in cabs where we did that. Made payment very confusing as it was all on one tab, but everyone got home dry.)

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