Todd Bernhardt

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Todd Bernhardt has posted 946 annotations/comments since 8 January 2003.

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First Reading

About Thursday 5 March 1662/63

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"but I hope by mine to weary him out, for I am resolved to fall to business as hard as I can drive, God giving me health."

All to the King's benefit, this competition. (And, no doubt, to Sam and Penn's as well!)

Having been laid low since Wed. night by a vicious (and viscous) cold, I empathize with "my lord." I was thinking the other day how poorly I would have dealt with the fever, sniffling, headaches, sore throat, etc., without today's little miracles (ibuprofen, antihistamines, etc.)

About Saturday 28 February 1662/63

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"I dined with Sir W. Batten by chance, being in business together about a bargain of New England masts"

Meaning, we know what a fair price is (i.e., what the Navy considers a fair price), and what the seller is selling at (less than that), and intend to pocket the difference?

About Friday 27 February 1662/63

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"and yet I hope the King’s service well done for all this, for I would not that should be hindered by any of our private differences"

The secret of his success...

About Thursday 19 February 1662/63

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"I to my office till twelve at night, drawing out copies of the overcharge of the Navy"

Just think what our boy could have done with a word processor. Of course, then the Diary would have been encrypted with stronger stuff than his code, and we may never have discovered it (especially since these 1's and 0's sometimes seem to be more fragile than paper and leather bindings...)

About Wednesday 18 February 1662/63

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Terry, I think the oversight of the hemp accounts and the "account of the extra charge of the Navy" are two separate efforts today by Sam, with his morning taken up by the former, and the afternoon/evening by the latter (which he and the other officrs started quite some time ago).

About Tuesday 17 February 1662/63

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re: “subtle witty jade”

Susan, it sounds to me as if Sam's estimation of her is growing ... does anyone know what "jade" means in this instance?

Speaking of estimation, Charles has fallen rather far in mine ... the dissection sounds like a truly barbaric act, regardless of whether or not it was his own son. Jeannine, has that story (the dissection) been confirmed?

About Monday 16 February 1662/63

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"though upon my conscience not one of the Committee, besides the parties concerned, do understand what they do therein, whether they give too much or too little."

An opportunity for "the parties concerned" to turn a bit of profit, methinks ... does Samuel count himself among them? I remember him expressing confusion about the affair, I think.

Also -- interesting to see how self-interest can lead to religious "tolerance." Whatever works, I suppose!

About Wednesday 11 February 1662/63

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re: Mennes' motives

Terry, I think that Sam's beliefs about "bad blood between them" go back to the time when Sam was "improving" his house, and there were disagreements between them about who would get which room, who was blocking whose light, etc...

Sam has always seemed suspicious of Mennes, but it's been hard for me (with the Diary as my only view) to see exactly why. But he sure doesn't like him. Perhaps he fears his influence, and feels he has little control over him?

About Sunday 8 February 1662/63

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re: Dropped Baby

Thanks, Jeannine, that makes more sense. I had had visions of Monty Python and the "Every Sperm Is Sacred" scene from "The Meaning of Life" when I first read this.

The fact that "the father/mother would secretly smuggle the child away..." is, of course, the basis of many a story or novel from that time. Like most stories, there's a basis in truth.

Michael R, you're correct in pointing out the difference between gossip and truth, but the thing that struck me after reading Jeannine's article was how close to the truth Ferrers' account was!

About Sunday 8 February 1662/63

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re: the dropped child

So, is it correct to say that this stillborn child (who "was dropped by one of the ladies in dancing") actually was delivered while Ms. Wells was dancing?

I second Phil's imperative about Jeannine's article -- very enlightening and impressive work!

Love the scene in the ordinary ... can't you just see Creed and Sam exchanging looks while the Parliament men rail on about "the errours and corruption of the Navy"? But it sounds as if he was very politic in his response.

I wonder what Sam has come down with?

About Saturday 7 February 1662/63

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re: Table of Contents or Index?

Terry, as someone who's done both, I can say with certainty that the latter is *much* harder to do manually than the former. Thank goodness for computers.

That said, it's a good question -- Bradford, do L&M give any guidance as to whether it was an index or TOC?

About Tuesday 3 February 1662/63

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Maybe it's a matter of once-burned, twice-shy? Maybe he's being extra careful and making sure all the pragmatic concerns are covered before seeing if anyone even gets along or not...

About Saturday 31 January 1662/63

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re: less and fewer

Yep, like so many things in English, this isn't a hard and fast rule -- rather, it's a matter of which style you agree on and decide to follow. I like the Associated Press Style Book, which deals with such issues in a newsy, commonsense way. They say:
__________________________

"In general, use 'fewer' for individual items, 'less' for bulk or quantity.

Wrong: 'The trend is toward more machines and less people.' (People in this sense refers to individuals.)

Wrong: 'She was fewer than 60 years old.' (Years in this sense refers to a period of time, not individual years.) [So they disagree with Baker, whom LH quotes above.]

Right: 'Fewer than 10 applicants called.' (Individuals)

Right: 'I had less than $50 in my pocket.' (An amount.) But: 'I had fewer than 50 $1 bills in my pocket.' (Individual items.)"
__________________________

Re: the Thurber quote above, he's clearly using 14 months as a discrete block of time, so I'd say that usage is correct.

As in all things style-based, the important thing is consistency. If you're going to be "wrong," be wrong all the time! (Must ... not ... make joke about the current administration...)

About Monday 2 February 1662/63

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re: the lusty young tailor

Speaking of "other feelings," could anyone shed light on what exactly Sam means when he describes Cumberland as "a lusty young man"? Is he referring to Cumberland's desire to enjoy life to the fullest, or to certain proclivities?

About Monday 2 February 1662/63

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re: "perhaps filling a void"

Jeannine, I think you're right about the servants being part of the family ... Sam does feel fatherly toward Jane sometimes, but let's remember he's also had, um, "other feelings" for her:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/archive…

Perhaps this also has something to do with fighting back the tears?

About Monday 2 February 1662/63

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Coventry's advice to Sam is interesting and valuable -- from reading Tomalin, it looks as if Sam will take it to heart and use it to guide him in future years. The trick, of course, is getting to the point where you're "secured from fear of want," so you can do "business truly and justly," even though it may mean thwarting others greater than yourself.

About Friday 30 January 1662/63

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Now, now ... I don't take it that way. In fact, I really enjoy the frank discourse we're able to have here. There are times LH and others have had the forthrightedness (is that a word?) to steer the discussion away from some of the far-away shores we tend to veer toward, but I applaud that, and have never taken it as intellectual bullying or anything along those lines.

Let me go all Pollyanna-ish on yo' asses for a bit here -- I've found the annotators on this site, and the community that has grown up here, to be really intelligent, generous, kind, and patient. And I'd say that even if I didn't have the backdrop of the Wild Wild Internet to compare it to. Except for some scraps early on with Hhe Who Must Not Be Named (inside joke for the vets, that), I think we've gotten on remarkably well, and I look forward to my visits. I *always* learn something here, and there are very few places in life that I can dependably say that about.

About Sunday 1 February 1662/63

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I think Jeannine has this one pegged. The relationship with Sarah ended badly, and Sam is telling Jane in this entry that he doesn't want their relationship to end the same way.

Furthermore, it sounds as if he's giving her another chance, but she won't submit "herself, for some words she spoke boldly and yet I believe innocently and out of familiarity to her mistress about us weeks ago."

Mr. Hamilton asks a good question, but I doubt Sam would have put Wayneman away and gotten a new boy without writing about it. I remember him writing about an arrangement to send Wayneman away, but I forget the timing (and am too lazy to look it up) ... certainly it must be in the (near?) future. Odd that they would send Jane away before Wayneman, but perhaps because she's older they know she can fend for herself (and then some!)