Todd Bernhardt

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

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First Reading

About Friday 17 August 1660

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

re: a great deal of business at the Privy Seal

Yep, Paul, mea culpa for basing my assumption on a single data point. Seems as if he'll make some money off the Privy Seal post yet.

As for pig's feet, pickled or otherwise ... they're easy to find in here in Northern Virginia, right outside Washington, D.C., along with some even more unsavory fare (pork brains, anyone?) that my 7-year-old son delights in pointing out to me whenever we shop together. Haven't seen any sheep trotters, though...

About Thursday 16 August 1660

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re: "Nor did it necessarily lead to corruption"

JW, see the language they used -- they're not saying that corruption didn't happen; they're saying that it was not the simple cause-and-effect relationship that we think of today when we think of bribes and corruption. Keep in mind that there was Parlimentary oversight and investigations (some fair, some not, but with such "gifts" or bribes often looked upon as crimes), as Sam will find out several times after the diary ends.

About Sunday 12 August 1660

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Yes, great point, Glyn. But why is Uncle Wight acting like he's been busted by Sam?

Is Uncle Wight not supposed to be out getting a tipple at Mr. Rawlinson's? Maybe some other purpose in mind, or at hand, that he doesn't want Sam to know about...?

And, I'm sorry, but I've got to do this:

With Betty Lane I was exceeding free in dallying
A bit of wine and then to my house in Axe Yard
The situation is getting hard
God bless Nottingham

Betty Lane is in my ...

[apologies to Paul McCartney and to all you readers]

About Saturday 11 August 1660

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"I found by discourse with Mrs. Crisp that he is very jealous of her, for that she is yet very kind to her old servant Meade."

I'm not sure that I quite understand what he's saying here. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

About Saturday 11 August 1660

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Pain in the back not from stones, methinks.

I think Sam may have been right in his prognosis. Look at his original complaint from the day before (including Chip's correction): "I had a great deal of pain all night, and a great looseness upon me so that I could not sleep." Combine some less-than-fresh food (a distinct possibility in those times) along with all that Rhenish wine on the 9th, and you can end up with plenty of back pain and "looseness." (If the word refers to his bowels, as I think it does ... Language Hat, care to weigh in on whether or not that meaning is correct?)

About Join the discussion forum!

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Problem with the digest form of the forum:

I've signed up for the forum, and specified that I want to receive the messages in digest form, but all I get is a single, somewhat-cryptic header in the body of the daily e-mail that's sent to me, rather than a digest of the messages. I checked w/Phil on this and, good egg that he is, he tested and it works fine for him. So, I unsubscribed, and subscribed again, hoping this would fix the problem. It didn't.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem, or has SmartGroups taken a dislike to me? Thanks for any help or suggestions you can provide.

About Sunday 29 July 1660

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Paul, thanks again for the L&M cross references, and for filling in Wheatley's gaps (intentional or otherwise).

About Sunday 22 July 1660

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Sam, maybe that's why he feels the need to read from the Bible and Common Prayer Book later in the day!

And Mary, that's exactly how I read the part about the man getting basted -- it sounds like entrance to the "inward Park" was restricted, and our enterprising friend was punished for bending the rules.

About Friday 20 July 1660

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re: Coldness toward the Joyce(s)

Though I won't argue with Vincent's overall interpretation of the Joyces' nature, I think the real source of coldness may be found in http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… -- here's the operative phrases: "[My wife] she writes word how the Joyces grow very rich and very proud, but it is no matter, and that there was a talk that I should be knighted by the King, which they (the Joyces) laugh at; but I think myself happier in my wife and estate than they are in theirs."

Now, with Sam securely in his new position and house, it's payback time.

About Wednesday 11 July 1660

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Awesome debate!

This is one of the reasons I love this site. Everyone here has just had a very civil (and very interesting, despite the arcane nature of the argument) discussion of whether or not an "r" should be included in a single word, and what ramifications it would have had in the life of a man who lived some 340 years ago. No one got hurt, and I learned a thing or three. I'm impressed.

About Wednesday 4 July 1660

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re: The houses in Seething Lane (with special bonus section on lobsters!)

Nix asks "would the new housing be better or worse than the accommodation in Axe Yard?" According to Tomalin, the housing is much better ... and, over the next few weeks we'll get the added benefit of watching Sam maneuver to get the house he wants, in ways that she calls "both entertaining and shameful." For all of his "great fears" about his situation, Sam does go after what he wants with a stunning singlemindedness.

Lunchtime lobster: It seems that the lobster they would have had for lunch was probably what Americans know as the Maine-style lobster (big, meaty claws), rather than the spiny (or rock) lobster, where the tail meat is the main source of the meal ... all I could find on this was at http://www.hatchery.freeserve.co.…

About Tuesday 26 June 1660

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re: The value of his new position

In response to Glyn's surprise over Pepys' reluctance to jump at the offer of £500, I offer this perspective: If I’m Sam, and someone offers me that amount for a position I’d just obtained but not yet attained — and makes the offer not too long after someone else had offered a substantial sum simply to split the position with me — my estimation of the value of the position goes WAY up. Blimey, thinks I, I’m really on to something here! Two courses from there: A) I’m not letting go of it, or B) Let’s see how high the bidding goes!

About Monday 25 June 1660

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Go, Monty!

If I'm reading this right, Turner and perhaps others have some resentment over Pepys' appointment as Clerk of the Acts, and get Lady Monk to intervene. But Montagu refuses to stand down, instead standing up for his prerogative to appoint Pepys.

A good day for our Sam.

About Sunday 24 June 1660

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Are they having a laugh at Lieut. Lambert's expense?

It sounds to me as if they could be laughing *at* Lambert's letters to Montagu and Pepys, rather than laughing *with* them. Am I reading this use of the word "simple" correctly?

About Friday 22 June 1660

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re: Montagu's earldom

To answer JonTom, I don't think Montagu is Earl of Sandwich just yet. I don't have the Tomalin bio handy, but I remember her mentioning the transition in her book (it's rather jarring, because she refers to Montagu as Sandwich from that point on), and I believe it came after this time.

As for Brad's comment about LBJ, I can only say that I wish that the current Texan in the White House was as competent and erudite as LBJ! Sheesh.

About Tuesday 5 June 1660

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re: £115 vs. £100

Emilio, I think the two amounts are from different sources. If I’m reading the entry correctly, the £115 are possibly state funds that Sam is responsible for (with Montagu’s oversight, hence the sign-off), while the £100 is Sam’s personal wealth.

Like everyone else, I’m charmed that Sam is so proud of crossing the £100 mark -- surely it must have been some benchmark of personal wealth in those times for him to mention it three days in a row.

About Saturday 16 June 1660

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"when God knows it is quite false"

Can anyone elaborate on this exchange? Is Thompson pretending to be "in the know" about something with Sam, while Sam (having been onboard the Nazeby with the King) knows this rumor is "quite false"?

Also, does anyone know more about this "business that I hope to get 5l. by"?

My thanks to all those who are working to keep what we see here as accurate as possible.

About Tuesday 29 May 1660

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re: 20 shillings to drink

Glyn, I can't say for sure, but I'd wager that the money Sam gives away is probably not his own. Maybe Montagu is so pleased by the firing of guns by the townspeople that he asked Pepys to "give them a little something for their trouble" out of the money they'd brought ashore (which Sam may have been holding) to cover any expenses while there...?