Is Pepys saying here that the late Lord Treasurer was too quick to settle valid debts / claims to the disadvantage of the Crown? I don't understand why he would take that view.
Some interesting diary entries after brief offerings of late. Putting aside the important business of the day and his genning up on what constitutes treason, Sam, by prior arrangement, is jamming with two renowned composers. He is disdainful of the mean musique they make and of the Frenchman's virtuosity on the theorbo. I wonder what they made of his efforts. And it's only two days since he renewed his vows and he has the girl combing his head before bed. What is he thinking of? Where is Elizabeth?
"Thence home, and there to my chamber, and do begin anew to bind myself to keep my old vows, and among the rest not to see a play till Christmas but once in every other week, and have laid aside 10l., which is to be lost to the poor, if I do. This I hope in God will bind me, for I do find myself mightily wronged in my reputation, and indeed in my purse and business, by my late following of my pleasure for so long time as I have done."
I wonder what's eating Sam. Apart from his play going, and where's the sin in that, the Protectorate being long gone, he seems to have walked the line. What aspects of his reputation have been wronged, and by whom, that he needs to renew his vows? And why have they affected his purse? Has Sam been leaving matters of a personal nature out of his diary? Anyway the prospect of losing £10 to the poor should steel his resolve.
As often happens even the briefest of Sam's diary entries leads to the most interesting and insightful annotations. The link is to a performance of the Echo Duet.
I had read that but that doesn't seem like much of a defence. Why couldn't procedures have been put in place to pay the men at the docks. How had men been paid before somebody came up with the bright idea of tickets?
"about the business of discharging men by ticket,"
I, like Fern 10 years ago (to the day! My, how time flies!) am confused by this issue. Had money been available to pay the men and if so who had had it? Should it have been ring fenced by the Navy Board? Had they misappropriated it, greased wheels with it, or was there simply not enough money to cover all their legitimate costs? Coventry and Bruncker are at pains to avoid telling the whole truth for fear of implicating themselves, but in what?
Yet a couple of the annotations say Mildmay died in Antwerp on his way to prison in Tangier in early 1664 (his paperwork was done in March). I think Pepys is wrong -- no convicted Regicides died at home in their beds. As to Antwerp, I'd love to know where they got that information. Pepys should know -- he's paying for the shipping and must see the manifests. Yet another puzzle.
Wikipedia says he died in Tangiers in 1664. The reference note attributes this detail to Andrew Thrush, https://www.historyofparliamenton…
"did go with Sir W. Pen to my Lady Batten, whom I had not seen since she was a widow, which she took unkindly, but I did excuse it"
There are 720 references to Batten in the diary, only a few posthumously, and 143 to his wife, but barely an acknowledgment by Sam of his death. It seems strange to me and no wonder Lady B took it unkindly that he only puts in an appearance after the funeral. Extremely magnanimous of Sam though to excuse her for this. And I excuse him too. He had weightier matters on his mind, the bags of gold.
An alternative view: Hail thou inspiring plant! Thou balm of life, Well might thy worth engage two nations' strife; Exhaustless fountain of Britannia's wealth; Thou friend of wisdom and thou source of health. -from an early tobacco label
Thanks Sarah. I can see that after 17+ years of the diary there will hardly be a stone left unturned. Your navigation tips will come in handy as, you've guessed it, I'm a newcomer..
"All the others mentioned from the Office (Minnes, Batten, Pen, Coventry) are knights. Does anyone know or can hazard a view as to why our hero never became Sir Samuel Pepys for his services to the navy?"
I'm hazarding a view. This doesn't answer your question specifically but I read in Chapter 2 of Charles Frith's biography of Cromwell (Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans) that Charles I instigated or enforced a law that anyone with an estate valued at more than £40 pa.was obliged to take up a knighthood and fines of £170,000 were levied on those who didn't. This was one of a few of his fund raising ideas which didn't go down too well. Pepys may have been too young or too poor for this law to be applied to him. The other Sirs mentioned are older.
"I did offer my part to him for 700l.. With a little beating the bargain, we come to a perfect agreement for 666l. 13s. 4d., which is two-thirds of 1000l., which is my proportion of the prize."
Is it known what the total value of the prize prize was? Sam apparently knows his share already, it's presumably a fixed sum which comes out of the Lord High Admirals's 1/10th share. Were his many concerns subsequently realised and do we find out later if Sam comes to regret this deal with Batten?
And thank you to Terry and Sarah for your replies. I had probably wrongly detected a sense of Sam's pride in his wife and the hat. Sam does maintain a formality throughout the diary. His prefacing with "My Lord" / "My Lady" and "Sir" seems unnecessary in a personal diary written in shorthand.
"I bet you've got a couple of books you don't have on open display."
Thank you Sarah, much appreciated, and had me searching my shelves. Sam doesn't say how he came to see the book, whether Will has left it on his coffee table or slipped him a view surreptitiously. From what I read in the Encyclopedia link the book is favourable to Cromwell at first but not so after he becomes Protector.
I love these days out and enjoy Sam's pleasures in all around him vicariously, though I would have had to pass on some of the courses - he has a mighty constitution. Presumably the day is pre-planned though I haven't picked up on any plans being made in earlier entries. I wonder about "The Life of O. Cromwell" and how it would be considered to own a copy in those early days after the interregnum. And Sam's reference to "my wife" as opposed to giving her a pet name in the diary. Is that typical?
An excellent and enjoyable Day Trippers' journal. A timely digression from the worries of the office. Sam's attempts to beat the traffic are thwarted by his wife's dressing up for the day in prospect. Fortunately for her she remembers the booze. Four horses to pull the coach seems a lot for such a slow paced journey. To drink 4 pints of the waters must have had him disappearing behind every other tree for a pee, not to mention the stools, and then he drinks a belly full of milk. How unusual was it I wonder for a shepherd's boy to be able to read, or to have a copy of the bible? And Sam's considerations on the merits and demerits of purchasing a holiday retreat could have been written today.
Comments
Second Reading
About Monday 18 November 1667
Harry R • Link
- "but it was in his manner to the King’s wrong."
Is Pepys saying here that the late Lord Treasurer was too quick to settle valid debts / claims to the disadvantage of the Crown? I don't understand why he would take that view.
About Friday 15 November 1667
Harry R • Link
Some interesting diary entries after brief offerings of late. Putting aside the important business of the day and his genning up on what constitutes treason, Sam, by prior arrangement, is jamming with two renowned composers. He is disdainful of the mean musique they make and of the Frenchman's virtuosity on the theorbo. I wonder what they made of his efforts. And it's only two days since he renewed his vows and he has the girl combing his head before bed. What is he thinking of? Where is Elizabeth?
About Wednesday 13 November 1667
Harry R • Link
"Thence home, and there to my chamber, and do begin anew to bind myself to keep my old vows, and among the rest not to see a play till Christmas but once in every other week, and have laid aside 10l., which is to be lost to the poor, if I do. This I hope in God will bind me, for I do find myself mightily wronged in my reputation, and indeed in my purse and business, by my late following of my pleasure for so long time as I have done."
I wonder what's eating Sam. Apart from his play going, and where's the sin in that, the Protectorate being long gone, he seems to have walked the line. What aspects of his reputation have been wronged, and by whom, that he needs to renew his vows? And why have they affected his purse? Has Sam been leaving matters of a personal nature out of his diary? Anyway the prospect of losing £10 to the poor should steel his resolve.
About Friday 8 November 1667
Harry R • Link
More daylight in the office might ease Sam's eyesight problems though he doesn't mention this is a benefit.
About Thursday 7 November 1667
Harry R • Link
As often happens even the briefest of Sam's diary entries leads to the most interesting and insightful annotations. The link is to a performance of the Echo Duet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0…
About Tuesday 29 October 1667
Harry R • Link
I had read that but that doesn't seem like much of a defence. Why couldn't procedures have been put in place to pay the men at the docks. How had men been paid before somebody came up with the bright idea of tickets?
About Tuesday 29 October 1667
Harry R • Link
"about the business of discharging men by ticket,"
I, like Fern 10 years ago (to the day! My, how time flies!) am confused by this issue. Had money been available to pay the men and if so who had had it? Should it have been ring fenced by the Navy Board? Had they misappropriated it, greased wheels with it, or was there simply not enough money to cover all their legitimate costs? Coventry and Bruncker are at pains to avoid telling the whole truth for fear of implicating themselves, but in what?
About Sir Robert Brooke (MP Aldeburgh, Suffolk)
Harry R • Link
Yet a couple of the annotations say Mildmay died in Antwerp on his way to prison in Tangier in early 1664 (his paperwork was done in March). I think Pepys is wrong -- no convicted Regicides died at home in their beds. As to Antwerp, I'd love to know where they got that information. Pepys should know -- he's paying for the shipping and must see the manifests. Yet another puzzle.
Wikipedia says he died in Tangiers in 1664. The reference note attributes this detail to Andrew Thrush, https://www.historyofparliamenton…
About Saturday 12 October 1667
Harry R • Link
"did go with Sir W. Pen to my Lady Batten, whom I had not seen since she was a widow, which she took unkindly, but I did excuse it"
There are 720 references to Batten in the diary, only a few posthumously, and 143 to his wife, but barely an acknowledgment by Sam of his death. It seems strange to me and no wonder Lady B took it unkindly that he only puts in an appearance after the funeral. Extremely magnanimous of Sam though to excuse her for this. And I excuse him too. He had weightier matters on his mind, the bags of gold.
About Thursday 19 September 1667
Harry R • Link
lifted: 1617
Tobacco that outlandish weede etc.
An alternative view:
Hail thou inspiring plant! Thou balm of life,
Well might thy worth engage two nations' strife;
Exhaustless fountain of Britannia's wealth;
Thou friend of wisdom and thou source of health.
-from an early tobacco label
https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/hi…
About Thursday 15 August 1667
Harry R • Link
Thanks Sarah. I can see that after 17+ years of the diary there will hardly be a stone left unturned. Your navigation tips will come in handy as, you've guessed it, I'm a newcomer..
About Thursday 15 August 1667
Harry R • Link
"All the others mentioned from the Office (Minnes, Batten, Pen, Coventry) are knights. Does anyone know or can hazard a view as to why our hero never became Sir Samuel Pepys for his services to the navy?"
I'm hazarding a view. This doesn't answer your question specifically but I read in Chapter 2 of Charles Frith's biography of Cromwell (Oliver Cromwell and the Rule of the Puritans) that Charles I instigated or enforced a law that anyone with an estate valued at more than £40 pa.was obliged to take up a knighthood and fines of £170,000 were levied on those who didn't. This was one of a few of his fund raising ideas which didn't go down too well. Pepys may have been too young or too poor for this law to be applied to him. The other Sirs mentioned are older.
About Wednesday 14 August 1667
Harry R • Link
"I did offer my part to him for 700l.. With a little beating the bargain, we come to a perfect agreement for 666l. 13s. 4d., which is two-thirds of 1000l., which is my proportion of the prize."
Is it known what the total value of the prize prize was? Sam apparently knows his share already, it's presumably a fixed sum which comes out of the Lord High Admirals's 1/10th share. Were his many concerns subsequently realised and do we find out later if Sam comes to regret this deal with Batten?
About Sunday 11 August 1667
Harry R • Link
"My wife"
And thank you to Terry and Sarah for your replies. I had probably wrongly detected a sense of Sam's pride in his wife and the hat. Sam does maintain a formality throughout the diary. His prefacing with "My Lord" / "My Lady" and "Sir" seems unnecessary in a personal diary written in shorthand.
About Sunday 11 August 1667
Harry R • Link
"I bet you've got a couple of books you don't have on open display."
Thank you Sarah, much appreciated, and had me searching my shelves. Sam doesn't say how he came to see the book, whether Will has left it on his coffee table or slipped him a view surreptitiously. From what I read in the Encyclopedia link the book is favourable to Cromwell at first but not so after he becomes Protector.
About Sunday 11 August 1667
Harry R • Link
I love these days out and enjoy Sam's pleasures in all around him vicariously, though I would have had to pass on some of the courses - he has a mighty constitution. Presumably the day is pre-planned though I haven't picked up on any plans being made in earlier entries. I wonder about "The Life of O. Cromwell" and how it would be considered to own a copy in those early days after the interregnum. And Sam's reference to "my wife" as opposed to giving her a pet name in the diary. Is that typical?
About Sunday 14 July 1667
Harry R • Link
An excellent and enjoyable Day Trippers' journal. A timely digression from the worries of the office. Sam's attempts to beat the traffic are thwarted by his wife's dressing up for the day in prospect. Fortunately for her she remembers the booze. Four horses to pull the coach seems a lot for such a slow paced journey. To drink 4 pints of the waters must have had him disappearing behind every other tree for a pee, not to mention the stools, and then he drinks a belly full of milk. How unusual was it I wonder for a shepherd's boy to be able to read, or to have a copy of the bible? And Sam's considerations on the merits and demerits of purchasing a holiday retreat could have been written today.
About Friday 5 July 1667
Harry R • Link
"Sjoerd. Ow shoot!"
Must be this.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/…