Sasha Clarkson

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Sasha Clarkson has posted 752 annotations/comments since 16 February 2013.

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Second Reading

About Sunday 24 June 1660

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Simple letters from "our" Lieut Lambert.....

Pepys was loyal to his friends, and he liked and trusted Lambert. We soon know when he has a low opinion of someone. I think they were laughing with him rather than at him, a "simple" pleasure perhaps. The language of Pepys' day is closely related to ours, but not the same: one must be careful not to interpret it anachronistically. :)

About Friday 22 June 1660

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"Social acceptance was not always forthcoming for the recently ennobled."
..... and George Villiers, first Duke of Buckingham was certainly a case in point. Hardly out of the top drawer himself, he owed his advancement to the fondness of James I & VI for the company of attractive young men. According to Wiki, he married the daughter of the 6th Earl of Rutland, Lady Katherine Manners, "despite the objections of her father."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geor…

His son George, the second Duke was a favourite of Charles II, but was a treacherous and vindictive libertine, who did an immense amount of damage to the reputation of King and Court.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geor…

About Monday 18 June 1660

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Re Mountagu absenting himself from Parliament. Many former Commonwealth men switched their loyalties to the new regime: William Prynne (Mr Pryn) being prominent amongst them. But Mountagu might well not have wanted to be seen voting for the punishment of regicides at the same time as receiving his own plaudits and honours.

Changing sides might not have been a big deal, but having a part in the revenge might well have felt and looked bad. In those troubled and turbulent times, Mountagu was a man of moderation.

About Sunday 17 June 1660

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

An end to authoritarian rule? After 350 years, do we really need to refight the battles of the 1600s with crude and inaccurate propaganda! Most of us are intelligent enough to know some of the facts and check the rest!

What he get instead of militant puritanism is militant Anglicanism, tithes, the Test Act, Act of Uniformity, more religious persecution than for two decades, etc etc etc. As for Barbara Palmer (nee Villiers), although her time would come soon, I'm not sure whether she was ensconced in court yet. But, beauty or not, her influence on Charles and his court was thoroughly malign. The diarist John Evelyn described her as "The curse of the nation". Others, even Pepys, were more crude!

http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

About Wednesday 6 June 1660

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

William Laud was not "executed for his beliefs". He himself persecuted those, like William Prynne and Bishop Williams, with a different opinion. With Strafford, he encouraged the King's worst excesses, including ship money and the "Bishops Wars" against Scotland. His personal arrogance and manner gave him a gift for making enemies even amongst the King's natural supporters.

In the end his execution was because he he had become a pawn, (or rather a bishop), in the civil war he had done so much to help provoke.

About Saturday 2 June 1660

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"my Lord being now to sit in the House of Peers he endeavours to get Mr. Edward Montagu for Weymouth"

Have I missed something, or is this the first mention by Pepys of "my Lord" being given a peerage?

About Friday 1 June 1660

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Interesting that as one servant appears to have been left out of the gratuities, the others club together to see him all right.

About Tuesday 29 May 1660

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Graham T
The Sun can never appear OVERHEAD further north than the tropic of Cancer, But it certainly rises in the North-East in Summer, and sets in the North-West, due to the tilt of the Earth's axis - exactly as Stephen Middleton said. If this were not the case, you wouldn't have the midnight sun inside the Arctic Circle.

Incidentally, the full moon rises/sets in summer, exactly where the sun rises/sets in winter, and vice-versa, 180° from the sunset/rise, and GMT +12 from the time rise/set time in the opposite season.

About Tuesday 15 May 1660

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

"...I saw the ministers that come along with the Commissioners ... sadly dipped."

No hint of Schadenfreude then? ;)

About Sunday 13 May 1660

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It is understandable that Charles objected to any of the insignia of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, but there was no reason for him to object to the subjugation of Ireland per se, as subjugation had always been part of English policy. This aimed to exploit the country as a potential source of revenue (and land for Royal supporters), and also prevent it being used as a base by England's continental enemies.

Before James II & VII, the last reigning monarch to set foot in Ireland had been Richard II, though he was accompanied by the future Henry V.

Like most contemporary monarchs, the Stuart Kings were always more concerned about their personal rights and dignities than they were about peace, justice or the well-being of their subjects. Their assorted peoples and territories were never more than chess-pieces to be used, and if necessary sacrificed.

About Thursday 10 May 1660

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Re "County" Durham. Perhaps the unique designation (in England) is because of Durham's special status, established by the Normans, as a county Palatine ruled by a prince-bishop? This continued until 1836. "County" derives from French "comté", whereas shire derives from the Anglo-Saxon "scir".

About Saturday 5 May 1660

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Think of "Dread" as magisterially inspiring both awe and fear. "Ivan the Dread" is generally regarded by Russophiles to be a far better translation of 'Ivan Grozny', than "Ivan the Terrible".

In the English context, imagine the dread sight of an Old Bailey judge in full regalia wearing the black cap as a sign of his authority to impose the death sentence.

About Thursday 3 May 1660

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"Legal Authority"?

In the end this has always boiled down to the power of the sword and/or the consent of the governed, as was shown in 1066, 1485, 1688, etc. Law cannot exist in the absence of consent, or a framework to enforce it.

It reminds me of a conversation I heard up in co Durham once:

"That was niver a goal ref!" ... "Tha look in the 'Football Mail' on Saturday, and see whether it was a goal or not."