A doubly re-laxing day -- down to the basement he went and "danced [his] dance" (so another diarist, of himself, in "The Secret Diary William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712") ; he, on his way up, passes her as she descends to the basement where is what the Good Book called "a summer parlour" (Judges 3:20, KJV) http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/k…
Do we presume Elizabeth was purging because (a) she hadn't done it for a while, and it was believed cleansing the innards from time to time was good to do (?); and (b) it offered marital sociability aspect on a day that the shops are closed.
Cp. today's "Sicke"* day with last 7 October 1663 and notes
"They wrought in the morning, and I did keep my bed, and my pain continued on me mightily that I kept within all day in great pain, and could break no wind nor have any stool after my physic had done working. So in the evening I took coach and to Mr. Holliard's, but he was not at home, and so home again, and whether the coach did me good or no I know not ... So to bed and lay in good ease all night, and ... pretty well to the morning." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
*L&M have this in the margin, as Pepys writ. He keeps track, rubricating thus (it's a red-level day).
The ability to break wind seems to be an important sign of health to Pepys, so oft does he note its lack as a symptom of illness. Did he fart regularly? Did everyone? How might that have colored the social intercourse? When you went to the doctor with a tad colic, would he have asked for a sample?
"There was also in the Commons' House a great quarrel about Mr. Prin, and it was believed that he should ave been sent to the Towre"
---- Improper Alteration of a Bill.
Sir Edward Walpoole reports from the Committee appointed to examine the Abuse in altering the Bill against Vintners, and Retailers of Ale and Beer, That the Committee had examined the Matter, and heard Mr. Pryn; and did find, the Bill, after it was committed, was altered in several Particulars; and a Bill, new-writ, brought to the Committee, differing from the Bill committed.
And the Matter being thereupon debated;
Mr. Pryn being in his Place, and acknowledging his Error and Mistake in altering the Bill; and professing, That he did not do it out of any ill Intent, but to rectify some Matters mistaken in it, and make the Bill agree with the Sense of the House upon Debate of the Bill when it was committed, (fn. [a]) and that the Committee were acquainted therewith; and craving the Pardon of the House for his Error and Mistake in this Matter;
And being withdrawn; and the Matter debated;
It was Resolved, That Mr. Pryn be called into his Place; and be reprehended for his Error by Mr. Speaker: and have the Pardon of the House.
And Mr. Pryn being called in; Mr. Speaker did acquaint him, That the House was very sensible of this great Mistake, in so antient and knowing a Member, to break so essential an Order of the House, as to alter and interline a Bill after Commitment: But the House had considered of his Answer and Submission; and were content to remit the Offence.
Mr. Pryn did again acknowledge his Error; and returned Thanks to the House for their great Favour towards him.
From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 13 May 1664', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8: 1660-1667 (1802), pp. 563-64. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…. Date accessed: 12 May 2007.
------------ Modern Times, and we have a 343-year old secularized Sacrament of Penance as it is still practiced for the tabloids: The efficacious apology as, in effect, the Confession of fault following regret, if not exactly Contrition; followed by rehab, aka penance (more anciently Satisfaction). What might Pryn have done for rehab? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacr…
Pepys's report of this conference may be the only one there is, since it took place in between the Houses of Parliament and is recorded in the Journal of neither.
Dave, my instinct too, and I similarly remarked on SP's youth on a previous occasion. It was observed in reply that 31 years old then was not what it is now, that he'd mixed comfortably with men of status, held positions of great responsibility in the Navy Office, etc., had displayed the sharp elbows and cunning of a veteran of office-political scrimmages, etc. Might it likewise be observed that Elizabeth appears to have been navigating the social waters with skill and independence, etc., without reducing the admiration that's been accorded her for her handling of Uncle Wight's proposition?
"My wife sick of those in bed." (L&M) -- and her husband sick of those who had come at noon and dined with and chatted with and shmoozed with, with --..., well, with him, -- he-who-has-other-priorities-thanks-goodbye (early avatar of the White Rabbit).
Uncle Wight propositions the wife of Pepys, Solicitor for his client, Maes
"Mr. Maes's business" was introduced to Pepys by the would-be father of his child, Uncle Wight, Maes's merchant patron.
4 February 1663/64: "comes my uncle Wight and Mr. Maes with the state of their case, which he told me very discreetly, and I believe is a very hard one"
10 February 1663/64 SP quite by accident hears the backstory of some mercantile flim-flam and comes to "understand Mr. Maes' business better than...before." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
12 February 1663/64: "hearing that my uncle Wight had been at my house, I went to him to the Miter, and there with him and Maes, Norbury, and Mr. Rawlinson till late"
16 February 1663/64: "my uncle Wight and Mr. Maes came to me, and after discourse about Maes' business to supper very merry"
1 March 1663/64: "my uncle Wight...told me how Mr. Maes had like to have been trapanned yesterday, but was forced to run for it;"
--- Whatever "Mr. Maes's business" is, we have so far not been told what Pepys's interest in it is. It does seem to license his hanging around the House of Lords.
Robert Gertz's psychdramas exploring motives do touch a possible Pepys nerve or two on occasion -- some interpretation of the text being conjectural, his 'dramas' self-consciously and transparently, which some of us count a virtue.
"Wonder what convinced ol' Unc that the time was right to bring up the subject?"
Had Elizabeth's presence at the recent series of Pepys family funerals, lastly Judith Scott, caught his eye and he shared Samuel's dismal line of thought?
26 April 1664: "My wife gone this afternoon to the buriall of my she-cozen Scott, a good woman; and it is a sad consideration how the Pepys's decay, and nobody almost that I know in a present way of encreasing them." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
"In a variety of ways Early Modern nations were police states...."
England would perhaos have been a successful exception earlier, but for the threats of mass destruction (the Gunpowder Plot) and insurrection -- the Civil War, the Fifth Monarchists out there somewhere in the countryside....
Good question, Robert. Transparency is the first matter -- to regulate the communications technology, get an exhaustive inventory of presses -- insist on the usual guild protection of trade secrets and "quality control" -- for which the wardens of the Stationers Company were responsible -- to get to the actors and the content. Following the link to 28 Apr 1662, the Act adopted that day notes the wanton printing of what may lead to civil disquiet, "For prevention whereof no surer meanes can be advised then by reducing and limiting the number of Printing Presses and by ordering and setling the said Art or Mystery of Printing by Act of Parliament in manner as herein after is expressed." Et cetera.
This echoes earlier laws and decrees, e.g., the Decree in Star Chamber Concerning Printers (1585) that specifies in part "that no printer of books nor any other person or persons whatsoever shall set up, keep, or maintain any press or presses ... , but only in the city of London or the suburbs thereof (except one press in the university of Cambridge and one other press in the university of Oxford and no more); and that no person shall hereafter erect, set up, or maintain in any secret or obscure corner or place any such press ... , but that the same shall be in such open place or places in his or their houses as the wardens of the said company of stationers for the time being, or such other person or persons as by the said wardens shall be thereunto appointed, may from time to time have ready access unto to search for and view the same." http://www.constitution.org/sech/…
In a variety of ways Early Modern nations were police states, -- we've remarked, have been confronted most often on conformity in religion -- and in England the Wardens of the Stationers Company were part of the police apparatus. No wonder the US Constitution's Bill of Rights includes in its first article: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom...of the press;...."
Bill to continue the Act for regulating the Press.
Hodie 2a vice lecta est Billa, "An Act for Continuance of a former Act for regulating the Press."
ORDERED, That the Consideration of this Bill is committed to these Lords following: (7 Temporal, 14 Ecclesiastical)
From: 'House of Lords Journal Volume 11: 10 May 1664', Journal of the House of Lords: volume 11: 1660-1666, pp. 611-12. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/… Date accessed: 11 May 2007. (To use CGS' link, delete the trailing dot.)
The "former Act" was the Licensing of the Press Act 1662, which contained a 'sunset provision' after two years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lice…
Comments
First Reading
About Sunday 15 May 1664
Terry F • Link
A doubly re-laxing day -- down to the basement he went and "danced [his] dance" (so another diarist, of himself, in "The Secret Diary William Byrd of Westover, 1709-1712") ; he, on his way up, passes her as she descends to the basement where is what the Good Book called "a summer parlour" (Judges 3:20, KJV) http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/k/k…
Do we presume Elizabeth was purging because (a) she hadn't done it for a while, and it was believed cleansing the innards from time to time was good to do (?); and (b) it offered marital sociability aspect on a day that the shops are closed.
About Saturday 14 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Cp. today's "Sicke"* day with last 7 October 1663 and notes
"They wrought in the morning, and I did keep my bed, and my pain continued on me mightily that I kept within all day in great pain, and could break no wind nor have any stool after my physic had done working. So in the evening I took coach and to Mr. Holliard's, but he was not at home, and so home again, and whether the coach did me good or no I know not ... So to bed and lay in good ease all night, and ... pretty well to the morning."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
*L&M have this in the margin, as Pepys writ. He keeps track, rubricating thus (it's a red-level day).
About Saturday 14 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"No wind could I break."
The ability to break wind seems to be an important sign of health to Pepys, so oft does he note its lack as a symptom of illness. Did he fart regularly? Did everyone? How might that have colored the social intercourse? When you went to the doctor with a tad colic, would he have asked for a sample?
The domestic sounds of the 17th century come again into play: here some preserved sounds of withdrawing-room decay:
http://www.adultswim.com/shows/as…
Mark Twin's "1601" comes to mind again (mine, & it must be limited): http://mark-twain.classic-literat…
About William Prynne (MP Bath, Somerset)
Terry F • Link
William Prynne article in two online encyclopedias:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will…
About Edmund Waller (MP Hastings)
Terry F • Link
Edmund Waller, FRS (March 3, 1606 - October 21, 1687), English poet and Politician. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmu…
About Friday 13 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"nothing is done...out of any truth and sincerity, but mere envy and design."
I am shocked, shocked to hear that interest, faction and, well, politics prevail in Parliament!
About Friday 13 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"There was also in the Commons' House a great quarrel about Mr. Prin, and it was believed that he should ave been sent to the Towre"
----
Improper Alteration of a Bill.
Sir Edward Walpoole reports from the Committee appointed to examine the Abuse in altering the Bill against Vintners, and Retailers of Ale and Beer, That the Committee had examined the Matter, and heard Mr. Pryn; and did find, the Bill, after it was committed, was altered in several Particulars; and a Bill, new-writ, brought to the Committee, differing from the Bill committed.
And the Matter being thereupon debated;
Mr. Pryn being in his Place, and acknowledging his Error and Mistake in altering the Bill; and professing, That he did not do it out of any ill Intent, but to rectify some Matters mistaken in it, and make the Bill agree with the Sense of the House upon Debate of the Bill when it was committed, (fn. [a]) and that the Committee were acquainted therewith; and craving the Pardon of the House for his Error and Mistake in this Matter;
And being withdrawn; and the Matter debated;
It was Resolved, That Mr. Pryn be called into his Place; and be reprehended for his Error by Mr. Speaker: and have the Pardon of the House.
And Mr. Pryn being called in; Mr. Speaker did acquaint him, That the House was very sensible of this great Mistake, in so antient and knowing a Member, to break so essential an Order of the House, as to alter and interline a Bill after Commitment: But the House had considered of his Answer and Submission; and were content to remit the Offence.
Mr. Pryn did again acknowledge his Error; and returned Thanks to the House for their great Favour towards him.
From: 'House of Commons Journal Volume 8: 13 May 1664', Journal of the House of Commons: volume 8: 1660-1667 (1802), pp. 563-64. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…. Date accessed: 12 May 2007.
------------
Modern Times, and we have a 343-year old secularized Sacrament of Penance as it is still practiced for the tabloids: The efficacious apology as, in effect, the Confession of fault following regret, if not exactly Contrition; followed by rehab, aka penance (more anciently Satisfaction). What might Pryn have done for rehab? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacr…
About Friday 13 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"In the Painted Chamber I heard a fine conference between some of the two Houses upon the Bill for Conventicles. "
"the Painted Chamber "
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Pepys's report of this conference may be the only one there is, since it took place in between the Houses of Parliament and is recorded in the Journal of neither.
About Wednesday 11 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"Elizabeth was only 24 at this time...."
Dave, my instinct too, and I similarly remarked on SP's youth on a previous occasion. It was observed in reply that 31 years old then was not what it is now, that he'd mixed comfortably with men of status, held positions of great responsibility in the Navy Office, etc., had displayed the sharp elbows and cunning of a veteran of office-political scrimmages, etc. Might it likewise be observed that Elizabeth appears to have been navigating the social waters with skill and independence, etc., without reducing the admiration that's been accorded her for her handling of Uncle Wight's proposition?
About Thursday 12 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"My wife sick of those in bed." (L&M) -- and her husband sick of those who had come at noon and dined with and chatted with and shmoozed with, with --..., well, with him, -- he-who-has-other-priorities-thanks-goodbye (early avatar of the White Rabbit).
About Wednesday 11 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Uncle Wight propositions the wife of Pepys, Solicitor for his client, Maes
"Mr. Maes's business" was introduced to Pepys by the would-be father of his child, Uncle Wight, Maes's merchant patron.
4 February 1663/64: "comes my uncle Wight and Mr. Maes with the state of their case, which he told me very discreetly, and I believe is a very hard one"
10 February 1663/64 SP quite by accident hears the backstory of some mercantile flim-flam and comes to "understand Mr. Maes' business better than...before." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
12 February 1663/64: "hearing that my uncle Wight had been at my house, I went to him to the Miter, and there with him and Maes, Norbury, and Mr. Rawlinson till late"
16 February 1663/64: "my uncle Wight and Mr. Maes came to me, and after discourse about Maes' business to supper very merry"
1 March 1663/64: "my uncle Wight...told me how Mr. Maes had like to have been trapanned yesterday, but was forced to run for it;"
---
Whatever "Mr. Maes's business" is, we have so far not been told what Pepys's interest in it is. It does seem to license his hanging around the House of Lords.
About Wednesday 11 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Robert Gertz's psychdramas exploring motives do touch a possible Pepys nerve or two on occasion -- some interpretation of the text being conjectural, his 'dramas' self-consciously and transparently, which some of us count a virtue.
About Wednesday 11 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Perhaps Uncle Wight can't dance?
About Wednesday 11 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"Wonder what convinced ol' Unc that the time was right to bring up the subject?"
Had Elizabeth's presence at the recent series of Pepys family funerals, lastly Judith Scott, caught his eye and he shared Samuel's dismal line of thought?
26 April 1664: "My wife gone this afternoon to the buriall of my she-cozen Scott, a good woman; and it is a sad consideration how the Pepys's decay, and nobody almost that I know in a present way of encreasing them." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
About Wednesday 11 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"Mr. Maes's business "
Presumably a criminal defense? See 10 February.1663/64 http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
About Tuesday 10 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"The pen is mightier than the sword." Edward Bulwer-Lytton, "Richelieu" Act II
About Tuesday 10 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Todd, do you think Mrs. Palmer held the Unitary Executive in her hand?
About Tuesday 10 May 1664
Terry F • Link
"In a variety of ways Early Modern nations were police states...."
England would perhaos have been a successful exception earlier, but for the threats of mass destruction (the Gunpowder Plot) and insurrection -- the Civil War, the Fifth Monarchists out there somewhere in the countryside....
About Tuesday 10 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Good question, Robert. Transparency is the first matter -- to regulate the communications technology, get an exhaustive inventory of presses -- insist on the usual guild protection of trade secrets and "quality control" -- for which the wardens of the Stationers Company were responsible -- to get to the actors and the content. Following the link to 28 Apr 1662, the Act adopted that day notes the wanton printing of what may lead to civil disquiet, "For prevention whereof no surer meanes can be advised then by reducing and limiting the number of Printing Presses and by ordering and setling the said Art or Mystery of Printing by Act of Parliament in manner as herein after is expressed." Et cetera.
This echoes earlier laws and decrees, e.g., the Decree in Star Chamber Concerning Printers (1585) that specifies in part "that no printer of books nor any other person or persons whatsoever shall set up, keep, or maintain any press or presses ... , but only in the city of London or the suburbs thereof (except one press in the university of Cambridge and one other press in the university of Oxford and no more); and that no person shall hereafter erect, set up, or maintain in any secret or obscure corner or place any such press ... , but that the same shall be in such open place or places in his or their houses as the wardens of the said company of stationers for the time being, or such other person or persons as by the said wardens shall be thereunto appointed, may from time to time have ready access unto to search for and view the same." http://www.constitution.org/sech/…
In a variety of ways Early Modern nations were police states, -- we've remarked, have been confronted most often on conformity in religion -- and in England the Wardens of the Stationers Company were part of the police apparatus. No wonder the US Constitution's Bill of Rights includes in its first article: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom...of the press;...."
About Tuesday 10 May 1664
Terry F • Link
Bill to continue the Act for regulating the Press.
Hodie 2a vice lecta est Billa, "An Act for Continuance of a former Act for regulating the Press."
ORDERED, That the Consideration of this Bill is committed to these Lords following: (7 Temporal, 14 Ecclesiastical)
From: 'House of Lords Journal Volume 11: 10 May 1664', Journal of the House of Lords: volume 11: 1660-1666, pp. 611-12. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/… Date accessed: 11 May 2007. (To use CGS' link, delete the trailing dot.)
The "former Act" was the Licensing of the Press Act 1662, which contained a 'sunset provision' after two years: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lice…
For the passage of that Act on 28 Apr 1662 and its Star Chamber/Stationers Company background see
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…