jeannine

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jeannine has written 14 articles:

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jeannine has posted 1,236 annotations/comments since 16 June 2004.

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First Reading

About Monday 27 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

Boy Sam has truly fallen apart since Elizabeth has left. I wonder how she'd react to ....

1. His fooling around with Mrs. Lane? Perhaps the oh so trendy de jour "public apology" (ie. Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook, and other media manias) would suffice along with a lot of wooing her, a new wardrobe, some jewelry, etc......

2. Wayneman's departure... perhaps fidning some "hunky" young lad to replace him would serve her fancy...

3. Losing the family pet.... this would fall into the category of "You can run but you can't hide" if it happened in our house, but I'm not sure how pets were viewed by Sam and his crowd.

Doesn't look like he's held down the fort very well while she's been away!

About Saturday 25 July 1663

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"which I find comes little short of what I took it to be when I was a little boy, as things use commonly to appear greater than then when one comes to be a man and knows more"..sadly the truth-places that were so big and impressive when one was young don't always look the same when you add a few feet to your height and years to your experience.

But on a happier note.."and among other meats had a brave dish of cream, the best I ever eat in my life" --glad to see Sam is back to having "the best xxxx I've ever eaten" once again!

About Wednesday 22 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

Frances was a favorite of Henrietta Marie and by now her mother had also come over from France. At this point she's still getting "light" pressure from Charles, but as she grows and matures (and becomes more beautiful) his desire for her will grow as will the pressure for her to be his mistress. General spoiler (nothing specific) but there are those people in life who just sort of "float" through situations and fate happens to work to their benefit, as will happen with her. She wasn't mature at this point and had such a childishness about her way that it set her apart from those plotting, cunning ladies who were out for the gold. While the mistresses gambled away Charles' money, Frances loved building card houses, playing blind man's bluff and other "younger" activities -sort of like she may not have "gotten" what was going on around her. Frances is also fond of Catherine.

About Friday 24 July 1663

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"They had a kinswoman, they call daughter, in the house, a short, ugly, red-haired slut"
I love this description-it's just so "Samish" and funny, but I am curious about the use of the word "slut" here. I know we've talked about it before and when it appears in the Diary it usually means "lazy" or "slovenly" as opposed to the meaning in today's world, but I would wonder how Sam would draw this conclusion about someone he's observing for the first time. Any thoughts?

About Wednesday 22 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"Must be enough monies in the till to keep Palmer and Stewart happy"...
Aqua- just a little obscure fact. Frances Stuart was never on the "payroll" like a Castlemaine and never asked for anything from Charles. She was just not that type of person-but rather funloving, perhaps a little "flakey", flirty, etc. but in no way after money, status, politics, etc. Her "flaw" would be that, like so many others she tended to be vain enough to really relish all of the attention that her looks and charms brought her way. She got some preferential treatment in terms of better living spaces and as I recall (will have to double check later) that the only piece of jewelry that Charles ever gave her was when he chose her as his Valentine. When she ends up leaving the Court (won't detail it) she will return this piece too. Part of her appeal is that she is SO unlike Castlemaine and the rest of his court. But don't despair your thoughts above as Castlemaine more than made up it for grabbing at any penny that could be squeezed out of any fund that CII could get his hands on.

About Wednesday 22 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"as soon as the King can get a husband for Mrs. Stewart"
a foreboding spoiler perhaps, but I think that Sam's gossip is off here. Charles is becoming more and more infatuated with Frances Stuart and therefore the men of the court (including his brother James who finds her quite attractive) will be smart enough to take a "hands off" approach to her, for fear of getting on the bad side of the King. His feelings for her will intensify as will his jealousy at the mere thought that she may have any interest elsewhere, so this entry surprises me. On the other hand, I am sure that Lady Castlemaine would LOVE to get rid of her and marry her off ~~the sooner the better from her perspective.

About Friday 17 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"And that’s why the Carolinas are named for Charley-boy”
Paul, That's right. Footnote in Balleine's book on Carteret says that "The name (then spelt Carolana) had been given to the district, when Charles I had made a vain attempt to refound Ralegh's colony. " (p. 150)
A point that must have had some inner "glee" to Carteret in this naming is this... when Charles II took refuge in Jersey for the second time (age 19) Carteret and his wife had just had a daughter. Charles II "good-humouredly volunteered to be her godfather, and presented her at the font, and chose for her the name Carolina,'which', explains Chevalier, 'is a Latin name corresponding to the French Charlotte, for Caolus is the Latin for Charles, and -lina, like -lotte in French makes it feminine'" (p 78).

About Sir George Carteret (Treasurer of the Navy 1660-7, Vice-Chamberlain of the Household 1660-70)

jeannine  •  Link

From the July 17, 1663 entry.
I just started reading Carteret’s biography, but am not far enough along to get a full picture of him. What is clear is that he did NOT like school,or his early teacher (Pipon), but loved the sea. Balleine in “All for the King”, says “George hated the school. He hated Pierre Pipon, the Regent. The syntax problems of the ancient Romans roused in him no spark of curiosity. In later life his ignorance of the classics shocked some of his colleagues. Once, when he saw hangings in the Duke of York’s chamber depicting a scene in Rome, he asked Pepys what the S.P.Q.R. on the standards stood for, “ignorance”, scoffed the Diarist, “not to be borne in a Privy Councillor; methinks a schoolboy would be whipped for not knowing”. Yet George’s schooltime was not wasted. Scores of his letters survive, which show that he could express himself in good grammatical English, remarkably good when one remembers that French was his native tongue. His spelling was better than that of many of the other courtiers, and the detailed Reports that he wrote of his two expeditions are admirably lucid and graphic. Moreover the intricate financial transactions that he had to control later, first as Treasurer of the Navy, and then as Vice-Treasurer of Ireland show that he must have been no mean arithmetician. Pierre Pipon had not wielded the birch in vain.” (p. 5)
George also left school at an early age to go to sea (around age 13 or younger). Lady Fanshaw (who knew him well) says in her Memoirs that he was “bred as a sea-boy”. (p. 5)

Another interesting point is that “no scandal marred his record”, so the libertine court of Charles II and the loose morals of the time did not seem to be a pull to him as there are no mentions of mistresses and his love letters to his wife during their courtship have a nice sincerity to them.
Finally, in a general context, Balleine says” Carteret was no dashing hero of romance like Montrose or Rupert, though, as many of his exploits show, as a fighting man he was utterly fearless: but we see him mainly as a sober, hard-working servant of the King whose Royalism was his religion. A simple, undeviating, almost doglike devotion to the Crown was the mainspring of all of his actions. He had his faults, including one bad one [which isn’t mentioned here],which we have tried not to disguise;but he remains an outstanding example of the Cavalier ideal of utter and unswerving loyalty, an ideal which his family enshrined in their motto ‘Loyal devoir’”. (p 2)

About Friday 17 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"I think he’s seriously underestimating Carteret."
A little off topic,and a few "little general spoilers perhaps"~~ I just started reading Carteret's biography, but am not far enough along to get a full picture of him. What is clear is that he did NOT like school,or his early teacher (Pipon), but loved the sea. Balleine in "All for the King", says "George hated the school. He hated Pierre Pipon, the Regent. The syntax problems of the ancient Romans roused in him no spark of curiosity. In later life his ignorance of the classics shocked some of his colleagues. Once, when he saw hangings in the Duke of York's chamber depicting a scene in Rome, he asked Pepys what the S.P.Q.R. on the standards stood for, "ignorance", scoffed the Diarist, "not to be borne in a Privy Councillor; methinks a schoolboy would be whipped for not knowing". Yet George's schooltime was not wasted. Scores of his letters survive, which show that he could express himself in good grammatical English, remarkably good when one remembers that French was his native tongue. His spelling was better than that of many of the other courtiers, and the detailed Reports that he wrote of his two expeditions are admirably lucid and graphic. Moreover the intricate financial transactions that he had to control later, first as Treasurer of the Navy, and then as Vice-Treasurer of Ireland show that he must have been no mean arithmetician. Pierre Pipon had not wielded the birch in vain." (p. 5)
George also left school at an early age to go to sea (around age 13 or younger). Lady Fanshaw (who knew him well) says in her Memoirs that he was "bred as a sea-boy". (p. 5)

Another interesting point is that "no scandal marred his record", so the libertine court of Charles II and the loose morals of the time did not seem to be a pull to him as there are no mentions of mistresses and his love letters to his wife during their courtship have a nice sincerity to them.
Finally, in a general context, Balleine says" Carteret was no dashing hero of romance like Montrose or Rupert, though, as many of his exploits show, as a fighting man he was utterly fearless: but we see him mainly as a sober, hard-working servant of the King whose Royalism was his religion. A simple, undeviating, almost doglike devotion to the Crown was the mainspring of all of his actions. He had his faults, including one bad one [which isn't mentioned here],which we have tried not to disguise;but he remains an outstanding example of the Cavalier ideal of utter and unswerving loyalty, an ideal which his family enshrined in their motto 'Loyal devoir'". (p 2)

About Thursday 16 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

Servants empty Sam's house of the office
Lady B is appalled and standoffish
They slish slosh on the stairs
And destroy her fresh air
Leaving a stench like a pile of dead crawfish

(Thanks to an "unnamed co-conspirator" for sending me words to rhyme with office! After reading this I'm sure he wishes he hadn't!)

About Friday 10 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

Further Background on Bristol, Castlemaine, Clarendon and the Queen.

On the following 2 days there is some information about the relationship between Castlemaine and Bristol (Digby)
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Castlemaine, Buckingham, Berkeley, Arlington are all working against Clarendon and will do so consistently. They will create "motives", "charges" etc. against him whenever possible in order to discredit him, etc. They hold Catherine's barrenness against him and will spread rumors that Clarendon knew about her barreness and set up the marriage so that his daughter (Anne, Duchess of York, James' wife) would be married to the next heir to the throne, etc. Catherine is really "clueless" to the whole political game, it's just not who she is. She is trying her best to have a child and be a "good wife" and will be the target throughout her marriage for all sorts of plots to get rid of her one way or another. (Spoiler, sort of) Of note, Buckingham will remain 100% committed to get rid of Catherine and will never waiver in his desire to do so, devising plots for Charles to divorce her, to have her kidnapped (and probably killed), etc. Getting rid of Catherine will become a point of friction when another member of this little Cabal decides over time that Catherine should stay. The politics at this time are fragile, Castlemaine has overstepped herself by supporting Bristol and in the background Charles is starting to look elsewhere for a lady to fancy (Frances Stuart has his eye), so Castlemaine is walking on thin ice now. Catherine's letters have nothing to do with Clarendon as he'd be the last person in the Kingdom to support popery and Charles knows this.

About Monday 13 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

A French Perspective on the Chancellor-Bristoll exchanges.

Activities of the King, Court, Parliament, gossip, etc. were reported to Louis XIV by his Ambassadors. All quotes below are from Jusserand’s “A French Ambassador at the Court of Charles II”. The situation with Bristol proved quite difficult for the French to comprehend, mostly due to the audacity of Bristol and Charles’ relying on “due process” to resolve the issue. Cominges (French Ambassador in England during this time) looked at these exchanges with ‘endless wonder’. In letters to Louis Cominges describes the English Parliament where “the members of which are not only allowed to speak their minds freely, but also to do a number if surprising extraordinary thing, and even to call the highest people (‘les plus qualifíes’) to the bar! Think of an Earl of Bristol remaining free in the town, when he has accused the Lord Chancellor of high treason!” [Cominges letter to Louis XIV, July 16, 1663]

“Bristol has first begun by going, through a peer, to the Lower House, to make a speech against the Ministers. At this the House had been very pleased; but not so the King. Charles had begged to see the harangue; Bristol refused then consented, and the King, having expressed his opinion that the speech was a seditious one, was sharply answered by the Earl. Charles ‘rather smoothly retorted that he would be a poor King indeed if her were not able to quiet an Earl of Bristol. May God spare you Majesty such subjects and such a lack of power! The King of England will wait till the end of the session, that is, about a fortnight, to notify his will to the Earl of Bristol; it will be probably nothing more than an order not to appear in Court.” [Cominges letter to Louis XIV, July 16, 1663], p. 104-105

Cominges further continues that “Nothing can be more astonishing and extraordinary, than what I have to inform you Majesty of and you will be not a little surprised when you see that, to find precedents for it, you must go back in your mind to the times that saw the violence of Sylla, the outbursts of the Gracchi, and the accusation of Cæsar (then a private citizen) against Dolabella, who was endowed at that time with the highest magistrature.” Bristol was till now merely a “presumptuous fool, blinded by his vanity”; but he had become “ a mad dog and bites all round”.

The proceeding baffled Cominges and he continued “Here we have a regular suit between a private person and the Chancellor, this last having his high rank, his past services, the goodwill of the King, of the Queen-mother, of the Duke of York (whose wife gave birth yesterday to a son), and of all the Court, to boast of; but the other [Bristoll] walks about town as if nothing were the matter, and does not in the least give up hope of success. I confess to your Majesty that I am at my wits’ end (je perds la tramontane), and that it seems to me as if I were transported beyond the sphere of the moon”.

Cominges then sends a private letter to Lionne {Louis’ Foreign Secretary, located in France and a more personal friend of Cominges} and explains “You will see in my dispatch to his Majesty how the clouds which rose in the evening gave birth on Friday to storms and thunderbolts. I must confess that nothing in the world is more surprising than what is to be seen in this Court, and less easily intelligible to a man who has been brought up under a different Government and different laws. It seems to me, every moment, I have been transferred to the antipodes, when I see a private gentleman walking the streets, sitting as a judge of Parliament, receiving the visits of his political friends, and leading no less pleasant a life than usual, when he has accused of capital crimes the first officer of the State, a dignitary on the best terms with his master, supported by the Queen-mother, and father-in-law to the heir of the crown.” {July 23, 1663}
Lionne gave this reply” If anybody had attacked her M. le Chancelier au Parlement, you may readily believe that he would not be seen at play every day on the bowling-green, and that there would be no great competition to marry into his house.” Lionne’s letter is interesting as the Lord of Sunderland had called off his planned wedding to Bristoll’s daughter on July 1. see http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

About Saturday 11 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

Umbrellas--From the Book, "Richer Than Spices" by Gertrude Thomas (it's a book about Queen Catherine's Dowry and how it changed England)..talking about the early years of the 18th century, "But the umbrella, which had first been noticed in England among Catherine's Portuguese possesions, was still an "exotic" novelty. Originally built for shade (Latin 'umbra') in its native India, the climate of England changed it from a bit of elegance into a large oiled-silk necessity. Yet as a sunshade, it persisted as feminine allure" (p. 152)

About Saturday 11 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"About one or two in the morning the curtains of my bed being drawn waked me, and I saw a man stand there by the inside of my bed calling me French dogg 20 times, one after another"...How many of us reading this will now double (or perhaps triple) check the locks before going to sleep next time you're away from home! Wouldn't this be freaky to wake up to!

About Friday 10 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"Lord Bristoll hath this day impeached my Lord Chancellor in the House of Lords of High Treason" (slight spoiler)
It should be noted that in the background to all of Bristoll's charges, that Ollard tells us that the grounds for these charges "were so absurd that even those who had been itching to get rid of Clarendon hastened to dissociate themselves from the move ("Clarendon and his Friends", p 266), which would backfire on Bristoll and restore Clarendon's "relations with the King to something approaching their old wary correctness."

About Friday 10 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"How unfortunate that the Queen hasn’t been able to bear children, does anyone know why?"
Miss Ann, Queen Catherine will be able to become pregnant but will never carry a baby to full term. Historians disagree on exactly how many miscarriages she had (most think 2-4). None of them have ever ventured to put forth an "educated guess" as to the cause of her inability to carry full term. In his book "Royal Confinements" the author, Sir Jack Dewhurst (a professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology) refers to Sam's Diary and Charles' letters to his sister Minette regarding this topic. Dewhurst states that "there is no evident explanation for her failure to produce an heir...." (p. 12). What most of Catherine's biographers have put forth is that they do believe that had she given birth that Charles would have made the effort to be a "better" husband, which I am sure Sam (and MANY others) would have loved to have seen.

About Sunday 5 July 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"methinks none of the kindness nor bridall respect between the bridegroom and bride..."
Sam answers the issue here later on without even knowing it -obviously what's missing in this new marriage is the "chymistry".
Sounds to me that he is also missing his wife more and more as she is away-absence makes the heart grow fonder.

About Sunday 5 July 1663

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"kept one another awake; and sometimes I read in my book of Latin plays, which I took in my pocket, thinking to have walked it. An old doting parson preached. "...

Sam's Prayer

When sermons are long and they’re boring
Dull words all around me are pouring
I start counting sheep
To catch up on my sleep
And pray that I don’t get caught snoring

About Tuesday 30 June 1663

jeannine  •  Link

"What caused the rift between Mr. Pepys and his wife? Or was it just typical of men of his century?"

Susan, Sam has always been plagued by his "jealousy". Before the diary began there was some incident (never really detailed) where his jealousy caused Elizabeth to leave him for awhile. Sam refers to it as "that old business" and it seems like that "something" (most likely just flirting??) happened with Elizabeth and perhaps Captain Robert Holmes. From time to time Sam will allude to this in the diary. Elizabeth's leaving him was extremely painful to him and still remains a point that he can't bear to think about.
More recently when Elizabeth took dancing lessons Sam became jealous of the dancing teacher Pembleton and that caused some hard words between the two. This is (and most likely will be) an ongoing issue in their marriage. Elizabeth is beautiful and Sam wants to be sure that she is 100% faithful to him, even if he is not faithful to her.
Also, there definitely is a "double standard" during the reign of Charles II and morals were loose (if they existed at all for some of Charles' pals). Although not quite yet in the Court of Charles II, Lord Rochester will come forth as a well known rake and rogue along with most of Charles II’s male companions. He will enter the court of Charles II and in many ways Charles will be a father figure and highly influential in shaping young Rochester’s values and concepts of male-female relationships. In his book, “the Profane Wit” Johnson gives a sharp summary of the view of women per Rochester, but this description is so highly applicable to many of the courtiers that it’s a pertinent to the environment of the court at the time and the "fears" that Sam might have had in regards to someone going after his wife. As Johnson explains (p 67)… “ Like his male contemporaries, young Rochester held to a sexual double standard. It was a man’s nature to crave variety. Virtuous young women who refused his advances were cruel and unkind. If a woman succumbed, however, she was a broken toy, fit only to be tossed aside; she had lost her virtue. A woman who played the man’s game of inconsistency was a slut and a whore, deserving his contempt. To marry such a woman was unthinkable – unless a man wanted to risk leaving his property to another man’s bastard. A husband was not expected to be faithful; his wife, of course, was.”