jeannine

Articles

jeannine has written 14 articles:

Encyclopedia topics

jeannine has written summaries for eight topics:

Annotations and comments

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

Comments

First Reading

About Wednesday 15 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Sam's ride...Todd & A. Hamilton.. I didn't really see an endurance issue with Sam and his ride, but rather the use of different muscles. Walking, which Sam does ALL the time uses one set of muscles, while riding a horse a totally different set, so to be "in the saddle" for that amount of time must have been exhausting.
To offer a humorous perspective on the 'different muscles' used walking vs. riding...when visiting some "horse" people on their farm many years ago, a very "fit" female friend of mine who had never been on a horse decided to give it a try. Once she got herself up and settled in the saddle, she exclaimed, "this is so awkward, like getting ready for childbirth!"

About Wednesday 15 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Todd, perhaps the "old troubles" aren't the only thing Sam should be worried about....."only our oysters proving bad" sounds more immediately worrisome to me!

About Tuesday 14 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"take leave of father, mother, Pall, to whom I did give 10s., but have shown no kindness since I come, for I find her so very ill-natured that I cannot love her, and she so cruel a hypocrite that she can cry when she pleases..."
Susan, I also get the feeling that Sam basically only tolertated his family as a "free" place to lay his head while there. How unfortunate that his writing expresses a growing arrogance towards them socially. It's almost as if he has outgrown the need for these "country" people. In addition, he really hasn't gone into detail about Pall during this trip so there is no clear indication if the actions he is commenting on are in reference to this trip or some baggage from the past. In any event, it's not a charming picture of him and I could see where it could be distancing for the family members who are clearly below his level of status (his mother, Pall and Tom, in particular). Also, based on his actions over the last few days and going on past few days entries alone, it has probably been painfully insulting and condescending to his family as a whole. Even "county folk" are astute enough to know when they have been insulted by someone who thinks they are superior, and Sam's entries clearly exhibit how he belives himself above them all.
Bradford --in regards to the proceedings it's hard to tell from the entry how things stood.

About Saturday 11 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"Brampton visit".
Sam is only "home" a very short time and it's already uncomfortable not only in terms of the legal issues, but the people/social ones also. Tony's comment is insightful as Sam has been living a higher class lifestyle and perhaps growing somewhat intolerant of his extended family's country ways. Hopefully his actions did not reflect his diary entry and he outwardly was able to show some graciousness for the hospitality and food. Robert G's comments add another dimension altogether. If Brampton is such an unpleasant environment for him then to send one's wife there for 2 months seems rather insensitive and perhaps could carry a flair of "it's good enough for her, but not for me".
Hopefully it's just the stress of the legal issues and aching feet that have jolted him out of good humor as even his Hinchingbrooke visit with the Lady didn't seem to break the spell.

About Thursday 9 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"it is believed the Queen is with child"
Sad to report but at this point it is mere gossip, but speaks clearly to the fact that every move othe monarchy is watched and commented upon.

About Wednesday 8 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"you?re less likely these days to get your actual head chopped off"
Hey Stolzi--don't give anyone any ideas here--once companies get an idea for how much they could save with the old fashioned literal "headcount reduction" via the rusty old metal ax (big OUCH!), they may re-instate this --think of the savings when they don't have to pay those severance packages--and wouldn't a few heads on posts (ie, Cromwellian style) really motivate others to work a little overtime without complaining! You may be on to something here....

About Wednesday 8 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Partonage and Sam

Susan and Alan are totally on the money here as clearly patronage got Sam in the door of the Navy. That's how Sandwich, Coventry and Carteret, etc. all got established-- sometimes as a reward for loyalty & ties to Charles I (Carteret), changing loyalties from Cromwell to Charles II(Sandwich), being related by blood (York), etc. The other thing to always keep in mind is that Charles II has and will always be a "shifty" fellow so that people who are loved today are easily discarded tomorrow --his "winds" blow hot and cold and the politics of those around him (Castlemaine, Arlington, etc.) will always be a behind the scenes concern.
Also, of note and a recent example of the "winds of patronage"... over the past few days Sandwich has been attending a few events (balls, etc.) given by Lady Castlemaine. When Sandwich was in Portugal to get the queen the fact that the dowry wasn't all there as promised was brought to his attention. He had to make a decision on his own--do I bring her or not --as the money wasn't there but Charles' need for it was. He made that decision and brought Catherine to England. He could have left her. Either choice had it's career risks. Sandwich also felt that the entire "bedchamber" incident was a disgrace on the behalf of Charles II, but seeing that The Lady won that round, it's prudent on his behalf to attend to her and make himself open and available to her whims, etc. He is an astute man who understands that being in Charles' good graces in crucial for his continued success, and he'll do well only if he aligns properly and moves himself away from the less favored person of the day(Queen Catherine) to the more highly favored (Castlemaine).

About Wednesday 8 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Accomodations by the Duke of York ,etc.
Sam is at an early career level where he is able to rise among the upper levels of the Navy elite (Carteret, Sandwich, Coventry, York, Rupert, etc.) because his function is in support of all of them and not competing with any of them. This is a great place for a younger man to be when trying to make his way up the hierarchy, kind of "below the radar screen" in terms of competition.
In no disregard to Sam whatsoever, not intended as a character attack, etc. but a statement of reality is that he has no experience commanding a ship, managing/fighting in an actual battle, or facing any real time sea related military life-threatening danger head on. When compared to the likes of the "elite", he doesn't hold a candle to their accomplishments. He has nothing in his resume, so to speak, to compete with the accomplishments, reputations, experiences of those "divas" above him. In reality we could call him a lightweight or such in terms of military magnificence, as he clearly has none.
What we are seeing come forth are the same skills that he exhibits in the diary - his detail oriented meticulous mind that doesn't miss a thing, his organizational skills, curiosity and commitment to learning (math, etc.), and adpatability. These are wonderful skills that any administrator/support person needs to complement the management chain above him and MAKE THEM LOOK GOOD. This skill set allows him to move between the egos, the power struggles, etc. in an almost seamless fashion as he is performing tasks that the elite, by their nature would rather not be doing. As long as Sam can keep his own ego in check (outside of the privacy of the diary, of course), stay out of the poltics above him and manage the competition coming in sideways in the hierarchy, he should be okay. Right now all of upper chain's needs and his fulfillment of them are working to Sam's benefit. As long as he continues to use his skills to benefit the powers above he should have ample opportunity to contiune to move ahead.

About Sunday 5 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"The Puritan in Samuell be coming out"
As the Puritan in Sam comes out today it seems to do so only in regards to religion. In the same passage where he is not tolerant of changes in clothing at the church service he is open to the idea of having his wife learn to dance, which leans in another direction altogether. Here is an example of the confusion that is brewing in the Restoration --the more open social manners and interactions among the sexes vs. the private desire to maintain a more Puritanical influence in regards to one's religious practices.
Side note: Charles II was well known as an excellent dancer and dancing was a place where people got to be noticed and appreciated for thier skills or horrifically lampooned for thier lack of skills (ie. Queen Catherine). Having a wife, who could dance well (or sing, etc.) often meant inclusion in certain social activites, etc. where those talents could be appreciated.

About Sunday 5 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Bradford .. as one definition of "against" is "in preparation of" perhaps there were some festivities tha Elizabeth felt she could not properly partake of since she didn't have the skills to dance properly?? That's how I read it, but I'm not totally sure. Also, as to what those opportunities would be, unless she reveals them to Sam over the next few days (weeks?) and he records them, I don't think that we'll ever know.

About Saturday 4 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Thanks to all for your comments on the ship/pilot. I am almost thinking that the word "negligence" perhaps can't really rest with a pilot in the same manner as it may today. Without the tools, sea markings, communications, etc. to help guide him, it would be much more understandable to make what we may call "human error" today.

About Saturday 4 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"the miscarriage of the Satisfaction, sunk the other day on the Dutch coast through the negligence of the pilott'
I'm curious and have a spattering of questions/thoughts here. Any information about the sinking of the boat and/or the pilot? If a boat was sunk through negligence, etc. and the pilot survived, would there be some sort of trial, punishment, etc. (I'm not implying willful neglect)? I'm not sure how things were handled in Sam's day for these types of things. Did pilots of ships need some "qualifications" of some sort, etc. or where they just picked by family connections, etc.? I would also think that the Navy, being so under funded really could not tolerate losing any ship, let alone one to mishandling. I am only speculating here that Sam may be thinking through a lot of what went wrong here and probably starting to assess what needs to be "fixed" in the future for the Navy????

About The Pepys Sociogram

Jeannine  •  Link

Michael,

Actually alot of the information did not come from Sam alone but rather from the biographies about Sam, Clarendon, Sandwhich, Charles II, etc. and Percival Hunt's Essay on Sam entitled "A Principal Officer", "Pepys and William Penn", etc. which focused on his Navy and other relationships. When we did the chart we looked at the major relationships stemming from Sam that may have been pertinent to him. We focused on the "above relationships" of the higher ups to give an indication of where Sam fit into the hierarchy and then the side relationships (Moore, Ford, Warren, etc) which could possibly concern him but perhaps were not an issue to men of the status of Carteret, Sandwich, Clarendon, etc. To use a popular phrase of today the chart fits into the category of "it's all about me" with Sam as the focus.

About Friday 3 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"never leave a fox stay near the hen house" & Sam as predator-Cumgranissalis & Diana have probably hit a tender spot in Sam as he knows his own inclinations towards a pretty face and no doubt doesn't want to let anyone near his turf. The conflict of the Restoration period is interesting as on one hand the atmosphere under Charles II is much more libertine and open to raunchy plays, publicly flaunting mistresses, etc. On the other hand there is still the culture of religion,lingering Puritianical morals and just plain having a good face in public. Court stories abound of men going after another man's wife regardless of the social status, so it's always "safer" for Sam to politely enusre that he's provided "coverage" for any potential preying by a predator (real or imagined) and then to catch up on his work in the later hours.

About Thursday 2 October 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

"were all Frenchmen that could speak no English, but Lord! what sport they made to ask a pretty lady that they got among them that understood both French and English to make her tell them what the actors said."
Hmmm, maybe this is the idea --I'll do an experiment for the group--I'll start to read the entries surrounded by "pretty male translators" and see if this works.... of course I'll need one for the daily entries, oh look Robert Gertz used a foreign phrase in his play today, so that would make 2 translators, Cumgranissalis' entries may need a team to translate not only his name but his entries, Australian Susan in on another continent so I'll throw in another, Pedro has that English humor, which definitely requires assistance.........

About Sunday 28 September 1662

Jeannine  •  Link

Mad? Demented? Aging? Tired of her Family? Menopausal? Bullied by her Husband/Son? or Just Speaking Her Mind?

We may never know or understand the changes that are taking place in Margaret as we only see them through Sam's eyes. All of us may have different views. What may be the most telling piece of her aging process isn't what's "wrong" with her (maybe something, maybe not) but perhaps how Sam deals with it. People react quite differently to those who age, some casting them aside as they focus only on their busy or rising status in life where the older person doesn't seem to "fit" anymore. Some become so uncomfortable that they avoid them, whenever possible. Some people have a capacity to develop a level of patience, compassion, caring and an outpouring of their hearts in ways and means that nobody would believe existed inside of them. If, in Sam's eyes his mother "wants of reason" or is "simple" then the telling thing is not about her as a mother, but how he chooses to deal with these perceptions as a human being and her son.

About The Pepys Sociogram

Jeannine  •  Link

"All either good or bad"

A. Hamilton -- Probably best to look at the chart as if the majority of the time they were as noted, unless bold, then almost 100% (like Clarendon-Castlemaine -pure hatred all the time). The fluidity of the relationships, the politics surrounding people as they maneuvered up the ranks (or tried to, etc.)is unending. Any group of people that interacted with Charles II had a hard task as he was not at all consistent in his loyalties, policies, etc. The constant fluctuations within the courts were well known.
Ollard, in his biography "Pepys" sums it up like this (spoilers):
"What makes the contemplation of Pepys, either in general or in detail, so dizzying is that the interlocking circles of his nature revolve too fast for the eye to distinguish a clear and individual moment. It is like watching an electric egg-whisk. Pepys is the life of the office, the right hand of the navy. Coventry says so, Albemarle confirms it. But Pepys is also corrupt. He is, further,a factious and disloyal colleague-witness a hundred entries in the Diary, notably those concerning Sir William Penn. But, as we shall see, he is also a tenaciously loyal colleague--witness his lifelong relationship with Hewer-and the man who time and again defends the office when it is under attack. He is a demon for efficiency and reform:yet no one watches more closely or understands more profoundly the dynastic nature of the Navy Office--witness Sir George Carteret's allying himself by marrying a son to one of Sandwich's daughters and a daughter to a (supposed) illegitimate son of Prince Rupert, that alarming, uncompomising, unpredictable figure. Sandwich and Coventry, Penn and Batten, Monck and Rupert, the King and the Duke, patrons, colleagues, politicians, admirals, princes, all these forces are constantly in a state of flux, constantly acting on each other, and yet must be severally and collectively, held in equilibrium to promote the career of Samuel Pepys. So viewed, this is how the Diary views it, this looks like a full-time job. But not at all. There is theatre, books, music, lust, social pleasures and social obligations, all the hundred and one themes already touched on, whirring round at full speed without, apparently, ever getting in each other's ways" (p. 129)
No chart can clearly assign values to human relationships without fluctuations over time and events, but this attempts to set the overall stage upon which Pepys plays within the Navy.