Friday 9 March 1659/60

To my Lord at his lodging, and came to Westminster with him in the coach, with Mr. Dudley with him, and he in the Painted Chamber walked a good while; and I telling him that I was willing and ready to go with him to sea, he agreed that I should, and advised me what to write to Mr. Downing about it, which I did at my office, that by my Lord’s desire I offered that my place might for a while be supplied by Mr. Moore, and that I and my security should be bound by the same bond for him. I went and dined at Mr. Crew’s, where Mr. Hawly comes to me, and I told him the business and shewed him the letter promising him 20l. a year, which he liked very well of. I did the same to Mr. Moore, which he also took for a courtesy. In the afternoon by coach, taking Mr. Butler with me to the Navy Office, about the 500l. for my Lord, which I am promised to have to-morrow morning. Then by coach back again, and at White Hall at the Council Chamber spoke with my Lord and got him to sign the acquittance for the 500l., and he also told me that he had spoke to Mr. Blackburne to put off Mr. Creed and that I should come to him for direction in the employment.

After this Mr. Butler and I to Harper’s, where we sat and drank for two hours till ten at night; the old woman she was drunk and began to talk foolishly in commendation of her son James.

Home and to bed.

All night troubled in my thoughts how to order my business upon this great change with me that I could not sleep, and being overheated with drink I made a promise the next morning to drink no strong drink this week, for I find that it makes me sweat and puts me quite out of order. This day it was resolved that the writs do go out in the name of the Keepers of the Liberty, and I hear that it is resolved privately that a treaty be offered with the King. And that Monk did check his soldiers highly for what they did yesterday.

24 Annotations

First Reading

Susanna  •  Link

Painted Chamber

Here's some more information on the Painted Chamber, from the BBC's history of Westminster Palace:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/lj/c…

The chamber itself was pretty much gutted by the fire which destroyed the Houses of Parliament in 1834.

language hat  •  Link

Painted Chamber (Companion description):
A large chamber running eastwards at right angles from the end of the House of Lords, towards the river, with inside measurements of 82½ ft long, 20 wide and 50 high. Its name came from the notable paintings on its walls executed for Henry III. In it were held the conferences between the two Houses of Parliament. The body of Charles II lay in state there. When the fire of 1834 destroyed much of the two Houses, it was fitted up as a temporary House of Lords.

(These are exciting days chez Sam!)

Django Cat  •  Link

Mmm, yes, the pissed-up and maudlin pub landlady syndrome, I think we've all encountered that one at some time or another.

I wonder why Monk needed "to check his soldiers highly for what they did yesterday". The only reference from yesterday is

"some of the Officers of the Army, and some of the Parliament, had a conference ... to make all right again, but I know not what is done."

So is Monk concerned that junior officers are meddling in affairs of state? An issue with military government, then as now, perhaps, is that following a military takeover, if junior officers are disatisfied, they just oust their seniors. In the end countries are run by progressively more junior military - the Colonels' Junta in Greece, Flight Lieutenant Rawlings in Ghana. No wonder politicians of goodwill want Charles Stuart back to provide a centre of stability - as with post-Franco Spain there are modern parallels there as well.

KVK  •  Link

"The writs do go out in the name of the Keepers of the Liberty"
'Keepers of the Liberty of England' was the formula adopted by Parliament in 1649, after the execution of Charles, to issue writs and commissions which had traditionally been issued in the name of the King. When Cromwell became Protector these things were issued in the name of the Lord Protector and 'Keepers...' was no longer used.

The incident concerning Monk yesterday was "the Officers of the Army being about making a remonstrance against Charles Stuart or any single person."

Glyn  •  Link

It must have been to do with the "remonstrance" (complaint or petition against) the King. There is still (thank god)a strongly republican element in the army up to and including the various generals (e.g. Lambert) - I imagine that there are soldiers going around saying we lost good men getting rid of the old Charles, so are we now supposed to invite the new Charles back? What happens to our hard-won liberties etc? So Monck is trying to stamp down on such people ASAP before resistance grows (perhaps via the junior officers just as Django suggests).

But I'd disagree with Django in saying that this is a Military Government. The army has a lot of control, but there is still a Parliament, and new national elections are being planned.

Django Cat  •  Link

Glyn, you just beat me to exactly the same point!, and thanks NVK for drawing my attention to the 'remonstrance' piece I missed. Like you say Glyn, it's very understandable to think of these soldiers, who've fought two hideous and bloody civil wars to get rid of the monarchy, being very disgruntled about the pending return of another king. Despite their meeting with parliamentarians later in the day, it won't have been difficult for Monk to get his officers back into line though - we saw the punishment for mutiny (at least amongst the common soldiery) a couple of weeks ago when a couple of erring squadies were hung. You're right, this isn't a defacto military government - but Monk does control the army and so has the balance of power, hence all the speculation as Sam began his account about what Monk intended to do when he arrived in London - and surely all that early business with Monk pulling down the City walls and then making alliances with the business community there counts as military sabre rattling.

Django Cat  •  Link

In fact it's Monk's faction who meet parliament later in the day to resolve the division that came out of the morning's 'remonstrance'. Oops.

steve h  •  Link

Navy Office

Question: Is the Navy Office another name for the Admiralty?

helena murphy  •  Link

A general malaise now pervades the army.It has outrun its usefulness. The soldiers are owed 835,000 pounds in arrears but they will receive this very shortly after the Restoration. The Restoration Parliament will also wish to disband this army and will appoint John Lawson and James Nelthorpe for the purpose.Parliament will now be wary of a strong standing army in the country which could be used against it. Of course Charles Stuart will wish to hold on to as much of it as he can.While in exile he has schooled himself in foreign affairs and realises the importance of a strong army and navy if Restoration England is to make an impression internationally. As soon as he was restored to the throne he immediately secured the loyalty of the navy by promising to pay the arrears owed to the sailors and he then installed his brother , James, Duke of York, as Lord High Admiral. Disgruntled officers will enjoy better career oppportunities with the Royal Navy which will grow from strength to strength while during the 1660's the army will will remain rather insignificant by European standards.

mark  •  Link

I wonder what counts as heavy drinking in Pepys' view? It must have been bad if even he realises he needs to give it a rest.

Pauline  •  Link

"...to drink no strong drink this week..."
It's that "strong water" that's got him sweating and thinking about the evils. And the promise is just for this week. Evidence of volumes however indicates that he will not become his generation's old drunk at Harper's.

David Quidnunc  •  Link

In other news: Monck helps Quakers

From the Autobiography of George Fox, a founder of the Quakers:

"About this time the soldiers under General Monk's command were rude and troublesome at Friends' meetings in many places, whereof complaint being made to him he gave the following order, which somewhat restrained them:

'St. James's, the 9th of March, 1659.
'I do require all officers and soldiers to forbear to disturb the peaceable meetings of the Quakers, they doing nothing prejudicial to the Parliament or Commonwealth of England. George Monk.'"

-- from Chapter 13, "In the First Year of King Charles. 1660."
http://www.webroots.org/library/u…

JonTom Kittredge  •  Link

"When the fire of 1834 destroyed much of the two Houses, it was fitted up as a temporary House of Lords."
Huh. Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pain…) says, "The Painted Chamber was part of the original Palace of Westminster. It was destroyed by fire in 1834."

I wonder how to reconcile these two. L&M is probably more reliable generally. But, if they're right, does the chamber still exist? Maybe it survived the fire but was destroyed when the new palace was built? That would roughly agree with Wikipedia: it was *effectively* destroyed as a result of the 1834 fire.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"This day it was resolved that the writs do go out in the name of the Keepers of the Liberty..."

"An Act for the Calling and Holding of a Parliament at Westminster, the Twenty-fifth Day of April 1660, was this Day read the Second time; and, upon the Question, committed, upon the Debate of the House...it passed with the Negative."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"...and I hear that it is resolved privately that a treaty be offered with the King."

L&M note "Certain Councillors of State attempted to extract from Charles the concessions granted by his father in 1648 in the Treaty of Newport -- principally a temporary establishment of Presbyterianism. The overture failed and the King was restored without conditions." http://www.british-civil-wars.co.…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"And that Monk did check his soldiers highly for what they did yesterday."

Monck seems to have come to an agreement with Parliament. See the House of Commons Journal for today:

"Grant to Gen. Mou[n]ck.
"Mr. Weaver reports, Amendments to the Bill for settling Lands on his Excellency General George Mo[u]nck, and his Heirs: Which were twice read; and, upon the Question, agreed unto.
Resolved, That this Bill be ingrossed."
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"[Mountagu] advised me what to write to Mr. Downing about it, which I did at my office, that by my Lord’s desire I offered that my place might for a while be supplied by Mr. Moore, and that I and my security should be bound by the same bond for him."

L&M note it was usual for Exchequer employees to enter into bonds. (L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"This day it was resolved that the writs do go out in the name of the Keepers of the Liberty,"

L&M: The bill for the dissolution of parliament was given its second reading on this day: CJ, vii. 868. The writs were made out in the name of the 'keepers of the Liberty of England by authority of Parliament': Pub. Inyrll., 20 February, p. 1124. For the debate on this matter, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Third Reading

mountebank  •  Link

"All night troubled in my thoughts how to order my business upon this great change with me that I could not sleep, and being overheated with drink I made a promise the next morning to drink no strong drink this week, for I find that it makes me sweat and puts me quite out of order."

Pepys does seem to have been hitting it hard recently. Is it as a result of stress in a time of general and serious uncertainty? Many around him also seem to be seizing opportunities to booze.

MartinVT  •  Link

Not previously noted: Sam was hanging out at Harper's with Mr. Butler, AKA Mons. l’Impertinent, about whom not much is known — he seems to be a good drinking buddy, but they also go to church together at times. They don't have a business relationship, so this evening's drinking bout was probably more for companionship and to celebrate Sam's advancement than anything else.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Many around him also seem to be seizing opportunities to booze."

Given stressful circumstances -- and I'd say these times taxed everyone, not knowing if they were going to be Anglican or Puritan, or living in a Republic or a Monarchy by the end of the year, people getting jobs or losing them not for their qualities but because of who they had associated with in the past, and with Monck and Lawson behaving in very opaic ways -- they drank to achieve a certain level of oblivion.

I have read many articles that report imbibing more than usual is how many of our neighbors around the world have handled the stress of the last 3 years. My reason for adding that modern note is that we probably do not identify with our home town being occupied by opposing factions of the army and the local authorities behaving so unpredictably, but we do all share recent experience with one unpredictable stressor which could prove to be a source of unemployment, or be fatal quite whimsically. Stress is stress, and how humans handle it seems to be the same, generation after generation.

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