Friday 20 April 1660

All the morning I was busy to get my window altered, and to have my table set as I would have it, which after it was done I was infinitely pleased with it, and also to see what a command I have to have every one ready to come and go at my command. This evening came Mr. Boyle on board, for whom I writ an order for a ship to transport him to Flushing. He supped with my Lord, my Lord using him as a person of honour. This evening too came Mr. John Pickering on board us. This evening my head ached exceedingly, which I impute to my sitting backwards in my cabin, otherwise than I am used to do. To-night Mr. Sheply told me that he heard for certain at Dover that Mr. Edw. Montagu did go beyond sea when he was here first the other day, and I am apt to believe that he went to speak with the King.

This day one told me how that at the election at Cambridge for knights of the shire, Wendby and Thornton by declaring to stand for the Parliament and a King and the settlement of the Church, did carry it against all expectation against Sir Dudley North and Sir Thomas Willis!

I supped to-night with Mr. Sheply below at the half-deck table, and after that I saw Mr. Pickering whom my Lord brought down to his cabin, and so to bed.

30 Annotations

First Reading

Emilio  •  Link

Wendby and Thornton
L&M add these details about the Cambridge election in a footnote:
"Thomas Wendy and Isaac Thornton were inferior in quality and estate to North and Willys. They offered to withdraw if their opponents would declare for King and Church, but the offer was refused. When this was announced to the assembled freeholders, the cry went up for Thornton and Wendy."
Such polite behavior at an election, and particularly in such a troubled period! I can't think of a more recent example (British or American) to compare to it.

Judy Bailey  •  Link

Is this ship actually moving towards anywhere? I had expected that by now they would be in the middle of the Channel and the steady stream of visitors, who I assumed were following along the shore, would end.

Or is it likely that all of these visitors were from other ships traveling with them and they were simply moving from ship to ship as visitors?

vincent  •  Link

"Is this ship actually moving towards anywhere". by Judy Bailey:This is a small Fleet of ships being organised, Sailors being trained, some ships are coming out of retirement (Parliament did not have the funds ). Its called in my book "_ 'urry up and wait for the word",otherwise Known as getting organised.(Get all the bodies to man the reefs, guns, ammo provisions, fiixing, leaks,sails, portholes (that do wet the sheets)etc.,. Training by the old hands, its lots of work while our SP is writing up all the documentation, commissions, Warrants, Orders of the day, Getting rid of unsuitable types, bringing in trusted Known reliable chaps (From the olde schoolle? ) etc.,

vincent  •  Link

"This day ....election at Cambridge for knights of the shire, Wendby and Thornton by declaring to stand for the Parliament and a King and the settlement of the Church, did carry it against all expectation against Sir Dudley North and Sir Thomas Willis"

How things do change. This is Cromwell turf, the shire for king and church and parliament. The voters, how many were there? only men of value 40L and up rents they do collect(i.e. gentry and up). "Not the meaner sort of people and servants" ( Quote of a quote C. Hill The world turned upside down) did not get to vote

vincent  •  Link

Either "i cannae rede." Is this not Good Friday ? He did celibrate the "pankakes " day but I guess work for the Admiral is very heavy, and "the preacher and 'im is nat atalking".
Oh Well!!

Nix  •  Link

Wendy and Thornton --

I doubt that it was "polite behavior" -- I read their "offer" to stand down more as a taunt or a challenge, made with full knowledge that North and Willis wouldn't take them up on it -- a rhetorical device to put the focus on their platform rather than their (apparently deficient) personal qualities.

vk  •  Link

The fleet (or this part of it) is anchored in the neighborhood of Deal. There is no reason for it to cross the channel.

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Wendy and Thornton
The are further described by Wheatley as Thomas Wendy of Haselingfield and Isaac Thornton of Smallwell.

Emilio  •  Link

Wendy & Thornton
Nix, that does make good sense, and certainly fits with the previous election behavior we've seen.
And as I reread Sam's sentence in light of the annos, I realize that "settlement of the Church" specifically means re-establishing the C of E, putting an end to 20 years of various puritan factions competing for control. Even after a few months I just don't catch these details first time through - God bless the Pepys site!

Brian  •  Link

Not relevant to today's entry but, as I was off searching for information on Charles II, I came across an excellent picture of SP. Done in the not to distnat future (1666) we find our man in his prime.

http://www.hrofi.demon.co.uk/pepy…

Brian  •  Link

My apologies to the painter for not giving credit where due. SP's portrait was done by J.Hayls (d.1679). According to the following article, Hayls was not a noted painter. I, for one, am grateful for his painting whether he was good or not!

http://www.kaleden.com/articles/3…

Esme  •  Link

“Thomas Wendy and Isaac Thornton were inferior in quality and estate....". I read "quality" as referring to their family background -- until quite recently "the Quality" was still used as a term to refer to the privileged classes. So I don't see this as a value judgement on the people themselves, merely their circumstances.

I guess the offer could have been genuine "You lot can afford the expense better than we could", but Nix's idea of a challenge seems more likely.

Brian  •  Link

Last entry for today. In reading the article mentioned previously I came across this piece regarding the sheet of music in Sam's hand:

In his portrait, Pepys is elegantly dressed, not as a government figure but as a gentleman at leisure, like Maes' Dutchman (see Fig. 8). The depiction is bust-length, which was right for paintings intended to be dignified but not over-formal. Pepys holds a piece of paper marked with musical staves, and careful examination reveals this to be a song, with the lyrics written between, reading `Beauty retire, thou etc'. Pepys was a keen musician, and Beauty Retire was one of his own works. He mentions it many times in his Diary, and its composition was one of his proudest achievements. His record of the ode's creation can assist in dating the painting. Pepys began in late 1665, although the month was unspecified. It was completed in December. He was then 31. His friends' opinions were recorded with satisfaction: `I think is a good song and they praised in mightily'.

A musician? What else can this man do?

vincent  •  Link

"All the morning I was busy to get my window altered, and to have my table set as I would have it, which after it was done I was infinitely pleased with it, and also to see what a command I have to have every one ready to come and go at my command." .... Wow! 'tis less than a four month that He was in a one room apartment.and counting _'is pennies. SP says it all. A star overnight! No requisitions to to be signed off?

upper_left_hand_corner  •  Link

"This evening my head ached exceedingly,"

This sounds like a muscle tension headache to me, an unfortunate predecessor of today's many RSIs.

I would wager that the real problem is that the deck in his cabin is a bit tilted. As a result of moving his desk around, he now has a bad working position. A couple of hours of this and he would have a very tight neck.

Pauline  •  Link

"...my head ached exceedingly..."
Also, he is susceptible to seasickness, which can be a headache. And we might bear in mind that in the end (at a relatively young age) he quits the diary because of his eyes. He has been doing a lot of diligent writing these days. Not to mention that Mr. John Pickering came on board at about the time the headache is reported for.

Pauline  •  Link

Brian, thank you for linking the portrait of Sam
and for typing up the information about the portrait and the sheet music.

We need a place for this in Background info.

Roger Miller  •  Link

The Hayls portrait

is in the National Portrait Gallery in London and I went to see it on Saturday. It currently forms the centrepiece of an exhibition of portraits of Pepys and his circle marking the tercentenary.

There was a matching portrait of Elizabeth. Sadly, it was destroyed in the early nineteenth century but an engraving does survive and is included in the exhibition

William Crosby  •  Link

Sir Thomas Willis, is this the "founder" of neurology? See Soul Made Flesh, by Carl Zimmer.

Second Reading

Bryan  •  Link

"To-night Mr. Sheply told me that he heard for certain at Dover that Mr. Edw. Montagu did go beyond sea when he was here first the other day, and I am apt to believe that he went to speak with the King."

This is a fairly clear indication that my Lord hasn't taken Sam into his confidence entirely regarding his (my Lord's) role in the current negotiations with the king. Sam's comment on the day (18 April) regarding Ned Montagu's visit; "but what was the business of his coming ... I cannot guess."

It seems more likely that my Lord was sharing information on a need to know basis. For example, it was only on 17 April that Sam reported this exchange: "For I was with him [my Lord] an hour together, when he told me clearly his thoughts that the King would carry it, and that he did think himself very happy that he was now at sea, as well for his own sake, as that he thought he might do his country some service in keeping things quiet."

It was only the next day that Sam was confident enough to report that the situation was favouring the king: "That it is evident now that the General and the Council do resolve to make way for the King’s coming."

Earlier Judy Bailey asked "Is this ship actually moving towards anywhere?" I think there are two reasons for not venturing further. First negotiations with the king are haven't been finalised so Mountagu has to stay close to shore to be in ready contact with both Monck and Charles. For the same reason Mountagu can't really be sure that they will be going to collect Charles. Second, England doesn't have a head of state and parliament has been dissolved. This is potentially a very vulnerable time. Monck is keeping the lid on things domestically with his army. Mountagu is in (joint) control of the other source of power, the navy. Surely part of his role is to guard the Channel in case Spain or France decides to take advantage of the situation.

Third Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"All the morning I was busy to get my window altered, and to have my table set as I would have it, which after it was done I was infinitely pleased with it, and also to see what a command I have to have every one ready to come and go at my command."

The window ["windows"] was broken on Tuesday, 27 March -- 24 days ago --
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Pepys took awhile to set about getting this fixed: priorities had been other matters.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I don't think so, Terry. The broken external window was on the SWIFTSURE. They are on the NASEBY now -- and Pepys says the window is altered. An alteration of an internal window would not be a very big deal; he's experiencing a courtesy during the refurbishing of the ship. If it was a porthole, that would have involved the shipbuilders and be of material concern.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"This evening came Mr. Boyle on board, for whom I writ an order for a ship to transport him to Flushing."

That would be Charles Boyle, 3rd Viscount Dungarvan (1639 – 1694), eldest son of Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Cork.

In our Encyclopedia I speculated that it might be his uncle, Francis Boyle -- taking a letter from his Irish brothers suggesting Charles II land in Ireland first. But now I'm reading the Diary and not jumping to conclusions, I think Francis made that trip a couple of weeks ago.

Terry's annotation is the right one.
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

'Is this not Good Friday ? He did celibrate the "pankakes " day but I guess work for the Admiral is very heavy, and "the preacher and 'im is nat atalking".'

The Puritan government banned Easter celebrations in 1647.
https://www.english-heritage.org.….

Yes, the Church of England will be reinstated later in 1660, and along with it Christmas and Easter, but you're jumping the gun wanting to celebrate now.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"All the morning I was busy to get my window altered, ..."

Maybe Pepys means getting his porthole recaulked or rehung or something less drastic than altered? Since it's leaking so consistently, that would be a good idea.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Turns out the Cambridge election was more elaborate than one might expect. The City of Cambridge, the University of Cambridge, and Cambridgeshire all elect MPs at the same time.

The House of Commons website consistently spell the name of the winner of the election Pepys is reporting on as WENDY. And he won the Cambridgeshire election, so he wasn't up against Montegu in the University election.

For the details for all 3 elections, which includes info about Samuel Pepys' cousin Roger, go to
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Dudley, 4th baron North KB MP was related to Montagu by marriage. His wife, Anne, was the daughter of Charles Montagu, a younger brother of Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester.

No wonder the gang was so upset at this result.

I'm not so sure about Thomas Willys, whose ancestors had resided in Cambridgeshire since Elizabethan times, but it was not until the succeeding reign of King James I and VI that they had a grant of the crown manor of Fen Ditton, 2 miles from Cambridge.
Unlike his brother Richard, who fought with distinction for King Charles and plotted for Charles II, Thomas Willys took no known part in the Civil Wars, and held local office throughout the Interregnum (which may have facilitated his brother's notorious betrayal of the Sealed Knot to the Protectorate Government). In 1659 Thomas became the first of the family to sit in Parliament.
An inactive Member of the Convention Parliament, Thomas Willis MP made no recorded speeches and was appointed to only 5 committees, including the committee of elections and privileges, and those to settle the establishment of Dunkirk and to draw up instructions for disbanding the army. Although doubtless in opposition, he was proposed as a knight of the Royal Oak with an income of 1,000/. per annum.

So once again we have someone who apparently did nothing to deserve a reward, being proposed for an honor and pension. Or what did he do that history has not shared with us???

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I see no one answered the other half of Judy Bailey's question: "the steady stream of visitors, who I assumed were following along the shore, would end. Or is it likely that all of these visitors were from other ships traveling with them and they were simply moving from ship to ship as visitors?"

My best guess is that the Naseby is anchored somewhere near Dover behind the Goodwin Sands. Couriers arrive at Dover on horseback, gentry by coach, and they get rowed out to visit the Admiral when invited aboard -- to pick up warrents for travel or orders, or to visit on business.

They are not sightseers, guests or hangers-on. No wives.

Montagu's orders are to defend the coast and London from attack, but as Pepys can attest, the Naseby isn't water-tight yet. It's early in the fighting season and the weather is bad, so an attack is unlikely. That was Monck's cover story to justify having someone he trusts monitoring the traffic over the channel from the most popular port -- Dover to Calais is only 20 miles -- and be ready when ready is necessary. Which isn't yet.

England's two largest employers are the government/monarchy/army and the other is the navy/shipbuilding/victualling/dock yards. Monck has his foot on the parliament/army -- Montagu is exercising his foot whereever he can on the Navy, which is starved of cash. Making a fleet seaworthy and manned is essential, or England is a sitting duck for the French, Dutch, Spanish and Barbery Pirates next summer.

Time is of the essence. Getting a new Parliament in place to collect taxes and spend money is job one.

Stephane Chenard  •  Link

So at dinner last night we got the happy news that "my Lord was chosen at Dover". That's great! Congratulations. Today Mr Thomas White, in Dover, is also writing to My Lord on how he's utterly unable to fit out the Mermaid as per orders, "because we have neither money nor stores to help us". As always, but White adds that "Some of those of whom I have received necessaries for the State's frigates threaten to arrest me for the money (...) so that I cannot quietly walk the streets for want of money" (all in the State Papers; of course).

White hopefully closes his letter with "We beg you would be pleased to favour this poor town and port, and accept of being our baron in the next ensuing Parliament". Hmmm. Would this entail any walking of the streets? If my Lord had to chose, maybe Cambridge, far from the sea, could indeed be the better choice?

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