Friday 4 May 1660

I wrote this morning many letters, and to all the copies of the vote of the council of war I put my name, that if it should come in print my name maybe at it.

I sent a copy of the vote to Doling, inclosed in this letter:

SIR,

He that can fancy a fleet (like ours) in her pride, with pendants loose, guns roaring, caps flying, and the loud ‘Vive le Roys,’ echoed from one ship’s company to another, he, and he only, can apprehend the joy this inclosed vote was received with, or the blessing he thought himself possessed of that bore it, and is

Your humble servant.

About nine o’clock I got all my letters done, and sent them by the messenger that came yesterday.

This morning came Captain Isham on board with a gentleman going to the King, by whom very cunningly, my Lord tells me, he intends to send an account of this day’s and yesterday’s actions here, notwithstanding he had writ to the Parliament to have leave of them to send the King the answer of the fleet.

Since my writing of the last paragraph, my Lord called me to him to read his letter to the King, to see whether I could find any slips in it or no. And as much of the letter’ as I can remember, is thus:

May it please your Most Excellent Majesty, and so begins.

That he yesterday received from General Monk his Majesty’s letter and direction; and that General Monk had desired him to write to the Parliament to have leave to send the vote of the seamen before he did send it to him, which he had done by writing to both Speakers; but for his private satisfaction he had sent it thus privately (and so the copy of the proceedings yesterday was sent him), and that this come by a gentleman that came this day on board, intending to wait upon his Majesty, that he is my Lord’s countryman, and one whose friends have suffered much on his Majesty’s behalf.

That my Lords Pembroke and Salisbury are put out of the House of Lords.

That my Lord is very joyful that other countries do pay him the civility and respect due to him; and that he do much rejoice to see that the King do resolve to receive none of their assistance (or some such words), from them, he having strength enough in the love and loyalty of his own subjects to support him.

That his Majesty had chosen the best place, Scheveling, for his embarking, and that there is nothing in the world of which he is more ambitious, than to have the honour of attending his Majesty, which he hoped would be speedy.

That he had commanded the vessel to attend at Helversluce till this gentleman returns, that so if his Majesty do not think it fit to command the fleet himself, yet that he may be there to receive his commands and bring them to his Lordship.

He ends his letter, that he is confounded with the thoughts of the high expressions of love to him in the King’s letter, and concludes,

Your most loyall, dutifull, faithfull and obedient subject and servant, E. M.

The rest of the afternoon at ninepins. In the evening came a packet from London, among the rest a letter from my wife, which tells me that she has not been well, which did exceedingly trouble me, but my Lord sending Mr. Cook at night, I wrote to her and sent a piece of gold enclosed to her, and wrote also to Mrs. Bowyer, and enclosed a half piece to her for a token.

After supper at the table in the coach, my Lord talking concerning the uncertainty of the places of the Exchequer to them that had them now; he did at last think of an office which do belong to him in case the King do restore every man to his places that ever had been patent, which is to be one of the clerks of the signet, which will be a fine employment for one of his sons.

After all this discourse we broke up and to bed.

In the afternoon came a minister on board, one Mr. Sharpe, who is going to the King; who tells me that Commissioners are chosen both of Lords and Commons to go to the King; and that Dr. Clarges is going to him from the Army, and that he will be here to-morrow.

My letters at night tell me, that the House did deliver their letter to Sir John Greenville, in answer to the King’s sending, and that they give him 500l. for his pains, to buy him a jewel, and that besides the 50,000l. ordered to be borrowed of the City for the present use of the King, the twelve companies of the City do give every one of them to his Majesty, as a present, 1000l.

23 Annotations

First Reading

WKW  •  Link

"he did at last think of an office which do belong to him in case the King do restore every man to his places that ever had been patent, which is to be one of the clerks of the signet"

---the "Shorter Pepys," in a rare footnote, says: "Correctly, Privy Seal."

Mary House  •  Link

Interesting to compare the brief, colorful and energetic letter of Pepys with the wordy, fawning letter of Montagu. I know which one I'd prefer to find in my mailbox. Do many of Pepys's letters survive?

David Goldfarb  •  Link

In footnote #1, shouldn't that be "Scheveningen"?

mw  •  Link

Being fascinated by the gifts and sensibilities of Mr Pepy's this effort at memory is prodigious. Along with his continual efforts in this diary, this example gives us an initimate insight into his skills and abilities. For example this lovely unnoted quote from Wednesday 18/4:
to Burr, who wrote for me above a dozen letters, by which I have made my mind more light and clear than I have had it yet since I came on board

Simply put; Mr Pepys knows an uncluttered mind and the value of keeping it so. Evidence seen all through the diary. Mr Pepys has a sensibility built on fine gifts and abilities. Matched with an honesty and grasp of reality honed by the rigour of the company he keeps.
Some challenge.

Michiel van der Leeuw  •  Link

"Scheveling"
The correct name is indeed "Scheveningen" and not Schevingen. It is a fishing port, now part of the Hague, and quite famous as "celebrity port". Stadholder Willem V left the Netherlands here in 1795, and his son came back here in 1813 to become King Willem I. But that's a different era...

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Some notes from Wheatley:
Lord Pembroke: Philip, fifth Earl of Pembroke, and second Earl of Montgomery, died 1669. Clarendon says, "This young earl's affections were entire for his Majesty"

Lord Salisbury: William, second Earl of Salisbury. After Cromwell had put down the House of Peers, he was chosen a member of the House of Commons, and sat with them. Died 1668.

Paul Brewster  •  Link

That my Lords Pembroke and Salisbury are put out of the House of Lords.
From L&M Footnote: "Montagu was wrong, for both can be shown from the Lords' Journals to have attended the House very soon after this date. But both were unpopular with their fellow peers, becasue Pembroke's father and Salisbury himself sat in the Lower House after the abolition of the House of Lords in 1649."

j a gioia  •  Link

and the loud ‘Vive le Roys,’ echoed from one ship’s company to another.

interesting to see how much french survived in common 17th cent. english usage. would the tars have yelled something like 'viv leroy'? or would it have been something closer to a french pronounciation? noted already are the 'sink' ports.

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Vive le Roys
The following L&M footnote attempts to deal with the issue: "Clarendon describes how the King was 'received by all the officers and seamen ... with those exclamations which are peculiar to that people, and in which they excel' Was the phrase 'Vive le Roy' in common English use? Cf. Marvell: 'I will have a fine pond and a pretty decoy,/Where the Ducks and Drakes may their freedomes enjoy,/And Quack in their Language still Vive le Roy': The Kings vowes"

Paul Brewster  •  Link

SP's influence spreading far and wide
Per L&M footnote: "Some of the phrases in Pepys's letter were used by the government newspapers: Merc. Civ., 8 May and repeated in Merc. Pub., 10 May: 'The General fired the first gun himself, and cried "God bless his Majesty". Then might you see the Fleet in her pride, with pendants loose, Guns roaring, Caps flying, and loud Vive le Roy's echoed from one Ships Company to another ...'"

Emilio  •  Link

"to all the copies of the vote of the council of war I put my name, that if it should come in print my name maybe at it"
In relation to Paul's last note, I was amused to see Pepys put this information in the very first sentence of his entry. Sam my lad, you'll go far . . .

Nix  •  Link

Does anyone know if Samuel succeeded in his ploy to "get his name in the papers"?

vk  •  Link

The 'newspapers' published at this time were actually newsbooks - they were pamphlets rather than broadsheets - that were published every week. Their text was not very long and each was written by a single individual.

Here's what they looked like: this is the first and last page of one of the three newsbooks published (two published by the same person) during the Interregnum. This is just a bit smaller than it was in reality.
http://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/sedge…

There are not many - Henry Muddiman is setting up a new monopoly with two weeklies. Mercurius Publicus is one, and the other mentioned in the L&M footnote, Mercurius Civicus, is apparently a competitor that is not going to last long.

Pepys was hoping they would print the text of his entire letter, and include the signture at the bottom. This was in fact done frequently with official pronouncements. However, the footnote suggests that Muddiman and the writer of Civicus just plagiarized material from his letter - this was also done frequently.

mvincent  •  Link

see "http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… "Declaration of Breda"
Letter read from the King to ship did write "....and will provide to pay for all arrears..."
having been down in the scupper's that is why the cheers, The king was very smart inserting that minor detail.
SP does get his name into the Broad sheet see The Bodleian Library excert

Paul Brewster  •  Link

James Sharp
L&M on Sharp: a leader of the moderate Presbyterians in Scotland was sent by Monck to the King to help with the negotiations between the King and the Presbyterians of both kingdoms.

Capt.Petrus.S. Dorpmans  •  Link

4th May 1660.
"...and that Dr. Clarges is going to him from the Army, and that he will be there to-morrow..."
Sit Thomas Clarges, brother-in-law- to Monk, and physician to the army.

Second Reading

Dick Wilson  •  Link

For our Dutch annotators and readers, At this Royalist moment, I think it would not be amiss to wish long life in health to their Queen, retired, and to their new King!

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"he did at last think of an office which do belong to him in case the King do restore every man to his places that ever had been patent, which is to be one of the clerks of the signet"

L&M say -- more precisely -- that of a Clerk of the Privy Seal and Registrar of the Court of Requests, a position granted in March 1637: CSPD 1636-7, p.534.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"My letters at night tell me, that the House did deliver their letter to Sir John Greenville, in answer to the King’s sending, and that they give him 500l. for his pains, to buy him a jewel"

Commons Journal http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"and that besides the 50,000l. ordered to be borrowed of the City for the present use of the King, the twelve companies of the City do give every one of them to his Majesty, as a present, 1000l."

Loan from The City authorized by Commons
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Resolution of the Common Council (2 May): LRO, Common Hall Bks, v, ff.441v-2v. (L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Hopkins School was founded this day in New Haven Colony

John Davenport, a founder of the (unchartered) New Haven Colony, was an early proponent of education in the colony.[5] Grammar schools of the time generally prepared young men for college, but the Puritan colony was too far from England for its citizens to attend the existing English schools.[5] Parents of the time were generally more concerned with spending their money on essentials such as food, and viewed formal education as an extravagance most could not afford.[5] Davenport enlisted the help of a friend, Edward Hopkins, governor of the Connecticut Colony, to found a traditional grammar school that would teach Latin, Greek, and Hebrew grammar. The school's first home was a building on the New Haven Green.[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hop…

Third Reading

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... the House did deliver their letter to Sir John Greenville, in answer to the King’s sending, and that they give him 500/. for his pains, ..."

An independent example of a gratuity being paid by the beneficiary for services rendered. Pepys is doing nothing wrong in accepting gifts from grateful people.

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