Tuesday 16 October 1660

This morning my brother Tom came to me, with whom I made even for my last clothes to this day, and having eaten a dish of anchovies with him in the morning, my wife and I did intend to go forth to see a play at the Cockpit this afternoon, but Mr. Moore coming to me, my wife staid at home, and he and I went out together, with whom I called at the upholsters and several other places that I had business with, and so home with him to the Cockpit, where, understanding that “Wit without money” was acted, I would not stay, but went home by water, by the way reading of the other two stories that are in the book that I read last night, which I do not like so well as it.

Being come home, Will. told me that my Lord had a mind to speak with me to-night; so I returned by water, and, coming there, it was only to enquire how the ships were provided with victuals that are to go with him to fetch over the Queen, which I gave him a good account of.

He seemed to be in a melancholy humour, which, I was told by W. Howe, was for that he had lately lost a great deal of money at cards, which he fears he do too much addict himself to now-a-days. So home by water and to bed.

25 Annotations

First Reading

Paul Brewster  •  Link

so home with him and from thence to the Cockpitt
L&M insert "and from thence"

Paul Brewster  •  Link

'Wit without money'
L&M: “A comedy by John Fletcher, first acted c. 1614 and published in 1639.”

Paul Miller  •  Link

"to the Cockpit, where, understanding that “Wit without money” was acted, I would not stay"

FRANCIS BEAUMONT AND JOHN FLETCHER
English dramatists (1586 - 1616 / 1579 - 1625)

Ask how to live? Write, write, write, anything;
The world's a fine believing world, write news.
- Wit without Money (act II)

Speak boldly, and speak truly, shame the devil.
- Wit Without Money (act IV, sc. 4)

Vow me no vows.
- Wit without Money (act IV, sc. 4)

Whistle, and she'll come to you.
- Wit without Money (act IV, sc. 4)

Let the world slide.
- Wit Without Money (act V, sc. 2)

Charity and treating begin at home.
- Wit without Money (sc. 2)

Let them learn first to show pity at home.
- Wit without Money (sc. 2)

http://www.imagi-nation.com/moons…

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Another great quote from "Wit without Money"

The fit ’s upon me now!
Come quickly, gentle lady;
The fit ’s upon me now.
- Wit Without Money. Act v. Sc. 4.
http://www.bartleby.com/100/158.h…

I've seen another version of a quote noted above:

Charity and beating begin at home.
- Wit without Money (sc. 2)

Paul Brewster  •  Link

Wit without Money
Now performed in the open ... Yet another aspect of the Restoration
From a web site: 'Despite regular raids by the authorities, playing continued at the Red Bull throughout the 1650s, especially the first half of the decade. There was a raid on 20 December 1649, and a month later, on 22 January 1650, the authorities raided a performance of a play at the Red Bull and arrested eight players, including Andrew Cane, who had been a leader of several companies in the 1620s and 1630s. There was another major raid on 29 December 1654 during a performance of Fletcher's "Wit Without Money", and a raid on 14 September 1655 became violent, with many "broken crowns". This latter raid involved tiremen and musicians as well as actors, and the costumes confiscated by the soldiers were "very rich".'
http://www.shaksper.net/archives/…

language hat  •  Link

"but Mr. Moore coming to me, my wife staid at home"
Tsk, tsk. I notice he doesn't mention any tender domestic scenes after his return home in the evening.

vincent  •  Link

There was a play house in Salisbury Court until March of '49:"...During most of 1647, plays were regularly and openly performed at Salisbury Court, the Cockpit, the Fortune, and probably the Red Bull..."
only the Red Bull seems to have survived from Paul Brewsters last annot: I wonder if SP got a taste of the boards here?(Sal: court: that is)
The other Interesting Point The Players were left alone if they sang their Lines: Only know how to use the Common Law?{ writtten in Latin and enforrced by English enforcers:)
{reminds me of one day, on the Parade ground did have clip board and stub of pencil and was challenge by one of the superior inferior sorts w/o commission but with warrant." I did reply " Procrasinating Sar" He doth Reply "Jolly Good! carry on Private"

Emilio  •  Link

The Cockpit

Following up on Vincent's last posting, I've found a site that gives details on Restoration theatres, including floorplans:
http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/acade…
The Cockpit is an older theatre that is quickly becoming outmoded, so you can find it using the link to "Alternative Theatres" in the site above.

Confusingly, there are actually two Cockpits in London right now. The one today is probably the theatre in Drury Lane that just opened a few days ago, rather than the Cockpit in Whitehall where plays were also sometimes performed. Fortunately, the Background section has pages for both.

Drury Lane: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
Whitehall: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

helena murphy  •  Link

The Italians say "fortunato nel gioco,sfortunato nel amore" or lucky at cards,unlucky in love, therefore Sandwich's loss is a blessing for were it the contrary the implication is he would lose the love of Jemima, a more devastating loss indeed!

David M  •  Link

Does anyone know what sort of card games people played back then? Poker? Cribbage?

Peter  •  Link

Consider the last few days from Elizabeth's perspective ......
Saturday: Sam comes home, gets in a temper because of her untidiness, and breaks the basket, her present from Holland.
Sunday: she ends up at dinner with the boss's wife (possibly OK depending on how they get on) but then they have to go home on a boat in the rain ("home, wet and dirty...").
Monday: the in-laws' wedding anniversary. Sam just drops her of there and goes about his business.
Tuesday: just about to go to the theatre, when Moore turns up and Sam goes out with him instead - and is gone for the rest of the day.
How long will she continue to put up with this?

Peter  •  Link

David M, definitely cribbage. Sam was playing it a few months ago.

Glyn  •  Link

Wherever you have cards (the Devil's playthings), you have card games, you have gambling but I doubt if he was playing cribbage because it is a slow game to lose money on.

Here's a link to some Elizabethan card games (i.e. 60+ years earlier):

http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/Tatte…

It's from a website from history enthusiasts based in the "Southwest United States" (wherever THAT is): http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~wew/Tatte…

Nix  •  Link

"based in the 'Southwest United States' (wherever THAT is)" --

Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona

rooshe  •  Link

Any guesses as to why our Sam chooses not to see "Wit without Money"?
A bit of his puritan background - a comedy doesn't rate as high as a
serious play?
Or is he an indifferent theatergoer - if it's not a great play and/or actor,
he's not interested?
Or does he know this play and he just doesn't like it?

Second Reading

meech  •  Link

I agree with Peter: "Consider the last few days from Elizabeth's perspective ......"

If the L&M translation is more accurate..."so home with him and from thence to the Cockpitt" it could mean that he came home and got Elizabeth and went to the play, although he doesn't mention her at all, and then for whatever reason he won't stay. So we are left wondering if he took her with him, if the three of them went, did he leave her there with Moore or by herself, or did she have to come home with him. Either way, his treatment of her comes across as shabby and indifferent. Cavalier, you might say. (Sorry.) But it was considered normal in his time. It was the way of the world up until very recently. And probably still is in some areas.

John Aitken  •  Link

I've often wondered about Elizabeth's life "At home" It may be that she gets up to many things, is visited by friends, larks about with the maid, visits friends goes out to markets etc. Or she might just have a dreary life indoors waiting for Sam to return in the evening, or not. We don't really know as Sam mostly only mentions her when they are in each others company. We know she is living in a pretty grand house, and decorating it. Maybe this passes for a hobby, it does for me. She could be having an affair for all we know, and Sam's scarcity is a blessing!

Terry Foreman  •  Link

To flesh out the last few days from Elizabeth's daybook:......
Saturday: Samuel came home, gets in a temper because of my untidiness, and breaks the basket, my present from Holland.
Sunday: I visit and dine with the lovely, congenial and dignified Lady Jemimah Sandwich, and am joined by Samuel. He and I are lucky and go home by water-taxi, it raining, so muddy by land ("home, wet and dirty...").
Monday: My parents' wedding anniversary. I ask Samuel to just drop me off and go on about his business, so ashamed am I of where they live!
Tuesday: We are just about to go to the theatre, when Mr. Henry Moore (Lord Sandwich's "man of business" and a lawyer at Gray's Inn) turns up and -- as it is part of Samuel's job to be on good terms with Mr. Moore -- he goes out with him for the afternoon on business and to the theatre instead. Ah well, another time!

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

John Evelyn's Diary – he and Mary Browne Evelyn live at Saye's Court, Deptford.

http://brittlebooks.library.illin…

@@@

14 October, 1660.
Axtall, Carew, Clement, Hacker, Hewson, and Peters, were executed.

@@@

THIS IS AN EVELYN ENTRY WHICH LEADS US TO BELIEVE HE WROTE AND AMENDED HIS DIARY LATER.

John Carew -- Pepys says he dies on Monday, 15 October, 1660. https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Rev. Hugh Peters - https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… He died on 16 October, 1660.

Gregory Clement MP = A merchant and MP for Fowey, who died on 17 October, 1660. http://bcw-project.org/biography/…

Col. Francis Hacker - https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… According to Pepys, the died on Friday, 19 October, 1660.

Col. Daniel Axtell - https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… According to Pepys, he died on Friday, 19 October, 1660.

John Hewson - Hardline army officer and regicide who became governor of Dublin.
In May 1660, with the Restoration imminent, he fled to the Continent.
His date and place of death are not known for certain.
http://bcw-project.org/biography/…

@@@

17 October, 1660.

Scot, Scroop, Cook, and Jones, suffered for reward of their iniquities at Charing Cross, in sight of the place where they put to death their natural prince, and in the presence of the King his son, whom they also sought to kill.

I saw not their execution, but met their quarters, mangled, and cut, and reeking, as they were brought from the gallows in baskets on the hurdle.

Oh, the miraculous providence of God!

@@@

John Cook -- https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
He died on 16 October, 1660

Thomas Scot MP -- https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… He died 17 October 1660

Col. Adrian Scrope -- https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
He died on 17 October, 1660

Col. John Jones MP -- https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… He died on 17 October, 1660

@@@

Evelyn seems delighted the monarchy is back, but the inevitable housecleaning is distasteful, so he stays in Deptford and distances himself emotionally from events to the point he didn’t note the executions until much later.

Pepys actions puzzle me: He went to 3 executions; they were all postponed, but he didn't care enough to go again. He mentions some people but not others.

And some of these men were executed for being unrepentant more than being guilty of regicide. Other people got off while, to my mind, guilty of far more treasonous activities (e.g. Oliver St.John). It was an imperfect exercise; Charles II hunts more regicides for years: I wonder what he would have done if he had caught them.

Third Reading

MartinVT  •  Link

"[My Lord, the 1st Earl of Sandwich] had lately lost a great deal of money at cards, which he fears he do too much addict himself to now-a-days."

This addiction apparently runs in the family for generations to come, and was the reason that My Lord's great-grandson, the 4th Earl, would invent the sandwich.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"[My Lord, the 1st Earl of Sandwich] had lately lost a great deal of money at cards, which he fears he do too much addict himself to now-a-days."

The Royalists had been playing cards, drinking and gambling for the last 20 years in France.
I'm sure no serious Puritan -- or someone who wanted to be seen as a serious Puritan even if he had reservations -- would have been caught dead gambling in the last 20 years.

Sandwich should have known he was out of his depth with these exoerienced card sharks. But I suspect he wanted to be "one of the boys" and "a good sport" and went along to get along.

Perhaps Lady Jemima has come to town to try and get him to stop?

LKvM  •  Link

"Ask how to live? Write, write, write, anything; The world's a fine believing world, write news."
This quote is especially relevant in the United States in these days of propagandistic news media.

William Crosby  •  Link

I am fascinated by Sandwich's use of the word addict[ed] in reference to his gambling at cards. OED indicates that its first usage is traceable to the 15th century--but, such a modern and important word but I would not have thought it dated this far back.

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