Wednesday 16 April 1662

Up early and took my physique; it wrought all the morning well. At noon dined, and all the afternoon, Mr. Hater to that end coming to me, he and I did go about my abstracting all the contracts made in the office since we came into it. So at night to bed.

20 Annotations

First Reading

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"Up early and took my physique"
Ah the birds are singing,winter is over,springtime,wonderful time to take a physique!...

vicente  •  Link

HA! removal of evidence???? "...he and I did go about my abstracting all the contracts made in the office since we came into it..."

dirk  •  Link

"abstracting all the contracts"

to abstract

I read this as "to make an abstract" in the sense of making "a statement summarizing the important points of a text" (in this case: the contracts).

(A of course you well know, Vicente Cumgranissalisssss.)

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

see how suspicious I be, Never trust civil servants not to cover ones derriere.[originally French ye know]
'Homines libenter id quod volunt credunt'
from that wise Kaiser, De Bello Gallico, III, 18.
otherwise it be: Men doth easily believe what they doth they want.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Mr Hewer was not in their helping, so it appears: very interesting.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Gleened from House of Lords and the Lower House:
Windsor still be occupying a Chair [15th April and 16th]
Bishop of London needs rental ten[t]ementt property
also the export [of precious resources] hides and leather to be restrain'd.
Butter bill be passed: no more short weighting??
Land Lord Crofts be upset, it appears his many ten[t]ants are with holding just due monies, they must desist such bad practice as said Lord has by right of privilege to his right of not to be disquieted.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Windsor still be sitting and there be a bill in the making to regulate West Yorkshire Cloth.
Still there be differences on the construction of how one must Worship, at the house of C. the neighs be 119 [from the teller of Noes] and the brays be 84.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Very Strange: Sam Employs 2 clerks one be Thos,Tom or Mr Hater [Hayter] that be married, and it was mentioned that there would be a birthing of baby by his masked wife, [no more said of wife nor offspring] Mr [Tom,Thos,mostly Mr] Hayter is mentioned in bringing Sam, his Salary, but nere a mention of the other Clerk [one Wm Hewer} by name. then on jan 19th he tells us this but no follow up;
19th Jan: "...Here the Treasurer did tell me that he did suspect Thos. Hater to be an informer of them in this work, which we do take to be a diminution of us, which do trouble me, and I do intend to find out the truth..." Qu. truth be?

Australian Susan  •  Link

Having looked at the reference Vincent gives us above to the H of C for this day, I see that they are to discuss the draining of part of the fens, which will do away with mosquito habitat and, in due course, help to lessen the number of people like maid Sarah with malaria. They have mentioned this before - it was a large public work. Also, there is mention of making rivers between London and Bristol navigable - linking two great ports. This eventually led to canals linking those parts of the river network which needed it. Though not strictly Navy business, I bet this sort of thing fascinated Sam.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

he did suspect Thos. Hater to be an informer of them in this work

CGS: What better way to persuade the authorities there is no hanky-panky with the Navy Office than to bring in the spy for the tedious business of abstracting the contracts? Also a test of Hayter's loyalty & discretion??

Gary J. Bivin  •  Link

Somewhat off-topic today, but I ran across this computer-rendered picture of London Bridge, circa 1500's. I can't vouch for the authenticity, but it gives some idea of how perilous the boat ride under the bridge may have been.

http://www.3dcommune.com/3d/galvi…

Australian Susan  •  Link

Lovely model, Gary. Thanks.

Glyn  •  Link

Yes, I agree it's a fine image and I hope Gary puts it on the London Bridge entry at:

http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

before it gets forgotten.

BUT, if the sea-going ship on the right of the pic is down-river i.e. east of the bridge then we're looking north to the City from the borough of Southwark and the pontoons and the main building are pointing up-river, which I thought was the other side (or is it me that's wrong - can anyone check?).

What it does show very well is that the buildings were so close together that it was possible not to realize that you were actually on a bridge; and how risky it was for people to actually sail beneath the bridge when the current was flowing strongly.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Mr. Hater to that end coming to me, he and I did go about my abstracting all the contracts made in the office since we came into it."

L&M think they were compiling an abstract (untraced) which Pepys kept for his personal use as a handy reference. The book was finished on 16 May and its index on 11 June. Listed in the British Library catalog, it is not to be found.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Early 1661 had been a very uncertain period for the Navy Board. CGS cites "19th Jan: '...Here the Treasurer did tell me that he did suspect Thos. Hater to be an informer [ to the parliamentary commissioners ] of us in this work, which we do take to be a diminution of us, which do trouble me, and I do intend to find out the truth...' Qu. truth be?"

In January 1661 the bureaucracy was in flux. The coronation of Charles II did not take place until 23 April. The Parliament was free-lancing and investigating the navy's budgetary affairs in an accusatory manner (looking for funds). For 19 January L&M noted the Navy Board had, for the first time, and in contravention to the law that gave them oversight in the matter, been appointed to pay off ships, perceived as a demotion in status.

Thomas Hayter was an established clerk in the Navy Office under the Parliament before Pepys was appointed Clerk of the Acts 13 July 1660, and in the tensions between levels of authority G. Carteret might well have feared Hayter was (still) reporting directly to the parliamentary commissioners, who represented his former supervisors. But that period of paranoia had passed by Spring 1662. By now Hayter was a trusted assistant, his work-habits and handwriting (!) admired by Pepys, who selected his particularly for the current task. .

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

The above comments by Cumgranissalis are misleading. Hayter is an experienced official employee of the Navy Board, though subordinate to Pepys. Will Hewer is employed by Pepys in a personal capacity, with a status very similar to an apprentice, probably not unlike a modern intern in some ways. At this early stage of his career (he is barely 20) Will is likely to be involved in many things without being specifically mentioned.

Paul Lazest  •  Link

The word "physique" in the context of April 16 entry sounds like it's some form of exercise but in another entry Sam says, "Took physique all day, and, God forgive me, did spend it in reading of some little French romances". Can any of you smart Pepysians discourse on the nuances of the meaning of this word "physique"?

william wright  •  Link

"physique" is a purgative so Sam stays home to be near his "house of office"
for a quick dash and splash.

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘physic, n. < Anglo-Norman fisike . . after ancient Greek ϕυσική
1. A medicinal substance; spec. a cathartic, a purgative. Also: medicines generally. Now hist.
. . 1748 Best Method preserving Uninterrupted Health 182 The Salt in the Air..shrinks up the Fibres of their Guts, and makes them [sc. seamen] generally very costive, insomuch as to require a double quantity of physic to purge them . . ‘

‘abstract, v. < classical Latin abstrahere to drag away, to appropriate, take away, to set free, to separate, to deduct, subtract, to exclude, to turn aside, divert . .
. . 3. b. To make a written summary or abridgement of; to summarize; to abridge . .
. . 1666 Abridgm.; or, Summary Laws against Jesuites 20 To be disabled to Sue..or Prosecute any Suit in Equity, &c. As in the next precedent Statute here abstracted and abridged.
1743 B. Franklin Proposal Promoting Useful Knowl. in Papers (1960) II. 382 That the Business and Duty of the Secretary be..to abstract, correct, and methodize such Papers &c. as require it . . ‘

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