Sunday 22 June 1662

(Lord’s day). This day I first put on my slasht doublet, which I like very well. Mr. Shepley came to me in the morning, telling me that he and my Lord came to town from Hinchinbroke last night. He and I spend an hour in looking over his account, and then walked to the Wardrobe, all the way discoursing of my Lord’s business. He tells me to my great wonder that Mr. Barnwell is dead 500l. in debt to my Lord.

By and by my Lord came from church, and I dined, with some others, with him, he very merry, and after dinner took me aside and talked of state and other matters. By and by to my brother Tom’s and took him out with me homewards (calling at the Wardrobe to talk a little with Mr. Moore), and so to my house, where I paid him all I owed him, and did make the 20l. I lately lent him up to 40l., for which he shall give bond to Mr. Shepley, for it is his money.

So my wife and I to walk in the garden, where all our talk was against Sir W. Pen, against whom I have lately had cause to be much prejudiced. By and by he and his daughter came out to walk, so we took no notice of them a great while, at last in going home spoke a word or two, and so good night, and to bed. This day I am told of a Portugall lady, at Hampton Court, that hath dropped a child already since the Queen’s coming, but the king would not have them searched whose it is; and so it is not commonly known yet. Coming home to-night, I met with Will. Swan, who do talk as high for the Fanatiques as ever he did in his life; and do pity my Lord Sandwich and me that we should be given up to the wickedness of the world; and that a fall is coming upon us all; for he finds that he and his company are the true spirit of the nation, and the greater part of the nation too, who will have liberty of conscience in spite of this “Act of Uniformity,” or they will die; and if they may not preach abroad, they will preach in their own houses. He told me that certainly Sir H. Vane must be gone to Heaven, for he died as much a martyr and saint as ever man did; and that the King hath lost more by that man’s death, than he will get again a good while. At all which I know not what to think; but, I confess, I do think that the Bishops will never be able to carry it so high as they do.

35 Annotations

First Reading

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"that hath dropped a child already"
But she just arrived from Portugal,so the child was probably conceived there;
unless it was a misscarriage and we all know how gossip can get out of hand.

Bradford  •  Link

---"dropped," as if it were a ripe pear tumbling from the bough.

Stolzi  •  Link

’ "dropped," as if it were a ripe pear’

I think the phrase is, or was, used of livestock - “dropped a calf.”

Mr. Will. Swan is a bit much, isn’t he? I imagine him talking thro’ his nose, on and on in a high, Puritanical whine. But Sam is at least a little impressed - he begins to lean towards his own earlier pre-Restoration ideas, and think the Bishops too big for their britches (or their copes).

Perhaps he worries, too, just a little over the eternal destinies of “my Lord Sandwich and me.”

Glyn  •  Link

I wonder if Elizabeth was wearing her "slashed waistcoat" that she got back on June 2nd? This must have been the height of fashion because I'm sure the artist Vermeer painted himself wearing a slashed doublet at about this time (was it called "The Art of Painting")?

It appears that Pepys didn't even go to church once today, which is very unusual, but Montagu must have had a lot of work for him following Montagu's long absence overseas.

Glyn  •  Link

"and do pity my Lord Sandwich and me that we should be given up to the wickedness of the world"

Including, presumably, acting like a peacock and wearing expensive new clothes on a Sunday. Mr Swan strikes me as dark suited type of guy.

BradW  •  Link

but, I confess, I do think that the Bishops will never be able to carry it so high as they do.

Not sure what that last sentence means. Perhaps he's agreeing with Swan, at least to the extent that he suspects the Bishops may not be able to restore the high esteem they enjoyed 50 years ago?

But what a fascinating exchange with Swan. Clearly Swan took Sam as a secret sympathizer (or else Swan has a death wish), evidenced by his confessing plans to openly defy the Act of U, and to an employee of his Majesty's government at that. It's one of those moments of revelation for Pepysophiles--will Sam turn the man in, join in the defiance, or just sit by and watch things unfold, hoping to deny any knowledge of the plot if he ends up on the witness stand? And what would Elizabeth want him to do if she knew? What if Montague finds out about the conversation?

Australian Susan  •  Link

"carry it so high"
One of the arguments the Independents and Presbyterians in the 1640s had with the Church was the power and importance of the episcopacy - overthrowing Bishops was one of the defining acts of the revolution: the Bishop of St Andrews was murdered by a mob, but mainly they were just materially and socially effected. Sam (and he isn't alone in this) does not want to see a return to the days when the Church had great social gulfs between a wealthy and poilitcally powerful episcopacy and a deprived and powerless parish clergy. Will Swan may have been an extremist (but we don't know what his religious leanings really were), but simply defying the Act of Uniformity would have lost him livelihood, not liberty or life. By August 24th of this year nearly 2000 clergy lost their livings because they would not use the new prayer book, but that is all that happened to them: there was no persecution. Many went to America.

dirk  •  Link

"a Portugall lady ... that hath dropped a child already since the Queen's coming, but the king would not have them searched whose it is”

Wouldn’t “dropped” refer to a the baby having been put out as a **foundling** ? This might explain the second part of the sentence, because obviously to find out who of the ladies in waiting was the mother, they would all have to undergo a medical examination (“search”).

This seems to me the only way to make sense of this, as it would indeed have been a fruitless exercise to “search” for the **father**, who would be somewhere in Portugal…

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Oh! what a farthingale could hide from prying eyes;
Dropped , I goe for the old fashion'd sense, gave birth as in dropped a calf.
According to some records, foundling hospitals, be very popular for dispensing of motherly and fatherly care to many a waif that not be wanted.[left at the church porch] Each town/village was responsible for their care, so very few of the poor wee bairns made it to the first birthday.

Bishop's have a habit of looking down their probiscus in such Laudly ways.
'Tis like now, not every one be enthralled with their illustrious leader.[earthly or spiritual] Single mindedness of the new/old prayer book gives many comfort of not having to debate, while others find that there be no room to speak their mind, no room to criticize. Unfortunate/fortunately the wealthy ones tied their prophits to CII and his power of dispensing wealth creators their way, while the dissenters are not organised or too feeble to fight the system.
Wealth creation needs unmitigated loyalty to the cause [ like any sports team] with acceptable super stars without the rankle of in fighting that can be had by be would be superstars.
'Tis why Democracy lies between but closer to Monarchy [superboss, Tsar, despot] than to Archarchy. As long as the top 20% of leading lights[egomaniacs] work to gether, growth will ensure, the dissident could be and did get fobbed off with a grant to some place, to get their act together.
The Isles be lucky that they had a relief valve in the new lands.

Mary  •  Link

"dropped" definitely means 'gave birth to'

though it's a deliberately slighting way of describing the event. L&M quotes an entry from 'an old cheque book of the Chapel Royal'

"Lisbona, the daughter of unknowne parents, accidentally found shortly after its birth in a private place of Hampton Court, but conceived to be the child of a Portugall woman, was baptised in a private chamber there, June 20, 1662."

Given that the child is unlikely to have been born proclaiming its nationality, it could have been an English 'accident'. Much easier to blame them furriners.

GrahamT  •  Link

Dropped a child:
Still common in British slang as "dropped a sprog" usually meant in a more or less derogatory way.

Tom Burns  •  Link

Slashed doublet

Refers to a style in which cuts were made in the exterior cloth to reveal a lining of a contrasting colour beneath; very stylish, Sam!

See http://www.centerstagecostumes.co…

for an example.

Martin  •  Link

"By and by [Sir Pen] and his daughter came out to walk"
Same and Liz are walking in their garden ... Does Penn live next door? Nearby?

Glyn  •  Link

Martin, I believe that the Naval Office has a communal garden, so they are strolling around or doing a circuit apart from each other, and only saying some perfunctory hellos when they pass on the way out.

"I do think that the Bishops will never be able to carry it so high"

I'm not sure but I think that Pepys has been writing like this on a regular basis for several months. So either the Bishops have been acting arrogantly for a long-time or it is a deep-seated opinion of his.

JonTom Kittredge  •  Link

Naval Board Housing
The members of the naval board mostly (all?) live in government housing adjacent to the Board offices. As Glyn says, they share a garden.

JWB  •  Link

"...they will preach in their own houses."
Wanna bet. '63 Conventicle Act prohibited 5(un-consanguine) or more from congregating. Can't have those unpersecuted, dressed in black, speaking out of an improper orifice mucking up the uniformity of it all.

Pedro  •  Link

"it could ave been an English "accident". Much easier to blame them furriners."

Mary, Casimiro in his biography of Catherine, mentions the Pepys Diary entry. He adds a short sentence saying that some said it was of Buckingham, but does not say where the information comes from, and does not enlarge on it.

Martin  •  Link

Naval housing
Thanks Glyn and JonTom
This helps explain the "walking on the leads" they've been doing as well. I assume now that they are able to walk on multiple rooftops, not just their own. I had been wondering how they could spend "an hour or two" at times just walking on their own rooftop.

Bradford  •  Link

Beautyful doublet, Tom! (Interesting how plum purple and bottle green have kept up their alliance over the centuries.) Now just add a cloak flung over one shoulder. . . .

Maurie Beck  •  Link

SWAN

Ah, Swan's my man. If he had his way, the fifth monarchy men would pave the way for the second coming and blasphemers, heretics, and witches would recant and be cleansed, first in earthly fires and then in purgatory.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Wonderful example of a "slasht doublet", Tom, but 16th rather than 17th century. This is a lovely and intriguing website!
With regard to the Bishops being "high" and arrogant - I think Sam is uttering deeply held prejudices against episcopacy.
Will Swan is, probably disparagingly, described as a "fanatique". Sam is not bothering, in common with many of his social group I suspect, to distinguish one group from another, but one reason why they were not more effective as an opposition to the established Church and accepted social order was the numerous divisons they were in and their internecine disputes. Rather similar to the mockery of left wing groups which is portrayed in the film "Life of Brian" - endless splintering and factionalism.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Foundling Hospitals
London did not get a Foundling Hospital until after our period. Brief information here http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/soci…
This little babe referred to had been abandoned to die - implying that the social position of the mother was too important to risk being known to have had a bastard child. Fashions of the day could conceal a pregnancy. In Catholic parts of Europe, it was far more common to leave these little unwanted ones at churches or at convents as it was important to ensure it was baptised before death: countries where the reformed religions were practised were not so concerned about this.

Pauline  •  Link

'This little babe referred to had been abandoned to die '
At Hampton Court? Isn't it more likely that the babe, probably being of some class in parentage, can expect to be taken up and cared for? By the palace staff? By doting court ladies? Raised to join a convent, become a governess, something along those lines? Does anyone know?

And what about couples such as Sam and Elizabeth? Would adoption of such a babe be acceptable?

A. Hamilton  •  Link

"By and by he and his daughter came out to walk, so we took no notice of them a great while, at last in going home spoke a word or two..."

Chilly night in the June garden. Is this any way to treat a man for whom a state was named?

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"this “Act of Uniformity,” " has to with bishops

'Charles II, 1662: An Act for the Uniformity of Publique Prayers and Administrac[i]on of Sacraments & other Rites & Ceremonies and for establishing the Form of making ordaining and consecrating Bishops Preists and Deacons in the Church of England.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), pp. 364-370. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Peter J Tyldesley  •  Link

The father of Lisbona was Edward Tyldesley 1635-1685, one of the English embassy sent to Lisbon in 1661 to finalise arrangements for the marriage of Charles II and Catherine of Braganza.

Edward Tyldesley was the eldest son of Major General Sir Thomas Tyldesley 1612-1651, who had been slain fighting for the Royalist cause at the Battle of Wigan Lane on 25 August 1651.

Further details in the June 2015 issue of Notes and Queries, Oxford University Press: http://goo.gl/3LRyj4

Larry Moore  •  Link

When I was practicing nursing in the delivery room in the US, doctors delivered babies, nurses caught babies. Even if the physician didn't show up in time, baby wasn't delivered by a nurse but caught. Course of the physician claimed he delivered the baby and paid accordingly.
The terminology does change based on the circumstances.

Louise Hudson  •  Link

Although the London Foundling Hospital was not established until 1741, it provides a look into how abandoned babies were cared for in those years (not too well, of course). It is open to the public and is well worth a trip. It's at Brunswick Square. It's a view of history we don't often get--the history of the common people who struggled to survive in crushing poverty.

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘drop v. < Old English dropian
. . 14. To let fall in birth; to give birth to (young); to lay (an egg). The usual word in reference to sheep.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 22 June (1970) III. 117 A Portugall lady..that hath dropped a child already, since the Queenes coming . . ‘

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

No, A. Hamilton. wrong William Penn:

'"By and by he and his daughter came out to walk, so we took no notice of them a great while, at last in going home spoke a word or two..."

'Chilly night in the June garden. Is this any way to treat a man for whom a state was named?'

This is Admiral Sir William Penn ... he loaned so much money to Charles II that the only way to repay the estate was for Charles to give William Jr. what became Pennsylvania. But that is many years from now.

William Jr. has recently been sent down, or removed, from Oxford University, having faced his first moral dilemma. His mentor, John Owen was censured after being fired as Dean of his college, and in 1660 the students were threatened with punishment for associating with him. Penn stood by Dean Owen, earning a fine and reprimand from the university. Admiral Penn pulled young Penn away from Oxford, hoping to distract him from the heretical influences of the university. The attempt had no effect. Father and son struggled to understand each other.

Back at school, the administration imposed stricter religious requirements including daily chapel attendance and required a dress. William Penn rebelled against enforced worship.

And so, in March, 1662 Penn Jr. arrived home for good. We can assume he was "sent down for non-conformity".

I think the problem of what to do with #1 son was much more on the Admiral's mind than Pepys' petulant vendetta.

For more about the history of William Penn Jr. see
https://tehistory.org/hqda/html/v…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"This day I am told of a Portugall lady, at Hampton Court, that hath dropped a child already since the Queen’s coming, but the king would not have them searched whose it is; and so it is not commonly known yet."

L&M: Cf. Old Cheque-book of Chapel Royal (ed. E. F. Rimbault), p. 180: 'Lisbona, the daughter of unknown parents, accidentally found shortly after its birth in a private place of Hampton Court, but conceived to be the child of a Portugal woman, was baptised in a private chamber there, June 20, 1662.' The birth was in fact reported in a letter (21 June): HMC, rep., 15/7/95.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"[Will Swan] told me that certainly Sir H. Vane must be gone to Heaven, for he died as much a martyr and saint as ever man did; and that the King hath lost more by that man’s death, than he will get again a good while."

L&M: Cf. Burnet (i. 286): 'It was generally thought the government had lost more than it had gained by his death.'

Third Reading

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