Wednesday 9 July 1662
Up by four o’clock, and at my multiplicacion-table hard, which is all the trouble I meet withal in my arithmetique. So made me ready and to the office, where all the morning busy, and Sir W. Pen came to my office to take his leave of me, and desiring a turn in the garden, did commit the care of his building to me, and offered all his services to me in all matters of mine. I did, God forgive me! promise him all my service and love, though the rogue knows he deserves none from me, nor do I intend to show him any; but as he dissembles with me, so must I with him. Dined at home, and so to the office again, my wife with me, and while I was for an hour making a hole behind my seat in my closet to look into the office, she was talking to me about her going to Brampton, which I would willingly have her to do but for the cost of it, and to stay here will be very inconvenient because of the dirt that I must have when my house is pulled down.
Then to my business till night, then Mr. Cooper and I to our business, and then came Mr. Mills, the minister, to see me, which he hath but rarely done to me, though every day almost to others of us; but he is a cunning fellow, and knows where the good victuals is, and the good drink, at Sir W. Batten’s. However, I used him civilly, though I love him as I do the rest of his coat. So to supper and to bed.
36 Annotations
First Reading
Bradford • Link
Of minister Mr. Mills: "However, I used him civilly, though I love him as I do the rest of his coat."
L&M Companion, Large Glossary:
"COATE: profession, cloth: 'very common in 17th cent.' (OED)."
"at my multiplicacion-table hard, which is all the trouble I meet withal in my arithmetique."
Does trigonometry figure into ship-building?
"I was for an hour making a hole behind my seat in my closet to look into the office"---far too delicate an operation to outsource.
dirk • Link
"my wife with me, and while I was for an hour making a hole behind my seat in my closet to look into the office"
Ref previous comments and annotations, I feel this confirms
a) that Sam actually made these holes himself (I seem to remember that Sam got a set of carpenters tools some months ago, but I haven't searched for the diary entry concerned)
b) that there's nothing secret about this, and that it's an acceptable practice (probably to control the clerks, as has been suggested before). I don't think Sam would have taken his wife with him on a "secret" mission...
dirk • Link
the carpenter's tools
Sam's diary for Wednesday 24 October 1660:
"...and so home, where I found a box of Carpenter's tools sent by my cozen, Thomas Pepys, which I had bespoke of him for to employ myself with sometimes.”
JWB • Link
"tetchy"
Tomalin calls his office relations(x- Coventry) tetchy. Tetchy is a good word. The man is tetched. Perhaps he got this from his mother. It's very off-putting. Then there's this: "though I love him as I do the rest of his coat." Anti-cleric all or just C of E?
Pauline • Link
"...I was for an hour making a hole ..."
Dirk, the June 30 annotations debated whether he made the holes that day or only thought up the idea of having holes that day. With speculation about the use of the holes and their secrecy.
The hole still may be secret: with Penn gone, and it being the lunch hour, and Sam continuing to discuss domestic affairs with Elizabeth (and the minister coming to Sam in the evening making it sound like Batten is away), it sounds slightly possible that the great office was vacant at the time Sam made the hole.
Jesse • Link
"[U]sed him civilly, though I love him as I do the rest of his coat."
Dissembling again? Or perhaps paying respect to the minister's "coat", Pepys still maintains a "love" despite the minister's cunning ways.
Cumgranissalis • Link
! ah ha ! he does the deed 'imself, 'tis a spy 'ole I doth do declare. "...so to the office again, my wife with me, and while I was for an hour making a hole behind my seat in my closet to look into the office, she was talking to me about her going to Brampton, which I would willingly have her to do but for the cost of it,..." thanks for box of tools Dirk.
Most us be civil to members of the cloth, sometimes, barely at other times[when asking for a donation to the plate], except when they play a mean square leg, or short stop.
Mary • Link
"though I love him...."
Sarcasm, surely. Pepys has shown no great love for the clergy in their profession, though occasionally (very occasionally) he comments favourably on the intellectual content of their sermons.
There's a very human mix of feelings here: Sam hardly respects Mills, perceives his venality ("knows where the good victuals is")doesn't actually enjoy his company yet feels mildy slighted that Mills does not call upon him nearly as often as he calls upon other members of the Navy office.
Pedro • Link
"she was talking to me about her going to Brampton, which I would willingly have her to do but for the cost of it,"
A different story when he wanted to go to Portsmouth!
"This morning I attempted to persuade my wife in bed to go to Brampton this week, but she would not"
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
(And now we can see that Elizabeth knows the primary purpose of the holes, as Sam keeps the secondary purpose to himself!)
Robert Gertz • Link
"Eh hem, ummn Pepys, my good fellow? You will see my house is safe while I'm away in Ireland while you tear the roof off yours and Batten's?"
As in, please God, don't have them drop the said roof accidently on purpose on mine...
"Why certainly, Sir William. Rest assured I will see to your house." Being smashed as flat as a pancake, you cunning rogue whom I hate with all my heart...May the Irish feast on your entrails.
"Of course I can't guarantee there won't be a little dust." Cut to shot in Sam's mind of a shute running through Penn's broken window, daily depositing enough dirt and dust to make the interior look like Arabia.
Robert Gertz • Link
Meanwhile, in the Pepys bedchamber...
Jane is summoned to find the returned Elisabeth drawing a small circle with charcoal in the bedroom floor above Sam's home closet. One just big enough to allow easy one-eye observation of the going-ons without attracting notice.
"Ma'am?"
"Fetch that hammer and saw of Mr. Pepys' from his chamber, Jane."
I learn so many useful things from my Sam'l our Bess notes to herself...
derek • Link
"though I love him as I do the rest of his coat"
That's not sarcasm, he means to plainly say he loves him *as little* as he does the others, not as much.
"which he hath but rarely done to me, though every day almost to others of us"
He sounds not so much slighted as grateful to have dodged the bullet.
Cumgranissalis • Link
'Tis different."...A different story when he wanted to go to Portsmouth..."
It be all expense paid For Sam plus the opportunity in making a little on the side. The Brampton Trip be costly, The fare, the meals etc.. and the loss maybe of having his locks deliced.
john • Link
An hour to make a hole? Just how large was this hole and how thick the wall (or did drills not exist then)?
GrahamT • Link
How large was the hole?
Like others, I think, I assumed this was a drilled peep-hole. (drills and augers did exist) Perhaps the "hole" is actually an unglazed internal window or hatchway into the next office, large enough for him to see the whole office without pressing his eye to the wall. That would explain why it took an hour to make.
If it is for keeping an eye on the clerks, it doesn't have to be secret.
A. Hamiton • Link
A different story when he wanted to go to Portsmouth
Sam's journey to Portsmouth would have been all expense paid, but geting Beth out of the way to Brampton so she would not interfere with his plan for a rendezvous with La Belle Pierce (a ruse in which he failed, requiring the Plan B "no wives to Portsmouth" ploy) would have been out of pocket.
Joe Worthington • Link
"as he dissembles with me, so must I with him"
wise words
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Penn's journey to Ireland
Penn had estates in co. Cork and was Governor of Kinsale, the principal naval base in Ireland, as well as Vice-Admiral of Munster. He was in charge of the squadron accompanying James Butler, Duke of Ormond, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland. (L&M note, May 8)
Pepys's care of Penn's building
In a letter of 12 August Batten and Pepys reported to Penn on the progress of the alterations of the Principal Officers' houses. They also expressed their exceeding gladness at his safe arrival, and their 'hopes' of his 'speedy return.'
(L&M note)
Terry Foreman • Link
"knows where the good victuals is, and the good drink, at Sir W. Batten’s."
L&M note so did Pepys, who often received Batten's hospitality. e.g. dining there the following 26, 27 and 28 August when his own house was being worked on.
Terry Foreman • Link
derek is spot on about Pepys's "love" for Milles being as little as it is for "the rest of his coat."
On this point L&M adduce his letter to Dryden (14 July 1699, inserted in his copy of the Fables ancient and modern, 1700) in which he thanks the author for the book and assures him that his version of Chaucer's Good Parson has made 'some amends for the hourly offense I beare with, from the sight of soe many Lewd Originalls'.
Bill • Link
"However, I used him civilly, though I love him as I do the rest of his coat."
COAT ... 3. Vesture as demonstrative of the office.
---A Dictionary Of The English Language. Samuel Johnson, 1756.
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘coat < Middle English cote, < Old French . .
. . 6. Garb as indicating profession (e.g. clerical); hence, profession, class, order, sort, party; chiefly in such phrases as a man of his coat, one of their own coat, etc. Very common in 17th c. . .
. . 1647 T. May Hist. Parl. i. iii. 28 The Archbishop of Canterbury..a man..of a disposition too fierce and cruel for his Coat.
1686 Catholic Representer ii. 60 Reports..carried about..by Men of all Coats . . ‘
Ivan • Link
"but as he dissembles with me, so must I with him"
Do other annotators think Penn is dissembling as Sam asserts to justify his own dissembling? Or could it be that Penn thinks everything is smoothed over or doesn't really understand how strongly Pepys is offended with him about who should draw up contracts. Maybe he is just in blissful ignorance about Sam's true feelings and genuinely commits the care of his house to Sam and offers "all his services" in a sincere manner. I suppose we shall just have to see how their relationship turns out.
eileen d. • Link
Ivan: A year and 1/2 late, but for what it's worth… I looked at our background article (wikipedia) on William Penn. Four years later, Pepys is still disgusted by him. I don't think it was just a temporary annoyance related to the recent contract dispute. the article also states that Penn "was not a high minded man…" I'd like to know more about that!
Kyle in San Diego • Link
"while I was for an hour making a hole behind my seat in my closet to look into the office" It seems S is making a spy hole to his office. First, I didn't know his office was next to his house. Second, who else would be in his office that he needs to spy on? I can't quite figure out if Penn and Batten are sometimes in his office or not.
Mary K • Link
If you go back to the beginning of the diary, read all the relevant annotations, click on all the highlighted links, consult the Encyclopedia section, read the In-depth articles etc. you will find that many /most of your questions have already been answered and explored by readers/annotators who have been participating in this blog for the last 15 years or so. It is now on its second run-through of the diary.
Kyle in San Diego • Link
Thank you for pointing that out to me. I try my best to answer any questions I have first, before posting an annotation, still, I do not always succeed in finding the answer even though there is something to be found.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Kyle, under IN-DEPTH ARTICLES (where I should probably post some of my missives) I found
https://www.pepysdiary.com/indept…
which includes a map and will give you an idea for where and how the Pepys, Penns, Battens, Turners, etc. lived.
And in our ENCYCLOPEDIA, under Places, select Pepys' homes, and you'll find three listed. I selected Seething Lane and got
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…
with 17 annotations, which gave me lots of ideas. Because that's the best we can do ... Pepys didn't sketch a layout in the Diary and the building burned down in the 1670's.
Top right of this page is a search box. If you put "closett" you'll read about everyone's home offices. If you put "office" or "Navy building" or "Navy Office" you'll find literally hundreds of leads to people's ideas about these places. Good hunting ... come to your own conclusion. There is no test, and "nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so" (Ralph Waldo Emerson).
Kyle in San Diego • Link
Thanks. I'm also a little confused about S's working situation. Who is his immediate supervisor and how often does S have to meet with him? It also seems like he sets his own hours, is that true? I'm also not very clear about who else is with him when he's working in the office. Finally, 'nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so,' aside from being false is a quote from Shakespeare, more specifically Hamlet. RWE was undoubtedly quoting Shakes.
Mary K • Link
Chapter 9 of Claire Tomalin's Samuel Pepys: the Unequalled Self answers these questions for you (she answers many other questions too) - but the information is also here in the Pepys blog if you look for it.
For really useful background reading try Liza Picard's Restoration London.
Both books are well-regarded. As SDS says, good hunting.
Kyle in San Diego • Link
I'm sorry I don't have time to read Picard's book. Not sure what SDS means either.
Mary K • Link
SDS - San Diego Sarah - who has been offering you encouraging advice.
Phil Gyford • Link
Could I suggest that any general questions that aren't directly related to the current diary entry are directed to the Discussion Group, which is as close as we've got to a place for more general discussion: https://groups.io/g/pepysdiary Thanks.
Kyle in San Diego • Link
Thanks for the tip. I was looking for such a group but could only find a yahoo groups. You might want to post that info in the about section.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Finally, 'nothing is right or wrong but thinking makes it so,' aside from being false is a quote from Shakespeare, more specifically Hamlet. RWE was undoubtedly quoting Shakes." -- I did not know that. Thanks.
"Who is his immediate supervisor and how often does S have to meet with him?" -- I'll take a shot at this ... William Coventry, MP., who works directly for James, Duke of York. But all of Pepys' colleagues are either Members of Parliament or his seniors in age and experience, and knights of the realm. So he is the low man on the totem pole, and by hard work and ability gains the upper hand.
"It also seems like he sets his own hours, is that true?" -- yes. As does the boss today. Pepys has to be there when he has to be there.
"I'm also not very clear about who else is with him when he's working in the office." -- Nor are we, because he rarely tells us.
If you search our ENCYCLOPEDIA for the Navy Board you'll find the info from Claire Tomalin's "Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self" pp 49-50 was entered for your edification in 2003.
San Diego Sarah • Link
I missed the "how often does S have to meet with him?" part of the question.
For most of the Diary the Navy Board meets with James, Duke of York on Monday mornings. As the second Anglo-Dutch War warms up there are more frequent meetings. As for meeting with Coventry, it's more fluid. Pepys gets to the point where he can stop by for a chat, when appropriate.