Thursday 5 March 1662/63
Rose this morning early, only to try with intention to begin my last summer’s course in rising betimes. So to my office a little, and then to Westminster by coach with Sir J. Minnes and Sir W. Batten, in our way talking of Sir W. Pen’s business of his patent, which I think I have put a stop to wholly, for Sir J. Minnes swears he will never consent to it.
Here to the Lobby, and spoke with my cozen Roger, who is going to Cambridge to-morrow. In the Hall I do hear that the Catholiques are in great hopes for all this, and do set hard upon the King to get Indulgence. Matters, I hear, are all naught in Ireland, and that the Parliament has voted, and the people, that is, the Papists, do cry out against the Commissioners sent by the King; so that they say the English interest will be lost there. Thence I went to see my Lord Sandwich, who I found very ill, and by his cold being several nights hindered from sleep, he is hardly able to open his eyes, and is very weak and sad upon it, which troubled me much. So after talking with Mr. Cooke, whom I found there, about his folly for looking and troubling me and other friends in getting him a place (that is, storekeeper of the Navy at Tangier) before there is any such thing, I returned to the Hall, and thence back with the two knights home again by coach, where I found Mr. Moore got abroad, and dined with me, which I was glad to see, he having not been able to go abroad a great while. Then came in Mr. Hawley and dined with us, and after dinner I left them, and to the office, where we sat late, and I do find that I shall meet with nothing to oppose my growing great in the office but Sir W. Pen, who is now well again, and comes into the office very brisk, and, I think, to get up his time that he has been out of the way by being mighty diligent at the office, which, I pray God, he may be, but I hope by mine to weary him out, for I am resolved to fall to business as hard as I can drive, God giving me health.
At my office late, and so home to supper and to bed.
15 Annotations
First Reading
Bradford • Link
"Betimes," as in "rising betimes," means "early, promptly" (Companion Large Glossary), lest we forget.
Any hours you work I can work longer,
I can work WAY longer hours than you!
Todd Bernhardt • Link
"but I hope by mine to weary him out, for I am resolved to fall to business as hard as I can drive, God giving me health."
All to the King's benefit, this competition. (And, no doubt, to Sam and Penn's as well!)
Having been laid low since Wed. night by a vicious (and viscous) cold, I empathize with "my lord." I was thinking the other day how poorly I would have dealt with the fever, sniffling, headaches, sore throat, etc., without today's little miracles (ibuprofen, antihistamines, etc.)
jeannine • Link
"my Lord Sandwich, who I found very ill, and by his cold ...."
He's not the only one! Today's letter from King Charles to his sister Minette in France..
"I writ to you yesterday by de Chapelles, who will tell you what a cruell cold I have gott, which is now so general a disease heere, after the breaking of the frost, that nobody escapes it, and though my cold be yett so ill, as it might well excuse me writing, I thought it necessary to let you know that the Queene, my mother, findes an absolute ease of the headache which she has had all night, by being lett blood this afternoon, and she finds so great benefitte by it, as I hope her cold will in two or three days be gone, especially if the weather continues so faire and warme as it it today. Excuse me that I say no more at this time, for really this little holding downe my head makes me ake, my dearest sister I em entirely yours. C.R."
Robert Gertz • Link
I'd like to hope Batten and Minnes slip out at lunch for a moment after watching Penn and Pepys furiously regarding each other... "I was in at five am." "I'm leaving at 10pm...If I leave at all."
"Dinner, gentlemen?"
"NO!!" "Certainly not!"
...And bearing pipes and cold ale, take a comfortable seat in the office complex gardens and enjoy watching the world go by...
"The uh,moron boys still hard at it, Sir John?" Batten stretches a bit in the sun.
"Aye, Will. Lord, I was annoyed by them handing half my work to him without a word to me, but I thought Penn had more sense. You don't suppose we should...So as not to look too..."
"Please, Sir John. You've shed blood for the King haven't you?"
"Well, certainly."
"As have I and may do so again. Well, then. We've done our duty. And so long as young Pepys wishes to do all the tedious paperwork required and keeps out of our affairs with the vendors...And we draw our regular salary. Who cares?" Batten waves a hand. "More ale, Sir John?"
"Indeed, Sir Will."
Robert Gertz • Link
"...very weak and sad upon it..."
After no doubt a course of bleeding, purging, etc...
chuck • Link
What's going on in Ireland? Too bad Boner from U2 wasn't around to smooth things over.
in Aqua Scripto • Link
Poor Carlos, Mumsy be wanting CRII to be a good Catholick [Roman] boy , but the lads at HP be not giving funds to the Popes men, even the Sun king is against that. So what is a man to do, after living high withe the best of the food for upper and lower brain , or go and slum it around Europe. Would any lurker give up such a good thing? [ his earthly pleasures, that be ] in lieu of begging for a couch in some far off land, in the hopes of redemption or even immortality ?
Even St Augustine said in his Confessiones,VIII, 7
Da mihi castitatem et continetiam, sed noli modo
in Saxon: Make me chaste and pure, but not yet.
Paul Chapin • Link
Sir W. Pen's patent:
It's not clear to me why Sam thinks HE has put a stop to Sir W's effort, when it's Sir J Minnes who refuses to consent to it. How can Sam play the spoiler here? Any thoughts?
Tony Eldridge • Link
Sir W.Pen's patent.
I think we can imagine Sam sucking his teeth and remarking to Minnes "Lose part of your post today and, who knows, in a few months' time it may all be gone! Not that it's any of my business, of course....."
Stolzi • Link
Rose this morning early
Pepys nails my own Lenten resolution, carried out for the first time this a.m.!
Stolzi • Link
Sorry for the messy post - the layout on these comment pages appears to have changed.
Mary • Link
What's going on in Ireland?
Since September 1662 the commissioners of a Court of Claims have been sitting in Ireland, trying to resolve complex land issues that resulted from land settlement arrangements made in Cromwell's time. On 10th February 1663 the Irish House of Commons defied the government and passed a vote which had the effect of damaging the claims of those with a Catholic interest. Furthermore the Irish H of C demanded the power to treat with the Privy Council. (per L&M footnote)
Glyn • Link
I always find it a little amusing when Pepys tries to compete against Penn, because he must know that it’s an unequal contest in so many ways. If you read all of Pepys comments about the “office politics” it would be easy to believe that the Navy Office is an inefficient organization but that’s not my own judgement of these people. They haven’t been reneging on any bills and they’ve been getting the fleet supplied apparently on time and on budget. It’s true that most of them apart from Pepys were chosen more for their loyalty and actual sailing experience rather than their administrative ability, but I suspect that they’ve selected some efficient clerical staff to work for them. And I’m beginning to wonder if one of the reasons that Pepys dislikes Penn is because he may be one of the more efficient and hard-working members of the Board as well as being so much senior to him. Penn, after all, is an experienced admiral who has seen all the problems of being supplied or crews not being paid from the point of view of the sailor.
And as Todd says above, any competition in efficiency between the two will be all to the government’s benefit, but do you think that Penn even notices that Pepys is trying to compete with him?
And by the way people, it’s all very well being sympathetic to Sam, but having similar ailments and illnesses in conjunction with his is going a tad too far.
Bradford • Link
Better offer up a libation to the appropriate deity, Glyn, to forestall your getting the Stone!
Speaking of pouring another one, so that nobody misses this, do note that Sjoerd has kindly provided a Key to the usual suspects in the Birthday Photo:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/about/a…
Second Reading
Chris Squire UK • Link
OED has:
‘betimes, adv. < betime v. . .
2. spec. At an early hour, early in the morning.
. . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 1 Sept. (1971) IV. 293 Up pretty betimes and after a little at my Viall, to my office . . ‘
‘beˈtime, v.
. . a. intr. To betide.’
‘betide, v. < M English bitiden . . to happen . .
1. a. intr. To happen, befall . .
. . a1645 W. Browne tr. M. Le Roy Hist. Polexander (1647) iv. ii. 199 The wounded man..about to aske what was betided.
. .1802 in Scott Minstrelsy Sc. Border II. 275 Betide, betide, whate'er betide, Haig shall be Haig of Bemerside.
. . c. esp. in the expression of a wish. Now almost exclusively in ‘Woe betide!’
. . 1633 T. Heywood Eng. Trav. iv, in Wks. (1874) IV. 70 A happy Morning now betide you Lady. . . ‘