Sunday 28 February 1663/64
(Lord’s day). Up and walked to Paul’s; and by chance it was an extraordinary day for the Readers of the Inns of Court and all the Students to come to church, it being an old ceremony not used these twenty-five years, upon the first Sunday in Lent. Abundance there was of Students, more than there was room to seat but upon forms, and the Church mighty full. One Hawkins preached, an Oxford man. A good sermon upon these words: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.”
Both before and after sermon I was most impatiently troubled at the Quire, the worst that ever I heard. But what was extraordinary, the Bishop of London, who sat there in a pew, made a purpose for him by the pulpitt, do give the last blessing to the congregation; which was, he being a comely old man, a very decent thing, methought.
The Lieutenant of the Tower, Sir J. Robinson, would needs have me by coach home with him, and sending word home to my house I did go and dine with him, his ordinary table being very good, and his lady a very high-carriaged but comely big woman; I was mightily pleased with her. His officers of his regiment dined with him. No discourse at table to any purpose, only after dinner my Lady would needs see a boy which was represented to her to be an innocent country boy brought up to towne a day or two ago, and left here to the wide world, and he losing his way fell into the Tower, which my Lady believes, and takes pity on him, and will keep him; but though a little boy and but young, yet he tells his tale so readily and answers all questions so wittily, that for certain he is an arch rogue, and bred in this towne; but my Lady will not believe it, but ordered victuals to be given him, and I think will keep him as a footboy for their eldest son.
After dinner to chappell in the Tower with the Lieutenant, with the keyes carried before us, and the Warders and Gentleman-porter going before us. And I sat with the Lieutenant in his pew, in great state, but slept all the sermon. None, it seems, of the prisoners in the Tower that are there now, though they may, will come to prayers there.
Church being done, I back to Sir John’s house and there left him and home, and by and by to Sir W. Pen, and staid a while talking with him about Sir J. Minnes his folly in his office, of which I am sicke and weary to speak of it, and how the King is abused in it, though Pen, I know, offers the discourse only like a rogue to get it out of me, but I am very free to tell my mind to him, in that case being not unwilling he should tell him again if he will or any body else.
Thence home, and walked in the garden by brave moonshine with my wife above two hours, till past 8 o’clock, then to supper, and after prayers to bed.
38 Annotations
First Reading
Robert Gertz • Link
"...but though a little boy and but young, yet he tells his tale so readily and answers all questions so wittily, that for certain he is an arch rogue, and bred in this towne..."
Sam knows a budding Wayneman when he sees one...
Meanwhile, in Barbados...
"Such a pretty little boy, father...Must he go off to the fields?" the sugar planter's daughter eyes a weary but-careful-to-catch-her-eye Wayneman. "I should like to keep him in the house as my little page, say as a junior footman."
Hmmn...Dad frowns, looking the boy...Clearly an arch rogue...Over. Still, if my dear girl wants the little beast. Tis perhaps best not to have our white indentures working the fields...Gives the slaves ideas.
"Boy! Come here!!"
Step one in the future chief aide to the Earl of Shaftsbury's revenge scheme...Survival. Achieved.
"Such a pretty footman he'll make." the girl grins at him.
Step two...Marry into money. Achievable. He grins back at the somewhat plump but not unattractive young lady.
Just give me 15 or 20 years health, Mr. Pepys...And we shall meet again.
***
Robert Gertz • Link
"...his lady a very high-carriaged but comely big woman; I was mightily pleased with her."
And future events will show, a high-spirited lady with a kind heart and an eye for good-looking men as well.
J A Gioia • Link
None, it seems, of the prisoners in the Tower that are there now, though they may, will come to prayers there.
Ungrateful wretches! There is just no helping some people. . .
Glyn • Link
The chapel in the Tower is the small church of St Peter ad Vincula ("St Peter in Chains"), is the name supposed to be ironic? Both of Henry VIII's executed wives are interred here (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) as is Thomas More. The public can still go to Sunday services.
Small Spoiler: many years after the Diary ends, Pepys will attend this chapel as a prisoner himself, I wonder if he thought back to this entry.
There are still families living within the Tower, because the Yeoman of the Guard (the Beefeaters) begin there when in their forties and early fifties and bring their wives and children to live in the Tower, which is why you occasionally see children playing ball games in the now-empty moat on summer evenings after the Tower has closed to the public. I like these comments from H.V. Morton about the Tower: "But no, the Tower is a pleasant residential spot, and the continuity of its domestic life is one of the most interesting things about it. There has been not a night since Norman times - a matter of something like nine centuries - when men and women have failed to seek their rest within its walls or have ceased to regard the Tower as 'home'. It is the most ancient inhabited dwelling-place in London, and I doubt whether any other building in the world can boast a longer history of unbroken bed-making".
"The rooms in the Tower resemble nothing so much in their rocky massiveness as caves or something hewn out of a mountain. When you glance through a window, you notice that it has been cut in a wall over four feet (more than one metre) thick. If the windows were blocked up, the room, although high in a tower, would become a dungeon."
Brian • Link
"which my Lady believes, and takes pity on him"
If one reads Sam's comments about Sir John Robinson on Jan. 11, 1664 you will see that Sam doesn't think much of her husbands's sense either.
Lawrence • Link
Bless her for taking him in, and bless him, let's hope he grow's up as successful as Sam.
Lawrence • Link
Bless her for taking him in, and bless him, let's hope he grow's up as successful as Sam.
Michael Robinson • Link
... with the Lieutenant, with the keyes carried before us, and the Warders and Gentleman-porter going before us.
Sounds very like the Ceremony of the Keys which "takes place every night at the Tower of London, and has done so in some form or another since the 14th century. [In the C 20th.] Just before 10pm, the Chief Warder, dressed in Tudor period uniform, meets the Escort of the Key, made up of men of the guard detachment. Together, they secure the main gates of the Tower. Upon their return to the Bloody Tower archway, the party is halted by the sentry and challenged to identify themselves:
Sentry: Who comes there?
Chief Warder: The keys.
S: Whose keys?
CW: Queen Elizabeth's keys. (identifying the keys as being those of the British monarch as of 2007)
S: Pass Queen Elizabeth's Keys. All's well. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cere…
http://www.toweroflondontour.com/…
Michael Robinson • Link
to chappell in the Tower
It is possible still for the public to attend the Sunday service. For an interior photograph and times see:
http://www.historicroyalpalaces.o…
Lawrence • Link
"Thence home, and walked in the garden by brave moonshine"
It will be full moon for Sam on the 2nd of March, and the 3rd of March for us, also watch the sky this Saturday (Clear skies permitting) because there is going to be a total Lunar eclipes, seen over north America, north Africa, and Europe, it will look blood red for some time, caused by the Moon moving into the Earth's shaddow!
Paul Chapin • Link
"for certain he is an arch rogue, and bred in this towne"
Sam's prejudices are showing here. Because the boy is articulate and witty, Sam infers that he cannot possibly be from the country.
Michael Robinson • Link
total Lunar eclipses, seen over north America,
Lawrence thanks for the advice; following up:-
"A total lunar eclipse of March 3 2007 will be visible over the eastern Americas, Europe, Africa, and western Asia.
The penumbral eclipse -- the least exciting, and hardest to see part -- will begin at 20:16:29 UT on March 3 and end at 02:25:27 UT on March 4. It will be visible from western Asia when it begins around Moonset, the rest of Asia, plus Europe and Africa, and most of the Americas as it ends at around Moonrise. The partial eclipse will begin at 21:30:04 UT on March 3 and end over 3½ hours later at 01:11:46 UT on March 4, and will be visible from a slightly smaller area."
The total eclipse lasts for over one hour; it begins at 22:43:49 UT (17:43:49 EST)on March 3 and ends at 23:58:01 UT ( 18:58:01 EST) on March 3, with the moment of greatest eclipse at 23:20:56 UT on March 3. It is visible over most of Asia, Europe and Africa, South America, and eastern North America.
The total eclipse should be a spectacular sight; the Moon will be well within the Earth's shadow, the umbral magnitude being 1.238, and should be deeply coloured by the Earth's atmosphere. ..."
http://www.hermit.org/Eclipse/why…
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/ecl…
UT is equivalent to GMT. -5 hours = US EST.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/…
Michael Robinson • Link
officers of his regiment dined with him.
Robinson was Colonel of the "Green Regiment of London Militia," December 24th. 1659 - 1679, President, The Honorable Artillery Company, July 5th. 1660 - 1679.
Michael Robinson • Link
The most important Tower residents did not dine with Pepys
"Charles II was told that if the ravens left the Tower, the White Tower would fall and a great disaster befall the Kingdom, he decreed that at least six ravens should be kept at the Tower at all times to prevent disaster ..."
http://www.historic-uk.com/Destin…
and "'I have a great relationship with the birds ...'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_new…
Todd Bernhardt • Link
re: "his lady a very high-carriaged but comely big woman; I was mightily pleased with her"
Does anyone know exactly what Sam means by "big" here? Tall? Fat? Both?
Wim van der Meij • Link
The 'comely big woman' was Anne, daughter of Sir George Whitmore of Barnes in Surrey.
Clement • Link
"Because the boy is articulate and witty, Sam infers that he cannot possibly be from the country."
Yes, Paul, that line screamed at me. This same prejudice that cleverness and wit are exclusively urban exists broadly still, perpetuated endlessly in popular culture and major motion pictures as a strangely acceptable bias.
Maurie Beck • Link
he is an arch rogue
Perhaps he will eventually finds his rightful place in life and love as Tom Jones did in the 18th century.
cumsalisgrano • Link
"his lady a very high-carriaged but comely big woman; I was mightily pleased with her"
Well endowed and proud of it, chin up, shoulders back, and a plummy diction.
Fat? , darling, never , pleasingly shapely
Big? no never, just well structured.
Just like a well harnessed Brood mare.
"Tis my 1d worth.
Pedro • Link
Looking for other high-carriaged and comely big woman in the Diary.
Doll Stacy was reported to have married Col. Poynton, and become Dolly Poynton. Although she sounds as if she fits the bill, she is a pretty woman, and has the modestest look that ever Sam saw in his life.
JonTom Kittredge • Link
"But what was extraordinary, the Bishop of London... do give the last blessing to the congregation."
I'm puzzled by what was extraordinary about this. Can anyone enlighten us? I believe that the blessing of the congregation has been the perogative of the Bishop since early, early times. Had it fallen out of custom during the Commonwealth? In any case, it's a very rare thing for a Bishop to do something that Pepys approves of!
Australian Susan • Link
A Bishop is Bishop of a Diocese and it is the Dean who is in control of a cathedral, so maybe Sam was expecting the Dean of St Pauls to give the blessing. In a Eucharist service (Sam doesn't say if this was what he was attending and I think it unlikely), it is the celebrant who blesses at the end of the service. Maybe Sam was commenting on a new (for him) custom, revived since the Restoration (which restored episcopacy as well as royalty). Note that Sam comments on the "pew"[sic] made expecially for the Bishop. The correct term for where the Bishop sits in a Cathedral is a Cathedra (hence the name) and presumably the one in St pauls was destroyed or removed during the Commonwealth period and Sam has noticed it is back, but doesn't know the proper term.
Pedro • Link
St Paul's during the Commonwealth period.
It appears that St. Paul's was used as a market and later as cavalry barracks by Cromwell.
cumsalisgrano • Link
There were even rumours that the building be for sale as it was prime land.
Australian Susan • Link
Lichfield and Gloucester Cathedrals had also been used to house horses during the Civil War. Lichfield was beseiged and had its central steeple destroyed. It was left in a ruinous condition until the Restoration and the appointment of Bp Hackett who had the central steeple (Lichfield has 3) replaced - this is why it is a different coloured stone from the other two. Many cathedrals and churches had statues defaced during the Civil War and the Commonwealth period afterwards, but this was not all done by Roundhead soldiers - many of the locals, imbued with Puritanical zeal, despoiled what they pereceived as idolatrous creations.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"A good sermon upon these words: 'But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable.'”
A loose recollection of James 3:17: "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
https://www.biblegateway.com/pass…
Terry Foreman • Link
"None, it seems, of the prisoners in the Tower that are there now, though they may, will come to prayers there. "
The implication is that they were nonconformists. (L&M footnote)
Marquess • Link
'An arch rogue", takes one to know one, perhaps Sam sees something of himself in the boy?
San Diego Sarah • Link
"A Bishop is Bishop of a Diocese and it is the Dean who is in control of a cathedral, so maybe Sam was expecting the Dean of St Pauls to give the blessing."
I have read somewhere that St. Paul's was a church until it was rebuilt after the fire, at which time it became a Cathedral. I've read so much on the fire recently I have no idea where to look for citation!
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... it was an extraordinary day for the Readers of the Inns of Court and all the Students to come to church ..."
Okay Legal Beagles ... what is a reader of the Inns of Court? Would that be what we now call an Article Clerk who is reading the law before taking exams to become a solicitor?
And I'm guessing "all the Students" refers to all the students at St. Paul's School (which provides the choir about which Pepys was so bitterly complaining),
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... and he losing his way fell into the Tower ..."
The Lieutenant of the Tower by law owned anything that fell into the moat. That's good when it is a cow or a horse. It's a bit more difficult when it is an orphan boy.
Sasha Clarkson • Link
"Because the boy is articulate and witty..."
Is it prejudice or experience? I taught in a large comprehensive school with a wide catchment area. The character of the area ranged from small town to extremely rural farming communities. At the age of eleven, it was easy to tell the difference between the country and the town kids. Growing up playing with your neighbours in the street hones banter in a way that growing up on a farm doesn't. It's a matter of environment, not innate intelligence. It's not for nothing that our language includes the term "street-wise".
Sam may be a city boy, but he has spent part of his youth in the country, and thus has experience of both worlds.
Sasha Clarkson • Link
St Paul's was always a cathedral, by definition, because it was established (in c600AD) as the seat of the Bishop of London.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat…
Like some other "collegiate" churches, Westminster Abbey has a dean & chapter, but is *not* a cathedral, as it is not the seat of a bishop.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Okay Legal Beagles ... what is a reader of the Inns of Court? "
Google it and you get:
A Reader in one of the Inns of Court in London was originally a senior barrister of the Inn who was elected to deliver a lecture or series of lectures on a particular legal topic. Two Readers (known as Lent and Autumn Readers) would be elected annually to serve a one-year term.
Lincoln's Inn became formally organised as a place of legal education thanks to a decree in 1464, which required a Reader to give lectures to the law students there.
By 1569 at Gray's Inn there had been Readers for more than a century, and before the rise of the Benchers they formed the governing body of the Inn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rea…
There was a time when lectures were read by the reader (lector) and written down by the students (who, in some cases paid [weekely] fees for seats.
Louise Hudson • Link
I wonder how old the boy is. Probably no more than 10. What a time for children! If they're orphaned, hungry and homeless, make use of them.
JayW • Link
Sadly the abuse of children has continued through the years. The enforced emigration of children taken into care, orphaned or poor from the UK to Australia, run by the UK Government, took place in the mid-20th century and had horrendous consequences for many of the children although the stated intention was to give them a better future. Details are emerging from the enquiry into historic child abuse which started in London this week.
Chris Squire UK • Link
Re: ' . . a very pleasing and condescending answer . . '
'condeˈscending, adj. < French . .
2. Consenting, agreeing. Obs.
1655 Ld. Orrery Parthenissa III. ii. iv. 337, I was often condescending to the Death of what you lov'd.'
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Re: ' . . a very high-carriaged but comely big woman . . '
' high < Germanic . . Phrases S3. b. Parasynthetic.*
high-carriaged adj.
1664 S. Pepys Diary 28 Feb. (1971) V. 67 His Lady a very high-carriaged but comely big woman.
1858 Amer. Vet. Jrnl. July 199 When we..call to mind the flat-sided, roach-backed little biped, then called a mule, and contrast it with the symmetrical, high-carriaged, spirited one of to-day, we have much to encourage us.
1970 Field & Stream Oct. 185/1 Pointers, unlike setters, always stand their game in the classic high-carriaged sense.'
………………
* A. adj.Formed from a combination or compound of two or more elements; formed by a process of both compounding and derivation. In English grammar applied to compounds one of whose elements includes an affix which relates in meaning to the whole compound; e.g. black-eyed ‘having black eyes’ where the suffix of the second element, -ed (denoting ‘having’), applies to the whole, not merely to the second element.'
……………...
Chris Squire UK • Link
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse is at https://www.iicsa.org.uk/ . Today (March 3 2017) they are broadcasting a live stream of a public hearing.