Wednesday 21 June 1665

Up, and very busy all the morning. At noon with Creed to the Excise Office, where I find our tallys will not be money in less than sixteen months, which is a sad thing for the King to pay all that interest for every penny he spends; and, which is strange, the goldsmiths with whom I spoke, do declare that they will not be moved to part with money upon the increase of their consideration of ten per cent. which they have, and therefore desire I would not move in it, and indeed the consequence would be very ill to the King, and have its ill consequences follow us through all the King’s revenue.

Home, and my uncle Wight and aunt James dined with me, my mother being to go away to-morrow.

So to White Hall, and there before and after Council discoursed with Sir Thomas Ingram about our ill case as to Tangier for money. He hath got the King to appoint a meeting on Friday, which I hope will put an end one way or other to my pain.

So homewards and to the Cross Keys at Cripplegate, where I find all the towne almost going out of towne, the coaches and waggons being all full of people going into the country. Here I had some of the company of the tapster’s wife a while, and so home to my office, and then home to supper and to bed.

23 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Here I had some of the company of the tapster’s wife a while..."

Is this some reaction to the plague or has his affair with poor Bagwell, femme, left him thinking all women below a rank must succumb?

And apparently they do...Though of course this may have been more innocent than my reading.

Perhaps the plague so little mentioned by Sam so far but so rapidly dominating all life in town has worked women as well as Sams (ie, reasonably successful men normally not quite the beau ideal and usually too fearful to try much beyond a few familiar and compliant faces) up to the point where they're seizing every chance before it's too late?

Or maybe some of these women are just hoping for a ride out of town...

"Mr. Pepys...Ohhh...Mr. Pepys. Oh...I hear there's a lot of work for the men in Deptford and abouts what with the war and all?"

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Today at Gresham College — from the Hooke Folio Online

June 21. 1665. mr, Hooke produced a sextant diuised by himself & explaind the structure & vse thereof vizt that it was made after the manner of a pair of Diuiding compasses, there being 2 threefoot tubes opening vpon a joynt in the manner of the leggs of compasses and a long streight screw mouing in two motions seruing to take angles very exactly. It was moued by Sr P neile that this Instrument might be examined to see whether it performes what it is intended for by measuring some known distances wth. it, and it was orderd therevpon that this should be done.
mr Hooke produced some curiositys addressed to him by one mr. wim: Iumper. vizt certaine tongues, teeth, & Eyes, called serpents tongues &c said to be found frequently at Malta, and knockd out of the Rock only where St. Paule suffered ship wrack. orderd to be putt into the Repository.
(Dr. wilkins presented. cornish diamonts Lapides stellares - serpentine stone & other pertrifyd shells) Prince Rupert['s] inuention of taking altitudes by stopping the perpendicular wth a tricker [A trigger. (Obs. or Prov. Eng.) --Boyle. (1913 Webster)]
occasion being giuen to Discourse of the Art of flying & Dr. wren being desired to Leaue wth the Society what he had considerd of this matter promised to doe soe. he affirmed that a man would be able soe often to moue the wings as he can wth. Double his own weight on his back ascend a pair of stairs built at an angle of 45 degrees. mr. Hooke suggested that it was not sufficient to haue a theory for the descent of an expanded area perpendicular downwards because that the Descent of an expanded Area perpendicular do moued edgways horizontally in the air was extreamly differin in which way yet all motion of flying must be performed
Dr. wren being desired to Leaue what he had done about the Late comets promised to doe soe. the same suggested that an Expt. might be made whether the point of a magnetick needle being sharpned with all exactnesse imaginable, the needle would Return to the same point himself hauing found that it would not.

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"mr, Hooke produced a sextant diuised by himself & explaind the structure & vse thereof vizt that it was made after the manner of a pair of Diuiding compasses, there being 2 threefoot tubes opening vpon a joynt in the manner of the leggs of compasses and a long streight screw mouing in two motions seruing to take angles very exactly."

The Wikipedia article on the history of reflecting instruments says Hooke's sextant was "first described in 1666 and a working model was presented by Hooke at a meeting of the Royal Society some time later", but the image of it is very like the description given by Hooke's notes for today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refl…

Pedro  •  Link

“tapster”

A tavern keeper who taps kegs or casks...to supply the ale in the Tap Room of the old rub-a-dub-dub.

JWB  •  Link

Serpent's teeth

Here's an abstract of an article on the subject by one T Freller on NIH website:

["Lingue di seripi", "serpents' tongues" and "glossopetrae". Highlights from the history of popular "cult" medicine in early modern times][Article in German]

Freller T.
In the 16th, 17th and 18th century "Glossopetrae", popularly known as "Lingue di Serpi", found on the Mediterranean island of Malta, were extensively used for medical purposes as antidotes. These fossil teeth, including specimens of the "Carcharodon Megalodon" (an extinct variant of the great white shark), were ground to powder or used as amulet pendants and "credence" and exported to pharmacies and shops in various cities of Europe. In antiquity, authors like Plinius or Solinus, excluding any religious connotations, had regarded "Glossopetrae" as objects "fallen from heaven on dark moonless nights". However, from the beginning of the 16th century the miraculous antidotic power of the specimens found at Malta was very strongly connected with the Pauline cult there. This cult owed ist origin to the excerpt of the shipwreck of the Apostle of the Gentiles on this island, as recorded in the New Testament. As in so many cases found in medieval and early modern medicine and pharmacy, the renown, collection, distribution and use of the antidote "Glossopetrae" or "Lingue di Serpi" was never limited to its real chemical and pharmaceutical properties. In the period of enlightenment and secular thinking mythic medicine as "Glossopetrae" had lost ist "magical" power. Consequently, with beginning of the late 18th century also the Maltese "Glossopetrae" featured in literature merely as exotic objects of curiosity or symbols of an age bound to medical superstition.

PMID: 9333999 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubme…

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Sounds like the tipping point of panic on the plague front...Pity Sam didn't let us have Uncle Wight's and Aunt James' opinions on the situation, we might have learnt of a key event that set people off. Presumably though, they and their families are hanging tough for the moment.

Of course it's likely things have just been building up to a breaking point but often there's one thing-say the communique that set off the Moscow panic in October 1941 for example-that gets people convinced a disaster is in the making.

CGS  •  Link

Theres more to communication than that , that has been spoken by leaders and reported to the inquiring mind. There be the ninth sense. Some call it rumours but the man of the street gets wind of events long before the event takes place but this method of getting an idea into a scientific fact at this time is near impossible but none the less rumours do so often prove to be good source to keep thy options open, be forewarned.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

"I find our tallys will not be money in less than sixteen months ... and, which is strange, the goldsmiths with whom I spoke, do declare that they will not be moved to part with money upon the increase of their consideration of ten per cent. ..."

So the goldsmiths / bankers dont' believe 16 months and are skeptical they will ever see cash ...

Bryan M  •  Link

“I find our tallys will not be money in less than sixteen months … and, which is strange, the goldsmiths with whom I spoke, do declare that they will not be moved to part with money upon the increase of their consideration of ten per cent. …”

Then, as now, in times of war, pestilence and other such vagaries, "cash is king"*.

*Old financial market maxim.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

21 die Junii, 17 Caroli Secundi Regis.
Parliament further prorogued.

HIS Majesty having, the Second Day of March last, prorogued the Parliament to this present One-andtwentieth Day of June; and by his Proclamation, having since declared his Pleasure for the further Prorogation thereof to the First of August next ensuing; his Majesty was also further pleased to grant a Commission to certain of the Lords, to declare his Pleasure for proroguing the Parliament to the said First Day of August.

And the said Lords, commissionated by his Majesty, with divers other Lords, being met in that House; and Mr. Speaker, with divers Members of the House of Commons, being met in this House;

A Message was sent from the Commissioners authorized by his Majesty, to desire the Presence of Mr. Speaker, and such Members as were met, in the House of Peers.

And accordingly Mr. Speaker, with the Members of this House, went up to attend the Lords: And his Majesty's Commission was there read; whereby the Parliament was prorogued to the First Day of August next.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

CGS  •  Link

The King knows that he would not get any monies for his house or any for his German sea gamble, so keep the meenies quiet. [ remember Papa and his attempts to have absolute rule].

Pedro  •  Link

“but put it off till she lost her place in the coach, and was fain to ride in the waggon part.”

She could probably of lost her place on the coach even being a few minutes late as yesterday Sam reported…”I find all the towne almost going out of towne, the coaches and waggons being all full of people going into the country.”

Even at this time at Oxford Anthony Wood saw tourches of mounted guards at the four bridges of Oxford keeping watch against the entry of unwelcome Londoners.

(The Great Plague by Moote and Moote)

Pedro  •  Link

Sorry the above is a day too early.

The above should appear for the 22nd July

Pedro  •  Link

“Hooke produced a sextant diuised by himself & explaind the structure & vse thereof”

Am I right to believe that Hooke “explained structure and verse” about the sextant, and therefore in great detail?

An expression often heard, but eludes Google?

The Mollusc  •  Link

Sounds more like ...'scripture and verse'

CGS  •  Link

ah! the double yew, one Yew before and two yews after the weenies. Great Language the Henglish. V for witories.

Margaret  •  Link

That's "structure and use" -- but I suspect you knew that already.

u and v were not separate letters at that time. They were considered the same letter with different forms (rather like 4 & 9 which each have two different forms). I think v was used at the beginning of words & u in the middle, but I could be wrong here.

It may seem strange that the same letter could sometimes be a consonant and sometimes a vowel, but we accept the same thing with the letter y ("yellow fly" shows the letter first as a consonant and second as a vowel.)

CGS  •  Link

.....
The alpha-bet be easy to understand when it be carved by chisel, straight lines be easy, curve ones were left for the chiseling experts who wrote by pen or in sand.
Romans loved to mark stone, cost less to use the straight method than put curves to the test, wastage be more when thee had to use curves.

Second Reading

psw  •  Link

sam defends the King trying to mitigate the interest.. Good job, Sam.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"the goldsmiths with whom I spoke, do declare that they will not be moved to part with money upon the increase of their consideration of ten per cent"

This was the normal rate paid by the government. To the legal maximum of 6% was added, by speccial warrant, a 'gratuity' of 4%. (L&M note)

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