Tuesday 4 July 1665
Up, and sat at the office all the morning. At noon to the ’Change and thence to the Dolphin, where a good dinner at the cost of one Mr. Osbaston, who lost a wager to Sir W. Batten, Sir W. Rider, and Sir R. Ford, a good while since and now it is spent. The wager was that ten of our ships should not have a fight with ten of the enemy’s before Michaelmas. Here was other very good company, and merry, and at last in come Mr. Buckeworth, a very fine gentleman, and proves to be a Huntingdonshire man. Thence to my office and there all the afternoon till night, and so home to settle some accounts of Tangier and other papers. I hear this day the Duke and Prince Rupert are both come back from sea, and neither of them go back again. The latter I much wonder at, but it seems the towne reports so, and I am very glad of it.
This morning I did a good piece of work with Sir W. Warren, ending the business of the lotterys [L&M say “my lighters” P.G.], wherein honestly I think I shall get above 100l.
Bankert, it seems, is come home with the little fleete he hath been abroad with, without doing any thing, so that there is nobody of an enemy at sea. We are in great hopes of meeting with the Dutch East India fleete, which is mighty rich, or with De Ruyter, who is so also.
Sir Richard Ford told me this day, at table, a fine account, how the Dutch were like to have been mastered by the present Prince of Orange1 his father to be besieged in Amsterdam, having drawn an army of foot into the towne, and horse near to the towne by night, within three miles of the towne, and they never knew of it; but by chance the Hamburgh post in the night fell among the horse, and heard their design, and knowing the way, it being very dark and rainy, better than they, went from them, and did give notice to the towne before the others could reach the towne, and so were saved. It seems this De Witt and another family, the Beckarts, were among the chief of the familys that were enemys to the Prince, and were afterwards suppressed by the Prince, and continued so till he was, as they say, poysoned; and then they turned all again, as it was, against the young Prince, and have so carried it to this day, it being about 12 and 14 years, and De Witt in the head of them.
17 Annotations
First Reading
Pedro • Link
On this day Sandwich writes...
"…And this morning Sir George Carteret and I signed and sealed the arrangements for the marriage between his eldest son, Mr Philip Carteret, and my eldest daughter, Jeminah."
(The Journal of Edward Montagu edited by Anderson)
The above spelling of the name of his eldest daughter is reproduced as per Anderson.
Pedro • Link
“We are in great hopes of meeting with the Dutch East India fleete, which is mighty rich, or with De Ruyter, who is so also.”
Permission had been obtained from the Danes to attack the East India fleet upon the promise of giving them half the booty.
(Life of Admiral De Ruyter by Blok)
Sjoerd • Link
After the "Peace of Münster" the Staten of Holland were of the opinion that a costly land army was no longer necessary and should be abandoned. For their commander, stadtholder prince Willem II this would be a disaster, it being his source of income and of authority.
This was the year after Charles I was beheaded, and popular indignation about the "regicide" was quite strong, even in the Dutch republic. A forged letter was published wherein the English Parliament promised -in case of a conflict - to intervene on behalf of the Staten.
The prince marched his troops on Amsterdam. But - as Sir Richard relates - the mail rider from Hamburg found himself in the middle of these troops, and warned the "drost" of the town of Muiden, Gerard Bicker (son of Andries), who immediately rode into Amsterdam, where his father and another Bicker who was "burgemeester" had the city gates closed and - in Holland more effective - the bridges pulled up.
This - and the death of Willem soon after - started a "stadtholder-less" period in which the rich merchants in the Staten had all the power while the lower classes nourished their feelings for the "Little Prince" and the house of Orange. This struggle between Staten and Orangists will be apparent in months to come.
dirk • Link
The Rev. Josselin's diary:
"the earth about us fully satisfied with rain, this day a day of praise for our victory over the Dutch June. 3. my soul praise the lord in holiness."
dirk • Link
From the Carte Papers (Bodleian Library)
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…
The Duke of Ormond to the Earl of Ossory (in Dublin)
Written from: Moor Park
Date: 4 July 1665
"The representation, from the Lord Deputy and Council, concerning the damage and dishonour sustained from the Dutch Capers on the Irish Coast, shall be brought under the King's consideration, but it may be doubted if any increase of the Naval force can be looked for, until the success of the expedition the Fleet is now Employed upon be known..."
Terry Foreman • Link
"Mr. Buckeworth, a very fine gentleman, and proves to be a Huntingdonshire man"
-- as is the Diarist, who had attended Huntingdon Grammar School,whose family owned land in Hunts., at Brampton, etc.
Terry Foreman • Link
"This morning I did a good piece of work with Sir W Warren, ending the business of my lighters, wherein honestly I think I shall get above 100l.."
So transcribe L&M, who explain these were boats for use in Tangier roadstead, for which Warren had provided the timber.
(Whenever had Warren aught to do with the lottery?! Fie, Henry Wheatley!)
Martin • Link
“This morning I did a good piece of work with Sir W Warren, ending the business of my lighters, wherein honestly I think I shall get above 100l..”
The honesty here refers to the thinking, not the getting.
Sjoerd • Link
“We are in great hopes of meeting with the Dutch East India fleete, which is mighty rich, or with De Ruyter, who is so also.”
"We" : Charles II especially was looking forward to a profitable meeting of the british war fleet with the returning VOC merchant ships. If possible before they would take shelter in Bergen harbour, after which he would be bound to give 50% of the spoils to the Danish king.
This was the oral secret agreement Sir Gilbert Talbot and the king of Denmark made (but not yet: in august).
I found this entry in the "E.H.net" which sums up the differences between Charles and his parliament neatly, in a table:
http://eh.net/encyclopedia/articl…
Pedro • Link
"or with De Ruyter, who is so also."
For the record, on the 9/19 July, De Ruyter reaches the south coast of Suderoe, one of the Faroe Islands. There was no trace of life and it was deemed dangerous to sail between the Islands without a pilot, and decided to sail round the NE to make for Stavanger to gather information about the situation in the North Sea.
(Life of Admiral De Ruyter by Blok)
Australian Susan • Link
"....wherein honestly I think I shall get above 100l..”
I think Sam really does believe that the 100l he hopes to make on this deal is honest dealings: I think he uses the word "Honestly", because there were other opportunities to rake off more than was expected in these transactions or other men who other men who would have made sure they made much more. What do others think of the use of this word in this context?
CGS • Link
"oi you lott, you gives me couple of quid and I have job for thee , better than be retained for furling sails , you get to keep what be spilled'.
Sam found another way of being a middle man in finding the cheese [one income] find men to unload it onto the proverbial lighter [ it gets way the further from shore it goes][another Income], and Warren shows how.
."...“This morning I did a good piece of work with Sir W Warren, ending the business of my lighters, wherein honestly I think I shall get above 100l..”..."
makes more sense than
This morning I did a good piece of work with Sir W. Warren, ending the business of the lotterys, wherein honestly I think I shall get above 100l..
A boat or vessel, usually a flat-bottomed barge, used in lightening or unloading (sometimes loading) ships that cannot be discharged (or loaded) at a wharf, etc., and for transporting goods of any kind, usually in a harbour.
1487
1545 in R. G. Marsden Sel. Pl. Crt. Adm. I. (1894) 137 Suche goodes wares or merchandises which is [laden] into any suche lyghter or lyghters to thintent to cary the same..from land aborde any shyppe or from borde any shippe to land. 1634 W. WOOD New Eng. Prosp. (1865) 47 These flatts make it unnavigable for shippes, yet at high water great Boates, Loiters, and Pinnaces of 20, and 30 tun, may saile up to the plantation.
b. attrib. and Comb., as lighter-boat, -builder, -master. Also LIGHTERMAN.
1610 J. GUILLIM Heraldry IV. ii. (1611) 216 He beareth or a lighter boat in fesse gules. 1638 Plymouth Col. Rec. (1855) I. 94 The leighter master shall haue tenn shillings for his man & his leighter for xxiiij howers. 1640 in T. Lechford's Note-Bk. (1885) 375 One Lighter boate of the burthen of twenty tunnes.
not the kindler:
1. One who lights or kindles. Also lighter-up (see quot. 1921).
1553
[f. LIGHTER n.1 + MAN n.]
1. One employed on or owning a lighter.
1558 Act 1 Eliz. c. 11 §6 Any Wharfinger,..Lyghterman, Weigter or other Officer.
On the other hand finding jobs for the men on the dock side be a form of lottery , the winner be the one whom gets the work.
Second Reading
Ivan • Link
L&M have SP calling Prince Rupert Prince Robert
I hear this day the Duke and Prince Robert are both come back from sea
Was SP writing in a hurry and not noticing his error or were the names interchangeable? Or, God forbid, have L & M misread the text and reproduced an error!?
Terry Foreman • Link
"Bankert, it seems, is come home with the little fleete he hath been abroad with, without doing any thing, so that there is nobody of an enemy at sea. "
According to a report from The Hague, Bankert re-entered the Texel on 28 June/8 July 'because he did not know what to do, not having met a single Englishman at sea':CSPVen. 1664-6, p. 166. See https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Terry Foreman • Link
"It seems this De Witt and another family, the Beckarts, were among the chief of the familys that were enemys to the Prince, and were afterwards suppressed by the Prince, and continued so till he was, as they say, poysoned; and then they turned all again, as it was, against the young Prince, and have so carried it to this day, it being about 12 and 14 years, and De Witt in the head of them."
William II died at the age of 24 on 25 October/6 November 1650 of a fever caught after hunting. His death came so opportunely for the States party that these rumours of his having been poisoned were quickly put about. His son was not born until a week later. (L&M note)
Sjoerd22 • Link
Jacob De Witt and Andries Bicker were among the 6 "regents" that were imprisoned in the Loevesteijn state prison by stadtholder prince Willem II. This was after the prince tried a coup on the city of Amsterdam that failed as related above. They were released after they resigned from their posts. So at that point one might say that the prince had the upper hand: the regents had to take a step back.
When the prince suddenly died at age 24 (from a fever or smallpox) it was mostly because of the different Orangist parties arguing over the newborn Willem III that allowed the State party to grab the initiative again and declare the first "Stadtholder-less period".
Nice picture of Andries Bicker here:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/And…
and of Jacob De Witt:
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jac…
Gerald Berg • Link
Brilliant CGS! And this would explain why the mole was such a financial sinkhole. For how many years upcoming did they struggle with that damn Tangerian mole? There were tidy profits for the bureaucrats ad naseum in the lighters.
Sjoerd thanks for the Faroe Isle sightings. De Ruyter was a crafty man. He knows nothing of the recent losses of course.