Friday 30 March 1666

My wife and I mighty pleased with Jane’s coming to us again. Up, and away goes Alce, our cooke-mayde, a good servant, whom we loved and did well by her, and she an excellent servant, but would not bear being told of any faulte in the fewest and kindest words and would go away of her owne accord, after having given her mistresse warning fickly for a quarter of a yeare together. So we shall take another girle and make little Jane our cook, at least, make a trial of it.

Up, and after much business I out to Lumbard Streete, and there received 2200l. and brought it home; and, contrary to expectation, received 35l. for the use of 2000l. of it [for] a quarter of a year, where it hath produced me this profit, and hath been a convenience to me as to care and security of my house, and demandable at two days’ warning, as this hath been.

This morning Sir W. Warren come to me a second time about having 2000l. of me upon his bills on the Act to enable him to pay for the ships he is buying, wherein I shall have considerable profit. I am loth to do it, but yet speaking with Colvill I do not see but I shall be able to do it and get money by it too.

Thence home and eat one mouthful, and so to Hales’s, and there sat till almost quite darke upon working my gowne, which I hired to be drawn in; an Indian gowne, and I do see all the reason to expect a most excellent picture of it.

So home and to my private accounts in my chamber till past one in the morning, and so to bed, with my head full of thoughts for my evening of all my accounts tomorrow, the latter end of the month, in which God give me good issue, for I never was in such a confusion in my life and that in great sums.

18 Annotations

First Reading

Lawrence  •  Link

"and there received 2200l. and brought it home; and, contrary to expectation, received 35l. for the use of 2000l. of it [for] a quarter of a year, where it hath produced me this profit"
Am I right in thinking That his APR would have been 6.8% approx, better than I'm getting for my little bit, lucky man!!!

cgs  •  Link

great for the equivalent of a money market account.
"...35l. for the use of 2000l..." 7 quid per 100 / annum.

cape henry  •  Link

We can all remember that a few short years ago, Pepys was squirreling away L5 here and L15 there. Now he is prepared to wager L2000 on a ship venture. We see his faults day in and day out, but there is no question he seized his chance and has made the most of it.

cgs  •  Link

Now Samuell just because you have 2035l coin of the realm available,and down at the exchange s there be bound to be someone ready with a suggestion of a quick profit,but As I have hind "site", do not buy any of those empty houses for sale, cheap as their owners no longer have need of them and their inheritors need cash.
A bargain be a bargain but...

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"I out to Lumbard Streete, and there received 2200l. and brought it home; and, contrary to expectation, received 35l. for the use of 2000l. of it [for] a quarter of a year, where it hath produced me this profit, and hath been a convenience to me as to care and security of my house, and demandable at two days’ warning, as this hath been."

This has been Sam Pepys...for your National Banking System.

***

"So home and to my private accounts in my chamber till past one in the morning, and so to bed, with my head full of thoughts for my evening of all my accounts tomorrow, the latter end of the month, in which God give me good issue, for I never was in such a confusion in my life and that in great sums."

"Sammmm..."

Hmmn?

"Sammmm...Why not hand over the amount we're confused in to Sir William Warren's ship funds? We're sure to make more than enough to cover any errors in the books and leave a handsome profit."

Hmmn...Eyes small Sam Pepys imp on left shoulder.

"Probidity...Samuel." Small Sam angel pops in view on right shoulder. "Not to mention Honor and Duty...These funds are a sacred trust."

"Just think how much good you'd doing the King...And all the lobsters you could buy Mrs Martin, Bagwell, and Mrs. Knipp..." imp whispers.

"Samuel...The Tower looms...And God's wrath. Remember...Hanging, drawing, quartering...The punishment for Treason."

"Eh, look...You're gonna have more stone problems if you live anyway...Could a little disembowelment should things go wrong be any worse?"

"Remember you have a dear wife to care for."

"Who'd be sitting mighty pretty in the coach you could buy her...And be off about her errands whilst we..." whisper in French...

"Fornication! Adultery! Be gone, ye rogue!" angel fumes. "Think on God, Samuel! The Fires of Hell for all time." A little desperately, realizing sadly this argument's been lost quite a few times before.

"Bess'd be furious if she found out..." last desperate try.

"Ah, she'll never suspect a thing. Come on, Sam. You're already certain to be damned anyway for the Tooker kid, let alone Bagwell. Right?"

Hmmn...Point taken.

"And...Maybe there is no Hell...So why not try for the gold ring and live it up whilst you can? As for you, pal..." turns to fuming angel Sam.

"Meet demon Bess..." Voluptuously leering version of lil' Bess appears next to angel Sam.

"Uh..."

"You wouldn't want to keep me from having all the things I ever wanted...Ma chere..." embraces angel Sam. Uh...

"Uh...Perhaps...This one time." angel Sam notes from depths of demon Bess' embrace. Demon Sam giving leering thumbs up...

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"So glad you chose to come in with your 2000L, Pepys." Warren, expansively. "I assure you, the profits will be worth the risk. Oh...There's just one other document to sign...A minor matter should anything go amiss." Hands final parchment sheet.

"One pound of flesh...From anywhere on my body?"

"What I can say? One of my bankers has a rather whimsical sense of humor. But I assure you, Pepys...It's impossible that all of our ships could go down. The Titanic, the Lusitania, the Mary Rose II, the Andrea Doria? Ridiculous. Sign here."

"Sir..." eyes banker in robes...

"Mr. P? I'm shocked, sir. And would I be doing such a thing to a friend whom I have welcomed to my house of worship?"

"No, no...It's my Italian banker making the request, Pepys...Signor Corleone..."

"A matter of honor, Mr. Pepys." Corleone nods solemnly.

***

Mary  •  Link

"having given her mistress warning fickly..."

No matter how good a servant she is in general, the inability to offer any correction without provoking an unfailing and injured response of, "Well, perhaps I had better leave, ma'm, if my work doesn't suit.." would be enough to try one's patience.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

One must though admire Alice's independent spirit and willingness to take the risk of seeking other employ. After all between Sam's tendency to frequently grope, occasionally strike, and Bess' flights of temper and nervousness over being a worthy lady to up-and-coming Sam...And over being found out as to her little thefts for her family...Can't be an easy place to work, however charming both the Pepys may be at their best. Wonder how she'll make out...She does seem to have been a good cook and all-around servant...Her confidence is probably well-based and she'll land on her feet.

(A brilliant and very ill colleague of mine after telling me she felt a friend should tolerate physical abuse to keep her job admitted being struck by her current employer (a hack political holdover from the last US administration) in her own turn but afraid for family's sake in this economy to lose her job is keeping silent. This a highly trained scientist...Though of course it doesn't matter whether maid, factory worker, or professional...So, since I can't hunt the fellow down like a dog...yet, today I really have to side with the employee.)

So, good luck, Alice, and welcome back Jane!!

C.J.Darby  •  Link

Surely Alice's chances are very good considering the recent mortality, esopecially among servants who, I would emagine,would have been left in London to take care of the property.

JWB  •  Link

Conjunction of cooks behaving fickly:

Born on this day, 1732, to an Austrian cookmaid, Joseph Haydn.

cgs  •  Link

He who holds the purse strings likes to control all aspects of the recipient's life. From Carlos one down to the lowly milk maid. Parliament in the first case had the purse strings, the over loaded 'testosteronic' male in the second case.

If thee be that mayde and be subject of the unpleasantness of 'de' rights of the seigneur,
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droi… ] only then will one appreciate being financially independent.

Samuell is on his way to being in the position of independence and telling the bosses , the commissioners et al to go and fly a kite.
Very few will challenge these total rights.
That is why the modern mess exists, if he is the boss, he must be right, so march the gallant 500.

cgs  •  Link

One year to the day, time for greener pastures. "...Up, and away goes Alce, our cooke-mayde, a good servant..." but...

Not a peep in that little black book of her being out of line, her complaining of delousing or she burning the toast, or even Mr. Peeps saying non PC things as she passed the Alpha male on the stairs...

She came and she went.

cgs  •  Link

What a fickle lass she be, did she fickle Samuell or be she just be too fickle for Bess to understand her ways. Maybe Samuell found that she be telling the neighbours about the inner secrets of doings in the kitchen, or even never boiling his egg the same way twice?

"...having given her mistresse warning fickly for a quarter of a yeare ..."

OED another Samuell entree.
fickly, adv.

fickly, adv.
In a fickle manner, variably, inconstantly, deceitfully.
a1300...
1660 HOWELL Lexicon, Ficklely, inconstamment.

1666 PEPYS Diary 30 Mar., Having given her mistress warning fickly.

1721 SOUTHERNE Spartan Dame I. i, A present pow'r, that's fickly held By the frail tenure of the people's will.

to fickle

[frequentative of FIKE v.; cf. Ger. dial. ficheln (Grimm) in same sense.]

intr. To flatter. Also to fickle with.
Hence fickling vbl. n., flattery; fickling ppl. a. Also fickler, a flatterer.
a1225
fickle v2
trans. a. To puzzle. b. (see quot. 1736.)
1567

[f. FICKLE a. + -NESS.]

The quality or state of being fickle.
fickleness
1. Falseness, deceit, treachery. Obs. rare.
c1397 CHAUCER Lack Stedf. 20 From Right to wronge from trowght to fekylnesse.

2. Changeableness, inconstancy, variableness.
1548

Carl in Boston  •  Link

evening of all my accounts tomorrow, the latter end of the month, in which God give me good issue, for I never was in such a confusion in my life and that in great sums.
I am a scientist, and have held my breath through many things after the fashion of Robert Gertz's friend. Now they see I was right, am successful, and they want to be the administrator. Nothing succeeds like success. To this business of accounts. I just show my lack of too little of something, but there is a daily journal describing what happened in scratchy detail, and then the account book where Sam now labors. He should be able to track from the account back to the journal and know just what is going on. That's in a perfect world, far from the world of General Motors and AIG, where there is no such thing as a valued asset, only derivatives of fog, and smoke, and mirrors, and the last of my money.

GrahamT  •  Link

Re: "One year to the day, time for greener pastures"
It is perhaps no coincidence that Alice starts and leaves within days of Lady Day. This was the traditional day for hiring and firing of help, especially in the country, being the old style New Year. (Note that in the diary, 1665/66 changed to plain 1666 a few days ago on 25th March - Lady Day.)

Second Reading

StanB  •  Link

Mmm, Perhaps Sam would be wise to invest his profit in something current or popular Coffee or Tobacco perhaps? Housing development in the West of the City perhaps best hold off on that until later in the year considering what's about to happen, or this new fangled Piped Water thingy or Banking loads of options ,

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