Tuesday 1 May 1666
Up, and all the morning at the office. At noon, my cozen Thomas Pepys did come to me, to consult about the business of his being a justice of the Peace, which he is much against; and among other reasons, tells me, as a confidant, that he is not free to exercise punishment according to the Act against Quakers and other people, for religion. Nor do he understand Latin, and so is not capable of the place as formerly, now all warrants do run in Latin. Nor is he in Kent, though he be of Deptford parish, his house standing in Surry. However, I did bring him to incline towards it, if he be pressed to take it. I do think it may be some repute to me to have my kinsman in Commission there, specially if he behave himself to content in the country.
He gone and my wife gone abroad, I out also to and fro, to see and be seen, among others to find out in Thames Streete where Betty Howlett is come to live, being married to Mrs. Michell’s son; which I did about the Old Swan, but did not think fit to go thither or see them. Thence by water to Redriffe, reading a new French book my Lord Bruncker did give me to-day, “L’Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules,” being a pretty libel against the amours of the Court of France. I walked up and down Deptford yarde, where I had not been since I come from living at Greenwich, which is some months. There I met with Mr. Castle, and was forced against my will to have his company back with me. So we walked and drank at Halfway house and so to his house, where I drank a cupp of syder, and so home, where I find Mr. Norbury newly come to town to see us. After he gone my wife tells me the ill newes that our Susan is sicke and gone to bed, with great pain in her head and back, which troubles us all. However we to bed expecting what to-morrow would produce. She hath we conceive wrought a little too much, having neither maid nor girle to help her.
15 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"cozen Thomas Pepys...tells me...he is not free to exercise punishment according to the Act against Quakers and other people, for religion. Nor do he understand Latin..."
"[T]he Act" is the Conventicle Act of 1664. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conv…
L&M note that Thomas Pepys had been a J.P. in Westminster in the Interregnum, when most warrants and legal proceedings had been in English..
A. Hamilton • Link
Nor do he understand Latin
I can just hear Peter Cook, in "On the Bench" from "Beyond the Fringe":
"Yes, I could have been a judge but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judging, I just never had sufficient of it to get through the rigorous judging exams. They're noted for their rigor. People come staggering out saying, 'My God, what a rigorous exam --.' And so I became a miner instead."
Robert Gertz • Link
"...reading a new French book my Lord Bruncker did give me to-day, “L’Histoire Amoureuse des Gaules,” being a pretty libel against the amours of the Court of France."
Strictly under the heading of getting to know one's enemy of course, eh Sam? Oh, ho ho...
But, as was said of Maurice Chevalier, the broad Gallic wink and the oh, ho, ho is for us yokel tourists from England and the US who have trouble pronouncing the word sex. It's the unblinking stare that's for real... So, Sam...Whatever's in that dopey gossip tome, the real history of the "amours" of the French court would probably make your close-cropped hair stand on end and even your occasionally selfish heart bleed with pity.
jeannine • Link
"At noon, my cozen Thomas Pepys did come to me, to consult about the business of his being a justice of the Peace, which he is much against; and among other reasons, tells me, as a confidant, that he is not free to exercise punishment according to the Act against Quakers and other people, for religion. Nor do he understand Latin, and so is not capable of the place as formerly, now all warrants do run in Latin. Nor is he in Kent, though he be of Deptford parish, his house standing in Surry. However, I did bring him to incline towards it, if he be pressed to take it. I do think it may be some repute to me to have my kinsman in Commission there, specially if he behave himself to content in the country."
So Tom should go against his religious beliefs because it might be beneficial for Sam???
Michael Robinson • Link
So Tom should go against his religious beliefs because it might be beneficial for Sam???
and also finagle the rules about residence and further place his disinterested judicial behavior in hock to his neighbors approval of his conduct -- but of course ... the Surveyor General of Victualing, who receives L300 from the King and then accepts L500 from Gauden the chief contractor, knows well that them that go along get along ...
Bradford • Link
There's nothing which reflects so well upon oneself as having a relative in a prominent public office for which he or she is unsuited by training, ability, or temperament. Is there?
Insert here examples from your own county, region, state, or country (too numerous even to give a sampling).
Lawrence • Link
"where I drank a cupp of syder"
I wonder what that Cider tasted like? I think the oldest drink known is mead? Basically Honey plus water, fermented gives you mead, Which is where I think the word Honeymoon comes from, this being drank as part of the ceremony, but I could have got this slightly mixed up as it's been some time since I studied old Traditions?
maybe someone could enlighten me?
Robert Gertz • Link
"So Tom should go against his religious beliefs because it might be beneficial for Sam???"
Is this really a question, Jeannine? Though in fairness to Sam, when something real was on the line, namely poor Tom Hayter's job and possibly his freedom over his Quaker sympathies, Sam did put himself at some risk to protect a friend and subordinate. I suspect Sam finds such quibbling a bit ridiculous in the new era where even such staunch former Puritans like John Creed conform easily and former props of the Commonwealth like Montagu proclaim themselves skeptics in matters of religion.
Spoiler...
And he does take a few risks to maintain Catholic friendships and ties later on in life when his own career and even life are in danger...
Not exactly Oskar Schindler but...Who knows if circumstances allowed? Perhaps the common thread is a man who appreciates and loves life and the human beings in it to the full and is horrified by the senselessness of fanaticism and infliction of needless suffering as a result.
A. De Araujo • Link
L'histoire Amoureuse des Gaulles"
"he was sent to the Bastille on April 17 1665 where he remained for more than a year"cf wikipedia.
So Roger de Rabutin was probably in jail at this time and I am wondering if he was getting any money from his best seller.:)
cgs • Link
syder, one of the ways to addle the brain or forget why thee be in pain or used to seduce the milkmaid.
'umans have used natures gifts to ferment problems.
now we have commercialised these gifts.
The History of Apple Cider
Historians largely agree that apple trees existed along the Nile River Delta as early as 1300 BC, but it is unclear whether cider was ever produced from the fruit.
When the Romans arrived in England in 55 BC, they were reported to have found the local Kentish villagers drinking a delicious cider-like beverage made from apples. According to ancient records, the Romans and their leader, Julius Caesar, embraced the pleasant pursuit with enthusiasm. How long the locals had been making this apple drink prior to the arrival of the Romans is anybody's guess.
http://www.drinkfocus.com/article…
http://www.ciderroute.co.uk/site/…
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/webproj…
cgs • Link
"I wonder what that Cider tasted like?"
I doubt if it tasted or acted like "scrumpy" which be rather potent for the unwary.
Lawrence • Link
Thanks for that Vince, very intersting, I have myself been making Turbo Cider for a couple of years, that tastes something akin to scrumpy, I can have it in the glass within 3 weeks, often a little tart for me, but a sweeter popped in makes it quite refreshing!
Australian Susan • Link
"..our Susan is sicke and gone to bed, with great pain in her head and back, .."
Period pains? Too much heavy work?
Second Reading
Louise Hudson • Link
I can just hear Peter Cook, in "On the Bench" from "Beyond the Fringe":
"Yes, I could have been a judge but I never had the Latin, never had the Latin for the judging, I just never had sufficient of it to get through the rigorous judging exams. They're noted for their rigor. People come staggering out saying, 'My God, what a rigorous exam --.' And so I became a miner instead."
Thanks for the memories, A. Hamilton. I miss Peter Cook.
“I managed to get through the mining exams — they're not very rigorous, they only ask one question, they say, "What is your name?", and I got 50 per cent on that.”
San Diego Sarah • Link
Those pesky Quakers again:
"In 1666 Quaker Margaret Fell [who was to marry George Fox in 1669] wrote an essay answering St. Paul’s injunction against women speaking in church. “Women's Speaking Justified” cites numerous powerful women in the Bible, from Judith and Sarah in the Old Testament to Mary Magdalene in the New.
"..., Fell demanded women’s voices not only be heard but that they be central to the Quaker movement. By highlighting the discovery of the empty Tomb, a significant moments in the development of the Christian faith and Mary Magdalene’s role, Fell insisted on power of women’s speech. Parsing the language of Scripture, she argued that while women should seek the advice of their husbands before speaking in church, they were the final arbiters of their decision to speak.
"While Margaret Fell was arguably the most prominent, there were several other first-generation Quaker women who were viewed as leaders during that time of persecution and prophecy, both in England and the Colonies, including Elizabeth Hooton (1600-1672), Mary Fisher (c. 1623-1698), and Mary Penington (1623-1682).
"It’s easy to imagine the exhilaration and sense of possibility that these early Quaker women felt, being part of a movement that rejected many societal values they had been raised to accept. The days of the week were renamed, and religious holy days that marked the Protestant calendar were gone.
"Mary Penington, in her memoir, talks of a youth and young adulthood of spiritual seeking, resisting the religion of her family, and eventually finding her way to the Friends after her second marriage. There is a powerful sense of agency in her narrative, refusing to attend her guardians; church, composing her own prayers, and, as a young widow, refusing to have her daughter baptized.
"During her second marriage, to Isaac Penington the Younger (1616-1679), Fell devoted much of her time to the design and reconstruction of their home near Chalfont St. Peter while Isaac was often taken to jail for his religious writings and refusing to show deference to a local nobleman. Her daughter by her first marriage [circa 1670] married William Penn Jr.
Fell and Penington exemplify the radical first generation of Quakerism as it spread throughout the British Isles in the 17th century.
"Its appeal lay in its rejection of the rigid hierarchy of power, both spiritual and material, which the Quakers saw as oppressive and false. Unlike Fell and Penington, most new converts were from the lower or middling classes. They found in its message a powerful critique of the established order. For women, there was a clear hierarchy that many chafed against. The Society of Friends was the pathway to making their voices heard."
https://englishhistoryauthors.blo…