Saturday 7 July 1666

At the office all the morning, at noon dined at home and Creed with me, and after dinner he and I two or three hours in my chamber discoursing of the fittest way for a man to do that hath money, and find all he offers of turning some into gold and leaving some in a friend’s hand is nothing more than what I thought of myself, but is doubtful, as well as I, what is best to be done of all these or other ways to be thought on.

He tells me he finds all things mighty dull at Court; and that they now begin to lie long in bed; it being, as we suppose, not seemly for them to be found playing and gaming as they used to be; nor that their minds are at ease enough to follow those sports, and yet not knowing how to employ themselves (though there be work enough for their thoughts and councils and pains), they keep long in bed. But he thinks with me, that there is nothing in the world can helpe us but the King’s personal looking after his business and his officers, and that with that we may yet do well; but otherwise must be undone: nobody at this day taking care of any thing, nor hath any body to call him to account for it.

Thence left him and to my office all the afternoon busy, and in some pain in my back by some bruise or other I have given myself in my right testicle this morning, and the pain lies there and hath done, and in my back thereupon all this day.

At night into the garden to my wife and Lady Pen and Pegg, and Creed, who staid with them till to at night. My Lady Pen did give us a tarte and other things, and so broke up late and I to bed.

It proved the hottest night that ever I was in in my life, and thundered and lightened all night long and rained hard. But, Lord! to see in what fears I lay a good while, hearing of a little noise of somebody walking in the house: so rung the bell, and it was my mayds going to bed about one o’clock in the morning. But the fear of being robbed, having so much money in the house, was very great, and is still so, and do much disquiet me.

29 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Creed, who staid with them, till 10 at night."

So L&M.

Mr. Gunning  •  Link

"But the fear of being robbed, having so much money in the house, was very great, and is still so, and do much disquiet me."

Someone once said we are made prisoners by our possessions.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

"But the fear of being robbed, having so much money in the house, was very great, and is still so, and do much disquiet me."

A perennial pepysian angst, two years ago almost exactly:

"I betimes to bed, and there fell into a most mighty sweat in the night, about eleven o’clock, and there, knowing what money I have in the house and hearing a noyse, I begun to sweat worse and worse, till I melted almost to water. I rung, and could not in half an houre make either of the wenches hear me, and this made me fear the more, lest they might be gaga; and then I begun to think that there was some design in a stone being flung at the window over our stayres this evening, by which the thiefes meant to try what looking there would be after them and know our company. These thoughts and fears I had, and do hence apprehend the fears of all rich men that are covetous and have much money by them. At last Jane rose, and then I understand it was only the dogg wants a lodging and so made a noyse. So to bed, but hardly slept, at last did, and so till morning."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

and:

"Now it is strange to think how, knowing that I have a great sum of money in my house, this puts me into a most mighty affright, that for more than two hours, I could not almost tell what to do or say, but feared this and that, and remembered that this evening I saw a woman and two men stand suspiciously in the entry, in the darke; I calling to them, they made me only this answer, the woman said that the men came to see her; but who she was I could not tell. The truth is, my house is mighty dangerous, having so many ways to be come to; and at my windows, over the stairs, to see who goes up and down; but, if I escape to-night, I will remedy it. God preserve us this night safe! So at almost two o’clock, I home to my house, and, in great fear, to bed, thinking every running of a mouse really a thiefe; and so to sleep, very brokenly, all night long,..."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Carl in Boston  •  Link

But the fear of being robbed, having so much money in the house, was very great, and is still so, and do much disquiet me.
Aye, tis the robbers who do walk abroad. How about sentries around the Navy Office back then? Can we imagine 10 Downing Street being burgled today? Not happening.
"thinking every running of a mouse really a thiefe; and so to sleep, very brokenly, all night long" Aye, to sleep, perchance to dream. It is the government fat cats who steal us little mice blind, and that from within the guarded walls. There will be no peace until there is a conservative .. liberal... government (your answer here _______).

cgs  •  Link

Do not forget that Queen Elizabeth II found a stalker in the Royal Suite at the Palace on the Malle in the early hours.

cgs  •  Link

"...lest they might be gaga;..." not in the OED
maybe bound and gagged

cgs  •  Link

most likely a transcription error
gag'd
1601 SHAKES. Twel. N. I. v. 94 Vnles you laugh and minister occasion to him, he is gag'd.

'murdered in one's sleep.'

Michael Robinson  •  Link

most likely a transcription error

A scanning / transcription error it is, CGS, L&M and Wheatly both read "gag'd"

Mary  •  Link

How to keep one's money safe.

An idle thought, but I wonder whether it might not be possible for Sam to retain one of the smaller tallies that he has recently been so exercised to obtain, then pay a relatively minor naval contract out of his own ready cash and present the relevant tally for redemption in cash by the Exchequer at a later date. At least your common-or-garden burglar would be less likely to recognise the value of a tally.

Does anyone know whether individual tallies were issued (and identified) against a specific purpose, or whether they were general-purpose instruments?

Ruben  •  Link

I think the best solution for the cash in Sam's days was to buy property. Property could not be robbed.
Remember Sam has no living quarters of his own and if he was fired, he would be on the street.
I have no idea how much money was needed in those days for a property, but if I remember correctly a piece of land near his father could not be that expensive.

GrahamT  •  Link

Re: "Property could not be robbed."
No, but it being 1666, we will soon see there are other ways to lose property.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

Does anyone know whether individual tallies were issued (and identified) against a specific purpose, or whether they were general-purpose instruments?

Talleys certainly were reconcilable and provided a very effective method of control way before the introduction and general use of double entry book keeping: there is a massive specialist literature on the Exchequer and the surviving English medieval and later records, the 'Pipe Rolls' etc. They became a circulating general debt instrument from relatively early.

However SP has found that for the past two years at least they are not convertible even by the goldsmiths who could return them to the Exchequer in payment of other client debt. His concern is political stability, invasion and the serious prospect of national bankruptcy in one form or other, one can see this reflected in the price SP is prepared to pay for gold. This is far from an irrational concern.

Spoiler, the 'Stop on the Exchequer' of January 2nd. 1672, supposed to halt specie payments by the Exchequer for the year and effectively a repudiation of sovereign debt, destroyed many of the London goldsmiths despite Charles' promise to pay interest on the outstanding debt balances. These outstanding capital balances were really only redeemed, in part, when they were counted as acceptable contributions by the City merchants to the paid capital of the Bank of England on its foundation over twenty years later, in 1694, and could in turn be used as security for the issuing another form of debt instrument. SP wants no part of and has no confidence in any Stewart equivalent of a 'Troubled Asset Relief Package.'

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

Mary, I'm not sure that Sam can even trust the Exchequer in these troublesome times. He seems to be storing money against a financial disaster in the banking system - sometimes (pace Madoff, AIG) the only safe place is under the mattress.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"I'd hand ye over to the watch, my lad." Jane notes to the squirming, trussed-up, would-be burglar. "But if Mr. P found out ye were more than a figment of his and the Missus' imagination we'd never hear the end."

"The press men are outside." Luce, at the door, hisses.

"Good luck to ye, boy." Jane pats the now mutely pleading young man on the head, dragging him to the door by his ropes.

"Jane!!" nervous call from on high.

"Just finishin' up, Mr. P! We're to bed in a moment." she calls back.

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

Re: “Property could not be robbed.”

Graham's right, Ruben, plus Sam is looking to have liquid assets in hand. If things go seriously wrong, he's got to have ready cash to pay for the necessaries.

Don McCahill  •  Link

Re: buying tallies or land

But you are missing the point. Sam had the money with a "banker" until yesterday, when he decided to cash it out. He fears disaster, and wants to have ready money at hand, in case the worst happens (Dutch victory). Methinks that tallies will not be cashed readily, should the Dutch take over the government. And it might be hard to buy bread when all your money is tied up in real estate.

Sam has cash, because he needs cash.

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"but the fear of being robbed,having so much money in the house"
Mr. Gunning,Sam most likely had a gun in the house although I don`t recall reading about it;and if he didn`t have one, why not?

Mr. Gunning  •  Link

From 9 January 1961:

Waked in the morning about six o’clock, by people running up and down in Mr. Davis’s house, talking that the Fanatiques were up in arms in the City. And so I rose and went forth; where in the street I found every body in arms at the doors. So I returned (though with no good courage at all, but that I might not seem to be afeared), and got my sword and pistol, which, however, I had no powder to charge; and went to the door, where I found Sir R. Ford, and with him I walked up and down as far as the Exchange, and there I left him.

Mr. Gunning  •  Link

Err...make that 1661!

djc  •  Link

"property could not be robbed"
Oh yes it can, especially if there is an invasion or revolution. The modern English obsession with the price of property depends on a long history of relative political stability. In continental Europe, where revolution, invasion and dispossession are matters of living memory we don't see the same desperation to get on the 'property ladder'.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"These outstanding capital balances were really only redeemed, in part, when they were counted as acceptable contributions by the City merchants to the paid capital of the Bank of England on its foundation over twenty years later, in 1694, and could in turn be used as security for the issuing another form of debt instrument."

Michael R, was this a form of "local currency"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loca…

cgs  •  Link

Building houses on the landed Lords while the bishops built the flats for the poorer sorts, according E Picard was not that expensive for Pepys, 300l to 400l would get a roof in the the better part of town.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Talleys certainly were reconcilable and provided a very effective method of control way before the introduction and general use of double entry book keeping: there is a massive specialist literature on the Exchequer and the surviving English medieval and later records, the ‘Pipe Rolls’ etc. They became a circulating general debt instrument from relatively early."

Indeed, what was paid could be verified against what was owed by comparing the halves of a "split tally-stick." "The most prominent and best recorded use of the split tally was in medieval England as a tool of the Exchequer for the collection of taxes by local sheriffs (tax farmers “farming the shire”). The split tally of the Exchequer was in continuous use until 1826." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tall…

From "The Dialogue Concerning the Exchequer. circa 1180": "one says today "at the exchequer," so one formerly said " at the tallies.""

"XIV. That " Thesaurus " sometimes means the money itself; sometimes the place where it is kept."

"Know, moreover, that "thesaurus" sometimes means the money in cash itself, as well as gold or silver vessels of different kinds, and changes of vestments. According to this acceptation it is said, " where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also." For " thesaurus " is called the place in which it reposes, therefore " thesaurus " = " auri thesis," namely, the place of gold, So that if one asks about some one where he is, it may not incongruously be replied: " he is in the ' thesaurus,"' that is, in the place where the " thesaurus " is kept. Cash money, indeed, or the other things mentioned, having once been put in a safe place, are not taken away except when by mandate of the king, they are sent to him to be distributed for his necessary uses. But there are many things in the repository vaults of the treasury which are carried around, and they are shut up and guarded by the treasurer and the chamberlains, as has been more fully shown above: such are the seal of the king concerning which thou cost ask, the doomsday book, the so-called exactory roll, which some name the writ of farms. Likewise the great yearly (pipe) rolls, the rolls of accounts, a numerous multitude of privileges, counter-tallies of receipts, and rolls of receipts, and writs of the king concerning outlays of the treasury, and many other things which, when the exchequer is in session, are necessary to its daily uses." http://avalon.law.yale.edu/mediev…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Captain James Archer to Ormond
Written from: London
Date: 7 July 1666

Information is given to the writer that ... a French engineer, out of Dieppe, has lately been "in Ireland, and, having viewed all the garrisons & sea-ports ... has given an exact account [of them] to the French King; and, particularly of ... Duncannon" ...

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"in some pain in my back by some bruise or other I have given myself in my right testicle this morning, and the pain lies there and hath done, and in my back thereupon all this day. "

L&M: Dr C.E. Newman writes: : This was probably the result of on inflammation. The epididymis (principally the first part of the duct leading away from the testis) is always liable to infection.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Pepys' lack of men friends is sad. He doesn't like or trust Creed -- with good reason. But who's opinion does he ask? Creed. When Creed was away and Pepys needed a riding companion for safety, he was reduced to asking William Joyce. Moving up in the world is lonely.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"At night into the garden to my wife and Lady Pen and Pegg, and Creed, who staid with them till 10 at night. My Lady Pen did give us a tarte and other things, and so broke up late and I to bed."

These walks and talks -- and tartes -- by Pepys and his ladies in the cool of the evening in the gardens must have been very enjoyable.

jimmigee  •  Link

Thank you, SDSarah. Interesting article and great illustration.

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