Wednesday 11 July 1666

Up, and by water to Sir G. Downing’s, there to discourse with him about the reliefe of the prisoners in Holland; which I did, and we do resolve of the manner of sending them some. So I away by coach to St. James’s, and there hear that the Duchesse is lately brought to bed of a boy. By and by called to wait on the Duke, the King being present; and there agreed, among other things, of the places to build the ten new great ships ordered to be built, and as to the relief of prisoners in Holland. And then about several stories of the basenesse of the King of Spayne’s being served with officers: they in Flanders having as good common men as any Prince in the world, but the veriest cowards for the officers, nay for the generall officers, as the Generall and Lieutenant-generall, in the whole world. But, above all things, the King did speake most in contempt of the ceremoniousnesse of the King of Spayne, that he do nothing but under some ridiculous form or other, and will not piss but another must hold the chamber-pot.

Thence to Westminster Hall and there staid a while, and then to the Swan and kissed Sarah, and so home to dinner, and after dinner out again to Sir Robert Viner, and there did agree with him to accommodate some business of tallys so as I shall get in near 2000l. into my own hands, which is in the King’s, upon tallys; which will be a pleasure to me, and satisfaction to have a good sum in my own hands, whatever evil disturbances should be in the State; though it troubles me to lose so great a profit as the King’s interest of ten per cent. for that money.

Thence to Westminster, doing several things by the way, and there failed of meeting Mrs. Lane, and so by coach took up my wife at her sister’s, and so away to Islington, she and I alone, and so through Hackney, and home late, our discourse being about laying up of some money safe in prevention to the troubles I am afeard we may have in the state, and so sleepy (for want of sleep the last night, going to bed late and rising betimes in the morning) home, but when I come to the office, I there met with a command from my Lord Arlington, to go down to a galliott at Greenwich, by the King’s particular command, that is going to carry the Savoy Envoye over, and we fear there may be many Frenchmen there on board; and so I have a power and command to search for and seize all that have not passes from one of the Secretarys of State, and to bring them and their papers and everything else in custody some whither. So I to the Tower, and got a couple of musquetiers with me, and Griffen and my boy Tom and so down; and, being come, found none on board but two or three servants, looking to horses and doggs, there on board, and, seeing no more, I staid not long there, but away and on shore at Greenwich, the night being late and the tide against us; so, having sent before, to Mrs. Clerke’s and there I had a good bed, and well received, the whole people rising to see me, and among the rest young Mrs. Daniel, whom I kissed again and again alone, and so by and by to bed and slept pretty well… [Continued tomorrow. P.G.]

23 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Royal Society today at Gresham College — from the Hooke Folio Online

Iuly. 11. 1666.
Sr. R Moray prsented. Dudlej arcano del mare) [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dell… ]
also ball out of sheep stomack) both deliuerd to mr Hooke for [In margin]Vz repos:

(Beale about Calculus Out of the vterus) [ http://www.biology-online.org/dic… ]
Dr Crone [ sc. Croone ] Shining Stone) Stenoes letter may. 23. 1666. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico… ]
Emulation of Divinj & Campany. Campany mistake about [Jupiter/tin] spotts.
Salamander. producd by Crone).
mr. Hookes late Obseruation about Saturne was Read and orderd to be Registred.

(Heuelius Letter refference to RS. of Buratinis Glasses [ http://brunelleschi.imss.fi.it/mu… ])

Paris Obs of [sun/gold] Eclipse Iune 22 orderd that it be compared by mr Hooke wth. the Obs. made in England, & Read before Sat Last meeting
(mr. Boyles frigorifick expt. by Sal armoniac) Cox frigorific vitriol)

expt. wth. Pendulum & 2 balles to be better fitted for next Day.

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

John Evelyn's Diary

July 11 ... to the R: Society, where was an experiment of vibrating two [concave] Globes fill’d with sand, of severall dimensions, to represent the motion of the Earth & Moone about it, which the sand issuing out of the bottome described on the floore: Triall againe of the saddle Charriot, & fountaine to water Gardens & tops of tallest trees: &c:

http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Le…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"the prisoners in Holland"

L&M note those in the gaol at Flushing/Vlissingen were in need of food and medical attention.

These needs are provided the Dutch prisoners in England by the work of John Evelyn, Sir William D'Oyly, Sir Thomas Clifford and Col. Bullen Reymesas -- the Commissioners for taking Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen and for the Care and Treatment of Prisoners of War.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sick…

Michael Robinson  •  Link

" ... the King did speake most in contempt of the ceremoniousnesse of the King of Spayne, that he do nothing but under some ridiculous form or other, and will not piss but another must hold the chamber-pot."

Tempus fugit:

"His lifestyle would seem extravagant to Louis XIV: a team of four valets so that one is always available to lay out and pick up his clothes; a servant to squeeze his toothpaste on to his brush, and another who once held the specimen bottle while he gave a urine sample. Step into the world of the Prince of Wales, a lifestyle so pampered that even the Queen has complained that it is grotesque. ..."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002…

Paul Chapin  •  Link

galliott

Galiots (or galliots) were types of ships from the Age of Sail.
In the Mediterranean, galiots were a type of smaller galley, with one or two masts and about twenty oars, using both sails and oars for propulsion. Warships of the type typically carried between two and ten cannon of smaller calibre, and between 50 and 150 men.
From the 17th century, in the Dutch Republic, galiots were one or two-masted ketch-like ships, with a rounded bow and aft, like a fluyt. They weighted between 50 and 300 tonnes, and had lateral stabilisers. They were used mainly for trade in the Republic and Germany.
In France, galiots were two-masted bomb vessels, the size of corvettes.
According to Philip Gosse's Age of Piracy, it was a Barbary galiot, captained by Barbarossa I, that captured two Papal vessels in 1504.

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gali…

Paul Chapin  •  Link

"I shall get in near 2000l. into my own hands, which is in the King’s, upon tallys; which will be a pleasure to me, and satisfaction to have a good sum in my own hands, whatever evil disturbances should be in the State; though it troubles me to lose so great a profit as the King’s interest of ten per cent. for that money."

Risk vs. reward, the eternal dilemma of the investor.

andy  •  Link

Results of varnishing experiment!

Method - 1 piece of modern A4 paper painted with yacht varnish and left to dry.

Experiment - writing on surface with ink (modern cartridge fountain pen with nib) and pencil.

Results -
1. Hard to get even surface of varnish on paper.
2. Surface of paper clear underneath.
3. Ink difficult to dry but will wipe off when wet eg with spit on end of finger.
4. Nib did not scratch in to varnish.
5. Pencil -no mark made.

Conclusion

Either a temporary surface for use with ink and nib or for covering a permanent surface e.g logarithmic/navigational tables - could add a place for temporary calculations when at sea?

Carl in Boston  •  Link

Andy: congratulations on a nice experiment, and properly written up as well. It's plain to see the varnished paper is no good for writing, so what could SP have in mind for a use? Maybe SP was just having a go at seeing what would happen, maybe even report to the Royal Society if he found something useful.

JWB  •  Link

1) Andy, suggest writing on the unvarnished side-the varnish to protect the paper and lines on netherside.
2)As noted before, I think these are muster books, stitched together by Sam's household for uniform use by ship's muster masters.
3) Sam recognizes the King's loss of "opportunity costs", but not his own last week.

andy  •  Link

Just to conclude, after posting the notice above, I wrote in ink on the reverse unvarnished side, then varnished it, and the ink writing is now clearly visible on both sides of the paper! (Obviously in asymmetric / mirror writing on one side). This is with 80 gsm paper, Sam's may well have been considerebly thicker.

Just off to ask advice from Mrs Bagwell...

cgs  •  Link

Andy try your experiment with cheap rag paper from the grocery store paper bags.
also use some white of egg.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

From the 17th century, in the Dutch Republic, galliots were one or two-masted ketch-like ships, with a rounded bow and aft, like a fluyt. They weighted between 50 and 300 tonnes, and had lateral stabilisers. They were used mainly for trade in the Republic and Germany.

Well into the last century. Familiar to readers of "The Riddle of the Sands."

Shouldn't Mr. Bagwell be notified to keep other visitors away?

FJA  •  Link

Perhaps as Andy's further experimentation shows, the varnishing was to take place AFTER lines are applied to the paper, thus better preserving them. I am thinking of nautical charts and the like, stitched together in book form, to preserve them from the rigours of sea as an aid to ships' captains against running aground.
As Sam is still in the experimental stage, any lines on paper will suffice to show the others. If his superiors agree, and money found, true charts would then be drawn up and varnished.
Is there nothing of this sort in the Pepys' Library?
Lesser seafood restaurants along the coast often have such charts on table-tops under thick layers of varnish.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

" ... go down to a galliott at Greenwich, ..."

Willem Van de Velde, the Younger
An unsigned drawing of a galliot or similar vessel before the wind, executed c 1675
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/…

Michael Robinson  •  Link

Is there nothing of this sort in the Pepys’ Library?

Took a look at the Catalog of Prints in the Pepysian Library (1980): can see nothing there quickly that is varnished.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"the King of Spayne’s being served with officers: they in Flanders having as good common men as any Prince in the world, but the veriest cowards for the officers, nay for the generall officers, as the Generall and Lieutenant- generall,"

L&M: The Spanish forces were outnumbered by the French invaders and were rapidly defeated in the following spring. Their commander was the Marquis de Castelrodrigo (Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, 1664-8) . His lieutenant was a French-born soldier of fortune, Jean-Gaspar-Ferdinand de Marsin, conpanion in arms of the great Condé. They did bot greatly trust each other butt neuther was a coward.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"the King did speake most in contempt of the ceremoniousnesse of the King of Spayne, that he do nothing but under some ridiculous form or other, and will not piss but another must hold the chamber-pot."

L&M: Charles had paid only one very brief visit to Spain., to Saragossa and Fuenterrabia, at the end of 1659, but knew the Spanish court at Brussels well in his exile. Cf. the comment of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham on Charles (Works, 1740, ii, 81): 'He had so natural an aversion to formality ... he could not on premeditation act the part of a King for a moment, either at Parliament or Council ... which carried him into the other extreme ... of letting all distinction and ceremony fall to the ground as useless and foppish.'

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"it troubles me to lose so great a profit as the King’s interest of ten per cent. for that money "

L&M: The legal maximum was 6%, but in times of difficulty the government paid more, the extra being disguised as 'gratuities'.

arby  •  Link

I don't think we've got the varnish thing yet, after all, Sam thought it was an invention that would take in the world, which sounds pretty momentous. It must have had some naval use, he presented it to the Board and they were well pleased. Varnishing charts seems like the obvious use, but take in the world?

Gerald Berg  •  Link

Varnished paper: Perhaps an early idea for lamination?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

How confusing. We have the English Charles II telling tales on the Spanish Charles II (for clarity, we should agree to call him Carlos II).

"the King did speake most in contempt of the ceremoniousnesse of the King of Spayne, that he do nothing but under some ridiculous form or other, and will not piss but another must hold the chamber-pot."

To which Terry gives us the L&M comment: "Charles had paid only one very brief visit to Spain, to Saragossa and Fuenterrabia, at the end of 1659, but knew the Spanish court at Brussels well in his exile. Cf. the comment of John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham on Charles (Works, 1740, ii, 81): 'He had so natural an aversion to formality ... he could not on premeditation act the part of a King for a moment, either at Parliament or Council ... which carried him into the other extreme ... of letting all distinction and ceremony fall to the ground as useless and foppish.'"

I think the John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham quote is about the character of England's Charles II, not Carlos II.

Carlos II and Louis XIV were competitors for glory and prestige -- Charles II's travels during the Interregnum had taught him to know better, but he also understood that some ceremony and grandeur was expected of him and necessary.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Pepys went to see Downing about the Flemish prisoners because -- from Evelyn's Diary tomorrow [SPOILER[:

"12 July, 1666. We sat the first time in the Star-Chamber. There was now added to our HOSPITAL commission Sir George Downing (one that had been a great against his Majesty, but now insinuated into his favor; and, from a pedagogue and fanatic preacher, not worth a groat, had become excessively rich), to inspect the hospitals and treat about prisons."

So Downing joins John Evelyn, Sir William D'Oyly, Sir Thomas Clifford and Col. Bullen Reymesas -- the Commissioners for taking Care of Sick and Wounded Seamen. The COMMISSION FOR SICK AND WOUNDED PRISONERS link is
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

Plus of course Downing had spent years at The Hague representing England for both Charles II and Parliament, so he knows everyone and probably speaks the language.

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