Monday 8 October 1666

Up and to my office, called up by Commissioner Middleton, newly come to town, but staid not with me; so I to my office busy all the morning. Towards noon, by water to Westminster Hall, and there by several hear that the Parliament do resolve to do something to retrench Sir G. Carteret’s great salary; but cannot hear of any thing bad they can lay to his charge. The House did this day order to be engrossed the Bill against importing Irish cattle; a thing, it seems, carried on by the Western Parliament-men, wholly against the sense of most of the rest of the House; who think if you do this, you give the Irish again cause to rebel. Thus plenty on both sides makes us mad. The Committee of the Canary Company of both factions come to me for my Cozen Roger that is of the Committee. Thence with [Sir] W. Coventry when the House rose and [Sir] W. Batten to St. James’s, and there agreed of and signed our paper of extraordinaries, and there left them, and I to Unthanke’s, where Mr. Falconbridge’s girle is, and by and by comes my wife, who likes her well, though I confess I cannot (though she be of my finding out and sings pretty well), because she will be raised from so mean a condition to so high all of a sudden; but she will be much to our profit, more than Mercer, less expense. Here we bespoke anew gowne for her, and to come to us on Friday. She being gone, my wife and I home by coach, and then I presently by water with Mr. Pierce to Westminster Hall, he in the way telling me how the Duke of York and Duke of Albemarle do not agree. The Duke of York is wholly given up to this bitch of Denham. The Duke of Albemarle and Prince Rupert do less agree. So that we are all in pieces, and nobody knows what will be done the next year. The King hath yesterday in Council declared his resolution of setting a fashion for clothes, which he will never alter.1 It will be a vest, I know not well how; but it is to teach the nobility thrift, and will do good. By and by comes down from the Committee [Sir] W. Coventry, and I find him troubled at several things happened this afternoon, which vexes me also; our business looking worse and worse, and our worke growing on our hands. Time spending, and no money to set anything in hand with; the end thereof must be speedy ruine. The Dutch insult and have taken off Bruant’s head, which they have not dared to do (though found guilty of the fault he did die for, of something of the Prince of Orange’s faction) till just now, which speaks more confidence in our being worse than before. Alderman Maynell, I hear, is dead. Thence returned in the darke by coach all alone, full of thoughts of the consequences of this ill complexion of affairs, and how to save myself and the little I have, which if I can do, I have cause to bless God that I am so well, and shall be well contented to retreat to Brampton, and spend the rest of my days there. So to my office, and did some business, and finished my Journall with resolutions, if God bless me, to apply myself soberly to settle all matters for myself, and expect the event of all with comfort. So home to supper and to bed.

23 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The House of Commons today

Importing Cattle, &c.

Mr. Seymour reports from the Committee to which the Bill against Importation of foreign Cattle and Fish was re-committed....
....
The last Amendment was twice read; and, upon the Question, agreed to.

Resolved, &c. That the Bill, with the Amendments agreed to, be ingrossed.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

Jesse  •  Link

"setting a fashion for clothes"

What, ashes barely cold on the ground, war w/the Dutch and the navy desperate for funds, Parliament tweaking the Irish and ... "it will be a vest"? Maybe not such a bad idea.

Mr. Gunning  •  Link

Vests? Vests?

The sooner the country gets shot of this House of Stuart and brings in the House of Orange the better.

Why the Highlanders risked everyhing to try and bring back this shower beats me.

Merry Monarch indeed.

Cynic  •  Link

Quote: "It will be a vest, I know not well how; but it is to teach the nobility thrift, and will do good."

The sooner the country gets shot of this House of Stuart and brings in the House of Orange the better.

But surely an attempt at reducing the costs of inflationary fashion rivalry among the nobility?

A. De Araujo  •  Link

"Bill against importing Irish cattle"
Nowadays the Irish government was the principal reason of the banning of Brazilian cattle into the EU.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"The House did this day order to be engrossed the Bill against importing Irish cattle; a thing, it seems, carried on by the Western Parliament-men, wholly against the sense of most of the rest of the House; who think if you do this, you give the Irish again cause to rebel."

Bullock-befriending bard...to steal from Joyce.

***
Vests...

The 1666 equivalent of being told to resume shopping after 9/11?

(That's revolutionary talk, Mr. G.

Say, off-topic but who would be running the service that arrests us for such things? Downing's not available...And Charlie probably wouldn't trust him with such power...Clarendon or his people, perhaps?)

classicist  •  Link

Given Sam's confrontation with Rupert yesterday, and the missing millions, is it fair to remind everyone that the prince's nickname in the Parliamentary newsbooks during the Civil War was 'Prince Robber, Duke of Plunderland'?

Mary  •  Link

The 17th century gentleman's vest

We shall hear more of this garment in the days to come. Think waistcoat-predecessor rather than 'vest' in the English sense.

jeannine  •  Link

Dress: Stay tuned (could be a spoiler-not sure if it makes the Diary) but ladies hemlines may also take a little climb as the queen adds her ideas to the fashion statement.

Makes me wonder-knowing the lecherous court, maybe they would welcome the mini-skirts of the 1960s? It would no doubt be marketed as their contribution to cost savings measures in this time of need. I am surprised that the Dukes of Buckingham & Rochester aren't busy at work with this one!

JWB  •  Link

"...the Bill against importing Irish cattle; a thing, it seems, carried on by the Western Parliament-men,..."

Macauly: "At the same time a sudden fall of rents took place. The income of every landed proprietor was diminished by five shillings in the pound. The cry of agricultural distress rose from every shire in the kingdom; and for that distress the government was, as usual, held accountable. The gentry, compelled to retrench their expenses for a period, saw with indignation the increasing splendour and profusion of Whitehall..." http://www.strecorsoc.org/macaula…

Bradford  •  Link

Pepys and Charles II's "vest":

In the midst of this droll examination of The Suit comes a brief history beginning with Our Sam, providing context for this revolution in men's attire instigated by the King:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b…

Available through next Friday afternoon, 14 August 2010.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

In Commons -- methinks a very odd conjunction of funds (but both cash-pits)

Prize Goods, &c.

ORDERED, That the Accompts of Prize Goods and Chest-Money be brought in to the Committee appointed to inspect the publick Accompts, To-morrow in the Afternoon; to be examined by the Committee; and report it to the House.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

This will take awhile.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"hear that the Parliament do resolve to do something to retrench Sir G. Carteret’s great salary;"

L&M: This was possibly a resolution of the Commons' committee on war expenses which reported on the 11th; it is not recorded in the Journals. The Treasurer (much the best paid of the Principal Officers of the Navy) had received a fixed stipend of £2000 p.a. in 1660-2, but since then had been paid by the traditional and more lucrative method of fees, allowances and poundage. After 1668 a salary was paid.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The House did this day order to be engrossed the Bill against importing Irish cattle; a thing, it seems, carried on by the Western Parliament-men, wholly against the sense of most of the rest of the House; who think if you do this, you give the Irish again cause to rebel."

L&M: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
The bill to prohibit the importation of Irish fat cattle had been introduced in 1663 and was promoted by the enemies of Clarendon and Ormond, led by Buckingham. Welsh members and those from the west and north of England were strongly for it, in the belief that the prohibition would raise the value of English cattle, and increase rents, which had been falling. The represented the 'breeding' interest. The counties which thrived on fattening Irish cattle (the 'feeding' land) -- especially Norfolk and Suffolk -- opposed the bill, together with the Londoners, who represented the biggest consumers' market. By autumn the division of opinion was so close, the government being against it, that recommittal was voted on 5 October by a majority of four.
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
For its final passage, see: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The Committee of the Canary Company of both factions come to me for my Cozen Roger that is of the Committee."

L&M note that agitation against the Canary Company (incorporated 17 March 1665) ended in the revocation of its charter in 1667. Merchants aggrieved by the de jure monopoly on trade with the Canary Islands -- esp. Canary wines -- and members of the company ('both factions') were at this point included in a committee appointed by Commons to investigate the Company's status. Its report (29 October) was hostile, and a conference with the Lords was held in December to gain their concurrence, which they did. On 18 September 1667 the King cancelled the patent. For Clarendon's part in the affair (per his secretary, Mathew Wren) see: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The Dutch insult and have taken off Bruant’s head, which they have not dared to do (though found guilty of the fault he did die for, of something of the Prince of Orange’s faction) till just now"

L&M: Henri de Fleury de Coulan, Heer van Buat, omce a member og thed household of William II of Orange, was in Arlington's pay, and had been engaged in an attempt to start negotiations with England. He had been arrested on a charge of treason on 8 August but his trial had been delayed on the discovery that several members of the States-General had been involved in the conspiracy with him. Buat was sentence on 30 September and executed on 1 October. (The execution was reported in the London Gazette published on the day of this entry.) His death meant a defeat for the Orangists and a closer alliance between the republican government and the French. London Gazette, 27 August, 13, 24 September, 8 October, Feiling, pp. 197+.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"The Duke of York is wholly given up to this bitch of Denham."

Tell us how you really feel, Pepys. You don't usually tell us about James' dalliances.

In 1665, 50-year-old Sir John Denham married for the second time. His wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir William Brooke, was, according to the Comte de Gramont, a beautiful girl of 18.

Lady Margaret Brooke Denham became the mistress of James, Duke of York, in June 1666 and the scandal, according to common report, shattered the poet's reason. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

While Sir John Denham was recovering, SPOILER Margaret died in 1667, poisoned, it was said, by a cup of chocolate. (Some suspected Anne Hyde, Duchess of York of the crime, but the Comte de Gramont says that the general opinion was that Sir John was guilty. However, no sign of poison was found in the examination after Lady Denham's death.)

For more on Sir John and his poetry, see http://www.nndb.com/people/448/00…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Prince Rupert was 'Prince Robber, Duke of Plunderland' no more:

"Ever since the Restoration Rupert had been exceedingly popular, and as early as 1666 there had been rumors of an abortive plot to place him on the throne. The statement of the witness who revealed it, is as follows: "William Hopkins doth depose that he heard Edward Dolphin of Camphill, near Birmingham, say these words, or to that purpose, viz.:
'The Papists should be uppermost for a time...' and said he could tell me more, for he cared not if he were hanged so he could serve the country. Then, speaking low, he said (as I suppose), 'The King and the Duke of York are Papists, and the King hath been at Mass underground within this week or fortnight, and I can prove it.' And when I contradicted him, he said the King's wife was a Papist, and that a royal G. should rule over us.

"And when I demanded if he meant not George Monck, he replied it was Prince Rupert he meant. Then I said he was no G., so he answered G. stood for a German, and Prince Rupert was a German Prince, and declared he meant Prince Rupert should be above the King, and said all should be willing to it, and venture lives and fortunes to vindicate the cause of the said Prince Rupert."[95]
[95] Dom. State Papers. Chas. II. 172. 13.

"The whole plot probably existed only in the ravings of a lunatic, but insignificant although it is, it is an indication of the country's feeling.

"That Rupert would have listened for a moment to any disloyal scheme is incredible. The only time, after the Restoration, that he played any part in politics was in 1673, when he was forced into the position of popular leader, and carried away by his wrath against the French."

Lightly edited excerpt from "Rupert, Prince Palatine" -- by EVA SCOTT, Late Scholar of Somerville College, Oxford
WESTMINSTER -- ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & Co.
NEW YORK -- G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
1900
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/ep…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"The Committee of the Canary Company of both factions come to me for my Cozen Roger that is of the Committee."

I read this to mean that cousin Roger Pepys is an undecided vote on the governing committee of the Canary Company, and Pepys is being petitioned to influence his cousin. "of both factions" does not indicate political parties, but some other type of division.

The connecting theme behind this unrelated list appears to me to be fund raising, and the allocating of what funds there are. Do they rebuild London (and avoid riots), or do they build a fleet to protect the nation, and avoid invasion? Do they support English beef by halting cheaper Irish imports, risking unrest in which ever place loses? Does a wealthy man invest money in the Canary trade over less risky investments closer to home? York is arguing with Albemarle; Albermarle is disagreeing with Rupert. "So that we are all in pieces, and nobody knows what will be done the next year."

And what is Charles II thinking about? Fashion and vests! Maybe that will bring the court together? (A bit late for thrift, IMHO.)

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The Irish Cattle Bill is a theme for the next couple of months. The House of Commons site has an essay which explains it better than we ever will. While Pepys notes some of the political wrangling behind it, but none reflects adequately what the Lords were up to.

Briefly:
The Irish Cattle Bill was introduced in the autumn of 1666 in order to benefit English landowners by prohibiting the import of cheap cattle from Ireland. But peers used the debates in the House of Lords to destroy the careers of leading members of the government, and to vent anti-Irish prejudices.
The bill’s proceedings in 1666 reveal divisions both within the peerage in the House of Lords, and between the Lords and the Commons.

George Villiers, 2nd duke of Buckingham and the chancellor of the exchequer Anthony Ashley-Cooper, Lord Ashley were the principal promoters of the bill in the Lords when it arrived there from the Commons, where it had been introduced by one of Buckingham’s MPs, Sir Richard Temple.
The Lords used it to attack the lord lieutenant of Ireland, the duke of Ormonde, and his ally, Lord Chancellor Clarendon.

Buckingham, Ashley and others thought these two old counsellors of Charles II were obstructing their advancement, and were out of touch with the culture of the Restoration court.

Long term, the Irish Cattle Act failed, because it did not significantly improve the English economy while it forced the Irish to diversify their trade – leading to further conflict between the two kingdoms in succeeding decades.

But for many peers the bill’s passage fulfilled their own personal ambitions.
It weakened the influence of leading government ministers, and the debates on the bill were a prelude to the more comprehensive assault, led by the same figures in the both Houses of Parliament, on Clarendon (that led to his impeachment and banishment in late 1667) and the removal of Ormonde from the Irish lieutenancy a few months later.

For the whole essay, go to
https://www.historyofparliamenton…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

There was some leeway in the design of the Persian vest introduced by Charles II in 1666.

Pepys' friend, Admiral Sir John Harman, was a handsome 41-year-old in 1666. He wears the long coat version in his "Flagmen of Lowestoft" portrait. It is heavily barred with gold and silver braiding and Harman wears a loosely knotted linen cravat with a heavy leather sword belt.

Pepys saw this painting, either begun or finished, in Peter Lely's studio on 18 April, 1666:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joh…
(You can see more of the vest on Wikipedia than on the Greenwich museum site)

Log in to post an annotation.

If you don't have an account, then register here.