Wednesday 16 January 1666/67

Up, and by coach to White Hall, and there to the Duke of York as usual. Here Sir W. Coventry come to me aside in the Duke’s chamber, to tell that he had not answered part of a late letter of mine, because ‘littera scripta manet’. About his leaving the office, he tells me, [it is] because he finds that his business at Court will not permit him to attend it; and then he confesses that he seldom of late could come from it with satisfaction, and therefore would not take the King’s money for nothing. I professed my sorrow for it, and prayed the continuance of his favour; which he promised. I do believe he hath [done] like a very wise man in reference to himself; but I doubt it will prove ill for the King, and for the office. Prince Rupert, I hear to-day, is very ill; yesterday given over, but better to-day. This day, before the Duke of York, the business of the Muster-Masters was reported, and Balty found the best of the whole number, so as the Duke enquired who he was, and whether he was a stranger by his two names, both strange, and offered that he and one more, who hath done next best, should have not only their owne, but part of the others’ salary, but that I having said he was my brother-in-law, he did stop, but they two are ordered their pay, which I am glad of, and some of the rest will lose their pay, and others be laid by the heels. I was very glad of this being ended so well. I did also, this morning, move in a business wherein Mr. Hater hath concerned me, about getting a ship, laden with salt from France, permitted to unload, coming in after the King’s declaration was out, which I have hopes by some dexterity to get done. Then with the Duke of York to the King, to receive his commands for stopping the sale this day of some prize-goods at the Prize-Office, goods fit for the Navy; and received the King’s commands, and carried them to the Lords’ House, to my Lord Ashly, who was angry much thereat, and I am sorry it fell to me to carry the order, but I cannot help it. So, against his will, he signed a note I writ to the Commissioners of Prizes, which I carried and delivered to Kingdone, at their new office in Aldersgate Streete. Thence a little to the Exchange, where it was hot that the Prince was dead, but I did rectify it. So home to dinner, and found Balty, told him the good news, and then after dinner away, I presently to White Hall, and did give the Duke of York a memorial of the salt business, against the Council, and did wait all the Council for answer, walking a good while with Sir Stephen Fox, who, among other things, told me his whole mystery in the business of the interest he pays as Treasurer for the Army. They give him 12d. per pound quite through the Army, with condition to be paid weekly. This he undertakes upon his own private credit, and to be paid by the King at the end of every four months. If the King pay him not at the end of the four months, then, for all the time he stays longer, my Lord Treasurer, by agreement, allows him eight per cent. per annum for the forbearance. So that, in fine, he hath about twelve per cent. from the King and the Army, for fifteen or sixteen months’ interest; out of which he gains soundly, his expense being about 130,000l. per annum; and hath no trouble in it, compared, as I told him, to the trouble I must have to bring in an account of interest. I was, however, glad of being thus enlightened, and so away to the other council door, and there got in and hear a piece of a cause, heard before the King, about a ship deserted by her fellows (who were bound mutually to defend each other), in their way to Virginy, and taken by the enemy, but it was but meanly pleaded.

Then all withdrew, and by and by the Council rose, and I spoke with the Duke of York, and he told me my business was done, which I found accordingly in Sir Edward Walker’s books. And so away, mightily satisfied, to Arundell House, and there heard a little good discourse, and so home, and there to Sir W. Batten, where I heard the examinations in two of our prizes, which do make but little for us, so that I do begin to doubt their proving prize, which troubled me. So home to supper with my wife, and after supper my wife told me how she had moved to W. Hewer the business of my sister for a wife to him, which he received with mighty acknowledgements, as she says, above anything; but says he hath no intention to alter his condition: so that I am in some measure sorry she ever moved it; but I hope he will think it only come from her.

So after supper a little to the office, to enter my journall, and then home to bed. Talk there is of a letter to come from Holland, desiring a place of treaty; but I do doubt it. This day I observe still, in many places, the smoking remains of the late fire: the ways mighty bad and dirty. This night Sir R. Ford told me how this day, at Christ Church Hospital, they have given a living over 200l. per annum to Mr. Sanchy, my old acquaintance, which I wonder at, he commending him mightily; but am glad of it. He tells me, too, how the famous Stillingfleete was a Bluecoat boy. The children at this day are provided for in the country by the House, which I am glad also to hear.

31 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Royal Society today at Arundel House — from the Hooke Folio Online

(57) Ian 16. 1666./ (2 Coccothranstus's. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocc… ] )

Dr. Crones chariot). (Blunts chariot)

The curator [ mr. Hooke ] shewed a metall which he sayd was a preparation of Mercury fitt to take off any Impression of a scale or medall & to greaten or Lessen the same keeping its proportion and then to grow hard againe after 2 or 3 howres time, he try'd it before the company wth some successe by softning the hard metall wth. the pressure and working of a knife and by taking off Impressions he was desired to perfect the Experiments

(crone 2 letters from Steno [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico… Danish pioneer in both anatomy and geology ]. 1 of the muscles. 2 expts. of [mercury] in a cane. an Expt of freezing wth ice & brandy

mr. Balls magnetick apparatus Receiud.)

It was mentiond by the secretary that the councell had thought fitt that the expts. for the making out the Theory of the Laws of motion formerly begun by Dr Wren D crone & mr Hooke as also those about the magnet heretofore begun by mr Bale & mr Hooke should be prosecuted the Society Desired Dr wren to giue in those expts of motion diuised by himself but he alledging that they were at Oxford Dr Crone & mr Hooke were desired to bring in theirs as also that mr Hooke should aduance the expts of the Loadstone.

Dr. Wren & mr Hooke were againe desired to bring in their ways of taking the Diameter of the planets to seconds. Dr. wren was putt in mind of the telescopicall moon formerly promised by him. Account of Heuelius book calld for.

Expt. for next day. 1 to haue perfected the circular pendule lately brought in 2 the engine for bending springs by gunpowder. 3 bucket for fetching vp things from the bottom of the sea perfected -

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I doubt it will prove ill for the King"

"doubt" = "suspect" in this case.

Bradford  •  Link

"I having said he was my brother-in-law, he did stop, but they two are ordered their pay, which I am glad of, and some of the rest will lose their pay, and others be laid by the heels. I was very glad of this being ended so well."

Those thus inconvenienced surely have a different view, and may well take opportunity to acquaint Balty with it in due time.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Sam must have been very relieved that Balty finally came good with work! And he must have felt pleased with himself - until perhaps he learnt about the payment situation.........

Christ Hospital:

http://www.christs-hospital.org.u…

now takes girls - wonder what Sam would have thought of that - in his day, he would have seen no reason whatsoever to give girls this kind of education as they were not expected to make their way in the world as professional persons.

JWB  •  Link

The above link comes from Hooke's note: ".the engine for bending springs by gunpowder..

jeannine  •  Link

"So home to supper with my wife, and after supper my wife told me how she had moved to W. Hewer the business of my sister for a wife to him, which he received with mighty acknowledgements, as she says, above anything; but says he hath no intention to alter his condition"

This must have been an interesting conversation. I often wondered why Will never chose to marry and often thought that perhaps he was just too enamored with Elizabeth. Hmmm.....

JWB  •  Link

"... a ship, laden with salt from France, "

After having paid the Gabelle-salt in the wounds.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"He tells me, too, how the famous Stillingfleete was a Bluecoat boy."

A rumor for the aspiring son of a prick-louse to savor, but an error: L&M note that Stillingfleet was educated at Cranborne, Dorset, and at Ringwood, Hants., not a charity pupil at Christ's College.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chri…'s_Hospital

JWB, thanks for the great find on powder-testing. One wonders how Mr. Hooke kept his fingers intact.

JWB  •  Link

"One wonders how Mr. Hooke kept his fingers intact."

Graduate assistants, of course.

JWB  •  Link

‘littera scripta manet’

Unless the dog eats it. When's a excuse not as excuse? Fobbed-off with a Latin phrase.

CGS  •  Link

‘littera scripta manet’ [ Horace maxim ? ]

Verba volant, (littera) scripta manet - Words fly away, the written (letter) remains

[Vox audita perit, littera scripta manet"]

my ignoramus take, he waits to put pen to paper
or he does not lift his little finger to reply because he will stuck with his words for all eternity, all Politicos take note.

or
officially the "written letter abides"
or
Vox audita perit, littera scripta manet
(The spoken word perishes, but the written word remains).
www.litterascripta.com/about.shtml

or
Latin for "What is written is permanent"

no matter the medium.

CGS  •  Link

‘littera scripta manet’ Samuell recorded it , to emphasize the risk of the job, not to be caught on the wrong side of the squall line when the affluent effluent is on the loose.
For us moles keep thy head down while the reaper is wielding the scythe.
There is many a modern character that has failed that test.

CGS  •  Link

Washingtonians;
# Litera scripta manet - The written word endures.
(proverb, sometimes attributed to Horace, inscribed on the ceiling of the Librarian's Room in the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress)

# Those who know, do. Those who understand, teach. (Aristotle)

I add, if thee cannot teach then just preach, failing that then just leech or leach.
otherwise imbibe.

CGS  •  Link

"...Litera scripta manet..." should be heeded by all that use the computer ether, as the search engines keep all queries.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Doubtless all our names are on someone's enemies list somewhere as "dangerously questioning historical figures' moral positions", "engaging in dangerously free discussion of historic political issues", "insufficient respect for naval administrators", "don't love guns", etc, etc...

Terry Foreman  •  Link

“a ship, laden with salt from France“

L&M note The Falcon, a merchant out of Hamburg, had been loaded with bay salt at La Rochelle (lately arrived at Plymouth) before the King's 10 November proclamation prohibiting trade with France. The council did make an order permitting her to discharge cargo provided navy victuallers had the right of first refusal at market price.

CGS  •  Link

That salt ship could have had a few kegs of local wine brandy wine ? named cogniac, on board?
see the map of Rochelle.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"[Sir W. Coventry] finds that his business at Court will not permit him to attend it; and then he confesses that he seldom of late could come from it with satisfaction, and therefore would not take the King’s money for nothing."

L&M note Coventry's salary came to an end on the following 25 March. His court business was his work as a Privy Councillor. For Pepys's letter see http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"a cause, heard before the King, about a ship deserted by her fellows (who were bound mutually to defend each other), in their way to Virginy, and taken by the enemy"

L&M: This concerned the Alexander of Bristol, which had straggled from the convoy.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

""by and by the Council rose, and I spoke with the Duke of York, and he told me my business was done, which I found accordingly in Sir Edward Walker’s books"

L&M: Sir Edward Walker was Clerk of the Council.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"to Arundell House, and there heard a little good discourse"

L&M: The subjects now discussed at the Royal Society were (principally) birds called coccothrestes, Col. Brount's chariot, and 'a preparation of mercury fit to take off any impression of a seal or medal': Birch, ii. 139-40.

Coccothraustes is a genus of the finch family (Fringillidae) that contains three species:[1]

Hawfinch – Coccothraustes coccothraustes
Evening grosbeak – Coccothraustes vespertinus
Hooded grosbeak – Coccothraustes abeillei
The name of the genus Coccothraustes was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 based on tautonymy and the binomial name Loxia coccothraustes of Carl Linnaeus. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coc…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"The children at this day are provided for in the country by the House, which I am glad also to hear."

L&M: Most of the boys were boarded out at Ware and Hertford after the Fire, in which the school buildings in Newgate St had suffered badly. They returned to London in November 1667: E.H. Pearce, Annals Christ's Hostp., pp. 209-10.

mountebank  •  Link

Referring to Terry's comment from 2010:

"It was mentiond by the secretary that the councell had thought fitt that the expts. for the making out the Theory of the Laws of motion formerly begun by Dr Wren D crone & mr Hooke"

this looks like the term "Laws of Motion" was already in usage as a general term in 1666/67 and perhaps was from this adopted by Newton.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... and others be laid by the heels."

According to Duhaime's legal on-line dictionary:

"To lay by the heels was the technical expression for committing to prison."

In William Shakespeare's play King Henry IV, the playwright has his character Lord Chief Justice say to Falstaff:
"To punish you by the heels would amend the attention of your ears."

James Morgan  •  Link

The brief history of powder testers, http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/M…, is indeed fascinating. I was surprised to encounter a mention of Sir Charles Wheatstone, whom I'd previously known as the inventor of the concertina. Per the wikipedia article about him, that was only one of his many accomplishments.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"Prince Rupert, I hear to-day, is very ill; yesterday given over, but better to-day."

Given over in this case means they thought he would die.

According to RUPERT, PRINCE PALATINE

BY EVA SCOTT

WESTMINSTER -- ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & Co.
NEW YORK -- G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
1900
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3…

"In January 1667 Rupert was again very ill. The old wound in his head broke out afresh, and his life was despaired of.

"In February 1667 Rupert consented to an operation, which gave him some relief and enabled him to sleep.

"A second operation brought him fairly to convalescence, and after this he "diverted himself in his workhouse," where, amongst other curious things, he made instruments with which the surgeons were able to dress his wound quickly and easily.[54]
[54] Dom. State Papers, Feb. 21, 1667."

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

The "bay salt" from France is an on-going story throughout the day:

"I did also, this morning, move in a business wherein Mr. Hater hath concerned me, about getting a ship, laden with salt from France, permitted to unload, coming in after the King’s declaration was out, which I have hopes by some dexterity to get done."

"... after dinner away, I presently to White Hall, and did give the Duke of York a memorial of the salt business, against the Council, and did wait all the Council for answer, walking a good while with Sir Stephen Fox, ..."

"Then all withdrew, and by and by the Council rose, and I spoke with the Duke of York, and he told me my business was done, which I found accordingly in Sir Edward Walker’s books. And so away, mightily satisfied, ..."

Since he's "mightily satisfied" I think the salt was assigned to Pepys' clutches, either as Victualler or for the use of the Navy Board.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Sir Stephen Fox: "They give him 12d. per pound quite through the Army, with condition to be paid weekly. This he undertakes upon his own private credit, and to be paid by the King at the end of every four months. If the King pay him not at the end of the four months, then, for all the time he stays longer, my Lord Treasurer, by agreement, allows him eight per cent. per annum for the forbearance. So that, in fine, he hath about twelve per cent. from the King and the Army, for fifteen or sixteen months’ interest; out of which he gains soundly, his expense being about 130,000l. per annum; and hath no trouble in it, compared, as I told him, to the trouble I must have to bring in an account of interest."

Can you imagine how much Fox was worth to be able to pay the weekly salaries of the entire army ... and not worry if Charles II was late repaying him? Charles had army regulars deployed all over the coast of England, Scotland and Ireland to repel an anticipated French invasion.

If Pepys thinks he's got a good scam going, Fox puts that in a whole other perspective.

Maybe Pepys will suggest something similar to Carteret for the Navy; it would stop the mutinies.

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