Thursday 25 April 1667

Received a writ from the Exchequer this morning of distrain for 70,000l., which troubled me, though it be but, matter of form. To the office, where sat all the morning. At noon my wife being to Unthanke’s christening, I to Sir W. Batten’s to dinner, where merry, and the rather because we are like to come to some good end in another of our prizes. Thence by coach to my Lord Treasurer’s, and there being come too soon to the New Exchange, but did nothing, and back again, and there found my Lord Bruncker and T. Harvy, and walked in a room very merrily discoursing. By and by comes my Lord Ashly and tells us my Lord Treasurer is ill and cannot speak with us now. Thence away, Sir W. Pen and I and Mr. Lewes, who come hither after us, and Mr. Gawden in the last man’s coach. Set me down by the Poultry, and I to Sir Robert Viner’s, and there had my account stated and took it home to review. So home to the office, and there late writing out something, having been a little at Sir W. Batten’s to talk, and there vexed to see them give order for Hogg’s further abroad, and so home and to bed.

14 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

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

Apr: 25. 1667. mr. Hooke produced a Leuell almost the same wth that of the french Lately printed in their Iournall de Scauans. he was orderd to giue a scheme & description of it in writing.

The same proposed a way of measuring the circumference of the Earth wth. a 12 foot glasse & 3 stakes to be practised in St. Iames s park in a calm day orderd that this be put in execution as soon as may be -

(Sr. Th: Deuaux paper of making wax candles read and orderd to be filed vp.

mr Hook produced a Letter conteining an answer made by one mr [S]ellers to two magneticall querys. printed in philosophicall transaction numb. 423. 424. orderd to be enterd in the Letter book

the same was desired to inquire of mr. Collers what way he vseth to make a needle turn north & south wthout touching it with a Loadstone he mentiond that a drill by making a hole wth it in a peice of steel in a perpendicular position will contract the verticity of north & south i mr Hooke was desired to /cause to be/ make [ sic ] both horizontall and inclinatory magnetick needles as nice as might and to haue an inclinatory one hung vp constantly

Letter from D Sandwich) descalet at Suratte about temperature of air ouerblowing of Riuers)
Bullealdus about nebulosa in cingulo andromeda & in collo cygnj. [ http://bit.ly/7JMfTw ])
mr Williamson letter concerning parhelia [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_… ] and Inverted Rainbow
Oudarts of snakes catching rats & mice at tangeer)

merret of Oculus mundi.) [ http://bit.ly/blT8U5 ]
Another way of making Bricks by Mr Hooke. Reflecting box -

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

John Evelyn's Diary

25th April, 1667. Visited again the Duke of Newcastle [ http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… ], with whom I had been acquainted long before in Prance, where the Duchess had obligation to my wife's mother for her marriage there; she was sister to Lord Lucas [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char… ], and maid of honor then to the Queen-Mother; married in our chapel at Paris. My wife being with me, the Duke and Duchess both would needs bring her to the very Court

http://bit.ly/9cjrV7

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Sir William Coventry to Sandwich
Written from: [Whitehall]
Date: 25 April 1667

Thanks his Lordship for his Letter of the 27 March. Repeats Lord Arlington's information as to the Treaty between France & Portugal; adding that it excepts "only England from the obligation of offending".

Infers that England is likely to make a good Peace, "because the French King, without whom the Dutch will scarcely hold out the War, will be glad to be at leisure to apply himself wholly to the Conquest of Flanders".

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

Paul Chapin  •  Link

distrain: to seize and hold (property) as security or indemnity for a debt [several online dictionaries all give essentially the same definition]

I gather what happened here is that the Exchequer put a lien on the Navy's property (surely not Sam's personal property) for 70,000L, presumably as surety for the money that is being given them for operations. "Matter of form," Sam says, but can't help but be troubled by it, as I think anyone would be. Seems a strange way of doing business for a government - if this money isn't used for its intended purpose, we'll take away your office space and your furniture.

Michael Robinson  •  Link

"Received a writ from the Exchequer this morning of distrain for 70,000l., which troubled me, though it be but, matter of form. "

L&M footnote 'This writ of distraint was used by the Exchequer court to call on government treasurers to render their accounts. In this case Pepys was required to declare his account of Tangier money to the Exchequer.'

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...by comes my Lord Ashly and tells us my Lord Treasurer is ill and cannot speak with us now."

I'd be ill too, in the current fiscal situation.

language hat  •  Link

"there vexed to see them give order for Hogg’s further abroad"

Can anyone explain this? Is there a word missing?

Phoenix  •  Link

I read it as 'gave order for Hogg and his crew to go abroad (set sail) again'.

Sam is not pleased because ...

Wednesday 10 April 1667

"Up, and to my office a little, and then, in the garden, find Sir W. Pen; and he and I to Sir W. Batten, where he tells us news of the new disorders of Hogg and his men in taking out of 30 tons of wine out of a prize of ours, which makes us mad; and that, added to the unwillingness of the men to go longer abroad without money, do lead us to conclude not to keep her abroad any longer, of which I am very glad, for I do not like our doings with what we have already got, Sir W. Batten ordering the disposal of our wines and goods, and he leaves it to Morrice the cooper, who I take to be a cunning proud knave, so that I am very desirous to adventure no further."

Seems like the crew has been mollified and Sam outvoted.

JWB  •  Link

geodesy:

"Jean-Felix Picard (July 21, 1620 – July 12, 1682) was a French astronomer and priest... was the first person to measure the size of the Earth to a reasonable degree of accuracy in a survey conducted in 1669–70, for which he is honored with a pyramid at Juvisy-sur-Orge. Guided by Maurolycus's methodology and Snellius's mathematics for doing so, Picard achieved this by measuring one degree of latitude along the Paris Meridian using triangulation along thirteen triangles stretching from Paris to the clocktower of Sourdon, near Amiens. His measurements produced a result of 110.46 km for one degree of latitude, which gives a corresponding terrestrial radius of 6328.9 km. The polar radius has now been measured at just over 6357 km. This was an error only 0.44% less than the modern value."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Andromeda

Stars in this constellation of the type "Bullialdus" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isma… ) is studying turn out to have been of special astronomical importance.

This star is a so-called Cepheid-like variable star http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceph…

Bullialdus determined the periodical time of the star he is reporting on, from bright through all its gradations to bright again, to be 333 days, and Cassini made the same period to be 334. http://bit.ly/aVTd8f

In 1924 Edwin Hubble discovered Cepheid variables in the Andromeda galaxy. This settled the Island Universe debate, concerning the question of whether the Milky Way and the Universe were synonymous, or was the Milky Way merely one in a plethora of galaxies that constitutes the Universe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceph…

Australian Susan  •  Link

Jean-Felix Picard

....and of course we all know how Picard got remembered in the late 20th century!

And we are celebrating 20 years of the Hubble telescope being in orbit.

Second Reading

arby  •  Link

Time flies, AS, Hubble is 30 today, and still at work.

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