Tuesday 30 April 1667

Up, and Mr. Madden come to speak with me, whom my people not knowing have made to wait long without doors, which vexed me. Then comes Sir John Winter to discourse with me about the forest of Deane, and then about my Lord Treasurer, and asking me whether, as he had heard, I had not been cut for the stone, I took him to my closet, and there shewed it to him, of which he took the dimensions and had some discourse of it, and I believe will shew my Lord Treasurer it. Thence to the office, where we sat all the morning, but little to do, and then to the ’Change, where for certain I hear, and the News book declares, a peace between France and Portugal. Met here with Mr. Pierce, and he tells me the Duke of Cambridge is very ill and full of spots about his body, that Dr. Frazier knows not what to think of it. Then home and to dinner, and then to the office, where all the afternoon; we met about Sir W. Warren’s business and accounts, wherein I do rather oppose than forward him, but not in declared terms, for I will not be at, enmity with him, but I will not have him find any friendship so good as mine. By and by rose and by water to White Hall, and then called my wife at Unthanke’s. So home and to my chamber, to my accounts, and finished them to my heart’s wishes and admiration, they being grown very intricate, being let alone for two months, but I brought them together all naturally, within a few shillings, but to my sorrow the Poll money I paid this month and mourning have made me 80l. a worse man than at my last balance, so that I am worth now but 6700l., which is yet an infinite mercy to me, for which God make me thankful. So late to supper, with a glad heart for the evening of my accounts so well, and so to bed.

15 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

Brodrick to Ormond
Written from: [London]
Date: 30 April 1667

The Ambassadors are gone [to Breda]. The King of France is more impatient than are we, to dispatch the Treaty; his whole Fleet [being] set upon the conquest of the Spanish Netherlands
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Span… ], to which purpose, he enters them with three armies, and intends a diversion in Portugal. ...

http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…

tg  •  Link

"but to my sorrow the Poll money I paid this month and mourning have made me 80l. a worse man than at my last balance, so that I am worth now but 6700l., which is yet an infinite mercy to me, for which God make me thankful."
And yet just yesterday our hero was casting aspersions on John Creed for moving out of London to avoid this tax. It's nice to see Mr. Creed resurface and I have often thought that there should be an essay or even a book about Sam and John much like the Particular Friends book about Evelyn and Sam.

Andrew Hamilton  •  Link

Creed and Pepys. It must have nettled Sam to learn that Creed had been to the Sandwich family seat on some business to which he himself was not privy. They were at one point rivals for the favors of Lord Sandwich. But Creed may be still dependent on Sandwich patronage whereas Sam is now mostly his own man. As for a book on the relationship between Creed and Pepys, we have, so far as I know, only Sam's side of the story, unlike the case for Evelyn, a diarist himself as well as a correspondent of Sam's.

Glyn  •  Link

I'm sure that Pepys was delighted to show off his kidney stone. I wonder a little whether Sir John Winter was having a mild joke with Sam, perhaps their mutual friends explained his pride in this thing.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"I took him to my closet, and there shewed it to him."

"Bess!! Where's my stone box?!"

Uh-oh...

Cut to shot of Bess bowling down pins with stone on parlor floor...

"Strike, mum!" Jane calls. Luce shrieking with glee...Oh! She points at stone rolling past flagon barrier to hit wall.

Oops... "Cracked it in two that time, mum."

"Oh, no. Jane, put it back in the box."

"Cracked to shreds, mum."

"Oh...Mr. Pepys will have a fit. What'll we do?"

"Luce, run and buy a tennis ball down the street." Jane turns. "Mrs. Pepys, best to give her some cash for it."

"Jane? A tennis ball...?"

"He'll never know the difference, mum. And make it a good-sized one, Luce! He loves to say how big the thing is."

"Jane?"

"Mum, we'll just rub the shards on the new ball in case he smells it or..."

Cut to shot of Sam rubbing finger and tasting for guests... Bess, Jane, Mercer, Luce looking ready to run for chamber pot beside now queasy guest.

"It's there, Sam'l! Jane moved it to the shelf so it would be off the floor!"

"Ah...Yes...Now, Sir John. Have a look." Proudly opens box.

"My god, 'tis a large one."

"Indeed."

djc  •  Link

Glyn: I wonder a little whether Sir John Winter was having a mild joke...

I think not see 29 April
"my Lord Treasurer very bad of the stone, and hath been so some days."
and today:
"and then about my Lord Treasurer, and asking me whether, as he had heard, I had not been cut for the stone"

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"asking me whether, as he had heard, I had not been cut for the stone, I took him to my closet, and there shewed it to him, of which he took the dimensions and had some discourse of it, and I believe will shew my Lord Treasurer it."

Methinks perhaps the "it" Pepys believes he will show Southampton is a drawing to scale of the stone, which was kept in a leather case he had had made for it: see http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" the News book declares, a peace between France and Portugal. "

L&M say this was an offensive and defensive alliance which France concluded with Portugal in preparation for an attack on the Spanish Netherlands. It led to the Ango-Spanish trade treaty which Pepys reports at 1 June: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Nicolas  •  Link

What has become of Sam’s stone in its leather case? I suppose if it was among his effects at death it hasn’t survived the passing centuries.

Nicolas  •  Link

I think I’ve found the answer to my question. His residence (and office) on Seething Lane was destroyed by fire on 29 January 1673. No one was hurt. But the stone might’ve perished in the fire.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... but to my sorrow the Poll money I paid this month and mourning have made me 80l. a worse man than at my last balance, ..."

Pepys chose not to mention in the Diary any lingering emotions or insights he had about his relationship with his mother, so we are left with the hefty clothing bill, many trips to the theater and time spent reading a book he doesn't understand as her memorial. Maybe that's another reason he went a-roaming by himself yesterday. Grief makes it hard to understand complex books.

David  •  Link

I had always assumed that Sam's stone case was made of wood and glass as are specimens in anatomical museums, is there an entry somewhere in which he says it was leather?

Nicolas  •  Link

Actually I couldn’t find any mention of what the case was made of. Terry’s comment (above) of 08 Apr 2016 said it was of leather. Claire Tomalin’s biography doesn’t indicate it either.
She says in a footnote that Evelyn’s diary entry of 10 Jun 1669 mentions the case. I haven’t looked that up. The case was ordered on 20 Aug 1664. The diary is silent on that point as far as I can tell. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

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