Saturday 4 May 1667
Up and to the office, where sat all the morning, among other things a great conflict I had with Sir W. Warren, he bringing a letter to the Board, flatly in words charging them with their delays in passing his accounts, which have been with them these two years, part of which I said was not true, and the other undecent. The whole Board was concerned to take notice of it, as well as myself, but none of them had the honour to do it, but suffered me to do it alone, only Sir W. Batten, who did what he did out of common spite to him. So I writ in the margin of the letter, “Returned as untrue,” and, by consent of the Board, did give it him again, and so parted. Home to dinner, and there came a woman whose husband I sent for, one Fisher, about the business of Perkins and Carcasse, and I do think by her I shall find the business as bad as ever it was, and that we shall find Commissioner Pett a rogue, using foul play on behalf of Carcasse. After dinner to the office again, and there late all the afternoon, doing much business, and with great content home to supper and to bed.
13 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
St. Alban to Ormond
Written from: Colombe
Date: 4 May 1667
... It may now be taken for granted that the Peace cannot fail [to be made]. ... The King [of France]'s own body of troops will consist of above 20,000 foot, & of near 10,000 horse. The Marshal de Gramont commands another, toward the sea, of 4,000 foot and 2,000 horse; and the Marquess of Créqui a third, of the same number, towards the Moselle. ... "The matter is of a nature", adds the writer, "not very capable of accomodation" .
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/s…
tg • Link
The sh@t sure seemed to hit the fan today with Sir Warren. Two years and no payments, surely sir you are mistaken. And is "undecent" a typo?
Terry Foreman • Link
"And is “undecent” a typo?"
Since the July 4, 1776 US Declaration of Independent's "unalienable Rights," there has been a migration from "un- to "in-" as the preferred negative prefix. http://www.ushistory.org/Declarat…
cape henry • Link
“Returned as untrue...”Both a direct rebuttal and a powerful rebuke in three simple words.
As for "undecent," TF, not sure it's a typo, but I like it.You are correct, I think, about the migration of the prefix, though it is a bit selective: some things remain unexplained.
Terry Foreman • Link
L&M have "undecent" too.
Terry Foreman • Link
"The prefixes in- and un- may both have, among other uses, a negative force. In- is the form derived from Latin, and is therefore used in learned words or in words derived from Latin or (rarely) Greek: inaccessible, inaccuracy, inadequate, etc.
Un- is the native form going back to Old English, used in words of native origin, and sometimes used in combination with words of other origins if these words are in common use: unloving, ungodly, unfeeling, unnecessary, unsafe."
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010. http://dictionary.reference.com/b…
Paul Chapin • Link
"Returned as untrue." I love it. Wish I'd thought of that during my working days.
Robert Gertz • Link
I'm curious as to what "foul play" Pett used on behalf of James C. Hard to tell in Sam's world if he means Pett merely bent rules or had whistle blowers disposed of in the Thames.
Though of course Pett doesn't seem the "sleeps with the fishes" type...
On the other hand, Sir William Warren...I wonder at Sam's lack of concern that Warren might find a way to quietly speak to Parliamentary types as to certain bags with certain sums of gold. Let alone having Sam's headless trunk floating in the Thames...
Andrew Hamilton • Link
"So I writ in the margin of the letter, “Returned as untrue,” and, by consent of the Board, did give it him again.... I do think ... that we shall find Commissioner Pett a rogue, using foul play on behalf of Carcasse.... and with great content home to supper and to bed."
The Pepys Militant. He must be feeling pretty invulnerable. Why?
Nix • Link
I'm with Paul Chapin on this one. In my job as a lawyer I sometimes have to respond on clients' behalf to blustering, accusatory, demanding, threatening letters. Samuel has given me the perfect way to respond. I will have to get a rubber stamp made up. (I once knew an editor who had -- and used -- a rubber stamp that said "Pedestrian & Sh*tty".)
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"he bringing a letter to the Board, flatly in words charging them with their delays in passing his accounts, which have been with them these two years,"
L&M: The delays continued until 1675; see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Louise Hudson • Link
Cape Henry“ As for "undecent," TF, not sure it's a typo, but I like it.You are correct, I think, about the migration of the prefix, though it is a bit selective: some things remain unexplained.”
Given the state of spelling in the 17th Century, I imagine that almost anything was acceptable and most words were spelled phonetically. Even Shakespeare was a bad speller, often spelling his own name in different ways.
Martin • Link
Sure, but phonetic spelling doesn't explain the situation here. 'undecent' and 'indecent' are pronounced differently, and would have been in the 17th century too.
OED says: undecent, adj. a. Unfitting, unbecoming, improper; = indecent adj. 1. Now archaic. and gives quotations from the 16th to the 19th century, the first being earlier than their first for 'indecent'.