Friday 27 September 1667
Up, and to the office, where very busy all the morning. While I was busy at the Office, my wife sends for me to come home, and what was it but to see the pretty girl which she is taking to wait upon her: and though she seems not altogether so great a beauty as she had before told me, yet indeed she is mighty pretty; and so pretty, that I find I shall be too much pleased with it, and therefore could be contented as to my judgement, though not to my passion, that she might not come, lest I may be found too much minding her, to the discontent of my wife. She is to come next week. She seems, by her discourse, to be grave beyond her bigness and age, and exceeding well bred as to her deportment, having been a scholar in a school at Bow these seven or eight years. To the office again, my head running on this pretty girl, and there till noon, when Creed and Sheres come and dined with me; and we had a great deal of pretty discourse of the ceremoniousness of the Spaniards, whose ceremonies are so many and so known, that, Sheres tells me, upon all occasions of joy or sorrow in a Grandee’s family, my Lord Embassador is fain to send one with an ‘en hora buena’, if it be upon a marriage, or birth of a child, or a ‘pesa me’, if it be upon the death of a child, or so. And these ceremonies are so set, and the words of the compliment, that he hath been sent from my Lord, when he hath done no more than send in word to the Grandee that one was there from the Embassador; and he knowing what was his errand, that hath been enough, and he never spoken with him: nay, several Grandees having been to marry a daughter, have wrote letters to my Lord to give him notice, and out of the greatness of his wisdom to desire his advice, though people he never saw; and then my Lord he answers by commending the greatness of his discretion in making so good an alliance, &c., and so ends. He says that it is so far from dishonour to a man to give private revenge for an affront, that the contrary is a disgrace; they holding that he that receives an affront is not fit to appear in the sight of the world till he hath revenged himself; and therefore, that a gentleman there that receives an affront oftentimes never appears again in the world till he hath, by some private way or other, revenged himself: and that, on this account, several have followed their enemies privately to the Indys, thence to Italy, thence to France and back again, watching for an opportunity to be revenged. He says my Lord was fain to keep a letter from the Duke of York to the Queen of Spain a great while in his hands, before he could think fit to deliver it, till he had learnt whether the Queen would receive it, it being directed to his cozen. He says that many ladies in Spain, after they are found to be with child, do never stir out of their beds or chambers till they are brought to bed: so ceremonious they are in that point also. He tells me of their wooing by serenades at the window, and that their friends do always make the match; but yet that they have opportunities to meet at masse at church, and there they make love: that the Court there hath no dancing, nor visits at night to see the King or Queen, but is always just like a cloyster, nobody stirring in it: that my Lord Sandwich wears a beard now, turned up in the Spanish manner. But that which pleases me most indeed is, that the peace which he hath made with Spain is now printed here, and is acknowledged by all the merchants to be the best peace that ever England had with them: and it appears that the King thinks it so, for this is printed before the ratification is gone over; whereas that with France and Holland was not in a good while after, till copys come over of it in English out of Holland and France, that it was a reproach not to have it printed here. This I am mighty glad of; and is the first and only piece of good news, or thing fit to be owned, that this nation hath done several years.
After dinner I to the office, and they gone, anon comes Pelling, and he and I to Gray’s Inne Fields, thinking to have heard Mrs. Knight sing at her lodgings, by a friend’s means of his; but we come too late; so must try another time. So lost our labour, and I by coach home, and there to my chamber, and did a great deal of good business about my Tangier accounts, and so with pleasure discoursing with my wife of our journey shortly to Brampton, and of this little girle, which indeed runs in my head, and pleases me mightily, though I dare not own it, and so to supper and to bed.
23 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the Queen of Spain "
Since King Charles II of Spain was only 5 years old (b. 6 November 1661), might the Queen have been his mother, the Queen regent?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari…
cum salis grano • Link
What is Elizabeth's game?
Michael Robinson • Link
"... the peace which he hath made with Spain is now printed here, ..."
Tractatus pacis & amicitiæ inter coronas Magnæ Britanniæ et Hispaniæ, conclusus Matriti 13/23 die Maii, anno Dom. 1667.
Londini : excusum per assignatos Johannis Bill & Christophori Barker, Majestati Regiæ typographorum, M.DC.LXVII. [1667]
4to., 34, [2] p. At foot of title, 'Cum privilegio'; the last leaf is blank.
Wing (2nd ed., 1994), C3616
Articles of peace, commerce, & alliance, between the crowns of Great Britain and Spain. Concluded in a treaty at Madrid the 13/23 day of May, in the year of our Lord God, 1667. Translated out of Latin. Published by His Majesties command.
Variant title Copy of a patent, containing several gracious priviledges lately granted by the High and Mighty Philip the Fourth, King of Spain, &c
[London] : In the Savoy, printed by the assigns of Iohn Bill, and Christopher Barker, printers to the Kings most Excell. Majesty, 1667.
4to., [24] p. "The copy of a patent, containing several gracious priviledges lately granted by the High and Mighty Philip the Fourth, King of Spain, &c." has separate dated title page; register is continuous. Wing (2nd ed., 1994), C2910A
another printing; 4to., 47, [1] p. ; Wing (2nd ed., 1994), C2911
Edinburgh : re-printed by Evan Tyler, printer to the Kings most Excellent Majesty, M.DC.LXVII [1667]
4to., 31, [1] p. Wing (2nd ed., 1994), C2912
No copy of any in the Pepys Library.
Robert Gertz • Link
A day laden with doom-filled portents...
"Ow!!" Who the devil left this ladder here? Shoves ladder...Crash.
"My new looking glass, ow! Damn!"
Ferile howl as tossed glass crashes... "Jane! What's that black cat doing in here?!"
"Sorry, Mr. Pepys." Jane rushing by to grab hissing cat now balefully eyeing Sam.
"What, no salt left?" shakes shaker, grains spilling on floor.
"Strangest thing, Sam'l..." Bess comes over, holding skinned rabbit... "No feet, look."
"I'm not eating that...And what's that stench?"
"Either the devil's risin'..." Jane notes. "Or we've another seep from the neighbors' house of office."
"Your department, love..." Bess smiles. "Office affairs being your business."
"What was that?"
"You mean the grim music that played in the air just now...?"
"No...I see Pelling tuning up...I mean that 'bump-bumpda' sound just now."
"Haven't the fogiest...Speaking of which?"
"Not fog. And it's a little to be getting dark."
"It's an eclipse, mum..." Jane, nervously. "Look how bloody the sky's turning."
"Well, I'd best be off..." Sam frowning...
"Son...Son..." Bess moans, eyes rolling...Head upturned...
"Bess?..."
"Son, beware...Beware the dark shadow falling on your marriage."
"Mother?"
"No...This is a scene from the latest play...Of course it's me, you idiot!" voice issues from the head-upturned-to-ceiling, eyes rolled, Bess.
"Bess is that a..."
Whack across forehead...
Why, only Mother can smack like that... "Mother?"
"Samuel...Beware..."
"Specifics, Mum...It's been a bad day."
"Don't go ruinin' your marriage chasing after that new slip of a poor girl. Is that damned well specific enough for ye?"
"Ummn..."
"Do I have to be more precise?"
"Well..."
"The new girl, you philanderin'...Lord, worse than your father with the cook girl."
"I see...So avoid any new girls because?..."
"Samuel..." Dark look...
Whoa...That dangerous?...Hmmn...Must definitely have a close look at that girl.
"Well, Mother...It was nice chatting. Bess needs her body back now."
"Listen you idiot, I know you're ignorin' me."
"Mother, why I never..."
"Do you love your wife, boy?"
"Since when did you become her champion?"
"She was nice to me on me trip to London. Sweet girl, once I got to know her. You'll regret it if you don't heed your Mother, boy."
"Yes, Mother...Could you move it along? We have a busy day, today. And it's tuppence to have the coach wait."
"Tuppence?" Bess blinks, coming out of her trance.
What a pity Mother couldn't have finished her warning to me, Sam sighs.
Well, fate must take its lovely course...
"Pelling?"
"Sir?"
"What do you call what you playing? Never heard you play that before."
"Just came to me, sir. Thought I'd call it 'Bad Moon Rising'."
Hmmn...Catchy...
"Tom, what do you have there?"
"Found it outside on the stoop, sir. Poor thing, it just dropped out of the sky."
Hmmn...Dead lovebird. Sam eyes dead bird in Tom's hands.
Ah, well...This after all is the seventeenth century...An age of Reason and Tolerance for all but witches, Jews, and Papists. No need to dwell on silly superstitions and an unconfirmed bout of supernatural possession.
"
Terry Foreman • Link
The treaty of peace's text and translation, subscribed by Sandwich
Treaty of peace, alliance, and commerce between Spain and Great Britain, concluded at Madrid, May 23, 1667, N.S. Ratification by Spain, September 21, 1667. [Ratification by Great Britain, September 11/21, 1667.]
http://bit.ly/brH2IR
tg • Link
Such great detail of the Spanish ways today. Passionate defenders of their personal honour, serenading under the windows, and overly concerned with ceremoniousness. But surely they don't really make love in the churches while meeting at masse do they?
Mary • Link
making love in churches.
"make love" is open to enormously wide interpretation. I don't imagine for a moment that Spanish youth is indulging in outright sexual intercourse in church, but there are always opportunities for hands to wander (are there not, Mr. Pepys?), for formal greetings to be made more significant by a tone of voice or general manner, by the exchange of flirtatious glances etc. The more formal the setting, the more significant the slightest deviation from formal behaviour can appear and, in context, could certainly be classified as "making love".
Bryan M • Link
"making love in churches"
Life hasn't always been so raunchy and "making love" had a more innocent meaning.
From Webster's 1828 Dictionary
Love: ...
2. Courtship; chiefly in the phrase, to make love, that is, to court; to woo; to solicit union in marriage.
As I read it, what Sam means is that marriages were arranged and the only place the young couple could meet and have some form of courtship was in church.
Robert Gertz • Link
When the ill-fated Charles I went to Spain in quest of the then Infanta for his bride, with encouragement of his good buddy George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, he caused a minor international incident via his overly ardent wooing, including nightly serenading, trying to catch a peek, etc.
On the other hand, as that lovely scene in the film version of "Persuasion" shows, sometimes the slight touch of a gloved hand can be far more erotic than all the "out-there, hot-and-heavy" sensuality and the Spanish were masters of such erotic understatement. I would imagine those church encounters were all the more overwhelming to these eager young couples for what was not allowed or shown.
language hat • Link
"'make love' is open to enormously wide interpretation."
Actually, it's not. At this time, it meant only 'court, woo.' The modern sense is purely twentieth-century and originally American. OED:
U.S. To engage in sexual intercourse, esp. considered as an act of love. Freq. with to, with.
1927 J. S. BOLAN Deposition in L. Schlissel 3 Plays Mae West (1997) 218 Jimmy embraces Margie LaMont and goes through with her the business of making love to her by lying on top of her on a couch, each embracing the other. [etc.]
Kate B. • Link
>“‘make love’ is open to enormously wide interpretation.”
>Actually, it’s not. At this time, it meant only 'court, woo.'
As in Jane Austen, where Mr. Elton "makes violent love" to Emma in the coach. He doesn't rape her, just makes an ardent declaration!
A. De Araujo • Link
"pesa me" meaning literally: it weights on me,
Pesames in portuguese,meaning condolences.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Treaty of peace, alliance, and commerce between Spain and Great Britain, concluded at Madrid, May 23, 1667, N.S. Ratification by Spain, September 21, 1667. [Ratification by Great Britain, September 11/21, 1667.]
https://books.google.com/books?id…
L&M observe the treaty was the greatest achievement of Sandwich's embassy and established the English trading interest in Spain for over a century. It was of particular advantage to the carrying trade [transportation of goods] and to the woolen and fishing industries, as well as providing for protection of English merchants in Spanish territory.
Terry Foreman • Link
"my wife sends for me to come home, and what was it but to see the pretty girl which she is taking to wait upon her: and though she seems not altogether so great a beauty as she had before told me, yet indeed she is mighty pretty; and so pretty, that I find I shall be too much pleased with it, and therefore could be contented as to my judgement, though not to my passion, that she might not come, lest I may be found too much minding her, to the discontent of my wife."
L&M: Pepys's forecast proved only too accurate. The girl was Deborah Willet. She was now just 17.
Terry Foreman • Link
"He says my Lord was fain to keep a letter from the Duke of York to the Queen of Spain a great while in his hands, before he could think fit to deliver it, till he had learnt whether the Queen would receive it, it being directed to his cozen."
L&M: This mode of address was normally reserved for the exclusive use of reigning sovereigns.
Terry Foreman • Link
"that the Court there hath no dancing, nor visits at night to see the King or Queen, but is always just like a cloyster, nobody stirring in it"
L&M: For an English account (1665) of Spain, see Memoirs of Lady Fanshawe by Ann Fanshawe (1829), esp. pp. 241+. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6…
Terry Foreman • Link
"that my Lord Sandwich wears a beard now, turned up in the Spanish manner"
L&M: This does not appear in any of the extant portraits of Sandwich.
Terry Foreman • Link
The Treaty of Madrid (also known as Lord Sandwich's Treaty) (1667)
"the peace which he hath made with Spain...is acknowledged by all the merchants to be the best peace that ever England had with them: and it appears that the King thinks it so, for this is printed before the ratification is gone over; "
The Treaty of Madrid (also known as Lord Sandwich's Treaty) was a treaty adopted and signed on May 27, 1667 between England and Spain. The treaty was the first step in ending the Anglo-Spanish conflict which had officially lasted since 1654.[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tre…
Terry Foreman • Link
"whereas that with France and Holland was not in a good while after, till copys come over of it in English out of Holland and France, that it was a reproach not to have it printed here. "
L&M: The peace had been concluded on 31 July and proclaimed in London on 24 August, but complaints were still being made in mid-October that copies in English were difficult to come by: CSPD 1667, pp. 424-15, 525-6.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"What is Elizabeth's game?"
Run, Pepys ... it's a trap to get more housekeeping money out of you. Maybe some pearl earrings to go with the necklace? Or permission not to go to Brampton next week.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"What is Elizabeth's game?"
Or maybe Elizabeth has also developed a roving eye and is hedging her position so she has a come back?
Gerald Berg • Link
Liz's game? Suspicions needing confirmation IMHO. Look out Deb, both of them are using you.
john • Link
"my wife sends for me to come home" -- summons obeyed; their marriage was more egalitarian than some would believe.