Saturday 5 October 1667
Up, and to the Office; and there all the morning; none but my Lord Anglesey and myself; but much surprized with the news of the death of Sir W. Batten, who died this morning, having been but two days sick. Sir W. Pen and I did dispatch a letter this morning to Sir W. Coventry, to recommend Colonel Middleton, who we think a most honest and understanding man, and fit for that place. Sir G. Carteret did also come this morning, and walked with me in the garden; and concluded not to concern [himself] or have any advice made to Sir W. Coventry, in behalf of my Lord Sandwich’s business; so I do rest satisfied, though I do think they are all mad, that they will judge Sir W. Coventry an enemy, when he is indeed no such man to any body, but is severe and just, as he ought to be, where he sees things ill done. At noon home, and by coach to Temple Bar to a India shop, and there bought a gown and sash, which cost me 26s., and so she [Mrs. Pepys] and Willet away to the ’Change, and I to my Lord Crew, and there met my Lord Hinchingbroke and Lady Jemimah, and there dined with them and my Lord, where pretty merry, and after dinner my Lord Crew and Hinchingbroke and myself went aside to discourse about my Lord Sandwich’s business, which is in a very ill state for want of money, and so parted, and I to my tailor’s, and there took up my wife and Willet, who staid there for me, and to the Duke of York’s playhouse, but the house so full, it being a new play, “The Coffee House,” that we could not get in, and so to the King’s house: and there, going in, met with Knepp, and she took us up into the tireing-rooms: and to the women’s shift, where Nell was dressing herself, and was all unready, and is very pretty, prettier than I thought. And so walked all up and down the house above, and then below into the scene-room, and there sat down, and she gave us fruit and here I read the questions to Knepp, while she answered me, through all her part of “Flora’s Figary’s,” which was acted to-day. But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them; and what base company of men comes among them, and how lewdly they talk! and how poor the men are in clothes, and yet what a shew they make on the stage by candle-light, is very observable. But to see how Nell cursed, for having so few people in the pit, was pretty; the other house carrying away all the people at the new play, and is said, now-a-days, to have generally most company, as being better players. By and by into the pit, and there saw the play, which is pretty good, but my belly was full of what I had seen in the house, and so, after the play done, away home, and there to the writing my letters, and so home to supper and to bed.
25 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Ossory to Ormond
Written from: [London]
Date: 5 October 1667
Mr Reeves brought to the writer the Duke's letter of September 13.
Lord Ossory has been assured that Sir William Petty is bent upon doing the Duke some mischief; but he has not yet learned any particulars. The like rumours have been current concerning the intentions of other persons. Some, however, are of opinion that these rumours have grown out of an apprehension that it was the Duke's purpose to come over into England, that he might assist in the defence of the late Chancellor.
_____
Petition of Eleanor [in MS.: "Ellinor"] Delamere, otherwise Petty, and others, to the Duke of Ormond on behalf of themselves, & of other Tenants of Lands, in the County of Westmeath, not herein named
Written from: [Dublin]
Date: [5 October] 1667
Recite the expulsion of petitioners from their respective holdings in Westmeath - and other injuries inflicted on them - by Quarter-master Henry Bridgeman of Lord Aungier's Troop of Horse, and by one John Gordon of the same Troop; and pray relief.
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwm…
Terry Foreman • Link
"But, Lord! to see how they were both painted...."
SP begins to discover the function of makeup.
Robert Gertz • Link
Poor Sir Will...
"...he's in Arthur's bosom, if ever man went to Arthur's bosom. A' made a finer end and went away an it had been any christom child;
a' parted even just between twelve and one, even at the turning o' the tide: for after saw him fumble with the sheets and play with flowers and smile upon his fingers' ends, I knew there was but one way; for his nose was as sharp as a pen, and a' babbled of green fields. 'How now, sir [Will]!' quoth I 'what, man! be o' good cheer.' So a' cried out 'God, God, God!' three or four times. Now I, to comfort him, bid him a' should not think of God; I hoped there was no need to trouble himself with any such thoughts yet. So a' bade me lay more clothes on his feet: I put my hand into the bed and felt them, and they were as cold as any stone; then I felt to his knees, and they were as cold as any stone, and so upward and upward, and all was as cold as any stone." -Henry V.
Farewell thee well, good Sir Will...
Carl in Boston • Link
Best not to watch sausages being made, nor actors at their trade behind the curtain.
Robert Gertz • Link
"But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them; and what base company of men comes among them, and how lewdly they talk! and how poor the men are in clothes, and yet what a shew they make on the stage by candle-light..."
Welcome to a life in theater, Sam. But what's more to marvel at than the idea that a foul-mouthed slut can become an virginal angel who brings one to tears and inspired devotion or an overweight prissy fellow can take on the nature of Caesar, braving all odds, or a bumbling kid or a fawning cynic become a charming and ardent lover for a few minutes on stage, eh? After all if Nelly and Betty Knipp can create Floras and angels from themselves and the mind of some drunken poet, there must be a little of that in them...Somewhere.
"Disappointed, Mr. Pepys?" suavely velvet voice...
"They're nothing like..." a fuming Sam...
"What you would wish them to be, yes. I so often note that reaction in those of you who venture backstage. One might suggest the true folly is that simple act of parting the curtain."
"Indeed, sir." Bess, beside Sam frowns.
"Indeed, ma'am. And you, young miss..." eyes the grave Deb behind Bess. "What do you say about it? Do you prefer the illusion or the reality?"
Deb nervously looking to Bess...
"Not willing to say, eh? Wise in your way. You should make a fine actress, yourself. Would you like to know what makes a fine actress, girl?"
"Sir..." Sam frowns.
"Well, sir..." Deb, cautiously... Avoiding Bess' cold stare.
"You must ask Nell, my dear. Nell can tell you all about it."
"Sir?" Sam, stepping in front of Bess and Deb. "Perhaps you might tell me..."
"De Witt, sir...London's foremost critic of the theater...Addison De Witt."
Eyes Deb as she looks toward the backstage...
"Yes, Nell can tell her all about it." leer.
Robin Peters • Link
Was just a wee lad when I met the clowns outside the big top having a fag. Illusions killed for ever.
L. K. van Marjenhoff • Link
Sam's psychopomp, his "Barbry Allen," leads her favorite puritan into the backstage demimonde. What a lovely glimpse into its bohemian badinage and tawdry glitz. Just wish he had relished it and had dwelled on it longer, but no, the puritan in him won out and he was repelled rather than enthralled.
Terry Foreman • Link
It is meet and right to mark, with Robert Gertz, the passing from the world of the old salt by heredity and disposition, Sir William Batten -- a fixture in the life of Samuel Pepys since http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… -- the day King Charles landed on the English shore (after his dog shat on the deck of the ship that brought them back) and the Duke of York first addressed "Mr. Pepys" by name.
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah!
Terry Foreman • Link
Petition of the Lord Mayor and citizens of Dublin to ... [the] Duke of Ormond, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, concerning the quartering of Troops in that City
Written from: [Dublin]
Date: [5 October?] 1667
[Note. This petition & the answer gave rise to proceedings in the Parliament of England & to an attempted impeachment of the Lord Lieutenant.]
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwm…
Terry Foreman • Link
Warrant, by the Duke of Ormond, to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the city of Dublin, for providing quarters for the Regiment of Guards, the Life-Guard of horse, and the Guard of Battleaxes, respectively
Written from: Dublin Castle
Date: 5 October 1667
Document type: Copy
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwm…
Ironic synchronicity with the previously posted item.
Terry Foreman • Link
Had he been in England, Ormond would have been, in effect, in violation of the 1628 Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. The Petition of Right was produced by the English Parliament in the run-up to the English Civil War. It was passed by Parliament in May 1628, and given the royal assent by Charles I in June of that year. The Petition is most notable for its confirmation of the principles that taxes can be levied only by Parliament, that martial law may not be imposed in time of peace, and that prisoners must be able to challenge the legitimacy of their detentions through the writ of habeas corpus. The Petition’s ban on the billeting of troops is reflected in the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peti…
On 4 November, Sir H. Cholmly will tell Pepys "the quartering of soldiers in Ireland on free quarters; which, it seems, is High Treason in that country, and was one of the things that lost the Lord Strafford his head [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thom… ], and the law is not yet repealed; which, he says, was a mighty oversight of him not to have it repealed, which he might with ease have done, or have justified himself by an Act." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them"
Pepys'reaction to "painting" was not unlike that of A discourse against painting and tincturing of women Wherein the abominable sinnes of murther and poysoning, pride and ambition, adultery and witchcraft are set foorth & discouered. Whereunto is added The picture of a picture, or, the character of a painted woman.
Tuke, Thomas, d. 1657. Imprinted at London: By Thomas Creede and Bernard Alsop] for Edward Marchant, 1616.
Early English Books Online [whole text]
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo…
Mary K • Link
Thy flattering picture, Phryne, is like thee
Only in this, that you both painted be.
John Donne (1573 - 1631).
Terry Foreman • Link
"to the Duke of York’s playhouse, but the house so full, it being a new play, “The Coffee House,”"
L&M: Tarugo's wiles or The coffee house, a comedy by Sir Thomas St Serfe, published in 1668. This is the first reference to a performance.
Terry Foreman • Link
"so so to the King’s house: and there, going in, met with Knepp, and she took us up into the tireing-rooms: and to the women’s shift, where Nell [Gwyn] was dressing"
L&M: Actresses in the Restoration playhouses could not -- and did not --expect any privacy in their dressing rooms.
Terry Foreman • Link
"And so walked all up and down the house above, and then below into the scene-room"
L&M : The scene-room or scene-house was that part of the stage in which scenery in the form of painted wings and back-flats was exhibited. It was framed by the proscenium arch. Most of the acting, however, took place on the apron stage in front of the proscenium arch.
Terry Foreman • Link
"I read the questions to Knepp, while she answered me, through all her part of “Flora’s Figary’s,” which was acted today."
L&M: Flora's Vagaries, a comedy by Richard Rhodes: https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl… The cast listed by Genest (i. 70) for this performance includes Mrs Knepp as Otrante, Nell Gwyn as Flora, Mohun as Alberto, and Burt as Francisco.
Terry Foreman • Link
""But, Lord! to see how they were both painted would make a man mad, and did make me loath them;"
L&M: Cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Terry Foreman • Link
"the other house carrying away all the people at the new play, and is said, now-a-days, to have generally most company, as being better players. By and by into the pit, and there saw the play,"
L&M: It is generally agreed that the Duke's Company, headed by Thomas Betterton, was superior to the King's Company. For the pit, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Marquess • Link
So Samuel almost gets to see Nell in the buff, but takes little joy of it. A pity we can never know his wife's thoughts on the matter.
San Diego Sarah • Link
I suspect Elizabeth's opinion(s) about actresses in general can be deduced from her attitude to Mistress Knepp. They were known to be ladies of easy virtue, and should not be brought home.
Geoff Hallett • Link
Earlier this week I walked in the tiny garden in Seething Lane right where where Sam's house and offices were. I thought of all the characters that we read about. In St Olaves, Sam's church opposite there is a memorial to him, high up the size of a door, because that is what it used to be. It was accessed by stone steps from the outside, that led to the pews in the Navy balcony. Elizabeth's is opposite where she can still keep an eye on him.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"but much surprized with the news of the death of Sir W. Batten, who died this morning, having been but two days sick."
I'm glad the old salt didn't suffer too long.
Adm. Batten MP was taken ill on 3 October 1667 and by the next day he was thought unlikely to live. He died on 5 October, and the funeral service was held at St. Olave in Hart St on the 12th, while the Pepys are out of town.
He was buried in Walthamstow's parish-church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. It is a brick structure, consisting of a chancel, nave, and two aisles. At the west end is a square tower, which was rebuilt by Sir George Monox; who built also the chapel at the east end of the north aisle, about 1535. The south aisle was built about the same year, with a part of some monies left to charitable uses by Robert Thorne, Merchant Taylor, and citizen of London.
Admiral Batten isn't mentioned as having a memorial, but he is later joined by Anthony Lowther, Esq. of Maske, in 1692; and Lady Penn (1682) and her other son Richard (1673), who Pepys only mentions once. It might be worth a visit to find them all.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir William Petty is plotting against Lord Lt. of Ireland, James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde?
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Li… has a lot of information about Ireland at this time, and a lengthy section about their relationship.
Briefly, Sir William Petty FRS returned to Ireland in 1666. He estimated that he had lost half of the lands given to him by Cromwell, and Charles II's knighthood and support was questionable.
Petty estimated Ireland had an excellent economy in 1664, and then the English Parliament, unchecked by Charles' false promises and despite Ormonde's protests, made laws about cattle and linen that decimated the economy again. Petty worked with Ormonde by writing papers and collecting statistics about these laws.
However, Petty felt that Ormonde wasn't protecting his interests:
"Cousin, hoping what I am now saying shall not recoyle and kill me, I tell you the Duke of Ormonde is David; but I am Uriah; my estate in Kerry is Bathsheba; you should be Nathan, and then my estate would be the poor man's lamb. Nathan told David that he had Wives and Concubines enough, without taking Bathsheba from Uriah and without murdering Uriah, a worthy man, who had served him bravely in his wars and difficulties; as I had done the Duke and his interest before the King's restoration and now lately, to my great hazard. The Duke, his three sons and his servant, Sir G. L., got more by the rebellion of Ireland and the King's restoration, than all the lands of Ireland were worth as they left it, and as in anno 1653; besides advantages which cannot well be expressed by sums of money. You may now say, "What is that to you?" I answer: "he needed not my Bathsheeba, nor the poor man's lamb." ... Wherefore, dear Cousin Nathan, go down to Gilgal and tell old David — the first gentleman of Europe and whom I ever sought to serve — before he dyes, that he should not have meddled with Bathsheeba, nor have caused Uriah to be killed, who by his means hath been set in the front rank of all battles."
-- Sir William Petty in a letter to Sir Robert Southwell, whom he calls cousin, March 1667. See Carte's Ormonde, iv. p. 386.
Lawsuits are not plots today. Maybe they were considered that in 1667?
Third Reading
Trevor M Randall • Link
Well Sam certainly seems to have taken Batten’s death in his stride, proposes Middleton as a replacement then jollies off to the theatre. But what about the money Sam? What are you going to do about the money?! If I hadn’t heard it before I’d think your issue with Nell’s make-up was just displacement.