Sunday 8 December 1667

(Lord’s day). All the morning at my chamber doing something towards the settling of my papers and accounts, which have been out of order a great while. At noon to dinner, where W. How with us, and after dinner, he being gone, I to my chamber again till almost night, and then took boat, the tide serving, and so to White Hall, where I saw the Duchesse of York, in a fine dress of second mourning for her mother, being black, edged with ermine, go to make her first visit to the Queene since the Duke of York was sick; and by and by, she being returned, the Queene come and visited her. But it was pretty to observe that Sir W. Coventry and I, walking an hour and more together in the Matted Gallery, he observed, and so did I, how the Duchesse, as soon as she spied him, turned her head a one side. Here he and I walked thus long, which we have not done a great while before. Our discourse was upon everything: the unhappiness of having our matters examined by people that understand them not; that it was better for us in the Navy to have men that do understand the whole, and that are not passionate; that we that have taken the most pains are called upon to answer for all crimes, while those that, like Sir W. Batten and Sir J. Minnes, did sit and do nothing, do lie still without any trouble; that, if it were to serve the King and kingdom again in a war, neither of us could do more, though upon this experience we might do better than we did; that the commanders, the gentlemen that could never be brought to order, but undid all, are now the men that find fault and abuse others; that it had been much better for the King to have given Sir J. Minnes and Sir W. Batten 1000l. a-year to have sat still, than to have had them in his business this war: that the serving a Prince that minds not his business is most unhappy for them that serve him well, and an unhappiness so great that he declares he will never have more to do with a war, under him. That he hath papers which do flatly contradict the Duke of Albemarle’s Narrative; and that he hath been with the Duke of Albemarle and shewed him them, to prevent his falling into another like fault: that the Duke of Albemarle seems to be able to answer them; but he thinks that the Duke of Albemarle and the Prince are contented to let their Narratives sleep, they being not only contradictory in some things (as he observed about the business of the Duke of Albemarle’s being to follow the Prince upon dividing the fleete, in case the enemy come out), but neither of them to be maintained in others. That the business the other night of my Lord Anglesey at the Council was happily got over for my Lord, by his dexterous silencing it, and the rest, not urging it further; forasmuch as, had the Duke of Buckingham come in time enough, and had got it by the end, he, would have toused him in it; Sir W. Coventry telling me that my Lord Anglesey did, with such impudence, maintain the quarrel against the Commons and some of the Lords, in the business of my Lord Clarendon, that he believes there are enough would be glad but of this occasion to be revenged of him. He tells me that he hears some of the Thomsons are like to be of the Commission for the Accounts, and Wildman, which he much wonders at, as having been a false fellow to every body, and in prison most of the time since the King’s coming in. But he do tell me that the House is in such a condition that nobody can tell what to make of them, and, he thinks, they were never in before; that every body leads, and nobody follows; and that he do now think that, since a great many are defeated in their expectation of being of the Commission, now they would put it into such hands as it shall get no credit from: for, if they do look to the bottom and see the King’s case, they think they are then bound to give the King money; whereas, they would be excused from that, and therefore endeavour to make this business of the Accounts to signify little. I spoke with him about my Lord Sandwich’s business, in which he is very friendly, and do say that the unhappy business of the prizes is it that hath brought all this trouble upon him, and the only thing that made any thing else mentioned, and it is true. So having discoursed with him, I spent some time with Sir Stephen Fox about the business of our adjusting the new method of the Excise between the Guards household and Tangier, the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury being now resolved to bring all their management into a course of payment by orders, and not by tallies, and I am glad of it, and so by water home late, and very dark, and when come home there I got my wife to read, and then come Captain Cocke to me; and there he tells me, to my great satisfaction, that Sir Robert Brookes did dine with him today; and that he told him, speaking of me, that he would make me the darling of the House of Commons, so much he is satisfied concerning me. And this Cocke did tell me that I might give him thanks for it; and I do think it may do me good, for he do happen to be held a considerable person, of a young man, both for sobriety and ability. Then to discourse of business of his own about some hemp of his that is come home to receive it into the King’s stores, and then parted, and by and by my wife and I to supper, she not being well, her flux being great upon her, and so to bed.

29 Annotations

First Reading

Paul Chapin  •  Link

"serving a Prince that minds not his business is most unhappy for them that serve him well"

The link on "Prince" in this passage goes to Prince Rupert, but I think here the term is meant generically, viz., a royal. This is Coventry talking, reflecting on his service to the Duke of York, having been forcibly reminded of the same by the recent sighting of the Duchess.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...like Sir W. Batten and Sir J. Minnes, did sit and do nothing, do lie still without any trouble..."

Well, Sam, though after life's fitful fever he no doubt sleeps well, I'd suspect Sir Will B. would gladly trade places with you right now.

***
"...there he tells me, to my great satisfaction, that Sir Robert Brookes did dine with him today; and that he told him, speaking of me, that he would make me the darling of the House of Commons, so much he is satisfied concerning me."

A "Pennies from Heaven" moment for Sam...

Sam, dancing down the hall of the House...

"Yes, yes...The members say yes, yes...The members say yes, yes. They couldn't say no."

Cooing members of Parliament beaming...Sam nodding and waving while gliding along...

"Ole Cocke says that they do like me...They actually like me. Yes, even Brooke likes me...and they can't say no."

"Scoo do be do be do be do be da be..."

"Mr. Pepys?"

Sam blinking...

"Uh...Sir?"

"Mr. Pepys, you were about to address the charge of corrupt practices in your office in the matter of the payment of seamen by ticket and to explain how it is that a Clerk of the Acts receiving 350 lbs per annum and supplmental salaries totalling 300 lbs per annum might possibly be able to afford this rather staggering list of tailor's bills from one Unthankes. Which he informs us you accepted without dispute or even batting an eye."

"Uh..."

andy  •  Link

the unhappiness of having our matters examined by people that understand them not

indeed, Sam, as any meeting nowadays with an external auditor would remind you!

Phil Gyford  •  Link

Paul, good point about "Prince". I wasn't sure and plumped for putting the link to Rupert in. But you're right, and I've removed it now.

Australian Susan  •  Link

"...he observed, and so did I, how the Duchesse, as soon as she spied him, turned her head a one side. ..."

Sudden wonderful anachronistic image of Fran from Black Books "dissing" an ex boyfriend (so much so she injuries her neck)

lbs. is the abbreviation for pounds weight not pounds sterling, which I can't o on this Australian keyboard which has a $ where the pound sign is on an English keyboard.

JWB  •  Link

£££
Press number lock on the number keypad, the ALT key & 156.

Don McCahill  •  Link

On my machine it is Alt 163 for £. (The numbers must be from the keypad, not the numbers above the letters.)

nix  •  Link

"the unhappiness of having our matters examined by people that understand them not" --

The eternal complaint of auditee against auditor.

JWB  •  Link

"...the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury being now resolved to bring all their management into a course of payment by orders, and not by tallies"

These Lords aren't leaping. This reform will take another century & half.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"upon this experience we might do better than we did; that the commanders, the gentlemen that could never be brought to order, but undid all, are now the men that find fault and abuse others;"

This will be "lessons learned" when the Royal Navy is professionalized.

arby  •  Link

It's option 3 on a Mac, the key 3 above the letters, not the keypad. £

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

In addition to JWB's shortcut, in Windows, you can create a £ sign with the keyboard combination of Alt + 0163.

Terry, thanks for pointing out the remark about the "gentlemen" who "could never be brought to order." More evidence of the motivation behind Sam's future reforms.

Australian Susan  •  Link

£££££££££££££££££££££££££

YAY!

Thank you! Thank you! Espec. to arby as I'm a Mac!!

Love all my Pepys Diary friends who help me out!

Wouldn't Sam love all this? He would have severe technolust and right now be debating between an Android or iPhone4 and if he can justify to Bess getting an iPad as well.

nix  •  Link

“serving a Prince that minds not his business" --

I took it as a reference to the King, not the Duke or York or Prince Rupert.

Mary  •  Link

A Prince that minds not his business.

Agreed, Nix. Apart from anything else, the royal personage mentioned immediately before this statement is, indeed, the King. Not minding his business is an accusation fairly often levelled at laisser-faire Charles, whereas James is usually reasonably attentive.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Prince often is generalised term for ruler - c.f. Machiavelli's The Prince.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

L&M correct the text: "he would have tossed him in it."

(No tousing among, ah, opponents.)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Sir W. Coventry...hears some of the Thomsons are like to be of the Commission for the Accounts"

George Thomsom and his three brothers (all merchants) had been prominent in the service of the commonwealth, two of them (George and Robert) in naval administration.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Sir Robert Brookes did dine with him today; and that he told him, speaking of me, that he would make me the darling of the House of Commons, so much he is satisfied concerning me. And this Cocke did tell me that I might give him thanks for it; and I do think it may do me good, for he do happen to be held a considerable person, of a young man, both for sobriety and ability."

Brooke (M.P. for Aldeburgh, Suff.) had been chairman of the Commons' enquiry into the Fire of London, and was now chairman of the committee on the miscarriages of the war. He was about 37, young among M.P.s. (Pepys was 33, almost 34.) (L&M, like the preceding note.)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"he hears some of the Thomsons are like to be of the Commission for the Accounts, and Wildman, which he much wonders at, as having been a false fellow to every body, and in prison most of the time since the King’s coming in. "

L&M: George Thomson and his three brothers (all merchants) had been prominent in the service of the Commonwealth; two of them (George and Robert) in the naval administration. Fior Wildman and for the appointments, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

John G  •  Link

"...that it was better for us in the Navy to have men that do understand the whole, and that are not passionate;..."
'Not passionate' = dispassionate or unbiased.
Yes, as an ex auditor here in Australia I understood how important it was to fully understand that which I was examining.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"But it was pretty to observe that Sir W. Coventry and I, walking an hour and more together in the Matted Gallery, he observed, and so did I, how the Duchesse, as soon as she spied him, turned her head a one side."

For pretty I think "petty".
Anne Hyde, Duchess of York must perceive Coventry to be an enemy of her father. Sad, because Clarendon and Coventry should have been allies as they were both against the recent war, and regardless of that opinion, Coventry gave 100 percent to James and the Navy.
The Chancellor disliked the younger generation of men on the rise (mostly he was right about that), and so a frustrated Coventry became a chief mover in the successful attack on Clarendon, but he refused to take any part in his impeachment.
Clarendon never forgave Coventry for what he saw as Coventry's betrayal.

It sounds as if Anne took her father's side instead of her husband's on this night.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"That he hath papers which do flatly contradict the Duke of Albemarle’s Narrative; and that he hath been with the Duke of Albemarle and shewed him them, to prevent his falling into another like fault: that the Duke of Albemarle seems to be able to answer them; but he thinks that the Duke of Albemarle and the Prince are contented to let their Narratives sleep, they being not only contradictory in some things (as he observed about the business of the Duke of Albemarle’s being to follow the Prince upon dividing the fleete, in case the enemy come out), but neither of them to be maintained in others."

I've been unsuccessful so far in locating an article about Albemarle's Narrative. But in his Parliamentary biography it reports of these times:

Albemarle's "dogged courage and devotion to duty in the Plague, the Fire of London, and the second Dutch war maintained him in popular esteem, as witness the report in September 1667 that ‘the people take upon themselves to condemn all about the Court but the Duke of Albemarle’. He was known to have favoured the impeachment of Clarendon, for which his son (Christopher Monck) spoke in the Commons."
https://www.historyofparliamenton…

So Albemarle's version of events ultimately carried the day.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

“… and so to White Hall, where I saw the Duchess of York, in a fine dress of second mourning for her mother, being black, edged with ermine, …”

Anne’s mother, Francis Hyde, Countess of Clarendon, died on August 8, 1667. She’s in second mourning so soon??? That's four months to the day from Francis' death. That's a far cry from Dirk's research on 18th century and Victorian mourning dress codes.

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