Saturday 25 April 1668

Up, and with Sir J. Minnes to my Lord Brouncker, and with him all of us to my Lord Ashly to satisfy him about the reason of what we do or have done in the business of the tradesmen’s certificates, which he seems satisfied with, but is not, but I believe we have done what we can justify, and he hath done what he cannot in stopping us to grant them, and I believe it will come into Parliament and make trouble. So home and there at the office all the morning. At noon home to dinner, and thence after dinner to the Duke of York’s playhouse, and there saw “Sir Martin Marr-all,” which, the more I see, the more I like, and thence to Westminster Hall, and there met with Roger Pepys; and he tells me that nothing hath lately passed about my Lord Sandwich, but only Sir Robert Carr did speak hardly of him. But it is hoped that nothing will be done more, this meeting of Parliament, which the King did, by a message yesterday, declare again, should rise the 4th of May, and then only adjourne for three months: and this message being only adjournment, did please them mightily, for they are desirous of their power mightily. Thence homeward by the Coffee House in Covent Garden, thinking to have met Harris here but could not, and so home, and there, after my letters, I home to have my hair cut by my sister Michell and her husband, and so to bed. This day I did first put off my waste-coate, the weather being very hot, but yet lay in it at night, and shall, for a little time.

11 Annotations

First Reading

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"Esther...I sense a new career opening for me. On dry land...As aristocratic barber to the elite of England. Taking vengeance on those who kept me from my rightful place in the world." Balty wields razor. "But first we must practice...On a lesser throat..."

"Tis charity for the world my pet..."

"Yes, yes, I know my love..." Esther, nodding...

(Especially considering that dumpy brother-in-law of ours was coming on to me...)

"We'll take my brother for all we can get..."

"High-born from low, my love..."

"I'd not discriminate great from small...Oh, we'll serve anyone..."

Chorus...

"At all!!!"

"Just a bit off the top, Balty." Sam enters to take a seat.

"Why, certainly brother Pepys." grin to Esther.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Coffee House in Covent Garden is ca. five blocks WSW of the Duke's House ("The Opera", Lincoln's Inn Fields), and 2 blocks WSW of the King's Playhouse (Drury Lane), in the theatre district, as it were.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

So Ashly seemed satisfied, but was not...I picture him sitting there nodding with smile throughout Sam and Minnes' presentation then suddenly glaring at the end as Sam hopefully winds up, mission presumably accomplished, milord declaring that in fact he is not, satisfied.

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"nothing hath lately passed about my Lord Sandwich, but only Sir Robert Carr did speak hardly of him."

L&M: It was Carr (M.P. for Lincolnshire) who had proposed the revival of the inquiry into the miscarriages of the wr on 26 March: Milward, p. 234. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
His attack on Sandwich may have been made on 16 April in the debate on Penn and the prize-goods, when unnamed speakers asserted that 'Sandwich had the greatest store in the good[s] and was most at fault': Milward, p. 259.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

FINALLY ...

Ormonde to Arlington

Written from: Holyhead
Date: 25 April 1668
Shelfmark: MS. Carte 51, fol(s). 421
Document type: Copy

This second attempt to pass into England has succeeded. ...

Arran being less incumbered than the writer will reach London as soon as the post. ... It may ... as yet be impossible to judge whether the course ... taken is best for the writer, but he is much deceived, if it be not very needful for the King's service.

https://wayback.archive-it.org/or…

Nicolas  •  Link

“This day I did first put off my waste-coate, the weather being very hot, but yet lay in it at night, and shall, for a little time.”

So Pepys did not wear pajamas to bed but slept in his clothes. Or perhaps he just wore his underwear and the waist-coat on top when it was cold. But then nobody wore underwear in the 17th century. Wouldn’t he have had cozy blankets to keep him warm, being a rich man?

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I often have trouble keeping the blankets up around my shoulders; there's a draft that occurs around 4 a.m. which requires sleepy, ill-tempered adjustments ... and I have been known in winter to resort to wearing more than my pajamas on the top end. When I lived in London, in a Victorian house with ill-fitting windows and only a gas heater on the meter in the living room for warmth, in winter I always slept with my overcoat on top of 3 blankets.

It's not just cold in London ... it's that damp cold that gets into your bones. I remember never feeling completely dry for months on end.

Pepys wasn't wearing his brocade Court wastecoat. This would be something he'd had for a while, in wool, double breasted, which hugged his body so that draft didn't get to his chest. They were designed to be yet another layer to capture your body warmth, worn on top of your shift, which was worn day and night (but changed often so it didn't smell).

Nicolas  •  Link

Thanks Sarah, that makes sense. Also since Bess is out of town he has to sleep alone, nobody to keep him warm.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Yup ... I doubt he shared the bed with the dog!

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