Wednesday 27 May 1668
Up, and to the office, where some time upon Sir D. Gawden’s accounts, and then I by water to Westminster for some Tangier orders, and so meeting with Mr. Sawyers my old chamber-fellow, he and I by water together to the Temple, he giving me an account of the base, rude usage, which he and Sir G. Carteret had lately, before the Commissioners of Accounts, where he was, as Counsel to Sir G. Carteret, which I was sorry to hear, they behaving themselves like most insolent and ill-mannered men. Thence by coach to the Exchange, and there met with Sir H. Cholmly at Colvill’s; and there did give him some orders, and so home, and there to the office again, where busy till two o’clock, and then with Sir D. Gawden to his house, with my Lord Brouncker and Sir J. Minnes, to dinner, where we dined very well, and much good company, among others, a Dr., a fat man, whom by face I know, as one that uses to sit in our church, that after dinner did take me out, and walked together, who told me that he had now newly entered himself into Orders, in the decay of the Church, and did think it his duty so to do, thereby to do his part toward the support and reformation thereof; and spoke very soberly, and said that just about the same age Dr. Donne did enter into Orders. I find him a sober gentleman, and a man that hath seen much of the world, and I think may do good. Thence after dinner to the office, and there did a little business, and so to see Sir W. Pen, who I find still very ill of the goute, sitting in his great chair, made on purpose for persons sick of that disease, for their ease; and this very chair, he tells me, was made for my Lady Lambert! Thence I by coach to my tailor’s, there to direct about the making of me another suit, and so to White Hall, and through St. James’s Park to St. James’s, thinking to have met with Mr. Wren, but could not, and so homeward toward the New Exchange, and meeting Mr. Creed he and I to drink some whey at the whey-house, and so into the ’Change and took a walk or two, and so home, and there vexed at my boy’s being out of doors till ten at night, but it was upon my brother Jackson’s business, and so I was the less displeased, and then made the boy to read to me out of Dr. Wilkins his “Real Character,” and particularly about Noah’s arke, where he do give a very good account thereof, shewing how few the number of the several species of beasts and fowls were that were to be in the arke, and that there was room enough for them and their food and dung, which do please me mightily and is much beyond what ever I heard of the subject, and so to bed.
12 Annotations
First Reading
Jesse • Link
"particularly about Noah’s arke"
Hard to see how the practicality of Noah's ark fits into the general subject... although this link http://www.metricationmatters.com… has a few snippets of the text including one on measure or "Those several relations of Quantity, whereby men use to judge of the Multitude..."
Terry Foreman • Link
"to see Sir W. Pen, who I find still very ill of the goute, sitting in his great chair, made on purpose for persons sick of that disease, for their ease; and this very chair, he tells me, was made for my Lady Lambert!"
L&M wonder if this chair was made for Viscountess Lambert (d. 1649), an Irish acquaintance of Penn's, whom Pepys may have mistaken for the wife of the republican Maj. Gen. John Lambert [ http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo… ].
Gout-chairs often had wheels:
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Robert Gertz • Link
"...made the boy to read to me out of Dr. Wilkins his “Real Character,” and particularly about Noah’s arke, where he do give a very good account thereof, shewing how few the number of the several species of beasts and fowls were that were to be in the arke, and that there was room enough for them and their food and dung, which do please me mightily and is much beyond what ever I heard of the subject, and so to bed."
Somehow it's very Sam that he would be mainly concerned how the practical side of Noah's voyage could be worked. He and Leopold Bloom would have had a grand time together.
Carl in Boston • Link
they behaving themselves like most insolent and ill-mannered men.
This is a creature of the Parliament, or legislature, trying to beat up the King's offices, or executive department. That's why we have checks and balances in the US Constitution, to keep the legislature, executive, and judicial divisions within their due bounds. One or another is always trying to over reach and usurp more authority. It's all laid out and foretold in The Federalist Papers. Eventually the Parliament has to come to terms with the Navy. Parliament can complain, but they can't run the Navy, much as they would like to.
Phoenix • Link
"...about Noah’s arke ..."
One of the many pleasures of the diary is how it provokes one into drawing modern parallels - that in today's world it is likely that much intellectual effort is being spent in support of beliefs as equally and utterly delusional.
Terry Foreman • Link
“about Noah’s arke”
L&M note Pt. II, Ch. V of Wilkins’ book is entitled “A digression concerning the capacity of Noah’s Ark.”
Here are a link to an essay on that text and the text + illustrations:
“Bishop John Wilkins, F.R.S. (1614-1672) and His Discussion of Noah’s Ark” by Todd Charles Wood to which is appended
"Noah’s Ark"
Excerpt from *An Essay Towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical Language* By John Wilkins, 1668
including illustrations, tables and Wilkins' explanations of his proposal. http://documents.clubexpress.com/…
arby • Link
Cool, thanks.
pepfie • Link
Phoenix, how very true. If you haven't done so already follow TF's link to a perfect example.
"Although he can hardly be blamed with the current estrangement of science and religion, Wilkins must bear some responsibility, since he enshrined the separation of theological authority from science into the Royal Society itself, and thereby into English scientific culture."
TODD CHARLES WOOD¹
¹Center for Origins Research, Bryan College, Dayton, TN, USA
Ts ts.
And Wilkins' calculation is convincing:
"...a distinct inquiry into all such (species) as are yet known... are much fewer then is commonly imagined, not a hundred sorts of Beasts, nor two hundred of Birds", amounting to 300 beef units of herbivores (including 1825 sheep equivalents to feed the wolves) and 30 wolf units of raptors plus carnivorous beavers. Snakes, toads and the like stay in the bilge; amphibians fend for themselves.
So there is ample room in the ark's 41.000+ m³ even regarding a year's supply of hay in two thirds of one deck. Easy. The bigger problem is that the capacity of the ark may appear too large. Well, there might be and probably are some as yet unknown species.
Take that, hereticks of old, and Atheistical scoffers in these later times!
Ooops, sorry, forgot the copyright:
This document is copyright ©2007 by the BSG. Permission to copy this document is granted provided the entire copyright statement is included.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the base, rude usage, which he and Sir G. Carteret had lately, before the Commissioners of Accounts, where he was, as Counsel to Sir G. Carteret, which I was sorry to hear, they behaving themselves like most insolent and ill-mannered men. "
The Commissioners investigating the expenditure of the moneys voted by parliament for the wr criticized Carteret's slowness in producing his wartime accounts. Carteret, in reply, claimed that the delay was due to the fact that the Commissioners were demanding weekly accounts. It was August before he finished them. In the end the Commissioners , in their report (25 October 1669) concluded that over £500,000 of the parliamentary grants for the war had been misapplied. (Per L&M note)
Terry Foreman • Link
"Up, and to the office, where some time upon Sir D. Gawden’s accounts, and then I by water to Westminster for some Tangier orders,"
L&M: Of the consignment of hemp recently sent by Shaw to the Woolwich reopeyard, 15 or 16 had been rejected by the ckerk: CSPD 1667-8, p. 387.
Terry Foreman • Link
"and this very chair, he tells me, was made for my Lady Lambert!"
L&M: ?Viscountess Lambert (d. 1649), an Irish acquaintance of Penn's, whom Pepys may have mistaken for the wife of the republican Maj. Gen. John Lambert. Gout-chairs often had wheels: cf. Evelyn, iii. 502 (Clarendon's chair).
San Diego Sarah • Link
May 27. 1668
Weymonth.
John Pocock to Hickes.
The James of Weymouth, from Rochelle, says that the French fleet were all ordered to repair to Brest, and that 8 great ships were ready at Rochelle to sail, one of which had 82 brass guns, and in it the Duke de Beaufort intends to go;
also that the French talk high that if the peace were not concluded with Spain, their fleet would come up the Channel, and ride before Ostend, in spite of both English and Dutch fleets.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 240, No. 142.]
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May 27. 1668
Falmouth.
Thos. Holden to Hickes.
The St. John of Ostend, laden with Spanish soldiers, has put to sea;
3 small Bretons have arrived, laden with Welsh coal,
but 3 others that came in their company were taken by an Ostend man-of-war, off the Land’s End.
[S.P. Dom., Car. II. 240, No. 143.]
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May 27. 1668
The King to the master, wardens, and assistants of the Stationers’ Company.
We request you to admit as members of your Court
Roger Norton, our printer in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin;
Sam. Mearne, our bookbinder;
and Thos. Roycroft, our printer in Oriental tongues,
they having contributed much to repress licentious practices in the mystery of printing;
we expect that your company henceforth will be accountable for the scandalous abuses committed by the press.
[S.P. Dom., Entry Book 31, f. 8.]
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May 27. 1668
The King to Col. Legg, lieutenant of the Ordnance.
The grant to Thos. Chicheley of all the portion reserved to the Crown of the freight of goods brought home from Barbados, not to exceed 4,000l., having only produced 102l., you are to pay to Chicheley 5,400l. out of the Exchequer, Custoe to the Crown, for saltpetre sold to him.
[S.P. Dom., Entry Book 30, f. 33.]