Monday 8 March 1668/69
Up, and with W. Hewer by hackney coach to White Hall, where the King and the Duke of York is gone by three in the morning, and had the misfortune to be overset with the Duke of York, the Duke of Monmouth, and the Prince, at the King’s Gate in Holborne; and the King all dirty, but no hurt. How it come to pass I know not, but only it was dark, and the torches did not, they say, light the coach as they should do. I thought this morning to have seen my Lord Sandwich before he went out of town, but I come half an hour too late; which troubles me, I having not seen him since my Lady Palls died. So W. Hewer and I to the Harp-and-Ball, to drink my morning draught, having come out in haste; and there met with King, the Parliament-man, with whom I had some impertinent talk. And so to the Privy Seal Office, to examine what records I could find there, for my help in the great business I am put upon, of defending the present constitution of the Navy; but there could not have liberty without order from him that is in present waiting, Mr. Bickerstaffe, who is out of town. This I did after I had walked to the New Exchange and there met Mr. Moore, who went with me thither, and I find him the same discontented poor man as ever. He tells me that Mr. Shepley is upon being turned away from my Lord’s family, and another sent down, which I am sorry for; but his age and good fellowship have almost made him fit for nothing. Thence, at Unthanke’s my wife met me, and with our coach to my cozen Turner’s and there dined, and after dinner with my wife alone to the King’s playhouse, and there saw “The Mocke Astrologer,” which I have often seen, and but an ordinary play; and so to my cozen Turner’s again, where we met Roger Pepys, his wife, and two daughters, and there staid and talked a little, and then home, and there my wife to read to me, my eyes being sensibly hurt by the too great lights of the playhouse. So to supper and to bed.
17 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
8 March 1669 -- Letters from Ormond written from: Whitehall
To Ossory
Lord Robartes' [In MS. (uniformely but inaccurately): "Roberts"] commission is not yet under seal. ... The King told the writer that he thought it might be fit for him to reserve for himself the disposition of all military offices [in Ireland]. The writer argued against that innovation as not reasonable to Lord Robartes, nor of advantage to his Majesty's service. ... Describes also what passed at another conference with the King, concerning the Lord Chancellor Boyle ... Notices proceedings relating to Colonel Gorges; - the professions of service & friendship made by Lord Arlington; - and the state of foreign affairs, especially those of Spain, - whose poverty is witnessed by "the utter ruin of the English Regiment, brought from 2,000 to little more than 200 after eminent service performed; those 200 subsisting miserably as most of their troops do; more on charity than pay". ...
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To Boyle [ Lord Chancellor of Ireland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mich… ]
Has submitted to the King that part of the Lord Primate's letter of February 28, which concerns Tories and Conventicles. What instructions the new Lieutenant may receive thereupon is unknown to the Duke.
Some men who have laboured hard to effect this change, in the Irish Government, now meet with as much disappointment, as they thought to inflict on the writer. ...
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To the Lord Chancellor of Ireland
As to that part of the Archbishop's letter of February 23 which relates to Tories and Conventicles, the only present answer the Duke has to make is that he early laid the matter of Conventicles & their consequences before the King.
The King's gracious expressions upon the Duke's dismissal from the Government have been such, as make the Duke less surprised at the recall, than satisfied with the thanks. "Some, who have laboured hard to effect this change, do meet with as much disappointment and mortification as they desigend" for the Duke himself ...
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwm…
Andrew Hamilton • Link
The subject of Sandwich seems to bring on a melancholy feeling in Sam, who is also seeing his other patron Coventry in decline
Chris Squire • Link
‘impertinent, adj. and n. Etym: < French impertinent . .
. . 3. a. Not suitable to the circumstances; incongruous, inappropriate, out of place; not consonant with reason; absurd, idle, trivial, silly.
. . 1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors 80 The opinion the Muscovites have of themselves and their abilities, is sottish, gross, and impertinent.
. . 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (ed. 6) , Impertinent,‥absurd, silly, idle.
1706 R. Estcourt Fair Example iv. i. 42 For my part, I think a Woman's Heart is the most impertinent part of the whole Body.’ [OED]
Chris Squire • Link
Sandwich is not so much his patron at this date as his debtor as Sam reluctantly lent him £500 ? awhile ago realising that he was unlikely to see it again. So the melancholy is the natural feeling on being reminded of this dubious aasset.
Michael L • Link
Can anyone explain the business in the first two sentences about "being overset" and "the King all dirty, but no hurt" and the torches not lighting the coach? I can't figure out if it means their coaches collided, or they passed in the dark, they were unable to meet, or what.
ghl • Link
Overset.
OED
3.3 To cause to fall over; to upset, overturn, capsize; to turn upside down. Now rare. [over- 6.]
Jesse • Link
"misfortune to be overset"
Overset - thrown/fall off the basis [foundation], turn bottom upwards (Johnson's Dictionary)
I'm guessing the coach(es) either overturned on a rut or as suggested there was a collision. Disheveled might be considered "dirty" among the blue bloods.
Terry Foreman • Link
Pepys also seems to use "dirty" when walking or riding to mean muddy or soiled.
Jesse • Link
"and the King all dirty"
You'd think muddy or soiled but how'd that happen if it seems likely he was/they were riding in a coach. But it just dawned on me that perhaps climbing out onto a muddy road would do it.
Michael L • Link
The bit about the King not being hurt suggests that he was in a collision of some sort, since merely stepping into mud would not have occasioned concern about whether he were injured. The bit about mud might mean the King was somehow knocked down?
Since Pepys uses the passive "to be overset" suggests that it was his hackney that was hit by the Duke of York's coach, possibly because it was dark out and hard to see who was parked where. I would imagine Sam would be a good deal more embarrassed and fawning if his own coach had driven into the other.
Terry Foreman • Link
"How it come to pass I know not, but only it was dark, and the torches did not, they say, light the coach as they should do."
Since Pepys depends on hearsay -- Who are "they?" -- for his report of the conditions that prevailed, methinks he was not involved, but heard the story afterwards.
Paul Chapin • Link
I agree with Terry. The syntax of the first sentence is awkward, with the subject of "had the misfortune" ambiguous between the writer, SP, and the King and DoY, but the overall passage makes it pretty clear that Sam was not personally involved. He would surely have had more to say about the consequences for his coach and himself if he had been.
Second Reading
psw • Link
Driving without lights at night...someone forgot to light the candles? Strongly suggests a collision and coach upset.
Terry Foreman • Link
"And so to the Privy Seal Office, to examine what records I could find there, for my help in the great business I am put upon, of defending the present constitution of the Navy"
L&M: See https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
LKvM • Link
It's been years since he mentioned getting his "morning draught"!
john • Link
"He tells me that Mr. Shepley is upon being turned away from my Lord’s family, and another sent down, which I am sorry for; but his age and good fellowship have almost made him fit for nothing."
Sad and sober reminder of the discarding of servants in those days (and more recently).
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I thought this morning to have seen my Lord Sandwich before he went out of town, but I come half an hour too late; which troubles me, I having not seen him since my Lady Palls died."
I agree Pepys didn't arrive at Whitehall until hours after Charles II et al had left. So I conclude that Sandwich left shortly after the Royal party, but was not bound for Newmarket. I hope he went home to Hinchingbrook to be with the rest of his grieving family.
Big mistake on Pepys' part for not visiting with His Lordship yet to personally express his condolences. He's been so focused on Coventry that he forgot his family and his manners (and his 500/. if he wants it back).
Another thought: Strange no mention of Queen Catherine travelling with Charles, or the location of the ladies of the Court. Pepys is usually interested in their whereabouts.