Tuesday 16 March 1668/69

Up, and to the office, after having visited Sir W. Coventry at the Tower, and walked with him upon the Stone Walk, alone, till other company come to him, and had very good discourse with him. At noon home, where my wife and Jane gone abroad, and Tom, in order to their buying of things for their wedding, which, upon my discourse the last night, is now resolved to be done, upon the 26th of this month, the day of my solemnity for my cutting of the stone, when my cozen Turner must be with us. My wife, therefore, not at dinner; and comes to me Mr. Evelyn of Deptford, a worthy good man, and dined with me, but a bad dinner; who is grieved for, and speaks openly to me his thoughts of the times, and our ruin approaching; and all by the folly of the King. His business to me was about some ground of his, at Deptford, next to the King’s yard: and after dinner we parted. My sister Michell coming also this day to see us, whom I left there, and I away down by water with W. Hewer to Woolwich, where I have not been I think more than a year or two, and here I saw, but did not go on board, my ship “The Jerzy,” she lying at the wharf under repair. But my business was to speak with Ackworth, about some old things and passages in the Navy, for my information therein, in order to my great business now of stating the history of the Navy. This I did; and upon the whole do find that the late times, in all their management, were not more husbandly than we; and other things of good content to me. His wife was sick, and so I could not see her. Thence, after seeing Mr. Sheldon, I to Greenwich by water, and there landed at the King’s house, which goes on slow, but is very pretty.1 I to the Park, there to see the prospect of the hill, to judge of Dancre’s picture, which he hath made thereof for me: and I do like it very well: and it is a very pretty place. Thence to Deptford, but staid not, Uthwayte being out of the way: and so home, and then to the Ship Tavern, Morrice’s, and staid till W. Hewer fetched his uncle Blackburne by appointment to me, to discourse of the business of the Navy in the late times; and he did do it, by giving me a most exact account in writing, of the several turns in the Admiralty and Navy, of the persons employed therein, from the beginning of the King’s leaving the Parliament, to his Son’s coming in, to my great content; and now I am fully informed in all I at present desire. We fell to other talk; and I find by him that the Bishops must certainly fall, and their hierarchy; these people have got so much ground upon the King and kingdom as is not to be got again from them: and the Bishops do well deserve it. But it is all the talk, I find, that Dr. Wilkins, my friend, the Bishop of Chester, shall be removed to Winchester, and be Lord Treasurer. Though this be foolish talk, yet I do gather that he is a mighty rising man, as being a Latitudinarian, and the Duke of Buckingham his great friend. Here we staid talking till 10 at night, where I did never drink before since this man come to the house, though for his pretty wife’s sake I do fetch my wine from this, whom I could not nevertheless get para see to-night, though her husband did seem to call for her. So parted here and I home, and to supper and to bed.

19 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

http://www.portcities.org.uk/lond…

Description: This view of Greenwich by Hendrick Danckaerts from the south-east was painted in about 1675. The old Woolwich Road is shown passing through the Queen's House, the large building furthest to the left in the middle foreground. In the middle distance to the right, next to the river, is the new 'King's House', the east range of what is now the King Charles Court of the Old Royal Naval College, formerly Greenwich Hospital. This had just reached the end of its incomplete first stage of construction as a palace for Charles II when Pepys visited Greenwich in 1669. Pepys wrote in his diary 'thence, to Greenwich by water, and there landed at the King's house, which goes on slow, but is very pretty. I to the park, there to see the prospect of the hill to judge of Dancre's picture which he hath made thereof for me; I do like it very well-and it is a very pretty place'. It has been suggested that Pepys commissioned this work and that the couple walking in the foreground of the painting may be portraits of Pepys and his wife, with Danckaerts sketching to the left. However, although Pepys recorded that he ordered four large paintings from Danckaerts of the four palaces of Whitehall, Hampton Court, Windsor and Greenwich there is no substantial evidence that this is one of them. In the distance the buildings of London are visible, including the burnt-out shell of St Paul's following the fire of 1666. The artist was a Dutch born painter who in 1657 came with his brother Johannes to work in England. He became a court painter to Charles II who commissioned him to paint views of royal properties and harbours.
Creator: Hendrick Danckaerts
Date: c. 1669
Credit line: National Maritime Museum, London

Mary  •  Link

"... for his pretty wife’s sake I do fetch my wine from this, whom I could not nevertheless get para see to-night, though her husband did seem to call for her."

It could well be that Mrs. Morrice has noted Sam's roving eye on past occasions, doesn't care for it and becomes conveniently deaf to her husband's call.

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

"here I saw, but did not go on board, my ship “The Jerzy,”

Captain Pepys waiting, no doubt, until he can be piped aboard.

pepfie  •  Link

Latitudinarian [OED]

B n. One who practises or favours latitude in thought, action, or conduct, esp. in religious matters; spec. one of those divines of the English Church in the 17th century, who, while attached to episcopal government and forms of worship, regarded them as things indifferent; hence, one who, though not a sceptic, is indifferent as to particular creeds and forms of church government or worship.

...1669 Pepys Diary 16 Mar., Dr. Wilkins, my friend, the Bishop of Chester‥is a mighty rising man, as being a Latitudinarian. ...

AnnieC  •  Link

"a bad dinner" - the misfortune of many a man when the womenfolk are busy organising a wedding.

Phil Gyford  •  Link

Pepfie - thanks. I'm not sure how I missed the "my sister Michell" reference, but it's added now.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Given Sam's expanding tastes and the fact that he would be anxious to impress Evelyn I wonder what a "bad dinner" at chez Pepys was like.

"The claret is of course second-rate, the doves in butter and pastry undercooked, the turtle subpar, and the lobster not worth mentioning Mr. Evelyn, but I hope you will forgive my paltry dinner, my wife and her staff being away."

Or...

"More three days old tripe and twice-gnarled bones from the trash bucket, Mr, E? I think we have some musty ale saved for the pigs to wash it down, somewhere here. Unless you'd prefer to take your life in your hands and drink water?"

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"His business to me was about some ground of his, at Deptford, next to the King’s yard."

In August 1668 John Evelyn had been granted a lease on a strip of ground in Brick Close, which lay to the east of his house, Sayes Court, and in June of this year he built a long wall enclosing it. (Per an L&M footnote)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"W. Hewer fetched his uncle Blackburne by appointment to me, to discourse of the business of the Navy in the late times; and he did do it, by giving me a most exact account in writing, of the several turns in the Admiralty and Navy, of the persons employed therein, from the beginning of the King’s leaving the Parliament, to his Son’s coming in"

Nonconformists such as Blackborne. (L&M)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"But it is all the talk, I find, that Dr. Wilkins, my friend, the Bishop of Chester, shall be removed to Winchester, and be Lord Treasurer. Though this be foolish talk, yet I do gather that he is a mighty rising man, as being a Latitudinarian, and the Duke of Buckingham his great friend."

This and similar rumours were rife: Buckingham was now at Newmarket with the King, and big changes were expected on their return. The Treasury commissioned had been weakened by the removal of Coventry and the incapacity (through illness) of Albemarle. Some believed Arlington would become Treasurer, with Clifford succeeding him in as Secretary of State. Wilkins' liberal churchmanship was a link with Buckingham, but he had no political ambition. None of the rumoured changes in fact took place.
(Per L&M note)

Terry Foreman  •  Link

" But my business was to speak with Ackworth, about some old things and passages in the Navy, for my information therein, in order to my great business now of stating the history of the Navy. This I did; and upon the whole do find that the late times, in all their management, were not more husbandly than we"

L&M: Cf. Pepys's undated memorandum(Rawl. A 181, f. 36r): 'The Expence of the Navy for 7 yeares, beginning the 1st of July 1660'; showing that the latter was less by £1,166,168 10s. 8d. Some of the material Pepys used is in Rawl. A 195a, f. 241r (naval expenses, 1652-9). For a similar calculation made in 1666, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"His business to me was about some ground of his, at Deptford, next to the King’s yard."

L&M: In August 1668 John Evelyn had been granted a lease of a strip of ground in Brick Close., wgich lay to the east of his house, Sayes Cuter, and yn== in June of this year he built a long wall enclosing it: PRO, ADM. 106/3520, F. 30R; ctb, ii. 228-30418, Wvelyn, iii. 482, n. 4, 530. Cf. CSPD 1660-85, pp. 185-6.

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

How interesting: Evelyn came to lunch about a serious matter so far as I can tell. However, his Diary today says:

16 March, 1669. To London, to place Mr. Christopher Wase about my Lord Arlington.

http://brittlebooks.library.illin…

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"But it is all the talk, I find, that Dr. Wilkins, my friend, the Bishop of Chester, shall be removed to Winchester, and be Lord Treasurer. Though this be foolish talk, yet I do gather that he is a mighty rising man, as being a Latitudinarian, and the Duke of Buckingham his great friend."

According to our Wikipedia:

"A serious effort was made in 1668 to secure a scheme of comprehension, with William Bates, Richard Baxter and Thomas Manton for the dissenters meeting [BISHOP JOHN] Wilkins and Hezekiah Burton. Wilkins felt the Presbyterians could be brought within the Church of England, while the Independent separatists were left outside.
"It fell through by late summer, with Manton blaming John Owen for independent scheming for general toleration with Buckingham, and Baxter pointing the finger at the House of Lords.[23]
"[23] ^ Lamont, William M. (1979), Richard Baxter and the Millennium, p. 220"
https://www.pepysdiary.com/encycl…

How strange it is to think of Bishops and Nonconformists conspiring with Charles II's BFF basically to bring about regime change ... not that the regime didn't need changing, particularly the influence of that BFF.
Clarendon was the first Chancellor of England not to be the Archbishop of Canterbury since ... ???; centuries, in any case ... so it was power plays on everyone's part. A nest of vipers wearing clerical robes and justifying their machinations by using God's name.

For more information on how Symon Patrick, the Rector of the society church St. Paul’s in Covent Garden, alone practically saved the Church of England by 1672, see two annotations starting at
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

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