Sunday 14 April 1661
(Easter. Lord’s day). In the morning towards my father’s, and by the way heard Mr. Jacomb, at Ludgate, upon these words, “Christ loved you and therefore let us love one another,” and made a lazy sermon, like a Presbyterian. Then to my father’s and dined there, and Dr. Fairbrother (lately come to town) with us. After dinner I went to the Temple and there heard Dr. Griffith, a good sermon for the day; so with Mr. Moore (whom I met there) to my Lord’s, and there he shewed me a copy of my Lord Chancellor’s patent for Earl, and I read the preamble, which is very short, modest, and good.
Here my Lord saw us and spoke to me about getting Mr. Moore to come and govern his house while he goes to sea, which I promised him to do and did afterwards speak to Mr. Moore, and he is willing.
Then hearing that Mr. Barnwell was come, with some of my Lord’s little children, yesterday to town, to see the Coronacion, I went and found them at the Goat, at Charing Cross, and there I went and drank with them a good while, whom I found in very good health and very merry. Then to my father’s, and after supper seemed willing to go home, and my wife seeming to be so too I went away in a discontent, but she, poor wretch, followed me as far in the rain and dark as Fleet Bridge to fetch me back again, and so I did, and lay with her to-night, which I have not done these eight or ten days before.
28 Annotations
First Reading
Louis Anthony Scarsdale • Link
"Then to my father's, and after supper ^ seemed willing to go home, and my wife seeming to be so too I went away in a discontent, but she, poor wretch, followed me as far in the rain and dark as Fleet Bridge to fetch me back again,” &c.
The lack of a period before this sentence starts, and the disjuncture which seems to start about here ^ , makes one wonder if there is some corruption in the text—-it doesn’t seem to make Pepysian sense as it stands. Enlightment?
Louis • Link
EnlightENment would be welcome, too.
Vicente • Link
"...*Then to my father's, and after supper [I]seemed willing to go home, and my wife seeming [not]to be so too[,] I went away in a discontent,…”
[* note capital].From the rest it seems that the two were at sixes & sevens, she not wanting to be at Seething lane place, He being still upset when writing this down did not double check his entry. ‘tis a tort.
Pauline • Link
"...seemed willing to go home, and my wife seeming to be so too..."
Maybe it means he made moves to leave and she pretended that that was fine with her, but then gave in and followed him to fetch him back. It sounds like there was no question of her going back to Seething Lane--the construction going on there and her "household" currently settled at Sam's folks.
A standoff: he'd stay if she showed interest; she'd show interest if he showed desire to stay. A pretty capitulation on her part, almost as if she sensed that she should tease this philandering (in thought if not in action) husband back into her bed.
Wim van der Meij • Link
"made a lazy sermon": Warrington gives: "gracy sermon".
Mary • Link
... a lazy sermon....
it sounds as if Mr. Jacomb's sermon was long on Biblical text and exhortation but short on exegesis and argument.
Rich Merne • Link
Pauline
I think you have it! It's a kind of sulky pet on Sam's part; kind of testing the depth of water of his wife's feelings, (puerile, but it happens). She displays a depth of understanding of his 'pet', and he feels almost rueful, (poor wretch) for sulking but apparently only says it to 'dear diary', though we hope he whispered it to her later.
"poor wretch", there is a gaelic word which I think does more justice to this than L&Ms footnote. The word is 'onseach', pron. 'own-shock'. The best I can do is;.. 'dear', sometimes 'darling',..with a hint of pity, or deep feeling..maybe sorrow for a transgression or offence,..but with overriding fondness. If this seems impossible to envisage, maybe it should be left to it's gaelic where it actually works.
Andrew Hamilton • Link
Pauline
Persuasive reading. The added context
(no question of Mrs. Pepys going home because of the disorder there) puts the entry into focus.
JWB • Link
"gracy sermon"
Sounds right to me. Presbyterians long on Grace, short on laziness.
Paul Brewster • Link
Then to my father's, and after supper seemed willing to go home; and my wife seeming to be so too, I went away in a discontent; but she, poor wretch, Fallowed me as far, in the rain and dark, as Fleete Brige to fetch me back again;
Abve is the L&M punctuated version keeping in mind that apostrophes, commas and semi-colons are most likely conjectural.
L&M Footnotes this passage:
“Sc. [Scilicet, Namely; that is to say] Pepys pretended to want to go home, and his wife pretended to be willing to let him go.”
L&M footnotes “poor wretch”:
“A term of endearment which Pepys often applies to his wife: modern equivalents would be ‘poor thing’, ‘poor dear’.”
Glyn • Link
I take it they haven't slept together for 8 - 10 days because Elizabeth is living with Sam's parents under their roof.
Peter • Link
Gracy?.... Fields, maybe....but sermons? I somehow doubt it.
Emilio • Link
An interesting tidbit
L&M note that every day between now and the 21st was corrected after being misnumbered--today was first numbered the 13th, tomorrow the 14th, etc. The 21st was numbered correctly, but then the 22nd was initially numbered the 21st. Sam may have been too busy to keep up with the writing, and came back to write the entire week in a block, quite possibly after the coronation on the 23rd.
Vicente • Link
That tit[d] bit does seem to explain some of strange sentances.
Paul Brewster • Link
Christ loved you and therefore let us love one another.
according to L&M: "a loose recollection of 1 John, iv. 11 [11: Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.] (or possibly of Eph., V. 2 [2: And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
])"
Susan • Link
The Biblical reference could also be to John 13:34 "I give you a new commandement, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." Surely it is more likely a minister would preach using a Gospel text, especially one from a Last Supper narrative, on Easter Day.
Rich Merne • Link
P.B.
L&M footnote, "poor wretch", 'endearment'
My L&M doesn't mention "endearment" in this footnote. Is it possible that there be this inconsistency? I'm decidedly of the belief anyway, that Sam does use it as such. "Affectionate", is mentioned in the select glossary, and in the large glossary, "poor wretch2, is indicated as referring to male and female. Ref. my annotation, 11.40am. above.
Mary • Link
poor wretch
The 1995 (Harper Collins)publication of L&M glosses this as a term of endearment in the footnote. Could it have been omitted in an earlier publication? As far as one can tell there has only been one edition of L&M.
Rich Merne • Link
Mary,
I'm interested to get to the bottom of this: is "endearment" in the actual page footnote? because it's not in mine, G. Bell 1970. Mine is precisely as in my annote above.
Paul Brewster • Link
Rich
As hard as it is to believe, we've been here before. L&M seem to have made "corrections" in the various editions without leaving any indications. See the discussion of cap/nap/crap in http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… You'll have to read a bit in the discussion because it is a lengthy one and the bit about differences within the L&M comes a deep in the discussion.
Rich Merne • Link
Paul,
Thanks for that info. I had a squint at the discussion you pointed to. I still don't know if my annote, 8.48 am today is actually another inconsistancy in L&M.
Mary, "glosses this as a term of endearment in the footnote", *does the word "endearment", appear in the *page* footnote?* Can you clarify, Mary
Emilio • Link
She wouldn't lie to you; here's the footnote (mine from the 2000 reprint of the 1995 ed.) verbatim: "A term of endearment which Pepys often applies to his wife: modern equivalents would be 'poor thing', 'poor dear'."
Rich Merne • Link
Emilio,
OK, thank you all. For the same record here's my footnote, literatim. "6. A term Pepys often applies to his wife: modern equivalents would be 'poor thing', 'poor dear'. Glossary, "Poor wretch (affectionate): poor soul", L&M, G.Bell London 1970. Hope this is it, apologies for dragging this out. (PP)=perish the pedants!!
Second Reading
Bill • Link
Agreeing with Wim, above:
and made a gracy sermon, like a Presbyterian.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.
Chris Squire UK • Link
Here’s what OED has to say re ‘gracy’:
‘gracy, adj. Editorial misreading of lazy; taken to mean ‘full of teaching about grace, evangelical’.
1848 Diary & Corr. S. Pepys 14 Apr. 1661 (ed. 3) 213 Heard Mr. Jacomb, at Ludgate, upon these words, ‘Christ loved you and therefore let us love one another’, and made a gracy [1970 lazy] sermon, like a Presbyterian.’
and ‘lazy’:
‘lazy, adj. and n. Etym: obscure . .
2. a. . . Formerly of literary style . . : Languid, having little energy.
a1568 R. Ascham Scholemaster (1570) ii. f. 37v, Melancthon..came to this low kinde of writyng, by vsing ouer moch Paraphrasis in reading: For studying therbie to..make euerie thing streight and easie, in smothing and playning all things to much, neuer leaueth, whiles the sence it selfe be left, both lowse and lasie.’
Third Reading
Eric the Bish • Link
In the (AV) Bible to “lay” / “lie” with someone often has the meaning “have sex with”, and it may be so here. Abstaining from sex during Lent was encouraged (in Roman Catholicism) in the 14th and 15th centuries, according to History of Christianity Professor, Denis Janz, and the practice may well have continued in later years, with some evidence from birth records showing a decline nine months after Lent. It’s been a difficult time with the house all ahoo, and the couple don’t seem to communicate well about such as issues. So the sort of strop we see here is entirely predictable.
Eric the Bish • Link
“… a lazy sermon“. My Latham/Matthews gives “lazy“. So, to understand the word we maybe take into account the context “like a Presbyterian“. But Presbyterian clergy in Samuel Pepys's day were typically well-educated individuals who had undergone formal theological training and held university degrees. so I doubt that the sermon was intellectually lazy.
I can only guess that the key is in the text for the sermon, and that the preacher did not do the hard work of applying “let us love one another” in the context of Christ’s sacrificial love for us. On this subject it is all too easy to take refuge in generalised platitudes and to avoid the real difficulties in the complexities and messiness of real life, of knowing what loving one another actually means in practice. But as to why this made Pepys think of Presbyterian clergy, I could not say.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"... Presbyterian clergy in Samuel Pepys's day were typically well-educated individuals who had undergone formal theological training and held university degrees ... and that the preacher did not do the hard work ..."
My theory is that Pepys wanted to know what this new-fangled State religion was all about, and was frustrated when the same old rant he'd lived with for 15-plus years was delivered. Charles II opted to unravel the Universities before tackling the parishes.