Wednesday 3 September 1662
Up betimes, but now the days begin to shorten, and so whereas I used to rise by four o’clock, it is not broad daylight now till after five o’clock, so that it is after five before I do rise. To my office, and about 8 o’clock I went over to Redriffe, and walked to Deptford, where I found Mr. Coventry and Sir W. Pen beginning the pay, it being my desire to be there to-day because it is the first pay that Mr. Coventry has been at, and I would be thought to be as much with Mr. Coventry as I can. Here we staid till noon, and by that time paid off the Breda, and then to dinner at the tavern, where I have obtained that our commons is not so large as they used to be, which I am glad to see. After dinner by water to the office, and there we met and sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship hulkes, where pleasant to see how backward men are at first to bid; and yet when the candle is going out, how they bawl and dispute afterwards who bid the most first.
And here I observed one man cunninger than the rest that was sure to bid the last man, and to carry it; and inquiring the reason, he told me that just as the flame goes out the smoke descends, which is a thing I never observed before, and by that he do know the instant when to bid last, which is very pretty. In our discourse in the boat Mr. Coventry told us how the Fanatiques and the Presbyters, that did intend to rise about this time, did choose this day as the most auspicious to them in their endeavours against monarchy: it being fatal twice to the King, and the day of Oliver’s death.1 But, blessed be God! all is likely to be quiet, I hope.
After the sale I walked to my brother’s, in my way meeting with Dr. Fairbrother, of whom I enquired what news in Church matters. He tells me, what I heard confirmed since, that it was fully resolved by the King’s new Council that an indulgence should be granted the Presbyters; but upon the Bishop of London’s speech (who is now one of the most powerful men in England with the King), their minds were wholly turned. And it is said that my Lord Albemarle did oppose him most; but that I do believe is only in appearance. He told me also that most of the Presbyters now begin to wish they had complied, now they see that no Indulgence will be granted them, which they hoped for; and that the Bishop of London hath taken good care that places are supplied with very good and able men, which is the only thing that will keep all quiet.
I took him in the tavern at Puddle dock, but neither he nor I drank any of the wine we called for, but left it, and so after discourse parted, and Mr. Townsend not being at home I went to my brother’s, and there heard how his love matter proceeded, which do not displease me, and so by water to White Hall to my Lord’s lodgings, where he being to go to Hinchingbroke to-morrow morning, I staid and fiddled with Will. Howe some new tunes very pleasant, and then my Lord came in and had much kind talk with him, and then to bed with Mr. Moore there alone. So having taken my leave of my Lord before I went to bed, I resolved to rise early and be gone without more speaking to him… [Continued tomorrow. P.G.]
42 Annotations
First Reading
Terry F, • Link
"paid off the Breda"
L&M note: "A frigate; her pay (from 23 May 1662) amounted to c.£3000….”
“we…sold the Weymouth, Successe, and Fellowship hulk.”.
L&M note: “Valued at just over £485, they were sold at £685….The ‘Successe’ was the *Old Successe*.”
L&M note: “For sale ‘by inch of candle’, see [ Tuesday 6 November 1660 ]”
That date there was an interesting discussion among the Annotators of this method of selling ships: http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… to which I add http://www.sizes.com/time/inch_of… and note from the former Colonies that the authorization by Parliament of selling goods “by way of auction, or by inch of candle” to fund annuities for the East India Company which was granted certain, ah, controversial monopolies were parts of The Tea Act of 1773 of cherished memory: http://ahp.gatech.edu/tea_act_bp_…
Dave Bell • Link
Those of us who use eBay will recognise the principle of the ship auctions, with the bidding continued until a candle burned out. I'd hesitate to class the pretty trick that Sam learns with the "sniping" on eBay, and there are significant differences in how eBay works, not just the use of computers.
Martha R. • Link
"the tavern, where I have obtained that our commons is not so large as they used to be"
Is Sam saying that he has arranged things at the tavern so that they do not get served as big a dinner as previously? Are there fewer people now or did he feel that the larger meal was wasteful?
Bradford • Link
I thought the same, Martha---or perhaps he'd brokered a better, "smaller" price?
Yet if you call for wine at a tavern, surely you're beholden to pay for it even if it's left untasted? You can't get away with that with a latté.
dirk • Link
"the tavern, where I have obtained that our commons is not so large as they used to be"
Could "commons" here refer to a separate room???
(Many taverns had separate rooms for "better" people - where they would serve wine rather than beer etc. Maybe what Sam has obtained is a place in a smaller room, where he and his colleagues can enjoy their meal with more privacy.)
Todd Bernhardt • Link
"but neither he nor I drank any of the wine we called for..."
Interesting! Could politics be at play here? Sam calls for wine, hoping to loosen the good doctor's lips with strong drink (while drinking none himself), while the good doctor is astute enough to do the same? I wonder ... perhaps we're seeing another reason for Sam's abstinence.
Todd Bernhardt • Link
"He tells me, what I heard confirmed since..."
Ah, that's our Sam, the good journalist. Get your two independent sources before reporting the news...
Robert Gertz • Link
Hmmn...Sandwich leaving for Hinchingbroke tomorrow. And has much 'kind talk' with Will Hewer, eh?
[Though to say more wouldst be spoiling, readers of Tomalin and the later Diary will recognize the significance of these...]
Robert Gertz • Link
Oops reading too fast in nervous times, sorry, Will Howe. Pity though, Sandwich having a long talk with Hewer would fit later events so well...
Cumgranissalis • Link
Sam's share of the tab be more in standing with Sam's watching his halfpenies[the libre be looking after itself]. "...then to dinner at the tavern, where I have obtained that our commons is not so large as they used to be..."
"Qui homo mature quaesivit pecuniam, nisi eam mature parsit mature esurit.
Plautus, Curculio, 380-381
said before.
Kent Kelly • Link
After fiddling all day at an open-air museum with the same scheduled for tomorrow, I could use "some new tunes very pleasant." Ah well, I have a little list for this winter.
Australian Susan • Link
Commons
Refers to shared, pre-ordered meal. Sam has decided, it seems, to watch the pennies over this and have a less lavish meal.
"good and able" men replacing the ousted non-conforming clergy: wishful thinking on the part of the B of L or just "spin" as we would now call it.
Sale of the hulks
Why were these wrecks so desirable? Scrap timber?
Australian Susan • Link
Shortening days
Just the opposite here! I am now finding getting up at 5.45 every Sunday at last means daylight at that time! No more driving off with the headlights on. It does make one feel less woeful about getting up. Sam always comments when he has to be up "by candle" meaning in the dark. It's not cheery.
Terry F, • Link
Sun peeps up; Sam pulls covers over head; up after an hour's snooze.
The last few weeks Sam's been "Up betimes" -- except on the last two Sundays at seven.
Interesting that he always records "rising time," and "sleep time" (more or less), filling every hour of the day.
Time-accounting is a very important quadrant for measuring efficiency in a dockyard, which was the earliest factory and the only considerable one in the 17th century.
(Australian Susan, sounds like you are time-accounting also; would you like to supervise a few dockyards?)
Cumgranissalis • Link
"good and able" men: Men in power have a disliked for those with independant minds, they need those that say “three bags full or how high”, except when needed to make decisions at the time when hell be breaking lose and if it fail, be able to send them to dangle from the oak tree upper limbs .
Cumgranissalis • Link
"and Fellowship hulkes" it was listed back in 1651 as a wreck at Woolwich [http://www.bruzelius.info/Nautica…
], some body be milking this wreck,the other two be bad memories to the Royal brothers.
200 men, maybe, paid off.
Cumgranissalis • Link
3rd of September another day for British memories [1939]
Terry F, • Link
Cumgranissalis is correct. Also on this day:
1189
Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England at Westminster following the death of his father, Henry II.
1651
Battle of Worcester during the English Civil War. Defeat for the Royalist supporters of Charles II by the Parliamentary army commanded by Oliver Cromwell.
1752
What should have been September 3rd becomes September 14th with the introduction of the Gregorian Calendar - named after Pope Gregory XIII. In Britain crowds flock through the streets calling on Parliament to 'give us back our 11 days'.
1783
Britian finally recognises the United States of America by signing the Treaty of Paris which officially ends the American War of Independence.
1791
The French National Assembly passes the French Constitution - formerly making France a constitutional monarchy.
1826
In Moscow, Nicholas I is crowned Tsar of Russia.
1879
Afghan troops massacre the British legation in Kabul - leading to the British invasion of Afghanistan.
[...]
1939
Great Britain, France, New Zealand, and Australia declare war on Germany after Adolf Hitler, refuses to withdraw his troops from Poland.
1939
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain forms an all-party War Cabinet with Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty.
[...]
http://www.thehistorychannel.co.u…
And a very good site say I.
Terry F, • Link
Why is the sale of the hulks profitable?
L&M note: "The sale had been advertised by poster at the Exchange: PRO, Adm. 106/3520, f.7v." [This sure wasn't Enron: no shredding paper!!!]
The wood was seasoned, and perhaps it has not only to do with the rarity of the goods, as with the method of the sale and the egos of the bidders, who, "when the candle is going out...bawl and dispute...who bid the most first."
So that the man SP and he himself judged "cunninger than the rest" was just doing what he had been bid by him whose agent he was:
"Hey, boss, guess what? The competition at the Navy Office today from the lads of you-know-who was unbe-LIEV-able; but I got you all three that were on sale!"
Terry F, • Link
One bids at auction with a max above the opening; so here.
I assume each bidder here has a top, known to him, but not to his competitors; hence a good deal of the "bawl and dispute."
Would ££ change hands on the spot; or would each bidder be given a receipt/invoice for his “boss” who was known at the Exchange? Or is the bidder the final purchaser, and my prior broker scenario mistaken? Whould those known at the Exchange be involved in this conduct?
J A Gioia • Link
and there heard how his love matter proceeded
interesting that a union mainly based on the financial resources of the lady involved is considered a 'love matter'. either our sam is being a tad arch or notions of romance were simpler then.
Jeannine • Link
J A --"Love matters"--Good point caught! What is interesting is that as one moved up the chain in society (aristocrats and nobility) that marriages were predominately "arranged" and based upon things like money, connections, titles, politics, etc. At the lower end of the chain ("the common man") there was often more flexibilty in choosing a partner, and that beloved cherub "Cupid" was often the saving grace for a poor woman without dowry, etc.. Actually Sam's marriage was a "love match" with Elizabeth, as was Lord Sandwich's match to his Lady. Now if only he'd kept a diary of his courtship, I'm sure there would be those among us (me for instance) who'd be sneaking a peek into the future and just not able to wait for each day to unfold!
David A. Smith • Link
"I would be thought to be as much with Mr. Coventry as I can"
That's our boy, maximizing the optics.
In politics and in administration, perception *is* reality.
David A. Smith • Link
"and inquiring the reason, he told me"
Now, this is remarkable on two counts:
1. Sam notices that one bidder is 'cunninger than the rest' (great title for a mystery thriller!) and has the cheek to ask the man directly.
2. The fellow *tells him*, giving up a trade secret.
What other pledges or signs Sam may have used to gain the cunninger's confidence, it speaks to his never-flagging curiosity and assemblage of knowledge and insights into the business of markets, whether economic or political.
David A. Smith • Link
"when the candle is going out, how they bawl and dispute"
As Dave Bell and others have noted, there is much more game theory and human psychology to the structure of auctions than it might first appear. The process of slow commencement leading to a frenetic crescendo first engages the superego (cerebellum), then overtakes it with the id (amygdala), all to the seller's benefit. You can do it with a candle, or an auctioneer's gavel, or an eBay countdown.
JWB • Link
"...Oliver's…”
Again I post to note Sam’s use of “Oliver” instead of what I would expect him to have used: “Cromwell” or “Oliver Cromwell”. I think this royal usage curious(if it be that) & wonder when common usage returned to this uncommon man?
language hat • Link
"my Lord Albemarle"
I had to click on the annotation to realize this was the General Monck who'd brought all those troops to London back when the Diary started. Damn these confusing titles!
JWB • Link
"...one man cunninger..."
I'm not sure that this cunning bidder was not having Sam on. The smoke would descend long after the candle went out, relatively speaking, and the bids over and done with. Conjunction of candles & cunning Englishmen in mind, let me recommend B&N's cheap '05 reprint of Faraday's "The Chemical History of a Candle", 7 bucks.
Sjoerd • Link
Third of september
"It was the third of september... the day I'll allways remember"....
The Temptations were onto something there !
("Papa was a rolling Stone", 1972 , Norman Whitfield - Barret Strong)
Margaret • Link
Regarding the reference to Oliver: I have noted that it is common among my black acquaintances to refer to Martin Luther King as "Martin," when I am fairly sure they did not know him personally. But maybe they felt they did.
andy • Link
Tough at Ye Toppe
no hyperlink I'm afraid but today's "Readers' Editor" column of the Independent on Sunday rounds off the saga of the "Catte up the Tre", with the view that our decline in educational standards evidently started in 1536. One reader commented "GCSE {qualification for 16 year olds in England and Wales} critics, rede and wepe. With a mistake like that in the book, I'd not be surprised to learn it survived because its owner threw it into the back of a cupboard and left it there."
Cumgranissalis • Link
"Damn these confusing titles" ney, it be a way to bury all ones sins, and start with a clean slate, and forget all those youthful indescretions that would hurt a man of stature.
A. De Araujo • Link
"the Breda"
Was she originally Dutch?
Terry F, • Link
"the Breda"
Click on the name for the story: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
Terry F, • Link
After the sale by inch of candle -- again I ask:
Would change hands on the spot; or would each bidder be given a receipt/invoice for his "boss" who was known at the Exchange?
Is the bidder the final purchaser, and my prior agent scenario mistaken?
Whould those known at the Exchange be involved in a "bawl and dispute"?
Any MBA’s or stockbrokers here?
Terry F, • Link
After the sale by inch of candle - per Nix, a “demand note”
“Because there was no paper money, the only currency was metal coinage. This was highly inconvenient for transactions of any size, so a person purchasing something for, say, 20 l. would give a promissory note. The note could say "I will pay you this whenever you ask" - a demand note. The maker of the note was, at least theoretically, obliged to pay over in cash whenever the payee showed up at his home or place of business (they were quite often the same, particularly in the case of tradesmen). Or it could say "I will pay you this in 30 days" or 60 or six months or whatever.”
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Cumgranissalis • Link
Settlement of debts:
t'was done in the "local Cafe" Tavern. Word was the Bond and any one violating it would be handed over to the Dungerness crabs to provide the lunch du jour or snack-homo. Debts be noted in brain cell then adjusted by the end of the quarter by the Gentlemen, over a sniffer of vino, 'twas done this way by Gents for centuries and still done by other societies that have a trust in a mans word. They took Will Shakespeare to heart and keep Lawyers in the their palaces. Even in my youth large monies never touched hands, it was done with a runner at a latter date [Settlement date]. Larger organisations sent it by ship for pirates to sink. You settled the values with a hand shake, and that be that.This ream of Chartered Accountants be for the tax collector only.
Note Sandwich transactions, Sam squares away the the accounts each quarter.
Pauline • Link
"...my Lord came in and had much kind talk with him, and then to bed with Mr. Moore there alone."
I think it is Sam with whom Sandwich has much kind talk, not Will. The same missing "I" that crawls into bed with his good friend Mr. Moore.
Terry F, • Link
Daily time-accounting in the diary
As clocks augmented church-bells in urban England, with a portable watche soon to come, SP was not only a man of his time, but created the first example of it: see "Telling Time: Clocks, Diaries, and English Diurnal Form, 1660-1785," by Stuart Sherman.
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…
Terry F • Link
Royal Society - Drafts of two letters by William Brouncker, 03-09-1662
William Brouncker became President of the Royal Society following the granting of a Royal Charter in the summer of 1662. Among his first duties were those of offering thanks to:
# the king for granting the chartertranscriptimage and transcriptimage
# Sir Robert Moray, his predecessor as president, for his part in securing it
http://www.livesandletters.ac.uk/…
Second Reading
Dick Wilson • Link
For the past few weeks, it seems that no matter how "betimes" Pepys rises, his workmen are already on the job. If he has been getting up at four AM, and now rises at five AM, those men are at work very early indeed. Does anyone know the usual working hours of craftsmen and laborers in Pepys' day?
Terry Foreman • Link
"that it was fully resolved by the King’s new Council that an indulgence should be granted the Presbyters; but upon the Bishop of London’s speech (who is now one of the most powerful men in England with the King), their minds were wholly turned."
L&M: A proposal to issue a royal declaration allowing moderate Presbyterian ministers to escape the rigour of the Act of Uniformity for three months had been defeated at a Privy Council meeting at Hampton Court on 28 August, principally bt Gilbert Sheldon, Bishop of London, the only bishop present. The news, supposedly secret, had been 'leaked' to the government newspapers and published in Kingd. Intell., 1 September, p. 578. Cf. G. R. Abernathy in Journ. Eccles. Hist., 11/63.