Sunday 10 August 1662

(Lord’s day). Being to dine at my brother’s, I walked to St. Dunstan’s, the church being now finished; and here I heard Dr. Bates, who made a most eloquent sermon; and I am sorry I have hitherto had so low an opinion of the man, for I have not heard a neater sermon a great while, and more to my content. So to Tom’s, where Dr. Fairebrother, newly come from Cambridge, met me, and Dr. Thomas Pepys. I framed myself as pleasant as I could, but my mind was another way. Hither came my uncle Fenner, hearing that I was here, and spoke to me about Pegg Kite’s business of her portion, which her husband demands, but I will have nothing to do with it. I believe he has no mind to part with the money out of his hands, but let him do what he will with it. He told me the new service-book (which is now lately come forth) was laid upon their deske at St. Sepulchre’s for Mr. Gouge to read; but he laid it aside, and would not meddle with it: and I perceive the Presbyters do all prepare to give over all against Bartholomew-tide.

Mr. Herring, being lately turned out at St. Bride’s, did read the psalm to the people while they sung at Dr. Bates’s, which methought is a strange turn.

After dinner to St. Bride’s, and there heard one Carpenter, an old man, who, they say, hath been a Jesuit priest, and is come over to us; but he preaches very well. So home with Mrs. Turner, and there hear that Mr. Calamy hath taken his farewell this day of his people, and that others will do so the next Sunday. Mr. Turner, the draper, I hear, is knighted, made Alderman, and pricked for Sheriffe, with Sir Thomas Bluddel, for the next year, by the King, and so are called with great honour the King’s Sheriffes.

Thence walked home, meeting Mr. Moore by the way, and he home with me and walked till it was dark in the garden, and so good night, and I to my closet in my office to perfect my Journall and to read my solemn vows, and so to bed.


28 Annotations

First Reading

Terry F.  •  Link

L&M notes about clergy discussed this day:

Dr. Bates
--William Bates was Rector of St. Dunstan’s and a great Presbyterian preacher; he was ejected from his living by the Act of Uniformity a fortnight later. [ He had a ] calm and equable style of preaching….

Mr. Gouge
--Thomas Gouge was a leading Presbyterian. [ Vicar of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate from 1638 until his extrusion in 1662 ]* The newly revised Prayer Book was now enforced on all the clergy, who had to accept it by St. Bartholomew’s Day, 24 August. Gouge was extruded on his refusal. [A reluctant Dissenter, he devoted himself after his extrusion to charitable works in London and evangelism in Wales, distributing Welsh versions not only of the Bible but of the Anglican prayer-book ] * (*L&M Companion, 159.)

Mr. Herring
--Relations between John Herring, Vicar of St. Bride’s since ca. 1656, and his churchwardens and vestry had been uneasy for some time, and this may have caused him to relinquish the living earlier than the last day allowed by law. The church was also served by a lecturer.

Carpenter
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclo…

Mr. Calamy
--Edward Calamy, sen., a leading Presbyterian, Rector of St. Mary Aldermanbury. He Preached his farewell sermon on the 17th [ August ]….”

Terry F.  •  Link

"Pegg Kite's business of her portion,…but I will have nothing to do with it.”

L&M note: "Peg Kite…had inherited most of her mother’s estate under a will of which Thomas Penner and Pepys were joint executors. Pepys, however, seems to have resigned the charge.”
See vicente who also ref. Pauline http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… and http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Australian Susan  •  Link

Uniformity
Nearly 2000 clergy resigned or were forced out by August 24th (St Bart.'s Day).
Because so many had to be replaced, many not very good clergy were installed and this set a pattern of a lower standard of clergy throughout the 18th century.
Even more resigned over the Loyalty Oath required when William and Mary come to the joint thrones in 1688.
Not a good time for the Church.
Wish we knew what Sam enjoyed about good sermons and what he meant by "neater"in this context.

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

re: Sermons

Susan, I've always taken Sam's praise of a sermon to mean that he was swayed by the eloquence and logic of the speaker rather than his spirituality ... but who knows, if the speaker could effectively prick Sam's conscience, perhaps Sam thought more of him for it.

Jeannine  •  Link

Susan, "Neater" caught my eye too- I looked it up in a few sites (oxford, cambridge, etc.) and have to think that he meant it was a carefully arranged sermon delivered with demonstrated skill and efficiency, which would impress him given his own organiztional skills and abilities. Perhaps Language Hat could add more clarification or correct me if I'm on the wrong tract.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

If ye not be with me then ye be my enemy. This be not be a debate. Back to the gulag or off to the colonies and educate the natives. Dah! Where be that Paine.

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

"Nearly 2000 clergy resigned" such a gentlemanly term "Resigned".

Terry F.  •  Link

"I to my closet in my office to perfect my Journall and to read my solemn vows, and so to bed."

Normal routine on Sunday night?: journall, oaths, so to bed.

Cp. Sunday 20 July 1662: "At night to my office, and there put down this day's passages in my journall, and read my oaths, as I am obliged every Lord's day….So to bed.” http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

I pondered whether he reads his oaths aloud, as was the norm in courts where judges lower than the Almighty were visible, it occurs to me that oaths were sealed by invoking aloud the aid of God in keeping them; so perhaps he does read them so, and esp. today, ‘in his closet in his office.’

Terry F.  •  Link

"such a gentlemanly term "Resigned--for what happened to 'Nearly 2000 clergy….' A very acute observation, Cumgranissalis, a euphemism indeed for what was done to all clergy.

I think much more candid is the term L&M use, sc. “extrude”: “The forming or shaping of a material by forcing it through a small opening.” http://www.yourwebassistant.net/g…

My preference for the Tolerance to come is showing.

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Purging the non-conformist Presbyterian clergy while there was still strong feeling that Restoration had saved the country was essential to the regime to hamstring a likely center for any organized opposition but the brothers Stuart must have taken considerable personal pleasure in it.

A. Hamilton  •  Link

What a nice, sober, relaxing day among family, relations and old friends.

Gossip of the unfashionable parishes about to lose their Presbyterian-leaning preachers. (2000 resigned in one day! Quite an auto da fe on the part of those who would not bend to the new ways. England's own St. Batholomew's Day massacre.)Interesting that Sam finds both Presbyterian Dr. Bates and Jesuit-turned-high-churchman Carpenter good preachers. Perhaps (being a university man) he's more interested in form and style than in content? Anyway, Sam's at liberty from the Navy Office, Mr. Coventry, the Sir Williamses at al. as well as from Elizabeth's company, but there is no sign at all of his libertine leanings on this old-fashioned day.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Although Sam is conforming, it is obvious that he (and many others) had sympathy for some of the clergy who would be forced out.
It is likely that the King and his brother regarded non-conforming clergymen who would not use the Parliamentary approved Book of Common Prayer and conform to the State religion with the same degree of suspicion as Tony Blair regards dubious imams: they were a danger to the well-being of the State.
The compilers of the Prayer Book had tried hard - the Preface begins with these conciliatory words: "It hath been the wisdom of the Church of England, ever since the first compiling of her Publick Liturgy, to keep the mean between the two extreams, of too much stiffness in refusing, and of too much easiness in admitting any variation from it." They go on to talk about the moving away from the Prayer Book during the "late unhappy confusions" and how they want to do what would "most tend to the preservation of Peace and Unity in the Church", but clear rules are laid down and they are determined that there shall be one book used and one form of worship. There was very little leeway for variation. No wonder many "laid it aside" as Sam describes and prepared to put up with the consequences.

Jeannine  •  Link

"2000 clergy resigned" and other euphemisms--in today's world it would be called "work force reduction".

On another note-when I re-read this and noted all of the social activity it sadly occured to me that this so seldom would just "happen" today ---perhaps becasue of cars, and other hands off technology. It's not like people are always out and about and bumping into others--they go to a function, get in a car and go home. As far as some technologies have moved us ahead they have also taken away from daily access and connection to the world around us. Sam's day of social activity provides a glimpse into lifestyle that has unfortunately slipped away.

language hat  •  Link

"off to the colonies and educate the natives"

A little off-topic, but the Puritans in Massachusetts Bay had little interest in educating the natives -- they were happy to drum up money for that purpose, but as soon as they had it in hand they spent it for other things (much like New York City politicians with the money they raised, twice, for the never-built Second Avenue Subway). It was only after they realized questions were being asked back in London that they hastily sent John Eliot out to do a little proselytizing (as well as take credit for the proselytizing that the good folk of Martha's Vineyard and Rhode Island had actually done, with much more success).

Araucaria  •  Link

Jeannine, "resigned" = work force reduction?

In my own recent experience, it is known as a Reduction In Force (RIF).

But I think resigned is actually the correct term in this context. It is more similar to a strike than an involuntary layoff -- the employer (Charles II) made unacceptable demands, and the workers walked out.

Terry F.  •  Link

Purging the non-conformist Presbyterian clergy

Today's events are the culmination of a process that began a year ago with the Savoy Conference that Sam feared could go to "the Presbytery" and the King and City divided (good posts by Pedro and JWB):
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Dr. Bates played a leading role at the Savoy Conference: http://www.newblehome.co.uk/bates…
(to read the text, click on the page and then CTRL-A).

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

"work force reduction" Nada! It was a gentleman sacking, and no ashes They be replaced with a more complient Gents that required some food and roof, and a few farthings.
LH hit the bulls eye, wot ones says and wot ones does, be two differring ways. Always tell people what they want to hear, not what be good for them, ‘tis the art of politics.
It could have been worse. How many societies have removed a large core of the educated ones to an area where their voices cannot be heard.

Terry F.  •  Link

A. Hamilton, preaching wasn't the issue for Nonconformists, as far as I can tell, except at the margins: Conformism required, albeit for perceived reasons of state, as I suggested, "The forming or shaping of a material by forcing it through a small opening." I.a. the BCP was either the small opening or its symbol; and I gather it required acts of fealty to the King, which Presbyterians, i.a., found offensive.

Perhaps Australian Susan can clarify this further.

Australian Susan  •  Link

Book of Common Prayer
I think the fact that the first thing in the 1662 BCP is the relevant Act of Parliament in its entirety says it all - this is much more to do with legalities, outward behaviour, treasonable activities and so forth than how one worshipped God! I could go on and on about this in detail, but probably get too much off topic. Sam, you see, does not seem that bothered by all this: it's the newsy gossipy bits he's keen on. In the religious sense, he's not going to stick his head over the parapet and call out insults. He was, after all, a Civil Servant.

dirk  •  Link

From Lady Fanshawe's memoirs:

"[...] we remained in Hampton Court, in the Requests' lodgings, my husband being then in waiting until the 10th day of August, upon which day he received his despatches for Ambassador to Portugal.

His Majesty was graciously pleased to promise my husband his picture, which afterwards we received, set with diamonds, to the value of three or four hundred pounds [...]. Thus having perfected the ceremonies of taking leave of their Majesties, and receiving their commands, and likewise taking our leaves of our friends, as I said, upon Sunday the 10th of August we took our journey to Portugal."

For the full (lively) account, see:
http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/ete…
(search for "His Majesty was graciously pleased")

Cumgranissalis  •  Link

Aug. 10: God good to me and mine in manifold mercies, harvest very much over, this day wet towards night. god good in the word, my heart very dead and flat, a quaker at Church, who spoke somewhat but I cannot tell what(.) I look on it as a call to watchfulness in all my work.
http://linux02.lib.cam.ac.uk/earl…

Second Reading

Bill  •  Link

"Mr. Herring, being lately turned out at St. Bride’s, did read the psalm to the people while they sung at Dr. Bates’s, which methought is a strange turn."

A practice still obtains amongst the Dissenters of reading the psalm or hymn to be sung, two lines at time.
---Diary and correspondence of Samuel Pepys, the diary deciphered by J. Smith. 1854.

Bill  •  Link

"for I have not heard a neater sermon a great while"

NEAT, clean, trim, cleanly and tightly dressed, clever
---An Universal Etymological English Dictionary. N. Bailey, 1724.

Sasha Clarkson  •  Link

Sir William died childless, it was Jane's descendants, via her son Charles, who inherited his vast loot, and administration of his considerable charitable bequests.

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

OED has:

‘neat < Anglo-Norman neet . .
. . 3. b. Of language or speech: well chosen or expressed; brief, clear, and to the point; pithy, epigrammatic.
. . 1687 J. Evelyn Diary (1955) IV. 539 A very quaint neate discourse of moral Righteousnesse.

. . c. Of actions, etc.: involving special skill, accuracy, or precision; cleverly contrived or executed.
. . 1663 S. Pepys Diary 11 Aug. (1971) IV. 272 We went in and there shewed Mrs. Turner his perspective and volary..which is a most neat thing . .

. . d. Of preparations, esp. in cookery: skilfully or tastefully prepared; choice; elegant. Obs.
. . 1669 S. Pepys Diary 24 Feb. (1976) IX. 458 Had a mighty neat dish of custards and tarts . . ‘

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Mr. Turner, the draper, I hear, is knighted, made Alderman, and pricked for Sheriffe, with Sir Thomas Bluddel, for the next year, by the King, and so are called with great honour the King’s Sheriffes."

L&M: Cf. Sharpe, ii. 396, 470. This appointment of the sheriffs virtually by royal command derived from the special and temporary powers exercised under the Corporation Act of 1661. For the King's orders addressed to the Lord Mayor and to the Commissioners on (16 June), see CSPD 1661-2, p. 408. Cf. also ib., p. 362 (a royal order, 15 June, for the election of Bludworth - 'Bluddell' - as alderman). Sir William Turner the draper (Lord Mayor 1668-9) was brother-in-law to Mrs Turner, a relative of Pepys. He had been knighted on 19 July. Both he and Bludworth had previously paid fines rather than accept office as aldermen, but had recently been nominated to the office by the Commissioners in place of two Puritans, Milner and Love.

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