Sunday 12 February 1664/65

(Lord’s day). Up and to church to St. Lawrence to hear Dr. Wilkins, the great scholar, for curiosity, I having never heard him: but was not satisfied with him at all, only a gentleman sat in the pew I by chance sat in, that sang most excellently, and afterward I found by his face that he had been a Paul’s scholler, but know not his name, and I was also well pleased with the church, it being a very fine church. So home to dinner, and then to my office all the afternoon doing of business, and in the evening comes Mr. Hill (but no Andrews) and we spent the evening very finely, singing, supping and discoursing. Then to prayers and to bed.


10 Annotations

First Reading

deepfatfriar  •  Link

"...and afterward I found by his face that he had been a Paul’s scholler..."

Some sort of secret wink???

Terry Foreman  •  Link

L&M reference Pepys's earlier scant hearing of Dr. Wilkins on Sunday 25 November 1660, and so it is: "after dinner I went and ranged about to many churches, among the rest to the Temple, where I heard Dr. Wilkins a little (late Maister of Trinity in Cambridge)." -- which he seems to have forgot. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Robert Gertz  •  Link

That's a wonderful link on Wilkens... Must have been quite exciting for Sam and Bess to realize that those hard bright specks of planets might be worlds, possibly even populated-even as we begin to discover hundreds of new worlds in interstellar space and wonder anew if Mars or Europa might harbor some sort of life. Pity Sam seems to have lost a little of that old urge to take Bess at least part way along with him...I miss hearing of an astronomy lesson or their fiddling about with the microscope.

***

"Bess, I don't care what your 'noble' father claims to have invented this time. Last time I believed in that crazy loon in '55 he took me for every penny I had."

Still, in spite of himself...Quite an interesting...

"But Sam, Papa says this interdimensional transport could open the gateway to many other Earths, parallel to our own, even other universes. And it works...I think." hesitant. Ummn... "Well, it crackled a lot and showed a blue light when he..."

"Oh, please...Give here, girl. Look, it's just another delus..."

"Oh my..." Bess looks round...No Sam...And not her study, to be sure. Hmmn...Is that a window...So heavy black with stars...

Bright light and violent shaking...Oh!

"I got one!" a cry...From somewhere below her...

"Great kid, don't get cocky!!" the return from above...

"Sam'l?" she tries.

***

"And who is this?" Icy voice...Heavy breathing...

Hmmn...Sam stares at the rather terrifying tall figure in what appears to be a plague mask of some sort...

More heavy breathing...

"Found him on L deck, my Lord. Magnetic signature indicates some kind of interdimensional transport. We detected a dual signal, one heading out to the vessel we're pursuing." the young fellow who'd led him about in some sort of strange apparel common to many about what appeared to be...almost...a deck? Of some very odd sort.

"Says his name is..."

"Pepys, er...My Lord?" Sam quickly sizes up the hierarchy.

"Vader." Icy reply.
***

(Come on, will I ever get another excuse?)
***

Todd Bernhardt  •  Link

"…and afterward I found by his face that he had been a Paul’s scholler…"

DFF, I think he meant that he recognized the man from school, but didn't remember his name.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Must have been quite exciting for Sam and Bess to realize that those hard bright specks of planets might be worlds"

'Tis a pity we've not heard of Wilkens' scientific side from the Diary. Pepys seems to link to him through the Cambridge old-boy network. Wilkens, the first secretary of the Royal Society, isn't the only FRS Pepys is connected from another angle. 'Twould be nice to have an ongoing list of them all.

Carl in Boston  •  Link

we spent the evening very finely, singing, supping and discoursing.
Now here is the good stuff, here is the quality. You can have your far away worlds, let me have about me old men with pungent stories of long ago, yet useful today. You speak of a place with a secret wink. Oh yes, there are such places, I was there last night. It was a fine evening with good music, supping on Italian food, and discoursing of stock broking of forty years ago and how a little kid from the streets of Boston made it big, and is still big today (a little strange, but he's very big). Sam Pepys has something for every day and every age.

dirk  •  Link

The Rev. Josselin reports on the climate, trade,&c

"God good in outward mercies, the season warm, the times yet wonderfully hard, no trade by reason of the Dutch troubles. this frost was not very long viz from Wednesday. Dec. 21. to Feb. 9: eight weeks, but it was wonderfully sharp beyond what known for so long, in my memory, neither is it gone though it abates"

"Wonderfully hard" and "wonderfully sharp" I take to be synonymous with "extraordinarily". We no longer use "wonderfully with this meaning.

CGS  •  Link

Dr Wilkins mention on three previous occasions , once as a great man, and twice with the St Paul's scholarly connection.
Feb. being the month the bright ones at St Paul's be hoping to get commendations to a bench at Uni.

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