Thursday 14 June 1666
Up, and to the office, and there sat all the morning. At noon dined at home, and thence with my wife and father to Hales’s, and there looked only on my father’s picture (which is mighty like); and so away to White Hall to a committee for Tangier, where the Duke of York was, and Sir W. Coventry, and a very full committee; and instead of having a very prejudiced meeting, they did, though indeed inclined against Yeabsly, yield to the greatest part of his account, so as to allow of his demands to the value of 7,000l. and more, and only give time for him to make good his pretence to the rest; which was mighty joy to me: and so we rose up. But I must observe the force of money, which did make my Lord Ashly to argue and behave himself in the business with the greatest friendship, and yet with all the discretion imaginable; and [it] will be a business of admonition and instruction to me concerning him (and other men, too, for aught I know) as long as I live. Thence took Creed with some kind of violence and some hard words between us to St. James’s, to have found out Sir W. Coventry to have signed the order for his payment among others that did stay on purpose to do it (and which is strange among the rest my Lord Ashly, who did cause Creed to write it presently and kept two or three of them with him by cunning to stay and sign it), but Creed’s ill nature (though never so well bribed, as it hath lately in this case by twenty pieces) will not be overcome from his usual delays.
Thence failing of meeting Sir W. Coventry I took leave of Creed (very good friends) and away home, and there took out my father, wife, sister, and Mercer our grand Tour in the evening, and made it ten at night before we got home, only drink at the doore at Islington at the Katherine Wheel, and so home and to the office a little, and then to bed.
21 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
“our grand Tour”
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Terry Foreman • Link
"I must observe the force of money, which did make my Lord Ashly to argue and behave himself in the business with the greatest friendship, and yet with all the discretion imaginable; and [it] will be a business of admonition and instruction to me concerning him (and other men, too, for aught I know) as long as I live."
It's the love of money produces such treachery, but ye are well-warned, Mr. Pepys!
Robert Gertz • Link
"But..." John Sr. eyes Bess as Sam flags down a coach. "Though Samuel has ever been the hardest of workers with the mind, I've heard the Court is treacherous place for the unwary. Even our dear Lord Sandwich for all his savvy and skill could not negotiate its ways without piling on the rocks of scandal...Surely success has not gone to my boy's dear head? He's not slacked off, daughter-in-law?"
"Up we went, now down. Headed for perdition, Samuel is..." Pall notes solemnly.
"Oh, not at all, father-in-law. But his brushes with Death itself this year have taught my Sam'l a lesson. One he learned from you, in part, father-in-law."
"Ay?"
"The man who could work to exhaustion all a long day and then play music and teach his children the love of it...?" Bess, beaming eye. "Sam'l has realized he mustn't let the best of life slip by whilst he can still enjoy it."
"The boy's gone daft, girl. Life's success slips away in an instant. There's not time to be wasted in idle pleasures. Grimly work till your pile is made, nervously clutching to every penny, doing nothing to offend those who might grab it away in a moment, then if ye manage to hide it long enough, pray ye may ike out a year or two of tepid enjoyment before you rupture like an old tire and die, that's me motto now."
"Pa." Sam frowns. "That's not the man who taught me during the worst of my illness...This..." Pulls out sheet.
"There's music to play,
Places to go, people to see!
Sam, boy, everything is out there for you and for me!
There are maids just ripe for some kissin'
And this prick-louse means to kiss him a few!
Then those chicks don't know what they're missin',
Son, we got a lot of living to do!
Yes, Sam, there's music to play,
Places to go, people to see!
Everything's out there for you and for me!
Sizzlin' steaks-all ready for tastin'
Sam, look at that fine cloth, all shiny and new!
Gotta move, cause time is a-wastin',
There's such a lot of livin' to do!
There are girls of nineteen or twenty
Who are cute and reckless and true
And older girls who give a lad plenty
Sam, you've gotta a lot of livin' to do!
There's music to play,
Places to go, people to see!
Everything
For you and me!"
Chorus-(Sam, Bess, Mercer...)
"Boy, life's a ball
if only you know it
And it's all just waiting for you!!
Son, you're alive,
So come on and show it!
We got a lot of livin'
Such a lot of livin'
We both got a lot of livin' to do!"
Pall blinking...
Father?
"You never showed your mother that...?" John eyes Sam.
"Certainly not, Father."
***
Michael Robinson • Link
" ... but Creed’s ill nature (though never so well bribed, as it hath lately in this case by twenty pieces) will not be overcome from his usual delays."
I assume the 20 pieces are literal not metaphorical however SP was very probably familiar with Genesis 37:28: "Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt."
Michael Robinson • Link
which did make my Lord Ashly to argue and behave himself in the business with the greatest friendship, and yet with all the discretion imaginable; and [it] will be a business of admonition and instruction to me concerning him (and other men, too, for aught I know) as long as I live."
In the immortal words of Simon Cameron, Ashley is 'An honest politician one who, when he is bought, will stay bought,' unlike Creed ...
A. Hamilton • Link
The Age of Observation
Sam employs the analytical language of the early Royal Society in his arresting phrase, "But I must observe the force of money."
cgs • Link
"It’s the love of money produces such treachery,"
true but the lack of money causes even more treachery.
Terry Foreman • Link
"the lack of money causes even more treachery [than the love of it]"
Granted, cgs, there is a baseline NEED of money, but that isn't Lawd Ashly's problem -- nor that of most of the landed court. Lust of it is loose!
Robert Gertz • Link
There's probably considerable fear even among the landed gentry right now. Charlie's regime is increasingly shaky and Society has been completely overturned twice in recent memory...Even the most obtuse, pleasure-seeking young fop must have a nervous fear that the party will eventually end. Seize the day, grab what you can, and the divil take the hindmost...
"Bruce...You can never have too much power.[or cash]" Max Shreck, "Batman Returns"
Michael Robinson • Link
" ... [it] will be a business of admonition and instruction to me concerning him (and other men, too, for aught I know) as long as I live."
There is the moral of all human tales;
'Tis but the same rehearsal of the past,
First Freedom, and then Glory -- when that fails,
Wealth, vice , corruption, -- barbarism at last.
And History, with all her volumes vast,
Hath but one page,
Byron, Childe Harold, Canto IV, cviii
cgs • Link
"a baseline NEED of money," yea, there is never enough, 'tis why we build pyramids.
The bio feedback of success of more loot always requests more pleasure 'til the revolt 'its.
Todd Bernhardt • Link
Can someone explain the whole Creed transaction? I'm a little lost here...
Michael Robinson • Link
the whole Creed transaction ...
Creed is the Secretary to the Tangier Committee. SP, as Treasurer, needs the equivalent of a written warrant prepared by Creed as the secretary and signed by a sufficient number of members witnessing the committee's assent, for SP to make the payment to Yearsby either in tally's or cash. Ashley has pushed Creed into preparing the document immediately after the meeting and also made certain enough have stayed behind to sign it -- SP has to bully Creed into going to St. James to get Coventry's signature also only to find Creed has this already, once they are there!
SP is annoyed because, though Creed has been given 20 pieces up front to ensure he complete the paper-work quickly for Yearsby to collect his cash from SP, Creed still is quite deliberately making delays. And SP himself is Yearsby's silent business partner ...
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Thanks for "the whole Creed transaction ...", MR.
L&M note that in the event Yeabsley and his partners were in fact allowed £7519 for victualing a transport for 22 weeks. National Archives AO1/310/1220.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"There's probably considerable fear, even among the landed gentry, right now."
Besides all the logical, totally 21st century reasons for fear cited above, there was also considerable free-floating fear of the end-times in 1666. The date alone, never mind a madman in North Africa claiming to be the Messiah, would have most people on their knees, praying for redemption.
Christians thought the book of Revelations indicated the arrival of the Messiah in 1666.
"During the first half of the 17th century, millenarian ideas of the approach of the Messianic time were popular. They included ideas of the redemption of the Jews and their return to the land of Israel, with independent sovereignty. The apocalyptic year was identified by Christian authors as 1666 and millenarianism was widespread in England. This belief was so prevalent that Manasseh ben Israel, in his letter to Oliver Cromwell and the Rump Parliament 1654, appealed to it as a reason to readmit Jews into England." Which both Cromwell and Charles II agreed to.
'In Smyrna, which Sabbatai Zevi reached in the autumn of 1665, the greatest homage was paid to him. After some hesitation, he publicly declared himself to be the expected Messiah during the (Jewish New Year in 1665); his declaration was made in the synagogue, with the blowing of horns, and shouts of "Long live our King, our Messiah!"'
"The Jewish community of Avignon, France prepared to emigrate to the new kingdom in the spring of 1666."
Queen Christina became so fascinated by Sabbatai Zevi's claims that she almost became a disciple. In Hamburg she danced in the streets with her Jewish friends in anticipation of the apocalyptic moment.
In 1666, at the movement’s height, pamphlets publicizing the unfolding of the redemptive scenario were published, and believers undertook penitential fasts and extreme acts of self-affliction. Some Jews sold their property, with the intention of journeying to the Land of Israel. The commotion was followed closely in Christian circles, especially among Christian millenarians, who were instrumental in the publication of letters, and pamphlets and broadsheets in Italian, German, Dutch and English.
They were more superstitious than we are today.
For more, see http://www.learnkabbalah.com/sabb…
Harvey L • Link
Hi S.D.Sarah,
Good point... its not just the facts that matter but equally, or even more, the atmosphere in which they're viewed.
We've exchanged the superstitions of 1666 for those of 2019, but people are still disgraced, lose their jobs etc for actions (or even just statements that can be misconstrued) that go against the 'correct' behaviour of the times.
One of the delights of Pepys diary is to see how much life then is like life now... the toys change but us humans don't. The more things change, the more they remain the same.
john • Link
"Thence took Creed with some kind of violence and some hard words between us [...]"
Did he man-handle Creed into the carriage or is this odd phrasing?
San Diego Sarah • Link
I dunno John ... Pepys says "with some kind of violence" but does not specify who performed it. Since Pepys was shortish, I always imagine Creed as bigger and more athletic. Pepys was the aggrieved party. Creed was on the defensive for his deceitfulness and lack of cooperation. I can't see the Clerk of the Acts getting into fisticuffs in the street with a colleague, but I can hear a loud accusatory betrayed voice being told to calm down and shut up, accompanied by some shoving. Who shoved who into the coach isn't specified. SPOILER: Creed comes to lunch tomorrow, and they are "friends" again. Pepys puts up with a lot to keep Creed's sword hand available.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Hi Harvey L.
I'm constantly surprised by how secular Pepys is. Sermons are mostly boring; he goes to church to see and be seen, and for the music. Elizabeth rarely attends with him. Pepys' moments of introspection are few and far between.
He also rarely mentions reading the Gazette or other newsletters, and if I were just reading the Diary I would think he gets all his news from Court, letters or the Exchange.
We know about the rabbit's foot in his pocket which is keeping him healthy, and his observations of that pesky comet, but his fears are mute beyond rewriting his will which indicates he's worried. He's a hard-working junior politician, plays "the game" (when he figures it out), and often keeps his opinions to himself hoping someone else will verbalize them. A perfect President-in-the-making for the Royal Society, who seeks for the facts.
Harvey L • Link
Secular... yes.
He goes to church on Sunday to see and be seen, and doesn't seem to draw any particular inspiration. When he says, "If God wills it..." that seems to be like we might now say "If fate wills it..." rather than any sense of being judged from on high.
The convention of the day was to believe in God, so he acted as though he did. Unlike Evelyn who was an obvious believer.
Timo • Link
The annotations have been on point of late, none more so than today - with quotes from Genesis, Simon Cameron, Lord Byron, Batman Begins...