Wednesday 28 April 1669
Up, and was called upon by Sir H. Cholmly to discourse about some accounts of his, of Tangier: and then other talk; and I find by him that it is brought almost effect ([through] the late endeavours of the Duke of York and Duchess, the Queen-Mother, and my Lord St. Albans, together with some of the contrary faction, my Lord Arlington), that for a sum of money we shall enter into a league with the King of France, wherein, he says, my Lord Chancellor —[Clarendon; then an exile in France.]— is also concerned; and that he believes that, in the doing hereof, it is meant that he [Clarendon] shall come again, and that this sum of money will so help the King that he will not need the Parliament; and that, in that regard it will be forwarded by the Duke of Buckingham and his faction, who dread the Parliament. But hereby we must leave the Dutch, and that I doubt will undo us; and Sir H. Cholmly says he finds W. Coventry do think the like. Lady Castlemayne is instrumental in this matter, and, he say never more great with the King than she is now. But this a thing that will make the Parliament and kingdom mad, and will turn to our ruine: for with this money the King shall wanton away his time in pleasures, and think nothing of the main till it be too late. He gone, I to the office, where busy till noon, and then home to dinner, where W. Batelier dined with us, and pretty merry, and so I to the office again.
This morning Mr. Sheres sent me, in two volumes, Mariana his History of Spaine, in Spanish, an excellent book; and I am much obliged for it to him.
12 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"But hereby we must leave the Dutch, and that I doubt [ = fear ] will undo us"
Terry Foreman • Link
"it is brought almost effect...that for a sum of money we shall enter into a league with the King of France, wherein, he says, my Lord Chancellor —[Clarendon; then an exile in France.]— is also concerned"
L&M note these were the negotiations that led to the secret Treaty of Dover in 1670; that Clarendon was not concerned; but that the King would promise to declare himself a Catholic, about which Buckingham knew nothing.
More details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secr…
Andrew Hamilton • Link
The Secret Treaty of Dover, 1670. Some secret, if the court knew about it more than a year ahead (though the King's promise to become Roman Catholic in exchange for Louis' money was indeed kept secret, it seems).
Sam is prescient: "But this a thing that will make the Parliament and kingdom mad, and will turn to our ruine: for with this money the King shall wanton away his time in pleasures, and think nothing of the main till it be too late."
From the Wikipedia article on the Third Anglo-Dutch War:
"Charles was receiving considerable subsidies from Louis, about ₤225,000 a year, but he preferred to spend these on the luxuries of his own court. Besides, the treaty being after all secret, these subsidies couldn't be directed to the fleet anyway.... To provide for short-term money Charles therefore on 2 January 1672 repudiated the Crown debts in the Great Stop of the Exchequer which gained him ₤1,300,000."
Some months earlier Charles decided to manufacture a pretext for war with the Dutch that involved the royal yacht Merlin and Sam's duplicitous old friend George Downing. War was joined but it came out badly for the English. In short, Charles at his worst:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thir…
Robert Gertz • Link
Shrewd analysis by Sam. Though I wonder if he in his private thoughts, even beyond the Diary, speculated as to this bordering on treason...It would be interesting to know if Sam has convinced himself that the King by his very nature cannot commit treason or if he's simply too circumspect to risk putting more down.
languagehat • Link
I don't think it would have occurred to anyone but a pretty extreme Leveller (and they were vanishingly rare by then, I would imagine) that the king was capable of committing treason; in the worldview of that time, it was a meaningless concept, like God being sinful. The king could drive the country to rack and ruin, but he could not commit treason.
Jenny • Link
Charles I was executed for treason.
languagehat • Link
Good point! I withdraw the overstatement, though not the general idea (extreme anti-monarchy ideas were, of course, more common back in the days when they were chopping off Charlie's head).
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"Up, and was called upon by Sir H. Cholmly to discourse about some accounts of his, of Tangier.'
L&M note these accounts (for work on the Tangier mole), dated this day and covering 1665-8, are in Rawl. C 423, ff. 82-3.
psw • Link
Mr. Sheres sent me, in two volumes, Mariana his History of Spaine, in Spanish, an excellent book; and I am much obliged for it to him.
Sam: this is a subterfuge; he be interested in Your Wife.
Cliff • Link
I have to say that Pepys use of overcomplicated sentences defeats this ancient Londoner.
He is perfectly capable of calling a spade a spade so why does he get himself - and us - hopelessly lost.
Mary K • Link
Pepys hopelessly lost?
I don't think so. He knows whereof he writes and is making a record for his own benefit of the rumoured machinations involved in the agreement of the secret Treaty of Dover and its probable ramifications. He certainly didn't keep twentieth-century Londoners, whether ancient or not, in mind as potential readers of his private diary in doing so.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Meanwhile, with the Court in Newmarket, Cosmo, the future Grand Duke of Turin, continues his sightseeing.
I've standardized names, scanning errors I could figure out, and increased the number of paragraphs:
On the morning of 8 May/28 April, 1669 his highness impatiently endeavored to get himself exempted from attending the usual religious services, that he might be in good time at the king's house, but found that his majesty had already left Newmarket on foot, to take exercise.
On receiving this information, his highness set out in the same manner, with Colonel Gascoyne, Sir Castiglioni, and his attendants, in that direction in which he heard that the king had walked.
He had not gone many paces before he met his majesty, who returned home in a plain and simple country dress, without any finery, but wearing the badges of the order of St. George and of the Garter.
His highness presented himself to his majesty, and having exchanged compliments, accompanied him to his residence, where they remained in conversation till the horses were got ready, on which they were to ride out again into the country, to take the diversion of coursing hares, in those open and naked plains.
Having spent the remainder of the morning in this amusement, they returned at mid-day, each betaking himself to his quarters; and his highness dined with the gentlemen of his suite.
208
After dinner the king, with the duke and Prince Robert [RUPERT], went on horseback to a place at a little distance from Newmarket, and amused themselves with the game of tennis, and his highness went out in his carriage in pursuit of the birds called dotterel, which in size and shape resemble a very large lark; they are, for the most part, of a color inclining to brown upon the back, and under the belly nearly white.
Towards evening, on going back to Newmarket, his highness paid his compliments to the king and duke, and returning home, supped alone, at an early hour.
@@@
From:
TRAVELS OF COSMO THE THIRD, GRAND DUKE OF TUSCANY,
THROUGH ENGLAND,
DURING THE REIGN OF KING CHARLES THE SECOND (1669)
TRANSLATED FROM THE ITALIAN MANUSCRIPT
https://archive.org/stream/travel…
His highness, Cosmo, must be considered only as a traveler. Under his direction, the narrator of the records was Count Lorenzo Magalotti, afterwards Secretary to the Academy del Cimento, and one of the most learned and eminent characters of the court of Ferdinand II.
[The vision of Charles dressed in casual clothes and his George, roaming around the field, is just so ... wonderful. Of course, no one recognized His Majesty.]