Colin Gravois on 23 May 2003  •  Link

Will be hard to top this day. Sam at his very best, made you feel you were there on board with him or would surely like to have been. He's really in he thick of things, taking the kings account, kissing hands, taking letters, dispatching letters, all the while a keen eye pealed, yet he's such a natural in his role and seemingly unaffected by all the hubbub; although by now I imagine he's itching for London and his old ways.

Alan Bedford on 24 May 2003  •  Link

Are there any confirming sources for the King's tale of the woes he experienced while escaping Britain at the end of the Civil War? Or are we expected to take them at face value because he's the King, as Sam evidently did. (He's the head of State! Why would he lie?)

john simmons on 24 May 2003  •  Link

Alan! How could you possibly question stories told at a mother's knee?! These are all tales you grow up with, by now it probably doesn't matter if true or no, but would be interesting to get the real skinny.
Footnote: For the Americans on this side of the pond, it would be interesting to know if the Sackville mentioned is part of the later Sackville-West crew, or if Howe is the progenator of the Gen. Howe who fought in our revolution.

helena murphy on 24 May 2003  •  Link

The best book dealing with the King's escape after the defeat at Worcester is "The Escape of Charles II After the Battle of Worcester" by Richard Ollard. Charles,who after his defeat was a hunted man with a price on his head could never have reached France in safety without the help of the Roman Catholic underground in England ,who were the professionals in this clandestine activity due to the harsh penal laws against them , which forced their priests into hiding.Many of them belonged to the landowning gentry but not all, for example the Penderal brothers were illiterate. They all held very strong royalist sympathies and Father Huddleston, a Benedictine,who aided him, was later to convert the King on his death bed to Roman Catholicism. The trauma and suffering of those six weeks may be compared in the present day to that of a fugitive on the run from a concentration or prisoner of war camp. The brave men and women who risked their lives for their King were amply rewarded by him after the Restoration for their examplary loyalty and courage. The experience and subsequent exile shaped Charles into a sad and sobre man in keeping with his supping alone in the coach on board The Royal Charles.

See also Charles II by Antonia Fraser for a further .account of the escape

david on 24 May 2003  •  Link

My big question: WHY do these people want a King? What's so special about royalty? Why didn't anyone want government by representation?

Steve Jones on 24 May 2003  •  Link

"For the King's own account of his escape dictated to Pepys…”
There is a (partial) account of the escape here
http://www.shropshire-promotions.…

First post, but I’ve been on board since the beginning. This sight is very addictive - my day is not complete without it.

vincent on 24 May 2003  •  Link

"why king" beats anarchy: People need an authority.(it save 'aving to vote every four years (save money???) )They LOVE strong leaders and Love the pompt and circumstance that goes with it. It does brighten up a boring day. 'tis a weakness of 'uman nature; stops one from thinking as long as there is not too much pain attached . 'tis my thought from the scuppers:

helena murphy on 24 May 2003  •  Link

David, monarchy, whether absolute or constitutional has been around for a very long time. Was not Jesus, through Mary descended from the royal house of David? Perhaps it is its antiquity which gives it the mystique which it enjoys to this day. Is it not Lady Bracknell in Wilde's play who gives Ernest a bit of a hard time when she cannot quite get to grips with his family tree? The cult of the ancestor is an integral aspect of many cultures,
and in a monarchical system the good , the bad and the ugly are all accounted for , therefore one need never be taken by surprise. Future monarchs serve tough apprentiships for their future role. Elected representatives frequently disappoint, but today's monarchs stand above political bickering and sincerely carry the interests of their people in their hearts.

The Bishop on 24 May 2003  •  Link

In a representative government, men would work their way into the government and then try to manipulate it to their own financial benefit. This is what happened in ancient Athens, as the ancient historian Thucydides pointed out, and the failure of Athenian democracy was taken as proof that representative government could not work. Hobbes published a translation of Thucydides around this time.

While a bad King might pillage his people, bad Kings only turned up every few generations, and anyway their capacity for wasting money was still less than that of a multitude of elected men.

Also, the English monarchy had centuries of established tradition behind it, and was stable. All of the governments set up after the civil war had no tradition behind them, and so the goverment underwent a complete overhaul about once a year.

Laura K on 24 May 2003  •  Link

monarchy vs representative govts

Perhaps it would be more instructive if someone could tell us why people in SP's era wanted the monarchy restored, as opposed to our own opinions on monarchies. The annotator who goes by "The Bishop" gave us some of that. Can anyone enlighten further, with more specifics?

Also, Vincent offered his thoughts on why "king beats anarchy". Interesting, but those are not the only choices.

vincent on 24 May 2003  •  Link

"government" : to misquote a French saying The people get the government they ask(deserve) for: At this Time Education was starting, Free schools, grammer schools were coming on line. The Bible appeared to have answers but So many different viewpoints, to answer the misery on the lower 50% of populace: So many were kicked off the land and were Masterless, no trade, nobody to look after their interests: They tried Parliamentary rule. What did they get? armed bandits unpayed soldiers , no money in the till of government: Unfortunately Richard C was inept: So many different personalities no organisation skills: Success of any endeavour needs a great coordinator and organiser:
It requires for a leader to bring to the the table many different skills to have a successful grouping like a nation. The answer is still being sought in today's world: This mix of dictator and democratic seems to work.

john simmons on 24 May 2003  •  Link

Question to The Bishop: This is way off base, but your mention of Thucydides and Athenian democracy raises a question that some of us have been trying to resolve for over a year. He is asked the question: "When will justice come to Athens?" He answers: "Justice will not come to Athens until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are." Do you know the source/context of this quote...it would make some people very content to have an answer...you might send the answer on the side so as not to gum up the works further. Thanks
Note to Phil: you can remove this as soon as The Bishop speaks...thanks.

maureen on 24 May 2003  •  Link

I can't agree with Vincent: suggest that anyone who wants to know what really happened could begin with Antonia Fraser's Cromwell Our Chief of Men and the verbatim transcripts of the Putney debates (1647) dramatised by Caryl Churchill in Light Shining in Buckinghamshire. Easily - and cheaply - available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obid… and http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obid…

Michael L on 25 May 2003  •  Link

Keep in mind also that Cromwell in many ways was king in all but name, even down to to the dynastic habit of naming his son as successor to the reins of government. So it's not as if people necessarily were moving up by keeping a "Protector" around as opposed to a king. Moreover, the alternative to monarchy was not quite so simple as "representative government," but was, effectively, Puritain government, which made itself unpopular in some quarters through its rather heavy-handed reform of many popular English customs.

Todd Bernhardt on 25 May 2003  •  Link

The key seems to be king *and* Parliament, not one vs. the other.

As Michael points out, Cromwell was in most ways a king -- he was a strong leader who was able to effectively govern and keep his enemies at bay. His son was not able to do the same, and the ship of state became rudderless. Yes, absolute power can corrupt (absolutely!), but as others have pointed out, having an "executive" leading the country also has its advantages.

It seems to me that what made the English monarchy unique was that its powers were limited by Parliament (this concept was, of course, later reflected in the U.S. constitution's balance of power between the executive, legislative and judicial).

I'm simplifying greatly here, and of course, the pendulum swung back and forth between 1215 and 1688 (and you could legitimately argue that the struggle for power went beyond there), but I think that's why at this point people wanted a king. Pure republicanism didn't seem to be working, so they wanted a strong hand at the helm again ... as long as there were limits (as James II learned, the hard way).

Ann Garbett on 25 May 2003  •  Link

On the desirability of kingship vs. democracy it's worthwhile to look at the lines which the poet Dryden gave to the king in "Absolom and Achitophel," written about twenty years after these events. To the king (and evidently to Dryden), putting political power in the hands of the general public meant giving it to a mass of people who were least able to govern, capable of operating only on whim and sentiment, without understanding of the great issues of state. Dryden gives the king these words in the face of a possible rebellion led by the (illegitimate) Duke of Monmouth, who some thought might be a suitable successor to King Charles II, and Dryden's picture of democracy isn't a pretty one. It's hard sometimes to turn off our 20th (or 21st) century vision, but Dryden can help.

vincent on 26 May 2003  •  Link

"kingship vs. democracy" subject still in vogue: It depends who gives you your butter for your dailey bread and who steals it(butter): The proverbial silver spoon helps: to read up on the levellers et al: google up" putney debates" or
http://campus.northpark.edu/histo…
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co…
The other debate is nuture vs nature on who should lead and who should follow which Aplha person: My thinking as long as every person can rise to their level of incompitance then the pressure is off: if stiffled You get an explossion when the pressure is enough to rumpture the thin skin of civilisation:

Waldo on 26 May 2003  •  Link

I'm sure there are some tracts written in defense of the monarchy that are on line somewhere. Does anyone know of some to recommend?

Glyn on 27 May 2003  •  Link

David, these people are trying to navigate their way to a viable Constitution without any form of a "roadmap" to guide them.

They've tried the divine rule of Kings, under Charles I: the king is the representative of God, and while people can make petitions to him, basically it's up to him. That's the position still for Louis XIV of France (the most powerful nation in the world).

Then they swung the other way, and had various forms of democracy. Arguably, the Commonwealth was the first modern democracy in the world (allowing the poor to vote, etc). That might seem best to us, since we live in democracies; but in the primitive nature of the times it raised problems of its own.

Now the English are reaching for a compromise. They are about to swing back to a middle position: the King will be Head of State but Parliament will have its own powers to counterbalance him.

In Pepys' lifetime, the Parliament will bring in its own Bill of Rights, which will form part of the basis for the American Consitution.

All the background scenes of Cavaliers and Roundheads, ships in the channel and local customs is very interesting: but the crucial thing here are people trying to find out a way to govern themselves with justice and a lack of malice to the people who were on the other side of the battlefield.

They won't achieve that completely, but all-in-all they will do a pretty good job. I doubt if current politicians could have done any better.

Russ on 27 May 2003  •  Link

Glyn, I think you are mistaking the results with intents. My understanding is that Parliament did not have a plan to put a curb on the monarchy by 1660, that this came about as result of practical decisions made over the next few decades. Also, the Commonwealth never allowed poor people to vote.

Paul Brewster on 28 May 2003  •  Link

Kingship vs Democracy from an interested friend
There is much debate on monarchy versus other forms of government on this page but isn't the truly interesting question why Pepys says that it made him ready to weep "to hear the stories that he told of his difficulties that he had passed through, as his travelling four days and three nights on foot, every step up to his knees in dirt, with nothing but a green coat and a pair of country breeches on, and a pair of country shoes that made him so sore all over his feet, that he could scarce stir", when this would appear to be merely a bad but ordinary sort of trip for most of the English people?

The real question is why a person who is hailed as being strong enough to command a country/people is considered too delicate to wade through the mud.

Nix on 28 May 2003  •  Link

It's not that he's too delicate --

The monarchist would say he's too noble.

Jackie on 29 May 2003  •  Link

The issue of Charles' escape is that he had to borrow clothes urgently. People can go a long way in badly-fitting clothes, but try walking even a mile in badly fitting shoes that you've borrowed off somebody - worn out shoes selected to make you look poor and I think that even the toughest of us will have serious problems.

Charles could not have disguised himself as a peasant wearing his own boots, which were undoubtedly well-fitting and in which he oculd probably have walked for hours.

The other issue which he came up against was that the nobility simply weren't taught (or expected to know) what life was like for ordinary folk - it was part of their mystique and training. Charles had to try to fit in and he had to do it with no experience at all.

jeannine on 1 Mar 2006  •  Link

Sandwich's Journal Entry Today

"Wednesday. In the morning the General went in his barge close to the shore-side at Schevelinge, where was prepared a Dutch vessel to carry His Majesty on board the Naseby, and about ten of the clock in the morning the King's most sacred Majesty came to the shore-side and boarded the said vessel, but before she was launched from the shore his Majesty went off her into the Rear Admiral's boat and came presently on board the General's barge, as did also the Dukes of York and Gloucester, the Princess Royal, the Queen of Bohemia and the Prince of Orange, and so were rowed from the Naseby, which ship they boarded about eleven of the clock in the morning.
There were upon the shore at Schevelinge many troops of horse and foot of the States, and about forty pieces of ordnance, all which saluted the King and a vast multitude of people were spectators, supposed to be one hundred thousand at least.
The ships saluted the King with all their guns twice over before he came on board and once over after he came on board, and once more at the going off of the Princess Royal, the Queen of Bohemia and the Prince of Orange, which was about three of the clock in the afternoon, immediately after which the fleet set sail bound for Dover.
This day his Majesty was pleased to change the name of the Naseby into the Charles and new-named divers other ships;the Richard was named the Royal James. His Royal Highness and the Duke of York embarked in the London when we set sail, as did the Duke of Gloucester into the Swiftsure.
Monsiour Obdam, the Hollands Admiral, came aboard the Naseby, but stayed not to go off with the Princes of Orange, and went away before dinner into another boat by himself."

Michael Robinson on 18 Jul 2007  •  Link

Dutch Medal commemorating the embarkation at Scheveningen
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/…

Terry Foreman on 20 May 2013  •  Link

An account of King Charles the Second's escape from Worcester / dictated by the king himself ; from the Pepys mss. ; edited by Edmund Goldsmid.
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/p…

Terry Foreman on 20 May 2013  •  Link

"Was not Jesus, through Mary descended from the royal house of David?"

Not quite, helena murphy: "The genealogy of Jesus is described in two passages of the Gospels: Luke 3:23–38 and Matthew 1:1–17. Matthew's genealogy commences with Abraham and then from King David's son Solomon follows the legal line of the kings through Jeconiah, the king whose descendants were cursed, to Joseph, legal father of Jesus. Luke gives a different genealogy going back to Adam, through a minor son of David, Nathan and again to Joseph."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene…

Bill on 23 May 2013  •  Link

It's only a little simplistic to say that in Pepys' time, as in antiquity, the best history was a good story with a moral. And what better story than a hero wandering in the (sometimes figurative) wilderness, overcoming adversity and betrayal, and returning tiumphant in the end. Think Moses or Heracles or Odysseus or Elizabeth I or Charles II! No wonder that today's entry is even more alive than usual.

Dick Wilson on 24 May 2013  •  Link

Bill, an English example would be Alfred the Great, letting the cakes burn. A hundred years after these events, many Americans equated Democracy with Anarchy, and either opposed independence or stayed out of the fight -- the latter being fully one third of the population. Surprisingly, during the American Revolution, the most loyal Americans were those most closely related to the Jacobin rebellion a generation earlier.
As to Civil Wars, it is a matter of great importance, how they end. This one, and the American Civil War ended with minimum violence. More commonly, Civil Wars end in a Bloody Assize. Too often Civil wars are waged for the purpose of exterminating the opposition, and, eventually, one side prevails and slaughters the losers. We can read the history of the Restoration, with relief, as an example of the way things ought to be done.

Bill on 24 May 2013  •  Link

If some equated "Democracy with Anarchy" don't forget that we have four states who decided to be called "commonwealth" instead. Wonder where they got that idea?

Gerald Berg on 24 May 2013  •  Link

A decade late but Waldo ask for some tracts in defense of Monarchy. Not exactly what was requested but I would suggest Isaiah Berlin's collection of essays AGAINST THE CURRENT which outlines various writers ideas on what he came to call the Counter-Enlightenment. At any rate, the list of writers discussed there pretty well covers the field.

Gillian Bagwell on 24 May 2013  •  Link

In the run-up to the release of my novel "The Darling Strumpet" in 2011 (based on the life of Nell Gwynn), I wrote a series of articles on the events in London of the months of 1660, beginning with May: http://hoydensandfirebrands.blogs…

My second book, "The September Queen" (U.K. title "The King's Mistress" is the first fictional account of the story of Jane Lane, who helped Charles escape after the Battle of Worcester in 1651. This is the story that Charles told Pepys aboard the newly-christened Royal Charles, as recorded in today’s entry.

History is indebted to Sam, who invested a great deal of time and care to ensure that the story of Charles’s escape after the Battle of Worcester was preserved for posterity. In September 1680, Sam spent two three-hour sessions with Charles at Newmarket, using his famous shorthand to take down Charles’s account of his odyssey, which Sam later edited with his characteristic skill and flair. He also collected all the other contemporary accounts of others who helped Charles during his six weeks on the run, giving us an enthralling -- and sometimes almost minute-by-minute --account of what Charles did, said, wore, and ate as he desperately tried to get safely out of England, where Cromwell's army was hunting for him. It’s a very complete picture of an amazing piece of history from the point of view of the people who participated in it.

When I was researching my book, I followed some of the route of Charles's escape and travels with Jane, and blogged about it. Lots of pictures of Worcester, Boscobel and Moseley Old Hall and their priest holes, and other places along the way.
http://theroyalmiracle.blogspot.c…

I also wrote short articles on "The Royal Miracle," as Charles's escape came to be known. Here's the link to the piece on History in an Hour:
http://www.historyinanhour.com/20…

If you want to read more about Charles’s escape (it was an enormously formative event for him and he told the story over and over for the rest of his life), I can recommend Charles II’s Escape from Worcester, edited by William Matthews, which presents Pepys’s transcription of Charles’s account and his edited version side by side, as well as other contemporary accounts; The Escape of Charles II After the Battle of Worcester by Richard Ollard; A. M. Broadley’s 1912 The Royal Miracle: A Collection of Rare Tracts, Broadsides, Letters, Prints, & Ballads Concerning the Wanderings of Charles II After the Battle of Worcester, which also chronicles the delightfully daffy 1911 reenactment of the events; both the 1897 and 1908 editions of The Flight of the King by Allan Fea, as well as his After Worcester Fight; The Boscobel Tracts, a collection of contemporary accounts edited by J. Hughes and published in 1857; The Wanderings of Charles II in Staffordshire and Shropshire by H.P. Kingston; and Jean Gordon Hughes’s A King in the Oak Tree.

eileen d. on 4 Dec 2016  •  Link

(phil, feel free to delete! but since you let the original off-topic question stand I thought I'd answer it. thanks.)

john simmons, re: your question about the justice quote, referenced above by The Bishop. Check Loeb's 1914 ed. "Plutarch, The Parallel Lives" chapter: Life of Solon (page 455, section 18.5)
(http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thay…)

'Being asked, namely, what city was best to live in, "That city," he [Solon] replied, "in which those who are not wronged, no less than those who are wronged, exert themselves to punish the wrongdoers."'

San Diego Sarah on 30 Jul 2018  •  Link

I've read Gillian Bagwell's book, and greatly enjoyed it. Gillian is an American, and while she has the story factually straight, and correctly portrays the places and dangers, she turned Jane Lane into something of a Victorian suffragette. Knowing that, please enjoy "The September Queen"/"The King's Mistress" -- Jane was one of many women "liberated" by the Civil Wars and had wonderful adventures. (Have you noticed women fill in for the men during wars, but when the men come home, everyone promptly forgets that things were going fine without them? We need more books on the adventures of Stuart era women. Gillian made a good try.)

San Diego Sarah on 15 Sep 2019  •  Link

Excerted from CHARLES II AND HIS COURT
BY A. G. A. BRETT
NEW YORK: G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS
LONDON: METHUEN & GO. LTD.
1910

https://archive.org/stream/charle…

"There was, in a manner, no night between Tuesday and Wednesday, particularly for those who, finding no nook or hole to put their heads because the houses were not able to contain the people who flocked thither from all parts of the neighboring country, for the most part were constrained to walk the streets [of The Hague]."

At 2 a.m. the drums beat to assemble the soldiers and citizens; Charles II rose early l to receive the States of Holland.

1 And dressed in a plain-stuff suit, with a plume of red feathers.

A procession of Dutch and English on horseback went from The Hague to Schevening, Charles II riding bareheaded and dressed in black or purple in the middle of the three foremost horsemen.

Charles II was met by Admiral Edward Montagu, Stayner, Crew, and others, and greeted Montagu with a kiss, and entered his shallop with all his relatives, while the Royal Standard was hoisted, and the sailors shouted and threw their caps and doublets into the air.

At 11 o'clock the royal party boarded the Naseby, newly decked with silken flags, scarlet coverings, and the like, and dined in the coach.' 2

2 For the whole voyage, etc., cf. Dryden, Astraa Jfedux, 11. 216 sqq.

After dinner Charles II changed the names of the ships in the fleet, as that of the Naseby to the Royal Charles.

140 CHARLES II AND HIS COURT

That done, Queen Mother Henrietta Maria, the Princess Royal, and Prince William of Orange took leave of Charles II, and James, Duke of York went on board the London, and Henry, Duke of Gloucester on the Swiftsure.

"Which done, we weighed anchor, and with a fresh gale and most happy weather we set sail for England. All the afternoon the King walked here and there, up and down (quite contrary to what I thought him to have been) very active and stirring. Upon the quarter-deck he fell into discourse of his escape from Worcester."

Charles II supped alone in the coach.

On the way, the royal fleet came to Rotterdam, and Charles II's ship was visited by the Burgomaster, amid salutes of gun, the whole harbor being decorated with English colors. Charles stood amidships in a wig and dark clothes, bareheaded, to receive the Burgomaster.
%%%
I wonder why Pepys doesn’t mention stopping at Rottendam? And Charles in a wig? – but bareheaded? Maybe that means he didn’t wear a hat.

Terry Foreman on 20 Jun 2021  •  Link

"Yet he was forced to run away from a miller and other company, that took them for rogues."

L&M: At Evelin Mill, near Madeley, Salop.

Terry Foreman on 20 Jun 2021  •  Link

"His sitting at table at one place, where the master of the house,"

L&M: George Norton of Abbotsleigh, near Bristol.

Terry Foreman on 20 Jun 2021  •  Link

"At another place...."

L&M: Thomas Symonds's house at Hambledon, Hants.

Terry Foreman on 20 Jun 2021  •  Link

"In another place at his inn,...."

L&M: The George at Brighton.

Terry Foreman on 20 Jun 2021  •  Link

"Then the difficulty of getting a boat ...."

L&M: The Surprise, a coal-brig. The master (Nicholas Tettersell) had recognised him. They sailed from Shoreham.

San Diego Sarah on 21 May 2023  •  Link

"At this time the days were at their full length, and yet it may be said, that not only The Hague saw Wednesday, 2 June, something more early than the Sun; but also, that there was, in a manner, no night between Tuesday and Wednesday; particularly for those, who finding no hole to put their heads, because the houses not being able to lodge the crowd of people, which ran there from all the neighbor Towns, the most part were constrained to walk the streets.

"There was no night for more than 50,000 persons, who from the precedent evening were gone to take up place on the Downs, or sandhills, which border on the sea along the coast of Holland, from whence they might discover the Fleet, and from whence they intended to see the King to embark."

From A RELATION IN FORM of JOURNAL, OF THE VOYAGE And RESIDENCE Which The most EXCELLENT and most MIGHTY PRINCE CHARLES THE II KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, &c.
Hath made in Holland, from the 15/25 of May, to the 2 of June, 1660.
Rendered into English out of the Original French, By Sir WILLIAM LOWER, Knight. [Edited by SDS into modern English. Apologies for any errors.] Page
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo…

It's hard to imagine so many people had walked so many miles to join in this momentus occasion. But they did.

San Diego Sarah on 21 May 2023  •  Link

OOOOOppps:
https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…

I said Queen Mother Henrietta Maria saw him off. WRONG!

It was Charles, James and Henry's aunt, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia.

(Now I must go back and correct my own notes. In my efforts to be clear about who's who, I find many errors from previous years of confusion.)

San Diego Sarah on 21 May 2023  •  Link

My take on why the populus welcomed back the monarchy -- they were so happy the fighting was over, and families could be fairly sure of roughly how the political and religious winds would blow so they could begin to unite what was left of their families. They were cheering peace and unity.

Did everyone feel like that? NO:

"The same day [21/31 May] the King received Letters from a certain kind of people, which are called in England Quakers; because that in the ordinary hours when they make their devotions, or prayers, there takes themselves, a certain trembling in all parts of the body, which they say to be a violent motion, caused by the spirit of God, wherewith they would make men be believe that they are possessed.
"It would be very hard to say whether these people are fanatics, or hypochondriac, that is, mad or melancholy; but it must needs be, that so great a disorder of spirit, as that which is observed in all their actions, proceedeth from an ill disposition of the body.
Page 88
"They have not only lost the respect they owe unto Princes and Magistrates; but they fail also in the duties which are inseparable from the civil life: And they are so far from humility, which is a virtue not known, but since the birth of Christianity, that hitherto there was never seen an animal so impudent, and so proud.
"The Letter was ridiculous, and impertinent throughout; but particularly, in most places, it pronounced the threatenings of God’s judgment against the King, if he protected not that Sect, and entered not into those thoughts."

From A RELATION IN FORM of JOURNAL, OF THE VOYAGE And RESIDENCE Which The most EXCELLENT and most MIGHTY PRINCE CHARLES THE II KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, &c.
Hath made in Holland, from the 15/25 of May, to the 2 of June, 1660.
Rendered into English out of the Original French, By Sir WILLIAM LOWER, Knight. [Edited by SDS into modern English. Apologies for any errors.]

https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo…

I wonder who wrote it. When I consulted the Google librarian, he directed me to the November 1660 Declaration that George Fox presented to Charles II, assuring him that the Quakers were a non-violent community.
http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpage….

So I think it safe to say it wasn't George Fox -- he probably wouldn't have been invited to the Palace for the conversation if he had.

MartinVT on 22 May 2023  •  Link

Goodbye, Scheveningen! Sam mentions the place only once more in passing, and never referred to it as Scheveningen, always Scheveling. The latter (along with Schevelinge) seems to have been an alternative form used in maps, works of art and written works in England, Holland and France, from the 17th until the early 19th century, although the Dutch usage was much more typically Scheveningen (or, early on, Scheveninghe). So Sam was not off base to use it consistently.

GrahamT on 24 May 2023  •  Link

As a symbol of Charles II hiding from Cromwell's forces in an oak tree, May 29 1660 was designated a public holiday - Oak Apple Day. Although it ceased to be a holiday in 1859, it was still being celebrated in my childhood in the 1950s. I well remember teachers bringing in oak leaves and the class painting oak trees with the king sticking out of the branches at various angles.

Terry Foreman on 24 May 2023  •  Link

Meanwhile in Parliament in England

House of Commons -- 5/23/1600

https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

The King's Accommodation.

Mr. Annesly, Lord President, reports from the Council of State, an Estimate of the Charge of several Particulars, necessary to be provided for the Accommodating of his Majesty, and the Dukes of Yorke and Gloucester; viz.
An ESTIMATE of the Charge of making up of a rich Cloth of State, with a Chair, Three Stools, and Two Cushions, out of an old Canopy of State, and some imperfect Furniture of a Crimson Velvet Bed suitable, £.s.d. Will amount unto the Sum of about 200--
For repairing of an old Chair of State, with Three Stools suitable to it20--
For repairing, with some Additions, of the rich incarnate Velvet Bed, being for the Reception of his Majesty, before the other can be made10--
For a Counterpoint to it, which will contain Thirty Yards of Cloth of Silver, lined with Bays and Taffaty Sarsenet46--
Three Pair of Fine Fustian Blankets1610-For Twelve new Fustian and Holland Quilts for his Majesty's incarnate Velvet Bed, and the Two Dukes Beds48--
For Three Pair of the best Spanish Blankets for those Beds12--For Three large fine round Down Bolsters9--For Three necessary Stools of Velvet for those Beds30--For Three French Tables for those Beds318-For Thirty Pallet Beds, of the largest Size, for the two Dukes; Thirty Tapestry Counterpoints, and Thirty Pair of Blankets630--
Twelve Pair of Fine Holland Sheets for the Dukes of Yorke and Gloucester own Beds17216-
For Making and Washing these Twelve Pair of Sheets612-
For Sixty Pair of Sheets, for Thirty Pallet Beds aforesaid, will cost26710-
For Making and Washing these Sixty Pair of Sheets6--
For Twelve Pounds of sweet Powder to put to the whole Provision of Sheets3--
For Ten Damask Curtains, containing 240 Yards of Damask, and lined with Fustian, and Making, with Rings and Tape to them240--Total £.1,7216-
Which was read and approved of. Ordered, That it be referred to the Council of State, to take care, that the same be provided accordingly.

Terry Foreman on 24 May 2023  •  Link

House of Lords -- 5/23/1600

https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

Letter from the Lords who went to wait on the King.

"My Lord,"
We have delivered the Letter and Message intrusted to us by the House of Peers, and found a most gracious Reception from His Majesty, who is pleased to declare (which we desire your Lordship to communicate to the House), That He intends to part from hence on Monday next, being the 21th of this Month, to land at Dover; and, after a short Stay at Canterbury, to continue His Journey to London, and there to reside with His Court at Whitehall.
This we are commanded to impart to your Lordship from His Majesty, and remain"Your Lordship'sHagh, the 17th May, 1660.
Most humble Servants,
Oxford.
Middlesex.
Vis. Hereford.
Berkeley.
Brooke.
To the Right Honourable the Earl of Manchester, Speaker of the House of Peers."

....https://www.british-history.ac.uk/lords-jrnl/vol11/pp38-39#h3-0008

King's Reception.
https://www.british-history.ac.uk…

ORDERED, That the Committee for the King's Reception do meet this Afternoon; and to consider what is fit for the present to be done, to receive His Majesty.

Richard Bachmann on 25 May 2023  •  Link

I have only joined this Pepysian colloquium in its third iteration. However if I may I'd respond to this day's annotations, though twenty years on.
Why do people now want a king, again or at all?
I suppose the first and obvious reference would be Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes, sometimes tutor to Charles II.
Next I'd suggest the recently published and splendidly readable history of England's revolutionary 17 Century, The Blazing World by Jonathan Healey (https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/bla…).
Following that, if you'd like to follow the evolving notion of governance beyond Pepys's time, you might read David Runciman's Confronting Leviathan (https://profilebooks.com/work/con…).
History is to some extent the history of missed opportunities and the seventeenth century had more than its share. On the whole, the populace (and that select smaller group, the citizens) often value stability over radical restructuring. And given the tumult since 1640 who really could blame them?

john on 26 May 2023  •  Link

Why cheer the restoration? It may well have been that after so many mirthless years of the Protectorate, people wanted to be able to sing, dance, and drink again. So not so much as pro-rex as anti-puritan.

Stephane Chenard on 27 May 2023  •  Link

"At Rouen he looked so poorly, that the people went into the rooms before he went away to see whether he had not stole something or other."

We shall henceforth feel Brothership to His Majestie, everie time an inkeeper will, upon our telling him that no, we didn't take anything from the minibar, still detaine us until a servant has discreetly inspected our hotel room to ascertain if this be, indeed, the plaine Truth.

Stephane Chenard on 27 May 2023  •  Link

The "infinity of people on board" and the ship being "exceeding full" with "nothing but Lords and persons of honour" bring up one tricky issue: Protocol. And Charles "riding bareheaded" and "st[anding] amidships in a wig and dark clothes, bareheaded" - ah, the fascination with bare heads.

Leaving aside the importance of pronouncing the latter clearly ("did ye say the king was beheaded today?") Sir William Lower's "Relation in the form of journal" never fails to mention it when some bare head was in the Presence. Being hatless, even if still bewigged, implied an easy, informal, friendly relationship with H.M. Thus at pages 40-42 Lower devotes nearly 400 words to tergiversations among ambassadors, as they prepare for farewell audiences with Charles in the Hague, before he embarks, on whether they should go with hats or not:

"Some doubted if the Embassadours (...) should be received to make their complements to the King without Letters of Credence; or if after it were acknowledged that their character legitimated them for that, they might be covered". Eventually they chose No Hat, because the king "could not dispense himself of treating them, according to the dignity of their character, and of making them to be covered". The protocol is not that subalterns should doff their hats to their betters, but that they stand in full uniform, hats firmly on. Diplomats come and go in hatless insouciance, just as in later ages they'll park with abandon without fear of being ticket'd.

The Hat/No-Hat rules veered close to absurdity when Charles received Spanish ambassador Don Estevan de Gamarra, a friend which the king meets "without ceremonies" given "the affection which he [Gamarra] had had for his interests". But Spain, despite now being at peace with France, is still technically at war with France's English ally, precluding Hatless Insouciance. So? "So covered he not himself, because the open war which for some years was, and is between Spain and England, hindred him to make his character appear there; whereas the particular devotion, which this Lord hath alwaies had for the service of his Majesty, obliged him to be continually at the Court, and by his person." In this case perhaps a tiny hat, without plumes..? Ay carambas, basta con estas huevadas, vamos, vamos! And Gamarra strides in, the mane of curls visible at https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Est… flowing 'round his rotund visage.

Stephane Chenard on 27 May 2023  •  Link

The Hat Protocol, however, is a trifle to implement compared with settling precedence among the hundreds of knights, viscounts, baronets, ambassadors, generals, dukes &c. that presently throng the Dutch shore. Lower tells, again (at page 23), how the States General, preparing to see Charles off in Breda on May 24, felt "reason to fear, that there might happen some disorder about the rank of the Coaches that should be sent to meet the King"; for a specific reason, somewhat prescient, that "some of them (...) would make their Coach, to go before that of the Prince of Or[a]ng[e]; who ought to be considered here, not only because of his quality of Soveraign Prince, but also as Nephew to the King; and consequently, as chief Prince of the blood of England", of which some Ambassadours could perhaps be foolishly unaware, or disregarding. The issue was so hot that "the Estates General (...) judged fit to cause the Embassadours, of the Crowned-heads, to be prayed, by their Agent, not to send their Coaches".

Then there was the English court, which could be expected to polish its badges of rank and privileges with a vengeance after all these years of exile and now that it truly matter'd. "No person would undertake the commission to distribute the Yachts among the Lords of the Court, because it would be impossible to oblige them all equally, and to disoblige none". In desperation the Dutch protocol officer, Mr. de Beverweert, "besought the King to be so gracious, as to cause the distribution to be made". Charles was busy and couldn't care less, and "ordained that the Duke of York, should on this occasion perform the functions of Admiral, in distributing the Yachts".

Their same bristly Lordships will soon be jostling in the narrow passageways and cramped cabins of the Royal Navy - some perhaps hurried on by seasickness. The fleet's Sam Pepyses will wisely stay out of the way. The king - for whom, we forgot to mention, hatlessness signals Humility - of course walks where he pleases.

Stephane Chenard on 27 May 2023  •  Link

Oh, and why so many people on the shore? The sources don't analyze that too deeply, but how often, on the rugged Dutch coast, do you get a naval show that's not an invasion, and to see all these plumes, ribbons and petticoats? And to sell them, their servants and their sergeants a few baskets of mussels? And to pick up all the goodies that they leave behind, lost or uneaten or too heavy to carry? Worth a walk, we say; in an age when walking a few dozen miles and sleeping atop a dune is hardly an exceptional adventure.