Monday 20 May 1661
At home all the morning; paid 50l. to one Mr. Grant for Mr. Barlow, for the last half year, and was visited by Mr. Anderson, my former chamber fellow at Cambridge, with whom I parted at the Hague, but I did not go forth with him, only gave him a morning draft at home.
At noon Mr. Creed came to me, and he and I to the Exchange, and so to an ordinary to dinner, and after dinner to the Mitre, and there sat drinking while it rained very much. Then to the office, where I found Sir Williams both, choosing of masters for the new fleet of ships that is ordered to be set forth, and Pen seeming to be in an ugly humour, not willing to gratify one that I mentioned to be put in, did vex me.
We sat late, and so home. Mr. Moore came to me when I was going to bed, and sat with me a good while talking about my Lord’s business and our own and so good night.
16 Annotations
First Reading
dirk • Link
"but I did not go forthwith him"
More logically would be "forth with". This was probably what Sam wrote. Shorthand transcription error?
Australian Susan • Link
"seeming to be in an ugly humour"
Did Sir William think Sam should have been in the office helping out with the choosing instead of drinking with Creed? Maybe that's why he didn't seem inclined to take up Sam's suggestion and was in a bad mood.
Glyn • Link
Captain Ferrers must have known that today was the day for the selection of the captains - I wonder if he was promoted or not.
A. De Araujo • Link
"seeming to be in an ugly humour" Sir William seems to be in an ugly humour quite often; remember when he threw that guy from the horse sometime ago?
vicente • Link
Wm. Pen Ill humour: Sam was not yet in the position of puting in his 2 [tuppence] pennyworth yet. Sam is expecting a lot, when these old salts pick their sailing team. Was it not Batten battening down the Louts.
JWB • Link
Vexed Pepys, vexed reader...
"Mr. Moore came to me when I was going to bed, and sat with me a good while talking about my Lord's business and our own …” “Our own” business, now that’s vexing not to know what sort of business that would be. I’m assuming they’re scheming for private gain with the fleet assembling, crews & supplies taken on, foreign parts cruised, etc.-the opportunities must have seemed endless to the late night duo, double vexing.
helena murphy • Link
Had Sam had the benefit of having read Robert Louis Stevenson or Joseph Conrad he would be more in tune to Sir William's brusque nuances of behaviour.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
" paid 50l. to one Mr. Grant for Mr. Barlow"
L&M note John Graunt, the pioneer social statistician (see Phil's link), had received power of attorney from William Petty, Barlow's agent.
Terry Foreman • Link
"But I did not go forth with him; only gave him a morning draught at home."
This is how L&M transcribe the shorthand.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Sir Williams both, choosing of masters for the new fleet of ships that is ordered to be set forth, and Pen seeming to be in an ugly humour, not willing to gratify one that I mentioned to be put in, did vex me."
Forthis dispute see http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
and http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
San Diego Sarah • Link
One Friday soon there will probably be a commemoration service held at noon at St. Olave’s church.
Since 1927 (allowing for some years’ interruption for bomb damage and pandemics) St. Olave’s has held an annual service to commemorate its most illustrious former parishioner, Samuel Pepys.
The service is organized in association with The Samuel Pepys Club. The service traditionally features an address on aspects of “Pepys, his life and times” and the church has welcomed many distinguished speakers over the years. The service is open to everyone.
You never know -- some other annotators might be there!
https://www.britainexpress.com/Lo…
http://pepys-club.org.uk/about-th…
Third Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Pen seeming to be in an ugly humour"
I have a theory about Adm. Penn's recent ill-humor:
In 1660, Penn arrived at the University of Oxford, where he was enrolled as a gentleman scholar with an assigned servant. The student body was a volatile mix of swashbuckling Cavaliers, aristocratic Anglicans, sober Puritans, and non-conforming Quakers. The new English government's discouragement of religious dissent gave the Cavaliers license to harass minority groups. Adm. Penn's position and social status made young Penn a Cavalier -- but his sympathies lay with the Quakers. To avoid conflict, Penn became a reclusive scholar.
Penn now developed his philosophy of life. He found he was not sympathetic with either his father's martial view or his mother's society-oriented sensibilities. "I had no relations that inclined to so solitary and spiritual way; I was a child alone. A child was given to musing, occasionally feeling the divine presence," he later said.
Penn returned home for the King's restoration ceremony and was a guest of honor alongside his father, who received a highly unusual royal salute for his services to The Crown.
Adm. Penn had great hopes for his son's career at Court.
Back at Oxford, Penn considered a medical career and took dissecting classes. Rational thought began to spread into science, politics, and economics, which he took a liking to.
When theologian John Owen was fired from his deanery (March 1660), Penn and other open-minded students rallied to his side and attended seminars at the dean's house, where discussions covered the gamut of new thought. Penn learned to form ideas into theory, discuss theory through reasoned debate, and test the theories in the real world.
He also faced his first moral dilemma. After Owen was censured again after being fired, students were threatened with punishment for associating with him. Penn stood by the dean, thereby gaining a fine and reprimand from the university.
Adm. Penn, despairing of the charges, pulled his son out of Oxford, hoping to distract him from its heretical influences. [I'VE BEEN UNABLE TO FIND A DATE FOR THIS, BUT SUSPECT IT MIGHT BE AROUND NOW. - SDS]
This had no effect, and father and son struggled to understand each other. At Oxford, the administration imposed strict religious requirements including daily chapel attendance and required dress. Penn rebelled against enforced worship and was expelled.
His father, in a rage, attacked young Penn with a cane and forced him from their home.
Lady Penn made the peace, allowing her son to return home but she quickly concluded that both her social standing and her husband's career were threatened by their son's behavior. At 18, young Penn was sent to Paris to improve his manners, and expose him to another culture. ..."
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It sound like Adm. Penn is going to be upset for a while.
Extracted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wil…
San Diego Sarah • Link
OOOooppps, I should have clarified that the above referred to William Penn Jr., sorry.
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Both the Commons and the Lords (Sandwich in place) considered a letter from the Scottish Parliament which, to me, asked for English troops only to be sent there, and the mercenaries to be sent home.
But Charles II asked for 30,000l. to pay off and discharge the troops, which I didn't see them request. Everyone is being so polite it's hard to discern what's being said.
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Lords Order for burning the Covenant.
"The Lords in Parliament assembled, having considered of a Paper sent unto them from the House of Commons, for burning of an Instrument, or Writing called The Solemne League and Covenant, by the Hand of the Common Hangman, do order, That the Instrument, or Writing, called The Solemne League and Covenant, be burned, by the Hand of the Common Hangman, in The New Pallace at Westminster, in Cheapeside, and before The Old Exchange, on Wednesday the 22th of this Instant May; and that the said Covenant be forthwith taken off the Record in the House of Peers, and in all other Courts and Places where the same is recorded; and that all Copies thereof be taken down out of all Churches, Chapels, and other Public Places, in England and Wales, and the Town of Barwicke upon Tweede, where the same are set up."
ORDERED, That this Order be forthwith printed and published.
Message to H. C. to acquaint them with it.
A Message was sent to the House of Commons, by Doctor Childe and Doctor Wolsley:
To let them know what Order the Lords have made for the burning of the Covenant.
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House cleaning continues.
Scube • Link
SDS - thanks for this. Very interesting.
On the drinking, I wonder about alcohol content. Seems it would be pretty tough to get much work done. Though I guess folks in the 1960s-70s drank a good deal midday as well, judging from shows like Mad Men anyway.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"I guess folks in the 1960s-70s drank a good deal midday as well, ..."
Some did, and if you were in the Executive Lunch crowd, it was expected, and reimbursed on your expense accounts. I was working in New York then, in the Marketing Dept. of a fabric house on the fringe of the Mad Men sector, and my boss limited his in-take at lunch to 2 martinis. He'd come back to the office raring to go. Never missed a beat. Different people have different tolerance levels, I think.
San Diego Sarah • Link
More about the discharge of Parliamentary forces, in England, Scotland and Ireland:
"The advantages of a standing army were clear to the new king, not least to the survival of his regime. In 1660-61, Charles raised a force of 5,000 men known as the ‘King’s Guards and Garrisons’. On 26 January 1661, he issued the warrant creating the English Army.
"Financed by a new Parliament, it included Royalist units from his exile - like the King's Troop of Horse Guards (later The Life Guards) - and old regiments from the New Model Army which were disbanded and then quickly re-mustered - such as Monck’s Regiment (later The Coldstream Guards).
"The Declaration of Breda had stated that New Model Army soldiers would be recommissioned into service under the crown, along with the promise that their pay arrears would be remunerated. This incentive had won the acquiescence of many veteran soldiers to the restoration.
"Although Charles did not employ every former New Model Army soldier, he found it politically expedient to take many on. Thousands more were paid off through new taxes and coin from the royal coffers.
"Charles was also the king of Ireland and Scotland, so their parliaments paid for units as well. By the mid-1660s, the Irish Army numbered around 5,000 infantry and 2,500 cavalry. Its Scottish counterpart had about 3,000 men.
"Initially, these remained separate military establishments from Charles’ English troops. But as time went on, they were unofficially merged.
"Charles’ force gradually increased in size thanks to the demands of foreign wars and the need to garrison new colonies like Tangier and Bombay. These became English possessions in 1661 through the dowry of Charles' new wife, the Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza.
"Charles redeployed thousands of ex-Parliamentary troops to these two locations, but also to Portugal to assist in its fight against Spain. This helped consolidate royal power by removing potential troublemakers. ...
"Not everyone was fully reconciled to the need for a standing army. The New Model Army's political interventions and the Rule of the Major-Generals were still fresh in the memory. People also questioned the cost of maintaining a standing army when the country was not at war.
"Some feared that an army under royal command would allow future monarchs to ignore the wishes of Parliament. Their concerns proved well founded when this issue came to a head during the reign of Charles's successor, James II."
https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/res…