Sunday 24 August 1662
(Lord’s day). Slept till 7 o’clock, which I have not done a very great while, but it was my weariness last night that caused it.
So rose and to my office till church time, writing down my yesterday’s observations, and so to church, where I all alone, and found Will Griffin and Thomas Hewett got into the pew next to our backs, where our maids sit, but when I come, they went out; so forward some people are to outrun themselves. Here we had a lazy, dull sermon. So home to dinner, where my brother Tom came to me, and both before and after dinner he and I walked all alone in the garden, talking about his late journey and his mistress, and for what he tells me it is like to do well. He being gone, I to church again, where Mr. Mills, making a sermon upon confession, he did endeavour to pull down auricular confession, but did set it up by his bad arguments against it, and advising people to come to him to confess their sins when they had any weight upon their consciences, as much as is possible, which did vex me to hear. So home, and after an hour’s being in my office alone, looking over the plates and globes, I walked to my uncle Wight’s, the truth is, in hopes to have seen and been acquainted with the pretty lady that came along with them to dinner the other day to Mr. Rawlinson, but she is gone away. But here I staid supper, and much company there was; among others, Dr. Burnett, Mr. Cole the lawyer, Mr. Rawlinson, and Mr. Sutton, a brother of my aunt’s, that I never saw before. Among other things they tell me that there hath been a disturbance in a church in Friday Street; a great many young people knotting together and crying out “Porridge”1 often and seditiously in the church, and took the Common Prayer Book, they say, away; and, some say, did tear it; but it is a thing which appears to me very ominous. I pray God avert it. After supper home and to bed.
23 Annotations
First Reading
Bradford • Link
All told, a dreary Sabbath; but "so forward some people are to outrun themselves."
Australian Susan • Link
Although both Griffen and Hewer are Navy Office employees, Sam is not having them near the official Navy Office Officers' pew. Interesting that his mere presence makes them leave!
Sam makes no comment on the form of service he too part in (presumbly BCP), but just comments unfavourably on both the sermons he heard. Interesting that Mr Mills should choose to preach on confession. Private confession as a pre-requisite to taking part in Mass is an important part of Catholic doctrine. Here Mr Mills seems to be working towards the now standard Anglican formula (maybe a bit off-hand) regarding confession: "All can, some should, none must" Sam is distinctly uneasy about the threat of disturbances per se - he does not seem outraged by people destroying Prayer Books, just that this might be a forerunner of more beaviour by the "fanatiques"as he terms them leading to a resurgance of civil disturbance, which he sincerely does not want again. (Thinking of yesterday - Sam obviously feels no need to confess his thoughts about Lady C!)
Australian Susan • Link
Re the above: I was referring to private confession here, not the general confession as part of the service. Sorry for any confusion.
A. Hamilton • Link
A striking contrast between the entry for Saturday and that of today, Sunday --especially when it seems likely they were both set down on the same day, one in the morning and tother in the evening. We get a good glimpse of what the city folk are seeing, doing and thinking
Cumgranissalis • Link
From way down in Essex "God good to me, my heart cheerful in his work, hoping god will make way for my liberty, and many others, my soul trusts in him. sad to see how the shepherds are scattered, the lord be a blessing to me, gods hand it touches me in some of my substance, lord even therein do not contend with me, but bless me I humbly pray thee; some hope given as if there would be indulgence given to ministers for the present until the return of the parliament.
The London Ministers nearly 80. generally declined preaching, the Bishop took care to supply every place, and the like in the country, some of them petitioned this week for liberty as reported."
Robert Gertz • Link
You sneak into the backrow of the bosses' private box and then along comes the junior boss, glaring at you.
"Will..."
Hmmn?
"Milord approachth." Nudge...Will turns to see Sam bearing down on the forward pew. A certain cold look in his eye...
"Oh, Lord. His girl told me he was sleepin' in. C'mon, Tom...God knows we'd not want to get his Divinity in a snit."
***
Not long ago it would have been clerk Sam stealthly slipping in...How quickly one acquires dignity when one is up and coming.
Cumgranissalis • Link
That be a lot of homilies that be lost as there approx. 100 parishes in London proper. "London Ministers nearly 80. generally declined preaching"
T, Foreman • Link
See mine on Mon 15 Aug, "many Presbyterian ministers in town, who, I hear, will give up all."
L&M note: "Fifty ministers in London and Middlesex were expropriated."
http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Were there others who in protest failed to preach, but let Lectors take the service?
JWB • Link
"contumelious"
Contumacious has made an Anschluss.
T, Foreman • Link
"young people knotting together...and took the Common Prayer Book, they say, away; and, some say, did tear it"
L&M note: "The incident Pepys reports occurred at St Matthew's, whose Rector, Henry Hurst, had been ejected under the terms of the act. The reader was taking the service in his place. Pepys's account of this incident is one of the very few which survive....On the whole there were very few such disturbances. A government newspaper suggested that they were the work of a few organised bands, not of the parishioners...."
So here the reader DID take the service, but not out of sympathy.
Alors, Cumgrannissalis, surely many fewer memorable sermons preached for a long while: one thing Presbyterians stressed at that time was a clergy educated in Hebrew and Greek and in Homiletics.
Roy Feldman • Link
Mr. Mills's Sermon
Here's my reading of what Sam says about the sermon on auricular confession:
Mr. Mills started out seeming to criticize it (to "pull it down"); but that wasn't his true intention, because he merely "set up bad arguments against it", and soon enough refuted those arguments and ended with a rousing endorsement of auricular confession. In other words, it turned out to be a bait-and-switch. Perhaps it was that aspect of the sermon that irked Sam the most.
Any thoughts?
Stolzi • Link
Confession
I couldn't decide whether it were the 'bait-and-switch' aspect which did vex Sam, or the mere idea of invasion of his me-and-God privacy, the latter a sentiment I have heard expressed by some very Protestant relatives of mine.
And Sam might not like to make his thoughts known - still yearning after that 'pretty lady'!
T, Foreman • Link
Mr. Mills's sermons” Caution in Sermon , maybe he [Mills] be not wanting to give sermons on the Strand, income dothe dictate.
As noted by the Essex Preacher , he at least had his farm and fresh meat, but the London Clerics relied on the Collection plate for sustenance and the good graces of His Loordship.
“…the Bishop took care to supply every place…”
It appears that 50% of the Clergy did go by Concience, note that Evelyn J. did say that there be troops on the street to stop the Hooligans and other discontents, People have had enough anarcy , would like to get on with making a living, there be prosperity for many especially for those that have the voice. Revolutions only take place when those that believe that should leading and are frustrated by El Supremo. People will moan but it takes a frustrated Baron type to lead a revolution.
Glyn • Link
Pepys feels guilty about sleeping in on a Sunday, not getting up until as late as 7 o'clock. Anybody else feel similarly guilty?
I thought Pepys used to like Mr Mill's sermons but he seems to have been critical of the last few. Is that anyone else's opinion also?
Cumgranissalis • Link
"Mr Mill's sermons” Caution in Sermon , maybe he [Mills] be not wanting to give sermons on the Strand, income dothe dictate.
As noted by the Essex Preacher , he at least had his farm and fresh meat, but the London Clerics relied on the Collection plate for sustenance and the good graces of His Loordship.
“…the Bishop took care to supply every place…”
It appears that 50% of the Clergy did go by Concience, note that Evelyn J. did say that there be troops on the street to stop the Hooligans and other discontents, People have had enough anarcy , would like to get on with making a living, there be prosperity for many especially for those that have the voice. Revolutions only take place when those that believe that should leading and are frustrated by El Supremo. People will moan but it takes a frustrated Baron type to lead a revolution.
Cumgranissalis • Link
"...Interesting that his mere presence makes them leave!...." It be only natural, for there is now a natural barrier between the ranks. None would ever now dare call him to his face "Pepee" or "Sammy boy" or any other name except Mr Pepys.
David A. Smith • Link
"Slept till 7 o'clock, which I have not done a very great while”
Every now and then we have comments on Sam’s seeming indolence, with his long lunches, mid-day digressions, and perambulations in pursuit of pulchritude. But set against that his always rising about dawn, and often working until ten o’clock at night, and we get a better picture of 17th century life, where the civil servant is both never off duty and always off duty. Not for Sam the daily commute as a buffer between his lives!
Australian Susan • Link
Sam's hours.
Don't forget that this is summer: he tends to sleep in till dawn when it is winter time and makes a point of noting when he gets up "by candle". Here in sub-tropical Australia, nearly everyone gets up early in summer to avoid the heat - it's impossible to exercise in the morning past about 7.30. I'm up at 5.45 every Sunday!
Mr Mills and sermons and confession: Sam does seem to be discontented by Mr Mills's sermon today. Maybe he was hoping for something stimulating on a day when he is perhaps a bit lonely. Also any hint of seeming to be in favour of Catholic-type personal confession would make Sam queasy.(see my previous post)
GrahamT • Link
I knew that farmers and other country folk always got "up with the lark" as animals can't tell the time, so need milking, feeding etc. just after dawn. Here, though, we see that town folk also had their working hours ruled by the sun, not the clock, even though church clocks must have been fairly common by this time.
Cumgranissalis • Link
Bessie would make yer life miserable if ye be late. "up with the lark" nutin worse than full uddered cow waiting for releif.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"Among other things they tell me that there hath been a disturbance in a church in Friday Street; a great many young people knotting together and crying out “Porridge”1 often and seditiously in the church, and took the Common Prayer Book, they say, away; and, some say, did tear it'
L&M: For the imposition of the Act of Uniformity, see https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
The incident Pepys reports occurred at St Matthew's, whose Rector, Henry Hurst, had been ejected under the terms of the act. The reader was taking the service in his place. Pepys's account of the incident is one of the very few which survive: see A. G. Matthews, Calamy Revised, p. 286. On the whole, there were not many such disturbances. A government newspaper suggested that they were the work of a few organised bands, not of the parishioners: Merc. Pub., 28 August, p. 570; cf. https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/… and https://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/…
Third Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
Today is one of great upheaval across the land. Nonconfirming ministers were turned out of their parishes, with few replacements to help the people deal with their manditory source of comfort.
In Newton Abbot, Devon, we have a story of how it went. Click through to see lovely pictures of the pit in Bradley Woods:
Puritan's Pit, which is also known as Preacher's Pit, The Devil's Pit or Gruti's Pit, lies on the south side of the valley of the River Lemon in Bradley Woods. The large steep-sided pit is probably a collapsed limestone cavern and although it is about 12 metres deep and some 50 metres across at its widest, it is invisible from the river and the main path on the other side. It can only be seen from the woods above.
Puritan's Pit owes its notability to Willam Yeo, a Presbyterian clergyman who was installed as Rector of Wolborough in 1648 by Oliver Cromwell. He was assiduous in his duties and walked around the town after Sunday service with a constable, to ensure that the Sabbath was kept holy, but after 14 years he was deprived of his living for refusing to acknowledge the post-Restoration Act of Uniformity.
The legend goes that in the years that followed, Rev. William Yeo and his supporters met in Puritan's Pit by night to worship. At this time he was effectively an outlaw as can be seen from an order of sessions that was made in 1683 offering a reward of 40 shillings to anyone who apprehended a dissenting minister.
The Act of Toleration 1689 brought this episode to a close, and Rev. William Yeo's house was certified to be used as a place of worship.
A plaque at the pit says: “The Revd William Yeo, born June 1, 1617, and educated Emmanuel College Cambridge, was a Presbytarian clergyman who was appointed Rector of Wolborough in 1648 by Oliver Cromwell.
With Parliament passing the Act of Uniformity on August 24, 1662, St. Bartholomew’s Day, he having strong Puritan values refused to acknowledge the Act and was forced out of his church, as can be seen from an Order of Quarter Sessions. Effectively, Revd. Yeo was an outlaw.
“The Puritan’s Pit has been formed through the collapse of a limestone cavern and being hidden deep in Bradley Woods and covered by a canopy of elm trees and easily guarded by lookouts, it could not be seen from the footpaths or the riverbank, and the entrance was concealed. It thus provided a safe and secret place for Revd Yeo and his brave Dissenter congregation to gather by day and night to pray and worship. ...
“With the Declaration of Induigenna by Charles II on March 15, 1672, Revd. Yeo was free to preach in Newton Abbot again, but his end the congregration’s situation did not really improve until passing of the Act of Toleration on May 24, 1689, during the reign of William and Mary. ..."
https://www.devonlive.com/news/hi…
San Diego Sarah • Link
Yeo wasn't alone. In Dartmouth, a few miles away, John Flavel had arrived in 1656, when he was about 26. Going amongst his parisioners, and in all the freshness of his affections, he and the inhabitants became attached to one another. With his striking stories, his faculty of happy illustration, with a temperament in which cheerfulness and solemnity were remarkably blended, and with a style in which friendly encouragement alternated with grave remonstrance and melting pathos, his ministry was extremely popular.
When John Flavel went from home, his plain and interesting conversations were often the way of awakening or converting hearers, so he was invited to preach far beyond the bounds of his own large parish.
The period was brief during which he was allowed to ply such an unfettered ministry. Ejected by the 1662 Act of Uniformity, for some time he tried to keep together and instruct his flock; but spies and penal laws made their meetings difficult and dangerous.
In 1662 Rev. Flavel was ejected from his pulpit for nonconformity to the state church. After that John Flavel defied the law and continued to preach in secret meetings, sometimes in the woods at midnight. Once he disguised himself as a woman on horseback to reach a meeting with the persecuted church. Another time he had to ride his horse into the sea and swim away in order to escape arrest.
When the Oxford Act was passed, and Flavel could no longer live in Dartmouth, on the day of his departure the inhabitants accompanied him as far as the churchyard of Townstall where, amidst prayers and tears, they parted. Nevertheless, his heart was still with his beloved flock.
Flavel lived as near to them as the law allowed; and, sometimes in Dartmouth itself, sometimes in a quiet apartment in a neighboring village, and sometimes in a wood or other sheltered spot in the open air, he contrived to meet a detachment of them almost every Sabbath day.
At James II’s Indulgence permitted the open resumption of his ministry. A commodious meeting-house was built, and there, for the remaining years of his life, he continued to warn, exhort, and comfort all who came, with fervor. His prayers were wonderful.
When he died a brass was erected to his memory in St. Saviour, but removed by order of the Corporation in 1709. It now occupies a prominent place in the Independent Chapel, and ends with:
‘Could Grace or Learning from the Grave set free,
FLAVELL, Thov had'st not seen Mortality;
Thovgh here Thy dusty part Death's Victim lies,
Thov by thy WORKS thyself dost Eternize,
Which Death nor Rust of Time shall Overthrow;
While Thov dost Reign above, These Live Below.'
Mainly from, https://books.google.com/books?id…