Thursday 4 April 1667

Up, and going down found Jervas the barber with a periwigg which I had the other day cheapened at Westminster, but it being full of nits, as heretofore his work used to be, I did now refuse it, having bought elsewhere. So to the office till noon, busy, and then (which I think I have not done three times in my life) left the board upon occasion of a letter of Sir W. Coventry, and meeting Balty at my house I took him with me by water, and to the Duke of Albemarle to give him an account of the business, which was the escaping of some soldiers for the manning of a few ships now going out with Harman to the West Indies, which is a sad consideration that at the very beginning of the year and few ships abroad we should be in such want of men that they do hide themselves, and swear they will not go to be killed and have no pay. I find the Duke of Albemarle at dinner with sorry company, some of his officers of the Army; dirty dishes, and a nasty wife at table, and bad meat, of which I made but an ill dinner. Pretty to hear how she talked against Captain Du Tell, the Frenchman, that the Prince and her husband put out the last year; and how, says she, the Duke of York hath made him, for his good services, his Cupbearer; yet he fired more shot into the Prince’s ship, and others of the King’s ships, than of the enemy. And the Duke of Albemarle did confirm it, and that somebody in the fight did cry out that a little Dutchman, by his ship, did plague him more than any other; upon which they were going to order him to be sunk, when they looked and found it was Du Tell, who, as the Duke of Albemarle says, had killed several men in several of our ships. He said, but for his interest, which he knew he had at Court, he had hanged him at the yard’s-arm, without staying for a Court-martiall. One Colonel Howard, at the table, magnified the Duke of Albemarle’s fight in June last, as being a greater action than ever was done by Caesar. The Duke of Albemarle, did say it had been no great action, had all his number fought, as they should have done, to have beat the Dutch; but of his 55 ships, not above 25 fought. He did give an account that it was a fight he was forced to: the Dutch being come in his way, and he being ordered to the buoy of the Nore, he could not pass by them without fighting, nor avoid them without great disadvantage and dishonour; and this Sir G. Carteret, I afterwards giving him an account of what he said, says that it is true, that he was ordered up to the Nore. But I remember he said, had all his captains fought, he would no more have doubted to have beat the Dutch, with all their number, than to eat the apple that lay on his trencher.

My Lady Duchesse, among other things, discoursed of the wisdom of dividing the fleete; which the General said nothing to, though he knows well that it come from themselves in the fleete, and was brought up hither by Sir Edward Spragge. Colonel Howard, asking how the prince did, the Duke of Albemarle answering, “Pretty well;” the other replied, “But not so well as to go to sea again.” — “How!” says the Duchess, “what should he go for, if he were well, for there are no ships for him to command? And so you have brought your hogs to a fair market,” said she. [It was pretty to hear the Duke of Albemarle himself to wish that they would come on our ground, meaning the French, for that he would pay them, so as to make them glad to go back to France again; which was like a general, but not like an admiral.] One at the table told an odd passage in this late plague: that at Petersfield, I think, he said, one side of the street had every house almost infected through the town, and the other, not one shut up. Dinner being done, I brought Balty to the Duke of Albemarle to kiss his hand and thank him for his kindness the last year to him, and take leave of him, and then Balty and I to walk in the Park, and, out of pity to his father, told him what I had in my thoughts to do for him about the money — that is, to make him Deputy Treasurer of the fleete, which I have done by getting Sir G. Carteret’s consent, and an order from the Duke of York for 1500l. to be paid to him. He promises the whole profit to be paid to my wife, for to be disposed of as she sees fit, for her father and mother’s relief. So mightily pleased with our walk, it being mighty pleasant weather, I back to Sir G. Carteret’s, and there he had newly dined, and talked, and find that he do give every thing over for lost, declaring no money to be raised, and let Sir W. Coventry name the man that persuaded the King to take the Land Tax on promise, of raising present money upon it. He will, he says, be able to clear himself enough of it. I made him merry, with telling him how many land-admirals we are to have this year: Allen at Plymouth, Holmes at Portsmouth, Spragge for Medway, Teddiman at Dover, Smith to the Northward, and Harman to the Southward. He did defend to me Sir W. Coventry as not guilty of the dividing of the fleete the last year, and blesses God, as I do, for my Lord Sandwich’s absence, and tells me how the King did lately observe to him how they have been particularly punished that were enemies to my Lord Sandwich. Mightily pleased I am with his family, and my Lady Carteret was on the bed to-day, having been let blood, and tells me of my Lady Jemimah’s being big-bellied. Thence with him to my Lord Treasurer’s, and there walked during Council sitting with Sir Stephen Fox, talking of the sad condition of the King’s purse, and affairs thereby; and how sad the King’s life must be, to pass by his officers every hour, that are four years behind-hand unpaid. My Lord Barkeley [of Stratton] I met with there, and fell into talk with him on the same thing, wishing to God that it might be remedied, to which he answered, with an oath, that it was as easy to remedy it as anything in the world; saying, that there is himself and three more would venture their carcasses upon it to pay all the King’s debts in three years, had they the managing his revenue, and putting 300,000l. in his purse, as a stock. But, Lord! what a thing is this to me, that do know how likely a man my Lord Barkeley of all the world is, to do such a thing as this. Here I spoke with Sir W. Coventry, who tells me plainly that to all future complaints of lack of money he will answer but with the shrug of his shoulder; which methought did come to my heart, to see him to begin to abandon the King’s affairs, and let them sink or swim, so he do his owne part, which I confess I believe he do beyond any officer the King hath, but unless he do endeavour to make others do theirs, nothing will be done. The consideration here do make me go away very sad, and so home by coach, and there took up my wife and Mercer, who had been to-day at White Hall to the Maundy, it being Maundy Thursday; but the King did not wash the poor people’s feet himself, but the Bishop of London did it for him, but I did not see it, and with them took up Mrs. Anne Jones at her mother’s door, and so to take the ayre to Hackney, where good neat’s tongue, and things to eat and drink, and very merry, the weather being mighty pleasant; and here I was told that at their church they have a fair pair of organs, which play while the people sing, which I am mighty glad of, wishing the like at our church at London, and would give 50l. towards it. So very pleasant, and hugging of Mercer in our going home, we home, and then to the office to do a little business, and so to supper at home and to bed.


19 Annotations

First Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

The Royal Society today at Arundel House — from the Hooke Folio Online

Ap. 4. 1667. (Letter from [ the Venetian physician Francisco ] travagini of his new practick philosophy.*)
accounts of transfusion & iniections)

Opr gaue acct of Expts on Lettice seeds.) Dictanmus flowers 2 years old
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dict… ].)

townlys Letter about auzouts diuision of a foot [ http://bit.ly/bXax4W ]. asserted to mr. Gascoyne.)

Dr. Wren his new Lamp wherein the oyle comes not faster than consumed)

orderd that mr Hooke produce his way of making Brick with more speed & lesse charge than hitherto. also Dn. of curue line. Orderd

About transfusion.

http://webapps.qmul.ac.uk/cell/Ho…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

FranciscoTravagini (Travagino, Travaginus, * 1613 Dubrovnik; † after 1688 Venice)

The Venice physician and merchant Travagini [ would describe ] the Dubrovnik (April 6, 1667) earthquake two years after the tragedy [that killed 3,000 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1667… ].

Travagini became famous with his geometrical model of the traveling waves of lateral side vibrations between the epicenter of the earthquake and the point at the surface or between one and another point at the surface.... He described the spreading of Dubrovnik earthquake from the South Adriatic to Venice and Naples.

Travagini imagined the Earth interior composed of sulfur, nitrogen, and water to make the spreading of the waves possible. At the same time he believed at the exhalations of fire and fragrances that were supposed to spread from the Dubrovnik epicenter to the other places.

On December 22, 1666 Travagini...began to mail letters to the secretary of the London Royal Society, Oldenburg. Montagu brought the first [of] Travagini’s letter to London on April 2, 1667 together with...Travagini’s message for the recently passed Kenelm Digby. Oldenburg answered from London to Venice on May 15, 1667. He praised Travagini’s enthusiasm for experiments and offered him his own *Philosophical Transactions of the London Royal Society* asking Travagini to help him at the sales in Italy (Oldenburg 1966, 3, 303).

With...Secretary Oldenburg’s support Travagini [ becomes ] a Fellow of the London Royal Society on February 10, 1676 (Oldenburg 1986, 12, 6).... Oldenburg knew Travagini’s Synopseos Novae about...acids and alkalis http://carsologica.zrc-sazu.si/do…

Robert Gertz  •  Link

"...how sad the King’s life must be, to pass by his officers every hour, that are four years behind-hand unpaid."

Yeah, how sad.

Martin King  •  Link

What is the meaning of the following?

"....a periwigg which I had the other day cheapened at Westminster..."

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

Martin, I assume Sam haggled over the price of Jervas' periwigg because it was full of nits. My modern scalp crawls just at the idea of a second-hand wig, let alone one that's moving.

Tony Eldridge  •  Link

"...a sad consideration that at the very beginning of the year and few ships abroad we should be in such want of men that they do hide themselves, and swear they will not go to be killed and have no pay."
"What's the matter with these men, have they no honour?"

Mary  •  Link

cheapen -vb. transitive

To bargain for, to bid for, to ask the price of, offer a price for.

Bradford  •  Link

. . . to get knocked down to, . . .

Robert Gertz  •  Link

Indeed, Tony...

"Please, sir. I want some..."

"MORE! Am I given to understand that you men having been wrenched from your homes and places of work are demanding more than the honor and dignity of dying for your country? In times like these all thought of personal comfort must be... Pardon me, but be quick, we are off to a play."

cum salis grano  •  Link

he dothe haggle
OED
not a cheap skate
2. a. A mean or contemptible person. Esp. in cheap skate (also attrib. or as adj.).
1896 Cheap skate [see HORSE n. 18].
OED:

to cheapen
[f. CHEAP a. + -EN, or modification of CHEAP v., by the suffix -en.]
1. trans. To bargain for, ask the price of, bid for, offer a price for; = CHEAP v. 3. Also fig. arch. or dial.

1574 HELLOWES tr. Gueuara's Ep. (1577) 129 A Colte..the which he cheapened, bought, and brake.
1608 SHAKES. Per. IV. vi. 10 She would make a puritan of the devil, if he should cheapen a kiss of her.

2. trans. (?) To chaffer, haggle about terms with (a person), or about (a bargain). Obs.
1654

3. trans. To make cheap, lower the price of.
1833

cheap, v.
[A common Teut. vb.: OE. céapian, -ode to bargain, trade, chaffer, buy = OS. côpôn (LG. kôpen), OHG. choufôn, MHG. koufen to bargain, trade, buy and sell, buy, mod.G. kaufen to buy, ON. kaupa to bargain, barter, buy (Sw. köpa, Da. kjöbe to buy), Goth. kaupôn to traffic, trade, buy and sell:{em}OTeut. *kaupôjan, f. *kaupo-, OE. céap, CHEAP n. Beside this was another vb. *kaupjan (not in Goth.), OLG. côpian (LG. köpen, MDu. côpen, Du. koopen to buy), OHG. chouffen (MHG. käufen), OE. cíepan, cípan, cýpan, -te, to sell; this does not appear to have come down into ME. For the derivation, see CHEAP n. This verb has now been superseded by CHEAPEN.]

1. orig. (intr.) To barter, buy and sell; to trade, deal, bargain.
c1000 ...
2. trans. To buy. (Ger. kaufen.) 950..

3. trans. To bargain for, bid for, offer to buy, offer a price for, ask the price of, ‘price’.
a1225

4. trans. To treat or bargain in order to sell, to offer for sale; also (with inf.) to offer to sell.
a1225 J

5. To fix the price of, set a price on, value.
1460

I. As a simple n.

1. A bargain about the bartering or exchanging of one commodity for another, or of giving money or the like for any commodity; bargaining, trade, buying and selling.

2. The place of buying and selling; market. (Hence b. in place-names, as Cheapside, Eastcheap.)

Second Reading

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"Mercer...had been to-day at White Hall to the Maundy, it being Maundy Thursday; but the King did not wash the poor people’s feet himself, but the Bishop of London did it for him, but I did not see it,"

Royal Maundy is a religious service in the Church of England held on Maundy Thursday, the day before Good Friday. At the service, the British Monarch or a royal official ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" (legally, "the [current] Queen's Maundy money") as symbolic alms to elderly recipients. The coins are legal tender but do not circulate because of their silver content and numismatic value. A small sum of ordinary money is also given in lieu of gifts of clothing and food that the sovereign once bestowed on Maundy recipients. / The name "Maundy" and the ceremony itself derive from an instruction, or mandatum, of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper that his followers should love one another. In the Middle Ages, English monarchs washed the feet of beggars in imitation of Jesus, and presented gifts and money to the poor. Over time, additional money was substituted for the clothing and other items that had once been distributed. / Beginning in 1699 the monarch did not attend the service, sending an official in his place. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy…

L&M note Charles II occasionally performed the washing himself.

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I was told that at their church they have a fair pair of organs, which play while the people sing, which I am mighty glad of, wishing the like at our church at London, and would give 50l. towards it. "

L&M note the organ at St Olave's had been removed in 1644 and was not replaced until 1783. The congregation sang unaccompanied, led by the parson or the parish clerk: cf. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"I made him merry, with telling him how many land-admirals we are to have this year"

L&M: Because of the decision to divide the fleet into squadrons ibstead if having a battle-fleet.

Timo  •  Link

Besides the poor meal, I find the dinner with the Moncks to be one of the funniest scenes described so far in the diary. Amongst other gems: the nasty wife, tales of the hapless Du Pell shooting up his own ships, the arse-kisser-in- chief Colonel Howard comparing Albermarl’s exploits to those of Caesar, Monck playing down said feats as just the coincidence of being called back to station, but still managing to get a dig of sabre rattling in for the old Frenchies for good measure. You couldn’t make this stuff up, which is probably why Gertz was uncharacteristically taciturn today.

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