Wednesday 19 June 1667
Up, and to the office, where all the morning busy with Fist again, beginning early to overtake my business in my letters, which for a post or two have by the late and present troubles been interrupted. At noon comes Sir W. Batten and [Sir] W. Pen, and we to [Sir] W. Pen’s house, and there discoursed of business an hour, and by and by comes an order from Sir R. Browne, commanding me this afternoon to attend the Council-board, with all my books and papers touching the Medway. I was ready [to fear] some mischief to myself, though it appears most reasonable that it is to inform them about Commissioner Pett. I eat a little bit in haste at Sir W. Batten’s, without much comfort, being fearful, though I shew it not, and to my office and get up some papers, and found out the most material letters and orders in our books, and so took coach and to the Council-chamber lobby, where I met Mr. Evelyn, who do miserably decry our follies that bring all this misery upon us. While we were discoursing over our publique misfortunes, I am called in to a large Committee of the Council: present the Duke of Albemarle, Anglesey, Arlington, Ashly, Carteret, Duncomb, Coventry, Ingram, Clifford, Lauderdale, Morrice, Manchester, Craven, Carlisle, Bridgewater. And after Sir W. Coventry’s telling them what orders His Royal Highness had made for the safety of the Medway, I told them to their full content what we had done, and showed them our letters. Then was Peter Pett called in, with the Lieutenant of the Tower. He is in his old clothes, and looked most sillily. His charge was chiefly the not carrying up of the great ships, and the using of the boats in carrying away his goods; to which he answered very sillily, though his faults to me seem only great omissions. Lord Arlington and Coventry very severe against him; the former saying that, if he was not guilty, the world would think them all guilty.1 The latter urged, that there must be some faults, and that the Admiral must be found to have done his part. I did say an unhappy word, which I was sorry for, when he complained of want of oares for the boats: and there was, it seems, enough, and good enough, to carry away all the boats with from the King’s occasions. He said he used never a boat till they were all gone but one; and that was to carry away things of great value, and these were his models of ships; which, when the Council, some of them, had said they wished that the Dutch had had them instead of the King’s ships, he answered, he did believe the Dutch would have made more advantage of the models than of the ships, and that the King had had greater loss thereby; this they all laughed at. After having heard him for an hour or more, they bid him withdraw. I all this while showing him no respect, but rather against him, for which God forgive me! for I mean no hurt to him, but only find that these Lords are upon their own purgation, and it is necessary I should be so in behalf of the office. He being gone, they caused Sir Richard Browne to read over his minutes; and then my Lord Arlington moved that they might be put into my hands to put into form, I being more acquainted with such business; and they were so. So I away back with my books and papers; and when I got into the Court it was pretty to see how people gazed upon me, that I thought myself obliged to salute people and to smile, lest they should think I was a prisoner too; but afterwards I found that most did take me to be there to bear evidence against P. Pett; but my fear was such, at my going in, of the success of the day, that at my going in I did think fit to give T. Hater, whom I took with me, to wait the event, my closet-key and directions where to find 500l. and more in silver and gold, and my tallys, to remove, in case of any misfortune to me. Thence to Sir G. Carteret’s to take my leave of my Lady Jem, who is going into the country tomorrow; but she being now at prayers with my Lady and family, and hearing here by Yorke, the carrier, that my wife is coming to towne, I did make haste home to see her, that she might not find me abroad, it being the first minute I have been abroad since yesterday was se’ennight. It is pretty to see how strange it is to be abroad to see people, as it used to be after a month or two’s absence, and I have brought myself so to it, that I have no great mind to be abroad, which I could not have believed of myself. I got home, and after being there a little, she come, and two of her fellow-travellers with her, with whom we drunk: a couple of merchant-like men, I think, but have friends in our country. They being gone, I and my wife to talk, who did give me so bad an account of her and my father’s method in burying of our gold, that made me mad: and she herself is not pleased with it, she believing that my sister knows of it. My father and she did it on Sunday, when they were gone to church, in open daylight, in the midst of the garden; where, for aught they knew, many eyes might see them: which put me into such trouble, that I was almost mad about it, and presently cast about, how to have it back again to secure it here, the times being a little better now; at least at White Hall they seem as if they were, but one way or other I am resolved to free them from the place if I can get them. Such was my trouble at this, that I fell out with my wife, that though new come to towne, I did not sup with her, nor speak to her tonight, but to bed and sleep.
14 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"...I have no great mind to be abroad, which I could not have believed of myself."
Right. Pepys can stray at home.
JWB • Link
"...and looked most sillily..."
1)"...then my Lord Arlington moved that they might be put into my hands to put into form..."
2)"...to wait the event, my closet-key and directions where to find 500l. and more in silver and gold, and my tallys, to remove, in case of any misfortune to me."
Not unreasonable to infer from the above 2 quotes that Pepys opinion of himself and that of the nomanclatura is different.
Robert Gertz • Link
"Lord Arlington and Coventry very severe against him; the former saying that, if he was not guilty, the world would think them all guilty."
A more honest statement on scapegoating is hard to find...And poor Pett of course is exactly right about the value of the models.
I don't understand why Bess coming home to find Sam out and about should be a problem unless she made it clear on leaving she'd be pissed to find him indulging himself about town while she was trapped in Brampton with the old man saving the family fortune.
Well, it could have been much worse Sam...
Council chambers...
"Sir Robert, there's a woman at the door demanding to see her husband, Mr. Pepys. Says he'd better be in here or..."
Sympathetic eyes on frowning Sam...
"I know what that's like...Ten minutes, people." Sir Robert nods. "Let the lady in, Gibbons."
Doors thrown open before Gibbons can reach them...
"Oh, thank God...Sam'l, I'm so sorry."
"Bess...Time and place...Vital national deliberations. Go home and we'll talk later. Welcome home."
"It's just it was such a hell of a trip, darling. Sorry, gentlemen, had to make a dash after that business at Medway. Commissioner Pett, what's the matter? They're not blaming you for this, are they? Sam'l, you tole them how the whole office and the Court were to blame for this mess?"
"Bess, time to go... Sorry for the disruption, gentlemen, I'll just see Mrs. Pepys out."
"...Oh, Sam'l, your pa and I buried all your gold pieces including the ones Mr. Gibson came from London to bring us but I think Paulina saw us. And one of your cousin's boys stopped by to say his mother's got all your papers safely hidden, along with those gifts from Mr. Gauden."
"We're leaving now, Bess..."
"Just a minute..." Sir Robert signals Gibbons to close doors. The hapless Pett looking perhaps just a tad less so...
Robert Gertz • Link
Heaven...
"Hello, brother...Sister." Paulina with beaming smile at frowning Sam and grim-looking Bess.
"So nice to see you two still together. Thought it was high time I paid a call."
"Perhaps you did hear...?"
"Yeah, we heard." Sam, curtly. "Congratulations."
"All due to your immortalization of me, dear, dear brother. Even if it wasn't always exactly...Flattering."
"Jane Birch Edwards Penny still wants her book back." Bess notes, grimly.
"Would you two care to have the BBC schedule...And here's a couple of artices."
"Right." Sam nods. "Thanks."
(Spoiler...of sorts...)
"Well, I have to go visit my boy. We did end on a better note, post-Diary Sam." Pall notes, a bit more wistfully. "Couldn't you let me enjoy this just a little?"
"Good luck, Pall." he nods.
***
Eyes frowning Bess...
"Bess, I don't run the BBC..."
Mary • Link
"that she might not find me abroad.."
I think Sam means that he doesn't want Elizabeth to discover that he's gone out on a purely social occasion.
He engaged her to take his money (an enormous responsibility for her and dangerous, too) all the way to his parents' home in the country and presumably said that she would have to undertake the task because he was not going to be able to get away from London for a single hour, matters being so desperate. What will she now say if she returns to find that, far from being nose-to-the-grindstone, he is at Carteret's not on business but indulging in a social nicety.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"by and by comes an order from Sir R. Browne, commanding me this afternoon to attend the Council-board, with all my books and papers touching the Medway."
L&M: The order is in CSPD Add. 1660-85, p. 197. Copies of some of the papers were enclosed in a letter from Pepys to Coventry. 16 June: Longleat, Coventry MSS 97, f. 83.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"that she might not find me abroad."
I think Pepys doesn't want Elizabeth coming home to an empty house. (1) these are scary times, and when he left after lunch he thought he might be arrested. Who knows what others thought and might hint at to Elizabeth. And (2) what if Nell greets the Missus with stories about his groping?
Pulling a tantrum is a way of putting Elizabeth at a disadvantage. Yes yes yes, they did a bad job hiding the money, and Pepys has been under a lot of pressure for years now. He has done little but complain about Pett for those same years; but Pett was not responsible for the lack of defenses and Pepys acknowledges he did not speak up for him when he could. With that line up of Commissioners, I think I'd have shut up as well. The cell next to Pett's was probably waiting for a volunteer. However, Pepys feels bad ... and he's probably managing his PTSD as best he can. Stay away from the booze, Pepys.
mountebank • Link
Did anyone else laugh out loud at the telling of the burying of the gold?
Nicolas • Link
“Did anyone else laugh out loud at the telling of the burying of the gold?”
Yes, I did. And it made me wonder briefly if the gold might still be there! Of course I know it couldn’t be true.
john • Link
I note that Elizabeth decided to return to London without telling Samuel first. How did she decide it safe to return? I also note that Pepys was worried enough about the outcome to give Hater his key. I presume that Pett's comment about models refers to the Dutch learning their construction. Finally, I suspect that the poor choice of hiding place was his father's idea.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"Elizabeth decided to return to London without telling Samuel first. How did she decide it safe to return?"
Obviously no one knows the real answer to this question. But maybe she couldn't stand being in her in-laws' home any longer? Maybe well-meaning people had written Lady Sandwich that the Dutch were gone and it was a mess, but of no immediate danger, and in turn Lady S sent a note to Elizabeth? Maybe the stress of not knowing what was happening was worse than the relief of being safe? Maybe the "two of her fellow-travellers with her, with whom we drunk: a couple of merchant-like men, I think, but have friends in our country." offered to escort Elizabeth, so she felt safer from highwaymen than usual? Maybe she was offered a discount for taking the coach this week because so few wanted to go to London, so there were incentives?
It's these gaps in the historical narrative that send the novelist's mind wandering.
You are correct about Pett's concerns for his models. He was a very innovative shipbuilder ... but not so good as an administrator of the yards. Pett is a classic example of the Peter Principle.
And Pepys was crazy assuming Elizabeth and an old man wearing a truss for his hernia would dig a large hole in the garden at night. Dad could not be wandering around the yard and excavating by lamplight -- Josselin tells us it has been very dry again, so the earth would be hard, so Elizabeth would have been useless. It stays light until around 10 p.m. in England right now, so they'd have to be awake around 1 a.m. to do what Pepys wanted in the dark. Perhaps there was a less obvious place to dig the hole, in which case Pepys should have specified it ... but that they dug in daylight should have been of no surprise.
Mary K • Link
Not quite till about 10 p.m. in Pepys's day. Remember that his 'now' is not exactly the same as our current 'now' but is those critical 11 days adrift and at this time of year is one further hour adrift because UK is on British Summer Time, not GMT. However, hardly broad daylight even in 1667.
Robert Harneis • Link
“Did anyone else laugh out loud at the telling of the burying of the gold?”
Pepys' hilarious gold experiences are a classic warning of the trials and tribulations of those who think that putting their wealth into physical gold is a trouble free solution in uncertain times. Without giving the plot away, it gets funnier and funnier.
Third Reading
Trevor M Randall • Link
it made me wonder briefly if the gold might still be there
Nicolas, a house that is situated around half a mile from the Pepys’ Brampton pile was recently on the market, its gardens are rumored to be a potential hiding place of Sam’s stash. Happy hunting!
https://www.tatler.com/article/co…