Saturday 4 April 1668
Up betimes, and by coach towards White Hall, and took Aldgate Street in my way, and there called upon one Hayward, that makes virginalls, and did there like of a little espinette, and will have him finish it for me; for I had a mind to a small harpsichon, but this takes up less room, and will do my business as to finding out of chords, and I am very well pleased that I have found it. Thence to White Hall, and after long waiting did get a small running Committee of Tangier, where I staid but little, and little done but the correcting two or three egregious faults in the Charter for Tangier after it had so long lain before the Council and been passed there and drawn up by the Atturney Generall, so slightly are all things in this age done.
Thence home to the office by water, where we sat till noon, and then I moved we might go to the Duke of York and the King presently to get out their order in writing that was ordered us yesterday about the business of certificates, that we might be secure against the tradesmen who (Sir John Banks by name) have told me this day that they will complain in Parliament against us for denying to do them right. So we rose of a sudden, being mighty sensible of this inconvenience we are liable to should we delay to give them longer, and yet have no order for our indemnity. I did dine with Sir W. Pen, where my Lady Batten did come with desire of meeting me there, and speaking with me about the business of the 500l. we demand of her for the Chest. She do protest, before God, she never did see the account, but that it was as her husband in his life-time made it, and he did often declare to her his expecting 500l., and that we could not deny it him for his pains in that business, and that he hath left her worth nothing of his own in the world, and that therefore she could pay nothing of it, come what will come, but that he hath left her a beggar, which I am sorry truly for, though it is a just judgment upon people that do live so much beyond themselves in housekeeping and vanity, as they did. I did give her little answer, but generally words that might not trouble her, and so to dinner, and after dinner Sir W. Pen and I away by water to White Hall, and there did attend the Duke of York, and he did carry us to the King’s lodgings: but he was asleep in his closet; so we stayed in the Green-Roome, where the Duke of York did tell us what rules he had, of knowing the weather, and did now tell us we should have rain before to-morrow, it having been a dry season for some time, and so it did rain all night almost; and pretty rules he hath, and told Brouncker and me some of them, which were such as no reason seems ready to be given. By and by the King comes out, and he did easily agree to what we moved, and would have the Commissioners of the Navy to meet us with him to-morrow morning: and then to talk of other things; about the Quakers not swearing, and how they do swear in the business of a late election of a Knight of the Shire of Hartfordshire in behalf of one they have a mind to have; and how my Lord of Pembroke says he hath heard him (the Quaker) at the tennis-court swear to himself when he loses: and told us what pretty notions my Lord Pembroke hath of the first chapter of Genesis, how Adam’s sin was not the sucking (which he did before) but the swallowing of the apple, by which the contrary elements begun to work in him, and to stir up these passions, and a great deal of such fooleries, which the King made mighty mockery at. Thence my Lord Brouncker and I into the Park in his coach, and there took a great deal of ayre, saving that it was mighty dusty, and so a little unpleasant. Thence to Common Garden with my Lord, and there I took a hackney and home, and after having done a few letters at the office, I home to a little supper and so to bed, my eyes being every day more and more weak and apt to be tired.
28 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
Carteret to Ormond
Written from: Whitehall
Date: 4 April 1668
Communicates proceedings of the House of Commons of England upon matters of Trade.
Repeats the expressions as in former letters, of the writer's anxiety to wait upon the Lord Lieutenant in Ireland.
http://www.rsl.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwm…
Christopher Squire • Link
‘espiˈnette, n. Etymology: < Old French espinete (modern French épinette).
= spinet n.1
1668 S. Pepys Diary 15 July (1976) IX. 262 At noon‥is brought home the Espinette I bought the other day of Haward.’
‘spinet, n.1. A keyed musical instrument, common in England in the 18th century, closely resembling the harpsichord, but smaller and having only one string to each note. A full description of the various kinds of spinet is given in Grove's Dict. Music s.v.
1664 S. Pepys Diary 1 July (1971) V. 194 One Cheswicke, a maister who plays very well upon the Spinette.’ [OED]
Robert Gertz • Link
One is forced to wonder as to Lady Batten's beauty that Sam fails to show any interest in taking advantage of her situation. The widow condition has certainly never stoppped him before. Though perhaps here again is Sam's involuntary social instinct kicking in...Lady Batten is off-limits in a way Mrs. Burroughs could never be.
Jesse • Link
[The] sin was not the smoking (which he did before) but the inhaling ..., by which the contrary elements begun to work in him, and to stir up these passions.
Oh wait, that argument comes over three hundred years later - and there was no inhaling. The "mighty mockery" bit still goes.
Tony Eldridge • Link
then I moved we might go to the Duke of York and the King presently to get out their order in writing that was ordered us yesterday about the business of certificates, that we might be secure against the tradesmen who (Sir John Banks by name) have told me this day that they will complain in Parliament against us for denying to do them right.
Can someone clarify this? I had assumed that Sam and his colleagues had agreed not to accept bribes from their suppliers but, if so, why would the tradesmen complain?
Don McCahill • Link
> One is forced to wonder as to Lady Batten’s beauty that Sam fails to show any interest in taking advantage of her situation.
Sam has a very small circle of "acquaintances of affair." As well as not chasing those higher than his circle, he does not seem interested in the common prostitutes, which I assume abounded at the time. He only wants the women from the social class he has risen out of.
djc • Link
"then I moved we might go to the Duke of York and the King presently to get out their order in writing that was ordered us yesterday about the business of certificates, that we might be secure against the tradesmen who (Sir John Banks by name) have told me this day that they will complain in Parliament against us for denying to do them right. "
The tradesmen are complaining about not being paid, but the Commissioners of the Treasury have refused to back the paper (certificates) issued by the Navy board. Yesterday:
"I was unwilling to enter into a contest with them; but took advantage of two or three words last spoke, and brought it to a short issue in good words, that if we had the King’s order to hold our hands, we would, which did end the matter: and they all resolved we should have it, and so it ended:"
So now they are going to get the King's order in writing(to not pay the tradesmen) so as to cover themselves against future complaints.
Terry Foreman • Link
"I moved we might go to the Duke of York and the King presently to get out their order in writing that was ordered us yesterday about the business of certificates, that we might be secure against the tradesmen who (Sir John Banks by name) have told me this day that they will complain in Parliament against us for denying to do them right"
L&M note Banks had written on behalf of two neighbors who were creditors of the navy [presumably had certificates = bonds]. On 3 April the Council had ordered the Navy Board to issue no more certificates on the Eleven Months Tax, a matter that had been under consideration in the Council since at least 18 March when Pepys "did set the Office and [himself] right, and went away with the victory, my Lord Keeper saying that he would not advise the Council to order us to sign no more certificates." http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… There L&M note Pepys seemed to defend the practice of the Navy Board insofar as it concerned payment of interest to creditors rather than payment for goods; however the Exchequer had failed io budget any interest payments, so the matter was referred to the local collection agency -- the law [presumably sherifs].
Robert Gertz • Link
As I said, that involuntary social instinct may be the barrier blocking Sam from an approach on Lady B...Yet something's lacking...He usually at least comments on the beauty even if it's unattainable or somehow (Betty Pierce) off-limits. Of course Lady B may simply not appeal to him and still be a very beautiful woman.
As for prostitutes, Tomalin seems convinced thought tempted on one or two occasions, Sam feared their vd...And quite right would he have been to do so.
Terry Foreman • Link
"my Lady Batten did come with desire of meeting me there, and speaking with me about the business of the 500l. we demand of her for the Chest. "
The Chatham Chest was a fund to pay pensions for disabled seamen. L&M note Batten had claimed the sum (and apparently had been paid it) for having managed a certain sub-fund of the Chest in 1660-3.
Tony Eldridge • Link
Thanks, djc and Terry. That makes much more sense.
A. De Araujo • Link
"and that he hath left her worth nothing of his own in the world"
How about "Mingo"?he was supposed to have had left some kind of pension?!
Terry Foreman • Link
"it having been a dry season for some time"
L&M note January-February 1668 had been unusually warm and March unusually dry. The summer will be a long warm one.
Terry Foreman • Link
"the Quakers not swearing, and how they do swear in the business of a late election of a Knight of the Shire of Hartfordshire in behalf of one they have a mind to have;"
L&M note that if this bye-election were close, challenged voters would have had to swear "they were properly qualified as forty-shilling freeholders" -- something that in 1690, for conscience' sake, the Hertfordshire majority of the Quaker voters refused to do, and their candidate was disqualified by the Commons.
Terry Foreman • Link
"Common Garden "
Interesting that Pepys apparently sometimes writes this (L&M transcribe it here also).
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the correcting two or three egregious faults in the Charter for Tangier after it had so long lain before the Council and been passed there and drawn up by the Atturney Generall, so slightly are all things in this age done."
The charter was issued on 4 June; it had been in preparation for about a year. (L&M)
On 4 June 1668, Tangier was declared a free city by charter, with a mayor and corporation to govern it instead of the army. The charter made it equal to English towns. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eng…
psw • Link
so we stayed in the Green-Roome,
Thought immediately of the Green Rooms for TV, the waiting room and found:
Further to Antony Tucker's reply, the origin of the green room perhaps lies in a warrant of 1662 "to deliver 110 yards of green baize for the upper tyring rooms of the Cockpit, which in their present state are unfit for rich clothes", noted in Nicoll, A History of English Drama. Tyring rooms were dressing rooms, and the Cockpit was at Whitehall, used occasionally for plays performed for the court.
More: https://www.theguardian.com/notes…
Terry Foreman • Link
"By and by the King...told us what pretty notions my Lord Pembroke hath of the first chapter of Genesis, how Adam’s sin was not the sucking (which he did before) but the swallowing of the apple, by which the contrary elements begun to work in him, and to stir up these passions, and a great deal of such fooleries, which the King made mighty mockery at."
L&M: In 1665 Pembroke had tolsd the King that the end of the world would come that year, and bade hin prepare for it. Whereupon the King had offered him seven years' purchase of his manor of Wilton, but Pembroke replied 'No and please your Majesty it shall die with me': HMC Rawdon Hastings, ii. 120-1. He was a Quaker (of a sort). For his belief in prophecies, see J. J. Jusserand, French Ambassador, p. 118.
Mary K • Link
I suspect that Pembroke actually said, "no an please your Majesty..." An = if (as in the old rhyme "If ifs and ans were pots and pans, there'd be no work for tinkers."
San Diego Sarah • Link
I've been feeling sorry for the Stuart Brothers, having their finances and expenses cut by the accountants and overseers. Charles at least seems to be unfazed: forgiveness being easier to obtain than permission?
April 4. 1668
Warrant to pay to Wm. Bucknell 2,000/.
lent by him for buying the Earl of Thomond’s house near Newmarket,
for his Majesty’s use.
[Docquet, Vol. 23, No. 205.]
'Charles II: April 1668', in Calendar of State Papers Domestic: Charles II, 1667-8, ed. Mary Anne Everett Green (London, 1893), pp. 320-369. British History Online
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…
Batch • Link
Said in every era: " . . . so slightly are all things in this age done."
San Diego Sarah • Link
Lady Elizabeth Turner Woodstocke Batten was Adm. Sir William Batten's second wife. They married February 3, 1659. She was the widow of William Woodstocke of Westminster, and the daughter of a Mr. Turner.
Therefore, I suspect she was at least 15 years older than Pepys, which might also contribute to his lack of interest in her as a woman. He did prefer them young.
San Diego Sarah • Link
Sir John Banks' Parliamentary bio says that at the Restoration he was created a baronet, apparently as a reward for handling one of Charles II's old debts, a transaction which earned him royal gratitude and a handsome profit.
Yet here we are, 8 years later, with Sir John probably holding a lot of debt for Charles, and the King is happily cutting off his interest payments. Of course, that's probably why Banks was chosen by the other merchants to write the letter ... much good it will do them, apparently.
Stephane Chenard • Link
Sam's friend John Banks had gone to the trouble of writing the letter which the State Papers summarize thusly:
-- Sir John Banks to Sam. Pepys. Cannot wait on the Board, but desires that they will sign [Wm.] Chambers’ and [Hen.] Higford’s bills upon the Exchequer, or the parties concerned will wait on them to request fair proceeding, being assured by their friends in Parliament and Council that their Honours should not have thus long forborne to pass those assignments which are their due. Has no interest further than to assist neighbours, knowing what mischiefs they are exposed to for want of their money. (No. 306, https://www.british-history.ac.uk…)
The letter is still full of hope and dated of this day from Lee, a good 20 km from Westminster on the A20, so it looks like Banks spent at least a couple of hours in his coach to hand it over to Sam. We hope he had other business in town, and maybe it's a good thing he didn't wait for the answer.
"Ah, Sir John. I really worked hard for you today, old chap. Went all the way to His Majesty, with His Royal Highness himself. This being 3 of the afternoon, His Majesty was still asleep of course, but His Royal Highness told us the most incredible things about the weather. Did you know that the geese, before rain, make this peculiar call - like this: quack, quack, quaaack. Anyway, yes. The King emerged, scratching and yawning, and he scribbled 'OK -- C2K' on a warrant for us to buy stuff and not pay for it. 'Coz we're the best! His Majesty then told us - did you know this? - that Adam in the Garden had been thought by some wit to 'suck on the apple', can you imagine, how would one even do this? Aye, you heard me right. Oh, and a most droll story about... quaker oaths! You get it? Why, Sir John, you're not laughing."
Tonyel • Link
Thence my Lord Brouncker and I into the Park in his coach, and there took a great deal of ayre, saving that it was mighty dusty, and so a little unpleasant.
A reminder of the foul air in the built-up areas of London, especially in the colder months from coal fires.
San Diego Sarah • Link
"This being 3 of the afternoon, His Majesty was still asleep of course," ... might have been a euphemism? Was pretty, witty Nelly on stage this afternoon?
J. S. • Link
"L&M: In 1665 Pembroke had tolsd the King that the end of the world would come that year, and bade hin prepare for it. Whereupon the King had offered him seven years' purchase of his manor of Wilton, but Pembroke replied 'No and please your Majesty it shall die with me': HMC Rawdon Hastings, ii. 120-1."
A small correction: the citation to HMC Rawdon Hastings, ii. should be 150-151, not 120-121.
Third Reading
Michaela • Link
Thank you Mary for explaining about “an”. As a child I was puzzled by the rhyme because it was written in my book as “if ifs and ands…”