Saturday 16 January 1668/69
Up, and to the office all the morning, dined at home with my people, and so all the afternoon till night at the office busy, and so home to supper and to bed. This morning Creed, and in the afternoon comes Povy, to advise with me about my answer to the Lords [Commissioners] of Tangier, about the propositions for the Treasurership there, which I am not much concerned for. But the latter, talking of publick things, told me, as Mr. Wren also did, that the Parliament is likely to meet again, the King being frighted with what the Speaker hath put him in mind of — his promise not to prorogue, but only to adjourne them. They speak mighty freely of the folly of the King in this foolish woman’s business, of my Lady Harvy. Povy tells me that Sir W. Coventry was with the King alone, an hour this day; and that my Lady Castlemayne is now in a higher command over the King than ever — not as a mistress, for she scorns him, but as a tyrant, to command him: and says that the Duchess of York and the Duke of York are mighty great with her, which is a great interest to my Lord Chancellor’s family; and that they do agree to hinder all they can the proceedings of the Duke of Buckingham and Arlington: and so we are in the old mad condition, or rather worse than any; no man knowing what the French intend to do the next summer.
9 Annotations
First Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the Parliament is likely to meet again" transcribe L&M, righting what seems a text scanning error.
Terry Foreman • Link
"my Lady Castlemayne is now in a higher command over the King than ever — not as a mistress, for she scorns him, but as a tyrant"
Hold the mail!! L&M note that on 19 January she was granted a life-pension of £4700 p.a. from Post Office revenues.
andy • Link
no man knowing what the French intend to do the next summer.
Plus ça change...
Eric • Link
Really beginning to like the weather report -- mistling, and now obscure frost ??
JWB • Link
"...the King being frighted..."
"...my Lady Castlemayne is now in a higher command over the King than ever..."
Timidity & shyness are symptoms of mercury poisioning-all that 'elaboring' under his closet to reduce cinnebar to mercury and then distilling it in order to find a method of turning base metals into gold.
AnnieC • Link
Even at today's values a life-pension of £4700 p.a. would be a nice little addition to one's income.
Second Reading
Terry Foreman • Link
"the Parliament is likely to meets again, the King being frighted with what the Speaker hath put him in mind of — his promise not to prorogue, but only to adjourne them."
Parliament had stood adjurned sincew 9 May 1668. http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Terry Foreman • Link
"my Lady Castlemayne is now in a higher command over the King than ever — not as a mistress, for she scorns him, but as a tyrant, to command him"
On 19 January she was granted a life-pension of £4700 p.a.from Post Office revenues.
Stephane Chenard • Link
A bit of confusion in Sam's records occasions this letter from St. J. Stephenson in Portsmouth: "I cannot find such a vessel as the Shepherd galliot in my book for 1665; nor was there at any time such a galliot. It may be some error in the transcript of the vessel's name; if you have an account of the man's name so borne, I can clear the doubt. We had a flyboat called the Herdereen which is Dutch for Shepherd, but that was employed here to put guns into, and was afterwards sent and sold at London; I never heard of a hoy called the Leicester" (State Papers, usual address).
You mean the Sea Shepherd, of illustrious repute? No? Shouldn't you keep an accurate list of his Majesty's ships, with the correct names and all?
(Just to be helpful we checked https://threedecks.org and couldn't find a Shepherd either. There was a Leicester briefly on the books in '67 but 'twas rather more than a hoy).