discourse. Walking upon the decks, where persons of honour all the
afternoon, among others, Thomas Killigrew (a merry droll, but a gentleman
of great esteem with the King), who told us many merry stories: one, how
he wrote a letter three or four days ago to the Princess Royal, about a
Queen Dowager of Judaea and Palestine, that was at the Hague incognita,
that made love to the King, &c., which was Mr. Cary (a courtier's) wife
that had been a nun, who are all married to Jesus. At supper the three
Drs. of Physic again at my cabin; where I put Dr. Scarborough in mind of
what I heard him say about the use of the eyes, which he owned, that
children do, in every day's experience, look several ways with both their
eyes, till custom teaches them otherwise. And that we do now see but with
one eye, our eyes looking in parallel lines. After this discourse I was
called to write a pass for my Lord Mandeville to take up horses to London,
which I wrote in the King's name,--[This right of purveyance was abolished
in Charles's reign.]--and carried it to him to sign, which was the first
and only one that ever he signed in the ship Charles. To bed, coming in
sight of land a little before night.
25th. By the morning we were come close to the land, and every body made
ready to get on shore. The King and the two Dukes did eat their breakfast
before they went, and there being set some ship's diet before them, only
to show them the manner of the ship's diet, they eat of nothing else but
pease and pork, and boiled beef. I had Mr. Darcy in my cabin and Dr.
Clerke, who eat with me, told me how the King had given L50 to Mr. Sheply
for my Lord's servants, and L500 among the officers and common men of the
ship. I spoke with the Duke of York about business, who called me Pepys
by name, and upon my desire did promise me his future favour. Great
expectation of the King's making some Knights, but there was none. About
noon (though the brigantine that Beale made was there ready to carry him)
yet he would go in my Lord's barge with the two Dukes. Our Captain
steered, and my Lord went along bare with him. I went, and Mr. Mansell,
and one of the King's footmen, with a dog that the King loved,
[Charles II.'s love of dogs is well known, but it is not so well
known that his dogs were continually being stolen from him. In the
"Mercurius Publicus," June 28-July 5, 1660, is the following
advertisement, apparently drawn up by the King himself: "We must
call upon you again for a Black Dog between a greyhound and a
spaniel, no white about him, onely a streak on his brest, and his
tayl a little bobbed. It is His Majesties own Dog, and doubtless
was stoln, for the dog was not born nor bred in England, and would
never forsake His master. Whoesoever findes him may acquaint any at
Whitehal for the Dog was better known at Court, than those who stole
him. Will they never leave robbing his Majesty! Must he not keep a
Dog? This dog's place (though better than some imagine) is the only
place which nobody offers to beg." (Quoted in "Notes and Queries,"
7th S., vii. 26, where are printed two other advertisements of
Charles's lost dogs.)]
(which [dirted] the boat, which made us laugh, and me think that a King
and all that belong to him are but just as others are), in a boat by
ourselves, and so got on shore when the King did, who was received by
General Monk with all imaginable love and respect at his entrance upon the
land of Dover. Infinite the crowd of people and the horsemen, citizens,
and noblemen of all sorts. The Mayor of the town came and gave him his
white staff, the badge of his place, which the King did give him again.
The Mayor also presented him from the town a very rich Bible, which he
took and said it was the thing that he loved above all things in the
world. A canopy was provided for him to stand under, which he did, and
talked awhile with General Monk and others, and so into a stately coach
there set for him, and so away through the town towards Canterbury,
without making any stay at Dover. The shouting and joy expressed by all
is past imagination. Seeing that my Lord did not stir out of his barge, I
got into a boat, and so into his barge, whither Mr. John Crew stepped, and
spoke a word or two to my Lord, and so returned, we back to the ship, and
going did see a man almost drowned that fell out of his boat into the sea,
but with much ado was got out. My Lord almost transported with joy that
he had done all this without any the least blur or obstruction in the
world, that could give an offence to any, and with the great honour he
thought it would be to him. Being overtook by the brigantine, my Lord and
we went out of our barge into it, and so went on board with Sir W. Batten,
[Clarendon describes William Batten as an obscure fellow, and,
although unknown to the service, a good seaman, who was in 1642 made
Surveyor to the Navy; in which employ he evinced great animosity
against the King. The following year, while Vice-Admiral to the
Earl of Warwick, he chased a Dutch man-of-war into Burlington Bay,
knowing that Queen Henrietta Maria was on board; and then, learning
that she had landed and was lodged on the quay, he fired above a
hundred shot upon the house, some of which passing through her
majesty's chamber, she was obliged, though indisposed, to retire for
safety into the open fields. This act, brutal as it was, found
favour with the Parliament. But Batten became afterwards
discontented; and, when a portion of the fleet revolted, he carried
the "Constant Warwick," one of the best ships in the Parliament
navy, over into Holland, with several seamen of note. For this act
of treachery he was knighted and made a Rear-Admiral by Prince
Charles. We hear no more of Batten till the Restoration, when he
became a Commissioner of the Navy, and was soon after M.P. for
Rochester. See an account of his second wife, in note to November
24th, 1660, and of his illness and death, October 5th, 1667. He had
a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Martha, by his first wife.--B.]
and the Vice and Rear-Admirals. At night my Lord supped and Mr. Thomas
Crew with Captain Stoakes, I supped with the Captain, who told me what the
King had given us. My Lord returned late, and at his coming did give me
order to cause the marke to be gilded, and a Crown and C. R. to be made
at the head of the coach table, where the King to-day with his own hand
did mark his height, which accordingly I caused the painter to do, and is
now done as is to be seen.
26th. Thanks to God I got to bed in my own poor cabin, and slept well
till 9 o'clock this morning. Mr. North and Dr. Clerke and all the great
company being gone, I found myself very uncouth all this day for want
thereof. My Lord dined with the Vice-Admiral to-day (who is as officious,
poor man! as any spaniel can be; but I believe all to no purpose, for I
believe he will not hold his place), so I dined commander at the coach
table to-day, and all the officers of the ship with me, and Mr. White of
Dover. After a game or two at nine-pins, to work all the afternoon,
making above twenty orders. In the evening my Lord having been a-shore,
the first time that he hath been a-shore since he came out of the Hope
(having resolved not to go till he had brought his Majesty into England),
returned on board with a great deal of pleasure. I supped with the
Captain in his cabin with young Captain Cuttance, and afterwards a
messenger from the King came with a letter, and to go into France, and by
that means we supped again with him at 12 o'clock at night. This night
the Captain told me that my Lord had appointed me L30 out of the 1000
ducats which the King had given to the ship, at which my heart was very
much joyed. To bed.
27th (Lord's day). Called up by John Goods to see the Garter and Heralds
coat, which lay in the coach, brought by Sir Edward Walker,
[Edward Walker was knighted February 2nd, 1644-5, and on the 24th of
the same month was sworn in as Garter King at Arms. He adhered to
the cause of the king, and published "Iter Carolinum", being a
succinct account of the necessitated marches, retreats, and
sufferings of his Majesty King Charles I., from Jan. 10, 1641, to
the time of his death in 1648, collected by a daily attendant upon
his sacred Majesty during all that time: He joined Charles II. in
exile, and received the reward of his loyalty at the Restoration.
He died at Whitehall, February 19th, 1676-7, and was buried at
Stratford-on-Avon, his daughter having married Sir John Clepton of
that place.]
King at Arms, this morning, for my Lord. My Lord hath summoned all the
Commanders on board him, to see the ceremony, which was thus: Sir Edward
putting on his coat, and having laid the George and Garter, and the King's
letter to my Lord, upon a crimson cushion (in the coach, all the
Commanders standing by), makes three congees to him, holding the cushion
in his arms. Then laying it down with the things upon it upon a chair, he
takes the letter, and delivers it to my Lord, which my Lord breaks open
and gives him to read. It was directed to our trusty and well beloved Sir
Edward Montagu, Knight, one of our Generals at sea, and our Companion
elect of our Noble Order of the Garter. The contents of the letter is to
show that the Kings of England have for many years made use of this
honour, as a special mark of favour, to persons of good extraction and
virtue (and that many Emperors, Kings and Princes of other countries have
borne this honour), and that whereas my Lord is of a noble family, and
hath now done the King such service by sea, at this time, as he hath done;
he do send him this George and Garter to wear as Knight of the Order, with
a dispensation for the other ceremonies of the habit of the Order, and
other things, till hereafter, when it can be done. So the herald putting
the ribbon about his neck, and the Garter about his left leg, he salutes
him with joy as Knight of the Garter, and that was all. After that was
done, and the Captain and I had breakfasted with Sir Edward while my Lord
was writing of a letter, he took his leave of my Lord, and so to shore
again to the King at Canterbury, where he yesterday gave the like honour
to General Monk,
["His Majesty put the George on his Excellency, and the two Dukes
put on the Garter. The Princes thus honoured the Lord-General for
the restoration of that lawful family."--Rugge's Diurnal.]
who are the only two for many years that have had the Garter given them,
before they had other honours of Earldom, or the like, excepting only the
Duke of Buckingham, who was only Sir George Villiers when he was made
Knight of the Garter. A while after Mr. Thos. Crew and Mr. J. Pickering
(who had staid long enough to make all the world see him to be a fool),
took ship for London. So there now remain no strangers with my Lord but
Mr. Hetley, who had been with us a day before the King went from us. My
Lord and the ship's company down to sermon. I staid above to write and
look over my new song book, which came last night to me from London in
lieu of that that my Lord had of me. The officers being all on board,
there was not room for me at table, so I dined in my cabin, where, among
other things, Mr. Drum brought me a lobster and a bottle of oil, instead
of a bottle of vinegar, whereby I spoiled my dinner. Many orders in the
ordering of ships this afternoon. Late to a sermon. After that up to the
Lieutenant's cabin, where Mr. Sheply, I, and the Minister supped, and
after that I went down to W. Howe's cabin, and there, with a great deal of
pleasure, singing till it was late. After that to bed.
28th. Called up at two in the morning for letters for my Lord from the
Duke of York, but I went to bed again till 5. Trimmed early this morning.
This morning the Captain did call over all the men in the ship (not the
boys), and give every one of them a ducat of the King's money that he gave
the ship, and the officers according to their quality. I received in the
Captain's cabin, for my share, sixty ducats. The rest of the morning busy
writing letters. So was my Lord that he would not come to dinner. After
dinner to write again in order to sending to London, but my Lord did not
finish his, so we did not send to London to-day. A great part of the
afternoon at nine-pins with my Lord and Mr. Hetley. I lost about 4s.
Supped with my Lord, and after that to bed. At night I had a strange
dream of--myself, which I really did, and having kicked my clothes off, I
got cold; and found myself all much wet in the morning, and had a great
deal of pain . . . which made me very melancholy.
29th. The King's birthday. Busy all the morning writing letters to
London, among the rest one to Mr. Chetwind to give me an account of the
fees due to the Herald for the Order of the Garter, which my Lord desires
to know. After dinner got all ready and sent away Mr. Cook to London with
a letter and token to my wife. After that abroad to shore with my Lord
(which he offered me of himself, saying that I had a great deal of work to
do this month, which was very true). On shore we took horses, my Lord and
Mr. Edward, Mr. Hetly and I, and three or four servants, and had a great
deal of pleasure in riding. Among other things my Lord showed me a house
that cost a great deal of money, and is built in so barren and
inconvenient a place that my Lord calls it the fool's house. At last we
came upon a very high cliff by the sea-side, and rode under it, we having
laid great wagers, I and Dr. Mathews, that it was not so high as Paul's;
my Lord and Mr. Hetly, that it was. But we riding under it, my Lord made
a pretty good measure of it with two sticks, and found it to be not above
thirty-five yards high, and Paul's is reckoned to be about ninety. From
thence toward the barge again, and in our way found the people at Deal
going to make a bonfire for joy of the day, it being the King's birthday,
and had some guns which they did fire at my Lord's coming by. For which I
did give twenty shillings among them to drink. While we were on the top
of the cliffe, we saw and heard our guns in the fleet go off for the same
joy. And it being a pretty fair day we could see above twenty miles into
France. Being returned on board, my Lord called for Mr. Sheply's book of
Paul's, by which we were confirmed in our wager. After that to supper and
then to musique, and so to bed. The pain that I have got last night by
cold is not yet gone, but troubles me at the time of . . . . This day,
it is thought, the King do enter the city of London.
["Divers maidens, in behalf of themselves and others, presented a
petition to the Lord Mayor of London, wherein they pray his Lordship
to grant them leave and liberty to meet His Majesty on the day of
his passing through the city; and if their petition be granted, that
they will all be clad in white waistcoats and crimson petticoats,
and other ornaments of triumph and rejoicing."-Rugge's Diurnal, May,
1660.--B.]
30th. About eight o'clock in the morning the lieutenant came to me to
know whether I would eat a dish of mackerel, newly catched, for my
breakfast, which the Captain and we did in the coach. All yesterday and
to-day I had a great deal of pain . . . and in my back, which made me
afeard. But it proved nothing but cold, which I took yesterday night. All
this morning making up my accounts, in which I counted that I had made
myself now worth about L80, at which my heart was glad, and blessed God.
Many Dover men come and dine with my Lord. My Lord at ninepins in the
afternoon. In the afternoon Mr. Sheply told me how my Lord had put me
down for 70 guilders among the money which was given to my Lord's
servants, which my heart did much rejoice at. My Lord supped alone in his
chamber. Sir R. Stayner supped with us, and among other things told us
how some of his men did grumble that no more of the Duke's money come to
their share and so would not receive any; whereupon he called up those
that had taken it, and gives them three shares apiece more, which was very
good, and made good sport among the seamen. To bed.
31st. This day my Lord took physic, and came not out of his chamber.
All the morning making orders. After dinner a great while below in the
great cabin trying with W. Howe some of Mr. Laws' songs,' particularly
that of "What is a kiss," with which we had a great deal of pleasure.
After that to making of orders again. Captain Sparling of the Assistance
brought me a pair of silk stockings of a light blue, which I was much
pleased with. The Captain and I to supper, and after that a most pleasant
walk till to at night with him upon the deck, it being a fine evening. My
pain was gone again that I had yesterday, blessed be God. This day the
month ends, I in very good health, and all the world in a merry mood
because of the King's coming. This day I began to teach Mr. Edward; who I
find to have a very good foundation laid for his Latin by Mr. Fuller. I
expect every minute to hear how my poor wife do. I find myself in all
things well as to body and mind, but troubled for the absence of my wife.
ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS:
An exceeding pretty lass, and right for the sport
And in all this not so much as one
Bought for the love of the binding three books
Drinking of the King's health upon their knees in the streets
Fashionable and black spots
He and I lay in one press bed, there being two more
He is, I perceive, wholly sceptical, as well as I
He that must do the business, or at least that can hinder it
He was fain to lie in the priest's hole a good while
If it should come in print my name maybe at it
In comes Mr. North very sea-sick from shore
John Pickering on board, like an ass, with his feathers
Made to drink, that they might know him not to be a Roundhead
My Lord, who took physic to-day and was in his chamber
Presbyterians against the House of Lords
Protestants as to the Church of Rome are wholly fanatiques
End of Project Gutenberg's Diary of Samuel Pepys, May 1660, by Samuel Pepys