Fractious Factions
1660, Week 34
So there I was, praising myself for not getting angry with Elizabeth for letting my father talk her into buying a more expensive petticoat with my money… and she went and strew the fancy garments about our bed like they were unbleached cotton undergarments! I was furious!
In fact, truth be told, I rather troubled myself with the extent of my anger. To quell it, my wife and I went and walked in the garden. Ah… I can imagine a couple married less for love and more for title may have handled such rage less patiently.
Even so, the speed with which men like myself can feel such a potency of emotion over such trivial matters makes me worry somewhat for the state of our species’ sovereignty, or at the very least our nation’s corner of it. Almost every day of this week, I came across divisions in our society, and men determined to defend their differences.
Perhaps I was more susceptible to it this week, since the King’s absence meant less work at the Privy Seal and more in my role as Clerk of the Acts – which, in turn, meant more focus on the debts of my employer. Both my first and second preparations of the papers for the Commons committee this week returned the same: the Navy owes almost a million pounds to creditors.
A million! That’s just short of the number of stars in the heavens – an incomprehensible amount. I hope my Lord and trusted cousin was right to recommend I remain in this employment…
Speaking of cousins, another cause of my melancholy this week was bumping into my cousin Mr George Montague on one of my visits to the House of Commons. I made the mistake of congratulating him for his success in being elected MP for Dover, which prompted him to detain me for a whole half hour discussing various factions in the House.
For example, Ireland. General Monke (the newly appointed Lord Lieutenant for Ireland, who very rarely goes there…) and Marquis Ormond (the Lord High Steward of Ireland) are at odds over who has the greater authority. To this I could add the gossip I had heard about Lord Robartes’ discontent for being made Deputy Lord Lieutenant, since he desired to report direct to the King and not to Monke.
George mentioned also the rivalry between the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians over how church livings should be arranged – because of course God prefers one manner of Protestant over the other…
This brought to mind the news from my Oxford friends earlier in the week, that many clergy and masters of the university are being forcibly ejected from their offices, on the suggestion that those offices were only earned because of the Protectorate’s favouritism. Such makes me sorry for my Cambridge friends and masters, too.
Similarly, our good friend Symons has lost his inheritance thanks to His Majesty’s restoration. Two manors were left to him by his late uncle, who received them when the Protectorate took them from the Dean of St Paul’s. With the King reversing such decisions of the interim government, our friend is dispossessed.
I’m proud to say Symons handled it well, though, merely getting merry with us in The Dog. I’m not sure I would have fared the same.
But that does remind me of a more jovial dispute I learned of this week. You know of the Petts? The family everyone (certainly everyone in the Navy) loves to loathe? They are so numerous in high offices, and so fond of flaunting this fact – yet Phineas Pett, the Assistant Master Shipwright, is accused of calling the King a “bastard” and his mother a “whore”. I look forward to learning how that plays out.
Ah – I’ve cheered myself up. Drinking one of the four dozen bottles of wine gifted to us yesterday by Captain Bun on his return from Spain has helped immensely also. And so I’m reminded to note that the week wasn’t all bad.
For one, I collected another 100l for my recent efforts at the Privy Seal. There were so many repossessions to sign! Indeed, such as that which dispossessed poor Symons… Which is why much of that 100l was swiftly spent celebrating its attainment by dining out with friends including Symons… Oh – and joining my colleagues in commissioning some personal pews to be built for us St Olave’s, the Navy Office’s parish church.
Elsewhere, the MP for Leominster and Weobley, a Colonel Birch, put himself forward to vouch for the Navy in the House of Commons with respect to covering its debts. I hear Birch is a bold and convincing speaker. He may prove to be a powerful ally.
Back at home, I took delivery of my tailored velvet jacket from Mr Pim – and very fine it is too. I have locked it in my office at the Privy Seal, safe for some future occasion.
And finishing with livery brings me back to my wife, who can perhaps be forgiven her neglectful treatment of her livery due to being occupied by her bitch whelping four puppies on the morning of Lord’s Day. Their cuteness makes it impossible to be angry at them for the sleep they deprive us of with their constant yapping.
Lack of sleep… Perchance that affected my mood this week also…?
How do you cope with unwanted, violent emotions? Is it a struggle to do so?
I shall be delighted to hear from you! Please reply to this post so we can exchange our thoughts…
My purse
I am most lately 253l clear in my purse.
In return for the smiles you took from these words, please send them to a friend!
Your smiles will then be compounded twice: once for sharing joy with your friend, then again for my undying gratitude. {:-)
How do you cope with unwanted, violent emotions? Is it a struggle to do so? Or do you, like Samuel Pepys, find a stroll with a loved one quells your rage...?