1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:06,960 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. With this week's episode on John Evelyn's Fumafujium, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,080 Speaker 1: we thought we'd bring out our past episode on his 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:16,480 Speaker 1: contemporary and fellow diarist, Samuel Peeps. Samuel Peeps also fond 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,279 Speaker 1: of irritating women in public spaces, and sometimes they would 5 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 1: stick him with pins. So know that this episode originally 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: came out on May twenty ninth, twenty nineteen, So enjoy. 7 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 8 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracey E. V. 9 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: Wilson and I'm Polly Frying. Samuel Peeps has been something 10 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:51,440 Speaker 1: of a recurring character on our show. We have either 11 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 1: name dropped him or read bits of his diaries, and 12 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:57,640 Speaker 1: our episodes on and Lister and the Pirate Henry every In, 13 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: the Straw Hat Riots and Britain's Theft of Tea from 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: China and the Body House Riots of sixteen sixty eight, 15 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,759 Speaker 1: and the belief that the Royal Touch could cure your scrofula. 16 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:11,959 Speaker 1: I have to imagine previous hosts have at some point 17 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,479 Speaker 1: said something about Samuel Peeps too, but that's a lot 18 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: harder for us to track at this point. I think 19 00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: all historians eventually talk about Samuel Peeps. It all eventually 20 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,520 Speaker 1: comes back to Peeps. Something that came up in one 21 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,679 Speaker 1: of these discussions between Holly and me, which is was 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,400 Speaker 1: that we had both read selections from Peep's diary in school, 23 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: and yet we did not know until working on this 24 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,160 Speaker 1: podcast how funny it could be. It was like our 25 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: experience was the opposite of The Princess Bride, where somebody 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: had gone through the diary and only left in the 27 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: boring parts. When I started working on this episode, I 28 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: was also surprised to learn that the funny parts were 29 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 1: not the only thing left out of my Samuel Peeps 30 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 1: experience in school. Our episode on Ann Lister's diaries talked 31 00:01:56,080 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: about how much of them were dedicated to detailing her 32 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: sexual relationships, and the same thing. It's true for Samuel Peeps, 33 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: and parts of his diary are similarly explicit. Like one 34 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: passage that I was reading as I was researching this 35 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: caused me to go whoa out loud at my desk. 36 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: We aren't going to be reading that package passage. But 37 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,480 Speaker 1: just like fair warning. See I knew there was dirty 38 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: stuff in the diaries, and I wonder if and I 39 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,640 Speaker 1: don't remember exactly what copy I read at various points 40 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 1: in my education. I wonder if maybe in my case, 41 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 1: some of the funny stuff was there, but I didn't 42 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: get the comedy. I think probably every Samuel Peeps thing 43 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: that I had read had been in an anthology, like, 44 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,919 Speaker 1: not a standalone copy of anything. And I went back 45 00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: and looked as I was working on this, to be like, 46 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,280 Speaker 1: am I like fudging my own memory here? And no? 47 00:02:47,480 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: Like my Norton Anthology of English Literature from back in 48 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 1: my college days, like only has a couple of passages, 49 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: They're only about the fire. They're not funny or racy 50 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: in any way. And I think that was the case, 51 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: like anything that I was reading was excerpted in another 52 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:09,560 Speaker 1: work and not like a standalone, more lengthy thing. Regardless, though, 53 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: we're coming up on the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary 54 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: of Peep's last diary entry, which was written on May 55 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,280 Speaker 1: thirty first of sixteen sixty nine, so it seemed like 56 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: a good time to take a closer look, not just 57 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: at the diary, but also at who Peeps was beyond 58 00:03:23,880 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: his famous chronicle of life in seventeenth century London. Samuel 59 00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: Peeps was born in London on February twenty third, sixteen 60 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,520 Speaker 1: thirty three. His father was a tailor and his mother 61 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: was a butcher's daughter, so they were not a particularly 62 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,880 Speaker 1: prominent or affluent family. Samuel had ten siblings, but only 63 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: two of them lived to adulthood, and of those three, 64 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 1: Samuel was the oldest. With the help of other family, 65 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: Samuel was able to go to school. He went to 66 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: Huntingdon Grammar School and then moved on to Saint Paul's School. 67 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: From there he went to Cambridge, where he started a 68 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: lifelong friendship with John Dryden, who would go on to 69 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: be England's first poet laureate. Peeps graduated with a BA 70 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,440 Speaker 1: in sixteen fifty three. The Peeps family had one connection 71 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: that served Samuel extremely well. That was Edward Montague, who 72 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 1: was Samuel's father's cousin and would eventually become the first 73 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: Earl of Sandwich. He took an interest in Samuel and 74 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: hired him as a secretary. Had that not happened, Samuel 75 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: probably would have pursued a career in law. In sixteen 76 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:30,400 Speaker 1: fifty five, Samuel married Elizabeth sa Michelle. She was the 77 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: daughter of a French Huguenot who had come to England 78 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,600 Speaker 1: as a refugee. They had a religious ceremony on October tenth, 79 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty five, when Elizabeth was fourteen and Samuel was 80 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,800 Speaker 1: twenty two, and then they had a civil ceremony on 81 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: December first, by which point she had turned fifteen. This 82 00:04:46,400 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: was definitely a match made for love and not for money. 83 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,120 Speaker 1: The sam Michel's had been well off and prominent, but 84 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: they had fallen on hard times in part because of 85 00:04:55,760 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: her father's religious conversion. Samuel wound up supporting seven of 86 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:03,359 Speaker 1: them financially, but at the start of his marriage to 87 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:06,320 Speaker 1: Elizabeth he wasn't in a position to do that at all. 88 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: He couldn't even afford lodgings for the two of them, 89 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: so they had to live in his room in Montague's 90 00:05:11,400 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: quarters at Whitehall Palace. In spite of their feelings for 91 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:16,800 Speaker 1: one another, which I mean they do seem to have 92 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: genuinely been very fond of each other, and their ages 93 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: today are highly questionable, but at the time like that, 94 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: those are pretty normal ages to get married. Their marriage 95 00:05:26,560 --> 00:05:29,240 Speaker 1: got off to a really rocky start. Elizabeth had some 96 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: sort of recurring, persistent gynecological problem, and Samuel was in 97 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 1: a lot of pain due to stones and his bladder 98 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 1: and urinary tracts, so from the very beginning their physical 99 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,680 Speaker 1: relationship was difficult and probably painful for both of them. 100 00:05:42,839 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: Elizabeth's feelings on this aren't really recorded anywhere, but it 101 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: was hugely frustrating for Samuel. Also, while Samuel was besotted 102 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: with his wife, he was deeply jealous and possessive. She 103 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: was lovely, lively and charming, and tended to attract the 104 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: attention of other men. As far as we know, Elizabeth 105 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,440 Speaker 1: was always faithful to Samuel, but she also clearly enjoyed 106 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: flattery and attention. If Samuel thought a man was paying 107 00:06:09,080 --> 00:06:11,600 Speaker 1: too much attention to her, or that she was being 108 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:15,000 Speaker 1: too flirtatious, he would get angry about it, and aside 109 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 1: from that, he could be very critical of her. All 110 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: of this together made their relationship really tense. Elizabeth went 111 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:23,640 Speaker 1: back home to her family for a few months in 112 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,440 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty seven, returning to Samuel at Whitehall in December. 113 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,200 Speaker 1: They finally moved into a place of their own the 114 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: following August. Although their relationship continued to have just serious 115 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: ups and downs, they both had volatile tempers. Peeps had 116 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 1: a lot of affairs, and they were known to fight 117 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: and even threaten each other when things got really heated. 118 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 1: At least in Peepe's diary, though, which is virtually the 119 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: only source of information that we have about Elizabeth. They 120 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: also seemed really genuinely fond of each other when things 121 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: were good. On March twenty sixth, sixteen fifty eight, Peeps 122 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: had a lithotomy, which is a surgical procedure to remove 123 00:06:59,160 --> 00:07:03,480 Speaker 1: a bladderstone. A surgeon named Thomas Hollier removed a stone 124 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,479 Speaker 1: that measured about two inches in diameter, which Samuel kept 125 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: in a specially made case to show to people afterward. 126 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:15,080 Speaker 1: He recovered with no complications, which is incredible considering that 127 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: there was no anesthesia and the instruments weren't in any 128 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: way sterile. These surgeries weren't uncommon at the time, but 129 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: deaths and complications were pretty commonplace. Peeps developed other stones 130 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: later on, but for a time after this procedure he 131 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: was almost symptom free. I said in this outline that 132 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: he recovered with no complications. He and Elizabeth never had 133 00:07:36,040 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: any children, and one of the things that people cite 134 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:40,480 Speaker 1: as maybe a reason for that is that this procedure 135 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:43,120 Speaker 1: might have been successful at removing the stone, but also 136 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: might have inadvertently made him unable to have children. That's 137 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: all very speculative, though, like we don't know exactly why 138 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: they didn't have any children. Peeps wrote his first diary 139 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,160 Speaker 1: entry on January first, sixteen sixty, and he referred to 140 00:07:57,200 --> 00:08:00,920 Speaker 1: this ailment in the very first sentence, quote, Blessed be God. 141 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: At the end of the last year, I was in 142 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: very good health, without any sense of my old pain, 143 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:09,600 Speaker 1: but upon taking of cold. We'll talk more about the 144 00:08:09,640 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: diary later, especially through this next section of the episode, 145 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,840 Speaker 1: but this is when he started keeping it. Sixteen sixty 146 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 1: was a big year for Samuel Peeps. He finished his 147 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: master's degree and he was part of the fleet that 148 00:08:21,120 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: brought King Charles the Second back to England. Super quick recap. 149 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:28,400 Speaker 1: Charles the Second's father, Charles the First, was king during 150 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 1: the English Civil Wars, which were a series of conflicts 151 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: primarily between royalists and parliamentarians. Charles the First was executed 152 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: in sixteen forty nine and Charles the Second was forced 153 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: into exile in sixteen fifty one. Oliver Cromwell, who had 154 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,280 Speaker 1: been at General on the parliamentarian side, became Lord Protector 155 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: of England, Scotland and Ireland. Not long after Cromwell's death 156 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 1: in sixteen fifty eight, royalists started working out a deal 157 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:58,080 Speaker 1: to restore Charles two to the throne. Obviously, it was 158 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: a lot more complicated than was quick highlights. And also 159 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:07,280 Speaker 1: complicated were the loyalties of Peep's patron, Edward Montague. Montague 160 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:09,679 Speaker 1: had fought on the parliamentarian side, and he had been 161 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,320 Speaker 1: closely connected to both Oliver Cromwell and his son Richard, 162 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: who tried unsuccessfully to follow in his late father's footsteps. 163 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,800 Speaker 1: Montague had actually advocated for Oliver Cromwell to be crowned 164 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: as king, but by the spring of sixteen fifty nine, 165 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 1: Royalists and parliamentarians alike were wondering if Montague's allegiance was shifting. 166 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: Charles the second's representatives made overtures to him while Parliament 167 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,640 Speaker 1: stripped him of his Admiralty commission, and for good reason, 168 00:09:38,120 --> 00:09:41,000 Speaker 1: he was negotiating in secret for the return of the king. 169 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: But after a very politically chaotic end of sixteen fifty 170 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: nine and beginning of sixteen sixty, Montague was reappointed to 171 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,920 Speaker 1: the Admiralty Commission and made General of the Sea along 172 00:09:52,920 --> 00:09:56,080 Speaker 1: with George Monk, who was actively working to restore Charles 173 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,960 Speaker 1: the Second to the throne. Once a deal was negotiated 174 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:03,679 Speaker 1: for Charles's return, Montague secured the fleet that traveled to 175 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: the Netherlands to bring him back to England, and thanks 176 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: to Montague's influence, Samuel Peeps was on board with that fleet. 177 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: The fleet landed back at Dover with the king on 178 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,679 Speaker 1: May twenty fifth, sixteen sixty, and almost immediately Charles the 179 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,160 Speaker 1: Second made Montague an Earl. That was the beginning of 180 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,240 Speaker 1: a tremendously eventful decade for Peeps personally and for Britain 181 00:10:25,240 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: in general. And we're going to talk more about all 182 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: of that after a sponsor break. After Edward Montague became 183 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: the Earl of Sandwich, he told Samuel Peeps quote, we 184 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,079 Speaker 1: must have a little patience and we will rise together. 185 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,319 Speaker 1: In the meantime, I will do you all the good 186 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: jobs I can. This's worked out really well for Peeps 187 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,840 Speaker 1: through the Earl's influence. In the summer of sixteen sixty, 188 00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,240 Speaker 1: he was named Clerk of the Axe at the Navy 189 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: Board that's the administrative board responsible for running the Royal 190 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: Navy and keeping it maintained and supplied. This position came 191 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:06,959 Speaker 1: along with a salary and a house, and it also 192 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: meant that Peeps became a justice of the peace in 193 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: the counties where the dockyards were located. This was the 194 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:16,439 Speaker 1: beginning of a lifelong career as a naval administrator. Peeps 195 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:19,679 Speaker 1: was a very hard worker, but he didn't actually know 196 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:23,959 Speaker 1: anything about the navy like at all. Nearly his entire 197 00:11:24,120 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: experience was going on that voyage to bring Charles the 198 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 1: Second back to England, so at first he mostly just 199 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: deferred to the rest of the board, some of whom 200 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:34,840 Speaker 1: had decades of navy experience. But over the next couple 201 00:11:34,880 --> 00:11:37,640 Speaker 1: of years, Peeps realized that having a long career in 202 00:11:37,679 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: the Navy didn't necessarily make a person an upstanding naval 203 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: administrator or any good at it. He started to see 204 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,800 Speaker 1: a lot of laziness and waste and corruption, and he 205 00:11:47,840 --> 00:11:51,200 Speaker 1: became especially distrustful of the men whose commands had been 206 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,079 Speaker 1: passed down to them through their families, rather than rising 207 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:56,880 Speaker 1: through the ranks based on their merit. But none of 208 00:11:56,920 --> 00:11:59,839 Speaker 1: these opinions erased the fact that these men had not 209 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: knowledge and experience that Peeps just didn't, so he got 210 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:05,600 Speaker 1: to work trying to close that gap as much as 211 00:12:05,640 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: he could. His own education had been really weak in maths, 212 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: so he got a tutor and started learning multiplication tables. 213 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,959 Speaker 1: He immersed himself in the terminology and procedures and measurements 214 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 1: that were needed to build, maintain and supply ships. Soon 215 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:23,240 Speaker 1: he stopped following the lead of the more senior board 216 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,320 Speaker 1: members and started trying to make things more efficient and orderly, 217 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: which really drew the ire of some of his colleagues. 218 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:33,040 Speaker 1: Peeps was taking on additional roles as well. He became 219 00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:36,199 Speaker 1: secretary of the committee that ran the English colony at Tangier, 220 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: which had been part of Catherine of Braganz's dowry when 221 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,840 Speaker 1: she married Charles the Second. He was elected as Fellow 222 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:46,600 Speaker 1: of the Royal Society in sixteen sixty five. The Second 223 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:49,400 Speaker 1: Anglo Dutch War started later that year, and many of 224 00:12:49,440 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: the rest of the board were aging or at sea, 225 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: so Peeps found himself overseeing a large part of the 226 00:12:55,679 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: Navy's wartime administration, including setting up a centralized provisioning system. 227 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,160 Speaker 1: In the mid sixteen sixties, Peeps witnessed two catastrophes in 228 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,360 Speaker 1: very quick succession. The Great Plague of London and the 229 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,800 Speaker 1: Great Fire of London. The plague struck London in sixteen 230 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: sixty five, although Peep's diary also includes news of the 231 00:13:15,559 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: diseases spread elsewhere in the years before that. On April thirtieth, 232 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty five, he wrote, quote, great fears of the 233 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,160 Speaker 1: sickness here in the city, it being said that two 234 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,839 Speaker 1: or three houses are already shut up. God preserve us. 235 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,640 Speaker 1: All His entries through sixteen sixty five and into sixteen 236 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 1: sixty six detail fear of the plague and death tolls, 237 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:40,840 Speaker 1: some of which were enormous. On August thirty first, he wrote, 238 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: quote in the city died this week seven four hundred 239 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 1: and ninety six, and all of them six thy one 240 00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:50,120 Speaker 1: hundred two of the plague. But it is feared that 241 00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,080 Speaker 1: the true number of the dead this week is near 242 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: ten thousand, partly from the poor that cannot be taken 243 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: notice of through the greatness of the number, and partly 244 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,560 Speaker 1: from the Quakers and others that will not have any 245 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:03,160 Speaker 1: bell ring for them. For the first few months of 246 00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:07,240 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty six he records numbers that decrease, and then increase, 247 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: and then decrease again, then finally noting a day of 248 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: thanksgiving for the plague's end on November twentieth, although he 249 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,440 Speaker 1: acknowledges that people were still dying, the plague was in 250 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: its last months when the fire began on September second, 251 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty six. Peeps chronicled the fire much like he 252 00:14:24,280 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: did the plague, detailing people's fears along with what was 253 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: burning and the progression of the fire itself and how 254 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,000 Speaker 1: the city tried to stop it. The fire affected Peeps 255 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: for months after it was over. The following February, he wrote, quote, 256 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: the weather for three or four days being come to 257 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,680 Speaker 1: be exceedingly cold again as any time this year. I 258 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: did within these six days see smoke still remaining of 259 00:14:47,720 --> 00:14:50,200 Speaker 1: the late fire in the city. And it is strange 260 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,920 Speaker 1: to think how to this day I cannot sleep at 261 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: night without great terrors of fire. And this very night 262 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: I could not sleep till almost two in the morning 263 00:14:58,920 --> 00:15:02,520 Speaker 1: through thoughts of fire. The Second Anglo Dutch War was 264 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 1: going on through all of this, and peace negotiations started 265 00:15:05,960 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: in August of sixteen sixty six and lasted into the 266 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: following year. As the negotiations progressed, the British government decided 267 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: to recall the fleet and scale down the navy while 268 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: still trying to protect England from a Dutch attack. On 269 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,320 Speaker 1: March twenty third, Peeps wrote quote at the office where 270 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: Sir W. Penn come being returned from Chatham from considering 271 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: the means of fortifying the River Medway by a chain 272 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:33,040 Speaker 1: at the stakes and ships laid there with guns to 273 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: keep the enemy from coming up to burn our ships. 274 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,680 Speaker 1: All our care being now to fortify ourselves against their 275 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: invading us. So basically they didn't have enough money to 276 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:46,280 Speaker 1: keep maintaining the navy like at the strength that it 277 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: had been while they were more actively at war. But 278 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: the peace treaty had not been signed yet, so they 279 00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:54,920 Speaker 1: needed to still have some kind of defense, and they 280 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:58,880 Speaker 1: were attempting to do this with a chain stretched across 281 00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: the mouth of the river. But a Dutch force did 282 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:05,160 Speaker 1: indeed attack the River Medway. That happened on June ninth, 283 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:08,800 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty seven. They broke through that chain, destroyed some 284 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 1: of the ships, and captured others, including capturing the fleet's flagship, 285 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: the Royal Charles. This was disastrous for the navy. It 286 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 1: was terrifying for the British people since it put the 287 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: Dutch in striking distance of London. Of course, then people 288 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: questioned the judgment of the king over the whole thing, 289 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,840 Speaker 1: but the war did end with the Treaty of Breta 290 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: a month later. Peeps, being the administrator who had arranged 291 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:36,120 Speaker 1: so much of the withdrawal, was investigated repeatedly. In the end, 292 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: though the officers who made the decisions took more of 293 00:16:38,760 --> 00:16:41,080 Speaker 1: the blame than the Navy board, who had figured out 294 00:16:41,320 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: just how to carry out those decisions. Soon, though, Peeps 295 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,600 Speaker 1: had other problems to worry about. On October twenty fifth, 296 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,160 Speaker 1: sixteen sixty eight, his wife caught him with one of 297 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:54,120 Speaker 1: their maids, Deborah Willett. Deb was eighteen and she had 298 00:16:54,160 --> 00:16:57,760 Speaker 1: been hired primarily as Elizabeth's companion, and Elizabeth was of 299 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: course outraged. They were not caught talking. Peeps was explicit 300 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,800 Speaker 1: in his diary about exactly what was going on. On 301 00:17:05,840 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: October thirty first, he wrote, quote, so ends this month 302 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,920 Speaker 1: with some quiet to my mind, though not perfect, after 303 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 1: the greatest falling out with my poor wife and through 304 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: my folly with the girl that I ever had, and 305 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,160 Speaker 1: I have reason to be sorry and ashamed of it, 306 00:17:20,200 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: and more to be troubled for the poor girl's sake, 307 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: whom I fear I shall, by this means prove the 308 00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: ruin of though I shall think myself concerned both to 309 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: love and be a friend to her. In November, Elizabeth 310 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,320 Speaker 1: forced Samuel to dismiss Deb from their staff and agree 311 00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:39,040 Speaker 1: to never see her again, but he did not keep 312 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: that promise. He figured out where Deb had gone and 313 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:44,639 Speaker 1: went to visit and give her some money. It is 314 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,240 Speaker 1: not clear whether he continued their affair after she was 315 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: out of the household, though, And also, this was not 316 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:52,879 Speaker 1: the only affair that Peeps detailed in his diary. He 317 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,160 Speaker 1: wrote about dalliances with his friend's wives, and his wife's 318 00:17:56,160 --> 00:17:58,560 Speaker 1: friends and maids in their household, and on and on 319 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 1: and on us and these episodes were not always welcome. 320 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: On August eighteenth of sixteen sixty seven, he wrote about 321 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:09,879 Speaker 1: going to church, where he quote stood by a pretty 322 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: modest maid, whom I did labor to take by the 323 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:15,440 Speaker 1: hand and the body, but she would not, but got 324 00:18:15,480 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: further and further from me, and at last I could 325 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,560 Speaker 1: perceive her to take pins out of her pocket to 326 00:18:20,720 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: prick me if I should touch her again, which seeing 327 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: I did for bear, and was glad I did spy 328 00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:29,040 Speaker 1: her design, and then I fell to gaze upon another 329 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: pretty maid, and a kew close to me, and she 330 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,719 Speaker 1: on me, and I did go about to take her 331 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,440 Speaker 1: by the hand, which she suffered a little, and then withdrew. 332 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 1: So the sermon ended, and the church broke up, and 333 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:42,840 Speaker 1: my amars ended too, and so took coach and home, 334 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: and there took up my wife and to Islington with her. 335 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: Oh Peeps. As he was writing about the fallout of 336 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,159 Speaker 1: his wife's discovery of his affair, Peeps was also writing 337 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:58,240 Speaker 1: about problems with his eyes. His diary entries record pain, 338 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: sensitivity to light, and trouble seeing. He found that drinking 339 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: made it worse, but he didn't want to give up drink. 340 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:07,919 Speaker 1: He loved going to the theater, but the light bothered 341 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,000 Speaker 1: him there, and he was forced to stop going. He 342 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 1: tried all kinds of compresses and potions and pills to 343 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,120 Speaker 1: no effect, and he was granted several months of leave 344 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:20,720 Speaker 1: to try to recover. On May thirty first, sixteen sixty nine, 345 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,160 Speaker 1: he wrote his last diary entry, saying, in part quote, 346 00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,880 Speaker 1: and thus ends all that I doubt I shall ever 347 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,199 Speaker 1: be able to do with my own eyes in the 348 00:19:29,280 --> 00:19:31,760 Speaker 1: keeping of my journal, I being not able to do 349 00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: it any longer, having done now so long as to 350 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,920 Speaker 1: undo my eyes almost every time that I take pen 351 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:41,199 Speaker 1: in my hand, and therefore whenever comes of it, I 352 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: must forbear, and therefore resolve from this time forward to 353 00:19:45,119 --> 00:19:47,879 Speaker 1: have it kept by my people in long hand, and 354 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,840 Speaker 1: must therefore be contented to set down no more than 355 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,119 Speaker 1: is fit for them and all the world to know. 356 00:19:53,960 --> 00:19:56,920 Speaker 1: Or if there be anything which cannot be much, how 357 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,880 Speaker 1: my amours to deb are past, and my eyes hinder 358 00:20:00,240 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: me in almost all other pleasures, I must endeavor to 359 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,360 Speaker 1: keep a margin in my book open, to add here 360 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,000 Speaker 1: and there a note in shorthand with my own hand. 361 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,640 Speaker 1: And so I would take myself to that course, which 362 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,640 Speaker 1: is almost as much as to see myself go into 363 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: my grave, for which and all the discomforts that will 364 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,960 Speaker 1: accompany my being blind, the Good God prepare me. Not 365 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: long after, Samuel and Elizabeth went to the Low Countries 366 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:28,240 Speaker 1: in France, where she contracted some sort of fever. She 367 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: died on November tenth, sixteen sixty nine, at the age 368 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:35,160 Speaker 1: of twenty nine. Samuel never remarried, but he did start 369 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,399 Speaker 1: an ongoing relationship with a woman named Mary Skinner. Not 370 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: long after, she eventually moved into his home and seems 371 00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: to have acted as his wife in everything but name. 372 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 1: But in spite of this real certainty in the last 373 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,919 Speaker 1: diary entry that he was going blind, Peeps did not 374 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: lose his sight as he feared that he would, and 375 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,719 Speaker 1: his career continued on for almost two decades after his 376 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: wife's death. We'll have more on that after another quick 377 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: spot to break. As Samuel Peeps was struggling with his 378 00:21:11,119 --> 00:21:13,679 Speaker 1: eyesight and traveling with his wife, he was also up 379 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:15,879 Speaker 1: for election to the House of Commons, and that was 380 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 1: an election that he lost. He also started facing rumors 381 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: that he was a crypto papist or a secret Catholic. 382 00:21:23,119 --> 00:21:26,440 Speaker 1: Catholics were highly suspect in England at this point, and 383 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: Peeps had Catholic friends, some Catholic family members, there were 384 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,600 Speaker 1: some Catholic books in his library. All of this raised 385 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,240 Speaker 1: a lot of eyebrows. The Third Anglo Dutch War started 386 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:40,959 Speaker 1: in March of sixteen seventy two, and Peepe's old benefactor 387 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: of the Earl of Sandwich, was killed in action. The 388 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: two men hadn't been closed for a while. The Earl 389 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: had been caught up in a scandal about the distribution 390 00:21:49,359 --> 00:21:52,280 Speaker 1: of wartime prizes, and Peeps had made enough of a 391 00:21:52,359 --> 00:21:54,719 Speaker 1: name for himself that he didn't really need the Earl's 392 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:58,880 Speaker 1: patronage anymore. Even so, Peeps was a banner bearer at 393 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: the funeral. In sixteen seventy three, Parliament passed a test 394 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:07,679 Speaker 1: Act which banned Catholics and nonconforming Protestants from holding public office. 395 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,240 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second's brother, the Duke of York, refused 396 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: to take the required oaths that were mandatory for Catholics, 397 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:18,280 Speaker 1: which he was, so he was forced to resign as 398 00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 1: Lord High Admiral. Afterward, the King established an Admiralty Commission 399 00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,840 Speaker 1: and Peeps became its secretary. This was a promotion. It 400 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:29,040 Speaker 1: came with more income, more prestige, and a lot more influence. 401 00:22:29,280 --> 00:22:32,600 Speaker 1: On November fourth, sixteen seventy three, Peeps was elected to 402 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: the House of Commons, but once again rumors surfaced that 403 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:40,080 Speaker 1: he was secretly Catholic, which led to another investigation. In 404 00:22:40,119 --> 00:22:42,679 Speaker 1: the end, he kept his seat, although his work as 405 00:22:42,720 --> 00:22:46,040 Speaker 1: an MP mostly stuck to matters of the navy, and 406 00:22:46,080 --> 00:22:48,600 Speaker 1: he kept picking up new roles outside the government and 407 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:51,879 Speaker 1: his job with the Admiralty, including becoming a governor of 408 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,439 Speaker 1: Christ's Hospital, the Master of the Clothworkers Company, and the 409 00:22:55,440 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: Master of Trinity House. He also worked to reform and 410 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,560 Speaker 1: revitalize the name, especially when it came to setting standards 411 00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:06,239 Speaker 1: and establishing regulations for how things should be done. He 412 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: successfully lobbied for funding to build new ships, convincing the 413 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: House of Commons to allocate six hundred thousand pounds for 414 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:17,320 Speaker 1: it in sixteen seventy seven. Largely due to Peep's influence 415 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: and planning, the strength of the Royal Navy nearly doubled 416 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: while he was with the Admiralty. He did all this 417 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,560 Speaker 1: in the face of ongoing accusations that he was a cryptopapist. 418 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:31,399 Speaker 1: His opponents even went so far as to accuse his 419 00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:35,680 Speaker 1: clerk of murder. In May of sixteen seventy nine, Peeps 420 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,640 Speaker 1: and Sir Anthony Dean were accused of leaking British secrets 421 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:42,760 Speaker 1: to France, and Peeps was again accused of secretly being Catholic. 422 00:23:43,440 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: He resigned his position with the Admiralty and he and 423 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,240 Speaker 1: Dean were both sent to the Tower. As this was 424 00:23:49,280 --> 00:23:52,000 Speaker 1: going on, it was widely believed that Catholics were planning 425 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,840 Speaker 1: to assassinate the King and put his brother, the Duke 426 00:23:54,880 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: of York, on the throne. This so called Popish plot 427 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:01,600 Speaker 1: did not exist, but people were certain that it did. 428 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: Peeps started trying to put together his defense, but it 429 00:24:05,040 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: turned out that the prosecution really did not have much 430 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,400 Speaker 1: of a case. One of the key witnesses against him 431 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:13,680 Speaker 1: was a butler that he had previously fired, and the 432 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: charges were eventually dropped. Peeps spent the next few years 433 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: mostly out of the public eye, traveling, collecting books for 434 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: his library, and acting as a secretary to Lord Dartmouth 435 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:27,560 Speaker 1: during an expedition to evacuate the British colony of Tangier 436 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:31,119 Speaker 1: after Britain decided to abandon it. Peep's returned to the 437 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,399 Speaker 1: Admiralty in sixteen eighty four in a position that was 438 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,800 Speaker 1: created for him. That same year, he was elected President 439 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: of the Royal Society. His biggest claim to fame in 440 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:43,840 Speaker 1: this role is that he arranged for the publication of 441 00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:49,480 Speaker 1: Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, with peeps imprimature featured very prominently 442 00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: on the frontispiece. This was, however, funded by Edmund Halley, 443 00:24:53,880 --> 00:24:57,520 Speaker 1: not by Peeps or the Royal Society. This was because 444 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 1: Peeps had already spent the Society's budget and some of 445 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: his own money on the elaborately illustrated History of Fish 446 00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: by Francis Willoughby, which then had been a total commercial flop. Okay, 447 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,120 Speaker 1: like we talked about in our Christmas Time episode where 448 00:25:12,160 --> 00:25:16,640 Speaker 1: we talked about Charles Dickens and a Christmas Carol and 449 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,720 Speaker 1: how he just really wanted all of these engravings and illustrations. 450 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:22,359 Speaker 1: All those things were very, very expensive, and Peeps had 451 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:24,880 Speaker 1: run through the whole entire budget. But if you look, 452 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: there's i mean plenty of scans of the frontispiece of 453 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,560 Speaker 1: Newton's Princeship of Mathematica, and it's Samuel Peeps's name is 454 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:40,400 Speaker 1: one of the bigger things on that document. In sixteen 455 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:43,399 Speaker 1: eighty five, King Charles the Second died and his brother, 456 00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:46,679 Speaker 1: the Duke of York finally did become king, becoming James 457 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,520 Speaker 1: the second and seventh. Peeps continued on with the Admiralty 458 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,440 Speaker 1: under the new monarch, resuming his plans to strengthen the 459 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 1: Royal Navy, while also just endlessly criticizing the people that 460 00:25:56,920 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: had been in charge while he was gone. But none 461 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:01,680 Speaker 1: of this operation did the king a lot of good 462 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:05,359 Speaker 1: In sixteen eighty eight, William, the third Prince of Orange, 463 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:09,919 Speaker 1: overthrew James and the Glorious Revolution. William became co regent 464 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: with his wife Mary, who was also James's daughter. The 465 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: new administration purged Charles's supporters from office. Peeps resigned, was 466 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: briefly detained under suspicion for treason, and was ultimately released 467 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,760 Speaker 1: on medical grounds. Peeps spent most of his remaining life 468 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:29,080 Speaker 1: reading and studying, and amassing a huge library which he 469 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: just continually reorganized and curated. He also published a book, 470 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,439 Speaker 1: Memoirs of the Royal Navy, in sixteen ninety. Samuel PEAPs 471 00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:40,119 Speaker 1: died on May twenty sixth, seventeen oh three, at the 472 00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:42,760 Speaker 1: age of seventy. He was buried next to his late 473 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:46,400 Speaker 1: wife's Elizabeth, at Saint Olive Church. He left his three 474 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: thousand volume library to Magdalen College at the University of Cambridge, 475 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,119 Speaker 1: with the stipulation that they be kept separate from the 476 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:56,840 Speaker 1: rest of the college's collection. Today, those are housed as 477 00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:59,560 Speaker 1: Peep's Library, which is open to the public and to 478 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,920 Speaker 1: scholar alike. Peep's diaries were part of this collection during 479 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:06,359 Speaker 1: the nine years that he was keeping the diary. Peeps 480 00:27:06,359 --> 00:27:09,680 Speaker 1: would note each day's activities, often ending with and soda bed, 481 00:27:10,040 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 1: and then every few days he would edit them a 482 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,679 Speaker 1: little bit. He didn't seem to meaningfully change the content, 483 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:16,040 Speaker 1: but he kind of clean them up a little bit 484 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:19,639 Speaker 1: and copy them into a master journal. In addition to 485 00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,800 Speaker 1: writing these in shorthand, he also used a hodgepodge of 486 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,400 Speaker 1: codes and other languages for the most salacious parts of it. 487 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 1: The result was a set of six large volumes containing 488 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:33,959 Speaker 1: more than one and a quarter million words. For more 489 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: than one hundred years after Peep's death, no one knew 490 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,120 Speaker 1: what was in these diaries. It was only after John 491 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,159 Speaker 1: Evelyn's Diaries were published in eighteen eighteen that scholars started 492 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:48,000 Speaker 1: trying to transcribe Peeps as well. Evelyn and Peeps lived 493 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:51,000 Speaker 1: at the same time. They were also friends. Yeah, they're 494 00:27:51,040 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 1: sort of the two companion diarists of this time in London. 495 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:59,240 Speaker 1: At the time, the people working with the diary thought 496 00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,320 Speaker 1: that it was written in code, and a Cambridge undergraduate 497 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,240 Speaker 1: named John Smith took on the task of decoding it. 498 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,199 Speaker 1: King Charles the Second had dictated an account of his 499 00:28:08,320 --> 00:28:12,400 Speaker 1: sixteen fifty one escape from England to Samuel Peeps. Peeps 500 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,879 Speaker 1: had taken the dictation in shorthand and then later transcribed 501 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:20,080 Speaker 1: it into longhand, intending to publish it. Smith compared these 502 00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 1: two versions to work out how to transcribe the diaries. 503 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: This work wasn't actually necessary though. Peeps was really writing 504 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: in Thomas Shelton's system of shorthand, and the handbook for it, 505 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,080 Speaker 1: titled Tutor to Tachiography, was there in Peep's library as well. 506 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: Somebody apparently told John Smith, like some years later, by 507 00:28:38,680 --> 00:28:42,000 Speaker 1: the way, the manual to this was like, it was 508 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: right there. You didn't really I don't know what his 509 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: reaction was to this. I envisioned some hair pulling and 510 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,920 Speaker 1: some screaming, but maybe that would just be me either 511 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:56,640 Speaker 1: hair pulling and screaming or like. That was a fun challenge, 512 00:28:56,680 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: though I don't mind that I did. A bunch of 513 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: totally unnecessary portions of the transcribed diary were published starting 514 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:08,440 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty five, with longer editions coming out in 515 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:13,240 Speaker 1: the years that followed. A mostly complete edition, edited by HB. Wheatley, 516 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:17,040 Speaker 1: came out in ten volumes across eighteen ninety three through 517 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:21,520 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety nine. In all these nineteenth century versions, profanity 518 00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,240 Speaker 1: and the most explicit parts are all edited out. There 519 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: are phrases, sentences, or sometimes whole days removed. Robert Lewis 520 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,480 Speaker 1: Stevenson wrote about the diaries in eighteen eighty six. He 521 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: expressed some chagrin at the idea that some parts of 522 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,160 Speaker 1: them were quote unfit for publication, saying, quote we may think, 523 00:29:39,240 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: without being sorted, that when we purchase six huge and 524 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,280 Speaker 1: distressingly expensive volumes, we are entitled to be treated rather 525 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:50,440 Speaker 1: more like scholars and rather less like children. The first 526 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:53,680 Speaker 1: edition that didn't edit out the sex and profanity came 527 00:29:53,680 --> 00:29:58,120 Speaker 1: out almost another century later. It was another series of 528 00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:01,880 Speaker 1: volumes published between nineteen seventy in nineteen eighty three. So 529 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:04,360 Speaker 1: if you have only read the parts of the diary 530 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,800 Speaker 1: that are in the public domain and are probably also 531 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: about either the plague or the fire, like we talked 532 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: about at the top of the episode, you might have 533 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 1: a very different impression of this diary than if you 534 00:30:16,120 --> 00:30:20,480 Speaker 1: read other parts of an unexpurgated version. Just as examples, 535 00:30:20,800 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: on October thirteenth, sixteen sixty, he went out to see 536 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: a public hanging, something that he seems to have really 537 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:31,160 Speaker 1: enjoyed doing. This one was Major General Thomas Harrison, who 538 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:33,920 Speaker 1: had been convicted of regicide in the execution of King 539 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:37,000 Speaker 1: Charles the First, Peeps wrote, quote, I went out to 540 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:41,000 Speaker 1: Charing Cross to see Major General Harrison hanged, drawn and quartered, 541 00:30:41,040 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any 542 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:47,200 Speaker 1: man could in that condition. While on the boat with 543 00:30:47,320 --> 00:30:50,240 Speaker 1: Charles the Second during his return to England, Peeps wrote 544 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:53,600 Speaker 1: about a dog defecating on the deck, saying quote, I 545 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: went with mister Mansell and one of the King's footmen 546 00:30:56,760 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 1: with a dog that the king loved, which explative leaded 547 00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:03,280 Speaker 1: the boat, which made us laugh, which made me think 548 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:05,360 Speaker 1: that a king and all that belonged to him are 549 00:31:05,440 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: but just as others are. He also didn't temper his opinions. 550 00:31:09,880 --> 00:31:13,000 Speaker 1: On September twenty ninth, sixteen sixty two, he wrote quote, 551 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:16,000 Speaker 1: we saw Midsummer Night's Dream, which I had never seen before, 552 00:31:16,160 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: nor shall ever again, for it is the most insipid, 553 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,560 Speaker 1: ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life. I 554 00:31:22,600 --> 00:31:25,800 Speaker 1: saw I confess, some good dancing and some handsome women, 555 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: which was all my pleasure. So yes. Peep's diaries include 556 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:34,880 Speaker 1: a pretty straightforward eyewitness account of several major historical events. 557 00:31:34,920 --> 00:31:38,560 Speaker 1: In the sixteen sixties. But Peeps clearly also thought everything 558 00:31:38,640 --> 00:31:41,960 Speaker 1: around him was interesting and worth noticing, So these diaries 559 00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:44,840 Speaker 1: are also a fascinating account of daily life in London, 560 00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:46,959 Speaker 1: including what people ate and what they saw at the 561 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: theater and what music was popular, and then little details 562 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,200 Speaker 1: like discovering that the wig you bought was full of nits, 563 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: or what to do when you had tummy trouble while 564 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: you were staying at somebody else's house and the maid 565 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,400 Speaker 1: forgot to leave you a chamber pot. It's full of 566 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:02,840 Speaker 1: all kinds of random things that he saw and was 567 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:05,800 Speaker 1: just delighted or surprised by, and of course all of 568 00:32:05,840 --> 00:32:10,760 Speaker 1: those many many affairs, and it's all online for free, 569 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,840 Speaker 1: except those most explicit parts. If you go to peepsdiary 570 00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:17,160 Speaker 1: dot com. It's been putting up an entry a day 571 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:20,680 Speaker 1: at a time since twenty thirteen, along with lots of 572 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,400 Speaker 1: annotations and letters and other information, and there are additions 573 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: at Project Gutenberg and archive dot org as well, so 574 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 1: you have plenty to dig through. If you want to 575 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,560 Speaker 1: learn more Peeps, you can just click on some random stuff. 576 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:35,520 Speaker 1: You might have a day where he was in the 577 00:32:35,560 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: office and everything was sort of just political administrative stuff, 578 00:32:39,640 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: or you might get one about a dog pooping on 579 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:49,080 Speaker 1: the deck of a boat. Thanks so much for joining 580 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us 581 00:32:51,760 --> 00:32:56,320 Speaker 1: a note, our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, 582 00:32:56,800 --> 00:33:00,760 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, podcasts, 583 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.