Ruperts Land Girls School - Eagle Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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pam, L16 .-..,..-..,..,..x..,..,..,..s..s..x..x..,..,..x..,..x..x..,..,..-..x..x..,..,..x..x. .QI T H E E A G L E general. During the Fire, the Thames was erowded with people trying to remove their belongings from the doomed city, but owing to scarcity of boats, many valuable goods could not be saved. Those who possessed carts, carriages, eoaches, or indeed any vehicle, were paid well for transporting goods from London. Doubtless Restoration England could have been far happier, far less corrupt, but even in the blaekest age, some noble deed performed sheds a ray of light into the darkness. In the midst, of the tumult of war, the terror of the Plague, Pepys has left us a memorable incident., an example of love and loyalty. About a dozen able and lusty .... men came to the eoachside with tears in their eyes, and one of them that spoke for the rest said .... We .... have long known and loved and served our dead commander, Sir Christopher Mings .... We would he glad we had any other to offer in revenge of him. All we have is our lives. Get His Royal Highness to give us a fireship . . . . here are a dozen of us, out of all which choose you one to be commander, and the rest of us will serve him, and if possible do that shall show our memory of our dead commander, and our revenge. -,lfflfgfllfl Pettipher, Grade XII. .H. Compliments Eg Give Cpflf ado, Qfooftiu omfactn? BANK OF HAMILTON Cl4fXhABERS r iii 96 501

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R U P E R T l S L D C O L L E G E nsnsux-ex-ax-wx-:sus-nsnx--susnxosuxnxuxunxusnsusns- Page which spontaneity does. Nothing is more painful to watch than the desperate, agonized search in the obscure recesses of the mind for a practised joke, unless it is the half-hopeful, half-triumphant smile accompanying the final production of the same. Again, humour may lie, not in the words themselves, but in the manner in which they are said. The speaker must Il0f' only appreciate the humour of the remark himself, he must make it in a way that will make the listener appreciate it-also, or, no matter how funny the words may be, the Joke will be a complete failure, and the only laugh will be from the anxious speaker himself. Words are not entirely necessary to humour: a gesture, a lift of the eyebrow, and the dullest sentence becomes uproariously funny. Humour is a gift whose power cannot be overlooked. Shakespeare used it as the solution to many a difficult situationg Pope used his wit as a scourge with which to heat his enemies. Wit is a dangerous weapon, and must be treated as such. ln the right hands, it may save many an awkward moment, in the wrong hands, it is an instrument of tortureg in any hands, it is a sure cure for boredom. It is well to try to cultivate a sense of humour, for everyone will agree that it is a great deal better to be laughed with than to be laughed fit. 1l lll il'Il,IIC' Dzmlcn, Grurlc XII. LIFE IN RESTORATION ENGLAND AS REVEALED IN PEPYS' DIARY 6ElIliHE restoration of Charles II, in 1660, to the throne of England heralded the return of those gaieties which had been banished during the sombrc days of the Commonwealth. Unfortunately, t.hese were accompanied by all t.he cor- ruption and luxuries ofthe Stuart court. The England of Samuel Pepys' day was certainly not in a very healthy condition. She was engaged in a war with her trade rivals, the Dutch, and to be victorious she must possess a strong Navy, but alas, her Navy was in an appalling condition. To get enough sailors to man the King's fleet, press-gangs were employed to force men into the service. But the sailors were so badly treated that they frequently mutiniedg conse- quently, in 1667, the Dutch were able to sail up the Medway. As is to he expected, conversation of those days centred in the stirring events which were taking place. Small groups would gather on Sundays, or after some meeting, to discuss Naval affairs, the Great Plague, or perhaps the rebuilding of London. Frequently, however, the conversation was con- cerned with the conduct of some officer of the fleet and, as a result, many false reports about this officer were circulated. For instance, on June 10th, 1666, Pepys describes a chat with a doctor from the fleet. He tells me that all the com- manders, officers and even the common seamen do condemn the conduct of the Duke of Albermarle .... nothing can be worse spoken of. Later on in the day, Pepys hears an alto- gether different report about the Duke. The fieetfs retreat on Sunday was an honourable one, and the Duke of Albermarle did do well in it. If people were not discussing the present exciting events, they might perhaps be listening to some old veteran's stories of the Civil War, or if they were not concerned with these, they were probably discussing the latest play prssented at Court, or else the mannish attire of certain noble a ies. For fashions are always a. part of the life of any century. Pepys himself spent a good deal of his fortune on his dress, for he loved to dress well. One Sunday he mentions wearing his coloured suit and a new periwig , another day he says, 'I put on my new camelot suitg the best that ever I wore in my life, the suit costing me above f24. Pepys' wife, a Hugue- not refugee, was also quite extravagant, as the following extract from the diary indicates: 'fMy wife comes home by and by, and hath pitched upon a necklace with three rows, which is a very good one, and 580 is the price. Samuel Pepys frequently mentions the ladies' fashions, and at times is quite shocked at them. Here is an extract from the diary: Today my wife began to wear light-coloured locks .... which though it makes her look quite pretty, yet not being natural, vexes me, that I will not have her wear them. Here is a comment on Court fashions: It was pretty to see the young ladies dressed like the men, in velvet coats, caps with ribbands and with lace bands. One day, whilst walking inthe galleries at Whitehall, Pepys saw Maids of Honour dressed in their riding garbs with coats and doublets, with deep skirts .... with pcriwigs and hats, so that, only for a long petticoat dragging under their men's coats, nobody could take them for women in any point whatever. Pepys was not pleased with such a sight. But the people of the Restoration period had other interests. Many were very fond of music, painting and drama. Pepys upon visiting St. George's Chapel, Windsor, was very well pleased with t.he singing, and we find this note in his diarv, lt is a very noble place indeed, and a good quire of voicesi At home, people loved to play and sing, and we can find several references to this in Pepys' diary. For example, this passage: Thence home, and to sing with my wife and Mercer in the garden . Fashionable folk frequently attended the plays, but un- fortunately these were of a very low moral tone. Pepys gives us an interesting account of the tiring-rooms in the Kings playhouse. It was a sight worth seeing .... here a wooden leg, there a ruff, here a hobby horse, there a crown, would make a man split his sides with laughing. A great deal of interest in art was evident among the upper classes, and it was the fashion to have one's own portrait painted, as well as doing a little dribbling in colours oneself. Mrs. Pepys amused herself with this pursuit, and her husband noted with pleasure that she was learning to paint with great pleasure and success. Later on both Pepys and his wife had their portraits painted, and they were evidently quite pleased with them. However, men and women did not always go to the drama or art gallery when they wished to be amused. At home, many merry parties were given. There the young ladies and gentlemen .... played on the guitar, and were mighty merry. Then after supper the young gentlemen went away to flinging of cushions, and other mad sports until towards twelve of night. Bull-baiting was a much sterner sport than the young gentlemen's pillow fight. One day Pepys, his wife and Mrs. Mercer went to the Bear Garden to watch the bull's tossing of the dogs , but, says Pepys, it is a rude and nasty pleasure. After this form of entertaimnent, the Pepys' party returned home where they spent a very merry evening 'tfiring our Hre- works and burning one another and the people over the way. . . . NVc went into Mrs. Mercer's, and there mighty merry, smutting one another with candle grease and soot ..... then fell to dancing .... Mercer put on a. suit of Tom's, like a boy . . . . and danced a jig, and Nan Wright and my wife and Pegg Pen put on periwigs. Thus we spent till three or four in the morning, mighty merryf' Pepys and his wife lived well, for this was the custom with the majority of well-to-do persons. Pepys mentions welcoming his guests with wine and China oranges. During the Great Fire, this wine was buried along with his Hparmazan cheese, and other delicacies. Even during that terrible fire, Pepys, whilst watching over his office, supped with his wife upon a shoulder of mutton from the cook's. Many of the loveliest homes in England were destroyed by the Fire, and priceless treasures of pictures and books were destroyed. Because of his important position in the Navy, Mr. Pepys had access to many fine homes, and we are left a brief description of Mr. Evelyn's- We walked in his garden, and a lovely, noble ground he hath indeed. And among other rarities, a hive of bees, so as being hived in glass, you may see the bees making their honey and combs. Other important people kept other rarities, such as fishes kept in a glass of water, but Mr. Evelyn must have been a very interesting man, for amongst his treasures was a ledger of a Treasurer of the Navy, just one hundred years old, several letters of the old Lord of Leicester, in Queen Elizabeth's reign, under the very handwriting of Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. No doubt seventeenth century England would have been much better if transportation had been improved. A great deal of travelling had to be done on foot, or if one were fairly well-to-do, on horseback. Most of the noblemen owned coaches, although a certain Colonel Blunt possessed a chariot made with springs, as that of wicker .... and it outdrives any coach. Pepys did not think very highly of this vehicle. However, for Londoners, water transportation was most

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