egin
to abandon the King's affairs, and let them sink or swim, so he do his
owne part, which I confess I believe he do beyond any officer the King
hath, but unless he do endeavour to make others do theirs, nothing will
be done. The consideration here do make me go away very sad, and so home
by coach, and there took up my wife and Mercer, who had been to-day at
White Hall to the Maundy,

[The practice of giving alms on Maundy Thursday to poor men and
women equal in number to the years of the sovereign's age is a
curious survival in an altered form of an old custom. The original
custom was for the king to wash the feet of twelve poor persons, and
to give them a supper in imitation of Christ's last supper and his
washing of the Apostles' feet. James II. was the last sovereign to
perform the ceremony in person, but it was performed by deputy so
late as 1731. The Archbishop of York was the king's deputy on that
occasion. The institution has passed through the various stages of
feet washing with a supper, the discontinuance of the feet washing,
the substitution of a gift of provisions for the supper, and finally
the substitution of a gift of money for the provisions. The
ceremony took place at the Chapel Royal, Whitehall; but it is now
held at Westminster Abbey. Maundy is derived from the Latin word
'maudatum', which commences the original anthem sung during the
ceremony, in reference to Christ's command]

it being Maundy Thursday; but the King did not wash the poor people's
feet himself, but the Bishop of London did it for him, but I did not see
it, and with them took up Mrs. Anne Jones at her mother's door, and so
to take the ayre to Hackney, where good neat's tongue, and things to eat
and drink, and very merry, the weather being mighty pleasant; and here
I was told that at their church they have a fair pair of organs, which
play while the people sing, which I am mighty glad of, wishing the
like at our church at London, and would give L50 towards it. So very
pleasant, and hugging of Mercer in our going home, we home, and then to
the office to do a little business, and so to supper at home and to bed.

5th. Up, and troubled with Mr. Carcasse's coming to speak with me,
which made me give him occasion to fall into a heat, and he began to be
ill-mannered to me, which made me angry. He gone, I to Sir W. Pen about
the business of Mrs. Turner's