Samuel Pepys [ Art and Literature / Politics ]
… the opinions of London’s citizenry carried weight. Alehouse and taverns were places for Pepys to sound out the public mood, offering a drink in tacit return for an acquaintance’s views. Always curious about the latest ideas, Pepys … who joined J ames Harrington’s Rota Club at the Turk’s Head coffeehouse ( Diary , I, 14). This club was debating republican models of government, but it proved short lived, dissolving as the political tide turned in favour of Charles … in the Tower in 1679 after being falsely accused of treason. These onslaughts were periods when Pepys had to navigate public hostility and when he often had cause to acknowledge the moral and financial support of ‘ my friends ’. 4 3 . …
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