Book: Diary of Samuel Pepys, 1660 N.S. Complete

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"So home to supper, and to bed, it being my wedding night, but how
many years I cannot tell; but my wife says ten."

Here Mrs. Pepys was wrong, as it was eleven years; so she may have been
wrong in the day also. In spite of the high authority of Mr. and Mrs.
Pepys on a question so interesting to them both, we must accept the
register as conclusive on this point until further evidence of its
incorrectness is forthcoming.

Sir Edward Montage (afterwards Earl of Sandwich), who was Pepys's first
cousin one remove (Pepys's grandfather and Montage's mother being brother
and sister), was a true friend to his poor kinsman, and he at once held
out a helping hand to the imprudent couple, allowing them to live in his
house. John Pepys does not appear to have been in sufficiently good
circumstances to pay for the education of his son, and it seems probable
that Samuel went to the university under his influential cousin's
patronage. At all events he owed his success in life primarily to
Montage, to whom he appears to have acted as a sort of agent.

On March 26th, 1658, he underwent a successful operation for the stone,
and we find him celebrating each anniversary of this important event of
his life with thanksgiving. He went through life with little trouble on
this score, but when he died at the age of seventy a nest of seven stones
was found in his left kidney.

["June 10th, 1669. I went this evening to London, to carry Mr.
Pepys to my brother Richard, now exceedingly afflicted with the
stone, who had been successfully cut, and carried the stone, as big
as a tennis ball, to show him and encourage his resolution to go
thro' the operation."--Evelyn's Diary.]

In June, 1659, Pepys accompanied Sir Edward Montage in the "Naseby," when
the Admiral of the Baltic Fleet and Algernon Sidney went to the Sound as
joint commissioners. It was then that Montage corresponded with Charles
II., but he had to be very secret in his movements on account of the
suspicions of Sidney. Pepys knew nothing of what was going on, as he
confesses in the Diary:

"I do from this raise an opinion of him, to be one of the most
secret men in the world, which I was not so convinced of before."

On Pepys's return to England he obtained an appointment in the office of
Mr., afterwards Sir George Downing, who was one of the Four Tellers of the
Receipt of the Exchequer. He was clerk to Downing when he commenced his
diary on January 1st, 1660, and then lived in Axe Yard, close by King
Street, Westminster, a place on the site of which was built Fludyer
Street. This, too, was swept away for the Government offices in 1864-65.
His salary was L50 a year. Downing invited Pepys to accompany him to
Holland, but he does not appear to have been very pressing, and a few days
later in this same January he got him appointed one of the Clerks of the
Council, but the recipient of the favour does not appear to have been very
grateful. A great change was now about to take place in Pepys's fortunes,
for in the following March he was made secretary to Sir Edward Montage in
his expedition to bring about the Restoration of Charles II., and on the
23rd he went on board the "Swiftsure" with Montage. On the 30th they
transferred themselves to the "Naseby." Owing to this appointment of
Pepys we have in the Diary a very full account of the daily movements of
the fleet until, events having followed their natural course, Montage had
the honour of bringing Charles II. to Dover, where the King was received
with great rejoicing. Several of the ships in the fleet had names which
were obnoxious to Royalists, and on the 23rd May the King came on board
the "Naseby" and altered there--the "Naseby" to the "Charles," the
"Richard" to the "Royal James," the "Speaker" to the "Mary," the "Winsby"
to the "Happy Return," the "Wakefield" to the "Richmond," the "Lambert" to
the "Henrietta," the "Cheriton" to the "Speedwell," and the "Bradford" to
the "Success." This portion of the Diary is of particular interest, and
the various excursions in Holland which the Diarist made are described in
a very amusing manner.

When Montagu and Pepys had both returned to London, the former told the
latter that he had obtained the promise of the office of Clerk of the Acts
for him. Many difficulties occurred before Pepys actually secured the
place, so that at times he was inclined to accept the offers which were
made to him to give it up. General Monk was anxious to get the office for
Mr. Turner, who was Chief Clerk in the Navy Office, but in the end
Montagu's influence secured it for Pepys. Then Thomas Barlow, who had
been appointed Clerk of the Acts in 1638, turned up, and appeared likely
to become disagreeable. Pepys bought him off with an annuity of too,
which he did not have to pay for any length of time, as Barlow died in
February, 1664-65. It is not in human nature to be greatly grieved at the
death of one to whom you have to pay an annuity, and Pepys expresses his
feelings in a very naive manner:--

"For which God knows my heart I could be as sorry as is possible for
one to be for a stranger by whose death he gets L100 per annum, he
being a worthy honest man; but when I come to consider the
providence of God by this means unexpectedly to give me L100 a year
more in my estate, I have cause to bless God, and do it from the
bottom of my heart."

This office was one of considerable importance, for not only was the
holder the secretary or registrar of the Navy Board, but he was also one
of the principal officers of the navy, and, as member of the board, of
equal rank with the other commissioners. This office Pepys held during
the whole period of the Diary, and we find him constantly fighting for his
position, as some of the other members wished to reduce his rank merely to
that of secretary. In his contention Pepys appears to have been in the
right, and a valuable MS. volume in the Pepysian library contains an
extract from the Old Instructions of about 1649, in which this very point
is argued out. The volume appears to have been made up by William Penn
the Quaker, from a collection of manuscripts on the affairs of the navy
found in his father's, "Sir William Penn's closet." It was presented to
Charles II., with a dedication ending thus:--

"I hope enough to justifie soe much freedome with a Prince that is
so easie to excuse things well intended as this is
"BY
"Great Prince,
"Thy faithfull subject,
"WM. PENN"

"London, the 22 of the Mo. called June, 1680."

It does not appear how the volume came into Pepys's possession. It may
have been given him by the king, or he may have taken it as a perquisite
of his office. The book has an index, which was evidently added by Pepys;
in this are these entries, which show his appreciation of the contents of
the MS.:--

"Clerk of the Acts,
his duty,
his necessity and usefulness."

The following description of the duty of the Clerk of the Acts shows the
importance of the office, and the statement that if the clerk is not
fitted to act as a commissioner he is a blockhead and unfit for his
employment is particularly racy, and not quite the form of expression one
would expect to find in an official document:

"CLERKE OF THE ACTS.

"The clarke of the Navye's duty depends principally upon rateing (by
the Board's approbation) of all bills and recording of them, and all
orders, contracts & warrants, making up and casting of accompts,
framing and writing answers to letters, orders, and commands from
the Councell, Lord High Admirall, or Commissioners of the Admiralty,
and he ought to be a very able accomptant, well versed in Navall
affairs and all inferior officers dutyes.

"It hath been objected by some that the Clarke of the Acts ought to
be subordinate to the rest of the Commissioners, and not to be
joyned in equall power with them, although he was so constituted
from the first institution, which hath been an opinion only of some
to keep him at a distance, least he might be thought too forward if
he had joynt power in discovering or argueing against that which
peradventure private interest would have concealed; it is certaine
no man sees more of the Navye's Transactions than himselfe, and
possibly may speak as much to the project if required, or else he is
a blockhead, and not fitt for that imployment. But why he should
not make as able a Commissioner as a Shipp wright lett wise men
judge."

In Pepys's patent the salary is stated to be L33 6s. 8d., but this was
only the ancient "fee out of the Exchequer," which had been attached to
the office for more than a century. Pepys's salary had been previously
fixed at L350 a-year.

Neither of the two qualifications upon which particular stress is laid in
the above Instructions was possessed by Pepys. He knew nothing about the
navy, and so little of accounts that apparently he learned the
multiplication table for the first time in July, 1661. We see from the
particulars given in the Diary how hard he worked to obtain the knowledge
required in his office, and in consequence of his assiduity he soon became
a model official. When Pepys became Clerk of the Acts he took up his
residence at the Navy Office, a large building situated between Crutched
Friars and Seething Lane, with an entrance in each of those places. On
July 4th, 1660, he went with Commissioner Pett to view the houses, and was
very pleased with them, but he feared that the more influential officers
would jockey him out of his rights. His fears were not well grounded, and
on July 18th he records the fact that he dined in his own apartments,
which were situated in the Seething Lane front.

On July 24th, 1660, Pepys was sworn in as Lord Sandwich's deputy for a
Clerkship of the Privy Seal. This office, which he did not think much of
at first, brought him "in for a time L3 a day." In June, 1660, he was
made Master of Arts by proxy, and soon afterwards he was sworn in as a
justice of the Peace for Middlesex, Essex, Kent, and Hampshire, the
counties in which the chief dockyards were situated.

Pepys's life is written large in the Diary, and it is not necessary here
to do more than catalogue the chief incidents of it in chronological
order. In February, 1661-62, he was chosen a Younger Brother of the
Trinity House, and in April, 1662, when on an official visit to Portsmouth
Dockyard, he was made a burgess of the town. In August of the same year
he was appointed one of the commissioners for the affairs of Tangier.
Soon afterwards Thomas Povy, the treasurer, got his accounts into a
muddle, and showed himself incompetent for the place, so that Pepys
replaced him as treasurer to the commission.

In March, 1663-64, the Corporation of the Royal Fishery was appointed,
with the Duke of York as governor, and thirty-two assistants, mostly "very
great persons." Through Lord Sandwich's influence Pepys was made one of
these.

The time was now arriving when Pepys's general ability and devotion to
business brought him prominently into notice. During the Dutch war the
unreadiness of the ships, more particularly in respect to victualling, was
the cause of great trouble. The Clerk of the Acts did his utmost to set
things right, and he was appointed Surveyor-General of the Victualling
Office. The kind way in which Mr. Coventry proposed him as "the fittest
man in England" for the office, and the Duke of York's expressed approval,
greatly pleased him.

During the fearful period when the Plague was raging, Pepys stuck to his
business, and the chief management of naval affairs devolved upon him, for
the meetings at the Navy Office were but thinly attended. In a letter to
Coventry he wrote:--

"The sickness in general thickens round us, and particularly upon
our neighbourhood. You, sir, took your turn of the sword; I must
not, therefore, grudge to take mine of the pestilence."

At this time his wife was living at Woolwich, and he himself with his
clerks at Greenwich; one maid only remained in the house in London.

Pepys rendered special service at the time of the Fire of London. He
communicated the king's wishes to the Lord Mayor, and he saved the Navy
Office by having up workmen from Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards to pull
down the houses around, and so prevent the spread of the flames.

When peace was at length concluded with the Dutch, and people had time to
think over the disgrace which the country had suffered by the presence of
De Ruyter's fleet in the Medway, it was natural that a public inquiry into
the management of the war should be undertaken. A Parliamentary Committee
was appointed in October, 1667, to inquire into the matter. Pepys made a
statement which satisfied the committee, but for months afterwards he was
continually being summoned to answer some charge, so that he confesses
himself as mad to "become the hackney of this office in perpetual trouble
and vexation that need it least."

At last a storm broke out in the House of Commons against the principal
officers of the navy, and some members demanded that they should be put
out of their places. In the end they were ordered to be heard in their
own defence at the bar of the House. The whole labour of the defence fell
upon Pepys, but having made out his case with great skill, he was rewarded
by a most unexpected success. On the 5th March, 1667-68, he made the
great speech of his life, and spoke for three hours, with the effect that
he so far removed the prejudice against the officers of the Navy Board,
that no further proceedings were taken in parliament on the subject. He
was highly praised for his speech, and he was naturally much elated at his
brilliant success.

About the year 1664 we first hear of a defect in Pepys's eyesight. He
consulted the celebrated Cocker, and began to wear green spectacles, but
gradually this defect became more pronounced, and on the 31st of May,
1669, he wrote the last words in his Diary:

"And thus ends all that I doubt I shall ever be able to do with my
own eyes in the keeping of my journal, I being not able to do it any
longer, having done now as long as to undo my eyes almost every time
that I take a pen in my hand."

He feared blindness and was forced to desist, to his lasting regret and
our great loss.

At this time he obtained leave of absence from the duties of his office,
and he set out on a tour through France and Holland accompanied by his
wife. In his travels he was true to the occupation of his life, and made
collections respecting the French and Dutch navies. Some months after his
return he spoke of his journey as having been "full of health and
content," but no sooner had he and his wife returned to London than the
latter became seriously ill with a fever. The disease took a fatal turn,
and on the 10th of November, 1669, Elizabeth Pepys died at the early age
of twenty-nine years, to the great grief of her husband. She died at
their house in Crutched Friars, and was buried at St. Olave's Church, Hart
Street, where Pepys erected a monument to her memory.

Pepys's successful speech at the bar of the House of Commons made him
anxious to become a member, and the Duke of York and Sir William Coventry
heartily supported him in his resolution. An opening occurred in due
course, at Aldborough, in Suffolk, owing to the death of Sir Robert Brooke
in 1669, but, in consequence of the death of his wife, Pepys was unable
to take part in the election. His cause was warmly espoused by the Duke
of York and by Lord Henry Howard (afterwards Earl of Norwich and sixth
Duke of Norfolk), but the efforts of his supporters failed, and the
contest ended in favour of John Bruce, who represented the popular party.
In November, 1673, Pepys was more successful, and was elected for Castle
Rising on the elevation of the member, Sir Robert Paston, to the peerage
as Viscount Yarmouth. His unsuccessful opponent, Mr. Offley, petitioned
against the return, and the election was determined to be void by the
Committee of Privileges. The Parliament, however, being prorogued the
following month without the House's coming to any vote on the subject,
Pepys was permitted to retain his seat. A most irrelevant matter was
introduced into the inquiry, and Pepys was charged with having a crucifix
in his house, from which it was inferred that he was "a papist or popishly
inclined." The charge was grounded upon reported assertions of Sir John
Banks and the Earl of Shaftesbury, which they did not stand to when
examined on the subject, and the charge was not proved to be good.

["The House then proceeding upon the debate touching the Election
for Castle Rising, between Mr. Pepys and Mr. Offley, did, in the
first place, take into consideration what related personally to Mr.
Pepys. Information being given to the House that they had received
an account from a person of quality, that he saw an Altar with a
Crucifix upon it, in the house of Mr. Pepys; Mr. Pepys, standing up
in his place, did heartily and flatly deny that he ever had any
Altar or Crucifix, or the image or picture of any Saint whatsoever
in his house, from the top to the bottom of it; and the Members
being called upon to name the person that gave them the information,
they were unwilling to declare it without the order of the House;
which, being made, they named the Earl of Shaftesbury; and the House
being also informed that Sir J. Banks did likewise see the Altar, he
was ordered to attend the Bar of the House, to declare what he knew
of this matter. 'Ordered that Sir William Coventry, Sir Thomas
Meeres, and Mr. Garraway do attend Lord Shaftesbury on the like
occasion, and receive what information his Lordship, can give on
this matter.'"--Journals of the House of Commons, vol. ix., p.
306.--" 13th February, Sir W. Coventry reports that they attended
the Earl of Shaftesbury, and received from him the account which
they had put in writing. The Earl of Shaftesbury denieth that he
ever saw an Altar in Mr. Pepys's house or lodgings; as to the
Crucifix, he saith he hath, some imperfect memory of seeing somewhat
which he conceived to be a Crucifix. When his Lordship was asked
the time, he said it was before the burning of the Office of the
Navy. Being asked concerning the manner, he said he could not
remember whether it were painted or carved, or in what manner the
thing was; and that his memory was so very imperfect in it, that if
he were upon his oath he could give no testimony."--. Ibid., vol.
ix., p. 309.--" 16th February--Sir John Banks was called in--The
Speaker desired him to answer what acquaintance he had with; Mr.
Pepys, and whether he used to have recourse to him to his house and
had ever seen there any Altar or Crucifix, or whether he knew of his
being a Papist, or Popishly inclined. Sir J. Banks said that he had
known and had been acquainted with Mr. Pepys several years, and had
often visited him and conversed with him at the Navy Office, and at
his house there upon several occasions, and that he never saw in his
house there any Altar or Crucifix, and that he does not believe him
to be a Papist, or that way inclined in the least, nor had any
reason or ground to think or believe it."--Ibid., vol, ix., p. 310.]

It will be seen from the extracts from the Journals of the House of
Commons given in the note that Pepys denied ever having had an altar or
crucifix in his house. In the Diary there is a distinct statement of his
possession of a crucifix, but it is not clear from the following extracts
whether it was not merely a varnished engraving of the Crucifixion which
he possessed:

July 20, 1666. "So I away to Lovett's, there to see how my picture
goes on to be varnished, a fine crucifix which will be very fine."
August 2. "At home find Lovett, who showed me my crucifix, which
will be very fine when done." Nov. 3. "This morning comes Mr.
Lovett and brings me my print of the Passion, varnished by him, and
the frame which is indeed very fine, though not so fine as I
expected; but pleases me exceedingly."

Whether he had or had not a crucifix in his house was a matter for himself
alone, and the interference of the House of Commons was a gross violation
of the liberty of the subject.

In connection with Lord Shaftesbury's part in this matter, the late Mr. W.
D. Christie found the following letter to Sir Thomas Meres among the
papers at St. Giles's House, Dorsetshire:--

"Exeter House, February 10th, 1674.

"Sir,--That there might be no mistake, I thought best to put my
answer in writing to those questions that yourself, Sir William
Coventry, and Mr. Garroway were pleased to propose to me this
morning from the House of Commons, which is that I never designed to
be a witness against any man for what I either heard or saw, and
therefore did not take so exact notice of things inquired of as to
be able to remember them so clearly as is requisite to do in a
testimony upon honour or oath, or to so great and honourable a body
as the House of Commons, it being some years distance since I was at
Mr. Pepys his lodging. Only that particular of an altar is so
signal that I must needs have remembered it had I seen any such
thing, which I am sure I do not. This I desire you to communicate
with Sir William Coventry and Mr. Garroway to be delivered as my
answer to the House of Commons, it being the same I gave you this
morning.

"I am, Sir,
"Your most humble servant,
"SHAFTESBURY."

After reading this letter Sir William Coventry very justly remarked,
"There are a great many more Catholics than think themselves so, if having
a crucifix will make one." Mr. Christie resented the remarks on Lord
Shaftesbury's part in this persecution of Pepys made by Lord Braybrooke,
who said, "Painful indeed is it to reflect to what length the bad passions
which party violence inflames could in those days carry a man of
Shaftesbury's rank, station, and abilities." Mr. Christie observes, "It
is clear from the letter to Meres that Shaftesbury showed no malice and
much scrupulousness when a formal charge, involving important results, was
founded on his loose private conversations." This would be a fair
vindication if the above attack upon Pepys stood alone, but we shall see
later on that Shaftesbury was the moving spirit in a still more
unjustifiable attack.

Lord Sandwich died heroically in the naval action in Southwold Bay, and on
June 24th,1672, his remains were buried with some pomp in Westminster
Abbey. There were eleven earls among the mourners, and Pepys, as the
first among "the six Bannerolles," walked in the procession.

About this time Pepys was called from his old post of Clerk of the Acts to
the higher office of Secretary of the Admiralty. His first appointment
was a piece of favouritism, but it was due to his merits alone that he
obtained the secretaryship. In the summer of 1673, the Duke of York
having resigned all his appointments on the passing of the Test Act, the
King put the Admiralty into commission, and Pepys was appointed Secretary
for the Affairs of the Navy.

[The office generally known as Secretary of the Admiralty dates back
many years, but the officer who filled it was sometimes Secretary to
the Lord High Admiral, and sometimes to the Commission for that
office. "His Majesties Letters Patent for ye erecting the office of
Secretary of ye Admiralty of England, and creating Samuel Pepys,
Esq., first Secretary therein," is dated June 10th, 1684.]

He was thus brought into more intimate connection with Charles II., who
took the deepest interest in shipbuilding and all naval affairs. The Duke
of Buckingham said of the King:--

"The great, almost the only pleasure of his mind to which he seemed
addicted was shipping and sea affairs, which seemed to be so much
his talent for knowledge as well as inclination, that a war of that
kind was rather an entertainment than any disturbance to his
thoughts."

When Pepys ceased to be Clerk of the Acts he was able to obtain the
appointment for his clerk, Thomas Hayter, and his brother, John Pepys, who
held it jointly. The latter does not appear to have done much credit to
Samuel. He was appointed Clerk to the Trinity House in 1670 on his
brother's recommendation, and when he died in 1677 he was in debt L300 to
his employers, and this sum Samuel had to pay. In 1676 Pepys was Master
of the Trinity House, and in the following year Master of the
Clothworkers' Company, when he presented a richly-chased silver cup, which
is still used at the banquets of the company. On Tuesday, 10th September,
1677, the Feast of the Hon. Artillery Company was held at Merchant
Taylors' Hall, when the Duke of York, the Duke of Somerset, the Lord
Chancellor, and other distinguished persons were present. On this
occasion Viscount Newport, Sir Joseph Williamson, and Samuel Pepys
officiated as stewards.

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