PEPYS IN THE “DIARY.”
“An exact Diary is a window into his heart that maketh it: and
therefore pity it is that any should look therein but either the
friends of the party or such ingenuous foes as will not, especially in
things doubtful, make conjectural comments to his disgrace.”--PRYNNE’S
_Remarks on Abp. Laud_.
On the 1st of January, 1659–60, Samuel Pepys (then in his
twenty-seventh year) commenced to write his famous “Diary.” If, as
seems more than probable, he had previously kept a journal of some
kind, all traces of it are now lost; and our earliest glimpses of the
circumstances of his life are to be obtained only from the “Diary,”
which is by far the most remarkable book of its kind in existence.
Other men have written diaries and confessions, but they have been
intended either for the public or at least for a small circle of
friends to see. This “Diary” was only intended for the writer’s eye. He
wrote it in secret, and when he unguardedly told Sir William Coventry
in the Tower that he kept a diary, he was sorry for his indiscretion
immediately afterwards. Pepys has been likened to the barber of King
Midas, who relieved his mind by communicating to a bundle of reeds the
fact that his master had the ears of an ass; and assuredly no other
writer has so unreservedly stripped his soul bare. It is, therefore,
only fair to bear in mind what is said in the motto at the head of
this chapter, and not to forget that very few could bear the accusing
witness of such a truthful record of thoughts as well as actions as is
here. The “Diary” extends over nearly ten eventful years in the history
of England, and contains a voluminous record of both public and private
events. The fascination of Pepys’s garrulity is so great, that most of
those who have written about him have found it difficult to restrain
their praise within bounds. A writer in the “Athenæum” (apparently
the late Peter Cunningham) was quite carried away by his subject when
he wrote--“He has the minuteness of Dee and Ashmole without their
tediousness, the playfulness of Swift in his best moments without his
prejudice and his party feelings, and a charm over Byron and Scott,
and, indeed, above all other memorialists that we can call to mind, in
that his Diary was kept without the slightest view to publication.”[26]
I will now first note some of the chief circumstances of Pepys’s life
during the period covered by the “Diary,” and then say something about
his character as it is painted by himself.
When we are first introduced to Pepys he is living in Axe Yard,
Westminster, with very small means of support, but making so good a
show that he is esteemed rich. His family consists of himself, his
wife, and servant Jane. During the frosty weather they have not a coal
in the house, and he is forced to dine at his father’s, or make himself
as comfortable as he can up in the garret. That the larder is not very
plentifully supplied is seen by the fact that, on the 1st of February,
he and his wife dine on pease pudding, and on nothing else. At one
time he has not money enough in the house to pay the rent, but soon
afterwards he finds himself worth _£_40 which he did not expect, and is
therefore afraid that he must have forgotten something. On the 16th of
January, Mr. Downing (in whose office he then was) asked our Diarist,
in a half-hearted way, whether he would go to Holland, and gave him
the impression that his services could be dispensed with. At this time
political affairs were in the greatest confusion, and no one knew what
opinions to hold with profit to himself. Thus, William Symons said that
“he had made shift to keep in, in good esteem and employment through
eight governments in one year, and then failed unhappy in the ninth,
viz., that of the King’s coming in.”[27]
As in times of anarchy every one wishes to talk, the Rota, or Coffee
Club founded by James Harrington, the author of “Oceana,” was found to
be a congenial resort by those who wished to express their opinions
on passing events. The principle of the club was political, and the
plan formed there for the government of the country was, that every
official should be chosen by ballot. Every year a third part of the
House of Commons were to “rote out by ballot,” and no magistrate
was to continue in his position more than three years. Other than
politicians attended the meetings, and many distinguished men, such
as Dr. Petty, Dr. Croon, Sir William Poultney, and Cyriack Skinner,
were to be found in the evening at the Turk’s Head, in the New Palace
Yard. The room was usually as full as it would hold, and Aubrey gives
it as his opinion that the arguments heard in Parliament were flat as
compared with those delivered at the Rota Club. The object of worship
was the ballot-box, and the company sat round an oval table, which had
a passage in the middle for Miles, the landlord, to deliver his coffee.
Pepys paid his eighteen-pence on becoming a member of the club, on the
9th of January, 1659–60, and he frequently attended after this. If the
following can be considered as a good illustration of proceedings,
there must have been considerable divergence in the opinions of the
members:--“I went to the Coffee Club and heard very good discourse;
it was in answer to Mr. Harrington’s answer, who said that the state
of the Roman government was not a settled government, and so it was no
wonder that the balance of property was in one hand, and the command
in another, it being therefore always in a posture of war; but it was
carried by ballot, that it was a steady government; so to-morrow it
is to be proved by the opponents that the balance lay in one hand and
the government in another.”[28] On the 20th of February, Pepys writes:
“After a small debate upon the question whether learned or unlearned
subjects are best, the club broke up very poorly, and I do not think
they will meet any more.” After the Restoration Harrington was put in
the Tower, and then removed to Portsea Castle. His imprisonment turned
him mad, so that he fancied his perspiration turned sometimes to flies
and sometimes to bees, but all his hallucinations were inoffensive. One
of the first steps taken by Monk towards obtaining a free Parliament
was the admission of the secluded members who had been previously
purged out. Pepys describes the marching-in of these men on the 21st
of February, and specially notices Prynne’s “old basket-hilt sword.”
The editors of the “Diary” might have illustrated this by an amusing
passage from Aubrey’s “Lives.” It appears that as the members were
going to the House, Prynne’s long rusty sword “ran between Sir William
Waller’s short legs, and threw him down;” which caused laughter, as
Aubrey takes care to add. About this time Pepys seems to have discerned
the signs of the times, for we find him, on a visit to Audley End,
drinking the health of the King down in a cellar.[29] Sir Edward
Montagu now comes to the front, and is intent upon benefiting his
kinsman. Pepys hopes to be made Clerk of the Peace for Westminster, but
finds the place already promised to another. Montagu offers him the
post of Secretary to the Generals at Sea, which he joyfully accepts;
and he receives his warrant on the 22nd of March. The following day
sees the party on board the “Swiftsure” at Longreach, where Pepys
receives a letter directed to “S. P., Esq.,” and this superscription
seems to have delighted him greatly, for he says, “of which God knows
I was not a little proud.” On the 30th inst. Montagu and his people
went on board the “Naseby,” which was the ship in which he had gone
to the Sound in the previous year. They remain for a time in the
neighbourhood of Deal, and on the 3rd of May the King’s declaration
and letter to the two generals is received by Montagu, who dictates to
Pepys the words in which he wishes the vote in favour of the King to be
couched. The captains all came on board the “Naseby,” and Pepys read
the letter and declaration to them; and while they were discoursing
on the subject he pretended to be drawing up the form of vote, which
Montagu had already settled. When the resolution was read, it passed
at once; and the seamen all cried out, “God bless King Charles!” a cry
that was echoed by the whole fleet. A little piece of Pepys’s vanity
(and perhaps shrewdness also) here peeps out, for he tells us that he
signed all the copies of the vote of the Council of War, so that if it
should by chance get into print his name might be attached to it.[30]
The English fleet lies off the Dutch coast about the middle of May, and
our Diarist avails himself of the opportunity to visit the Hague and
some of the chief towns of Holland. The Dukes of York and Gloucester
came on board the “Naseby” on the 22nd inst., and the King followed
them on the following day, when the opportunity of his visit was taken
to change the objectionable names of the ships. The “Naseby” became the
“Charles,” the “Richard” the “James,” the “Speaker” the “Mary,” and the
“Lambert” the “Henrietta.”
“The Naseby now no longer England’s shame,
But better to be lost in Charles his name.”[31]
Pepys takes the opportunity, when the Duke of York is on board, to
bespeak his favour; and is overjoyed at the Duke calling him Pepys.
On the 25th the King lands at Dover, and is received by Monk. Pepys
tells how the mayor presented the King with a handsome Bible, which he
received, and told the people that “it was the thing he loved above all
things in the world!”
The 5th of June was Pepys’s last day on board, and he was awoke about
three o’clock in the morning by the pouring into his mouth of the water
with which the people above were washing the deck; and he was forced
to rise and sleep leaning on the table. He returned to shore better
off than he had originally left it, as he took care to make use of his
opportunities by getting men made captains, and by obtaining gratuities
for the favours. Fortune continued to smile upon him, for he had not
been many days back in London when Sir Edward Montagu, now a Knight
of the Garter, and in high favour with the King, obtained for him the
promise of the place of Clerk of the Acts. On the 28th of June he
clears himself of his old office under Sir George Downing, and is glad
to part from this stingy fellow, as he calls him. On the following day
he gets his warrant, but is much cast down when he learns that his
predecessor, Mr. Barlow, is still alive, and coming up to town to look
after the place. General Monk’s wife wishes the clerkship to be given
to Mr. Turner, of the Navy Office; but Montagu’s influence secures it
for Pepys. Turner then offers to give Pepys _£_150 to be joined with
him in the patent, but this is refused. Pepys is kept in a great state
of excitement respecting Barlow for a time. He hears that he is a
sickly man, and on July 17th he agrees to give him _£_100 a year out
of his raised salary. This payment continued until February, 1664–65,
when Barlow died. Pepys’s remarks on the death are particularly
characteristic: “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 _£_100
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 _£_100 a
year more in my estate, I have cause to bless God, and do it from the
bottom of my heart.”[32]
Now, our Diarist has become a man of importance, as one of the
principal Officers of the Navy, and Montagu consequently asks him to
dinner for the first time.[33] Yet he has not much faith in his power
to keep the place; and when a Mr. Man offers him _£_1,000 for it, his
mouth waters, and he would gladly take the money if his patron would
agree.[34] On the 23rd of July he takes the oaths as a Clerk of the
Privy Seal, which he does not expect to be a very profitable office;
but he soon finds himself making about _£_3 a day,[35] in addition
to his regular salary at the Navy Office. Being settled at his house
in Seething Lane, attached to the office, he is glad to get his
little house in Axe Yard off his hands, which he does on the 17th of
September, receiving _£_41 for his interest in it. About this time he
is sworn as a justice of the peace, and he is “mightily pleased” at
the honour, although he confesses that he is wholly ignorant of the
duties.[36]
There were great doings at the coronation of Charles II. in the
following year, and the “Diary” is full of particulars respecting it.
Pepys and a party went to a shop in Cornhill to see the procession when
the King passed from the Tower to Whitehall, and while they waited they
partook of “wine and good cake.”[37]
On the next day Pepys gets into Westminster Abbey to see the
coronation, and sits patiently in a scaffold from a little after four
until eleven. Afterwards he goes into Westminster Hall, sees the
banquet, and returns home to bed with the feeling that he will “never
see the like again in this world.” Next morning he wakes with his “head
in a sad taking through the last night’s drink.”[38]
Sometimes the Clerk of the Acts has a great deal of business to get
through, and he always sticks to his work manfully. By going to the
office early and staying late he was often able to spare the afternoons
for the theatre. Day after day he gets up and is at his desk at four
o’clock in the morning;[39] but this hard work is varied by some idle
days. On June the 5th the Officers of the Navy play at bowls and drink
and talk. Pepys takes his flageolet, and plays upon the leads. Sir
William Penn comes out in his shirt-sleeves, and there is more drinking
and talking, the result of which is, that Pepys goes to bed nearly
fuddled, and wakes up the next morning with an aching head.
A very important event in the life of the Diarist occurred in the
following month. His uncle, Robert Pepys, dies, and a small property at
Brampton, worth about _£_80 per annum,[40] comes into the possession of
old John Pepys, not, however, without some litigation on the part of
some members of the family. As his father has no money, Samuel takes
all the business affairs into his own hands, and seems to consider the
property as his own. When he learns the news, on the 6th of July,
1661, he posts down to Brampton, leaving London between eleven and
twelve o’clock in the morning, and arriving there about nine o’clock at
night. When he gets to his uncle’s house he is very uncomfortable, from
the badness of the food and drink, and the biting of the gnats; but
although he is nearly out of his wits, he appears contented, so as not
to trouble his father. He has much work of arrangement to get through,
and he remains nearly sixteen days away from London. When he returns he
gives out among his most distinguished friends and acquaintances that
he has had an estate of _£_200 a year in land left him, beside money,
“because he would put an esteem upon himself.”[41]
Pepys acknowledged to two weaknesses, of which he tried to cure himself
by means of vows--not, however, with a very successful result. The
first weakness was a too great addiction to the bottle, and the second
a too frequent attendance at theatres. On July 26th, 1661, we find
him making this confession: “Having the beginning of this week made a
vow to myself to drink no wine this week (finding it unfit me to look
after business), and this day breaking of it against my will, I am much
troubled for it; but I hope God will forgive me!” On Michaelmas Day,
1661, he took so much wine that he “was even almost foxed,” so that he
“durst not read prayers for fear of being perceived by my servants in
what case I was.” Next year, on the same day, he finds that his “oaths
for drinking of wine and going to plays are out,” and so he resolves
to take some liberty, “and then fall to them again.” On December 30th,
1662, we find him writing: “After dinner drinking five or six glasses
of wine, which liberty I now take till I begin my oathe again.”[42]
On October 29th, 1663, he drinks some hippocras, which consists of wine
mixed with sugar and spices, under the belief that he is not breaking
his vow, because it is “only a mixed compound drink, and not any wine.”
Sir Walter Scott likened this piece of casuistry to that of Fielding’s
Newgate chaplain, who preferred punch to wine because the former was a
liquor nowhere spoken against in Scripture.
It is necessary now to return to the date at which we broke off to
follow our hero’s vows. He sums up his blessings on February 23rd,
1661–62, in these words: “I am 29 years of age, and in very good
health, and like to live and get an estate; and if I have a heart to be
contented, I think I may reckon myself as happy a man as any is in the
world, for which God be praised.” Yet, on the next day, he is troubled
to part with _£_5 for five weeks’ music-lessons; and soon afterwards
he complains at his father spending _£_100 a year.[43] Although he was
of a saving turn, he could clearly see that it was wise to spend money
while he could enjoy the results of his spending, and alludes to this
on two separate occasions. On May 20th, 1662, he writes: “But though I
am much against too much spending, yet I do think it best to enjoy some
degree of pleasure now that we have health, money, and opportunity,
rather than to leave pleasures to old age or poverty when we cannot
have them so properly.” Four years after this we find the same idea
in other words: “The truth is I do indulge myself a little the more
in pleasure, knowing that this is the proper age of my life to do it;
and out of my observation that most men that do thrive in the world do
forget to take pleasure during the time that they are getting their
estate, but reserve that till they have got one, and then it is too
late for them to enjoy it with any pleasure.”[44]
About this time Pepys is sworn a younger brother of the Trinity House,
is made a burgess of Portsmouth, is troubled with a lawsuit by one
Field, signs warrants as a justice of the peace, and is appointed one
of the Commissioners for the Affairs of Tangier. This business with
Field, which was connected with the office, gives him much annoyance.
At one time he is in fear of being taken by the bailiffs,[45] and at
another he is in such terror that the falling of something behind a
door makes him start with fright.[46]
About the middle of the year 1662 he engages the services of Mr.
Cooper, mate of the “Royal George,” of whom he intends to learn
mathematics; but his early attempts do not appear to have been very
ambitious, for he begins by learning the multiplication-table. In the
following year, he and Mrs. Pepys learn to dance, and he thinks he
shall be able to manage the coranto well enough. He grudges the cost,
however, particularly as he is forced by his oath to give half as much
more to the poor.[47]
The mixture of extravagance and frugality that is constantly exhibited
in the “Diary” is most amusing, particularly in the case of clothes.
Thus, when he hears that the Queen is ill, he stops the making of his
velvet cloak until he sees whether she lives or dies.[48] In spite of
this forethought, he finds, on casting up his accounts, that he spent
_£_55 on his own clothes, although, as a set-off against this large
sum, Mrs. Pepys’s clothes only cost _£_12. This love of fine clothes is
continually peeping out, and it has been suggested that he inherited
it with the tailor blood of his father. A better reason, however, may
be found in the fact that at one time he was very poor, and “forced to
sneak like a beggar” for want of clothes; so that, now he is in funds,
he tries to make up for his former deficiency, and resolves to dress
himself handsomely.[49]
A few years after this he expresses himself as ashamed of the
shabbiness of his clothes, when he wished to speak to the King but did
not like to do so, because his linen was dirty and his clothes mean.[50]
At the end of the year 1663, Pepys performed a duty in a way that
did him great credit. Sir Edward Montagu, now Earl of Sandwich, is
taken ill, and, on his recovery, he goes for change of air to Chelsea.
After a time it gets abroad that he dotes upon one of the daughters
of his landlady, and neglects his duties. On the 9th of September,
1663, Mr. Pickering tells Pepys of all this, and we therefore read in
the “Diary:” “I am ashamed to see my lord so grossly play the fool,
to the flinging-off of all honour, friends, servants, and everything
and person that is good, with his carrying her abroad and playing on
his lute under her window, and forty other poor sordid things, which
I am grieved to hear.” Pepys determines to be silent, as he learns
that the Earl will not bear any allusion to his doings. Still his
mind continually reverts to the matter, and in the end he decides to
write a letter of counsel to his patron.[51] When this is sent, he
continues for some time to be anxious as to the manner in which the
Earl is likely to receive it. Nothing is, of course, said when the two
meet, and there is for a time a coldness between them; but at last
they return to their old relations with each other, and Lord Sandwich,
having left Chelsea, is seen in the world again.
Pepys’s habit of sitting up late, reading and writing by candlelight,
begins to tell upon his eyesight; and in January, 1663–64, he finds
it fail him for the first time. In October, 1664, he consults the
celebrated Mr. Cocker as to the best glass to save his eyes at night;
but they continue to trouble him, and he proposes to get some green
spectacles.[52] How the eyesight got weaker, so that the “Diary” had to
be discontinued, we all know to our great loss.
On one occasion Mr. Coventry talks with Pepys on the need for a
history of the navy of England, and then suggests that he should
write a history of the late Dutch war. Pepys likes the idea, as he
thinks it agrees with his genius, and would recommend him much to the
authorities;[53] but he succeeded in doing this without writing the
history. On the 10th of March, 1663–64, he was appointed one of the
assistants of the Corporation of the Royal Fishery, of which the Duke
of York was the Governor; his commission as Treasurer of the Tangier
Committee is signed on the 18th of April, 1665; and in October of
the same year he obtains the appointment of Surveyor-General of the
Victualling Office. Besides these tangible proofs of his success in
life were the expressions of esteem made use of in respect to him by
men in authority. The Duke of York told him that he highly valued his
services,[54] and the Duke of Albemarle said that he was the right hand
of the navy.[55]
Pepys quite deserved these words of praise, and moreover continued
to deserve them, for during the whole period of the Dutch war he did
his best to provide what was required for the navy, and while the
plague was devastating London he alone remained at his post. His
straightforward common-sense shows out strongly during the course of
the Great Fire. From the 2nd of September, 1666--when the servants
wake him to tell of the burning which they saw in the city--to the 7th,
when he visits the ruins, we have a lively picture of the whole scene
in the pages of the “Diary.” On the Sunday Pepys goes to Whitehall, and
tells the King and the Duke of York of what he had seen. He says that
unless his Majesty will command houses to be pulled down, nothing can
stop the fire. On hearing which, the King instructs him to go to the
Lord Mayor, and command him to pull down houses in every direction.
Sir Thomas Bludworth, the Lord Mayor, seems to have been but a poor
creature; and when he heard the King’s message, “he cried like a
fainting woman, ‘Lord! what can I do? I am spent: people will not obey
me. I have been pulling down houses, but the fire overtakes us faster
than we can do it.’” On the 4th inst. there seemed to be little hope
of saving the Navy Office, unless some extraordinary means were taken
with that object. Pepys therefore suggested that the workmen from
Woolwich and Deptford Dockyards should be sent for to pull down the
houses round them. Sir William Penn went to see after the men, and
Pepys wrote to Sir William Coventry for the Duke of York’s permission.
In the letter he remarks that the fire is very near them, both on the
Tower Street and Fenchurch sides; and that unless houses are pulled
down, there are little hopes of their escape. The next day Penn sends
up the men, who help greatly in the blowing-up of houses; and to this
action Pepys mainly attributes the stoppage of the fire. He then goes
up to the top of Barking church, and there he saw “the saddest sight of
desolation”--“everywhere great fires, oil-cellars, and brimstone and
other things burning.” He then walks through the town, the hot ground
almost burning his feet, till he comes to Moorfields, which he finds
full of people, “the poor wretches carrying their goods there, and
everybody keeping his goods together by themselves.”
During the period of fright, when he expected the office to be
destroyed, he sent off his money, plate, and best things to Sir W.
Rider, at Bethnal Green, and then he and Penn dug a hole in the garden,
in which they put their wine and Parmezan cheese. On the 10th of
September, Sir W. Rider lets it be known that, as the town is full of
the report respecting the wealth in his house, he will be glad if his
friends will provide for the safety of their property elsewhere.
About the time of the Great Fire, Pepys had saved a large sum of money,
and was making a good income; so we find his thoughts running on the
advantage of keeping a private coach, as he is ashamed to be seen in a
hackney coach.[56] It was not, however, until more than a year after
this that he actually bought his carriage, and we find that he spent
_£_53 on the coach,[57] and _£_50 on a fine pair of black horses.[58]
He was very proud of the appearance of his carriage, but his enemies
made some capital out of the proceeding, and protested that he throve
on the distresses of others.
In these days of banks and other means for the deposit of money, it
is not easy to realize the difficulties of men who possessed money in
the seventeenth century. Pepys sent some down to Brampton to be buried,
but his wife and father did the business entrusted to them so badly
that he was quite wild and uneasy with fears that it might be found by
others.[59] Therefore, at the first opportunity, he goes down himself
to see after his treasure; and the description of the hunt after it is
certainly one of the most entertaining passages in the “Diary.”[60] He
and his father and wife go out into the garden with a dark lantern,
and grope about a long time before they come on the trace. Then they
find that the bags are rotten, and gold and notes are all spread about
and covered with dirt, the latter being scarcely distinguishable. Then
there is a gathering of it up to be washed, and in the end not much is
lost, although throughout the proceedings Pepys is in dread that the
neighbours will see and hear what is going on.
We now come to the consideration of one of the most important incidents
in the life of the Diarist--that is, his great speech at the Bar of
the House of Commons. When peace was concluded with the Dutch, and
the people had time to think over the disgrace which this country had
suffered by the presence of De Ruyter’s fleet in the Medway, they
naturally looked round for someone to punish. It was the same feeling,
only in a much intensified degree, which found expression at the time
of the Crimean war in the cry, “Whom shall we hang?” A Parliamentary
Committee was appointed in October, 1667, to inquire into everything
relating to this business, at Chatham. Pepys is warned to prepare
himself, as there is a desire to lay the blame upon the Commissioners
of the Navy, and a resolution “to lay the fault heavy somewhere, and to
punish it.”[61] He therefore gives as clear a statement as possible,
and satisfies the Committee for a time; but for months afterwards he
is continually being summoned to answer some charge, so that he is
mad to “become the hackney of this Office in perpetual trouble and
vexation, that need it least.”[62] Then breaks out a storm in the
House of Commons against the Principal Officers of the Navy, and some
members demand that they be put out of their places. The result is,
that they are ordered to be heard in their own defence at the Bar of
the House. The whole labour of defence falls upon Pepys, and he sets
to work with a will to collect his evidence, and to display it in
the most satisfactory manner. He is somewhat annoyed that the other
officers can do little to help him; but he is proud that they, in
spite of themselves, must rely upon him. The eventful day (5th March,
1667–68) at last arrives, and, having first fortified himself with half
a pint of mulled sack and a dram of brandy, our Diarist stands at the
Bar with his fellow-officers. But here we must use his own words, for
it would be presumptuous to paraphrase the vivid account he himself
gives:--“After the Speaker had told us the dissatisfaction of the
House, and read the Report of the Committee, I began our defence most
acceptably and smoothly, and continued at it without any hesitation or
loss, but with full scope, and all my reason free about me, as if it
had been at my own table, from that time (about twelve o’clock) till
past three in the afternoon; and so ended without any interruption from
the Speaker; but we withdrew. And there all my Fellow-officers and all
the world that was within hearing, did congratulate me, and cry up my
speech as the best thing they ever heard; and my Fellow-officers were
overjoyed in it.” The orator was congratulated on every side, and the
flattery he received is set down in the “Diary” in all good faith.
Sir William Coventry addresses him the next day with the words, “Good
morrow, Mr. Pepys, that must be Speaker of the Parliament-house;”
and the Solicitor-General protests that he spoke the best of any man
in England. One man says that he would go twenty miles to hear such
another speech; and another, although he had sat six-and-twenty years
in Parliament, had never heard anything like it before; and there is
much more to the same effect.
I do not find that Pepys ever distinguished himself by another speech,
although he sat for several years in the House of Commons; and there is
therefore reason to doubt his oratorical powers. In fact, it is easy
to explain the secret of his success, for he was speaking on a subject
that he thoroughly understood to an audience that understood it but
imperfectly. Still we must give Pepys due credit for his achievement.
He had a bad case, and yet he seems to have converted his audience. It
was here that his clear-headedness and remarkable powers of arrangement
were brought into play, and having at the same time his whole soul in
the matter, he easily carried his hearers with him.
The praises he received raised up a strong desire in his breast
to become a Parliament-man. He hints at this design on the 5th of
December, 1668, and again, on the 19th of February, 1668–69, he opens
the matter to his friend, Sir William Coventry, who likes the idea
mightily, and promises to speak about it to the Duke of York. A few
more months, and his eyes--which already, as we have seen, had given
him trouble--become so much worse that he begins to think seriously
of taking rest. On the 16th of May, 1669, he draws up a rough copy of
a petition to the Duke of York for leave of absence for three or four
months. A few days after, the Duke takes him to the King, who expresses
his great concern at the state of his eyes, and gives him the leave
he desires.[63] On the 31st of May, 1669, the pen that has written
so much to amuse us is put to the paper for the last time; and the
“Diary” ends with these words of deep but subdued feeling:--“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 so long as to undo my eyes almost every time that I take a
pen in my hand; and therefore whatever comes of it I must forbear; and
therefore resolve, from this time forward to have it kept by my people
in longhand, and must be contented to set down no more than is fit for
them and all the world to know; or if there be any thing, which cannot
be much, now my amours are past, and my eyes hindering me in almost all
other pleasures, I must endeavour to keep a margin in my book open,
to add here and there, a note in short-hand with my own hand. And so
I betake myself to that course, which is almost as much as to see
myself go in to my grave: for which and all the discomforts that will
accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me!” The “Diary” is one
of the most curious of psychological studies, and surely no other man
has so relentlessly laid bare his secret motives. When he does a good
action from a good motive, he cannot forbear to add a dirty little
motive as well. There is no posing for effect, such as the writers of
confessions adopt, and herein consists the chief charm of the book.
I cannot pretend to draw the character of the Diarist, for he has
done that himself in his own vivid manner; but a few of his leading
characteristics may be set down here. Two of the most prominent of
these characteristics are his money-grubbing and his love of women.
1. _Money-grubbing._ His paramount anxiety is to get money, and we find
him constantly making up his accounts in order to see how much better
off he is this month than he was in the last. He takes care that no
opportunity of money-getting shall be allowed to slip, and he certainly
succeeds in his endeavours; for whereas, at the opening of the “Diary,”
he is only worth about _£_40, he makes _£_3,560 in the year 1665, while
his salary as Clerk of the Acts remains at _£_350. In the following
year he only made _£_2,986.[64]
The same prudent habits that made Pepys so careful in casting up his
accounts induced him to make a new will as changes were required. On
the 17th of March, 1659–60, he bequeathed all that he possessed (but
this was not very much at that time) to his wife, with his French
books, the other books being left to his brother John. Another will was
made on August 10th, 1665, because the town was so unhealthy “that a
man cannot depend upon living two days.” We have fuller particulars of
the will of May 27th, 1666, by which Pall Pepys, the Diarist’s sister,
was to have _£_500, his father _£_2,000, and his wife the rest of his
estate--“but to have _£_2,500 secured to her though by deducting out of
what I have given my father and sister.” Another will was prepared in
the following year, by which Pepys left all he possessed to be equally
divided between his wife and father.[65]
2. _Admiration for women._ Some of the oddest passages in the “Diary”
grew out of this trait in Pepys’s character; and one can only marvel
that he thought it well to set down such passages on paper. When he
came to Gravesend, after Charles II.’s landing, he kissed “a good
handsome wench,” because she was the first he had seen for a great
while;[66] and, at another time, the widow of a naval officer came to
see him, apparently on business, when he had “a kiss or two of her,
and a most modest woman she is.”[67] His gallantry was so great as
even to cause him to kiss the mouth of Katherine of Valois, whose body
was exposed at Westminster Abbey. He seems to have performed this act
with great content, for he notes particularly that on his birthday,
February 23rd, 1668–69 (being then thirty-six years of age), he “did
first kiss a queen.” Although he was always ready to kiss the ladies he
met, his admiration was often quite disinterested; this was peculiarly
the case with regard to the two Court beauties, the Duchess of Richmond
and the Countess of Castlemaine, to neither of whom, apparently, he
ever spoke. There is an odd little entry which he made on the 9th of
September, 1668, that well illustrates this feeling of his. The Duke of
Richmond wanted to consult Pepys about his yacht, and sent for him to
his lodgings in Whitehall. Pepys hoped to have seen the Duchess, but
found that she was in the country; so he adds, “I shall make much of
this acquaintance, that I may live to see his lady near.” But the Clerk
of the Acts’ chief admiration was lavished upon the worthless Countess
of Castlemaine. He is always delighted when he can get a glimpse of
her; and he usually finds the play to be insipid if she does not grace
the theatre with her presence. Even the sight of her clothes gives him
pleasure, for he tells us that one day, in passing the Privy Garden at
Whitehall, he saw her smocks and linen petticoats hanging out to dry,
and it did him good to look upon them.[68]
Pepys was a pretty regular attendant at church, and he seems to
have enjoyed a good sermon; but his chief delight was to look about
for pretty women: thus, on the 26th of May, 1667, he went (alone,
by-the-bye) to St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, and there, he says,
“Did entertain myself with my perspective glass up and down the church,
by which I had the great pleasure of seeing and gazing at a great many
very fine women; and what with that, and sleeping, I passed away the
time till sermon was done.”
Our hero was very fond of pretty Betty Michell, and would take some
trouble to get a sight of her; and there is a most ludicrous passage
in the “Diary” in which he describes a mistake he made once at church.
He went again to St. Margaret’s, in hopes of seeing Betty, and stayed
for an hour in the crowd, thinking she was there “by the end of a
nose” that he saw; but at last, to his great disgust, the head turned
towards him, and it was only her mother; he naturally adds, “which
vexed me.”[69] Although he gave his wife much cause to be jealous,
he was inclined, without any cause, to be jealous of her; and, from
his own account, he seems often to have treated her in a very boorish
manner. One would have liked to have read the lady’s account of the
constant little squabbles which occurred; but Pepys was not of the same
opinion, for on one occasion, when he found a paper which his wife had
written on the “disagreeables” of her life, he burnt it, in spite of
her remonstrances.[70]
Pepys’s nature was singularly contradictory, and in summing up the
chief points of his character, we can do little more than make a
catalogue of his various qualities, giving the bad ones first, and
then enumerating the good ones as a set-off. Thus, he was unfaithful to
his wife, and a coward, yet he knew his faults, and could try to amend
them. He was vain, ignorant, credulous, and superstitious; yet he had
scholarly tastes, and his orderly and business habits were so marked
that they alone would point to him as a man out of the common run. He
was mean, and yet he was also generous. This seems a harsh verdict, but
it can easily be proved to be true, and we will proceed to notice the
several points _seriatim_.
As to his unfaithfulness, his own description of his conduct towards
several women makes it probable; but, in the instance of Deb Willett,
there can be no doubt. This episode, which occurred in October and
November, 1668, is by far the most painful one in the “Diary.”[71]
Pepys appears to have been infatuated, and, in spite of his struggles,
he fell. He repented, and prayed fervently in his chamber that he
might not fall again. He resolved not to give any new occasion for his
wife’s jealousy, and he found great peace in his mind by reason of this
resolution.[72]
He was a coward, for on one occasion he was so angry with the cookmaid
that he kicked her. He was not sorry for doing this, but he was vexed
that Sir William Penn’s footboy saw him, and would probably tell the
family.[73]
His vanity may be taken for granted, as every line of the “Diary” shows
it. He was ignorant of history, for he expected to find an account
of England’s dominion on the sea in “Domesday Book.”[74] As to his
credulity, he appears to have believed everything that was told him,
however absurd. His superstition is shown in his belief in charms
and in most of the popular delusions of his time; and also by his
subterfuges, as when he opens a letter, and does not look at it until
the money has fallen out, so that he may be able to say that he saw no
money in the paper, if he should be questioned about it.[75]
He was mean, for he grudges money for his wife, while he spends
liberally on himself; he is stingy to his father, and dislikes lending
money to the benefactor from whom all his prosperity originally came.
Yet he could be singularly generous at times. He gave _£_600 to his
sister Paulina as her marriage portion;[76] and, after quarrelling
with his wife because she had spent twenty-five shillings on a pair of
earrings without his leave,[77] he pays _£_80 for a necklace which he
presents her with.[78] Of his scholarly tastes and business habits we
shall have an opportunity of saying somewhat further on.
Perhaps, on the whole, the most remarkable characteristic of the man
was his total want of the imaginative faculty. Here was one who had
been well educated, and had kept up his learning through life; who had
an artistic taste, and was a thorough musician; who could not so much
as understand true wit or the higher poetry. “Midsummer Night’s Dream”
was insipid and ridiculous to him,[79] and he found “Hudibras” so silly
that he was ashamed of it.[80]
I must leave my readers to answer the question why it is that, in spite
of all that has been said, Pepys can stand the ordeal through which we
have passed him; and why it is that, with all his faults, we cannot put
his book down without some sort of affection for the man?
FOOTNOTES:
[26] “Athenæum,” 1848, p. 669.
[27] “Diary,” Jan. 8, 1663–64.
[28] “Diary,” Jan. 17, 1659–60.
[29] Feb. 27, 1659–60.
[30] “Diary,” May 4, 1660.
[31] Dryden, “Astræa Redux,” ll. 230–31.
[32] “Diary,” Feb. 9, 1664–65. Thomas Barlow was appointed in 1638
Clerk of the Acts, jointly with Dennis Fleming, who had held the
office for several years previously. Lord Braybrooke says in a note,
that “Barlow had previously been Secretary to Algernon, Earl of
Northumberland, when High Admiral;” but Colonel Pasley tells me this is
a mistake, for Barlow had been appointed Clerk of the Acts two months
before the Earl became Lord High Admiral. Barlow had, however, been in
his service at an earlier date, and the Earl had appointed him Muster
Master of the Fleet under his command in 1636.
[33] “Diary,” July 2, 1660.
[34] Aug. 6, 10, 1660.
[35] Aug. 10, 1660.
[36] Sept. 23, 1660.
[37] April 22, 1661.
[38] “Diary,” April 23, 1661.
[39] July 3, 1662; June 17, 1663.
[40] June 17, 1666.
[41] “Diary,” July 24, 1661.
[42] There are some amusing passages relating to the vow on
theatre-going under date of Feb. 23, 1662–63; Jan. 2, 1663–64.
[43] “Diary,” April 23, 1663.
[44] “Diary,” March 10, 1666.
[45] Feb. 21, 1662–63.
[46] Feb. 23, 1662–63.
[47] “Diary,” May 4, 1663.
[48] Oct. 22, 1663.
[49] Oct. 31, 1663.
[50] March 20, 1667.
[51] This letter is printed in the “Diary,” under date Nov. 18, 1663.
[52] “Diary,” Dec. 13, 1666.
[53] June 13, 1664.
[54] March 22, 1664–65.
[55] April 24, 1665.
[56] “Diary,” April 21, 1667.
[57] Oct. 24, 1668.
[58] Dec. 11, 1668.
[59] “Diary,” June 19, 1667.
[60] Oct. 10, 1667.
[61] “Diary,” Oct. 21, 1667.
[62] Feb. 11, 1667–68.
[63] “Diary,” May 24, 1669. “To Whitehall where I attended the Duke of
York and was by him led to the King.” To this passage Lord Braybrooke
added this note: “It seems doubtful whether the expression of being
led to the King has any reference to the defective state of Pepys’s
vision. Perhaps he might wish to make the most of this infirmity, in
the hope of strengthening his claim for leave of absence.” It is rather
too absurd to think that the Duke of York would lead Pepys by the hand
through the corridors of the palace. If a guide had been needed, the
services of a less august personage could surely have been obtained.
[64] The particulars of his accounts, as given in the “Diary,” are very
curious, and it may be worth while here to tabulate some of them.
On June 3, 1660, he was worth nearly _£_100
″ Dec. 31, 1660, ″ _£_300
″ May 24, 1661, ″ _£_500
″ Aug. 31, 1662, ″ _£_686 19_s._ 2½_d._
About this time he appears to have made but little extra money, for his
monthly balances vary only a few pounds, sometimes more and sometimes
less:--
Dec. 31, 1663 _£_800
(Of which _£_700 was in Lord Sandwich’s hands).
March 31, 1664 _£_900
July 31, 1664 _£_1,014
Feb. 28, 1664–65 _£_1,270
Aug. 13, 1665 _£_2,164
This year he made money by prizes and fees for victualling, so that by
Dec. 31 he had raised his estate to _£_4,400.
April 30, 1666 _£_5,200
Dec. 31, 1666 _£_6,200
After this he did not pay so much attention to these details, and on
Jan. 23, 1668–69, he says that he is two years behindhand.
[65] “Diary,” June 13, 1667.
[66] June 8, 1660.
[67] Dec. 21, 1665.
[68] “Diary,” May 20, 1662.
[69] “Diary,” Aug. 25, 1667.
[70] Jan. 9, 1662–63.
[71] See particularly “Diary,” Oct. 15, 1667; Oct. 25, Nov. 3, 13, 19,
20, 29, 1668.
[72] Dec. 5, 18, 1668.
[73] April 12, 1667.
[74] “Diary,” Dec. 21, 1661. Each count in the above indictment is
founded on many instances, but one will frequently be sufficient to
give. The reader will easily find others for himself.
[75] April 3, 1663. On July 19, 1662, he makes the following odd
remark: “Methought it lessened my esteem of a king, that he should not
be able to command the rain.”
[76] Feb. 10, 1667–68.
[77] July 4, 1664.
[78] April 30, 1666.
[79] “Diary,” Sept 29, 1662.
[80] Dec. 26, 1662.
[Illustration: Decoration]
[Illustration: Decoration]