Chapter 1

This etext was produced by John Hill.

THE DIARY OF SAMUEL PEPYS, ESQ., F.R.S.

FROM 1659 TO 1669

WITH MEMOIR

Edited by LORD BRAYBROOKE

Notes about the etext:

There are over a thousand footnotes in the printed text that were added by the editor. Most of these are very short biographical and similar notes, and have been inserted into the etext in square brackets close to the point where they were originally referred to by a suffix. A few of the longer notes have been given a separate paragraph which has also been placed in square brackets.

Text that was in italics in the printed book has been written in capitals in the etext. Accents etc. have been omitted.

Where sums of money are referred to, the abreviations 'l.', 's.' and 'd.' are used to designate 'Pounds', 'Shillings', and 'Pence'.

In the printed text, the year was printed at the top of each page. As this was not possible in the etext, years have been added to the first entry for each month to make it easier for readers to keep track of the year. Because the old-style calendar was in use at the time the diary was written, in which the New Year began on March 25th, the year has been given a dual number in January, February and March, as has been done elsewhere in the diary, (eg. 1662-63 during the first months of 1663).

Pepys' spelling and punctuation have been left as they were in the printed text.

The copy from which this etext was taken was published in 1879 by Frederick Warne and Co. (London and New York), in a series called "Chandos Classics."

PREFACE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.

The Celebrated work here presented to the public under peculiar advantages may require a few introductory remarks.

By the publication, during the last half century, of autobiographies, Diaries, and Records of Personal Character; this class of literature has been largely enriched, not only with works calculated for the benefit of the student, but for that larger class of readers--the people, who in the byeways of History and Biography which these works present, gather much of the national life at many periods, and pictures of manners and customs, habits and amusements, such as are not so readily to be found in more elaborate works.

The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn, published in the year 1817, is the first of the class of books to which special reference is here made. This was followed by the publication, in 1825, of the Diary and Correspondence of Samuel Pepys, a work of a more entertaining character than that of Evelyn. There is, moreover, another distinction between the two: the Diary of Pepys was written "at the end of each succeeding day;" whereas the Diary of Evelyn is more the result of leisure and after- thought, and partakes more of the character of history.

Pepys's account of the Great Fire of London in 1666 is full as minute as that of Evelyn, but it is mingled with a greater number of personal and official circumstances, of popular interest: the scene of dismay and confusion which it exhibits is almost beyond parallel. "It is observed and is true in the late Fire of London," says Pepys, "that the fire burned just as many parish churches as there were hours from the beginning to the end of the fire; and next, that there were just as many churches left standing in the rest of the city that was not burned, being, I think, thirteen in all of each; which is pretty to observe." Again, Pepys was at this time clerk of the Acts of the Navy; his house and office were in Seething-lane, Crutched Friars; he was called up at three in the morning, Sept. 2, by his maid Jane, and so rose and slipped on his nightgown, and went to her window; but thought the fire far enough off, and so went to bed again, and to sleep. Next morning, Jane told him that she heard above 300 houses had been burnt down by the fire they saw, and that it was then burning down all Fish-street, by London Bridge. "So," Pepys writes, "I made myself ready presently, and walked to the Tower, and there got upon one of the high places, and saw the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire at the other end of the bridge." On Sept. 5, he notes, "About two in the morning my wife calls me up, and tells me of new cries of fire, it being come to Barking Church, which is at the bottom of our lane." The fire was, however, stopped, "as well at Mark-lane end as ours; it having only burned the dyall of Barking Church, and part of the porch, and there was quenched." This narrative has all the advantage of being written at the time of the event, which kind of record has been pronounced preferable to "a cart- load of pencillings." Of this very attractive particularity is the Diary of Pepys, which is here submitted to the reader in the most elegant and economical as well as complete form.

Of the origin of this work, details are given the accompanying Preface, by the noble Editor--Lord Braybrooke. The diarist--Mr. Secretary Pepys--was a great virtuoso in collections of English history, both by land and sea, much relating to the admiralty and maritime affairs. He gathered very much from records in the Tower, had many fine models, and new inventions of ships, and historical paintings of them; had many books of mathematics and other sciences; many very costly curiosities relating to the City of London, as views, maps, palaces, churches, coronations, funerals, mayoralties, habits, heads of all our famous men, drawn as well as painted, the most complete collection of anything of its kind. He was a man whose free and generous spirit appeared in his pen, and his ingenious fancy at his finger's end.

The original MS. of the Diary, which gives so vivid a picture of manners in the reign of Charles II., is preserved in Magdalene College, Cambridge; it is in six volumes, containing upwards of 3000 pages, closely written in Rich's system of shorthand, which Pepys doubtless adopted from the possibility of his journal falling into unfriendly hands during his life, or being rashly communicated to the public after his death. The original spelling of every word in the Diary, it is believed, has been carefully preserved by the gentleman who deciphered it; and although Pepys's grammar has been objected to, it is thought that the entries derive additional interest from the quaint terms in which they are expressed.

The period of the Diary was one of the most interesting and eventful decades in our history. We have here the joyous pictures of the Restoration, as well as much about "the merry monarch," his gaieties and his intrigues. The Plague of 1665, with the appalling episodes of this national calamity, is followed by the life-like record of the Great Fire, and the rebuilding of London. Then, what an attractive period is that of the history of the London theatres, dating from the Restoration, with piquant sketches of the actors and actresses of that day. Pepys, in his love of wit and admiration of beauty, finds room to love and admire Nell Gwyn, whose name still carries an odd fascination with it after so many generations. In those busy times coffee-houses were new, and we find Pepys dropping in at Will's, where he never was before, and where he saw Dryden and all the wits of the town. The Diarist records sending for "a cup of tea, a China drink he had not before tasted." Here we find the earliest account of a Lord Mayor's dinner in the Guildhall; and Wood's, Pepys's "old house for clubbing, in Pell Mell,"--all pictures in little of social life, with innumerable traits of statesmen, politicians, wits and poets, authors, artists, and actors, and men, and women of wit and pleasure, such as the town, court, and city have scarcely presented at any other period.

Shortly after the publication of the Diary, there appeared in the Quarterly Review, No. 66, a charming paper from the accomplished pen of Sir Walter Scott, upon this very curious contribution to our reminiscent literature. Sir Walter's parallel of Pepys and Evelyn is very nicely drawn. "Early necessity made Pepys laborious, studious, and careful. But his natural propensities were those of a man of pleasure. He appears to have been ardent in quest of amusement, especially where anything odd or uncommon was to be witnessed. To this thirst after novelty, the consequence of which has given great and varied interest to his Diary, Pepys added a love of public amusements, which he himself seems to have considered as excessive." "Our diarist must not be too severely judged. He lived in a time when the worst examples abounded, a time of court intrigue and state revolution, when nothing was certain for a moment, and when all who were possessed of any opportunity to make profit, used it with the most shameless avidity, lest the golden minutes should pass away unimproved.

"In quitting the broad path of history," says Sir Walter, "we seek for minute information concerning ancient manners and customs, the progress of arts and sciences, and the various branches of antiquity. We have never seen a mine so rich as the volumes before us. The variety of Pepys's tastes and pursuits led him into almost every department of life. He was a man of business, a man of information if not of learning; a man of taste; a man of whim; and to a certain degree a man of pleasure. He was a statesman, a BEL ESPRIT, a virtuoso, and a connoisseur. His curiosity made him an unwearied as well as an universal learner, and whatever he saw found its way into his tables. Thus, his Diary absolutely resembles the genial cauldrons at the wedding of Camacho, a souse into which was sure to bring forth at once abundance and variety of whatever could gratify the most eccentric appetite.

"If the curious, affect dramatic antiquities--a line which has special charms for the present age--no book published in our time has thrown so much light upon plays, playwrights, and play- actors.

"Then those who desire to be aware of the earliest discoveries, as well in sciences, as in the useful arts, may read in Pepys's Memoirs, how a slice of roast mutton was converted into pure blood; and of those philosophical glass crackers, which explode when the tail is broken off (Rupert's Drops) of AURUM FULMINANS, applied to the purpose of blowing ships out of the water; and of a newly contrived gun, which was to change the whole system of the art of war; but which has left it pretty much upon the old footing. A lover of antique scandal which taketh away the character, and committeth SCANDALUM MAGNATUM against the nobility of the seventeenth century, will find in this work an untouched treasure of curious anecdote for the accomplishment of his purpose."

PREFACE TO THE ORIGINAL EDITION.

In submitting the following pages to the Public, I feel that it is incumbent upon me to explain by what circumstances the materials from which the Work has been compiled were placed at my disposal. The original Diary, comprehending six volumes, closely written in short-hand by Mr. Pepys himself, belonged to the valuable collection of books and prints, bequeathed by him to Magdalene College, Cambridge, and had remained there unexamined, till the appointment of my Brother, the present Master, under whose auspices the MS. was deciphered by Mr. John Smith, with a view to its publication.

My Brother's time, however, being too much engrossed by more important duties to admit of his editing the work, the task of preparing it for the press was undertaken by me at his request.

The Diary commences January 1st, 1659-60 and after being regularly kept for ten years, it is brought to a sudden conclusion, owing to the weak state of Mr. Pepys's eyes, which precluded him from continuing or resuming the occupation. As he was in the habit of recording the most trifling occurrences of his life, it became absolutely necessary to curtail the MS. materially, and in many instances to condense the matter; but the greatest care has been taken to preserve the original meaning, without making a single addition, excepting where, from the short-hand being defective, some alteration appeared absolutely necessary. It may be objected by those who are not aware how little is known from authentic sources of the History of the Stage about the period of the Restoration, that the notices of theatrical performances occur too frequently; but as many of the incidents recorded, connected with this subject, are not to be met with elsewhere, I thought myself justified in retaining them, at the risk of fatiguing those readers who have no taste for the concerns of the Drama. The general details may also, in some instances, even in their abridged form, be considered as too minute; nor is it an easy task, in an undertaking of this sort, to please everybody's taste: my principal study in making the selection, however, has been to omit nothing of public interest; and to introduce at the same time a great variety of other topics, less important, perhaps, put tending in some degree to illustrate the manners and habits of the age.

In justice to Mr. Pepys's literary reputation, the reader is forewarned that he is not to expect to find in the Diary accuracy of style or finished composition. We should rather consider the Work as a collection of reminiscences hastily thrown together at the end of each succeeding day, for the exclusive perusal of the Author.

The Journal contains the most unquestionable evidences of veracity; and, as the writer made no scruple of committing his most secret thoughts to paper, encouraged no doubt by the confidence which he derived from the use of short-hand, perhaps there never was a publication more implicitly to be relied upon for the authenticity of its statements and the exactness with which every fact is detailed. Upon this point, I can venture to speak with the less hesitation, having, in preparing the sheets for the press, had occasion to compare many parts of the Diary with different accounts of the same transactions recorded elsewhere; and in no instance could I detect any material error or wilful misrepresentation.

The Notes at the bottom of the pages were introduced to elucidate obscure passages; and I have been tempted occasionally to insert short Biographical Sketches of the principal persons who are named, accompanied by such references as will enable the curious reader to inform himself more fully respecting them. In some instances I experienced considerable difficulty in identifying the individuals; but I trust that the notices will be found, on the whole, sufficiently correct to answer the object intended.

In justice to the Reverend John Smith, (with whom I am not personally acquainted,) it may be added, that he appears to have performed the task allotted to him, of deciphering the short-hand Diary, with diligence and fidelity, and to have spared neither time nor trouble in the undertaking.

The best account of Mr. Pepys occurs in the Supplement to Collier's Historical Dictionary, published soon after his death, and written, as I have reason to believe, by his relative Roger Gale. Some particulars may also be obtained from Knight's Life of Dean Colet; Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary; Cole's MSS. in the British Museum: the MSS in the Bodleian and Pepysian Libraries, and the Cockerell Papers.

BRAYBROOKE. Audley End, May 14th, 1825

MEMOIR OF SAMUEL PEPYS.

Samuel Pepys, the author of the Diary here presented to the reader was descended from the family of Pepys originally seated at Diss, in Norfolk, and who settled at Cottenham, in Cambridgeshire, early in the sixteenth century. His father, John Pepys, followed for some time the trade of a tailor; and the reader may hereafter notice the influence which this genealogy seems to have exercised over the style and sentiments of his son's Diary. The father retired to Brampton, in Huntingdonshire, where he ended his days in 1680. His wife, Margaret, died in 1666-7, having had a family of six sons and five daughters. Samuel was born February 23, 1632, most probably in London, but by some it is thought at Brampton; he certainly passed his boyish days in the Metropolis, and was educated regularly at St. Paul's School; and afterwards at the University of Cambridge, and probably went through his studies with success. But little is known of him as an undergraduate. One record, however, remains which proves that in his early life, as in later years, he was a BON VIVANT. The following appears in the register book of the college respecting his pranks when there:--"October 21, 1653. Mem. That Peapys and Hind were solemnly admonished by myself and Mr. Hill for having been scandalously over-served with drink ye night before. This was done in the presence of all the fellows then resident, in Mr. Hill's chamber (Signed) John Wood, Registrar." Early in life, Pepys took one of those decided steps which tend, according to circumstances, to a man's marring or making. He appears to have married Elizabeth St. Michel, a beautiful girl of fifteen, when he himself was only about twenty- three. She was of good family her mother being descended from the Cliffords of Cumberland, and her daughter had only just quitted the convent in which she was educated. She brought her husband no fortune; but the patronage of Pepys's relation, Sir Edward Montagu, afterwards first Earl of Sandwich, prevented the ill consequences with such a step might naturally have been attended, and young Pepys's aptitude for business soon came to render him useful. The distresses of the young couple at this period were subjects of pleasant reflexion during their prosperity--as recorded in the Diary, 25th February, 1667.

But better times were approaching Mr. Pepys: he accompanied Sir Edward Montagu upon his Expedition to the Sound, in March, 1658, and upon his return obtained a clerkship in the Exchequer. Through the interest of the Earl of Sandwich, Mr. Pepys was nominated Clerk of the Acts: this was the commencement of his connexion with a great national establishment, to which in the sequel his diligence and acuteness were of the highest service. From his Papers, still extant (says Lord Braybrooke), we gather that he never lost sight of the public good; that he spared no pains to check the rapacity of contractors, by whom the naval stores were then supplied; that he studied order and economy in the dockyards, advocated the promotion of old-established officers in the Navy; and resisted to the utmost the infamous system of selling places, then most unblushingly practised. His zeal and industry acquired for him the esteem of the Duke of York, with whom, as Lord High Admiral, he had almost daily intercourse. At the time of his entering upon this employment, he resided in Seething-lane, Crutched Friars. He continued in this office till 1673; and during those great events, the Plague, the Fire of London, and the Dutch War, the care of the Navy in a great measure rested upon Pepys alone. He behaved with calm and deliberate courage and integrity. Nevertheless, he had the misfortune to experience some part of the calumnies of the time of "the Popish Plot." The Earl of Shaftesbury, the foster-father of this most wicked delusion, showed a great desire to implicate Pepys in a charge of Catholicism, and went so far as to spread a report that the Clerk of the Acts had in his house an altar and a crucifix. The absence not only of evidence, but even of ground of suspicion, did not prevent Pepys being committed to the Tower on the charge of being an aider and abettor of the plot, and he was, for a time, removed from the Navy Board. He was afterwards allowed, with Sir Anthony Deane, who had been committed with him, to find security in 30,000l.; and upon the withdrawal of the deposition against him, he was discharged. He was soon, by the special command of Charles II., replaced in a situation where his skill and experience could not be well dispensed with; and rose afterwards to be Secretary of the Admiralty, which office he retained till the Revolution. It is remarkable that James II. was sitting to Sir Godfrey Kneller for a portrait designed as a present to Pepys, when the news of the landing of the Prince of Orange was brought to that unhappy monarch. The King commanded the painter to proceed, and finish the portrait, that his good friend might not be disappointed.

Pepys had been too much personally connected with the King, (who had been so long at the Admiralty,) to retain his situation upon the accession of William and Mary; and he retired into private life' accordingly, but without being followed thither, either by persecution or ill will.

The Diary, as already explained, comprehends ten years of Mr. Pepys official life, extending from January, 1659-60, to May, 1669. It is highly necessary to keep in mind that Mr. Pepys was only thirty-seven years of age when he closed his Diary in 1669, and that of the remainder of his life we have no regular account; although the materials for it which exist have encouraged the hope that this portion of the Life may yet be written. After the death of Cromwell, Pepys seems to have consorted much with Harrington, Hazelrigge, and other leading Republicans; but when the Restoration took place, he became--as, perhaps was natural--a courtier; still, it is said of him that "were the eulogy of Cromwell now to be written, abounding particulars and material for the purpose might be found in and drawn from Pepys' Diary."

Mr. Pepys sat in Parliament for Castle Rising, and subsequently he represented the borough of Harwich, eventually rising to wealth and eminence as clerk of the treasurer to the Commissioners of the affairs of Tangier, and Surveyor-general of the Victualling Department, "proving himself to be," it is stated, "a very useful and energetic public servant."

In the year 1700, Mr. Pepys, whose constitution had been long impaired by the stone, was persuaded by his physicians to quit York Buildings, now Buckingham-street, (the last house on the west side, looking on the Thames,) and retire, for change of air, to the house of his old friend and servant, William Hewer, at Clapham. Soon after, he was visited here by John Evelyn, who, in his Diary, Sept. 22, 1700, records, "I went to visit Mr. Pepys, at Clapham, where he has a very noble and wonderfully well- furnished house, especially with India and Chinese curiosities. The offices and gardens well accommodated for pleasure and retirement." In this retreat, however, his health continued to decline, and he died in May, 1703, a victim in part, to the stone, which was hereditary in his constitution, and to the increase of that malady in the course of a laborious and sedentary life. In the LONDON JOURNAL of the above year is this entry: "London, June 5. Yesterday in the evening were performed the obsequies of Samuel Pepys, Esq., in Crutched Friars Church, whither his corpse was brought in a very honourable and solemn manner from Clapham, where he departed this life, the 26th day of the last month.--POST BOY, June 5, 1703." The burial-service at his funeral was read at 9 at night, by Dr. Hickes, author of the THESAURUS which bears his name. There is no memorial to mark the site of his interment in the church; but there is a monument in the chancel to Mrs. Pepys, and Mr. Pepys is interred in a vault of his own making, by the side of his wife and brother.

Pepys had an extensive knowledge of naval affairs. He thoroughly understood and practised music; and he was a judge of painting, sculpture, and architecture. In 1684, he was elected President of the Royal Society, and held that honourable office two years. He contributed no less than 60 plates to Willoughby's HISTORIA PISCIUM.