The Diary of Samuel Pepys | Page 8

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.
To Magdalene College, Cambridge, he left an invaluable collection of
manuscript naval memoirs, of prints, and ancient English poetry, which
has often been consulted by critics and commentators, and is, indeed,
unrivalled of its kind. One of its most singular curiosities is a collection
of English ballads in five large folio volumes, begun by Selden and
carried down to the year 1700. Percy's "Reliques" are for the most part,
taken from this collection. Pepys published "Memoirs relating to the
State of the Royal Navy in England for ten years, determined
December, 1688," 8vo. London, 1690; and there is a small book in the
Pepysian Library, entitled "A Relation of the Troubles in the Court of
Portugal in 1667 and 1668," by S. P., 12mo., Lond., 1677, which Watt
ascribes to Pepys.
In the Supplement to Collier's Dictionary, published
contemporaneously, is this tribute