IN THE LIBRARY

Northern Advocate, 29 December 1934, Page 6

IN THE LIBRARY

SAMUEL PEPYS,

[BY “THE BOOK-MAN”]

A ‘most amusing man was Samuel Pepys—though quite unconscious of the fact, which is his supreme delight to racist pf' his readers. To him belongs the honour of having written the most prized diary in the English tongue. It is a revelation of his day, its social life, its politics, its gossip, its morals and its trivialities as well as its deeper things. Pepys wrote for his , own amusement, in a shorthand which JEor long remained indecipherable. Indeed, his amazing diary has only been accessible to the public for just over a century. Early obtaining a post in the navy administration Pepys took' for the work an early liking and a real interest. He spent much effort and labour in making himself thoroughly master •Of all concerning it. He thus rose to ' positions of the highest importance as - the result Of real merit. So much was - this so that when, on the passing of ' the Test Act, the Duke of York (after- ■ wards James II) was obliged to resign • his post at the head of the Admiralty ’ II placed this in Commission, >; and Pepys was appointed secretary. • That he did his utmost, sometimes under very disadvantageous circum- ■' stances, " to faithfully and properly -• carry out his duties is easily seen, not only by his own records, but also by • numerous supporting documents. - At the conclusion of the Dutch War , '"much dissatisfaction was felt and the 'officials of the Navy were called upon ■ to defend themselves at the bar of the House of Commons. The one man bf‘doing this adequately seems ' have been Pepys, and certainly the • matter devolved upon. him. He made • 3 magnificent and carefully thought out speech, which took three hours to rdeliver. It received warm praise and appreciation; it was in fact the speech ' of his life. Still more it caused the charge to be dismissed and no more - kern'd of it. : ~ Pepys has been called the . greatest • most useful Minister for the Navy, Without exception, which England has ever had. That is high praise, and yet, when we remember the period in ;which he exercised his functions, the dishonesty and incapacity so rife, we ,:;:fe,el ,very r sympathetic to the claim. He had character, ability, individuality, method, a vast gift for work and a determination to master what was needful. These are the attributes likely to make a man successful and are of the greatest value in any walk of life.

As regards the diary, the work by which he 'Will always be best known, it is voluminous, garrulous, but not windy, informing, and very pertinent He reveals himself anci,; to ;ra “considerable extent, his friends also, with a rare reality and truthfulness to life, which is at times abashing. If at times he seems a little prosy,- this "is because of the wealth of people he knew, many of whose names today are quite unknown except to those uncommonly well versed . in the history of the times. As against this there is an immense wealth of in- •' 'teresting comment upon all imaginary matters, from which stand out a fulllength, an eminently full-length portrait of the author of it all. This "diary commences with January 1, 1660, and ends with the entry for May words. - - “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 almosyevery 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 muse therefore 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 to Deb. 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 shorthand with my own Hand. “And so I betake myself to that course, which is almost as much as to see myself go into my grave: for which, and all the discomforts that will accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me!” It is pleasant to be able to state that Pepys did not lose his sight. .--...0ne thinks of Pepys especially with

the closing and the opening of the ‘ years. He liked to make his due and grateful comments upon his life and state, and that of the kingdom, at such times, and,’for all his peccadillos, we see here a man really grateful for the * blessings of life, and ever ready to - offer-his- thanks to the God from whom he realised they came. Even though his turns of thought strike us peculiarly upon occasions, we have no Cduge to doubt for a moment his entire genuineness and his intense, if naive, human nature. “28th. At the office all the morning. At noon dined at home. After dinner my wife and I to my Lady Batten’s, it being the first time my wife hath been there, I think, these

two years, but I had a mind in part to take away the strangenesse, and so w& did> and all very quiett and kind. Came home, I to the taking my wife’s • ■ kitchen accounts at the latter end of ■ thb month, and, there find 7s wanting,

which did occasion a very high falling out between us, I indeed, too angrily insisting upon so poor a thing, and did give her very provoking high words, calling her beggax-, and reproaching her friends, which she took very stomachfully and reproached me justly with mine, and I confess, being myself, I cannot see what she could have done less. I find she is very cunning, and when she least shows it hath her wit at work; but it is an ill one, though I think not so bad but with good usage I might well bear with it, and the truth is I do find that my being over-solicitous and jealous and froward and ready to reproach her do make her worse. However, I find that now and then a little difference do no hurte, but too much of it will make her know her force too much. We parted after many high words very angry, and I to my office to my month’s accounts, and find myself worth £1270, for which the Lord God be praised! So at almost 2 o’clock in the morning I home to supper and to bed, and so ends the month, with great expectation of the Hollanders coming forth, who are, it seems, very high and rather more ready than we. God give. a good issue to it! “March Ist. Up, and this day being •the day that by a promise, a great while ago, made to my wife, I was to give her £2O to lay out in clothes against Easter, she did, notwithstanding last night’s falling out, come to peace with me and I with her but did boggle mightily at the parting with my money, but at last did give it her, and then she abroad to buy her things. . . . “May Ist. Up betimes. Called up by my tailor, and there first put on a summer suit this year; but it was not my fine one of flowered tabby vest, and coloured camelott tunique, because it was too fine with the gold lace at tfie hands, and I was afeared to be seen in it; but put on the stuff suit I made the last year, which is now repaired; and so did go to the office in it, and sat all the morning, the day looking as if it would be- fowle. At noon home to dinner, and there find my wife extraordinary fine, with her flowered tabby gown which she made two years ago, now laced exceeding pretty; and, indeed, was fine all over; and mighty earnest to go, though the day was very lowering; and she would ■have me put on my fine suit, which I did. And so anon we went alone through the town with our new liveries of serge, and the horses’ manes and tails tied with red ribbons, and the standards there gilt with varnish, and all clean, and green reines, that people did mightily look upon us; and, the truth is, I did not see any coach more pretty, though more gay, than ours, all the day. But we set out, out of humour —I because Betty, whom I expected, was not come to go with, us; and my wife that I would sit on the same seat with her, which she likes not, being so fine: ' and she then expected to meet Sheres, which we did in the Pell Mell, and, against my will, I was forced to take him into the coach, but was sullen all day almost, and little complaisant; the day also being unpleasant, though the Pqrk full of coaches, but dusty and windy, and cold, and now and then a little dribbling rain; and, what made it worst, there were so many hackney-coaches as spoiled the sight of the gentlemen’s; and so we had little pleasure, . . .”