enabled to carry through so vast an amount of public business. Had he applied himself more assiduously to his duties, he might have brought more honor upon himself; as it was, he was pre-eminent for his industry and diligence among the idle employées of an administration, energetic enough for ordinary times, but not sufficiently vigorous to press through the portentous multitude of affairs which thronged upon the country in those eventful years. Samuel Pepys commences his diary for 1662, by relating how, on waking on the morning of the first of January, he hit his wife a blow in the face with his elbow. Yet the reader must by no means infer from this that the work is occupied in the narration of trivialities, for such trifling incidents as these are only links in the chain which makes us acquainted with so much that is curious and interesting, that we confess to being at a loss what passages to select as most remarkable. On the 30th of September an event occur- This much may unhesitatingly be said of the red, which our diarist relates in an exceeding- diary, that, for novelty of detail, interest, livelily amusing manner. The French and Spanish ness,embodiment of character, and the delineambassadors, on the occasion of the entrance ation of events, it far surpasses any work of ficof a Swedish envoy, were to appear in public, tion we ever remember to have read. This is and traverse a portion of the city in their high praise. The creations of the mind may carriages. A quarrel concerning precedence be wrought up to any pitch-they may be arose, and assumed a serious aspect. Threat- painted in the brightest colors, worked into ening intimations were exchanged, and warn- the most startling and exciting combinations; ings given by each party to the other, that, the narration of facts must confine itself within unless they yielded the point with good grace, the channel of history, and that admits of no it should be carried by force of arms. The embellishment-but the very truth and simthing was made public, and London looked plicity of the diary constitute one of its most forward with interest to the day. powerful charms. To follow Pepys through his whole experience, through a tenth or twentieth portion of it, would be impossible in the limits to which we are confined, and we therefore pass over, with regret, large portions of the journal, that we may not exhaust our space too early. Though the Dutch war did not break out until some considerable period after, England, in the middle of the year 1662, began to be clouded by dusky shrouds of apprehension; the public mind felt strong presentiments of coming hostilities, and ominous precautions woke our dockyards and arsenals into brisk activity. Pepys was engaged more deeply than ever in public transactions. The navy authorities were ordered to fit and equip twenty vessels for an emergency, and every dockyard rang with the notes of preparation. The state of the country was, however, by no means such as to render a bursting of the bonds of European peace at all desirable, or even safe, and alarm and apprehension appear to have weighed upon many minds besides those whose private interest lay in the preservation of tranquillity. The conduct of the authorities on this occasion forms a singular illustration of the state of civilization then existing. At present the constabulary force, in case such an affair arose, would merely receive orders to keep the peace, and all attempts at disturbance would be quelled with little or no difficulty. It was different in 1661. The King expressed a desire that the quarrel might be allowed to take whatever course it would, and that no measures should be adopted to prevent a collision. His wish was strictly acted upon, and multitudes thronged out to see the result. The respective embassies presented the appearance of fortresses whence hostile forces were about to emerge. The Spanish coach, with chain harness, and surrounded by fifty soldiers with naked swords, first moved along the streets. Its guards were silent, and bore determination in their faces. The French came out, trooping with shouts and clamor round their carriage, and in a few minutes the public thoroughfare was the scene of a desperate conflict. The Spaniards fought resolutely, and, notwithstanding that they were without fire-arms, and were exposed to the shots of their opponents, succeeded in killing a good many, and eventually carried their position and drove their ambassador's coach on before that of the French minister could be stirred, for they had cut up the harness and stabbed the horses. Immense excitement prevailed in the city, but nothing more came of the affair. It was about this time that Pepys conceived the idea, then a very unusual one, of studying the rules of arithmetic, his ignorance of which was a great obstacle to the progress of business. We find him working hard at the multiplication table, and engaged with a teacher, after office-hours, in mastering the more difficult portions of the study. In this, as in everything else, our diarist made rapid pro gress, and soon acquired sufficient knowledge | chantman or man-of-war, all apparently being of it to enable him to reckon with considerable facility. The study of figures did not, how ever, occupy so much of his time as to prevent him from pursuing his inclinations whenever he wished to take a little pleasure. Seldom did he spend an entire day at the office. Sunday afforded him a rare period of relaxation. He, however, almost invariably went to church: buried in sleep. He says, and probably with much truth, that had an enemy been enabled to ascend so high, they might have committed incredible damage in the river, and struck a severe blow in the very heart of London, ere the aroused population could have hurried to its defence. Petty plots and factions now disturbed the city, party spirit agitated the councils of state, and altogether the condition of the country was ill-calculated to stand the shock of war. The navy, however, had, partly through the results of Pepys' measures, risen to great efficiency, and promised to interpose a formidable bulwark between the shores of this island and the assaults of a foreign invader. While the actual condition of society, therefore, was such as to render war a hazardous undertaking, the fleets of England could be calculated on with more than ordinary confidence. Pepys sums up an account of his worldly condition at this period as follows: "3d (Lord's Day.) Up early, and, with Capt. Cook, to the dockyard; a fine walk and fine weather. Commissioner Pett came to us, and took us to his house, and showed us his garden and fine things, and did give us a fine breakfast of bread and butter, and sweatmeats, and other things with great choice, and strong drinks, with which I could not avoyde making my head ache, though I drank but little. By and by, to church, by coach, with the commissioner, and had a dull sermon; a full church, and had some pretty women in it, among others, Beek Allre, who was a bride's-maid to a new-married couple that came to church to-day, and, which was pretty strange, sat in a pew hung with mourning for a mother of the bride's, which, we think, should "Strange to see, having mind to revert to its have been taken down. After dinner, the comformer practice of loving plays and wine, but this missioner and I to his house, and had syllabub, night I have again bound myself to Christmas next. I have also made up, this evening, my and saved his claret, which came short of what I expected; but there was fine models of ships in monthly balance, and find that I am worth about it, indeed, wherewith I could not judge of. Amongst dition at present is this:-I have long been building, £680, for which the Lord God be praised. My conother things, Pett told me how despicable a thing and my house, to my great content, is now almost it is to be a hangman in Poland, although it be a place of credit; and that, in his time, there was done. My Lord Sandwich has lately been in the some repairs to be made of the gallows there, country, and very civil to my wife, and hath himwhich was very fine, of stone; but nobody could self spent some pains in drawing a plot of some be got to mend it till the burgomaster, or mayor alterations in our house there, which I shall folof the town, with all the companies of those low as I get money. As for the office, my late trades which were necessary to be used about industry hath been such as I have become as high those repairs, did go in their habits, with flags, in in reputation as any man there, and good hold I solemn procession, to the place, and there the have of Mr. Coventry and Sir G. Cartret, which burgomaster did give the first blow with his ham-1 am resolved, and it is necessary for me, to mainmer upon the wooden work, and the rest of the tain by all fair means.” masters of the companies upon the works belonging to their trades, that so workmen might not be ashamed to be employed upon doing of the gal lows work." With such little facts as these Pepys interlards his diary, and renders it curious as well as amusing. But weightier matters of state now chiefly occupied his mind. The foreign relations of the country were every day becoming more complicated, and Holland was fast verging towards a war. Yet, with all the rumors that were afloat, with all the anxiety with which the public mind was filled, the author of the diary relates how, one night, being overtaken with darkness while in a boat, he passed up the Thames, and hailed every vessel as he rowed by, but for a considerable time received no answer from either mer Pleased with the appearance of a new lace hatband, Pepys resolves that for the future his great expense shall be hatbands; and this he expresses in so simple, and withal, solemn a manner, as to make us smile, while the next sentence hurries us to affairs of national importance. Rising in favor with his noble friends, those whom he felt it his interest to please, resented, as an almost necessary consequence, the jealousy of certain other individuals who made it their business to watch his actions and, when possible, thwart his designs. Seldom, however, did their machinations result in success, for the Clerk of the Acts was too securely fixed in Court favor to be easily upset. Some remains of a great treasure which, it was said, lay concealed in the earth, beneath the vaults of the Tower, set him, with various others, at the task of searching for it, and he complains grievously that he allowed himself to be made a fool of, though during the prosecution of the enterprise, he was among the most enthusiastic, dining on a barrel-head in a cellar, and working with the pickaxe with immense energy. The affairs of Tangier began about this time to attract a considerable share of public attention, and with the preparation for the war, which in the eyes of statesmen was then deemed inevitable, fully occupied the national mind. Pepys, on account of these affairs, was looked upon by the Government with still greater favor, and consequently his patronage was still more sought. Those who could not hope to secure it by the usual acts of friendship, endeavored to buy the favor they could not otherwise win : "W. Warren comes to my door, and left a letter and a box for me, and went his way. His letter mentions giving me and my wife a pair of gloves; but opening the box, we found a pair of plain gloves for my hand, and a fair state-dish of silver, and cup, with my arms ready cut upon them, worth I believe about £18, which is a very noble present, and the best I ever had yet. So, after some contentful talk with my wife, she to bed, and I to rest. "Mr. Cole sent me five couple of ducks." Yet, though those who sought to obtain situations under him were profuse in their promises of diligence when appointed to their new posts, Pepys had much reason to be disappointed with the conduct of his colleagues and those who labored under his direction; for he complains bitterly of the apathy and indolence of the men whose duty it was at that crisis to exert their utmost energies in the public service. Heavy debts weighed upon the navy, and the revenues of the country were far from being adequate to their immediate liquidation. The expenses of Tangier, too, hung like a dead weight upon the executive, and contributed annually to exhaust the national purse. In addition to these sources of discomfort, many others sprang out of the factious spirit of the times, numerous quarrels agitated the Court, and the middle orders followed in the wake of the corrupted aristocracy, an aristocracy which then had better not have been than have been as it was-not as it is now, a proud thing for the country to boast of--but a pleasure-seeking class, living solely for itself, and careless of the welfare of the nation. Many efforts were made to arrange and regulate the balance of public affairs; and had there been a few more such men as Pepys, the attempt would doubtless have resulted in no small degree of success. As it was, perplexities thickened upon the empire. However, he performed his share, and the country owed him its gratitude, though certainly he contrived all the while to work well for his own advancement also. He seems not so much to have coveted high station as great wealth, though dignity, the pomp of place, and the pride of power were not without their attractions in his eyes. We must, however, linger but little with political matters. The private life of Pepys is perhaps more interesting, and to that we shall chiefly confine ourselves. He continued to amass wealth with great facility; some of it he stored up in his house, or lent at interest, to provide, as it were, for the winter of his life, and another portion he expended in fitting up and furnishing his house, of which he seemed exceedingly fond, and in increasing his own wardrobe and that of his wife, for of scarcely anything did he make more account than of costly apparel. He comprehended the value of making friends, and was, moreover, partial to convivial society, so that we continually find him at home surrounded by a numerous company who relished his wit, his ready conversation, and his overflowing jocularity, at the same time that they enjoyed his hospitality-hospitality which was profuse and cordial, but the expense of which he nevertheless calculated, and perhaps sometimes regretted. He seems to have been happy enough at this period of his life; and even when death struck a blow at his family and took a victim from it, the event makes little impression on his mind. But when, on Christmas day, his wife, whether by design or chance, began to inquire of him what she should do in case of his sudden decease, he for a moment was thrown into a serious train of thought, and resolves to make a will, that in case of such an event she should not be left unprovided for. At this time he was not more than thirty years of age, though from his manner of writing, his high position, his influence at Court, and in the councils of state, and every other circumstance, the reader will doubtless be impressed with the idea of a man considerably older. Lord Sandwich, who hitherto had been very intimate with Pepys, and shown great favor to him, now appeared to retreat into dignified reserve, and evince evident symptoms of having experienced offence. diarist appears greatly troubled at this fact, and turns over in his mind every imaginable reason for the sudden change. He forms Our several projects for again installing himself in his favor, and proposes to invite him to a grand dinner, but checks himself with the idea that it would involve an expense of £12, a serious sum in those days. Formerly Lord Sandwich had always shown much civility to the wife of the Clerk of the Acts; but now his demeanor was changed. For this Pepys cannot account, though after the lapse of a week or two he sets his mind at ease, with the conviction that the regretted coolness existed only in his fancy. We discover, in this portion of the diary, that the hard-worked employée is not totally destitute of literary abilities: "This evening I tore some old papers; among others, a romance which, under the title of Love a Cheate,' ten years ago I began at Cambridge, and, reading it over to-night, I liked it very well, and wondered a little at myself at my vein in that time when I wrote it, doubting that I cannot do so well now if I would try." Sir W. Warren, whom we have before introduced to our readers as having presented Pepys with a pair of gloves and a silver dish and cup, again meets our eye under the same circumstances. Dining at the Sun Tavern with Pepys, he slipped a paper into his hand, containing, as he said, a pair of gloves for his wife, and continued the conversation withont interruption. Arrived at his own house, the Clerk of the Acts was at much pains to get his wife out of the room, without telling her directly to go, that he might examine the packet, which was weighty, and seemed to contain more than a pair of gloves. At length he succeeded in being left alone, and found that he had been presented with forty pieces of gold,a circumstance which gladdened his heart so much that he lost his appetite: "I was at great loss what to do, whether to tell my wife of it or no, for fear of making her think me to be in a better condition, or in a better way of getting money, than yet I was." The expectation which had for so long a period grown upon the nation that a war with Holland was approaching, now appeared to be near its fulfilment. As the commercial relations of the two countries became gradually more and more complicated, so did it become more and more evident that no amicable settlement could be arrived at. Offences had multiplied on either hand, and the provocatives to hostility continued to ripen and grow fiercer with time. To the already formidable array of causes for quarrel was added the element of popular superstition. The plague had lately devastated the towns of Holland; ominous fires had been seen to burn in the sky over Amsterdam, and the peasants in the provinces saw with terror the birth of numerous portentous phenomena. The time was come, it was said, when England owed it to herself to assert her power, and vindicate her honor, and it was only left for her to strike a decisive blow. A warlike tone diffused itself over the whole face of society here at home, and every addition made to the national armament was hailed with satisfaction. On their part, the Dutch occupied themselves in concentrating their naval force, and taking up advantageous positions on the high seas. Pepys breaks off in his narrative of these affairs to speak of the following incident: "Not being very well, I went betimes to bed. About eleven o'clock, knowing what money I have in the house, and hearing a noise, I legan to sweat worse and worse, till I melted almost to water. I rang, and could not, in half an hour, make either of the wenches hear--and this made me fear the more, lest they might be gagged; and then I began to think that there was some design in a stone being flung at the window over our stairs this evening, by which the thieves meant to try what looking there would be after them, and know our company. These thoughts and fears I had, and do hence apprehend the fears of all such men that are covetous, and have much money by them. At last Jane came, and then I understand it was only the dog wants a lodging, and so made a noise."" At length the Dutch war burst forth. The tumult of battles disturbed the European seas, and the whole attention of the country was riveted upon the result. It speedily appeared that the navies of Holland, though bravely manned and well appointed, were no match for those of England; and joyful acclamations shook our towns and cities as the news of each succeeding victory arrived. Pepys became now of more importance than ever; his services were more valuable, and more fully recognized by the higher authorities. This he chiefly valued inasmuch as it led to the increase of his worldly wealth, and the better appreciation of his talents by the public. On the 31st of December, 1664, while the Dutch quarrel was agitating with unusual vigor, and the plague was growing at Amsterdam, he calculates his wealth and finds himself to possess £1,349, having spent £420, and laid up £540, during the course of that year. His family then consisted of his wife, for whom he seems to have entertained much affection, though he had an odd fashion of showing it; Mercer, her maid; the chamber- | his consequence, and all the other blessings maid, Besse; the cookmaid, Jane; a little girl, and Tom Edwards, a boy whom he took from the King's chapel. "As pretty and loving a family I have as any man in Eng-well as that of the numerous individuals who land," says he with infinite complacency, "and I am in good esteem with everybody, I think." He seems to have been in continual alarm lest his house should be robbed, and gives us an account of many nights passed by him in sleepless anxiety, when every sound-the sighing of the wind, the running of a mouse was construed in his mind to be the noise of robbers. One evening, having lingered until a late hour at his office to finish a matter of business, he received a message from home to the effect that he was wanted, as his wife had heard strange sounds about the house, such as men walking over the leads. The store of money which lay treasured in his chamber instantly raised his fears, and he immediately repaired home, when his alarm was strengthened by the appearance of some suspicious persons lurking in a dark entry. All night he lay breathless with terror, and trembling at every sound, and relieved by the break of dawn only to experience still greater fears when the evening came round again. However, no attempts at robbery were made, and the only real danger he seems to have run was that of being burnt out of house and home by the carelessness of his maid-servant, who allowed a candle to burn all night on the floor close to her bedhangings. One fact seems now to lighten his heart to an inexpressible degree. Lord Sandwich became as cordial as was his wont, and came to dine with Pepys, addressing his wife with much familiarity, and assuming all the manners of a hearty friend. A sad and serious national calamity, however, threw a damp upon his spirits. The "London," a magnificent vessel, with an armament of eighty brass guns, and manned with a chosen crew, blew up while passing the Nore, and sunk, a shattered wreck. Twenty-five souls were all that survived the catastrophe, which filled the city at the time with a general gloom. But nothing appears equal to the task of dispelling that jovial spirit which supported Pepys under the most melancholy circumstances. The lightest breath of pleasure or profit served to dissipate the heaviest cloud. of gloom that ever hung upon his soul; and while the public mind was filled with misgiving and apprehension, he pursues his joyous course, happy in his home, his wife, his wealth, which fortune had showered upon him. Numerous circumstances combined about this time to raise Pepys in his own estimation, as watched his every action, and hoped or feared as fortune appeared favorable or contrary to him. The King himself held a long conversation with him, asked his opinion on various naval matters, and spoke to him in a familiar manner. The Duke of Albemarle, too, walked alone with him in his garden, expressing great approbation of his measures, and calling him the right hand of the navy, and saying that nothing could be done without him; "at which," says he, "I am not a little proud." There is an old proverb which says that good fortune is the sure presage of ill-luck. In a limited sense, this was true in the case of Pepys. He was disturbed from his complacent dreams by the reflection that, while extending the power and efficiency of the navy, he had also lavished sums of money for which he was in no way inclined to be called to account. Not that he had dishonestly appropriated these sums, but that occasionally he had not been careful enough in their disbursement, and had been guilty in some instances of reckless profusion : "27th April, (1665,) Creed dined with me; and, after dinner, walked in the garden, he telling me that my Lord Treasurer now begins to be scrupulous, and will want to know what became of the £26,000 saved by my Lord Peterborough, before he parts with any more money, which puts us into new doubts and me into a great fear that all my cake will be dough still.” His frequent absence from the office, too, began to be noticed, and he feared that it would incur for him the displeasure of his superiors in power. Walking in the Park one afternoon, he saw the King, and immediately hurried away lest he should be observed, for he knew that there were those who, having the King's ear, and jealous of his attentions to the new favorite, would not fail to turn these trifling circumstances to the disadvantage of one of whose successes they were jealous. The long-expected plague, which had appeared for a considerable period to hang as a threatening cloud over the metropolis, now began to show itself in London, and daily was the number of those doors increased on which the red cross attested the presence of death. A gloom was shed over the city, and all its inhabitants seemed to feel that the pestilence had only showed itself, prepara |