sister, Paulina, had married Sir Sidney Mountagu, and was mother of the Sir Edward Mountagu of the Commonwealth, the Lord Sandwich of the Restoration, first cousin of Samuel's father, who was a tailor in apparently a very small way of business. Samuel was born, probably in London, on February 23, 1633,* and spent his childhood, as appears from passages in the Diary, partly at Kingsland, where he boarded with his nurse, Goody Lawrence; partly with a cousin at Ashtead, near Epsom; partly also, it may be supposed, with his father, the tailor, for whom, occasionally at least, he did duty as errand-boy; and very uncomfortable he seems to have felt at meeting his father's old customers, as, in the whirligig of time, he went up and they went down. His carrying clothes from the shop did not, however, stand in the way of his education at St. Paul's School, from which he went up, as a sizar, to Magdalene College, in October, 1650; but in the following March he became a pensioner, in the April was elected to a scholarship, and promoted to a more valuable one in October, 1653. This promotion he seems to have celebrated in a manner which brought down on him the reproof and solemn admonition of the College on October 21, 1653, 'for having been scandalously overserved 'with drink the night before.' And this is positively all that is known of his career as an undergraduate; but between winning scholarships and incurring admonitions, he got his degree in due course, and carried with him, from the University, a fair share of sound learning. It appears, from numerous passages in the Diary, that he was on friendly terms with his Latin and Greek; that he could carry on a familiar conversation in Latin, and correct his brother John's Greek speech, 'which he is to make the next Apposition at St. Paul's;' and towards the close of a long life devoted to official work, he was able to refer to Cicero as an author with whose writings he was still well acquainted. It appears further that he had a good practical knowledge of French, Spanish, and Italian; and was, as an amateur, an accomplished musician.

How he passed the eighteen months after taking his degree is not known; but as he had no patrimony he must have been earning his living in some way, and in a way sufficient to permit him, a man in whose character discretion was a strongly marked feature, to marry. This he did in October, 1655, when he was twenty-two years and six months old, his wife being at

* Lord Braybrooke, following all the earlier biographers, has given the date of his birth as 1632. It was really 1632-3, which, according to our present calendar, is 1633.

the time only fifteen. It is probable enough that the means of the young couple were extremely limited, and that they considered themselves fortunate in being offered a home in the house of his well-born cousin, Sir Edward Mountagu. His position there is not stated; but it may probably have been that of confidential servant in Sir Edward's absence during 1656 in the Mediterranean with Blake, or in 1657 at the reduction of Dunkirk. In 1658, when Sir Edward came home, he left. In the early part of the year he lived with his cousin, Mrs. Turner; and it was in her house, on March 26, that the celebrated operation for stone was performed. Afterwards he seems to have established himself in humble lodgings with one servant-maid, of whom he chronicles on August 6, 1661, that she has this day been my mayde three years,' and who continued in his service till her marriage on March 27, 1669. In March, 1659,* Sir Edward Mountagu commanded an expedition to the Sound, in which Pepys is said to have accompanied him in the capacity of secretary. On his return he was appointed a clerk in the Exchequer, under Sir George Downing; and here we find him when his Diary opens, on January 1, 1660, living in a garret in Westminster, very poor in his private condition; and so indeed he continued for a couple of months longer, when he again went to sea with Sir Edward, on the memorable expedition which ended in bringing back the king.

This was the foundation of Pepys's fortune. As a linguist and a man of business, he was well prepared to take advantage of the opportunity; nor was he troubled with any unnecessary scruples in the matter of perquisites, some of which were questionable enough, though others, outrageous as they seem now, were then, and long afterwards, not only permitted but authorised. Thus, for instance, in entering five or six servants, giving them what wages he pleased, and taking their pay to himself, he was but complying with what continued a custom of the service till the beginning of the present century, and which was so far authorised that a captain of a ship of war was allowed, by the regulations, four servants for each hundred of his ship's company. This was supposed to enable him to bring in a number of lads of a better class, as apprentices; but, in reality, it offered him an increase of pay estimated at about 101. for each servant, a perquisite which might, in a first-rate, amount to nearly 4007. a year. Fees regular and irregular mounted up while Pepys was on board the

Not 1658, as Lord Braybrooke has said in consequence of his not observing the change in the calendar.

Naseby-whose name was shortly changed to Royal 'Charles-but neither work, of which indeed he had plenty, nor attending to his own interests, occupied so much of his time that he was unable to take part in the festivities that came in his way. One of these, on April 30, he describes

thus :

After supper up to the Lieutenant's cabin, where we drank, and W. Howe and I were very merry, and among other frolics he pulls out the spigot of the little vessel of ale that was there in the cabin, and drew some into his mounteere, and after he had drank, I endeavouring to dash it in his face, he got my velvet studying cap and drew some into mine too, that we made ourselves a great deal of mirth, but spoiled my clothes with the ale that we dashed up and down. After that to bed, with drink enough in my head.'

And so over to the coast of Holland, whence, after some sightseeing, and much drinking and firing of salutes in one of which Mr. Pepys, firing a gun and holding his head too much over it, had almost spoiled' his right eye-the king was brought back to England; and on the way, says our diarist, I spoke with the Duke of York about business, who called me Pepys by name, and, upon my desire, did promise me his future favour.'

6

6

On making up his private accounts after his return to England, he found that he was worth near 1007.; for which,' he says, I bless Almighty God, it being more than I hoped ' for so soon.' Within a month he was appointed by the Duke of York to be Clerk of the Acts in the Navy Office, with a salary of 3501. a year, subject however to a deduction of 100, payable by arrangement to his predecessor, Mr. Barlow, described as an old consumptive man, and fair conditioned." Five years afterwards he gets news of Mr. Barlow's death'for which,' he writes on February 9, 1665, 'I could be as sorry as is possible for one to be for a stranger, by whose death he gets 1007. 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 100l. a year more in my estate, I have cause to bless God, and do it from the bottom of my heart.'

But the nominal salary of his office formed but a small portion of his income. He had been appointed also Clerk of the Privy Seal, from which he did not at the time expect to get anything, but which did really bring him in about 31. a day; so that, by December 31, he was able to write, I take myself to be worth 3007. clear in money, and all my goods, and all manner of debts paid, which are none at all:' that is to say, in less than six months he had put away 2007., after a liberal

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He had

housekeeping and many exceptional expenses. furnished and moved into his official house at the Navy Office; he had paid 407. for the patent of his office, and 97. 16s. for his degree of M.A.; he had bought himself a velvet coat, the 'first that ever I had;' he had given his wife 5l. to buy a petticoat of fine cloth trimmed with silver lace; and on September 5, in the evening, my wife being a little impatient, I went along with her to buy her a necklace of pearl, which 'will cost 47. 10s., which I am willing to comply with her in, 'for her encouragement, and because I have lately got money.' So that, altogether, the pickings must have been considerable, notwithstanding his entry on December 7: To the Privy Seal, where I signed a deadly number of pardons, which do 'trouble me to get nothing by.'

The Diary has been read by so many to whom the domestic history of this period is otherwise a blank, that its author has been not unnaturally accused of gross meanness and corruption in accepting presents, often curiously like bribes, as he certainly did through all the earlier years of his official life; but in this, bad as it seems now, he was only following the custom of the age, recognised and almost authorised; and his refusing to do so would have been considered the act of a simpleton; as indeed is shown by such a man as his patron, now Lord Sandwich, on August 16, 1660, talking how good he did 'hope my place would be to me, and in general speaking that 'it was not the salary of any place that did make a man rich, but the opportunity of getting money while he is in the 'place.'

It would be unfair to censure a man for not rising far above the moral standard of his age; and although the Clerk of the Acts had as itching a palm as his neighbours, he did generally keep within the bounds of honesty as then understood. But it must be confessed that some transactions, briefly noted in the Diary, stand out in very dark colours when closely scrutinised. Such, for instance, are some with Sir William Warren, a Baltic merchant, who, on August 2, 1664,

'confesses himself my debtor 100l. for my service and friendship to him in his present great contract for masts, and that between this and Christmas, he shall be in stock and will pay it me. This I like well.' And a few weeks later, September 16,

'he brought to me, being all alone, 1007. in a bag, which I offered him to give him my receipt for, but he told me no, it was my own, which he had a little while since promised me, and so most kindly he did

give it me, and I as joyfully, even out of myself, carried it home in a coach, he himself expressly taking care that nobody might see this business done.'

Another entry, on February 6, 1665, has:

'With Sir W. Warren, and have concluded a firm league with him, in all just ways to serve him and myself all I can, and I think he will be a most useful and thankful man to me.'

The true meaning of all which has to be looked for in certain observations made by the Commissioners of Accounts, who, some years later, examined into the shortcomings of the Navy Office during the Dutch war; and from these we find that there was grave reason to believe that during the years 1664-5 Sir William Warren had been permitted to supply masts and spars to a large amount, not according to contract, either in point of time or dimensions; less useful, if not altogether unfit and unserviceable.*

This seems very bad, and we cannot but fear other instances might be found, if it were worth our while to investigate them. On the other hand, we find him on August 7, 1665, refusing twenty pieces in gold about Mr. Deering's business-- resolv ing not to be bribed to despatch business, but will have it done, however, out of hand, forthwith;' although, indeed, six weeks later he was forced to take them, 'really and sincerely against my will and content.' On another occasion— though 'much to my grief'—he returned fifty gold pieces which he had accepted for speaking in favour of Mr. Downing, the anchor smith, who afterwards found himself not fit for the appointment, and let it fall; nor, when his rapacity is spoken of, should it be forgotten that he made his wife return a 'locket of diamonds, worth about 40%., which W. Hewer do 'press her to accept, out of gratitude for my kindness and 'hers to him; but it becomes me more to refuse it, than to let her accept of it;' or that he himself gave her a necklace of pearl, a very good one, and 807. is the price.'

The happy turn which his fortunes took in the spring of 1660 continued through succeeding years. In 1662, he was appointed one of the Commissioners for the Affairs of Tangier; in 1665, Treasurer for Tangier, and a few months later 'Surveyor General of the Victualling Business' of the Navy. These two offices opened out to him new opportunities for gain, lawful or not lawful; and at the end of that year, 1665,

* British Museum, MSS. Additional, Sloane, 2751. The nature and extent of Sir W. Warren's contracts may be seen in the Calendars of State Papers, Domestic.