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Untitled Article
They that know the history of Charles II . onl y &s a man of pleasure , may v be surprised at learning-, as is stated by Pepys , that he was an early riser , in which character , the Diarist adds , he tired all the people about him . I . 72 . 5
The ** old clergy / that is , those that were before the Civil War , and did not conform to the Commonwealth , are mightily praised by comrnon-piftce writers : let Pepys relate a contemporary opinion of them : — " Au < t . 21 st . I met Mr . Crewe and
dirted withhim ^ where there dined one Mr . Hitikeman , an-Oxford man , who spoke very much against the height of the now old clergy , for putting out many of the religious fellows of colleges , and inveighing against them " ( the old clergy ) "for being drunk . " Ib '
The following- entry justifies some of the papers of the Spectator that appear to be badinage : — " Aug . 30 th . This the first day that ever I saw my wife wear blach patches since we were married . " I . 73 .
We sometimes find Pepys in compatiythat we did not expect , and see him and his companions oddly engaged . For example , Sept . 18 th , he was at the Mitre Tavern in Wood-street , ( a house of the greatest note in London , ) ^ rhere he met Mr . White , formerly chaplain to the Lady Protectress and stfll ' so . " Jere . White was the author
of one of the first English books on Universal Restoration , a learned and liberal divine . Pepys goes on to say that report stated that White was * likely to get ray Lady Francesse " ( the daughter of the Protector ) *• for his wife . " This is at variance with a
story told by Noble , ( Memoirs of tbe Cromwell Family , I . 148 , &c >) from Oldmixon , of White ' s paying his' addresses to this lady , and on being discovered by the Protector in her apartments , pretending that he was entreating her intercession on his behalf with her waiting-maid :
whereupon Oliver had him immediately , and on the spot , married to the astonished girl . The story is , that the couple so strangely brought together lived in comfort for fifty years . Lady Frnnces was ¦ Married first to Robt . Rich , of the Warwick family , and afterwards to { Sir John Russell , whom bhe survived
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52 years , dying 1721 , 2 . —Some of Pepys ' s party , of whom Jere . White was one , " fell to handy-cappe , a sport that" he /* never kneyv before /* I , 75 How far back we seem to be thrown
when we read , Sept . 25 th , I did send for a cup of tee , ( a China drink J of which I never had drank before" ! T 76 . ' '
Pepys was , Oct . 4 th , at Westminster Abbey , and " saw D r * Frewen translated to the Archbishoprick of York , " There were besides 5 bishops , all in their habits . " " But , Lord ! ' * exclaims this Church ~ of-England man , " at their going out , how people did
most of them look upon them as strange creatures , and fete with any kind of love or respect" This 5 s one of unnumbered proofs that the English people were well-nigh weaned of superstition by the popular government of the last twelve years , and that the Restoration carried them back to
mental childhood . The curiosity of Pepya led him to witness the execution of some of the Regicides , brought —— to the unjust tribunals , under change of Times .
And condemnation of the ingrateful multitude . He does not exult in these butcheries , but , on the contrary , does justice to the victims of Monk ' s treachery . The mob , probably under some excitement from the creatures of the Court ,
shewed themselves on these occasions " right royal" and sanguinary * " J 3 th . I went out to Charing Cross , to see Major-General Harrison hanged , drawn and quartered ; which was done there , he looking- as cheerful as any man could do in that condition .
He was presently cut down , and his head and heart shewn to the people , at which there was great shouts of joy . It is said , that he said that he was sure to come shortly at the right hand of Christ to judge them that now had
judged him ; and that his wife do expect his coining again . Thus it was my chance to see the King beheaded at White Hall , and to see the first blood shed in revenge for the King at Charing Cross . " L 78 , 7 ^
It was probably on the recollection of some such passage as this that a patriot-poet threw off the following indignant lines :
Untitled Article
522 Memoirs of Samuel Pepys , Esq
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1825, page 522, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2540/page/10/
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