the Admiralty. These positions gave him the opportunity, which he improved, of understanding the building of yachts, their cost, equipment, and exploits, all of which he recorded in voluminous writing, preserved in Magdalene College, Cambridge, and which comprise almost all the data obtainable concerning maritime affairs in England, during the reign of King Charles II. The most important manuscripts were those prepared for his intended History of the Navy, among which are the Admiralty Letters, Naval Presidents, Miscellanies, and Naval Minutes; but it is in his Diary that we know Pepys at his best, with his quaint and graphic manner of description, so agreeable, and revealing those redeeming human weaknesses, that are at once pleasing and consoling to contemplate.
Samuel Pepys was born in February 23, 1632; was educated at St. Paul's School, and, afterward, at the University of Cambridge. In the register book of the College the following entry appears: "October 21, 1653. Mem. That Pepys and Hind were solemly admonished by himself and Mr. Hill for having been scandalously overserved with drink ye night before. This was done in the presence of all the fellows then resident, in Mr. Hill's chamber, (signed) John Wood, Register." Evidently, Pepys in his undergraduate days, as in after life, was a bon vivant.
Pepys and Evelyn were life-long friends, and frequently visited each other. Evelyn records under date of September 22, 1700: "I went to visit Mr. Pepys at Clapham where he has a very
