Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 1660 N.S. Samuel Pepys

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Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete 1660 N.S - Samuel Pepys

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them. But this uncertainty considered, with the infinite pains, and

       time, and cost employed in my collecting, methodising and reducing

       the same to the state it now is, I cannot but be greatly solicitous

       that all possible provision should be made for its unalterable

       preservation and perpetual security against the ordinary fate of

       such collections falling into the hands of an incompetent heir, and

       thereby being sold, dissipated, or embezzled. And since it has

       pleased God to visit me in a manner that leaves little appearance of

       being myself restored to a condition of concerting the necessary

       measures for attaining these ends, I must and do with great

       confidence rely upon the sincerity and direction of my executor and

       said nephew for putting in execution the powers given them, by my

       forementioned will relating hereto, requiring that the same be

       brought to a determination in twelve months after my decease, and

       that special regard be had therein to the following particulars

       which I declare to be my present thoughts and prevailing

       inclinations in this matter, viz.:

       "1. That after the death of my said nephew, my said library be

       placed and for ever settled in one of our universities, and rather

       in that of Cambridge than Oxford.

       "2. And rather in a private college there, than in the public

       library.

       "3. And in the colleges of Trinity or Magdalen preferably to all

       others.

       "4. And of these too, 'caeteris paribus', rather in the latter, for

       the sake of my own and my nephew's education therein.

       "5. That in which soever of the two it is, a fair roome be provided

       therein.

       "6. And if in Trinity, that the said roome be contiguous to, and

       have communication with, the new library there.

       "7. And if in Magdalen, that it be in the new building there, and

       any part thereof at my nephew's election.

       "8. That my said library be continued in its present form and no

       other books mixed therein, save what my nephew may add to theirs of

       his own collecting, in distinct presses.

       "9. That the said room and books so placed and adjusted be called

       by the name of 'Bibliotheca Pepysiana.'

       "10. That this 'Bibliotheca Pepysiana' be under the sole power and

       custody of the master of the college for the time being, who shall

       neither himself convey, nor suffer to be conveyed by others, any of

       the said books from thence to any other place, except to his own

       lodge in the said college, nor there have more than ten of them at a

       time; and that of those also a strict entry be made and account

       kept, at the time of their having been taken out and returned, in a

       book to be provided, and remain in the said library for that purpose

       only.

       "11. That before my said library be put into the possession of

       either of the said colleges, that college for which it shall be

       designed, first enter into covenants for performance of the

       foregoing articles.

       "12. And that for a yet further security herein, the said two

       colleges of Trinity and Magdalen have a reciprocal check upon one

       another; and that college which shall be in present possession of

       the said library, be subject to an annual visitation from the other,

       and to the forfeiture thereof to the life, possession, and use of

       the other, upon conviction of any breach of their said covenants.

       "S. PEPYS."

      The library and the original book-cases were not transferred to Magdalene College until 1724, and there they have been preserved in safety ever since.

      A large number of Pepys's manuscripts appear to have remained unnoticed in York Buildings for some years. They never came into Jackson's hands, and were thus lost to Magdalene College. Dr. Rawlinson afterwards obtained them, and they were included in the bequest of his books to the Bodleian Library.

      Pepys was partial to having his portrait taken, and he sat to Savill, Hales, Lely, and Kneller. Hales's portrait, painted in 1666, is now in the National Portrait Gallery, and an etching from the original forms the frontispiece to this volume. The portrait by Lely is in the Pepysian Library. Of the three portraits by Kneller, one is in the hall of Magdalene College, another at the Royal Society, and the third was lent to the First Special Exhibition of National Portraits, 1866, by the late Mr. Andrew Pepys Cockerell. Several of the portraits have been engraved, but the most interesting of these are those used by Pepys himself as book-plates. These were both engraved by Robert White, and taken from paintings by Kneller.

      The church of St. Olave, Hart Street, is intimately associated with Pepys both in his life and in his death, and for many years the question had been constantly asked by visitors, "Where is Pepys's monument?" On Wednesday, July 5th, 1882, a meeting was held in the vestry of the church, when an influential committee was appointed, upon which all the great institutions with which Pepys was connected were represented by their masters, presidents, or other officers, with the object of taking steps to obtain an adequate memorial of the Diarist. Mr. (now Sir) Alfred Blomfield, architect of the church, presented an appropriate design for a monument, and sufficient subscriptions having been obtained for the purpose, he superintended its erection. On Tuesday afternoon, March 18th, 1884, the monument, which was affixed to the wall of the church where the gallery containing Pepys's pew formerly stood, was unveiled in the presence of a large concourse of visitors. The Earl of Northbrook, First Lord of the Admiralty, consented to unveil the monument, but he was at the last moment prevented by public business from attending. The late Mr. Russell Lowell, then the American Minister, took Lord Northbrook's place, and made a very charming and appreciative speech on the occasion, from which the following passages are extracted:—

      "It was proper," his Excellency said,

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