Reviews for The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 9: 1668-1669

The average rating for The Diary of Samuel Pepys, Vol. 9: 1668-1669 based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2015-12-21 00:00:00 Andrew Nicolai C'est fini! The last volume (1668, with 128,000 words; 1669, with 52,500 words) and last years of Samuel Pepys' famous diary. So, after 9 volumes, 3,100 pages and 1,250,000 words covering 10 years (1660-1669, I am done. And so too, finally, is Pepys: "And thus ends all that I doubt I shall ever be able to do with my own eyes in the keeping of my journal, I being not able to do it any longer, having done now so long as to undo my eyes almost every time that I take a pen in my hand; and, therefore, whatever comes of it, I must forbear: and, therefore, resolve, from this time forward, to have it kept by my people in long-hand, and must therefore be contented to set down no more than is fit for them and all the world to know; or, if there be any thing, which cannot be much, now my amours to Deb. are past, and my eyes hindering me in almost all other pleasures, I must endeavour to keep a margin in my book open, to add, here and there, a note in short-hand with my own hand. And so I betake myself to that course, which is almost as much as to see myself go into my grave: for which, and all the discomforts that will accompany my being blind, the good God prepare me!" In 1668 Pepys finds his eyes are getting daily worse. Which, for a man like Pepys who draws so much satisfaction from reading and writing is a real burden. He starts trying different things (having servants and family read to him, limit his reading, limit his writing, using paper Tubes, eye drops, limiting drink, etc) to satisfy his eyes. The Parliament has been investigating the Navy office and he has to respond to the Committee of Accounts (concerning Prizes) and the Committee for Miscarriages to the Parliament (concerning tickets). His speech before Parliament was so well taken that several people report to Pepys that his speech was "best thing they ever heard" and that he "got the most honor that any could have had opportunity of getting", even that Pepys was "another Cicero." It might be vanity, but I loved seeing him buying Montaigne's essays in March and Hobb's Leviathan in September. Things also shift for Pepys late in October of 1668 when Pepys' wife walks in while he is "embracing the girl [Deb Willet, the maid to Mrs Pepys] con my hand sub su coats; and ended, I was with my main in her cunny." Pepys is sorry, indeed, but not repentant. He likes Deb, likes his freedom, likes the strange, but now that he has been caught with his hand, literally, in the maid, his wife requires him to only go out with his servant or her. So his ability to travel alone and grope has severely been limited. Vexing. While Pepys' position and reputation with the King and in the Navy continues to increase, the deterioration of his eyesight and health requires him to take a vacation and stop writing in his diary. His diary ends in May of 1669. Afterwards, to give his eyes a rest he travels to France with his wife. She, unfortunately, ends up getting sick in France and dies of a fever shortly after they get back in late 1669. Pepys lives a good and comfortable life both with work and retirement (member of Parliament, Master of Trinity House, President of the Royal Society). Pepys dies almost 34 years after his diary ends in May of 1703. A good tribute to Pepys is found in an entry by Pepys' contemporary and fellow diarist John Evelyn who writes in his diary about Pepys's death: "1703, May 26th. This day died Mr. Sam Pepys, a very worthy, industrious, and curious person, none in England exceeding him in knowledge of the navy, in which he had passed thro' all the most considerable offices, Clerk of the Acts and Secretary of the Admiralty, all which he performed with great integrity. When K. James II. went out of England, he laid down his office, and would serve no more, but withdrawing himselfe from all public affaires, he liv'd at Clapham with his partner Mr. Hewer, formerly his clerk, in a very noble and sweete place, where he enjoy'd the fruits of his labours in greate prosperity. He was universally belov'd, hospitable, generous, learned in many things, skilfd in music, a very greate cherisher of learned men of whom he had the conversation . . . . Mr. Pepys had been for neere 40 yeeres so much my particular friend that Mr. Jackson sent me compleat mourning, desiring me to be one to hold up the pall at his magnificent obsequies, but my indisposition hinder'd me from doing him this last office." Here are my previous Pepys diary reviews: Vol 1: 1660, 117,000 words Vol 2: 1661, 84,000 words Vol 3: 1662, 105,000 words Vol 4: 1663, 159,000 words Vol 5: 1664, 132,000 words Vol 6: 1665, 121,000 words Vol 7: 1666, 151,000 words Vol 8: 1667, 201,000 words

Review # 2 was written on 2020-05-12 00:00:00 Radka Geserick After following nine years and five months of daily diary entries, most regrettably, it is now time to say a final farewell to Sam. What a treat it's been to know, to enjoy, the mental wanderings of our fellow traveler. Who among us is so candid? Samuel Pepys recorded his authentic, honest and most private musings throughout his journals, doing so without commercial motivation, solely to leave his personal record to future generations. Reading the diaries leads me to wonder what's really transpiring in the lives of those around me. We're unlikely to know the comprehensive truths that swirl inside another's head, it seems. Sam lays it all out fearlessly, some centuries before the advent of talk therapy, a remarkable achievement. In this final volume, Sam contends with uncomfortable scrutiny from Parliament regarding his financial conduct as an agent of government. Questions have been asked before, however, this time he's a direct target. The heat is on, big time. He ultimately succeeds in avoiding condemnation and penalty. He comes to terms with declining eyesight, which leads him to quit his daily diary. Sam's womanizing launches into high orbit, then crashes with a spectacular fireball, with lasting consequence, when Elizabeth, his wife, catches our friend in flagrante delicto with Deb, the maid. There's some palliative comfort to be found, though, in the purchase of a new coach, properly gilded and lacquered, with attending coachman and a pair of fashionable horses, to the envy of many. I will miss Sam. A big thank you to the organizer of the Pepys Diary website, where I read the entire collection, found at