The Diary · Chapter
May 1661 explained
Pepys travels to Portsmouth and back, overseeing naval business, enjoying inns where royalty recently stayed, and attending to his household.
What happens
Pepys travels to Portsmouth and back, overseeing naval business, enjoying inns where royalty recently stayed, and attending to his household. He returns to London, deals with office politics, attends a christening as godfather, and witnesses the public burning of Commonwealth acts.
Themes in this chapter
Naval Administration and Corruption
Pepys inspects Portsmouth dockyard, sells old provisions, and deals with disputes over ship masters and accounts.
Political Intrigue and Restoration
The burning of Commonwealth acts and the King's birthday celebrations highlight the shift in power.
Daily Life and Domesticity
Pepys oversees home renovations, argues with his wife, and attends a christening with gifts.
Characters to notice
- Samuel Pepys
Narrator and protagonist; travels to Portsmouth, manages naval sales, returns to London, attends christening, and observes political ceremonies.
- Elizabeth Pepys
Accompanies Pepys on the journey; argues with him about Mrs. Pierce's beauty.
- Mr. Creed
Travels with Pepys; disputes over food and plays games; later delivers accounts at the office.
- Sir William Penn
Accompanies Pepys to Walthamstowe for the christening; discusses naval matters and past politics.
- Sir William Batten
Hosts dinner and garden walk after the christening; Pepys dines at his house.
- Edward Montagu, Earl of Sandwich
Pepys visits him at the Wardrobe; discusses money and the Muster Master's place.
- Sir William Coventry
Pepys reports to him upon return from Portsmouth.
- Sir George Carteret
Angry about naming of masters for the fleet; Pepys reports to him.
Key passages
“Up early, and bated at Petersfield, in the room which the King lay in lately at his being there.”
Pepys stopped for breakfast at Petersfield, staying in the same room the King had recently used.
Shows Pepys's awareness of royal presence and his own social proximity.
“I hear tonight that the Duke of York's son is this day dead, which I believe will please everybody; and I hear that the Duke and his Lady themselves are not much troubled at it.”
Pepys hears that the Duke of York's son died, and thinks most people are glad; the parents seem unbothered.
Reflects the political and personal indifference to the death of a royal child.
“I saw the hangman burn, by vote of Parliament, two old acts, the one for constituting us a Commonwealth, and the other I have forgot.”
Pepys watched the hangman burn two acts of Parliament, including the one that established the Commonwealth.
Highlights the symbolic erasure of the republican past under the restored monarchy.
“One passage of a lady that eat wafers with her dog did a little displease me.”
Pepys was mildly annoyed by a lady who shared wafers with her dog at the christening.
Illustrates Pepys's attention to social manners and decorum.
