But
nothing could divert him from his aim in life; his remedy in
care was the same as his delight in prosperity; it was with
pleasure, and with pleasure only, that he sought to drive out
sorrow; and, whether he was jealous of his wife or skulking
from a bailiff, he would equally take refuge in the theatre.
There, if the house be full and the company noble, if the
songs be tunable, the actors perfect, and the play diverting,
this odd hero of the secret Diary, this private self-adorer,
will speedily be healed of his distresses.
Equally pleased with a watch, a coach, a piece of meat, a
tune upon the fiddle, or a fact in hydrostatics, Pepys was
pleased yet more by the beauty, the worth, the mirth, or the
mere scenic attitude in life of his fellow-creatures. He
shows himself throughout a sterling humanist. Indeed, he who
loves himself, not in idle vanity, but with a plenitude of
knowledge, is the best equipped of all to love his
neighbours. And perhaps it is in this sense that charity may
be most properly said to begin at home. It does not matter
what quality a person has: Pepys can appreciate and love him
for it. He "fills his eyes" with the beauty of Lady
Castlemaine; indeed, he may be said to dote upon the thought
of her for years; if a woman be good-looking and not painted,
he will walk miles to have another sight of her; and even
when a lady by a mischance spat upon his clothes, he was
immediately consoled when he had observed that she was
pretty.
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