But, on the other hand, he is delighted to see Mrs.
Pett upon her knees, and speaks thus of his Aunt James: "a
poor, religious, well-meaning, good soul, talking of nothing
but God Almighty, and that with so much innocence that
mightily pleased me." He is taken with Pen's merriment and
loose songs, but not less taken with the sterling worth of
Coventry. He is jolly with a drunken sailor, but listens
with interest and patience, as he rides the Essex roads, to
the story of a Quaker's spiritual trials and convictions. He
lends a critical ear to the discourse of kings and royal
dukes. He spends an evening at Vauxhall with "Killigrew and
young Newport - loose company," says he, "but worth a man's
being in for once, to know the nature of it, and their manner
of talk and lives." And when a rag-boy lights him home, he
examines him about his business and other ways of livelihood
for destitute children. This is almost half-way to the
beginning of philanthropy; had it only been the fashion, as
it is at present, Pepys had perhaps been a man famous for
good deeds. And it is through this quality that he rises, at
times, superior to his surprising egotism; his interest in
the love affairs of others is, indeed, impersonal; he is
filled with concern for my Lady Castlemaine, whom he only
knows by sight, shares in her very jealousies, joys with her
in her successes; and it is not untrue, however strange it
seems in his abrupt presentment, that he loved his maid Jane
because she was in love with his man Tom.
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