In the following essay, O'Neil examines Pepys development of a strong will to strengthen his place in society.

By and By comes in Mr. Coventry to us, who my Lord tells that he is also put into the commission, and that I am there; of which he said he was glad and did tell my Lord that I was endeed the life of this office, and much more to my commendation, beyond measure. So that on all hands, by God's blessing, I find myself a very rising man. (20 August 1662)

During the period covered by his Diary, 1660-1669, Samuel Pepys was indeed a rising man. Born in 1633, agraduateof St. Paul's School and of Magdalene College, Cambridge, Pepys in about 1654 had joined the household of a well-placed relative, Edward Mountagu. In 1656, Mountagu used his influence to secure for Pepys a minor clerkship in the Exchequer. After the Restoration, as...