that had the wreck
occurred two hours earlier, and the accompanying yachts been at the
distance they had previously been, not a soul would have escaped.

Pepys stayed in Edinburgh for a short time, and the Duke of York allowed
him to be present at two councils. He then visited; with Colonel George
Legge, some of the principal places in the neighbourhood, such as
Stirling, Linlithgow, Hamilton, and Glasgow. The latter place he
describes as "a very extraordinary town indeed for beauty and trade,
much superior to any in Scotland."

Pepys had now been out of office for some time, but he was soon to have
employment again. Tangier, which was acquired at the marriage of the
King to Katharine of Braganza, had long been an incumbrance, and it
was resolved at last to destroy the place. Colonel Legge (now Lord
Dartmouth) was in August, 1683, constituted Captain-General of his
Majesty's forces in Africa, and Governor of Tangier, and sent with a
fleet of about twenty sail to demolish and blow up the works, destroy
the harbour, and bring home the garrison. Pepys received the King's
commands to accompany Lord Dartmouth on his expedition, but the latter's
instructions were secret, and Pepys therefore did not know what had been
decided upon. He saw quite enough, however, to form a strong opinion of
the uselessness of the place to England. Lord Dartmouth carried out
his instructions thoroughly, and on March 29th, 1684, he and his party
(including Pepys) arrived in the English Channel.

The King himself now resumed the office of Lord High Admiral, and
appointed Pepys Secretary of the Admiralty, with a salary of L500 per
annum. In the Pepysian Library is the original patent, dated June
10th, 1684: "His Majesty's Letters Patent for ye erecting the office of
Secretary of ye Admiralty of England, and creating Samuel Pepys, Esq.,
first Secretary therein." In this office the Diarist remained until the
period of the Revolution, when his official career was concluded.

A very special honour was conferred upon Pepys in this year, when he was
elected President of the Royal Society in succession to Sir Cyril Wyche,
and he held the office for two years. Pepys had been admitted a fellow
of the society on February 15th, 1664-65, and from Birch's "History" we
find that in the following month he made a statement to the society:--

"Mr. Pepys gave an account of what information he had received from the
Master of the Jersey ship which had been in compa