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 company with Major Holmes in
the Guinea voyage concerning the pendulum watches (March 15th, 1664-5)."

The records of the society show that he frequently made himself useful by
obtaining such information as might be required in his department. After
he retired from the presidency, he continued to entertain some of the most
distinguished members of the society on Saturday evenings at his house in
York Buildings. Evelyn expressed the strongest regret when it was
necessary to discontinue these meetings on account of the infirmities of
the host.

In 1685 Charles II. died, and was succeeded by James, Duke of York. From
his intimate association with James it might have been supposed that a
long period of official life was still before Pepys, but the new king's
bigotry and incapacity soon made this a practical impossibility. At the
coronation of James II. Pepys marched in the procession immediately
behind the king's canopy, as one of the sixteen barons of the Cinque
Ports.

In the year 1685 a new charter was granted to the Trinity Company, and
Pepys was named in it the first master, this being the second time that he
had held the office of master.

Evelyn specially refers to the event in his Diary, and mentions the
distinguished persons present at the dinner on July 20th.

It is evident that at this time Pepys was looked upon as a specially
influential man, and when a parliament was summoned to meet on May 19th,
1685, he was elected both for Harwich and for Sandwich. He chose to serve
for Harwich, and Sir Philip Parker was elected to fill his place at
Sandwich.

This parliament was dissolved by proclamation July 2nd, 1687, and on
August 24th the king declared in council that another parliament should be
summoned for November 27th, 1688, but great changes took place before that
date, and when the Convention Parliament was called together in January
and February, 1689-90, Pepys found no place in it. The right-hand man of
the exiled monarch was not likely to find favour in the eyes of those who
were now in possession. When the election for Harwich came on, the
electors refused to return him, and the streets echoed to the cry of "No
Tower men, no men out of the Tower!" They did not wish to be represented
in parliament by a disgra