Excerpt from Pepys' Memoires of the Royal Navy, 1679-1688 In form the Memoirs are a fra ment of history the contents of one c apter of a greater number, wherewith the world may some time or Other be more largely entertained upon the general subject of the Nawalia of England.' We know that Pepys dallied with the notion of becoming an historian from an entry in the Diar where he receives with enthusiasm t e idea of writing a history of the First Dutch War, it being a thing I much desire, and sorts mightily with my genius Evelyn also, in writing of his friend's death on May 26, 1703, refers both to the Memoirs and to the larger design of which they were intended to be the forerunner. 'this day died Mr. Sam. Pepys, a very worthy, industrious, and curious person, none in England exceeding him in know ledge of the navy. Besides what he published of an account of the navy as he found and left it, he had for divers years under his hand the History of the Navy. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.