They seem to be very fine gentlemen. After that done,
upon the quarter-deck table, under the awning, the Duke of York
and my Lord, Mr. Coventry and I, spent an hour at allotting to
every ship their service, in their return to England; [Sir
William Coventry, to whom Mr. Pepys became so warmly attached
afterwards, was the youngest son of Thomas first Lord Coventry,
and Lord Keeper. He entered at Queen's College, Oxford, in 1642:
and on his return from his travels was made Secretary to the Duke
of York, and elected M.P. for Yarmouth. In 1662 he was appointed
a Commissioner of the Admiralty; in 1665 knighted and sworn a
privy Counsellor; and in 1667 constituted a Commissioner of the
Treasury, but having been forbid the Court, on account of his
challenging the Duke of Buckingham, he retired into the country,
nor could he subsequently be prevailed upon to accept of any
official employment. Burnet calls Sir W. C. the best speaker in
the House of Commons, and a man of great notions and eminent
virtues: and Mr. Pepys never omits an opportunity of paying a
tribute to his public and private worth.
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