THE ROYAL FISHERY 



103 



collected are disposed of in, would make a man never part 

 with a penny so disposed of, and above all, the incon- 

 venience of having a great man, though never so seeming 

 pious as my Lord Pembroke is. He is too great to be 

 called to an account, and is abused by his servants, and 

 yet obliged to defend them for his owne sake." 



The report of Pepys and Duke upon the collection was 

 made on October 25th, 1664. Of the 52 counties of 

 England and Wales, they observed, only 32 had taken notice 

 of the royal proclamation. ^ From these counties the sum 

 already received was £1,076 ; the Earl of Pembroke, how- 

 ever, had still a considerable sum in his possession, while 

 Mr. King, who had been engaged in the collection for the 

 Earl, still retained £429. Statements had also been made 

 as to £412 already gathered but not yet placed to the 

 credit of the society. Pepys was indignant at the conduct 

 of Mr. King, who, instead of handing over the £429 en- 

 trusted to him, " insinuated in his accounts " that he had 

 assigned to the Fishing Company the lease of a house situated 

 in Harwich, which belonged to himself, and was said by him 

 to be of the value of £700. " It may be fitt," writes Pepys, 

 sarcastically, " to inquire whether this house was not long 

 agoe otherwise disposed of by him, and is since fallen to 

 his Ma*'^ and now actually imployed by the officers 

 of the Navy in his Ma"^^ service." Pepys also drew 



^ These were : — 



London & Middlesex 



Essex 



Norfolk 



Surrey 



Barkshire 



Suffolk 



Buckinghamshire 



Kent 



Harford 



Devonshire 



Brecknock 



Northampton 

 Southampton 

 Oxon 

 York 

 Hereford 

 Wiltshire 

 Exon 



Cambridge 

 Darby- 

 Lanes 

 Westmoreland 



Leicester 



Nottingham 



Somerset 



Lincoln 



Durham 



Salop 



Northumberland 



Cumberland 



Carlisle 



Berwick 



Cal. S.P. Dom. Car. II., vol. 103, No. 130. 



