42 Samuel Pepys, from whose diary this extract (slightly abridged) is taken, wrote solely for his own private amusement, troubling himself very little about style or grammar. He held a post in the Navy Office, and his work did not often allow him to take a day in the country, such as he here describes.
46 Defoe's Captain Singleton is an imaginary account of the adventures of certain pirates in different parts of the world. In the extract here given they are lying in Chinese waters. 'William,' one of their crew, has gone ashore to trade with some Chinese merchants.
47 thieves' pennyworths: 'things sold at a robber's price,' i.e. below their real value.
55 composures=compositions.
56 the Great Mogul: the Emperor of Hindostan.
Muscovy=Russia, of which Moscow was formerly the capital.
57 the old philosopher: Socrates; see Hooker's reference to the anecdote on page 17 of this book.
degree: i.e. of latitude and longitude.
62 whereas the ladies now walk, etc.; this was written in 1711, when ladies wore very large 'hoops,' or crinolines.
65 Tom Jones, the hero of Fielding's novel of that name, takes some friends to see Hamlet, acted by Garrick. Partridge, is a timorous ex-schoolmaster, without experience of the theatre.