hem if they will
dispatch it."

And, in accordance with the promise, another work was no doubt taken in
hand; but young Ferrar did not live to see it completed, dying (as he
did) at the early age of 21, within a very few weeks of his visit to
Richmond, and it is almost certain that the Duke of York never had it
given to him. But the Marquis of Salisbury has at Hatfield a Harmony of
the Four Gospels, there being no record of the person for whom it was
made. Now the appearance of the binding and the evidence of considerable
care being taken in its preparation would lead to the conclusion that it
was originally intended for a member of the Royal family. It is bound in
purple velvet, sprigs of oak and _fleurs de lis_ being prominent in the
decoration of the outside. There is no date on the title-page, and the
earliest authority as to the owner is the book-plate of "the Right Hon
James Cecill, 1704." In all essential points it is identical with the
copy made for Charles I., and may be considered as the book intended for
the Duke of York.

The King and his suite visited Gidding in the year 1642, and while there
was shown another splendid Concordance, which he had heard was being made
for Prince Charles' use, but which was not quite ready for presentation
at the time. If the conjecture is correct (and there seems very little
doubt that it is so), that this is the volume now in the possession of
Captain Gaussen, of Brookmans Park--near Hatfield, it is no wonder that
several years were occupied in its completion. One of the King's
attendants remarked at the time, it was the "gallantest greatest book in
the world," adding, "I never saw such paper before. I believe there is
no book of this largeness to be seen in Christendom," and as the Royal
party were at this time making a somewhat hasty journey northwards on
account of the disorders prevalent in the country, the book would have
been a very unsuitable addition to their baggage. The writer can vouch
for the fact that it is quite as much as a man can do to carry it
comfortably across a room. It is magnificently bound in purple velvet,
with the usual gilt stamping, chiefly in patterns made of small crowns.
The measurements are 2 feet 5 inches by 1 foot 8 inches, and there are
nearly 450 pages of the thickest paper, besides which every page is
profusely illustrated by the pasting on of engravings, in the same manner
as the other Gidding works.

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