Nevertheless, I liked him, and felt as if I could become
intimately acquainted with him, if circumstances were favorable; but, at
a brief interview like this, it was hopeless to break through two great
reserves; so I talked more with his companion--a pleasant young man,
fresh from college, I should imagine--than with Mr. ------ himself.
The three books were really of very great interest. One was an octavo
volume of manuscript in John Evelyn's own hand, the beginning of his
published diary, written as distinctly as print, in a small, clear
character. It can be read just as easily as any printed book. Another
was a Church of England prayer-book, which King Charles used on the
scaffold, and which was stained with his sacred blood, and underneath are
two or three lines in John Evelyn's hand, certifying this to be the very
book. It is an octavo, or small folio, and seems to have been very
little used, scarcely opened, except in one spot; its leaves elsewhere
retaining their original freshness and elasticity. It opens most readily
at the commencement of the common service; and there, on the left-hand
page, is a discoloration, of a yellowish or brownish hue, about two
thirds of an inch large, which, two hundred years ago and a little more,
was doubtless red. For on that page had fallen a drop of King Charles's
blood.
The other volume was large, and contained a great many original letters,
written by the king during his troubles.
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