to the bedside, bent down, and placed his ear close to the King's
mouth. The lips of the dying man moved; but nothing could be heard. The
King took the hand of his earliest friend, and pressed it tenderly to
his heart. In that moment, no doubt, all that had cast a slight passing
cloud over their long and pure friendship was forgotten. It was now
between seven and eight in the morning. He closed his eyes, and gasped
for breath. The bishops knelt down and read the commendatory prayer.
When it ended William was no more.

When his remains were laid out, it was found that he wore next to his
skin a small piece of black silk riband. The lords in waiting ordered
it to be taken off. It contained a gold ring and a lock of the hair of
Mary.

*****

[Footnote 1: Evelyn saw the Mentz edition of the Offices among Lord
Spencer's books in April 1699. Markland in his preface to the Sylvae of
Statius acknowledges his obligations to the very rare Parmesan edition
in Lord Spencer's collection. As to the Virgil of Zarottus, which
his Lordship bought for 46L, see the extracts from Warley's Diary, in
Nichols's Literary Anecdotes, i. 90.]

[Footnote 2: The more minutely we examine the history of the decline and
fall of Lacedaemon, the more reason we shall find to admire the sagacity
of Somers. The first great humiliation which befel the Lacedaemonians
was the affair of Sphacteria. It is remarkable that on this occasion
they were vanquished by men who made a trade of war. The force which
Cleon carried out with him from Athens to the Bay of Pyles, and to which
the event of the conflict is to be chiefly ascribed, consisted entirely
of mercenaries, archers from Scythia and light infantry from Thrace. The
victory gained by the Lacedaemonians over a great confederate army
at Tegea retrieved that military reputation which the disaster of
Sphacteria had impaired. Yet even at Tegea it was signally proved that
the Lacedaemonians, though far superior to occasional soldiers, were not
equal to professional soldiers. On every point but one the allies were
put to rout; but on one point the Lacedaemonians gave way; and that was
the point where they were opposed to a brigade of a thousand Argives,
picked men, whom the state to which they belonged had during many years
trained to war at the public charge, and who were, in fact a standing
army. After the battle of Tegea, many years elapsed before the
Lacedaemonians sustained a defeat. At length a calami