years. To Albemarle he gave the keys of his closet, and of his
private drawers. "You know," he said, "what to do with them." By
this tune he could scarcely respire. "Can this," he said to the
physicians, "last long?" He was told that the end was
approaching. He swallowed a cordial, and asked for Bentinck.
Those were his last articulate words. Bentinck instantly came 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.

FN 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.

FN 2 The more minutely we examine the history of the decline and
fall of Lacedaemon, the more reason we shall find to admire the