WILLIAM AND MARY

63

from Epicureanism. Their austerity was a reproach to hisslothful and luxurious life: their phraseology shocked his fasti-dious taste; and, where they were concerned, his ordinarygood nature forsook him. Loathing the nonconformists as hedid, he was not likely to be very zealous for a prince whom thenonconformists regarded as their protector. But Sprat’s faultsafforded ample security that he would never, from spleenagainst William, engage in any plot to bring back James.Why Young should have assigned the most perilous part in anenterprise full of peril to a man singularly pliant, cautious andselfindulgent, it is difficult to say.

The first step which the ministers took was to send Marl-borough to the Tower. He was by far the most formidable ofall the accused persons; and that he had held a traitorous cor-respondence with Saint Germains was a fact which, whetherYoung were perjured or not, the Queen and her chief advisersknew to be true. One of the Clerks of the Council and severalmessengers were sent down to Bromley with a warrant fromNottingham. Sprat w'as taken into custody. All the apart-ments in which it could reasonably be supposed that he wouldhave hidden an important document w r ere searched, the library,the diningroom, the drawingroom, the bedchamber, and theadjacent closets. ITis papers were strictly examined. Muchgood prose was found, and probably some bad verse, but notreason. The messengers pried into every flowerpot that theycould find, but to no purpose. It never occurred to them tolook into the room in which Blackhead had hidden the Asso-ciation: for that room was near the offices occupied by the ser-vants, and was little used by the Bishop and his family. Theofficers returned to London with their prisoner, but without thedocument which, if it had been found, might have been fatalto him.

Late at night he tvas brought to Westminster, and was

CHAP.

XVIII.

11132 .