A Book of English Prose | Page 7

And certainly, as fame hath often been dangerous to
the living, so it is to the dead of no use at all, because separate from
knowledge. Which were it otherwise, and the extreme ill bargain of
buying this lasting discourse understood by them which are dissolved,
they themselves would then rather have wished to have stolen out of
the world without noise, than to be put in mind that they have
purchased the report of their actions in the world by rapine, oppression,
and cruelty, by giving in spoil the innocent and labouring soul to the
idle and insolent, and by having emptied the cities of the world of their
ancient inhabitants, and fitted them again with so many and so variable
sorts of sorrows.
Since the fall of the Roman Empire (omitting that of the Germans,
which had neither greatness nor continuance) there hath been no state
fearful in the east but that of the Turk; nor in the west any prince that
hath spread his wings far over his nest but the Spaniard; who, since the
time that Ferdinand expelled the Moors out of Grenado, have made
many attempts to make themselves masters of all Europe. And it is true
that by the treasures of both Indies, and by the many kingdoms which
they possess in Europe, they are at this day the most {14} powerful.
But as the Turk is now counterpoised by the Persian, so instead of so
many millions as have been spent by the English, French, and
Netherlands in a defensive war and in diversions against them, it is
easy to demonstrate that with the charge of two hundred thousand
pound continued but for two years, or three at the most, they may not
only be persuaded to live in peace, but all their swelling and
overflowing streams may be brought back into their natural channels
and old banks. These two nations, I say, are at this day the most
eminent and to be regarded; the one seeking to root out the Christian
religion altogether, the other the truth and sincere profession thereof;
the one to join all Europe to Asia, the other the rest of all Europe to

Spain.
For the rest, if we seek a reason of the succession and continuance of
this boundless ambition in mortal men, we may add to that which hath
been already said, that the kings and princes of the world have always
laid before them the actions, but not the ends, of those great ones which
preceded them. They are always transported with the glory of the one,
but they never mind the misery of the other, till they find the
experience in themselves. They neglect the advice of God, while they
enjoy life or hope it; but they follow the counsel of Death upon his first
approach. It is he that puts into man all wisdom of the world, without
speaking a word; which God with all the words of His law, promises or
threats, doth not infuse. Death, which hateth and destroyeth man, is
believed; God, which hath him and loves him, is always deferred. I
have considered (saith Solomon) all the works that are wider the sun,
and behold, all is vanity and vexation of {15} spirit: but who believes it,
till Death tells it us? It was Death, which, opening the conscience of
Charles the fifth, made him enjoin his son Philip to restore Navarre;
and King Francis the first of France, to command that justice should be
done upon the murderers of the Protestants in Merindol and Cabrieres,
which till then he neglected. It is therefore Death alone that can
suddenly make man to know himself. He tells the proud and insolent
that they are but abjects, and humbles them at the instant, makes them
cry, complain, and repent, yea, even to hate their forepassed happiness.
He takes the account of the rich and proves him a beggar, a naked
beggar, which hath interest in nothing but in the gravel that fills his
mouth. He holds a glass before the eyes of the most beautiful, and
makes them see therein their deformity and rottenness, and they
acknowledge it.
O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! whom none could advise, thou hast
persuaded; what none hath dared thou hast done; and whom all the
world hath flattered, thou only hast cast out of the world and despised.
Thou hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness, all the pride,
cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it all over with these two
narrow words, Hic jacet.

(History of the World.)

{16}
RICHARD HOOKER 1554-1600
THE LAW OF NATIONS
Now besides that law which simply concerneth men as men, and that
which belongeth unto them as they are men linked with others in some
form of