The Glory of English Prose | Page 7

Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice. When it is remembered that it was
out of his friendship for Bassanio that Antonio entered into his bond
with Shylock, the supreme exquisiteness of the few words from friend
to friend render this letter unsurpassable:--
"Sweet Bassanio, my ships have all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel,
my estate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit, and since, in
paying it, it is impossible I should live, all debts are cleared between
you and me if I might see you at my death; notwithstanding, use your
pleasure; if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter."
Well did Shakespeare know that such a letter must make an instant
appeal to the sweet heart of Portia: "O love!" she cries, "despatch all
business, and be gone!"
All great poets are masters of a splendid prose, and had Shakespeare
written some notable work of prose we may be sure it would even have
surpassed the noble utterances of all his wonderful contemporaries.
It has been said that no language in the world has yet ever lasted in its
integrity for over a thousand years. Perhaps printing may confer a
greater stability on present languages; but whenever English is
displaced, the sun of the most glorious of all days will have set.
Your loving old
G.P.
6
MY DEAR ANTONY,
I do not think that men of letters often search through the old law

reports for specimens of fine prose, but I believe that here and there, in
that generally barren field, a nugget of pure gold may be discovered by
an industrious student.
Much noble prose delivered from the bench down the centuries has
been lost for ever, for the judges of England have often been gentlemen
of taste, scholarship, and eloquence. I have found one very splendid
passage that has somehow survived the wrecks of nearly four hundred
years.
Lord Chief Justice Crewe, who became Chief Justice of England in
1624, delivered in the case of the Earl of Oxford the following noble
tribute to the great house of De Vere:--
"I heard a great peer of this realm, and learned, say, when he lived,
there was no king in Christendom had such a subject as Oxford. He
came in with the Conqueror, Earl of Guienne; shortly after the
Conquest made Great Chamberlain, above 400 years ago, by Henry I.,
the Conqueror's son; confirmed by Henry II. This great honour--this
high and noble dignity--hath continued ever since, in the remarkable
surname De Vere, by so many ages, descents, and generations, as no
other kingdom can produce such a peer in one and the selfsame name
and title. I find in all this time but two attainders of this noble family,
and those in stormy and tempestuous time, when the government was
unsettled, and the kingdom in competition. I have laboured to make a
covenant with myself, that affection may not press upon judgment, for I
suppose that there is no man that hath any apprehension of gentry or
nobleness, but his affection stands to the continuance of so noble a
name and fame, and would take hold of a twig or twine-thread to
uphold it. And yet Time hath his revolutions: there must be an end to
all temporal things, finis rerum,--and end of names and dignities, and
whatsoever is terrene; and why not of De Vere? For where is De
Bohun?--where is Mowbray?--where is Mortimer? Nay, what is more
and most of all, where is Plantagenet? They are entombed in the urns
and sepulchres of mortality. And yet, let the name and dignity of De
Vere stand so long as it pleases God."
And alas! we can now ask, Where is De Vere? This great Earldom of

Oxford was created in 1142, and has disappeared long ago in the limbo
of peerages said to be in abeyance.
In these days, Antony, when peerages are bought by men successful in
trade and sold by men successful in intrigue, such elevations in rank
have ceased to be regarded as the necessary concomitants of "great
honour" and "high and noble dignity"; so that it has long been more
reputable in the House of Lords to be a descendant than an ancestor.
But among the older great families there still remains a pride that has
descended unsullied through many generations, which serves as a fine
deterrent from evil deeds, and a constant incentive to honour--and in
England the history of great names can never be totally ignored, even
though the country may be ruled by persons who do not know who
were their own grandfathers.
Nothing is more ridiculous and cheap than to sneer at honourable
descent from famous ancestors; it divertingly illustrates the fable of the
sour grapes.
Your loving old
G.P.
7
MY