It is the sovereign master and emperor of all beings.

God himself is its author, its promulgator, its enforcer.

And he who does not obey it flies from himself, and does violence to the very nature of man.

And by so doing he will endure the severest penalties even if he avoid the other evils which are usually accounted punishments.
XXIII.

I am aware that in the third book of Cicero's treatise on the Commonwealth (unless I am mistaken) it is argued that no war is ever undertaken by a well-regulated commonwealth unless it be one either for the sake of keeping faith, or for safety; and what he means by a war for safety, and what safety he wishes us to understand, he points out in another passage, where he says, "But private men often escape from these penalties, which even the most stupid persons feel--want, exile, imprisonment, and stripes--by embracing the opportunity of a speedy death; but to states death itself is a penalty, though it appears to deliver individuals from punishment.