as i sat in the garden , fiddling with another cigarette , seemingly random thoughts crossed my mind : thinking of my meditation in the temple of maat , i was reminded of the fine spray of water , edward iv had been surrounded by the water of the thames when the conjuration against him first took hold , and water is the medium of life , after more than five centuries so little of the world before 1483 survives , everything has changed , for good as well as bad ; i would not want to undo all that came out of tudor england , for one thing , the wrench would be too great , finally , what was wrong with what morton did , worse than the lies ; it was utterly empty of love and compassion : hed substituted blood-sacrifice , selfishness , fear and hate for order , law , morality and justice ; its these poisons from which our world is still reeling .