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UTOPIA: 

OR, 

THE  HAPPY  REPUBLIC. 

A 

^&ilo0op{)tcal  Momancc, 

BY     SIR    THOMAS    lAI  O  R  E. 

TO  WHICH    IS  ADDED, 

THE    NEW    ATLANTIS, 

BY  LORD  BACON. 


^  ^veliminatg  discourse, 

CONTAIMNG 

An  Analysis  of  Plato's  E,e]3ublic,  &,c.  ;  and  copious  Notes 


J.    A.    ST.    JOHN,    ESQ. 


LONDON : 
JOSEPH    RICKERBY,  SIIERBOURN    LANE, 

KING    WILLIAM    STREET,    CITY. 

1838. 


JOSEPH   RICKERBY,  PRINTER, 
.      SHERBOURN   LANE. 


CONTENTS. 


^reliminarp  ©isconrsc 


Object  of  the  Utopia 

Its  imaginarj'  Laws  founded  on  experience 

Character  of  the  Author 

Milton's  Opinion  of  Plato's  Republic 

Spirit  of  Plato's  Republic 

Other  imaginary  States 

Outline  of  Plato's  Republic 

Morgenstem — Stallbaum — Muretus  ... 

Greatest  Happiness  principle 

Idea  of  old  Age 

Community  of  Wives  and  Children 

Improvement  of  the  Human  Race    ... 

Condition  of  Women 

Learned  Women  of  Antiquity 

Division  of  the  Population  into  Three  Classes 

Philosophers,  Kings 

Plato's  Idea  of  a  Philosopher     ... 

The  Three  Forms  of  Government     ... 

TjTanny— Slavery    ... 

Power  of  Education 

Republic  of  Hippodamos 

Critique  of  Aristotle 

Fabulous  State  of  Theopompos 

Cities  of  War  and  Peace 

Ancients  had  some  Knowledge  of  America 

Romance  of  Euhemeros    ... 

Plan  of  the  Utopia 

Artful  Commencement     ... 

Primary  Interlocutor 

Introduction  of  the  Author 

Monotony  of  Manners,  &c. 


xui 
xiv 

XV 

xvi 
xvii 
xviii 

xix 

XX 

xxii 
xxiv 
xxvi 
XXTO 

xxix 
xxxii 
x.Kxiii 

XXXV 

xxxvi 

xxxiaii 

xl 

xli 

xlu 

xliv 


CONTENTS. 


^reliminaro  IBiscottrse 


Town  and  Country 
Form  of  Government 
Vote  by  Ballot 
Who  are  dangerous  in  a  State 
Political  Discipline 
Religion  of  the  Utopians 
Vai-iety  of  Sects 
Conclusion 

Ms^op  ISurnet's  preface  to  ti^e  Utopia 
'^^e  ^utI)or's  %tttzx  to  IJ'eter  CEriles 

Hellenism  of  Sir  Thomas  More 
Usurpations  of  Servants— Lord  Bacon 
Labours  of  Sir  Thomas  More— Lord  Brougham 
Capital  of  Utopia— Gulli\'er 
Missionaiies  to  Utopia 
Power  of  the  Critics 
Anecdote  of  a  Catholic  Priest 


5ri)e  ^atopia.— Uoofe  E 

Character  of  Henry  Vin. 

Negociaiions  at  Bruges — Proverbs 

Character  of  Peter  G  lies 

Latin  Authors — Lucretius         ...  ... 

Introduction  of  Raphael  Hythloday  ... 

Saying  of  Anaxagoras 

Voyages  of  Americus  Vespucius 

Ships  of  the  Eastern  Ocean 

Passion  for  Monsters — Southey's  Colloquies 

Conversation  of  Raphael 

Service  of  Kings  incompatible  with  Philosophy 

Influence  of  Courts — Gulliver's  Opinion 

Passion  of  Kings  for  War — whereon  founded 

Flattery  "  the  Food  of  Fools" — Clarendon 

Raphael  (isits  England — Wisdom  of  our  Ancestors 

Cardinal  Morton 

Discussions  on  the  Penal  Code 

Profligate  Nobility 

Armies  of  Servants — Thieves 

Customs  of  Rome  and  Athens  ... 

Standing  Armies — Napoleon — Cromwell 

Effeminate  Troops     ... 

Pastoral  Nations 

Ejection  of  Peasants 

Mendicity  Society 

Avarice  of  the  Rich — Fable  of  the  Bees 

Hume— Cato— Cifisar 


CONTENTS. 


l^t)c  ©topia.— ISooil  E. 

Milton's  Areopagitica                 ...  ...               ...               •••      3^' 

Political  Discipline  and  Education  ...               ...               ...               37 

The  Lawyer  and  the  Cardinal    ...  ...               ...               •.•      3H 

Penal  Code        ...               ...  ...               •••               —               4<l 

Punishment  of  Thieves               ...  ...               ...               ...       42 

Profits  of  Vice  ...               ...  ...               ...               .••               43 

Employment  of  Criminals         ...  ...              •■•              •••      44 

Thief  Guides     ...               ...  ...               ...               ...               46 

Darjgers  of  Iimovation               ...  ...               ...               ••■      47 

Caunter's  St.  Leon             ...  ...               ...               ...               48 

Cardinal's  Fool  and  the  Clergy  ...              ...              ...      49 

A  Friar's  Curses                 ...  ...               ...               ...               5(1 

The  Six  great  Names                 ...  ...              ...              ...      51 

The  Fool's  Wisdom            ...  ...               ...               ...               52 

Character  of  Courtiers                ...  ...               ...               ...      53 

Conduct  of  Philosophers  ...               ...               ...               54 

Reformation  of  Kings                 ...  ...               ...               ...       55 

Passion  for  V  ar                  ...  ...               ...               ...               56 

A  King's  Minister     ...               ...  ...               ...               ...      58 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  Notion  of  Princes  ...               ...               59 

Corruption  of  Judges                  ...  ...               ...               ...      60 

A  Courtier's  Notion  of  Prerogative  ...               ...               ...               61 

Objectof  a  King        ...               ...  ...               ...               ...      62 

WTiy  Kings  are  hated        ...  ...               ...               ...               65 

Kings'  Oaths              ...               ...  ...               ...               ...      64 

Philosophy  unfashionable  at  Court  ...               ...               ...               65 

Councils  of  Princes    ...               ...  ...               ...               ...      66 

Primitive  Christians          ...  ...               ...               ...               67 

Caramuels  Question                   ...  ...               ...               ...      68 

Plato's  Idea  of  apolitical  Philosopher  ...               ...               69 

Making  of  new  Laws                 ...  ...               ...               ...      70 

Division  of  Property          ...  ...               ...               ...               7I 

Qualification  of  Legislators        ...  ...               ...               ...      72 

Landing  in  Utopia             ...  ...               ...               ...               74 

Vf^e  ©topta.— 13iiofe  3EE.  77 

Capital  of  Utopia               ...  ...              ...              ...              — 

Origin  of  the  Name  of  Utopia  ...  ...              ...              ...      78 

Description  of  the  principal  Cities  ...               ...               ...               79 

Egg  Ovens— Egj'pt  and  Mohammed  Ali   ...  ...              ...      80 

Beverage  of  the  Utopians  ...  ...               ...               ...               81 

Cit}' of  Amaurot        ...               ...  ...               ...               ...      82 

River  of  Aneider                ...  ...               ...               ...               83 

How  the  Utopian  Cities  were  laid  out  ...              ...              ...      84 

Magistrates       ...              ...  ...              ...              ...              85 

■Vote  by  Ballot           ...              ...  ...              ...              ...      86 

Against  Princely  Conspirators  ...              ...              ...              87 

Arts  and  Trades       ...              ...  ...              ...              ...      88 


CONTENTS. 


Regulation  of  Industry      ...  ...               ,..               ...               gg 

Lectures  before  Breakfast  ...               ...               ...               ...      9(1 

Industry  of  Women           ...  ...               .,,               ...               g\ 

Sturdy  Beggars          ...  ...               ...               ...               ...      92 

General  Industry               ...  ...               ...               ...               95 

Private  Luxury         ...  ...               ...               ...               ...      .94 

Style  of  Dress    ...              ...  ...              ...              ...              95 

Trade  and  Commerce  ...               ...               ...               ...      96 

Size  of  Cities      ...               ...  ...              ...               ...               cfj 

Uncultivated  Land   ...  ...               ...               ...               ...      93 

Cause  of  Cruelty                 ...  ...               ...               ...               99 

Common  Halls  of  Crete  and  Sparta  ...              ...              ...    100 

Lazarettoes        ...               ...  ...               ...               ...             jQl 

Dinner  Trumpet       ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    102 

Nursing  of  Children         ...  ...               ...               ...             103 

Custom  at  Meals      ...  ...              ...              ...              ...    104 

Utopian  Travelling           ...  ...              ...              ...            105 

Who  are  fit  to  Travel  ...               ...               ...               ...     log 

Absence  of  Taverns           ...  ...               ...               ...             107 

Gold  and  Silver      ...               ...  ...               ...               ...     108 

Foreign  Mercenaries          ...  ...               ...               ...             109 

Uses  of  Iron               ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     no 

Gold  and  Jewels                 ...  ...               ...               ...             m 

Value  of  the  Precious  Metals    ...  ...               ...               ...    112 

Installation  of  President  Van  Buren  ...  ...               ...             113 

Ambassador's  Fool    ...  ...              ...              ...              ...     114 

Worship  of  Wealth           ...  ...               ...               ...             H5 

Tongue-learning        ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     ng 

An  honest  man's  Fortune  ...               ...               ...        '      117 

Moral  Philosophy      ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     ng 

Immortality  of  the  Soul    ...  ...               ...               ...             II9 

Stoic  Philosophy        ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     120 

Religion  of  Compacts        ...  ...               ...               ...              122 

Philosophy  of  Dress ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    124 

Diatribe  against  Hunting...  ...               ...               ...             127 

Theory  of  true  Pleasure  ...               ...               ...               ...    129 

Pleasures  of  the  Mind       ...  ...               ...               ...             132 

Milton's  Tractate  of  Education  ...               ...               ...    134 

Necessity  of  Revelation    ...  ...               ...               ...             135 

List  of  Greek  Authors  ...               ...               ...               ...     137 

Cicero  de  Natura  Deorum  ...               ...               ...             138 

Slaves  of  Utopia        ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     140 

Approbation  of  Suicide      ...  ...               ...               ...             141 

Humane  Poisoning — Napoleon...  ^  ■••               •••               •••    l'*^ 

Marriage  Regulations        ...  ...               ...               ...             143 

Theory  of  Divorce — Milton  ...               ...               ...               ...     145 

Theory  of  Punishment     ...  ...               ...               ...             146 

Great  Utility  of  Fools  ...              ...              ...              ...    147 


COXTENTS. 


E\)t  atopta.— 13oofe  IK. 

Against  Painting  the  Face  ...               ...               ...              148 

Statues  of  Ireton,  Cromwell,  and  Bradshaw  ...              ...    149 

Clearness  of  the  Laws        ...  ...               ...               ...          •  I5(> 

Inviolable  Faith  of  Princes  ...              ...              ...              ...    152 

Royal  Justice   ...              ...  ...              ...              ...            154 

M ilitary  Discipline    ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     155 

Martial  Women                  ...  ...               ...               ...             156 

Tales  of  Ramadhan  ...              ...              ...              ...    I5g 

Theory  of  Assassination    ...  ...               ...               ...             160 

Sinews  of  War           ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     162 

Utopian  Mercenaries — Swiss  ...               ...               ...             165 

Fortifications — Roman  Armies  ...  ...              ...              ...    168 

Revenues           ...               ...  ...               ...               ...             I69 

Religion  of  the  Utopians  ...              ...              ...              ...    170 

Conversion  to  Christianity  ...              ...              ...            172 

Universal  Toleration  ...               ...               ...               ...     173 

Utopian  Sceptics                 ...  ...               ...               ...             176 

Funerals   ...               ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     177 

Monks                ...               ...  ...               ...               ...             178 

Priests       ...               ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     180 

Exclusion  from  the  Temples  ...              ...              ...            181 

Mark  of  a  Papist      ...  ...              ...              ...              ...    182 

Festivals           ...              ...  ...              ...              ...            184 

Absence  of  Images  from  theii- Temples     ...  ...              ...    185 

Bloodless  Sacrifices             ...  ...              ...              ...            187 

Public  Stores              ...  ...               ...               ...               ...     190 

Consideration  for  the  Poor  ...               ...               ...             192 

C'onspiracyof  the  Rich  against  the  Poor   ...  ...              ...    193 

Famines            ...              ...  ...              ...              ...            194 

Plague  of  Human  Nature  ...              ...              ...              ...    195 

Conclusion.       ...              ...  ...              ...              ...            196 

l^eiD  Atlantis.        ...          ...  ...          ...         ...         199 

Introductory  Note      ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    201 

Preface              ...               ...  ...                ...               ...             203 

Voyage  in  the  South  Seas  ...              ...              ...              ...    203 

Idea  of  the  Pictiu'esque     ...  ...               ...               ...             206 

Landing  in  Atlantis ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    207 

Picture  of  a  Chinese  Mandarin  ...              ...              ...            208 

Master  of  the  Port    ...  ...              ...              ...              ...    209 

Are  you  Pirates...               ...  ...               ...               ...             210 

Strangers'  House       ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    211 

Dislike  of  Blue  Stockings  ...               ...               ...             213 

Right  good  Viands    ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    214 

Self-Congratulations         ...  ...              ...              ...            215 

A  good  Priest             ...  ...               ...               ...               ...    216 

Chinese  Regulation            ...  ...               ...               ...             217 

Idea  of  a  happy  Land  ...               ...              ...              ...    219 

Miraculous  Light              ...  ...              ...              ...             220 

Ark  of  Cedar  Wood  ...  ...              ...              ...              ...    221 


10  CONTENTS, 


'Neia  Atlantis. 

A  Dash  of  the  Supernatural  ...              ...              ...            222 

Conversation  with  the  Governor  ...               ...               ...    223 

Expedition  of  Pharaoh  Necho  ...               ...               ...             225 

Fleets  of  Ancients     ...              ...  ...              ...              ...    226 

Plato's  Critias    ...              ...  ...              ...              ...            227 

Wars  of  the  Atlanteans              ...  ...               ...              ...    228 

The  Man's  Word               ...  ...               ...               ...             229 

Idea  of  the  Deluge    ...               ...  ...               ...               ...     230 

Antiquities  of  Atlantis      ...  ...               ...               ...             231 

Inhospitable  Laws     ...               ...  ...               ...               ...    232 

Chinese  Regulations          ...  ...               ...               ...             233 

College  of  the  Six  Days' Work...  ...               ...               ...     234 

Scientific  Travellers           ...  ...               ...               ...             235 

Feast  of  the  Family ...               ...  ...               ...               ...    237 

Seclusion  of  the  Mother    ...  ...               ...               ...             238 

Fondness  for  Pomp   ...               ...  ...               ...               ...     23!) 

Ceremonies        ...               ...  ...               ...               ...             24(1 

Political  Economy— Anecdote  of  a  Mountebank       ...               ...     241 

A  Father's  Blessing            ...  ...               ...               ...             242 

Conversation  with  a  Jew           ...  ...               ...               ...    243 

Polygamy          ...               ...  ...               ...               ...             244 

Milton  on  Divorce    ...               ...  ...               ...               ...    245 

The  Tetracordon                ...  ...               ...               ...             246 

Power  of  Sclf-Respect               ...  ...               ...               ...     247 

Marriage  Regulations— The  Utopian  ...               ...             248 

Father  of  Solomon's  House       ...  ...               ...               ...    249 

Costume  of  a  N  atural  Philosopher  ...              ...              ...            25(> 

The  wise  Jew  again                   ...  ...               ...               ...    251 

History  of  Solomon's  House  ...               ...               ...             252 

Sicilian  Cavern — Margaret  Ravenscroft    ...  ...               ...    253 

High  Towers— Etzler        ...  ...               ...               ...             254 

Sir  Francis  Head's  Home  Tour...  ...               ...               ...    255 

Fresh  and  salt  Water  Fish  ...               ...               ...              — 

Water  of  Paradise     ...              ...  ...              ...              ...    250 

Improvement  in  Gardening  ...               ...               ...             257 

Egypt  and  Mahommed  Ali        ...  ...               ...               ...    251 

Breed  of  Animals               ...  ...               ...               ...             259 

Culinary  Operations ...               ...  ...               ...               ...    260 

Operations  of  Industry       ...  ...               ...               ...             261 

Of  Lies     ...               ...               ...  ...               ...               ...    262 

Harmony  and  Acoustics    ...  ...               ...               ...             263 

Perfume — Implements  of  War...  ...               ...               ...    264 

Greek  Fire — Decline  of  the  Roman  Empire       ...               ...             — 

Deceits  of  the  Senses...               ...  ...               ...               ...    266 

Experimentalists                ...  ...               ...               ...             267 

Divine  Sen'ice — Hymns             ...  ...               ...               ...    268 

Conclusion         ...               .,.  ...               ...              ...             269 

Magnalia  Naturse ...                 ...  ...              ...              ...    270 


PRELIMINARY 


DISCOURSE. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


Our  life  is  turned 
Out  of  her  course,  -wherever  man  is  made 
An  offering,  or  a  sacrifice,  a  tool 
Or  implement,  a  passive  thing  employed 
As  a  hrute  mean,  -without  acknowledgment 
Of  conamon  right  or  interest  in  the  end ; 
Used  or  ahused  as  selfishness  may  prompt. 

Wordsworth. 


The  object  of  works  like  the  Utopia  is  very  com- 
monly misunderstood.  People  are  apt  to  imagine, 
because  the  form  in  which  the  principles  appear 
has  been  created  by  the  author,  that  the  principles 
themselves  likewise  partake  of  a  visionary  charac- 
ter, and  have  no  reference  to  society  as  it  actually 
exists.  The  attempt  to  exhibit  them  in  action 
seems  fatal  to  their  vitality.  They  are  supposed 
to  be  adapted  to  the  use  of  no  community,  because 
the  community  in  whose  social  condition  the  author 
has  chosen  to  exemplify  their  necessary  operation, 
is  disguised  by  a  fanciful  name,  or  perhaps  has  no 
existence. 

But  this  is  an  unphilosophical  mode  of  judging. 
In  most  cases  men  who  create  imaginary  common- 

B  2 


IV  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

wealths  are  careful  to  introduce  no  institution, 
which  has  not  somewhere  been  put  in  practice,  and 
received  the  sanction  of  experience.  They  proceed 
exactly  according  to  the  system  of  landscape- 
painters,  who,  from  various  picturesque  features 
actually  observed  in  nature,  compose  an  ideal 
scene,  more  beautiful,  perhaps,  than  any  combina- 
tion of  the  elements  they  ever  witnessed ;  or,  at 
least,  more  complete  when  artificially  isolated,  and 
viewed  apart ;  which  is  almost  impossible  in  nature 
itself  Precisely  so  is  it  with  ethic  delineators. 
They  study  society  in  its  history  and  progressive 
developement,  and  from  among  the  rules  which  it 
has  prescribed  itself  in  different  circumstances, 
select  what  appear  to  them  the  wisest,  and  linking 
them  together  by  an  imaginary  vinculum,  give 
birth  to  a  state,  a  form  of  government,  a  code  of 
laws,  and  a  system  of  manners,  such  as  in  their 
totality  never  existed,  though  not  necessarily  re- 
pugnant to  the  human  constitution  or  the  regular 
dispensations  of  Providence. 

This  is  preeminently  true  in  the  case  of  Sir 
Thomas  More.  He  has  nowhere,  I  think,  imagined 
a  law  which  was  not  really  enacted  and  found  to 
work  well  in  some  ancient  community  ;  he  has  con- 
ceived no  form  of  manners,  even  where  he  departs 
from  established  customs  most  widely,  for  which  he 
could  not,  or  for  which  I  cannot,  adduce  historical 
or  philosophical  authority ;  he  recommends  no 
practices  which  have  not  already  prevailed,  ad- 
vocates no  maxims  which  have  not,  in  some  country 
or  other,  been  adopted  as  principles  of  action,  ad- 


niELIMINARY    DISCOrilSK.  V 

varices  no  opinions  whicli  would  re(|uire  more  than 
a  very  moderate  portion  of  ability  to  defend. 

Not  that  I  by  any  means  pretend  he  Is  always 
ric^ht.  Far  from  it.  I  disagree  with  him  In  many 
places,  as  they  who  read  my  notes  will  perceive. 
Yet  even  where  he  errs,  his  errors,  I  think,  are 
those  of  a  great  man,  intent  on  promoting-  the 
greatest  happiness  of  the  greatest  number ;  and 
with  this  view  venturing  daringly  on  the  adoption 
or  revival  of  practices  shrunk  from  by  the  timid, 
or  made  the  object  of  sneer  and  sarcasm  by  the 
vulgar.  His  opportunities,  however,  for  acquiring 
correct  notions,  and  testing  theory  by  exjoerlence, 
were  such  as  fall  to  the  lot  of  few.  Engaged  for 
many  years  in  public  business,  initiated  in  all  the 
mysteries  of  state-craft,  he  was  enabled  to  observe 
closely  and  narrowly  the  operation  of  those  princi- 
ples, by  which  contemporary  politicians  were 
guided  ;  and  his  large  acquaintance  with  history, 
rendered  easy  the  comparison  between  existing  in- 
stitutions, and  those  which  society  had  made  expe- 
riment of  and  laid  aside,  whether  from  fickleness, 
or  because  its  wants  required  the  change. 

For  this  reason  the  opinion  of  Sir  Thomas 
INIore,  preserved  in  the  Utopia,  will  always  appear 
worthy  of  consideration  to  persons  above  the  puerile 
habit  of  judging  all  things  by  the  prejudice  cur- 
rent in  their  particular  coterie.  Historians,  how- 
ever, little  accjuainted  with  his  works,  but  re-echo- 
ing the  remarks  of  some  strainer  after  originality, 
affect  to  fomi  a  mean  estimate  of  his  intellect.  They 
lose  sight  altogether  of  the  times  in  which  he  ap- 


VI  PRELIMINARY  DISCOURSE. 

peared.  They  forget  how  dense  were  the  clouds 
which  then  filled  the  horizon,  obstructing  the 
golden  rays  of  truth,  that  sought  to  find  a  passage 
to  the  earth.  Dwelling  on  an  eminence  to  which 
they  have  not  been  raised  by  their  own  exertions, 
but  by  the  progressive  artificial  elevation  of  the 
whole  platform  of  society,  they  conceive  themselves 
entitled  to  look  down  upon  the  Chancellor  of  Henry 
the  Eighth,  because  certain  truths,  now  popular, 
failed  to  gain  admittance  into  his  mind,  and  certain 
errors,  now  exploded,  maintained  their  footing 
there. 

But  if  all  the  truths  contained  in  the  Utopia 
were  expanded  and  placed  in  their  proper  light, 
it  would  appear  a  bold  work  even  now ;  to  say 
nothing  of  the  errors,  which  are  full  as  bold  and 
startling  as  the  truths.  A  strong  sympathy  with 
the  many  always  brings  its  punishment  along  with 
it  in  a  monarchy.  It  subjects  the  individual  who 
entertains  it  to  suspicion  at  court,  and  even  in 
general  society.  He  has  dared  to  suffer  his  feelings 
to  overstep  the  limits  prescribed  by  fashion — has 
tacitly  declared  himself  member  of  a  community 
more  comprehensive  than  that  of  the  exclusive — 
has  adopted  humanity  at  large  in  opposition  to 
the  humanity  of  the  aristocracy,  and  is  supposed 
to  belong,  in  sentiment  and  preferences,  to  the 
great  circle  whose  interests  he  espouses.  And 
there  is  no  one  who  does  not  know  that  a  declara- 
tion of  this  kind  is  still  attended  with  many  incon- 
veniences, if  not  with  serious  detriment  and  loss. 
How  much  more  so,  then,  must  this   have  been 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  Vll 

the  case  in  the  days  of"  Sir  Thomas  More  !  Ne\  er- 
theless,  though  fully  alive  to  all  the  evils  and 
dang'ers  to  which  the  advocacy  of  popular  govern- 
ment was  likely  to  expose  him,  he  iearlessly,  with 
his  eyes  open,  lent  the  sanction  of  his  name  to  a 
theory  of  Reform,  to  adopt  the  mildest  term,  more 
radical  and  sweeping  than  any  known  to  the  history 
of  legislation,  from  the  days  of  Lycurgus  to  tlie 
present. 

Many,  indeed,  may  conceive  that  l)y  its  very  ex- 
travagance it  was  rendered  innoxious  and  unobjec- 
tionable. For  even  princes  and  nobles  would  dis- 
co\  er  little  danger  in  a  scheme  which  strikes  at  the 
root  of  all  property  and  all  luxury ;  which  leaves 
the  ambitious  nothing  to  aspire  to ;  the  avaricious 
nothing  to  crave;  the  sensualist  and  voluptuary 
nothing  to  sigh  after,  nothing  to  covet ;  the  vain, 
and  idle,  and  time-waster,  nothing  but  the  prospect 
of  toil,  shared  with  the  rudest  and  meanest  mem- 
liers  of  the  community.  Milton  speaks  of  Plato's 
Republic  as  an  intellectual  debauch,  indulged  in 
after  dinner  in  the  Groves  of  the  Academy.  Had 
he  expressed  an  opinion  of  the  Utopia,  it  is  pro- 
bable, considering  the  different  geniuses  of  the 
men,  that  it  would  have  been  little  more  fiivour- 
able  ;  for  Sir  Thomas  More  had,  in  the  strict  sense, 
but  a  scanty  share  of  the  poet  in  his  temperament, 
while  Milton  was  "  of  imagination  all  compact." 
It  is,  therefore,  somewhat  surprising  to  find  him 
among  the  censurers  of  Plato,  who  assuredly,  what- 
ever faults  he  might  fall  into,  did  not  err  on  the 
side  of  dryness  and  commonplace,  which  the  ima- 


Vlll  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

gination  abhors,  but  rather  soared  too  high  into  the 
ideal  world  in  search  of  an  exemplar  and  pattern 
for  liuman  society. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  Plato's  "Republic"  which  not 
merely  suggested  the  Utopia,  but  was  through- 
out its  model,  and  the  authority  that  tacitly  sanc- 
tioned many  of  its  most  impracticable,  and,  indeed, 
undesirable  regulations.  But  it  is  easier  to  adopt 
Plato's  errors,  than  to  accjuire  the  art  and  the  ir- 
resistible eloquence,  amidst  the  blaze  of  which  we 
scarcely  discern  them  in  his  works.  While  ad- 
vancing what  he  would  have  us  believe,  he  ap- 
pears much  less  to  be  engaged  in  defending  a 
series  of  propositions  by  enthymeme  and  syllogism, 
than  in  delivering  a  revelation  which  it  were  cri- 
minal to  reject.  He  always  seems  to  have  the 
Divinity  on  his  side,  to  be  in  close  communication 
with  heaven,  and  merely  to  utter  wliat  has  been 
entrusted  to  him,  like  a  prophet.  He  writes  not 
like  other  men.  Some,  as  Demosthenes  and  Thu- 
cydides,  may  have  more  vigour;  others,  as  Aristotle, 
may  display  more  learning,  shrewder  common 
sense,  a  larger  acquaintance  with  mankind  ;  and 
others,  again,  as  Aristophanes  may  excel  him  in 
wit,  in  the  art  of  moving  laughter,  in  the  wild 
and  marvellous  power  of  transforming  whatever  he 
pleased  into  an  object  of  lidicule,  or  a  mark  for 
scorn.  This  is  true ;  yet  Plato  pleases  more  than 
any,  more  than  all.  There  are  sources  of  delight 
in  his  works,  which  burst  forth  like  springs  on  a 
cloud-capped  mountain,  and  refresh,  and  restore, 
and  tranquillize  us,  though  their  origin  be  con- 


rKKI.i:\IIXARY    DISCnURSK.  IX 

cealed  from  view.  He  absorbs  the  whole  mind  oi' 
tliose  who  ^ain  his  intimacy.  There  is  a  fjlory 
jibout  his  ideas,  as  about  the  heads  of  the  apostles, 
\\  Inch  appears  to  be  brightly  reflected  from  our  own 
fancy  as  we  read,  and  to  transform  us  into  some- 
things like  his  resemblance.  We  feel  ourselves  in 
presence  of  the  beautiiul ;  it  descends  around  us 
like  a  shower,  but  a  shower  that  warms  and  fructifies, 
and  clothes  even  the  most  l)arren  and  stony  places 
of  the  soul  with  verdure.  Hence  the  power  and 
the  charm  of  Plato.  He  possesses  art  in  perfec- 
tion, but  possesses  along-  with  it  something  which 
transcends  all  art,  and  operates  like  an  eternal 
source  of  energy  upon  whomsoever  approaches  him. 
These  qualities,  which  characterize  all  his  ge- 
nuine remains,  are  nowhere  more  visible  than  in 
the  "  Republic,"  which,  as  I  have  already  remarked, 
excited  in  Sir  Thomas  More  the  wish  to  frame  in 
imitation  of  it  an  ideal  state,  perfect  in  laws  and 
manners,  and  more  adapted  to  the  notions  and 
wants  of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.  Properly  to 
comprehend  the  modern  work,  therefore,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  form  something  like  a  just  conception 
of  the  ancient  one,  which  has  served  as  the  anti- 
type not  merely  of  the  Utopia,  but  of  the 
"  Panchaia"  of  Euhemeros,  the  "  City  of  the  Sun"' 
of  Campanella,  the  "  New  Atlantis"  of  Lord  Bacon, 
the  "  Gaudentio  di  Lucca,"  attributed  to  Bishop 
Berkeley,  the  "  Oceana"  of  Harrington,'  and  a 
host  of  similar  productions  less  renowned. 

'   Goettling,  Pref.  ad.  Aristot-  Polit.  p.  xii  attributes  to //nrc/s 
the  Oceana  of  Harrington,  which,  therefore,  he  had  never  read. 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


But  the  reader  must  by  no  means  expect  a  com- 
plete analysis    of  the  "  Republic,"   which    would 
greatly   transcend  the  limits   of  an   introduction. 
All  I  can  here  attempt  is  a  description  of  the  arti- 
ficial structure  of  the  work,  with  an  explanation, 
necessarily  brief  and  imperfect,  of  the  principles 
according  to  which  Plato  builds  up  the  frame  of 
civil  society.     Much  doubt  has  existed  as  to  the 
object   sought  to   be  attained  in  this  voluminous 
dialogue,  some   contending  that  it  was  simply  to 
ascertain  and  illustrate   the  nature   of  justice,  in 
order  to  which   it  was  necessary  to  exhibit  it  in 
operation,  not  in  an  imperfect  individual,  but  in  a 
perfect    community.      This    is   the   hypothesis   of 
Schleiermacher    and    Morgenstern,    who,   though 
differing  on  minor  points,  agree  upon  the  whole, 
and  maintain  their  notions  with  great  subtilty  and 
force  of  argument.     "  If,"  says  the  former,  "  we  are 
to  start  upon  the  supposition  that  the  representa- 
tion of  the  state  is  the  proper  grand  object,  it  would 
be  hardly  possible  to  conceive  why  the  appearance 
of  the  contrary  is  pointedly  produced. ^     And  even 
if  it  could  be  explained  why  Plato  combined  the 
investigation    concerning  justice   with  this  grand 

In  his  countryman  Buhle's  "  History  of  Blodern  Philosophy," 
t.  iv.  pp.  424 — 4-18,  he  might,  however,  have  discovered  not 
only  the  real  author  of  the  work,  but  a  very  full  and  able 
analysis  of  its  contents. 

-  This  is  merely  begging  the  question,  and  begging  it,  too, 

in    that  impudent  way   which  implies  that  no  one,    save   the 

writer,  could   see  what  the  grand  object   of  Plato  might  be. 

'  Goettling  has  a  good  remark  on  this  point.     "  In  qua  republica," 

says   he,   "  qui  imprimis  de  justitia  ocere  voluisse  Platonem, 


niELIMINAllY    DISCOURSE.  XI 

object,  still  the  form  and  the  manner  in  which  this 
is  clone  would  then  be  perfectly  unmeaning?  and 
absurd.  It  would  have  been  much  more  natural  to 
introduce  the  main  subject  at  once,  and  then,  after 
the  internal  existence  of  the  state  had  been  de- 
scribed, to  say  in  what  the  justice  and  discretion 
of  such  a  whole  consist ;  and  then  the  application 
to  the  individual  mind,  and  the  ethical  problems, 
still  unsolved  in  this  point  of  view,  would  have 
resulted  most  naturally ;  consequently,  a  perfectly 
converse  relation  between  those  two  grand  ol)jects 
and  the  essential  parts  of  the  work  referring  to 
them  must  then  have  obtained."^ 

JNIorgenstern,  whose  arguments  are  abridged  and 
represented  with  much  ingenuity  by  Stall! laum, 
arrives,  after  a  lengthened  discussion,  at  the  conclu- 
sion, that  Plato's  design  was  to  develope  the  nature 
of  justice  and  of  virtue  in  general,  first  in  the  ab- 
stract, and  secondly  in  their  operation  on  human 
hajjpiness. ''  And  this  question,  which  has  afforded 
so  many  opportunities  of  disputation  to  the  learned 
of  Germany,  had  already,  as  we  learn  from  Proclus, 
exercised  for  ages  the  abilities  of  the  ancients 
themselves.*  Muretus,  too,  who  has  left  behind 
him  a  commentary  on  the  first  and  second  books  of 
the   Republic,   enters  at  the  very  outset  into  the 

atque  earn  ob  causam  non  Tripi  iroXiTtiag,  sedTnpi  5iKaL0<rvvi]c 
librum  suum  inscripsisse  arbitrati  sunt,  ii  eodem  jure  Aristotelem, 
quiim   de  politicis  scriberet,  non  politicam,  sed  ethicam  docere 
voluisse  dicerent." — I'ref.  ud  Arist.  FiU.  p.  xi. 
3  Introductions  to  the  Dialogues  of  Plato.  407  f- 
*  De  Argument,  et  Cons.  Lib.  Plat,  de  Repub.  t.  iii.  p.  20. 
•°'  Comment,  ad  Plat.  Polit.  p.  301).  ff. 


Xn  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

same  discussion,  and  contends  that  the  pliiloso- 
pher's  object  was  twofold,  but  terminating  at  length 
in  unity ;  that  is,  that  his  reasoning  is  designed  to 
show  the  nature  of  justice  and  of  good  govern- 
ment, which,  when  properly  understood,  are  but 
one  and  the  same  thing.''  And  this,  in  fact,  is  the 
view  which  Stallbaum  himself  adopts,  though  he 
makes  use  of  different  language  in  embodying  his 
notion,  observing  that  Plato,  notwithstanding  that 
he  sets  out  with  investigating  the  nature  of  justice, 
evidently  proposes  to  lay  before  the  reader  his  beau 
ideal  of  a  good  citizen  and  a  perfect  state ;  thai  is, 
a  man  and  a  government  actuated  on  all  occasions 
by  the  strict  principles  of  justice.^ 

A  great  deal  of  useless  ingenuity  has  been  exhi- 
bited in  this  investigation.  Plato  everywhere 
throughout  his  works  advocates  the  doctrine  that 
the  object  of  government  is  the  greatest  happiness 
of  the  greatest  number ;  and  in  the  "  Republic" 
undertakes  to  show  upon  what  basis  a  polity  de- 
signed to  secure  that  must  be  erected,  and  what 
form  it  ought  to  assume.  He,  however,  approaches 
the  subject  in  his  usual  way,  through  digression 
and  a  seemingly  rambling  dialogue,  light  at  first 
as  air,  but  rapidly  assuming  solidity,  and  shaping 


M.  Ant.  Muret.  Comment,  p.  G15.  ff. 
'  De  Argmii.  et  Consil.  &c.  iii. '20.  "Quum  enim  omnis 
fere  disputatio,  licet  a  justiciae  notione  exploranda  proficiscatur, 
tamen  in  describenda  indole  et  natura  turn  optinii  hominis  turn 
perfectae  civitatis  contineatur,  dubitari  non  posco  iirbitramur, 
quin  in  hac  ipsa  re  prascipuam  questionem  versari  putare  dehe- 
amus." 


PIIKLIMIN'ARY    DISCOURSE.  XIU 

itself  into  an  elevated  and  majestic  fonn.  So- 
crates, who  afterwards  turns  out  to  be  the  builder 
of  the  state,  descends  to  the  Peira>eos,  in  com- 
pany with  Glaucon,  the  son  of  Ariston,  for  the 
purpose  of  performing  his  devotions  to  Artemis, 
and  beholding  the  Bendidia,  a  splendid  festival 
celebrated  in  honour  of  that  goddess.  When  about 
to  return,  he  is  accidentally  met  and  detained  by 
Polemarchos,  brother  of  the  orator  Lysias,  who 
takes  him  to  the  house  of  their  father  Kephalos. 
Here  a  remarkably  pleasing  conversation  takes 
place  between  Socrates  and  the  old  man,  which 
gives  us  a  high  idea  of  the  polished  manners  and 
amiable  character  of  Athenian  gentlemen. 

The  first  topic  upon  which  they  start  is  old  age ; 
from  this  the  transition  is  easy  to  the  means  by 
which  old  age  may  be  rendered  comfortable, 
among  which  wealth  holds  a  prominent  place ; 
this  conducts  the  discussion  to  the  subject  of  a 
good  conscience,  then  of  justice,  by  the  practice  of 
which  a  good  conscience  is  presented.  It  is  shown 
that  to  be  just  forms  the  basis  of  individual  hap- 
piness; that  that  which  renders  one  man  happy, 
must  be  equally  successful  when  applied  to  many 
men — to  all  men;  consequently,  that  justice  consti- 
tutes the  happiness  of  states  as  of  individuals. 
Hence  they  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  nature 
and  form  of  a  state,  and  how  it  may  be  adminis- 
tered on  just  principles ;  in  other  words,  rendered 
prosperous  and  happy. 

When  the  discussion  opens  there  are  eleven  in- 
dividuals present,  reckoning  Kephalos,  who,  how- 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


ever,  soon  departs  to  superintend  certain  religious 
rites.  But  of  the  ten  who  remain,  few  take  an 
active  part  in  what  is  going  forward.  There  is  at 
first  a  rush,  as  it  were,  of  many  champions  to  de- 
fend injustice  and  tyranny  against  the  attacks  of 
Socrates,  and  the  old  man  feigns  to  be  alarmed  for 
his  cause.  But  by  degrees  their  ardour  finds  itself 
checked.  The  philosopher,  whom  but  a  short  time 
before  it  seemed  so  easy  to  overcome,  having  yielded 
to  the  fierce  storm  of  sophistical  opposition,  returns 
to  the  charge,  brandishes  the  arms  of  an  irresistible 
logic,  dislodges  them  first  from  one  position,  then 
from  another,  until  at  length  the  patrons  of  tyranny 
in  full  rout  are  driven  ignominiously  from  the 
field.  Then,  the  ground  being  cleared,  he  proceeds 
to  frame  his  Commonwealth,  in  a  manner  totally 
difl^erent  from  that  of  polity-builders  in  general, 
exhibiting  as  he  proceeds  the  mode  in  which  society 
rises  out  of  its  elements,  as  well  as  the  formation, 
first  principles,  and  gradual  developement  of  go- 
vernment. 

In  following  out  this  process  many  notions  are 
advanced  questionable  in  themselves,  or  objection- 
able from  their  extreme  opposition  to  the  opinions 
current  in  society.  ®  Such,  for  example,  as  the  com- 
munity of  wives  and  children,  and  of  property, 
which,  though,  as  has  been  proved  by  Sparta  and 
the  kingdom  of  the  Nairs,  it  might  be  reduced  to 
practice  without  any  material  inconvenience,  must 
yet  on  moral  grounds  be  condemned.     But,  pass- 

8  Rep.  V.  §.  §.  6,  7- 1.  348.  ff.—Stallbaum. 


PRKLIMIXAllY    DISCOURSE.  XV 

ins;'  over  this,  as  unnecessary  to  be  dwelt  upon 
here,  I  may  remark  that,  however  defective  the 
regulations  respecting"  the  moral  relations  of  the 
sexes,  children  once  born  are  cared  for,  nurtured, 
trained,  and  invested  w  ith  habits  ethical  and  intel- 
lectual, in  a  manner  surpassing  whatever  has  been 
anywhere  else  attempted,  whether  in  a  real  or  ideal 
community.  In  fact,  Plato's  system  of  education 
practically  developed,  would,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
generations,  give  birth  to  a  race  of  human  beings 
exceeding  in  physical  force  and  beauty,  in  moral 
grandeur,  in  political  power,  in  social  happiness, 
everything-  hitherto  known  in  the  form  of  man. 
Communities  in  general  bestow  no  attention  on  the 
circumstances  connected  with  the  physical  formation 
of  their  citizens.  They  appear  to  consider  it  of  no 
moment  whether  the  population  be  powerful  or 
feeble,  of  good  stature  or  stunted,  beautiful  or 
deformed.  Or,  if  such  subjects  do  at  wide  inter- 
vals command  some  attention  from  the  reflecting 
few,  their  meditations  have  hitherto  been  barren  of 
great  results ;  for  no  state,  so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
has  in  modern  times  effected  anything  towards  im- 
proving the  breed  of  men,  though  it  be  on  all  hands 
acknowledged  that  health  and  vigour  of  body  exer- 
cise an  important  influence  over  the  intellectual 
capacity  and  moral  habits  of  mankind. 

Plato,  in  common  with  most  ancient  legislators, 
attributes  extraordinary  influence  to  education ; 
and  accordingly,  his  regulations  on  the  subject  are 
minute  and  numerous,  but  calculated  of  course  to 
create  citizens  fitted  to  live  in  a  commonwealth 


XVI  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

such  as  his.  On  this  point  Sir  Thomas  More 
differs  most  from  Plato,  and  his  inferiority  is  in 
exact  proportion  to  the  difference.  He  would  ap- 
pear not  to  have  launched  far  into  those  specula- 
tions which  are  conversant  with  the  generation  of 
habits  and  articles  of  faith,  with  the  origination  of 
mental  movement,  with  the  conversion  of  indivi- 
dual preferences  into  general  principles  of  action, 
in  other  words,  with  the  gradual  transformation  of 
a  host  of  jarring,  discordant,  selfish,  ignorant 
human  units  into  one  grand  harmonious  whole, 
actuated  by  like  sentiments,  like  opinions,  like 
principles,  achieving  their  own  happiness  by  pro- 
moting that  of  others.  But  in  this  Plato  was  pre- 
eminently skilled.  If  he  imagined  man  existing 
under  extraordinary  circumstances,  he  knew,  there- 
fore, the  arts  by  which  they  were  to  be  reconciled 
to  those  circumstances ;  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt,  notwithstanding  the  suppositions  of  Aris- 
totle, that  men  educated|asthey  arein  the  " Republic" 
would  be  content  to  pass  their  lives  in  such  a  state. 
It  will  by  no  means  be  possible  to  enter  here 
into  even  an  outline  of  this  philosophical  system, 
which  being  framed  to  occupy  a  place  in  a  very 
peculiar  order  of  things,  would  in  its  totality  be 
inapplicable  to  any  other.  But  viewed  as  a  means 
to  a  given  end,  it  may  safely  be  pronounced  un- 
rivalled. It  contains  the  first  attempt  made  in  the 
world  to  place  woman  on  a  level  with  man,  though 
in  the  means  imagined  for  this  particular  purpose, 
the  philosopher  more  than  once,  in  my  opinion, 
misses  his  aim.     He,  however,  establishes  the  fact. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  Xvii 

that  setting  bodily  force  aside,  woman  is  designed 
by  nature  to  be  not  only  the  companion,  but  the 
peer  of  man,  the  participator  of  his  sublimest  spe- 
culations, his  noblest  virtues,  his  patriotism,  his 
valour ;  and  that  in  those  countries  where  she  holds 
an  inferior  position,  it  is  the  laws  and  iniquitous 
institutions  that  confine  her  to  it. 

Socrates  had,  indeed,  very  particular  reasons  to 
be  grateful  to  women.  It  was  from  two  of  them, 
Diotima  and  Aspasia,  that  he  derived,  according  to 
his  own  account,  his  philosophy,  and  that  matchless 
style  of  domestic  eloquence,  which  bore  down  before 
it  all  opposition.  The  speech  of  Diotima  on  loye 
is  introduced  into  the  "Banquet."  Its  tone  and 
character  are  little  in  accordance  with  the  idea  vul- 
garly entertained  on  the  education  and  accomplish- 
ments of  Hellenic  women ;  but  Plato  was  too  ex- 
quisite a  judge  of  propriety,  too  much  alive  to 
what  was  due  to  himself  and  to  his  own  reputa- 
tion, too  sensible  of  how  injudicious  it  would  be 
to  outrage  probability,  to  have  introduced  that 
speech,  or  that  other  of  Aspasia  in  the  "  Menexenos," 
had  there  been  the  least  possible  absurdity  in  attri- 
buting such  eloquence,  or  so  much  profound  philo- 
sophy, to  individuals  of  that  sex. 

But  however  these  points  may  be  disposed  of,  it 
will  be  hard  to  prove  that  there  has  ever  existed  a 
political  community  in  which  women  have  exer- 
cised a  greater  or  more  beneficial  influence  than  in 
the  polity  of  Plato.  In  all  republics,  indeed,  as 
Lady  JNIontague  acutely  remarks,  women  have  their 
full  share,  if  not  something  more,  in  the  manage- 

c 


XVIU  PEELIMIXARY   DISCOURSE. 

ment  of  public  business;  and  as  their  education 
too  commonly  unfits  them  for  comprehending  the 
nature  of  that  business,  their  interference  is,  for  the 
most  part,  productive  of  very  mischievous  results. 

To  wave  this  disquisition,  let  me  advert  briefly 
to  the  form  of  the  commonwealth,  which  in  many 
of  its  regulations,  is  exactly  conformable  to  nature. 
Having  divided  the  mental  powers  of  man  into 
reason,  irritahility,  and  desire,  he  makes  a  corres- 
ponding division  of  the  population  of  his  state 
into  three  classes — the  magistrates,  the  military,  and 
the  populace;  the  first  governed  by  calm  wisdom, 
the  second  by  the  angry  passions,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  reason,  the  third  by  the  feelings  of  the 
moment,  whatever  they  may  be.  He  could  not 
conceive  the  possibility  of  communicating  the 
lessons  of  philosophy  to  the  multitude ;  nor  could 
any  other  man,  until  those  lessons  were  embodied 
by  Christianity  in  a  brief  moral  code,  comprehen- 
sible to  all  men,  whose  injunctions  and  prohibi- 
tions come  sanctioned,  moreover,  by  the  authority 
of  the  Almighty.  The  condition  of  the  common 
people,  therefore,  has  been  altered  by  Christianity. 
From  a  gross  and  sensual  throng,  they  may,  v^here 
the  other  classes  do  their  duty,  be  converted  into 
masses  manageable  by  reason,  open  to  the  influ- 
ences of  religion,  inspired  with  the  enlightened 
love  of  country ;  and  although  in  themselves  in- 
capable, as  a  body,  of  exercising  the  I'unctions  of 
government,  by  no  means  precluded  from  furnish- 
ing from  among  their  own  ranks,  both  wise  legis- 
lators and  able  commanders. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  XIX 

Plato's  magistrates  were  to  be  chosen  from  the 
military  caste,  upon  principles  which  could  not 
fail  to  give  satisfaction  to  the  most  democratic  of 
mankind.  Virtue  and  wisdom  were  their  sole  titles 
to  nobility  and  rule.  They  were  to  be  chosen  to 
govern,  because  nature,  by  bestowing  on  them  the 
capacity,  had  evidently  designed  them  for  it ;  not 
because  their  acres  were  numerous,  or  their  purses 
well  filled.  Education,  too,  was  to  concur  in  en- 
larging, strengthening,  and  polishing  their  minds  ; 
and  philosojjhy  and  religion,  those  two  most  con- 
summate teachers  of  happiness,  were  through  life 
to  be  their  counsellors,  supporters,  and  guides.  A 
state  so  governed  would  be  under  the  immediate 
direction  and  control  of  nature.  Virtue,  which  is 
but  the  health  of  the  soul,  would  become  the  gene- 
ral habit  of  the  community  ;  contention  and  vio- 
lence would  be  unknown  ;  misery  would  cease ; 
and  the  Golden  Age,  feigned  by  the  poets,  would 
be  called  into  a  real  existence  upon  earth. 

Every  one  has  heard  it  was  the  opinion  of  Plato, 
that  nations  would  never  be  well  governed  or 
happy,  until  kings  should  be  philosophers,  or 
philosophers  kings.  Experience  has  taught  man- 
kind a  different  lesson.  Philosophers  are  now  em- 
ployed in  discovering  how,  in  order  to  be  happy, 
mankind  may  deliver  themselves  from  their  kings, 
which,  after  so  many  ages  of  useless  toil  and  expe- 
riment, is  the  only  hope  they  have  left.  However, 
it  is  in  the  "  Republic"  that  he  expresses  that 
opinion  ;  and  the  reader  who  is  at  the  pains  to  exa- 
mine, that  while  making  use   of  the   tei-m   king, 

c  2 


XX  PRELIMINARY  DISCOURSE. 

Plato  by  no  means  intended  what  we  understand 
by  it,  but  something  extremely  different — as  differ- 
ent, in  fact,  as  virtue  is  from  vice.  His  notions  of 
a  philosopher,  too,  differed  very  materially  from 
those  which  prevail  in  our  day.  He  did  not  un- 
derstand by  it  a  man  who  stands  all  day  at  the  tail  of 
a  pair  of  bellows  in  a  laboratory,  with  sooty  face 
and  hands  begrimed  with  charcoal,  watching  the 
results  of  a  chemical  experiment.  Such  a  person 
he  would  have  considered  a  highly  useful  servant 
of  philosophy,  but  would  have  found  for  him  a 
name  altogether  different  from  that  of  philosopher. 
Nor  did  he  intend  by  the  term  a  botanist,  a  natural 
historian,  or  an  astronomer.  Even  the  logician, 
who  reasons  subtly,  and  the  sophist,  who  under- 
stands something  of  everything,  and  on  any  given 
question  can  discourse  a  full  hour  by  Shrewsbury 
clock,  would  by  no  means  have  come  up  to  Plato's 
conception  of  a  philosopher.  He  bestowed  the 
name  on  those,  and  those  only,  who  have  arrived  by 
meditation  at  the  knowledge  of  eternal  truth  ;  who, 
smitten  by  the  beauty  of  virtue,  not  only  love  and 
admire  it,  but  pursue  it  with  all  their  soul  and  with 
all  their  strength,  who  nourish  it,  who  exercise  it, 
who  put  their  whole  trust  in  it ;  and  who,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  loftiness  and  perfection  of  their  the- 
oretical wisdom,  are  versed  likewise  in  practice  and 
experience,  and  in  all  the  arts  which  lead  to  private 
virtue  and  public  felicity.  ^ 

^  Conf.  Stallbaum  De  Argument,  el  Consil  &c,  i.  36.  Mor- 
genstern.  p.  202—212.  De  Geer.  Diatr.  de  Polit.  Plat.  Princip. 
p.  104 — 175-  with  Books  vi.  and  vii,  of  the  Republic,  jiaisim. 


PRELIMINARY  DISCOURSE.  XXI 

It  has  been  observed  above,  tliat  Plato  divides 
the  powere  of  the  mind  into  three,  and  that  in  his 
ideal  state  were  three  classes  of  men  corresponding 
to  that  division  of  the  mental  faculties.  Follow- 
ing- out  the  idea  that  a  commonwealth  is  but  a 
compound  entity,  bearing  a  strict  analogy  to  an  in- 
dividual man,  he  considers  the  excellence  of  a  per- 
fect polity  to  be  of  the  same  nature  with  that  of  a 
good  citizen.  For  the  perfection  of  a  state  consists 
in  the  prevalence  of  four  forms  of  virtue  : — ivisdom, 
the  distinguishing  quality  of  those  rulers  and 
magistrates,  who  consult  and  deliberate  on  whatever 
concerns  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the 
people ;  fortitude,  which  must  exist  in  the  military 
caste,  who,  under  the  direction  of  the  magistrates, 
protect  the  rights  and  interests  of  the  community  ; 
temperance,  which  constrains  the  multitude  to  yield 
obedience  to  their  nilers,  and  live  in  peace  and 
harmony  with  each  other;  and,  lastly,  justice,  which 
prevails  when  the  citizens  not  only  are  united  by 
a  kind  of  brotherly  love,  but  cheerfully  perform 
each  class  their  several  duties,  whereby  all  the 
minor  virtues,  both  public  and  private,  are  strength- 
ened and  preserved. '" 

Having  explained  and  described  the  several  ex- 
cellencies of  a  state,  which,  as  I  have  obsei^ved,  are 
in  his  view  identical  with  those  of  the  individual, 
he  proceeds  to  develope  the  conniptions  and  perver- 
sions of  government,  which  likewise  correspond 
exactly  with  various  modifications  of  human  de- 

">  De  Repub.  iv.  427  e.— 435  a. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


pravity.  His  ideas  on  this  part  of  the  subject  de- 
serve the  deepest  attention,  particularly  from  those 
who,  as  legislators  or  statesmen,  may  by  wis- 
dom exalt  their  country  to  the  pinnacle  of  political 
prosperity,  or  plunge  it  by  inexperience  and  igno- 
rance into  the  depths  of  misery.  Here,  in  fact,  are 
found  the  germs  of  those  magnificent  political  theo- 
ries afterwards  brought  forward  more  systematically 
by  Aristotle,  Cicero,  and  Montesquieu  ;  and  per- 
haps Bentham  himself,  whose  unpoetical  mind 
offers  the  completest  contrast  to  that  of  Plato,  was 
not  wholly  unindebted  to  this  portion  of  the  Re- 
public. At  any  rate,  they  who  prefer  profiting  by 
profound  speculations  to  the  pleasure  of  dwelling 
upon  a  few  casual  errors,  snatched  up  and  borne 
along  by  the  mind  in  its  loftiest  flights,  as  straws, 
and  leaves,  and  other  worthless  things  are  by  the 
whirlwind,  may  here  refresh,  enlarge,  and  invigo- 
rate their  understandings,  by  the  contemplation  of 
ideas  exquisitely  original,  of  theories  sublime  and 
daring  beyond  belief,  of  eloquence  invested  with  a 
splendour,  a  brightness,  and  a  power  nowhere  sur- 
passed, but  of  which  the  English  reader  may  ob- 
tain some  idea  in  the  j^ages  of  that  "  holiest  of 
men,"  to  whom  we  owe  the  "  Paradise  Lost,"  and 
the  "  Defensio  pro  Populo  Anglicano." 

To  proceed :  there  is  no  foim  of  government 
which  has  not  by  nature  a  strong  and  almost  ne- 
cessary tendency  to  degenerate  into  another  poli- 
tical system,  which  may  be  regarded  as  its  perver- 
sion ;  for  even  the  most  perfect  shape  which  a  com- 
monwealth can  assume,  in  Plato's  language  an  aris- 


PRELIMINAKY    DISCOURSE.  XXIU 

tocracy,  but,  more  properly,  a  representative  Demo- 
cracy, slides  by  fatal  necessity,  first  into  Timocranj, 
then  into  Oligarchy,  next  into  Ochlocracy,  (con- 
founded with  Democracy  by  the  ancients,)  and 
lastly,  into  Tyranny.  Aristotle  has  treated  this 
part  of  the  subject  with  his  usual  clearness  and 
method,  in  some  respects  improving  upon  his 
master's  notions.  He  reckons  three  lecfitimate 
forms  of  government — Aristocracy,  Democracy, 
and  Monarchy ;  and  observes,  that  the  first  dege- 
nerates, when  perverted,  into  Oligarchy,  the  second 
into  Ochlocracy,  or  mob-government,  the  third  into 
Tyranny,  a  kind  of  political  institution,  with 
which  modern  nations  are  well  acquainted. 

Plato  pursues  his  parallel  between  the  indivi- 
dual citizen  and  the  state,  and  shows  liow  perver- 
sion is  effected  in  each.  In  the  first  place,  while 
I'eason  and  counsel  maintain  their  authority  in  the 
mind,  the  passions  are  held  in  due  restraint,  and 
virtue  bears  sway ;  but  the  legitimate  governing 
power  removed,  the  lusts  and  impetuous  desires  of 
our  nature  assume  the  superiority,  and  vice  suc- 
ceeds to  virtue.  Precisely  so  happens  it  in  states. 
Strife  and  "anger  beget  ambition,  of  all  vices  the 
nearest  akin  to  virtue.  And  this  is  the  animating 
principle  of  Timocracies,  such  as  those  of  Crete 
and  Sparta,  which  may  be  regarded  as  occupying 
the  next  place  in  excellence  to  Plato's  Republic ;  at 
least  they  were  so  regarded  by  the  philosopher 
himself.  The  progress  of  corruption  continuing, 
and  cupidity  and  other  vices  abounding,  an  Oli- 
garchy springs  up,  in  which  sordid  lucre,  selfish- 


XXIV  PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 

ness,  and  the  base  worship  of  property,  actuate 
both  rulers  and  people.  In  this  vilest  of  all  go- 
vernments, virtue  ceases  to  exercise  the  slightest 
influence ;  words  lose  their  original  signification  ;  a 
"  good  man"  no  longer  signifies  a  man  possessing 
high  moral  qualities,  but  a  person  who  has  large 
means ;  the  qualification  of  a  senator  is  not  vir- 
tue, or  honour,  or  capacity,  or  wisdom,  but  a  cer- 
tain census  in  land  or  moveables ;  privileged  castes 
rise  above  the  heads  of  their  fellow-citizens,  ren- 
der themselves  hereditary,  and  monopolize  the 
functions  of  government,  of  religion,  of  the  army ; 
learning  is  despised,  genius  is  trampled  under 
foot,  the  arts  dwindle  into  instruments  of  luxury ; 
women  grow  depraved,  children  disobedient.  The 
people  at  length  are  goaded  into  revolution.  They 
are  ignorant,  and  incapable  of  self-government. 
An  Ochlocracy,  or  mob-rule,  is  tried ;  but  the 
very  vitality  of  the  nation  having  been  almost 
drained  out  by  the  Oligarchy,  after  many  fruitless 
attempts  at  building  up  a  palace  with  sand,  they 
grow  weary  of  fruitless  exertion,  and  apathy  suc- 
ceeds, during  which  some  daring  man  starts  up, 
seizes  the  unlucky  moment,  and  establishes  a 
Tyranny,  which  Plato  looks  upon  as  the  worst  de- 
pravation of  government. 

Tyranny,  however,  is  not  so  much  a  fonn  of  go- 
vernment as  political  death,  or  sleep,  during  which 
all  conscious  exertion  of  power  is  extinguished. 
The  people,  like  a  vast  mass  of  brute  matter,  are 
fashioned  by  their  tyrant  into  whatever  form  he 
pleases  :  he  sends  jugglers  among  them,  under  the 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  XXV 

name  of  priests,  who  fill  them  with  dreams  favour- 
able to  tyranny  ;  by  the  instrumentality  of  these 
men,  he  darkens  their  minds,  stupifies  them  with 
intellectual  mandragora,  and  gradually  plucks  up 
by  the  root  every  free  and  manly  and  noble  senti- 
ment ;  ultimately,  with  more  than  Circsean  art,  he 
transfoiTOS  them  into  hogs,  rings  their  noses,  and 
turns  them  to  grant,  feed,  and  fatten  for  his  use  in 
the  sty  of  slavery.  "  Plato  proceeds  no  further  in 
this  fatal  circle.  History,  in  fact,  afforded  him  no 
light,  exhibited  to  him  no  people,  who,  after  ages 
of  degradation  and  misery,  rose  again,  wreaked 
fearful  vengeance  on  their  hereditaiy  ojjpressors, 
repaid  back  with  interest  in  a  day  their  wrongs 
and  the  wrongs  of  their  forefathers,  shook  their 
puny  tyrants  into  their  original  nothingness,  and 
placed  themselves  once  more  on  the  level  of  man, 
and  made  well-conceived  advances  towards  perfect 
freedom.  This  Plato  had  not  seen,  though  we  have, 
and  even  now  see  :  but  this  is  a  digression  from 
the  Platonic  theory. 

The  philosopher  had  enjoyed  too  many  oppor- 
tunities of  instructing  himself  in  the  school  of  expe- 
rience, to  believe  that  any  commonwealth,  however 
wisely  constituted,  can  be  placed  beyond  the  reach 
of  time  and  change.  He  knew  that  his  Republic,  like 
the  glorious  one  in  which  he  was  born,  and  whose 
excellence  he  did  not  sufficiently  prize,must  yield  at 
length,  with  every  other  work  of  man,  to  dissolution ; 
but  this  by  no  means  justifies  men,  in  his  opinion, 

"  Conf.  Stallbaum.  i.  38.  De  Repub.  viu.  p.  543—580  a. 


XXVI  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

for  relaxing  their  endeavours  to  stave  off  the  as- 
saults of  decay.  He  did  not  think  that  men  should 
hasten  to  jDerish  in  youth,  because  old  age  and 
death  will  overtake  them  inevitably  at  some  distant 
day,  let  them  act  in  the  meantime  as  they  please. 
On  the  contrary,  he  is  careful  to  point  out  the 
means,  which  he  fondly  conceived  to  be  in  their 
power,  of  preserving  the  health  of  the  state ;  that 
is  to  say,  perpetual  concord  and  union  among  the 
citizens.  But  the  question  still  recurs,  how  are 
concord  and  union  to  be  generated  and  maintained  ? 
In  the  answer  to  this  consists  the  chief  merit  of 
Plato's  system.  He  grounds  everything  on  the 
notions  of  moderation,  unmeddling  self-command, 
patience,  forbearance^  temperance,  charity,  aversion 
for  novelty,  and  ineradicable  love  of  country,  which 
shall  from  infancy  have  been  instilled  into  the 
minds  of  all,  fostered  by  public  honours,  corrobo- 
rated by  habit,  sanctioned  by  religion.  This,  there- 
fore, brings  us  back  again  to  education,  which  in 
point  of  fact  is  the  grand  pivot  upon  which  his 
whole  Republic  turns,  as  every  state  must,  in 
reality,  whatever  may  be  its  defects  or  excellencies. 
Everything  depends  on  the  manner  of  disciplining 
and  instructing  youth.  Give  me  the  sole  direction 
of  the  education  of  a  state,  and  I  will  convert  a 
republic  into  a  monarchy,  or  a  monarchy  into  a  re- 
public, in  the  course  of  thirty  years.  It  is  the 
Archimedean  lever  that  moves  the  world,  as  Plato, 
better  than  any  man,  understood.  In  concluding 
this  outline,  which  may  already  be  thought  too 
long,  I  shall,  perhaps,  be  pardoned  for  advancing 


PRBLIMIXARY    DISCOURSE.  XXVll 

one  truth,  not  sufficiently  kept  in  mind  by  our 
contemporaries ;  and  it  is  this — that,  in  order  to 
be  anything  more  than  a  splendid  dream,  re- 
publics must  be  erected  on  two  pillars,  virtue  and 
RELIGION' ;  without  which  freedom  can  by  no  possi- 
bility exist,  since  there  is  not  on  earth  a  good  man 
who  would  not  choose  rather  the  despotism  of  the 
Ottoman  Sultan,  than  a  commonwealth  of  irreli- 
gious, selfish,  base,  calculating  knaves. 

I  do  not  here  pause  to  contrast  with  the  polity 
which  I  have  slightly  sketched,  that  other  more 
practical  scheme  of  government  which,  towards 
the  decline  of  life,  Plato  brought  forward  in  his 
*'  Laws."  It  has  much  less  originality,  and  is 
rather  distinguished  by  an  attempt  at  reconciling 
lofty  theory  with  practice,  by  a  number  of  minute 
details,  than  for  the  features  which  it  presents  as  a 
whole.  But  the  ancients  were  partial  to  those 
poetical  platforais  of  government,  framed  by  phi- 
losophers in  their  closets,  which,  without  adhering 
strictly  to  what  might  be  literally  practicable,  sug- 
gest improvements,  and  keep  alive  the  desire  for 
them,  and  faith  in  their  reality,  by  exhibiting  com- 
munities moulded  at  pleasure,  confo lining  to  a 
code  of  laws  intended  to  approach  as  nearly  as 
possible  to  perfection. 

Even  before  Plato's  time,  Hippodamos,  an  ar- 
chitect of  Miletos,  who  acquired  celebrity  in  his 
profession  by  constructing  the  Peiraeeos,  and  im- 
proving the  method  of  distributing  streets,  and 
laying  out  cities,  conceived  the  plan  of  an  ideal 
republic,  of  which  Aristotle  has  presented  an  out- 


XXVIU  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

line.  "  Hippodamos,"  he  says,  "  was  ambitious  of 
reaching  eminence  in  all  kinds  of  knowledge,  and 
is  the  first  author  who,  without  any  practice  in 
affairs,  wrote  a  treatise  concerning  the  best  form  of 
government.  His  republic  consisted  of  ten  thou- 
sand men,  divided  into  the  three  classes  of  artificers, 
husbandmen,  and  soldiers.  The  territory  he  like- 
wise divides  into  three  portions ;  the  sacred,  des- 
tined for  the  various  exigencies  of  public  worship, 
(church  lands;)  the  common,  to  be  cultivated  for 
the  common  benefit  of  the  soldiers;  and  the  pri- 
vate, to  be  separately  appropriated  by  the  hus- 
bandmen. His  laws  also  were  divided  into  three 
kinds,  because  he  thought  there  were  only  three 
soils  of  injuries;  insults,  damages,  and  death.  He 
instituted  a  court  of  appeal,  composed  of  select 
senators.  Sentence,  he  thought,  ought  not  to  be 
passed  by  votes  or  ballot;  but  that  each  judge 
should  be  furnished  with  a  tablet,  on  which  he 
should  write  guilty,  if  he  simply  condemned,  and 
which  he  should  leave  unwritten,  if  he  simply  ac- 
quitted ;  but  on  which,  if  he  found  the  defendant 
in  some  measure  guilty,  but  not  to  the  full  extent 
of  the  indictment,  he  should  mark  this  difference, 
stating  how  much  the  culprit  should  pay,  or  what 
punishment  he  should  suffer. 

"As  the  law  formerly  stood,  Hippodamos  ob- 
served, that  in  all  cases  requiring  this  distinction, 
the  judge,  who  was  bound  by  oath  to  observe  jus- 
tice in  his  decisions,  must  commit  perjury  when- 
ever he  either  simply  and  positively  condemned,  or 
simply  and    positively   acquitted.      Hippodamos 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  XXIX 

also  established  a  law  in  favour  of  those  whose  in- 
ventions tended  to  improve  the  constitution  of  the 
commonwealth ;  they  were  to  be  distinguished  by- 
peculiar  honours ;  and  the  children  of  those  who 
fell  in  battle  were  to  be  maintained  and  educated 
at  the  public  expense.  This  last  regulation,  first 
introdvxced  by  the  artichect  of  Miletos,  has  been 
adopted  by  Athens  and  other  cities.  According  to 
his  plan  of  polity,  the  magistrates  were  all  of  them 
to  be  elected  by  the  free  and  impartial  suft'rages  of 
their  fellow-citizens,  consisting  of  the  three  classes 
of  men  above  mentioned :  the  concerns  of  the 
state,  the  affairs  of  strangers,  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  orphans,  fonned  the  three  important  ob- 
jects intrusted  to  their  administration." 

It  will  be  seen  that  in  the  Republic  of  Hippo- 
damos,  more  care  is  bestowed  on  the  material  struc- 
ture of  the  state,  than  on  the  spirit  by  which  it  was 
to  be  animated.  But  let  us  listen  to  the  judgment 
which  Aristole,  who  was  a  severe  political  critic, 
passes  upon  this  imaginary  commonwealth : — 
" Such,"  he  observes,  "are  the  leading  features  of 
the  Republic  of  Hippodamos,  in  examining  which 
the  first  difficulty  that  occurs  has  reference  to  his 
division  of  the  citizens.  The  husbandmen,  the 
artificers,  and  the  soldiers,  are  all  of  them  to  be 
members  of  the  state;  but  the  husbandmen,  desti- 
tute of  amis,  will  maintain  a  very  unequal  con- 
flict with  the  soldiers,  if  these  last  should  be 
tempted  to  enslave  them.  An  association  of  men, 
so  unequally  treated  by  the  legislator,  must  conti- 
nually tend   to  dissolution.     The  great  executive 


XXX         PRELIMINARY  DISCOURSE. 

magistracies,  together  with  every  office  of  military 
command,  devolve  of  course  on  the  soldiers.  Can 
the  two  remaining  classes  be  expected  to  wish  the 
continuance  of  a  government,  from  whose  honours 
and  emoluments  they  are  for  ever  to  be  excluded  ? 
A  revolution,  therefore,  must  speedily  take  place, 
unless  the  military  be  more  powerful  than  both  the 
husbandmen  and  the  artificers  united  ;  and  if  they 
actually  be  so,  of  what  signification  is  it,  that  these 
degraded  classes  are  summoned  to  give  their  votes 
at  elections,  and  mocked  with  the  appellation  of 
citizens  ?  Artificers,  subsisting  by  the  fruits  of 
their  own  labour,  are  essential  to  the  existence  of 
every  city  or  community.  But  the  class  of  hus- 
bandmen as  regulated  by  Hippodamos,  by  what  tie 
of  utility  are  they  linked  to  the  state  ?  The  com- 
mon lands  might  be  cultivated  by  the  military 
themselves,  which  would  destroy  the  distinction 
between  the  soldiers  and  the  peasants.  They  might 
be  cultivated  by  men  destitute  of  private  estates ; 
and  this  would  form  a  fourth  class,  distinct  from 
the  husbandmen  of  Hippodamos,  who,  by  a  most 
awkward  regulation,  are  to  labour  one  district,  con- 
sisting of  their  private  estates,  for  their  own  main- 
tenance, and  another,  consisting  of  the  common 
lands,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  military  ;  a  most 
useless  distinction  of  property,  and  most  absurd 
partition  of  employment,  by  which  much  valuable 
time  would  be  lost,  and  much  unnecessary  expense 
incurred." 

He  is  equally  severe  vxpon  the  judicial  regula- 
tions of  this  ancient  Utopia,  Avhich,  he  insists,  "  are 


TRELIMIXAKY  DISCOURSE.         XXXl 

not  less  blamable,  since  their  direct  tendency  is 
to  convert  judcres  into  arbiters,  and  thereby  to 
arm  them  with  an  arbitrary  power  of  decision, 
which  can  never  be  expedient  to  the  parties,  unless 
it  be  specially  granted,  and  voluntarily  entrusted. 
In  matters  submitted  to  arbitration,  communication 
of  sentiment  and  discussion  of  opinion  are  not 
only  allowed,  but  required.  In  courts  of  justice 
most  legislators  have  strictly  prohibited  both;  com- 
manding each  judge  simply  to  condemn,  or  simply 
to  acc^uit,  as  his  own  reason  directs.  By  the  inno- 
vations of  Hippodamos,  legal  proceedings  w'ould 
be  involved  in  inextricable  confusion.  The  defen- 
dant might  be  ordered  by  one  judge  to  pay  twenty 
minae,  by  another  more,  and  by  a  third  less ; .  each 
might  differ  from  every  other,  and  all  from  the 
plaintiff.  The  sentence  would  be  thus  split  into 
such  a  multitude  of  parts,  as  it  would  be  difficult 
to  collect,  and  impossible  to  unite ;  and  all  these 
difficulties  would  be  created  and  encountered,  in 
order  to  obviate  an  imaginary  inconvenience  ;  for 
it  is  false  that  the  judge  is  perjured,  who  simply 
acquits  a  party  sued  for  twenty  minae,  although  he 
may  believe  that  he  really  owes  half  that  sum. 
The  judge  would,  on  the  contrary,  be  perjured  if 
he  did  not  acquit  him  ;  and  in  all  similar  cases, 
the  fault  lies  not  in  the  law  or  in  the  judge,  but  in 
the  libel  and  in  the  plaintiff,  whose  cause  is  not 
correctly  stated,  and  whose  action  is  not  fairly 
brought."'* 

"  I  have  here   made  use  of  the  able,  but  somewhat  para- 
phrastic, and  not  always  faithful  translation  of  Dr.  Gillies,  ii.  6- 


XXXll  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

Notices  of  several  other  imaginary  common- 
wealths have  been  preserved,  chiefly  by  Aristotle  ; 
as  that,  for  example,  of  Phaleas  of  Chalcedon, 
in  which  the  principal  object  was  the  equaliza- 
tion of  property  ;  but  the  most  extraordinary  Uto- 
pia of  which  we  discover  any  trace  among  ancient 
writers,  is  the  one  briefly  described  in  an  obscure 
fragment  of  Theopompos  of  Chios.  This  writer, 
whose  diligence  and  ability  as  an  historian  entitled 
him  to  the  praise  of  Athenaeus  and  Dionysius  of 
Halicarnassos,  collected  in  the  course  of  his  read- 
ing a  number  of  extraordinary  relations,  which  he 
published  under  the  title  of  Qavp-aaia.  In  this 
work,  as  Servius,  in  his  Commentary  on  the  Sixth 
book  of  the  -^neid,  observes,  the  singular  romance 
I  am  about  to  notice  was  originally  found.  But 
the  Collection  itself  has  long  since  perished,  and 
this  fragment  is  all,  I  believe,  now  left  by  which 
to  judge  of  its  nature  and  value. 

Theopompos,  says  the  sophist,  to  whom  we  are 
indebted  for  the  story,  has  preserved  a  certain  dia- 
logue, which  once  took  place  between  Seilenos  and 
Midas,  king  of  Phrygia.  This  Seilenos,  as  is  well 
known,  was  the  son  of  a  nymph,  inferior  in  condi- 
tion to  the  gods,  but  endued  with  immortality,  and 
by  nature  superior  to  mankind.  He  conversed 
familiarly  with  Midas  upon  many  subjects,  and, 
among  other  things,  informed  him  that  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Libya,  are  but  so  many  islands  com- 

Goettling,  who,  like  Dr.  Gillies  himself,  loves  to  alter  the  ar- 
rangement of  the  text,  calls  it  chapter  v.  Bekker  preserves  the 
divisions  of  the  received  editions. 


TRELIMINAUY    DISCOUUSK.  XXXIU 

pletely  surrounded  by  the  ocean  ;  but  that,  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  known  world,  there  was  a  conti- 
nent of  prodigious  magnitude,  which  gave  birth  to 
animals  of  vast  bulk,  and  to  men  of  double  tlie 
ordinary  stature.  These  Brobdignagians,  not  con- 
tent with  exceeding  us  so  much  in  size,  had  like- 
wise obtained  from  nature  the  privilege  of  living 
twice  as  long;  a  circumstance  which  they  skilfully 
turned  to  account,  erecting  numerous  s})acious 
cities  governed  by  laws  and  institutions  peculiar  to 
themselves,  and  the  very  opposite  of  ours.  Among 
these  polities  were  two  in  everything  the  reverse  of 
eiich  other.  One  of  the  strong  holds  was  called 
Machimos,  or  the  "Place  of  War;"  the  other 
Eusebes,  or  the  "  Holy  City."  The  inhabitants  of 
the  latter,  who  passed  their  days  in  peace,  abounded 
exceedingly  in  wealth,  and  enjoyed  whatever  the 
earth  brings  forth,  without  ox  or  plough,  without 
sowing  or  husbandry.  Sickness,  too,  came  not 
near  their  dwellings,  and  their  healthful  cai'eer  was 
crowned  in  all  its  course  with  smiles  and  delights. 
Justice  they  practised  without  contention  or  strife, 
so  that  even  the  gods  did  not  from  time  to  time 
disdain  to  mingle  with  them. 

The  inhabitants  of  Machimos,  on  the  other 
hand,  were  of  all  men  the  most  martial ;  and  living 
constantly  under  arms,  vexed  the  neighbouring- 
nations  with  unceasing  wars,  and  acquired  the  em- 
pire over  numerous  states.  The  number  of  citi- 
zens scarcely  fell  short  of  two  millions,  {e\v  of 
w  hom  ever  came  to  a  peaceful  end,  but  fell  in  bat- 
tle, overwhelmed  w  ith  stones,  or  beaten  to  death 

D 


XXXIV  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

with  clubs,  for  to  steel  they  were  invulnerable. 
Gold  was  so  plentiful  in  their  country,  that  it  was 
regarded  of  less  value  than  iron  among-st  us.  These 
warlike  people  were  said  to  have  crossed  the  Atlan- 
tic in  remote  antiquity,  for  the  purpose  of  making 
war  on  our  part  of  the  world ;  and,  effecting  a  land- 
ing with  an  army  surpassing  twofold  that  of  the 
Medes,to  have  marched  northward  as  far  as  the  coun- 
try of  the  Hyperboreans.  Finding,  however,  upon 
inquiry,  that  these  were  considered  the  most  flou- 
rishing nation  in  Europe,  the  Machimians  con- 
ceived too  profound  a  contempt  for  the  whole  race 
to  think  of  pushing  their  conquests  any  further. 

Another  race  described  by  Seilenos  were  still 
more  extraordinary.  These  were  the  Meropes,  who 
inhabited  a  portion  of  the  Great  Continent,  where 
they  possessed  many  large  and  beautiful  cities. 
Towards  the  extreme  limits  of  their  empire  was  a 
place  called  Anoston,  which,  both  in  name  and 
characteristics,  strongly  resembled  "  that  untra- 
velled  country,  from  whose  bourne  no  traveller  re- 
turns." Into  this  deep  valley  man  descended  as 
into  a  chasm.  No  sunshine  or  pure  light  sparkled 
there,  neither  did  total  darkness  prevail,  but  the 
whole  atmosphere  was  filled  with  a  murky  haze, 
impregnated  with  a  ruddy  glow.  Through  this 
dismal  region  two  rivers  lapsed  along,  the  one  of 
Pleasure,  the  other  of  Grief;  and  on  their  margins 
grew  trees,  in  size  equalling  a  lofty  plantain. 
Those  which  sprang  up  along  the  river  of  Grief, 
jjroduced  a  fruit  of  peculiar  properties;  and  if  any 
one  tasted  of  it,  he  forthwith  burst  into  floods  of  tears. 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  XXXV 

which  overflowed  perpetually,  until  death  came  to 
his  relief.  On  the  contrary,  the  fruit  of  those  trees 
which  were  watered  by  the  river  of  Pleasure,  car- 
ried Elysium  in  their  taste.  For,  whosoever  ate  of 
it,  forgot  at  once  all  his  fonuer  desires,  and  every 
object  he  had  previously  loved  : — 

"  The  tree  of  knowledge  has  been  plucked,  all's  known  ;" 

the  hues  of  youth  came  again  over  his  cheeks — he 
travelled  backward  along  the  whole  track  of  life — 
tasted  of  boyhood's  delights  a  second  time — then 
crept,  an  infant,  into  the  cradle — and,  lastly,  sought, 
as  all  do,  that  narrow  house,  "  where  the  wicked 
cease  from  troubling,  and  the  weary  are  at  rest."'^ 
Both  Konig  and  Perizonius  conjecture,  with 
much  probability,  that  Theopompos  has  embodied, 
in  the  above  fanciful  narration^  a  portion  of  the 
strange  reports  current  in  the  ancient  world  re- 
specting America.  Plato,  it  is  well  known,  had 
gathered  similar  intimations  of  the  existence  of 
that  great  continent ;  of  an  invasion  of  Europe  by 
its  inhabitants  ;  and  sundry  other  particulars,  fabu- 
lous or  mixed  with  fable.  However  this  may  be, 
there  can,  I  think,  exist  no  doubt  that  some  obscure 
and  imperfect  knowledge  of  America  had  found 
its  way  to  the  old  world  ;  and  as  little  can  we  call 
in  question  the  fact,  that  in  remote  antiquity,  civi- 
lized and  powerful  nations  flourished  in  the  king- 
doms of  INIexico  and  Peru,  who,  in  those  magnifi- 
cent ruins  recently  disinterred,  have  left  irrefragable 

"  .'Elian.  Hist.  Var.  iii.  18. 

D  2 


XXXVl  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE, 

proofs  of  tlieir  grandeur  and  refinement.  It  was, 
moreover,  by  imperfect  glimpses  of  these  facts, 
caught  through  the  relations  of  the  early  conquerors 
of  America,  that  Sir  Thomas  More  himself  was 
led  to  found  his  Republic  in  that  part  of  the  world, 
])ut  with  sufficient  geographical  latitude  to  obviate 
the  possibility  of  inconvenient  applications. 

Euhemeros  founded  his  imaginary  commonwealth 
in  a  different  cjuarter  of  the  globe,  and  with  different 
views.  He  was  a  man  who,  had  his  mind  been 
rightly  constituted,  might  have  derived  from  his 
enlarged  experience,  materials  for  something  bet- 
ter than  a  mere  theological  romance, — for  his 
Panchaia  was  nothing  more, — designed,  like  the 
novels  of  Voltaire,  to  sap  the  foundations  of  his 
country's  religion.  At  the  command  of  Kassander, 
King  of  Macedon,  he  undertook  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery into  the  Indian  Ocean,  embarking  at  a  port 
of  Arabia  Foelix.  How  long  he  was  absent  does 
not  appear ;  but  on  his  return,  instead  of  publish- 
ing an  account  of  his  voyage,  and  throwing  valuable 
light  on  the  manners  of  remote  nations  and  the 
geography  of  the  world,  he  put  forth  a  work,  in 
which  he  pretended  to  have  discovered  an  island, 
called  Panchaia,  in  the  capital  of  which  he  found 
inscriptions  furnishing  highly  valuable  information 
on  the  origin  of  the  Hellenic  gods.  Here,  while 
a  mortal,  Zeus  had  lived  and  reigned  ;  and  in  the 
temple  dedicated  to  his  honour,  had  set  up  a  pillar, 
on  which  was  engraved  bis  own  history,  and  that 
of  his  ftimily.  In  this  work  Diodorus  Siculus 
found   the  mateiials    for  the    greater    portion   of 


PRELIMIXAllY    DISCOURSK.  XXXV 11 

his  fifth  book;  the  sixth,  now  lost,  contained  an 
analysis  of  Euhemeros's  seventh  book  ;  and  of  this 
a  considerable  fragment  has  been  preserved  by 
Eusebius.  '* 

Such  were  the  models  which  evidently  suggested 
to  Sir  Thomas  More  both  the  form  and  subject 
of  his  Utopia.  He  might,  nevertheless,  but  for  the 
spirit  of  his  times,  have  preferred  the  example  ol" 
Aristotle  and  Macchiavelli,-  by  which  he  would 
have  sacrificed,  perhaps,  some  degree  of  temporary 
popularity,  and  incurred  additional  jjersonal  risk, 
but  at  the  same  time  would  unquestionably  have 
enjoyed  a  higher  and  more  widely-spread  repuUi- 
tion  with  posterity.  We  require  the  teachers  of 
truth  to  put  on  a  grave  look ;  and  none,  in  fact, 
but  minds  of  the  first  order  know  how  to  reconcile 
the  dignity  of  didactic  composition,  with  the  viva- 
city of  dialogue  and  the  suspicious  completeness 
of  fiction.  The  importance  of  the  teacher  disap- 
pears if  he  smile,  and  labour  to  be  amusing.  A 
man  should  come  to  the  study  of  politics  as  to  his 
daily  food,  not  because  it  is  pleasant,  but  because 
it  is  necessary,  because  he  cannot  be  a  man  with- 
out it.  The  statesman,  therefore,  who  by  his  en- 
deavour to  deck  it  with  meretricious  charms  ap- 
pears to  doubt  the  sufficiency  of  his  subject  to 
occupy  and  fill  the  mind,  is  sure  at  the  outset  t<i 
excite  the  suspicion  that  he  feels  not  all  its  value,  and 
consequently  is  scarcely  capable   of  forcibly   in- 

'*  Praepar.  Evangel,  ii.  2.  Conf.  Schoell.  Hist,  de  la  Litera- 
ture Grecque.  t.  iii.  p.  249.  fF. 


XXXVlll  PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 

fusing  into  the  minds  of  others  a  due  conception 
of  how  vast  and  all-engrossing  it  should  be. 

But  this,  as  I  have  remarked  already^  may  be  a 
mere  prejudice,  and  in  the  case  of  the  author  of 
the  Utopia  is  nothing  more.  Its  form,  to  the  judi- 
cious reader,  though  it  may  not  help  the  effect  of 
the  truths  brought  forward,  will  certainly  not  be 
suffered  to  diminish  it ;  especially  if  he  consider 
in  what  circumstances  of  times  and  manners  the 
defect,  if  it  be  one,  originated.  With  many  it  may 
operate  as  a  recommendation,  though  the  narra- 
tive and  dramatic  portion  of  the  work  be  not,  as  in 
Gulliver,  sufficient  of  itself  to  keep  alive  curiosity, 
and  urge  the  fancy  headlong  forward  from  the  first 
page  to  the  last.  And  in  that  circumstance  con- 
sists the  organic  defect  of  the  work.  Had  there 
been  a  more  extensive  and  exquisite  machinery  of 
characters,  incidents,  plot,  scenery,  costume,  and 
so  on ;  had  there  been  more  of  historical  develope- 
ment,  more  painting  of  external  nature,  more  to 
flatter  the  imagination,  and  call  the  feelings 
into  active  play,  the  ordinary  public  would  have 
read  the  book  for  amusement,  and  sucked  in  acci- 
dentally its  political  wisdom  by  the  way.  Boys 
would  have  travelled  delighted  over  the  Utopian 
land,  could  they  have  there  from  time  to  time  en- 
countered spots  rendered  gloomy  by  battles  or  tra- 
gedies, or  bright  and  sunny  by  reminiscences  of 
love ;  could  they  have  discovered,  if  not  in  the 
institutions,  in  the  pomp  at  least  of  manners  and 
arts,  something  to  dazzle  or  overawe,  to  kindle 
brilliant  images  in  the  fancy,  or  to  rouse  and  bear 


PUELIMIXAHY    DISCOURSK.  XXXIX 

the  passions  irresistibly  away  by  the  force  and  ve- 
hemence of  eloquence. 

At  a  later  period  of  our  literature,  Sir  Thomas 
More  might  probably  have  aimed  at  all  this,  and 
with  no  mean  success.  But  in  that  age  men  were 
far  less  fastidious  in  the  matter  of  books,  than  lux- 
urious plenty  has  since  rendered  them.  They 
thought  it  much  if  any  addition  at  all  were  made 
to  the  treasures  bequeathed  to  us  by  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  seeming,  like  Hudibras, 

"  exceeding  loath 


To  look  a  gift-horse  in  the  mouth.'' 

And  this  literary  penury,  while  it  taught  them 
tolerance,  gave  them  at  the  same  time  a  strong 
healthy  appetite  for  wholesome  instruction,  even 
without  the  finer  condiments  of  style,  with  patience 
to  go  through  and  digest  it  thoroughly.  Thus  we 
may  account  for  the  extraordinary  degree  of  popu- 
larity enjoyed,  when  it  first  appeared,  by  the  Utopia, 
both  in  foreign  countries  and  at  home,  as  well  as 
the  comparative  neglect  into  which  it  has  since 
fallen.  It  was  produced  in  one  of  those  unlucky 
periods,  when  the  art  of  writing  flourished  but  im- 
perfectly. Literature,  like  fruit,  appears  to  ripen 
only  at  particular  seasons ;  such  as  the  age  of  Pericles, 
the  age  of  Demosthenes,  the  age  of  Virgil  and 
Horace,  the  age  of  Leo  X.,  the  age  of  Shakespeare, 
and  the  age  of  Pope.  Few,  rising  up  in  the  inter- 
vals, carry  the  art  to  perfection,  or  are  anything  more 
than  the  bright  trails  of  sunset,  or  the  harbingers 


Xl  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

of  dawn,  valued  for  what  they  recal  or  foretell,  not 
for  their  own  intrinsic  beauty. 

Nevertheless,  though  Sir  Thomas  More  be  an 
imitator,  his  imitation,  like  that  of  Giulio  Romano, 
has  the  fire  of  nature  in  it,  and  can  by  no  means 
be  regarded  as  the  mere  reflection  of  anything  pre- 
viously existing.  He  opens  his  work  in  a  highly 
striking  manner,  introducing  at  once  an  historical 
character,  since  renowned  for  his  tyranny  and  his 
vices,  but  endowed  in  these  pages  with  the  men- 
tal and  moral  qualities  of  a  Marcus  Aurelius. 
"  Henry  the  Eighth,  the  unconquered  King  of  Eng- 
land, a  prince  adorned  with  all  the  virtues  that 
become  a  great  monarch,  having  some  differences  of 
no  small  moment  with  Charles,  the  most  serene 
Prince  of  Castile,  sent  me  into  Flanders  as  his  am- 
l)assador,  for  treating  and  composing  matters  be- 
tween them." 

I  know  of  no  artifice  of  rhetoric  by  which  he 
could  have  bespoken  a  more  favourable  hearing. 
The  reader,  though  by  a  side-wind,  is  at  once  car- 
ried into  the  secret  of  the  author's  condition,  of 
the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  prince, 
and  of  the  great  experience  he  was  likely  to  have 
had  in  public  affairs,  before  so  puissant  and  wise  a 
monarch  would  have  entrusted  to  his  management 
the  settling  of  differences,  considered  by  the  chief 
statesmen  of  the  age  as  of  no  small  consequence. 
From  the  first  moment  he  makes  it  manifest  that 
the  reader  is  not  to  be  entertained  with  the  reveries 
of  one  of  those  chamber-lecturers,  who  would  un- 
dertake to  instruct  Hannibal  in  the  art  of  war,  but 


PRELIMIXAKY    DISCOURSE.  xli 

has  before  him  the  fruits  of  a  man's  meditations  to 
whom  the  science  of  politics  had  been  a  profes- 
sional study.  And  I  will  answer  for  it,  no  one 
ever  went  attentively  through  the  Utopia,  without 
acknowledging  it  to  be  full  of  those  profound  ob- 
servations and  shrewd  insights  into  human  nature, 
peculiar  to  those  who  have  tested  their  philosophy 
by  living  freely  among  mankind. 

Having  thus  artfully  announced  these  facts,  he 
proceeds  with  his  account  of  the  embassy,  and  the 
persons  who,  on  both  sides,  were  engaged  in  it. 
By  one  of  those  checks,  which  too  often  bring  the 
aft'airs  of  nations  to  a  standstill,  negociations  are 
suspended  ;  and,  during  the  interval  of  leisure  thus 
created,  Sir  Tliomas  More  pays  a  visit  to  Antwerp, 
where  one  of  the  principal  citizens  happens  to  be 
his  intimate  friend.  Antwerp  was  then  the  centre 
of  a  vast  commerce,  and  the  greatest  emporium  in 
Europe.  Thither  merchandize  of  all  kinds  was 
borne  as  to  the  common  mart  of  civilization,  and 
in  its  busy  streets  strangers  from  every  part  of  the 
world  might,  at  any  hour  of  the  day,  be  seen.  It 
was,  in  short,  in  those  days,  all  that  London,  on  a 
grander  scale,  is  now. 

Here,  by  the  instrumentality  of  his  good  friend, 
Peter  Giles,  the  author  becomes  known  to  a  Por- 
tuguese gentleman,  one  of  that  restless  class  whom 
the  glorious  enterprises  of  De  Gama  and  Columbus 
had  unmoored  from  their  peaceful  habits,  and  sent 
wandering  in  romantic  ambition  through  the 
oceans  of  the  further  east.  "  One  day,"  says 
More,  "  as  I  was  returning  home  from  mass  at  St. 


xlii  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

Mary's,  which  is  the  chief  church,  and  the  most  fre- 
quented of  any  in  Antwerp,  I  saw  him  by  accident 
talking  with  a  stranger,  that  seemed  past  the  flower 
of  his  age;  his  face  was  tanned,  he  had  a  long  beard, 
and  his  cloak  was  hanging  careless  about  him,  so 
that  by  his  looks  and  habit  I  concluded  he  was  a 
seaman."  But  in  this  he  was  wrong.  The  Portu- 
guese proved  not  to  be  a  seaman,  but  a  gentleman 
of  classical  accomplishments  and  habits  of  think- 
ing, who,  like  Anaxagoras,  had  shared  among  his 
brothers  the  wealth  he  inherited,  ran  fortunes  with 
Americus  Vespucius,  borne  a  share  in  three  of  his 
four  voyages,  and  acquired  a  more  copious  know- 
ledge of  distant  nations  and  countries,  than  any 
other  man  then  alive. 

The  reader,  I  think,  is  thus  in  some  measure  pre- 
pared for  a  recital  of  wonderful  things,  no  less  so 
than  the  ^avfiaala  of  Theopompos ;  and,  as  this 
extraordinary  man  comes  forward  more  promi- 
nently, and  gives  vent  cautiously  and  by  halves  to 
the  opinions  to  which  his  mind  has  given  birth, 
after  long  travail  and  many  pangs,  our  curi- 
osity is  strongly  piqued,  and  we  grow  exceedingly 
eager  to  be  initiated  in  those  mysteries  through 
which  he  has  arrived  at  conclusions  so  completely 
out  of  the  common  order.  But  he  is  slow  to  gra- 
tify us.  And,  perhaps,  looking  at  the  work  as  a 
rhetorician,  this  very  slowness  is  a  defect.  For, 
while  we  are  longing  to  be  on  the  ocean  with  him, 
to  learn  all  his  travel's  history,  wherein,  we  doubt 
not,  his  hint  will  be  to  speak 


niELIMINART    DISCOURSE.  xliil 

"  Of  antres  vast  and  deserts  idle. 

Rough  quarries,  rocks,  and  hills,  whose  heads  touch  heaven, 
And  of  the  cannibals  that  each  other  eat. 
The  Anthropophagi  ;  and  men  whose  heads, 
Do  grow  beneath  their  shoulders ;" 

the  man  enters  upon  a  caustic,  though  very  just 
criticism  of  European  courts,  which  he  describes 
as  a  nest  of  rog'ues,  and  such  persons  as  usually  are 
rogues'  companions. 

The  theme,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  is  both  fer- 
tile and  interesting ;  but,  like  the  corresponding 
animadversions  on  existing  governments  in  Plato's 
"  Republic,"  it  might  more  artfully  and  eft'ectually 
have  been  introduced,  by  way  of  contrast  and  com- 
parison, into  the  account  of  Utopia  itself.  This 
would  be  better  than  marshalling  it,  as  he  has 
done,  at  the  threshold  of  the  Republic,  or  appending 
it,  where  it  w^ould  scarcely  be  read,  at  the  end,  as 
is  done  by  Dion  Chrysostom  in  his  beautiful  piece 
entitled  the  "  Hunter,"  which,  after  drawing  an  ex- 
quisite picture  of  rural  happiness,  degenerates  into 
a  coarse  satire  on  the  vices  of  the  age.  At  any 
rate,  I  shall  pass  it  over,  and  proceed  at  once  to  the 
second  book,  in  which  the  Portuguese  traveller  de- 
scribes the  extraordinary  Republic  which  he  had 
discovered  somewhere  about  the  American  shores. 

Sir  Thomas  More,  influenced  by  partiality  for 
the  condition  of  his  native  country,  erects  his  com- 
monwealth upon  an  island — a  position  more  favour- 
able to  independence  and  freedom  than  any  other, 
as  Pericles  clearly  intimates  in  Thucydides.  In 
one  particular  he  differs  materially  from  the  majo- 


xliv  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

rity  of  ancient  legislators  ;  for,  whereas  a  principal 
tendency  of  their  institutions  was  to  banish  mer- 
chants, and  abridge  the  intercourse  of  nations,  his 
Utopians  are  furnished  with  every  inducement  to 
trade  with  their  neighbours,  particularly  an  abun- 
dance of  excellent  harbours,  with  which  the  whole 
coast,  he  says,  was  indented.  The  regulation,  how- 
ever, was  not  in  very  strict  keeping  with  some  other 
of  their  institutions  ;  since  they  were  a  people  in- 
different to  gain,  without  which  very  little  com- 
merce, I  take  it,  would  be  carried  on  in  the  world. 

One  of  the  objects  aimed  at  by  the  laws  of 
Utopia  was  uniformity  and  sameness.  It  seems  to 
have  been  supposed  that  concord  would  be  best 
promoted  by  bringing  all  the  people  to  resemble 
each  other  as  much  as  possible,  in  habits,  manners, 
and  opinions.  Even  the  material  structure,  there- 
fore, of  the  fifty-four  cities  scattered  over  the 
island,  was  as  near  as  possible  the  same ;  and 
every  contrivance  which  could  be  thought  of  for 
diffusing  through  the  country  one  single  standard 
of  mind  and  morals  was  studiously  employed. 
Above  all  things  the  legislator  appears  to  have 
desired  to  create  or  keep  alive  among  them  a  taste 
for  rural  pursuits  and  the  pleasures  of  the  country. 
"  They  have  built  over  the  whole  island,"  he  says, 
"  farm-houses  for  husbandmen,  which  are  well  con- 
trived and  furnished  with  all  things  necessary  for 
country  labour.  Inhabitants  are  sent  by  turns 
from  the  cities  to  dwell  in  them :  no  country 
ftunily  has  fewer  than  forty  men  and  women  in  it, 
besides  two  slaves.     There  is  a  master  and  a  mis- 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  xlv 

tress  set  over  every  family ;  and  over  thirty  families 
there  is  a  magistrate  settled.  Every  year  twenty 
of  this  family  come  back  to  the  town,  after  they 
have  remained  two  years  in  the  country ;  and  in 
their  room  there  are  other  twenty  sent  from  the 
town,  that  they  may  learn  country  work  from  those 
that  have  been  already  one  year  in  the  country, 
which  they  must  teach  those  that  come  to  them  the 
next  year  from  the  town.  By  this  means  such  as 
dwell  in  those  faims  are  never  ignorant  of  agricul- 
ture, and  so  commit  no  errors  in  it,  which  might 
otherwise  be  fatal  to  them,  and  bring  them  under  a 
scarcity  of  com." 

It  is  extremely  questionable  whether  such  a 
regulation  as  this  would  promote  the  happiness  or 
worldly  welfare  of  any  community.  In  the  first 
place,  moral,  like  physical  harmony,  consists,  not 
in  an  amalgamation  of  numerous  similar  parts,  but 
in  the  nice  arrangement  and  adaptation  of  parts 
whoUy  unlike,  though  suited  to  co-operate  with 
each  other  in  producing  a  common  end.  A  well- 
formed  human  body,  for  example,  does  not  consist 
of  many  heads,  or  many  feet,  or  many  hands ;  but 
of  one  head,  and  numerous  members  in  no  respects 
like  itself,  though  fitted  each  to  its  place.  And  it 
must  be  exactly  so  in  a  commonwealth.  There 
must  be  husbandmen,  there  must  be  artificers,  there 
must  be  individuals  educated  and  fitted  to  rule ; 
and  each  must  preserve  the  shape  and  fulfil  the 
offices  appointed  him  by  nature,  otherwise  not  har- 
mony, but  confusion  will  be  the  result. 

Besides,  More  appears  in  this  regulation  to  for- 


xlvi  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

get  how  great  a  source  of  delight  custom  is.  The 
artificer,  by  custom,  learns  to  delight  in  his  busi- 
ness, the  husbandman  in  his  fields.  What  he  per- 
fonns  daily  grows  into  his  habits,  forms  part  of  his 
most  cherished  associations,  becomes  in  the  end 
necessary  to  his  comfort.  To  tear  him  violently 
every  year  or  two  from  occupations  become  pleas- 
ing and  easy  to  him,  that  he  may  encounter  the 
disgust  and  ennui  which  invariably  accompany  the 
perfonnance  of  irksome,  because  unfamiliar  tasks, 
would  therefore  be  a  cruel  error  in  legislation,  even 
if  in  practice  it  should  not  be  found  impossible. 
But  impossible  it  would  undoubtedly  prove ;  or, 
at  least,  incompatible  with  that  progress  and  im- 
provement in  the  arts  of  life  which  should  form 
one  of  the  great  aims  of  government. 

Something  of  this  the  author  appears  to  have 
himself  felt;  for  immediately  upon  the  heels  of 
the  account  he  subjoins :  "  But  though  there  is 
every  year  such  a  shifting  of  the  husbandmen,  that 
none  may  be  forced  against  his  will  to  follow  that 
hard  course  of  life  too  long ;  yet  many  among 
them  take  such  pleasure  in  it,  that  they  desire  leave 
to  continue  many  years  engaged  in  these  rural 
occupations."  Exactly ;  habits  will  be  fonned, 
and  men  will  be  loath  to  break  them.  But,  while 
those  who  love  the  country  desire  and  obtain  leave 
to  remain  in  it,  others  must,  by  the  same  cause, 
continue  in  the  cities  ;  and,  the  multitude  of  these 
increasing,  things  will  quickly  lapse  into  their 
natural  channel,  out  of  which  they  should  never 
have  been  forced. 


rUELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  xlvii 

Upon  the  practice  of  rural  economy,  as  it  existed 
amono-  the  Utopians,  it  is  unnecessary  to  remark. 
It  doubtless  included  all  the  improvements  known 
in  Sir  Thomas  More's  time,  with  some  revived  by 
himself  from  hints  furnished  by  the  ancients;  such, 
for  example,  as  the  hatching-  of  eggs  in  ovens, 
which  has  prevailed  from  time  immemorial  in 
Egypt.  In  the  town  habits,  moreover,  which  are 
connected  with  the  ordinary  business  of  life,  there 
is  much  less  variety  than  one  might  be  at  first 
tem})ted  to  imagine,  which  is  the  case  also  with 
those  contrivances  that  men  have  recourse  to  for 
the  purpose  of  comfort  or  safety ;  for,  to  preserve 
something  like  verisimilitude  in  the  constitution 
of  imaginary  states,  it  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
fashion  them  after  the  model  of  others  known  to 
have  existed.  The  capital,  likewise,  in  size,  fonn, 
grandeur,  and  conveniences,  is,  in  Utopia,  alto- 
gether such  a  place  as  might  very  Avell  have  existed. 
It  is  built  modestly  upon  calculation,  not  like 
Martin's  cities,  a  kind  of  Xephelococcygia,  erected 
of  airy  materials  in  the  clouds  ;  and  the  descrip- 
tion, for  minuteness,  cautious  avoidance  of  extrava- 
gance, truth  of  detail,  and  consequent  perspicuity, 
falls  little  short  of  Gulliver's  best  efforts  in  this 
way,  or  even  of  Defoe s,  which  no  Dutch  painter 
ever  excelled. 

Having  comprehensively  described  both  the  coun- 
try and  the  principal  city,  which  all  the  others 
resemble,  he  proceeds  to  explain  the  form  and 
nature  of  their  government.  And  here,  of  course, 
wliatever  his  private  convictions  may  have  been. 


xlviii  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

he  was  constrained  to  treat  with  some  deference 
the  prejudices  of  his  ag-e.  Monarchy,  however,  he 
would  under  no  modification  establish.  His  con- 
stitution is  purely  republican.  For,  above  all 
things,  the  object  of  the  Utopia  seems  to  be  the 
utter  exploding  of 

"  The  enormous  faith  of  many  made  for  one ;" 

and  the  advocating  of  the  doctrine  that  the  happi- 
ness of  the  people  is  the  sole  end  and  purpose  of 
government.  There  is,  indeed,  a  magistrate  whom 
he  denominates  a  prince ;  but  few  sovereigns  would 
be  content  to  rule  on  such  conditions.  "  The  prince 
is  for  life,  unless  he  is  removed  upon  suspicion  of 
some  design  to  enslave  the  people."  We  have, 
therefore,  not  a  life  Archon,  or  even  a  decennial 
Archon,  but  a  chief  magistrate,  practically  remov- 
able at  pleasure;  for  the  people's  representatives 
could  easily  suspect  of  evil  designs  whomsoever  they 
desired  to  remove. 

There  is  some  intricacy  in  the  theory  of  represen- 
tation.— In  the  first  place,  the  people  choose  cer- 
tain magistrates,  called  Philarchs,  one  for  every 
thirty  families ;  but,  over  every  ten  of  these  magis- 
trates, together  with  the  families  under  their  juris- 
diction, is  placed  another  magistrate,  called  an 
Archphilarch.  He  does  not  however  explain  by 
whom  the  Archphilarchs  are  elected,  though  they 
form  a  sort  of  perpetual  parliament,  or  national 
council,  who  consult  with  the  archon  on  the  state 
of  public  affairs.  The  chief  magistrate  is  elected 
by  the  Philarchs  out  of  four  persons  nominated  by 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  xlix 

the  four  principal  divisions  of  the  capital ;  and,  in 
order  that  neither  fear  nor  the  expectation  of  favour 
mio-ht  influence  the  electors,  they  vote  by  ballot. 
Sir  Thomas,  we  see,  had  advanced,  at  least  in  some 
things,  beyond  his  own  age,  and  even  beyond  ours. 
At  a  time  when  royalty  was  strongest,  he  recom- 
mended its  abolition ;  and,  in  lieu  of  that  corrupt 
system  of  voting  which  oppressors  maintain,  be- 
cause it  perpetuates  their  power,  he  sought  to  sub- 
stitute that  mode  of  exercising  the  right  of  suffrage 
which  may  be  regarded  as  the  chief  Palladium  of 
freedom. 

Moreover,  not  content  with  the  ballot,  and  a 
chief  magistrate  removable  at  pleasure,  the  Lord 
Chancellor  of  Henry  the  Eighth  advocates  annual 
parliaments  and  universal  suffrage.  His  faith  in 
the  public  virtue  of  men  was  small.  He  would 
put  it  out, of  their  power  to  commit  treachery 
against  the  commonwealth,  by  bringing  them  every 
year  into  the  hands  of  their  constituencies,  who 
might  either  continue  them  in  parliament  and  in 
office,  or  decline  their  services,  as  their  conduct 
appeared  to  deserve.  Indeed,  though  the  senators 
might  be  re-elected,  he  appears  tacitly  to  have 
made  a  law  prohibiting  men  from  accepting  the 
office  of  magistrate  a  second  time,  at  least  with- 
out some  interval  between.  "  The  archphilarchs  are 
now  chosen  every  year,  but  yet  they  are  for  the 
most  part  still  continued.  All  their  other  magis- 
trates are  only  annual." 

His  distrust  of  rulei's,  even  when  selected  with 
greatest  care,  and  checked  by  most  restraints,  bursts 

e 


1  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

strikingly  forth  in  the  brief  section  on  magistrates. 
He  rightly  judges  that  nothing  is  so  congenial,  in 
general,  to  men  so  employed,  as  to  seek  by  every 
practicable  art  to  overreach  their  employers,  and 
from  servants  to  become  masters;' — which,  as  he 
well  knew,  is  the  origin  of  monarchy ;  and,  there- 
fore, above  all  things,  is  anxious  so  to  fence  round 
public  liberty  with  difficult  barriers,  that  even  the 
ablest  tyrants  shall  scarcely  be  able  to  transgress 
them.  "  The  Archphilarchs  meet  every  third  day," 
he  says,  "  and  oftener  if  need  be,  and  consult  with 
the  prince,  either  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  state 
in  general,  or  such  private  differences  as  may  arise 
sometimes  arnong  the  people  :  though  that  foils 
out  but  seldom.  There  are  always  two  philarchs 
called  into  the  council-chamber,  and  these  are 
changed  every  day.  It  is  a  fundamental  rule  of 
their  government,  that  no  conclusion  can  be  made 
in  anything  that  relates  to  the  public  till  it  has 
been  first  debated  three  several  days  in  their  coun- 
cil. It  is  death  for  any  to  meet  and  consult  con- 
cerning the  state,  unless  it  be  either  in  their  ordinary 
council,  or  in  the  assembly  of  the  whole  body  of 
the  people;"  that  is,  in  parliament,  or  in  public 
meetings. 

Sir  Thomas  More  was  wise  enough  to  perceive 
that,  in  reality,  there  can  be  no  danger  to  the  state 
from  the  democracy.  Their  interest  must  always 
be  to  strengthen  and  preserve  all  such  institutions 
as  promote  the  public  weal.  Not  so  with  the 
rulers  and  senators.  "  These  things,"  he  observes, 
"  have  been  so  provided  among  them,  that  the  prince 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  ll 

and  the  archphilarchs  may  not  conspire  together  to 
change  the  government,  and  enslave  the  people ; 
and,  therefore,  when  anything  of  great  importance 
is  set  on  foot,  it  is  sent  to  the  philarchs,  who,  after 
they    have   communicated  it   to  the  families  that 
belong  to  their  division,  and    have  considered    it 
among  themselves,  make  report  to  the  senate ;  and, 
upon  great  occasions,  the  matter  is  referred  to  the 
council  of  the  whole  island.     One  rule  observed  in 
their  council  is,  never  to  debate  a   thing  on  the 
same  day  on  which  it  is  first  proposed ;   for  that  is 
always  referred  to  the  next  meeting,  that  so  men 
may  not  rashly,  and  in  the  heat  of  discourse,  en- 
gage themselves  too  soon,  which  may  bias  them  so 
much,  that  instead  of  considering  the  good  of  the 
public,  they  will  rather  study  to   maintain   their 
own  notions ;  and,  by  a  perverse  and  preposterous 
sort  of  shame,  hazard  their  country,  rather  than 
endanger  their  own  reputation,  or  venture   being 
suspected  to  have  wanted  foresight  in  the  expe- 
dients that  they  proposed  at  first.     And,  therefore, 
to  prevent  this,  they  take  care  that  they  may  rather 
be  deliberate,  than  sudden  in  their  motions." 

Sir  Thomas  is  exceedingly  brief,  however,  in  his 
development  of  the  actual  form  of  their  govern- 
ment; and,  having  announced  the  fact  that  the 
constitution  was  republican,  prefers  the  employ- 
ment of  hint  and  innuendo,  to  the  more  open  ad- 
vocacy of  his  principles.  He  appears  to  lay  no 
particular  stress  on  the  organic  structure  of  the 
commonwealth.  He  states  it,  indeed,  candidly  and 
(airly  ;  but,  as  if  other  circumstances  should  be 

e  3 


lii 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 


considered  of  more  moment,  hastens  on  to  the  de- 
velopment of  manners,  and  the  practical  working 
of  the  machine.  Not  that  such  was  his  convic- 
tion ;  for  as  a  statesman  it  must  have  been  inti- 
mately known  to  him,  that  of  political  entities 
theory  is  the  soul ;  but  because  prejudice  is  less 
alarmed  by  the  following  out  of  consequences, 
than  by  the  bold  enunciation  of  principles,  which 
startle  while  naked,  but,  disguised  in  the  material 
husk  of  circumstances,  steal  imperceptibly  upon  the 
mind,  and  become  familiar  to  it  before  their  true 
nature  has  perhaps  been  discovered. 

Besides,  to  the  vulgar  it  is  more  agreeable  to  be- 
hold difficulties  overcome,  than  to  examine  labori- 
ously all  the  complicated  machinery  by  which  the 
eftect  is  produced.  They  lack  the  patience  to 
learn  in  detail  the  name  and  office  of  each  wheel, 
and  pulley,  and  spring,  hidden^^  in  the  understorey 
of  politics,  by  which  the  beautiful  results  they 
contemplate  on  the  surface  of  society  are  originated, 
and  pronounce  insipid  every  attempt  to  introduce 
them  to  their  knowledge.  Consequently,  politi- 
cians like  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Lord  Bacon  blink 
the  question  of  causes,  at  least  in  a  great  measure, 
and  confine  themselves  to  what  is  visible. 

Pursuing  this  course  of  policy.  More  applies 
himself  diligently  to  what  may  be  termed  political 
discipline.  He  shows  by  what  arts  and  contriv- 
ances men  should  be  trained  to  obedience  and  the 
practice  of  industry,  regulates  the  processes  of  agri- 
culture and  trade,  and  even  condescends,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  legislators  of  antiquity,  to  regulate  the 


PKELIMINAUY    DISCOURSE.  liu 

costume  and  toilette  of  the  ladies.  From  this 
minute  attention  to  what  so  peculiarly  belongs  to 
their  province,  the  ladies,  however,  had  they  been 
consulted,  might  probably  have  relieved  him;  es- 
pecially as,  by  his  regulations,  their  wardrobe  is  so 
unmercifully  curtailed.  But,  once  engaged  in  the 
adjustment  of  scarfs  and  petticoats,  the  legislator 
knows  not  where  to  stop.  He  appears  to  have 
relished  the  topic.  He  returns  to  it  again  and 
again ;  but  only  at  length  to  determine  that  they 
must  content  themselves  with  spinning  their  own 
raiment,  and  appear  habited  exactly  the  same  at 
Christmas  and  in  the  dogdays. 

All  the  property  of  the  community  is  common, 
and  applied  to  its  use  as  the  property  of  a  family 
is  applied  to  the  use  of  all  its  members.  The  ma- 
gistrates watch  over  its  production  and  distribu- 
tion. Common  tables  are  introduced,  as  at  Sparta, 
at  which  both  sexes  are  present.  Indeed,  the 
whole  of  this  part  of  Utopian  economics  is  nearly  a 
transcript  of  those  Doric  institutions,  as  reformed 
and  modified  by  Lycurgus,  which  prevailed  in  the 
great  Peloponnesian  republic  ;  and,  consequently, 
however  liable  to  the  charge  of  extravagance,  can 
neither  be  called  new  nor  impracticable,  since  they 
actually  were  reduced  to  practice  during  many 
centuries,  and  that,  too,  with  the  consent  and  ap- 
probation of  the  people. 

The  regulation  interfering  with  the  power  of 
locomotion,  and  that  curious  machineiy  of  pass- 
ports since  imitated  to  so  great  an  extent  on  the 
continent,  likewise  originated  among  the  Spaitan 


liv  PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE. 

oligarchs,  who  by  eveiy  means  possible  sought  to 
cut  off  all  intercourse  between  themselves  and  the 
rest  of  mankind.  I  may  apply  the  same  remark 
to  their  proscription  of  the  precious  metals,  and  all 
those  enervating  luxuries,  their  companions,  which 
enfeeble  and  debase  the  mind,  without  being  the 
parent  of  any  healthful  enjoyment.  In  all  such 
luxuries  as  are  harmless  they  delight ;  and,  from  a 
remark  which  the  legislator  accidentally  lets  fall, 
it  appears  that  even  unlawful  and  forbidden  plea- 
sures are  abstained  from,  not  because  they  are  in 
themselves  base  or  hurtful,  but  because  their  reli- 
gion prohibits  them.  This  is  a  low  and  a  danger- 
ous doctrine.  Religion  forbids  no  pleasures  not  in 
themselves  or  in  their  consequences  evil ;  and  it 
forbids  them  simply  because  they  are  evil,  and 
would  diminish  the  happiness  of  those  who  taste 
them.  It  is  superstition  that  proscribes  the  plea- 
sant and  proper  use  of  any  gift  whatever  bestowed 
by  the  Almighty  upon  man. 

With  regard  to  the  religion  of  the  Utopians,  it 
may  be  said  that  it  was  a  species  of  refined  pagan- 
ism, in  some  respects  better  than  the  corrupt  Chris- 
tianity of  Sir  Thomas  More's  contemporaries. 
Its  cardinal  tenets,  he  observes,  were,  "  that  the 
soul  of  man  is  immortal,  and  that  God  of  his  good- 
ness has  designed  that  it  should  be  happy ;  and 
that  he  has  therefore  appointed  rewards  for  good 
and  virtuous  actions,  and  punishments  for  vice,  to 
be  distributed  after  this  life.  And  though  these 
principles  of  religion  are  conveyed  down  among 
them  by  tradition,  they   think   that  even  reason 


PRELIMINAUY    DISCOURSE.  Iv 

itself  determines  a  man  to  receive  and  acknowledge 
them." 

However,  contrary  to  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected, the  legislator  throws  aside  in  the  matter  of 
religion  that  uniformity  which,  in  other  respects, 
he  seems  so  earnestly  to  covet.  On  this  awful 
tQpic  he  refuses  to  dogmatise.  We  know  histori- 
cally how  wofully  he  belied  in  practice  the  theory 
of  toleration  here  developed  ;  but  we  have  to  do, 
just  now,  with  his  work  only,  and  in  this  his  aver- 
sion to  persecute  for  conscience"  sake  is  extreme. 
"There  are  several  sorts  of  religions,"  he  says, 
"not  only  in  different  parts  of  the  island,  but  even 
in  every  town ;  some  worshipping  the  sun,  others 
the  moon,  or  one  of  the  planets.  Some  worship 
such  men  as  have  been  eminent  in  former  times 
for  virtue  or  glory,  not  only  as  ordinary  deities, 
but  as  the  supreme  God.  Yet  the  greater  and 
wiser  sort  of  them  worship  none  of  these,  but  adore 
one  eternal,  invisible,  infinite,  and  incomprehensi- 
ble Deity,  as  a  Being  that  is  far  above  our  appre- 
hensions, that  is  spread  over  the  Avhole  universe, 
not  by  its  bulk,  but  by  its  power  and  virtue  : 
him  they  call  the  '  Father  of  all,'  and  acknowledge 
that  the  beginnings,  the  increase,  the  progress,  the 
vicissitudes,  and  the  end  of  all  things  come  only 
from  him  ;  nor  do  they  offer  divine  honours  to 
any  but  to  him  alone.  And,  indeed,  though  they 
differ  concerning  other  things,  yet  all  agree  in 
this — that  they  think  there  is  one  Supreme  Being 
that  made  and  governs  the  world,  whom  they  call, 
in  the  language  of  their  country,  Mithras." 


Ivi 


PRELIMINARY   DISCOURSE. 


He  enters  at  considerable  length  into  the  insti- 
tutions of  religion,  but  the  above  is  the  basis  of 
the  whole.  At  this  period  of  his  life,  Sir  Thomas 
More  clearly  belonged,  in  feelings  and  opinions, 
to  the  Reformers ;  for  he  loses  no  opportunity  of 
aiming  deadly  blows  at  Catholicism,  which  is 
only  distinguished  from  Protestantism  by  its  abuses. 
He  more  particularly  abhorred  its  priests,  and  those 
swarms  of  monks,  friars,  and  other  vagabonds  who 
spread  themselves  over  the  face  of  the  Christian 
world,  corrupting  its  doctrines,  and  perverting  its 
discipline.  He  rises,  by  the  mere  force  of  reason, 
to  the  apprehension  of  those  truths  since  made 
abundantly  manifest  by  the  spread  of  the  Reform- 
ation, and  is  filled  with  a  species  of  piety,  not 
precisely  that  of  Christianity,  but  what  approaches 
it  most  nearly — the  piety  of  philosophy.  Sir 
Thomas  More  is  scarcely  a  Christian  in  the  Uto- 
pia. .He  believes,  indeed,  and  believes  earnestly, 
the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Gospel  ;  but,  as 
yet,  his  faith  was  rather  an  unregenerate  persua- 
sion, than  that  conviction  which  kindles  the  soul, 
and  raises  it  to  a  participation  of  all  divine  truth. 
He  seems  to  admit  Christianity  like  a  system 
of  philosophy.  He  is  not  penetrated  by  its  spirit 
of  charity :  he  has  not  imbibed  all  its  tenderness 
for  human  life  ;  his  mind  overflows  not  with 
that  unspeakable  benevolence  which  pervades 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  spreads  ^a  calm 
indescribable  over  all  who  hear  it — for  it  still 
speaks.  Nevertheless,  throughout  the  Utopia,  a 
high    tone    of   religious    feeling,    and,   with   few 


PRELIMINARY    DISCOURSE.  Ivii 

exceptions,  a  rigid  system  of  morals  are  discern- 
ible; as  the  reader  who  proceeds  from  this  brief 
introduction  to  examine  the  work  itself  will  imme- 
diately perceive. 

J.  A.  ST.  JOHN. 
Hampstead,  December,  1837. 


UTOPIA 


THE     HAPPY    REPUBLIC. 


PREFACE. 


BY    BISHOP     BURNET. 


There  is  no  way  of  writing  so  proper,  for  the  refining  and 
polishing  a  language,  as  the  translating  of  books  into  it^  if  he 
that  undertakes  it  has  a  competent  skill  of  the  one  tongue,  and 
is  a  master  of  the  other.  When  a  man  writes  his  own  thoughts, 
the  heat  of  his  fancy,  and  the  quickness  of  his  mind,  carry  him 
so  much  after  the  notions  themselves,  that  for  the  most  part  he 
is  too  warm  to  judge  of  the  aptness  of  words,  and  the  justness  of 
figures ;  so  that  he  either  neglects  these  too  much,  or  over-does 
them  :  but  when  a  man  translates,  he  has  none  of  these  heats 
about  him  :  and  therefore  the  French  took  no  ill  method,  when 
they  intended  to  refonn  and  beautify  their  language,  in  setting 
their  best  writers  on  work  to  translate  the  Greek  and  Latin 
authors  into  it.  There  is  so  little  praise  got  by  translations, 
that  a  man  cannot  be  engaged  to  it  out  of  vanity,  for  it  has 
passed  for  a  sign  of  a  slow  mind,  that  can  amuse  itself  with 
so  mean  an  entertainment ;  but  we  begin  to  grow  wiser,  and 
though  ordinary  translators  must  succeed  ill  in  the  esteem  of 
the  world,  yet  some  have  appeared  of  late  that  will,  I  hope, 
bring  that  way  of  writing  in  credit.  The  English  language  has 
wrought  itself  out,  both  of  the  fulsome  pedantry  under  which 
it  laboured  long  ago,  and  the  trifling  way  of  dark  and  unin- 
telligible wit  that  came  after  that,  and  out  of  the  coarse  ex- 
travagance of  canting  that  suceeded  this ;  but  as  one  extreme 
commonly  produces  another,  so  we  were  beginning  to  fly  into 
a  sublime  pitch  of  a  strong  but  false  rhetoric,  which  had  much 
corrupted,  not  only  the  stage,  but  even  the  pulpit ;  two  places, 


Ixii  PREFACE,    BY    BISHOP    BURNET. 

that  though  they  ought  not  to  be  named  together,  much  less 
to  resemble  one  another ;  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  but,  the  rule 
and  measure  of  speech  is  generally  taken  from  them  ;  but  that 
florid  strain  is  almost  quite  worn  out,  and  is  become  now  as 
ridiculous  as  it  was  once  admired.  So  that  without  either  the  ex- 
pense or  labour  that  the  French  have  undergone,  our  language 
has,  like  a  rich  wine,  wrought  out  its  tartar,  and  is  insensibly 
brought  to  a  purity  that  could  not  have  been  compassed  with- 
out much  labour,  had  it  not  been  for  the  great  advantage  that 
we  have  of  a  prince,  who  is  so  great  a  judge,  that  his  single 
approbation  or  dislike  has  almost  as  great  an  authority  over  our 
language,  as  his  prerogative  gives  him  over  our  coin.  We 
are  now  so  much  refined,  that  how  defective  soever  our  imagina- 
tions or  reasonings  may  be,  yet  our  language  has  fewer  faults, 
and  is  more  natural  and  proper  than  it  was  ever  at  any  time 
before.  When  one  compares  the  best  writers  of  the  last  age, 
with  those  that  excel  in  this,  the  difference  is  very  discernible ; 
even  the  great  Sir  Francis  Bacon,  that  was  the  first  that  wrote 
our  language  correctly ;  as  he  is  still  our  best  author,  yet  in 
some  places  has  figures  so  strong,  that  they  could  not  pass  now 
before  a  severe  judge.  I  will  not  provoke  the  present  masters 
of  the  stage,  by  preferring  the  authors  of  the  last  age  to 
them  :  for  though  they  all  acknowledge  that  they  come  far 
short  of  B.  Johnson,  Bea\imont  and  Fletcher,  yet  I  believe 
they  are  better  pleased  to  say  this  themselves,  than  to  have  it 
observed  by  others.  Their  language  is  now  certainly  more 
proper,  and  more  natural  than  it  was  formerly,  chiefly  since 
the  correction  that  was  given  by  the  Rehearsal ;  and  it  is  to 
be  hoped  that  the  essay  on  poetry,  which  may  be  well  matched 
with  the  best  pieces  of  its  kind  that  even  Augustus's  age  pro- 
duced, will  have  a  more  powerful  operation,  if  clear  sense, 
joined  with  home  but  gentle  reproofs,  can  work  more  on 
our  writers  than  that  unmerciful  exposing  of  them  has  done. 

I  have  now  much  leisure,  and  want  diversion,  so  I  have 
bestowed  some  of  my  hours  upon  translations,  in  which  I  have 
proposed  no  ill  patterns  to  myself  :  but  the  reader  will  be  best 
able  to  judge  whether  I  have  copied  skilfully  after  such  origi- 


PREFACE,    BY    BISHOP    BUIINET.  Ixiii 

nals.  This  small  volume  which  I  now  publish,  being  written 
by  one  of  the  greatest  men  that  this  island  has  produced, 
seemed  to  me  to  contain  so  many  fine  and  well-digested  notions, 
that  I  thought  it  might  be  no  unkind  nor  ill  entertainment  to 
the  nation  to  put  a  book  in  their  hands  to  which  they  have  so 
good  a  title,  and  which  has  a  very  common  fate  upon  it,  to  be 
more  known  and  admired  all  the  world  over  than  here  at  home. 
It  was  once  translated  into  English  not  long  after  it  was  written; 
and  I  was  once  apt  to  think  it  might  have  been  done  by  Sir 
Thomas  3Iore  himself :  for  as  it  is  in  the  English  of  his  age, 
and  not  unlike  his  style  ;  so  the  translator  has  taken  a  liberty 
that  seems  too  great  for  any  but  the  author  himself,  who  is 
master  of  his  own  book,  and  so  may  leave  out  or  alter  his 
original  as  he  pleases :  which  is  more  than  a  translator  ought  to 
do.     I  am  sure  it  is  more  than  I  have  presumed  to  do. 

It  was  written  in  the  year  1 5 1 G,  as  appears  by  the  date  of  the  letter 
of  Peter  Giles,  in  which  he  says  that  it  was  sent  him  but  a  few 
days  before  from  die  author,  and  that  bears  date  the  1st  of 
November  that  year ;  but  I  cannot  imagine  how  he  comes  to  be 
called  sheriff  of  London  in  the  title  of  the  book,  for  in  all  our 
printed  catalogues  of  sheriffs  his  name  is  not  to  be  found.  I  do 
not  think  myself  concerned  in  the  matter  of  his  book,  no  more 
than  any  other  translator  is  in  his  author,  nor  do  I  think  More 
hunself  went  in  heartily  to  that  which  is  the  chief  basis  of  his 
Utopia,  the  taking  away  of  all  property,  and  the  levelling  of 
the  world ;  but  that  he  only  intended  to  set  many  notions  in  his 
reader's  way ;  and  that  he  might  nor  seem  too  much  in  earnest, 
he  went  so  far  out  of  all  roads  to  do  it  the  less  suspected.  The 
earnestness  with  which  he  recommends  the  precaution  used  in 
marriages  among  the  Utopians  makes  one  think  that  he  had  a 
misfortune  in  his  own  choice,  and  that  therefore  he  was  so 
cautious  on  that  head  ;  for  the  strictness  of  his  life  covers  him 
from  severe  censures ;  his  setting  out  so  barbarous  a  practice  as 
the  hiring  of  assassins  to  take  off  enemies,  is  so  wUd  and  so 
immoral  both,  that  it  does  not  admit  of  anything  to  soften  or 
excuse  it,  much  less  to  justify  it ;  and  the  advising  men  in  some 
cases  to  put  an  end  to  their  lives,  notwithstanding  all  the  cau- 


Ixiv  PREFACE,    BY    BISHOP    BURNET. 

tion  with  which  he  guards  it,  is  a  piece  of  rough  and  fierce 
philosophy.  The  tenderest  part  of  the  whole  work  was  the 
representation  he  gives  of  Henry  the  Seventh's  court ;  and  his 
discourses  upon  it,  towards  the  end  of  the  first  book,  in  which 
his  diguise  is  so  thin  that  the  matter  would  not  have  been  much 
plainer  if  he  had  named  him :  but  when  he  ventured  to  write  so 
freely  of  the  father  in  the  son's  reign,  and  to  give  such  an  idea 
of  government  under  the  haughtiest  prince,  and  the  most  im- 
patient of  uneasy  restraints  that  ever  reigned  in  England,  who 
yet  was  so  far  from  being  displeased  with  him  for  it,  that  as  he 
made  him  long  his  particular  friend,  so  he  employed  him  in 
all  his  affairs  afterwards,  and  raised  him  to  be  Lord  Chancellor, 
I  thought  I  might  venture  to  put  it  in  more  modern  English : 
for  as  the  translators  of  Plutarch's  Heroes,  or  of  Tully's  Offices, 
are  not  concerned,  either  in  the  maxims  or  in  the  actions  that 
they  relate ;  so  I,  who  only  tell,  in  the  best  English  I  can,  what 
Sir  Thomas  More  wrote  in  very  elegant  Latin,  must  leave  his 
thoughts  and  notions  to  the  reader's  censure,  and  do  think  my- 
self liable  for  nothing  but  the  fidelity  of  the  translation,  and 
the  correctness  of  the  English  ;  and  for  that  I  can  only  say,  that 
I  have  written  as  carefully,  and  as  well  as  I  can. 


UTOPIA. 


LETTER  FROM  SIR  THOMAS  MORE 


PETER  GILES. 

I  AM  almost  ashamed,  my  dearest  Peter  Giles,  to 
send  you  this  book  of  the  Utopian  commonwealth, 
after  almost  a  year's  delay ;  whereas  no  doubt  you 
looked  for  it  within  six  weeks  :  for  as  you  know  I 
had  no  occasion  for  using  my  invention,  or  for 
taking  pains  to  put  things  into  any  method,  because 
I  had  nothing  to  do,  but  to  repeat  exactly  those 
things  that  I  heard  Rajjhael  relate  in  your  pre- 
sence ;  so  neither  was  there  any  occasion  given  for 
a  studied  eloquence ;  since  as  he  delivered  things 
to  us  of  the  sudden,  and  in  a  careless  style,  so  he 
being,  as  you  know,  a  greater  master  of  the  Greek,' 

'  This  is  well  known  to  have  been  the  case  with  Sir  Thomas 
iMore  himself,  as  the  reader  of  the  Utopia  will  have  frequent 
occasion  to  observe.  And  he  seems  to  have  preferred  the  insti- 
tutions of  Greece,  no  less  than  her  language  and  literature, 
before  those  of  Rome ;  in  this  differing  from  his  worthy  great- 
grandson,  Thomas  More,  Esq.  who  considered  the  Roman  com- 
monwealth "the  best  of  all  other."     3Iany  writers  of  merit  and 

V 


<l  SIR    THOMAS    MORE  S 

than  of  the  Latin,  the  plainer  my  words  are,  they 
will  resemble  his  simplicity  the  moi*e,  and  will  be 
by  consequence  the  nearer  to  the  truth ;  and  that 
is  all  that  I  think  lies  on  me,  and  it  is  indeed  the 
or\ly  thing  in  which  I  thought  myself  concerned. 
I  confess,  I  had  very  little  left  on  me  in  this  mat- 
ter, for  otherwise  the  inventing  and  ordering  of 
such  a  scheme,  would  have  put  a  man  of  an  ordi- 
nary pitch,  either  of  capacity,  or  of  learning,  to 
some  pains,  and  have  cost  him  some  time  ;*  but  if 
it  had  been  necessary  that  this  relation  should 
have  been  made  not  only  truly,  but  eloquently,  it 
could  never  have  been  performed  by  me,  even  after  all 
the  pains  and  time  that  I  could  have  bestowed  upon 
it.  My  part  in  it  was  so  very  small,  that  it  covild 
not  give  me  much  trouble,  all  that  belonged  to  me 

acuteness  entertain  a  similar  predilection  for  the  "  Wolves  of 
Italy  ;"  but  I  agree  with  Sir  Thomas,  whose  opinion  as  a 
statesman  and  philosopher  is  not  to  be  despised.  His  Hellenism, 
however,  will  more  evidently  appear  as  we  proceed ;  for,  in 
many  respects,  the  Utopia  but  recommends  what  the  polities  of 
Greece  actually  reduced  to  practice. 

'-  There  is  much  rhetorical  art  in  this.  The  reader  is  led  to 
believe  that  a  work  which,  in  reality,  cost  the  author  many 
years'  labour,  and  is  the  fruit  of  a  whole  life's  meditations,  was 
struck  off  carelessly  at  a  heat.  What  he  finds  good  in  it,  there- 
fore, he  attributes  to  the  fertile  genius  and  felicitous  imagination 
of  the  writer ;  and  readily  accounts  for  all  defects  by  the  haste 
ii  which  he  supposes  it  to  have  been  written.  IMost  persons,  a 
little  elevated  above  the  common  level,  desire  what  they  publish 
to  be  considered  the  spontaneous  production  of  their  wisdom, 
rather  than  of  their  learning.  But  the  true  philosopher, 
perhaps,  will  disdain  all  artifice,  and  be  anxious  to  appear  before 
his  reader  as  he  appears  to  himself ;  claiming  as  his  own  what  is 
so,  and  acknowledging  all  else. 


LETTER  TO  PETER  GILES.  3 

being  only  to  give  a  true  and  full  account  of  tlie 
things  that  I  had  heard  ;  but  altliough  tliis  required 
so  very  little  of  my  time,  yet  even  that  little  was  long 
denied  me  by  my  other  affairs,  which  press  much 
upon  me  :  for  while  in  pleading,  and  hearing,  and 
in  judging  or  composing  of  causes,  in  waiting  on 
some  men  upon  business,  and  others  out  of  respect, 
the  greatest  part  of  the  day  is  spent  on  other  mens 
affairs,  the  remainder  of  it  must  be  given  to  my 
family  at  home :  so  that  I  can  reserve  no  part  of  it 
to  myself,  that  is,  to  my  study :  I  must  talk  with 
my  wife,  and  chat  with  my  children,  and  I  have 
somewhat  to  say  to  rny  servants;  for  all  these 
things  I  reckon  as  a  part  of  business,  except  a  man 
will  resolve  to  be  a  stranger  at  home  :  and  w  ith 
whomsoever  either  nature,  or  chance,  or  choice  has 
engaged  a  man,  in  any  commerce,  he  must  endea- 
vour to  make  himself  as  acceptable  to  those  about 
him,  as  he  possibly  can ;  using  still  such  a  temper 
in  it,  that  he  may  not  spoil  them  by  an  excessive 
gentleness,  so  that  his  servants  may  not  become  his 
masters.  ^     In  such  things  as  I  have  named  to  you, 

3  Lord  Bacon,  who  was  as  cunning  as  he  was  able,  pretended 
to  this  amiable  weakness  when  he  had  been  found  guilty  of  per- 
verting justice  for  gain.  Passing  one  day  through  the  court, 
where  his  numerous  retainers  were  drawn  up  to  behold  their 
lord,  and  rose  at  his  approach,  "  Sit  down,  my  masters,"  said 
he,  "  your  rise  hath  been  my  fall."  This  remark  has  answered 
its  purpose.  It  was  intended  to  throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  pos- 
terity, and  it  has  done  so.  The  only  question,  however,  is,  if 
he  knew  those  ravenous  harpies  were  not  to  be  maintained  with- 
out injustice,  why  did  he  keep  them  ?  His  own  vanity,  not 
their  rapacity,  was  the  cause  of  his  fall,  but  this  he  was  unwil- 
ling the  world  should  perceive. 

r  2 


4  SIR   THOMAS    MORE  S 

do  days,  months,  and  years  slip  away  ;  what  is 
then  left  for  writing?*  And  yet  I  have  said 
nothing  of  that  time  that  must  go  for  sleep,  or  for 
meat :  in  which  many  do  waste  almost  as  much  of 
their  time  as  in  sleep,  which  consumes  very  near 
the  half  of  our  life;  and  indeed  all  the  time  which 
I  can  gain  to  myself  is  that  which  I  steal  from  my 
sleep  and  my  meals  ;  and  because  that  is  not  much, 
I  have  made  but  a  slow  progress ;  yet  because  it  is 
somewhat,  I  have  at  last  got  to  an  end  of  my 
Utopia,  which  I  now  send  to  you,  and  expect  that 
after  you  have  read  it,  you  will  let  me  know  if  you 
can  put  me  in  mind  of  anything  that  has  escaped 
me  ;  for  though  I  would  think  myself  very  happy, 
if  I  had  but  as  much  invention  and  learning  as  I 
know  I  have  memory,  which  makes  me  generally 
depend  much  upon  it,  yet  I  do  not  rely  so  entirely 
on  it,  as  to  think  I  can  forget  nothing/ 

My  servant,   John   Clement,  has  started  some 

*  In  a  person  holding  such  offices  as  were  filled  by  Sir 
Thomas  More,  this  was  no  idle  excuse.  That  he  could  find  lei- 
sure for  writing  at  all  was  to  his  contemporaries  matter  of  as 
much  wonder,  as  Lord  Brougham's  industry  has  been  to  the 
people  of  our  own  times.  In  all  these  cases  a  habit  of  order, 
and  a  rigid  economy  of  time,  are  at  the  bottom  of  what  is 
thought  a  marvel.  Such  men  are  never  idle,  though  often  at 
leisure.  Employing  their  time  properly,  they  have  time  for 
everything. 

^  No,  certainly;  and  therefore  we  must  he  prepared  for  some 
mistakes  and  inconsistencies  in  the  work.  Nothing  is  more  na- 
tural than  a  lapse  of  memory.  The  existence  and  excellence 
of  the  Utopian  polity  are  not  to  be  called  in  question,  because 
Sir  Thomas  happens  to  omit  an  explanation,  mistake  a  fact,  or 
even  misunderstand  the  reason  or  nature  of  a  law  or  custom. 


LKTTKR  TO  PETKR  GILKS.  O 

tilings  that  shake  me :  you  know  he  was  present 
with  us,  as  I  think  he  ought  to  be  at  every  conver- 
sation that  may  be  of  use  to  him,  for  I  promise 
myself  great  matters  from  the  progress  he  has  so 
early  made  in  the   Greek  and  Roman   learning. 
As  far  as  my  memory  serves  me,  the  bridge  over 
Anider  at  Amaurot,  was  five  hundred  paces  broad, 
according  to  Raphael's  account ;  but  John  assures 
me,  he  spoke  only  of  three  hundred  paces  ;^  there- 
fore I  pray  you  recollect  what  you  can  remember 
of  this,  for  if  you   agree  with  him,  I  will  believe 
that  I  have  been  mistaken  ;  but  if  you  remember 
nothing  of  it,  I  will  not  alter  what  I  have  written, 
because  it  is  according  to  the  best  of  my  remem- 
brance :  for  as  T  will  take  care  that  there  may  be 
nothing  falsely  set  down ;  so  if  there  is  any  thing- 
doubtful,  though  I  may  perhaps  tell  a  lie,  yet  I  am 
sure  I  will  not  make  one ;  for  I  would  rather  pass 

*  The  reader  will  probably  detect  in  this  and  similar  pas- 
sages much  of  the  manner  of  that  very  exact  and  instructive 
traveller,  Lemuel  Gulliver;  and  may  probably  concur 
jwith  me  in  supposing  the  said  traveller  to  be  not  a  little  in- 
debted to  the  Utopia.  It  must  be  owned  that  I\Iore  well  under- 
stood the  art  of  lying  like  truth.  There  is  nothing  that  com- 
municates to  a  narrative  so  great  an  air  of  matter  of  fact  as  such 
little  corrections  as  this,  and  dwelling  on  minute  particulars  ;  as 
yEschines  cunningly  objects  to  his  great  rival  in  his  Speech  on 
the  Embassy.  "  He  will  tell  you,"  says  he,  "the  very  day  on 
which  some  imaginary  event  took  place ;  and  not  only  so, 
but  name  at  once  some  imaginary  individual  who  witnessed  it, 
exactly  imitating  the  manner  of  persons  who  relate  what  is 
true."  De  Falsa  Legat.  §.  48.  Conf.  Casaub.  ad  Theophrast. 
Charact.  p.  209.  Defoe  and  Swift  adopted  this  natural  style 
of  writing,  which  is  also  that  of  Bunyan,  who  may,  perhaps,  be 
said  to  have  carried  it  to  perfection. 


b  SIR    THOMAS    MORE  S 

for  a  good  man  than  for  a  wise  man :  but  it  will  be 
easy  to  correct  this  mistake,  if  you  can  either  meet 
with  Raphael  himself,  or  know  how  to  write  to 
him. 

I  have  another  difficulty  that  presses  me  more, 
and  makes  your  writing  to  him  the  more  neces- 
sary :  I  know  not  whom  I  ought  to  blame  for  it, 
whether  Raphael,  you,  or  myself;  for  as  we  did 
not  think  of  asking  it,  so  neither  did  he  of  telling 
us,  in  what  part  of  the  new-found  world  Utopia  is 
situated ;  this  was  such  an  omission  that  I  would 
gladly  redeem  it  at  any  rate :  I  am  ashamed,  that 
after  I  have  told  so  many  things  concerning  this 
island,  I  cannot  let  my  readers  know  in  what  sea 
it  lies.  There  are  some  among  us  that  have  a 
mighty  desire  to  go  thither,  and  in  particular,  one 
pious  divine  is  very  earnest  on  it,  not  so  much 
out  of  a  vain  curiosity  of  seeing  unknown  coun- 
tries, as  that  he  may  advance  our  religion,  which  is 
so  happily  begun  to  be  planted  there ;  and  that  he 
may  do  this  regularly,  he  intends  to  procure  a  mis- 
sion from  the  Pope,  and  to  be  sent  thither  as 
their  Bishop.  ^  In  such  a  case  as  this,  he  makes 
no  scruple  of  aspiring  to  that  character,  and  thinks 
it  is  the  rather  meritorious  to  be  ambitious  of  it. 


'  This,  I  believe,  was  no  fiction.  At  least,  Sir  Thomas's 
great-grandson  tells  us,  that  "  many  great  learned  men,  as 
Budseus  and  Johannes  Paludanus,  upon  a  fervent  zeal,  wished 
that  some  excellent  divines  might  be  sent  thither  to  preach 
Christ's  gospel ;  yea,  there  were  here  amongst  us  at  home,  sun- 
dry good  men  and  learned  divines  very  anxious  to  take  the 
voyage,  to  bring  tlie  people  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  whose  manners 


LKTTKR  TO  rKTER  GILKS.  7 

when  one  desires  it  only  for  advancing-,  the  Chris- 
tian relig-ion,  and  not  for  any  honour  or  advantage 
that  may  be  had  by  it,  but  is  actuated  merely  by  a 
pious  zeal.     Therefore  I  earnestly  beg-  it  of  you,  if 
you  can  possibly  meet  with    Raphael,  or   if  you 
know  how  to  write  to  him,  that  you  will  be  pleased 
to  inform  yourself  of  these  things,  that  there  may 
be  no  falsehood   left  in  my  book,  nor  any  impor- 
tant truth  wanting-.     And   perhaps  it  will  not  be 
unfit  to  let  him  see  the  book  itself:  for  as  no  man 
can  correct  any  errors  that  may  be  in  it,  so  well  as 
he  ;  so  by  reading  it,  he  will  be  able  to  give  a  more 
perfect  judgment  of  it  than  he  can  do  upon  any 
discourse  concerning  it :  and  you  will  be  likewise 
able  to  discover  whether  this  undertaking  of  mine 
is  acceptable  to  him  or  not ;  for  if  he  intends  to 
write  a  relation  of  his  travels,  perhaps  he  will  not 
be  pleased  that  I  should  prevent  him,  in  that  part 
that  belongs  to  the  Utopian  commonwealth  ;  since 
if  I  should  do  so,  his  book  will  not  surprise  the 
world  with  the   pleasure  which  this  new  discovery 
will  give  the  age.     And  I  am  so  little  fond  of  ap 
pearing  in  print  upon  this  occasion,  that  if  he  dis- 
likes it,  I  will  lay  it  aside ;  and   even  though  he 
should  approve  of  it,  I  am  not  positively  deter- 
mined as  to  publishing  of  it.     Men's  tastes  dift'er 

they  did  so  well  like."  In  point  of  fact,  though  there  happened 
to  be  no  such  place  as  Utopia,  neither  the  description  of  the 
country  nor  the  manners  of  the  people  contained  any  thing  which 
might  not  then  be  credited,  when  the  recent  discovery  of  Ame- 
rica had  disposed  men's  minds  to  believe,  nay,  to  expect  daily  a 
revelation  of  new  wonders. 


O  SIR    THOMAS    MORE  S 

much  ;  some  are  of  so  morose  a  temper,  so  sour  a 
disposition,  and  make  such  absurd  judgments  oi' 
things,  that  men  of  cheerful  and  lively  tempers, 
who  indulge  their  genius,  seem  much  more  happy, 
than  those  who  waste  their  time  and  strength  in 
order  to  the  publishing  some  book,  that  though  of 
itself  it  might  be  useful  or  pleasant,  yet  instead  of 
being  well  received,  will  be  sure  to  be  either 
loathed  at,  or  censured.  ^  Many  know  nothing 
of  learning,  and  others  despise  it;  a  man  that 
is  accustomed  to  a  coarse  and  hard  style,  thinks 
every  thing  is  rough  that  is  not  barbarous.  Our 
trifling  pretenders  to  learning,  think  all  is  slight 
that  is  not  drest  up  in  words  that  are  worn 
out  of  use ;  some  love  only  old  things,  and  many 
like  nothing  but  what  is  their  own.  Some 
are  so  sour  that  they  can  allow  no  jests,  and 
others  are  so  dull  that  they  can  endure  nothing 
that  is  sharp  ;  and  some  are  as  much  afraid  of  any- 
thing that  is  quick  or  lively,  as  a  man  bit  with  a 
mad  dog  is  of  water ;  others  are  so  light  and  un- 
settled, that   their   thoughts  change  as   quick   as 


^  Critics  have  always  been  the  dread  of  authors,  but  un- 
doubtedly without  much  cause  ;  for,  unless  they  succeed,  as 
they  seldom  do,  in  strangling  a  book  in  the  birth,  their  ani- 
madversions fall  into  oblivion,  and  the  work  survives.  Besides, 
they  are  not  always  mistaken  in  their  judgments;  but,  instead 
of  fastening  upon  a  man  of  genius,  and  baiting  him  to  death, 
kindly  lend  their  aid  in  making  known  his  pretensions,  and  re- 
commending him  to  the  public.  Cases  of  this  description  are 
of  course  exceptions  to  the  general  rule ;  but  they  do  happen, 
and  every  writer  should  hope  they  may  in  his  particular  in- 
stance. 


I.KTTEH    TO    TETER    GILES.  H 

they  do  llieir  postures ;  and  some,  when  they  meet 
in  taverns,  take  upon  them  among  their  cups  to 
pass  censures  very  freely  on  all  writers;  and  with 
a  supercilious  liberty  to  condemn  every  thing-  they 
do  not  like  :  in  which  they  have  the  advantaj^e 
that  a  bald  man  has,  who  can  catch  hold  of  ano- 
ther by  the  hair,  w  hile  the  other  cannot  return  the 
like  upon  him.  ^  They  are  safe  as  it  were  of  gun- 
shot, since  there  is  nothing-  in  them  considerable 
enougli  to  be  taken  hold  of.  And  some  are  so  un- 
thankful, that  even  when  they  are  well  pleased 
with  a  book,  yet  they  think  they  owe  nothing  to 
the  author;  and  are  like  those  rude  guests,  who 
after  they  have  been  well  entertained  at  a  good  din- 
ner, go  away  when  they  have  glutted  -their  appe- 
tites, without  so  much  as  thanking  him  that  treated 
them.  But  who  would  put  himself  to  the  charge 
of  making  a  feast  for  men  of  such  nice  palates,  and 
so  different  tastes,  who  are  so  forgetful  of  the  civil- 
ities that  are  done  ? '°  But  do  you  once  clear 
those  points  with  Raphael,  and  then  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  consider  whether  it  be  fit  to  publish  it 

*  This  humorous  remark  reminds  me  of  an  anecdote  which 
I  heard  from  a  Roman  Catholic  priest.  During  the  disputes  be- 
tween the  rival  clergies  in  Ireland,  a  Protestant,  intending  to 
be  very  hard  upon  his  adversaries,  observed  very  angrily  to  a 
priest,  "  M'hy,  you  carry  your  iniquity  so  far,  as  sometimes  to 
corrupt  our  wives."  "  It  may  be  so,"  replied  the  priest,  "but 
at  any  rate  you  cannot  return  us  the  compliment." 

'"  This  will  remind  the  reader  of  that  apt  comparison  of  a 
book  to  an  ordinary,  in  the  opening  of  Tom  Jones,  where  the 
author  observes  that  every  one  considers  he  has  a  right,  when  he 
pays  for  it,  to  damn  his  dinner  as  much  as  he  pleases.  And  so, 
no  doubt,  he  has ;  and  if  it  helps  his   digestion,    one   cannot 


10     SIR  THOMAS  MORe's  LETTER  TO  PETER  GILES. 

or  not ;  for  since  I  have  been  at  tlie  pains  to  write 
it,  if  he  consents  to  the  publishing-  it  I  will  follow 
my  friends'  advice,  and  chiefly  yours.  Farewell 
my  dear  Peter :  commend  me  kindly  to  your  good 
wife,  and  love  me  still  as  you  used  to  do,  for  I  assure 
you  I  love  you  daily  more  and  more. 

grudge  it  him.  Sir  Thomas  More  seems  to  forget  that  men 
sometimes  6»v  books,  which,  at  least  in  their  opinion,  gives 
them  an  absolute  power  over  the  author,  to  damn  or  praise  him, 
just  as  the  humour  prompts. 


THE  DISCOURSES 

OP 

RAPHAEL    HYTHLODAY, 

OF   THE 

BEST  STATE  OF  A  COMMONWEALTH. 


BOOK     I. 


Henry  the  Eighth,  the  unconquered  king  of  Eng- 
land, a  prince  adorned  with  all  the  virtues  that 
become  a  great  monarch  ;"  having  some  differences 

"  From  this  one  may  judge  how  very  few  virtues  Sir  Thomas 
thought  "  a  great  monarch"  ought  to  possess ;  for  a  more  worth- 
less tyrant  than  Henry  VIII.,  history  has  scarcely  recorded  in 
its  annals.  The  truth,  no  doubt,  is,  that  the  author,  conscious 
he  was  about  to  write  many  offensive  truths,  was  desirous  of 
disarming,  by  flattery,  the  despot  whom  our  "  glorious  constitu- 
tion "  allowed  the  power  of  life  and  death  over  him.  "  Under 
governments  so  much  disposed  towards  encroachment  on  popu- 
lar freedom,"  observes  Dr.  Vaughan,  in  his  History  of  England, 
"  as  were  those  of  the  House  of  Tudor,  it  was  not  to  have  been 
expected  that  the  liberty  of  the  subject  would  always  be  held 
sacred,  inasmuch  as  the  powers  of  arresting  obnoxious  persons  at 
pleasure,  without  being  obliged  to  assign  any  cause  for  such  acts, 
or  being  under  the  necessity  of  bringing  such  persons  to  trial, 
is  that  to  which  arbitrary  princes  have  generally  clung  with  the 
utmost  tenacity."  Chap.  xi.  p.  17G.  Even  the  acknowledg- 
ment, however,  of  Henry's  numerous  "  virtues  "  could  not  save 
the  writer  from  the  executioner's  axe ;  which  is  sufficient  to 
show  what  value  should  be  set  on  that  farce,  called  the  Consti- 
tution, in  the  time  of  the  Tudors. 


12 


UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 


of  no  small  consequence  with  Charles,  the  most 
serene  Prince  of  Castile,  sent  me  into  Flanders,  as 
his  ambassador,  for  treating  and  composing  matters 
between  them.  I  was  colleague  and  companion  to 
that  incomparable  man  Cuthbert  Tonstal,  whom 
the  king  made  lately  Master  of  the  Rolls,  with 
such  an  universal  applause;  of  whom  I  will  say 
nothing,  not  because  I  fear  that  the  testimony 
of  a  friend  will  be  suspected,  but  rather  because 
his  learning  and  virtues  are  greater  than  that 
they  can  be  set  forth  with  advantage  by  me,  and 
they  are  so  well  known,  that  they  need  not  my 
commendations,  unless  I  would,  according  to  the 
the  proverb,  "  Show  the  sun  with  a  lantern."  '^ 
Those  that  were  appointed  by  the  prince  to  treat 
with  us,  met  us  at  Bruges,  according  to  agree- 
ment; they  were  all  Morthy  men.  The  margrave 
of  Bruges  was  their  head,  and  the  chief  man  among 
them ;  but  he  that  was  esteemed  the  wisest,  and 
that  spoke  for  the  rest,  was  George  Temse,  the  pro- 
vost of  Casselsee ;  both  art  and  nature  had  con- 
curred to  make  him  eloquent :  he  was  very  learned 
in  the  law ;  and  as  he  had  a  great  capacity,  so  by 
a  long  practice  in  affairs  he  was  very  dexterous  at 
them.  After  we  had  met  once  and  again,  and 
could  not  come  to  an  agreement,  they  went  to 
Brussels  for  some  days,  to  receive  the  prince's  plea- 

'^  Lord  Chesterfield  considers  the  employment  of  proverbs  vul- 
gar ;  but  Sir  Thomas  More,  even  though  Theophrastos  had 
long  before  intimated  the  same  thing,  would  not  be  deterred 
from  introducing  into  his  work  any  form  of  speech  that  might 
tend  to  embellish  it. 


HAPPY    RKPUBLIC.  13 

sure.  And,  since  our  business  did  admit  of  it, 
I  went  to  Antwerp  :  while  I  was  there,  amon<^ 
many  that  visited  me,  there  was  one  that  was 
more  acceptable  to  me  than  any  other — Peter 
Giles,  born  at  Antwerp,  who  is  a  man  of  great 
honour,  and  of  a  good  rank  in  his  town  ;  yet  it 
is  not  such  as  he  deserves  :  for  I  do  not  know 
if  there  be  anywhere  to  be  found  a  more  learned 
and  a  better  bred  young  man  :  for  as  he  is  both 
a  very  worthy  person  and  a  very  knowing  man  ; 
so  he  is  so  civil  to  all  men,  and  yet  so  particu- 
larly kind  to  his  friends,  and  is  so  full  of  can- 
dour and  affection,  that  there  is  not,  perhaps, 
above  one  or  two  to  be  found  anywhere  that 
is  in  all  respects  so  perfect  a  friend  as  he  is. 
He  is  extraordinarily  modest,  there  is  no  artifice 
in  him ;  and  yet  no  man  has  more  of  a  pru- 
dent simplicity  than  he  has.  His  conversation  was 
so  pleasant,  and  so  innocently  cheerful,  that  his 
company  did  in  a  great  measure  lessen  any  long- 
ings to  go  back  to  my  country,  and  to  my  wife  and 
children,  which  an  absence  of  four  months  had 
quickened  very  much.  One  day,  as  I  was  return- 
ing home  from  mass  at  St.  Mary's,  which  is  the 
chief  church,  and  the  most  frequented  of  any  in 
Antwerp,  I  saw  him  by  accident  talking  with  a 
stranger  that  seemed  past  the  flower  of  his  age  ; 
his  face  was  tanned,  he  had  a  long  beard,  and  his 
cloak  was  hanging  carelessly  about  him,  so  that  by 
his  looks  and  habit  I  concluded  he  was  a  seaman. 
As  soon  as  Peter  saw  me  he  came  and  saluted  me ; 
and,  as  I  was  returning  his  civility,  he  took  me 


14  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

aside,  and,  pointing  to  him  with  whom  he  had 
been  discoursing,  he  said,  "  Do  you  see  that  man  ? 
I  was  just  thinking"  to  bring  him  to  you."  I  an- 
swered, "  He  should  have  been  very  welcome  on 
your  account."  "  And  on  his  own  too,"  replied  he, 
"  if  you  knew  the  man  ;  for  there  is  none  alive  that 
can  give  you  so  copious  an  account  of  unknown 
nations  and  countries  as  he  can  do  ;  which  I  know 
you  very  much  desire."  "  Then,"  said  I,  "  I  did  not 
guess  amiss ;  for  at  first  sight  I  took  him  for  a  sea- 
man." "But  you  are  much  mistaken,"  said  he,  "for 
he  has  not  sailed  as  a  seaman,  but  as  a  traveller,  or 
rather  as  a  philosopher ;  for  this  Raphael,  who 
from  his  family  carries  the  name  of  Hythloday,  as 
he  is  not  ignorant  of  the  Latin  tongue,  so  he  is 
eminently  learned  in  the  Greek,  having  applied 
himself  more  particularly  to  that  than  to  the  former, 
because  he  had  given  himself  much  to  philosophy, 
in  which  he  knew  that  the  Romans  have  left  us 
nothing  that  is  valuable,  except  what  is  to  be  found 
in  Seneca  and  Cicero.'^  He  is  a  Portuguese  by 
birth,  and  was  so  desirous  of  seeing  the  world,  that 
he  divided  his  estate  among  his  brothers,  and  ran 
fortunes  with  Americus  Vespucius,  and  bore  a  share 
in  three  of  his  four  voyages  that  are  now  published ; 
only  he  did  not  remain  with  him  in  his  last,  but 
obtained  leave  of  him,  almost  by  force,  that  he 

''  To  this  I  would  not  subscribe.  There  is  much  valuable 
philosophy  in  Lucretius,  though  his  general  theory  be  false  ; 
and  the  elder  Pliny,  a  naturalist;  indeed,  but  an  able  one,  is 
full  of  a  bold  kind  of  philosophy,  much  in  the  carping  vein  of 
Seneca. 


HAPPV    REPUIJLIC,  15 

might  be  one  of  those  four-and -twenty  who  were 
left  at  the  furthest  phice  at  which  they  touched,  in 
their  hist  voyage  to  New  Castile.  The  leaving  him 
thus  did  not  a  little  gratify  one  that  was  more  fond 
of  travelling  than  of  returning  home  to  be  buried 
in  his  own  country  ;  for  he  used  often  to  say  that 
the  way  to  heaven  was  the  same  from  all  places  ;'* 
and  he  that  had  no  grave  had  the  heavens  still  over 
him.  Yet  this  disposition  of  mind  had  cost  him 
dear,  if  God  had  not  been  very  gracious  to  him ; 
for  after  he,  with  five  Castilians,  had  travelled  over 
many  countries,  at  last,  by  a  strange  good  fortune, 
he  got  to  Ceylon,  and  from  thence  to  Calicut,  and 
there  he  very  happily  found  some  Portuguese  ships  ; 
and  so,  beyond  all  men's  expectations,  he  came  back 
to  his  own  country."  When  Peter  had  said  this 
to  me,  I  thanked  him  for  his  kindness  in  intend- 
ing to  give  me  the  acquaintance  of  a  man  whose 
conversation  he  knew  would  be  so  acceptable  to 
me  ;    and   upon   that   Raphael    and    I   embraced 

'■•  This  is  an  ingenious  application  of  the  saying  of  Anaxagoras, 
which,  because  it  is  good,  has  found  a  place  in  most  works 
where  a  contempt  of.death  is  inculcated.  1  have  found  it,  how- 
ever, in  no  author  older  than  Cicero's  time  ;  though,  no  doubt, 
he  derived  it  from  good  sources.  "Prseclare  Anaxagoras,"  says 
he,  "  qui  cum  Lampsaci  moreretur,  quserentibus  amicis,  vellet  ne 
Clazomenas  in  patriam,  si  quid  accidisset,  auferri,  nihil  necesse 
est,  inquit,  undique  enim  ad  inferos  tantumdem  viae  est."  Tusc. 
Quasst.  i.  §.  43.  Diogenes  Laertius  probably,  as  Menage 
conjectures,  made  use  of  Cicero's  authority.  ITpoe  ruv  cv(T(pop- 
ovvra  on  ittI  ^evrjQ  nXtvT^,  Trav-axoOtt',  i(/)>;,  of-ioia 
iffTtv  i]  eig  ^iSov  KardSaaic.  II.  iii.  11.  Annot.  p.  79-  d. 
Erasmus,  of  course,  has  it,  Apophth.  VII.  561.  with  slight 
variations. 


16  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

one  another  ;  and,  after  those  civilities  were  past 
which  are  ordinary  for  strangers  upon  their  first 
meeting,  we  went  all  to  my  house ;  and,  entering 
into  the  garden,  sat  down  on  a  green  bank,  and 
entertained  one  another  in  discourse.  He  told  us, 
that  when  Vespucius  had  sailed  away,  he  and  his 
companions  that  staid  behind  in  New  Castile,  did 
by  degrees  insinuate  themselves  into  the  people  of 
the  country,  meeting  often  with  them,  and  treating 
them  gently :  and  at  last  they  grew  not  only  to 
live  among  them  without  danger,  but  to  converse 
familiarly  with  them ;  and  got  so  far  into  the  heart 
of  a  prince,  whose  name  and  country  I  have  forgot, 
that  he  both  furnished  them  plentifully  with  all 
things  necessary,  and  also  with  the  conveniences  of 
travelling  :  both  boats  when  they  went  by  water, 
and  waggons  when  they  travelled  over  land ;  and 
he  sent  with  therri  a  very  faithful  guide,  who  was  to 
introduce  and  recommend  them  to  such  other 
princes  as  they  had  a  mind  to  see :  and  after  many 
days'  journey,  they  came  to  towns,  and  cities,  and 
to  commonwealths,  that  were  both  happily  governed 
and  well-peopled.  Under  the  equator,  and  as 
far  on  both  sides  of  it  as  the  sun  moves,  there  lay 
vast  deserts  that  were  parched  with  the  perpetual 
heat  of  the  sun ;  '*  the  soil  was  withered,  all  things 

'^  This  will  doubtless  remind  the  reader  of  the  old  fancy 
which  made  the  torrid  zone  uninhabitable.  Indeed,  both  here 
and  elsewhere,  it  is  clear  Sir  Thomas  More's  notions  were  strongly 
aftected,  if  they  were  not  absolutely  bounded,  in  matters  of  this 
kind,  by  what  the  ancients  knew  or  thought.  We  find  him 
constantly  adopting  their  opinions  both  in  science  and  morals ; 
and  therefore  where  they  are  imperfect,  he  is  nearly  always  so. 


HAPl'Y    KKPUBLIC.  17 

looked  dismally,  and  all  places  w  eie  either  quite 
uninhabited,  or  abounded  witli  wild  beasts  and 
serpents,  and  some  few  men,  that  were  neither  less 
wild,  nor  less  cruel  than  the  beasts  themselves. 
But  as  they  went  further,  a  new  scene  opened,  all 
things  grew  milder,  the  air  less  burning,  the  soil 
more  verdant,  and  even  the  beasts  were  less  wild  : 
and  at  last  there  are  nations,  towns,  and  cities,  that 
have  not  only  mutual  commerce  among  themselves, 
and  with  their  neighbours,  but  trade  both  by  sea 
and  land,  to  very  remote  countries.  There  they 
found  the  conveniences  of  seeing  many  countries 
on  all  hands,  for  no  ship  went  any  voyage  into 
which  he  and  his  companions  were  not  very  wel- 
come. The  first  vessels  that  they  saw  were  flat- 
bottomed,  their  sails  were  made  of  reeds  and  wicker 
woven  close  together,  only  some  were  made  of  lea- 
ther ;  '^  but  afterwards  they  found  ships  made  w  ith 
round  keels  and  canvass  sails,  and  in  all  things 
like  our  ships  ;  and  the  seamen  understood  both 
astronomy   and   navigation.     He  got  wonderfully 

'^  Here  we  have  a  glance  at  the  practices  of  the  further  east. 
The  various  substances  made  use  of  by  semi-barbarous  nations  for 
sails,  are  enumerated  by  Goguet,  Origine  des  Loix,  t.  iv.  p.  260. 
Hemp,  rushes,  leaves  of  trees,  and  the  skins  of  animals,  were 
among  the  substances  of  which  the  earliest  sails  consisted. 
Scheflfer.  de  Re  Naval.  II.  p.  141.  Lilius  Gyraldus,  De 
Navigiis,  col.  635,  observes,  that  sails  were  also  made  from  broom 
and  papyrus,  which  he  states  on  the  authority  of  Pliny.  Hist. 
Natur.  xiii.  22.     Milton  speaks  of  waggons  propelled  by  sails : 

"  But  in  his  way  lights  on  the  barren  plains 
Of  Sericana,  where  Chineses  drive 
With  sails  and  n-ind  their  cany  waggons  light." 

Par.  Lost,  ui.  437-  ff. 


18  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

into  their  favour,  by  showing  them  the  use  of  the 
needle,  of  which  till  then  they  were  utterly  igno- 
rant; and  whereas  they  sailed  before  with  great 
caution,  and  only  in  summer  time,  now  they  count 
all  seasons  alike,  trusting  wholly  to  the  loadstone, 
in  which  they  are  perhaps  more  secure  than  safe  : 
so  that  there  is  reason  to  fear,  that  this  discovery, 
which  was  thought  would  prove  so  much  to  their 
advantage,  may  by  their  imprudence  become  an 
occasion  of  much  mischief  to  them.  But  it  were 
too  long  to  dwell  on  all  that  he  told  us  he  had  ob- 
served in  every  place ;  it  would  be  too  great  a  di- 
gression from  our  present  purpose :  and  whatever 
is  necessary  to  be  told,  chiefly  concerning  the  wise 
and  prudent  institutions  that  he  observed  among 
civilized  nations,  may  perhaps  be  related  by  us  on 
a  more  proper  occasion.  We  asked  him  many 
questions  concerning  all  these  things,  to  which  he 
answered  very  willingly;  only  we  made  no  en- 
quiries after  monsters,  than  which  nothing  is  more 
common ;  for  everywhere  one  may  hear  of  raven- 
ous dogs  and  wolves,  and  cruel  men-eaters;  but 
it  is  not  so  easy  to  find  states  that  are  well  and 
wisely  governed.  17 

But   as   he  told    us  of  many  things  that  were 

"  States  are  always  best  governed  on  paper;  but,  though 
this  must  for  ever  continue  to  be  the  case,  few  persons  will  deny 
that  very  great  improvements  might  be  effected  both  in  the 
theory  and  practice  of  government.  IMany  of  these  improve- 
ments were  foreseen  and  advocated  by  Sir  Thomas  More,  whose 
notions  in  most  things  were  diametrically  opposed  to  those  put 
forward  in  his  name  by  Mr.  Southey,  in  his  "  Colloquies  on  the 
Progress  and  Prospects  of  Society." 


HAPPY    KKPUBLIC.  19 

amiss  in  those  new-found  nations,  so  he  reckoned 
up  not  a  few  things,  from  which  patterns  might  lie 
taken  for'  correcting  the  errors  of  these  nations 
among  whom  we  live ;  of  which  an  account  may 
be  given,  as  I  have  ah'eady  promised,  at  some  otlier 
time ;  for  at  present  I  intend  only  to  relate  those 
particulars  that  he  told  us  of  the  manners  and 
laws  of  the  Utopians  :  but  I  will  begin  with  the 
occasion  that  led  us  to  speak  of  that  common- 
wealth. After  Raphael  had  discoursed  with  great 
judgment  of  the  errors  that  were  both  among  us 
and  these  nations,  of  which  there  was  no  small 
number,  and  had  treated  of  the  wise  institutions 
both  here  and  there,  and  had  spoken  as  distinctly 
of  the  customs  and  government  of  every  nation 
through  which  he  had  passed,  as  if  he  had  spent 
his  whole  life  in  it ;  Peter,  being  struck  with  ad- 
miration, said,  "  I  wonder,  Raphael,  how  it  comes 
that  you  enter  into  no  king's  service,  for  I  am 
sure  there  are  none  to  whom  you  would  not  be 
very  acceptable  :  for  your  learning  and  knowledge, 
both  of  men  and  things,  is  such,  that  you  would 
not  only  entertain  them  very  pleasantly,  but  be 
of  good  use  to  them,  by  the  examples  that  you 
could  set  before  them,  and  the  advices  that  you 
could  give  them ;  and  by  this  means  you  would 
both  serve  your  own  interest,  and  be  of  great 
use  to  all  your  friends."  "  As  for  my  friends,"  an- 
swered he,  "  I  need  not  be  much  concerned,  having 
already  done  all  that  was  incumbent  on  me  towards 
them ;  for  when  I  was  not  only  in  good  health, 
but  fresh  and  young,  I  distributed  that  among  my 

G   2 


.20  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

kindred  and  friends,  which  other  people  do  not 
part  with  till  they  are  old  and  sick  ;  and  then  they 
unwillingly  give  among  them  that  which  they  can 
enjoy  no  longer  themselves.  I  think  my  friends 
ought  to  rest  contented  with  this,  and  not  to  expect 
that  for  their  sakes  I  should  enslave  myself  to  any 
king  whatsoever."  '^  "  Soft  and  fair,"  said  Peter  ; 
"  I  do  not  mean  that  you  should  be  a  slave  to  any 
king,  but  only  that  you  should  assist  them,  and 
be  useful  to  them."  "The  change  of  the  word," 
said  he,  "does  not  alter  the  matter."  "  But  term 
it  as  you  will,"  replied  Peter,  "  I  do  not  see  any 
other  way  in  which  you  can  be  so  useful,  both  in 
private  to  your  friends  and  to  the  public,  and  by 
which  you  can  make  your  own  condition  happier." 
"Happier!"  answered  Raphael,  "is  that  to  be 
compassed  in  a  way  so  abhorrent  to  my  genius? 
Now  I  live  as  I  will,  to  which  I  believe  few  cour- 
tiers can  pretend  :  and  there  are  so  very  many  that 
court  the  favour  of  great  men,  that  there  will  be  no 
great  loss,  if  they  are  not  troubled  either  with  me, 
or  with  others  of  my  temper."  Upon  this  I  said, 
"  I  perceive,  Raphael,  that  you  neither  desire  wealth 
nor  greatness ;  and  indeed  I  value  and  admire  such 

"*  It  is  perfectly  evident  that  Raphael  expresses  the  opinions 
of  the  author ;  for  though  he  sometimes  feigns  to  make  opposi- 
tion to  them,  it  is  feebly  done,  and  the  victory  is  left  with  the 
imaginary  interlocutor.  In  fact,  he  had  imbibed  his  notions 
from  the  Greek  writers,  to  whom  kings  were  an  object  of  aver- 
sion ;  and  if  he  served  Henry  VIII.,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  could 
occasionally  condescend  to  flatter  him,  it  was  because  he  yielded 
to  the  necessities  of  the  times,  and  was  fain  to  do  all  the  good  in 
his  power. 


HAPPY    IIKPUBLIC.  21 

a  man  much  more  than  I  do  any  of  the  great  men 
in  the  world.  Yet  I  think  you  woukl  do  a  thing 
well  becoming  so  generous  and  so  philosophical  u 
soul  as  yours  is,  if  you  would  apply  your  time  and 
thoughts  to  public  affairs,  even  though  you  may 
haijpen  to  find  that  a  little  uneasy  to  yourself;  and 
this  you  can  never  do  with  so  much  advantage,  as 
by  being  taken  into  the  council  of  some  great 
prince,  and  by  setting  him  on  to  noble  and  worthy 
things,  which  I  know  you  would  do  if  you  were 
in  such  a  post ;  for  the  springs  both  of  good  and 
evil,  flow  over  a  whole  nation,  from  the  prince,  as 
from  a  lasting  fountain.'^  So  much  learning  as 
you  have,  even  without  practice  in  affairs ;  or  so 
great  a  practice  as  you  have  had,  without  any  other 
learning,  would  render  you  a  very  fit  counsellor  to 
any  king  whatsoever."  "  You  are  doubly  mis- 
taken," said  he,  "  Mr.  More,  both  in  your  ojji- 
nion  of  me,  and  in  the  judgment  that  you  make  of 
things  :  for  as  I   have  not  that  capacity  that  you 

'^  Cicero's  opinions  were  still  more  unfavourable  to  monarchy. 
He  knew  of  no  good  that  was  likely  to  flow  from  a  court 
upon  the  nation,  but  considered  it  a  source  of  unmitigated 
evil;  and  the  experience  of  mankind,  from  that  time  to  the 
present,  has  done  nothing  to  remove  the  grounds  of  this  deci- 
sion. Swift  had  also  adopted  a  similar  opinion  :  "  Three  kings 
protested  to  me,"  he  observes,  "  that  in  their  whole  reigns  they 
never  did  once  prefer  any  person  of  merit,  unless  by  mistake,  or 
treachery  of  some  minister  in  whom  they  confided  :  neither  would 
they  do  it  if  they  were  to  live  again  ;  and  they  showed  with 
great  strength  of  reason,  that  their  royal  throne  could  not  be 
supported  without  corruption,  because  that  positive,  confident, 
restive  temper,  which  virtue  infused  into  a  man,  was  a  perpetual 
clog  to  public  business." — GulUvei's  Travels,  part  III.  c.  viii. 


22  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

fancy  to  be  in  me,  so  if  I  had  it,  the  public  would 
not  be  one  jot  the  better,  when  I  had  sacrificed  my 
quiet  to  it.  For  most  princes  apply  themselves 
more  to  warlike  matters,  than  to  the  useful  arts  of 
peace  ;^°  and  in  these  I  neither  have  any  know- 
ledge, nor  do  I  much  desire  it.  They  are  generally 
more  set  on  acquiring  new  kingdoms,  right  or 
wrong,  than  on  governing  those  well  that  they  have ; 
and  among  the  ministers  of  princes,  there  are  none 
that  either  are  not  so  wise  as  not  to  need  any  assist- 
ance, or  at  least  that  do  not  think  themselves  so 
wise,  that  they  imagine  they  need  none ;  and  if 
they  do  court  any,  it  is  only  those  for  whom  the 
prince  has  much  personal  favour,  whom  by  their 
fawnings  and  flatteries  they  endeavour  to  fix  to 
their  own  interests:^'  and  indeed  nature  has   so 

^°  The  reason  is  evident  why  kings  prefer  war  to  peace :  in 
the  former,  which  besides  demands  less  wisdom,  the  people's  at- 
tention is  directed  from  the  domestic  administration  of  affairs,  to 
the  pompous  circumstances  of  battles,  armies,  conquests,  &c., 
that,  especially  if  seen  from  a  distance,  appear  dazzling  to  the  > 
vulgar.  If  princes,  on  the  other  hand,  remained  at  peace,  they 
might  be  expected  to  concur  in  the  removal  of  abuses  and  im- 
provement of  the  laws,  which  would  prove  a  Herculean  task 
and  a  disagreeable  one,  too,  to  persons  who  know  nothing  of 
improvement,  and  profit  by  abuses.  Hence  no  king  has  been  a 
reformer  long.  A  very  small  modicum  of  amelioration  satisfies 
him.     He  starts  back  and  is  terrified, 

"  Even  at  the  sound  himself  has  made ;" 

and  begins  soon  to  believe  that  things  must  be  well  enough  as 
they  are. 

-'  As  it  is  always  desirable  to  learn  wisdom,  from  whatever 
quarter  it  may  come,  I  shall  introduce  in  this  place  an  honest 
remark  or  two  by  persons  from  whom  little  honesty  was  to  be 
expected.     "  All  men  love  those  best  who  dispute  not  with  them ; 


HAPPY    UKPUBLIC.  23 

made  us,  that  we  all  love  to  be  flattered,  and  to 
please  ourselves  with  our  own  notions.  The  old 
crow  loves  his  youngf,  and  the  ape  his  cubs.  Now 
if  in  such  a  court,  made  up  of  persons  that  envy 
all  others,  and  do  only  admire  themselves,  one 
should  but  propose  any  thing  that  he  had  either 
read  in  history,  or  observed  in  his  travels,  the  rest 
would  think  that  the  reputation  of  their  wisdom 
would  sink,  and  that  their  interests  would  be  much 
depressed,  if  they  could  not  run  it  down  :  and  if  all 
other  things  failed,  then  they  would  fly  to  this,  that 
such  or  such  things  pleased  our  ancestors,  and  it 
were  well   for  us  if  we  could  but  match  them.  '^* 

a  misfortune,  whilst  it  is  among  private  persons,  that  is  not  so 
much  taken  notice  of;  but  it  becomes  remarkable,  and  grows  a 
public  calamity,  when  this  uncomely  obsequiousness  is  practised 
towards  o-zvrtf  princes,  who  are  apt  to  mistake  it  for  dittu,  and  to 
prejer  it  before  such  advice  as  is  really  good  for  their  service." 
The  reader  will  perceive  that  "  great  princes."  as  here  intended, 
are  not  princes  distinguished  for  intellect  or  wisdom,  but  whose 
kingdoms  ha], pen  to  be  extensive;  otherwise  they  would  not 
be  apt  to  mistake  flattery  for  dutii,  or  to  prefer  it  before  sound 
advice.  In  fact,  the  writers  go  on  in  the  most  logical  way  to 
prove  that  these  "  great  princes"  are  so  many  fools.  No  doubt 
they  put  the  thing  as  handsomely  as  they  can,  and  urge  the 
truth  very  politely  ;  but  that  makes  no  difference  in  the  end — the 
conclusion  is  the  same ;  and  thus  they  arrive  at  it  syllogisti- 
cally: — "Flattery  is  the  food  of  fools;  but  flattery  is  the  food 
of  kings;  ergo,^"  &;c.  But  let  the  writers  give  it  in  their  own 
language  ;  "  an  eminent  poet  of  our  own  nation  calls  this  flat- 
tery the  food  of  fools ;  and  it  is  a  plant  so  guarded  and  fenced 
about,  so  cherished  and  preserved  in  all  courts^  that  it  tiever  fails 
of  bringing  forth  much  wretched  fruit." — Sons  of  Lord  Claren- 
don^ Preface  to  his  Hiitoru-i  vol.  i.  p.  14. 

-'  Sir  Thomas  More,  we  see,  viewed  with  no  less  contempt 
than  Bentham,  the  arguments  against  innovation  drawn  from 


24  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

They  would  set  up  their  rest  on  such  an  answer,  as 
a  sufficient  confutation  of  all  that  could  be  said; 
as  if  this  were  a  great  mischief,  that  any  should  be 
found  wiser  than  his  ancestors  :  but  though  they 
willingly  let  go  all  the  good  things  that  were 
among  those  of  former  ages,  yet  if  better  things 
are  proposed,  they  cover  themselves  obstinately 
with  this  excuse,  of  reverence  to  past  times.  I 
have  met  with  these  proud,  morose,  and  absurd 
judgments  of  things  in  many  places,  particularly 
once  in  England."  "  Was  you  ever  there  ?"  said 
I.  "  Yes,  I  was,"  answered  he,  "  and  staid  some 
months  there,  not  long  after  the  rebellion  in  the 
west  was  suppressed,  with  a  great  slaughter  of  the 
poor  people  that  were  engaged  in  it.  ^^ 

"  I  was  then  much  obliged  to  that  reverend  pre- 
late, John  Morton,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  car- 
dinal, and  chancellor  of  England  ;  a  man,"  said 
he,  "Peter,  (for  Mr.  More  knows  well  what  he 
was,)  that  was  not  less  venerable  for  his  wisdom 

"  the  wisdom  of  our  ancestors."  No  man,  perhaps,  ever  put 
this  in  a  better  light  than  it  is  here  put  in  the  text.  Indeed, 
what  can  show  the  ridicule  of  it  more  completely  or  more 
quietly,  than  "as  if  this  were  a  great  mischief,  that  any 
should  be  found  wiser  than  his  ancestors !"  Leigh  Himt  could 
scarcely  have  expressed  the  idea  more  dryly  or  neatly. 

*^  It  used  to  be  part  of  the  policy  of  kings  to  goad  the  people 
into  rebellion,  that  they  might  have  an  excuse  for  thinning 
them.  In  modern  times  they  are  sacrificed  to  the  I\Ioloch  of  the 
excise,  that  the  revenue  may  be  increased;  or  to  the  corn-laws, 
that  rents  may  be  kept  up ;  or  to  tithes,  that  a  wealthy  clergy 
may  be  maintained  ;  or  to  the  preservation  of  unhealthy  and 
worthless  colonies,  that  the  spare  oligarchy  may  have  governor- 
ships and  liver  complaints. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  20 

and  virtues,  than  for  the  higli  diaracter  he  bore : 
lie  was  of  a  middle  stature,  not  broken  with  age; 
his  looks  be^ot  reverence  rather  than  fear ;  his  con- 
versation was  easy,  but  serious  and  grave ;  he  took 
pleasure  sometimes  to  try  the  force  of  those  that 
i-ame  as  suitors  to  him  upon  business,  by  speakinjij 
sharply,  though  decently  to  them,  and  by  that  he 
discovered  their  spirit  and  presence  of  mind ;  with 
which  he  was  much  delighted,  when  it  did  not  grow 
up  to  an  impudence,  as  bearing  a  great  resemblance 
to  his  own  temper  ;  and  he  looked  on  such  persons 
as  the  fittest  men  for  affairs.  He  spoke  both  grace- 
fully and  weightily ;  he  w  as  eminently  skilled  in 
the  law,  and  had  a  vast  understanding,  and  a  pro- 
digious memory,  and  those  excellent  talents  with 
which  nature  had  furnished  him,  were  improved 
by  study  and  experience.  When  I  was  in  Eng- 
land, the  king  depended  much  on  his  councils,  and 
the  government  seemed  to  be  chiefly  supported  by 
him  ;•  for  from  his  youth  up,  he  had  been  all  along 
practised  in  affairs ;  and  having  passed  through 
many  traverses  of  fortune,  he  had  accpured  to  his 
great  cost,  a  vast  stock  of  w  isdom  :  which  is  not 
soon  lost,  when  it  is  purchased  so  dear.  One  day, 
when  I  was  dining  with  him,  there  happened  to  be 
at  table  one  of  the  English  lawyers,  who  took  oc- 
casion to  run  out  in  a  high  commendation  of  the 
severe  execution  of  justice  upon  thieves,  who,  as 
he  said,  were  then  hanged  so  fast,  that  there  were 
sometimes  twenty  on  one  gibbet;  and  upon  that, 
he  said,  he  could  not  wonder  enough  how  it  came 
to  pass,  that  since  so  few  escaped,  there  were  yet 


26 


UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 


SO  many  thieves  left  who  were  still  robbing  in  all 
places.^*  Upon  this,  I  who  took  the  boldness  to 
speak  freely  before  the  cardinal,  said  there  was  no 
reason  to  wonder  at  the  matter,  since  this  way  of 
punishing  thieves  was  neither  just  in  itself,  nor 
good  for  the  public;  for  as  the  severity  was  too 
great,  so  the  remedy  was  not  effectual ;  simple 
theft  not  being  so  great  a  crime,  that  it  ought  to 
cost  a  man  his  life  ;  and  no  punishment  how  severe 
soever,  being  able  to  restrain  those  from  robbing 
who  can  find  out  no  other  way  of  livelihood ;  and 
in  this,  said  I,  not  only  you  in  England,  but  a 
great  part  of  the  world  imitate  some  ill  masters, 
that  are  readier  to  chastise  their  scholars,  than  to 
teach  them. '"  There  are  dreadful  punishments 
enacted  against  thieves,  but  it  were  much  better  to 
make  such  good  provisions,  by  which  every  man 
might  be  put  in  a  method  how  to  live,  and  so  be 
preserved  from  the  fatal  necessity  of  stealing,  and 
of  dying  for  it.  'There  has  been  care  enough 
taken   for  that,'  said  he,  '  there    are  many  handi- 

-'  More  had  made  the  discovery  that  a  humane  penal  code  is 
favourable  to  the  diminution  of  crime.  This  does  him  honour  ; 
particularly  as  it  is  but  now  that  we  are  beginning  to  be  con- 
vinced of  it.  Even  yet,  however,  we  have  much  to  learn  on  the 
same  subject ;  for,  perhaps,  it  may  at  last  be  made  apparent  that 
over  the  lives  of  men  we  have  no  right  at  all,  whatever  be  their 
offences. 

'■'^  Locke  and  ]\Iontaigne  would  chime  in  with  this.  See  the 
notes  to  my  edition  of  the  former's  "  Thoughts  on  Education." 
Vol.  III.  of  the  ''  Masterpieces."  Milton  was  more  stern,  and 
would  correct  and  punish  severely  where  severity  apjjeared  to  be 
called  for.  So  would  the  divine  Plato,  whose  indignation  against 
wickedness  was  proportioned  to  his  distance  from  it. 


HAPPY    RKPUBLIC.  27 

crafts,  and  there  is  husbandry,  by  which  they  may 
make  a  shift  to  live,  unless  they  have  a  greater 
mind  to  follow  ill  courses.'  'That  will  not  serve 
our  turn,'  said  I,  '  for  many  lose  their  limbs  in 
civil  or  foreig"n  wars,  as  lately  in  the  Cornish  rebel- 
lion, and  some  time  ago  in  your  wars  with  France, 
who  being  thus  mutilated  in  the  service  of  their 
king  and  country,  can  no  more  follow  their  old 
trades,  and  are  too  old  to  learn  new  ones :  but 
since  wars  are  only  accidental  things,  and  have, 
intervals  let  us  consider  those  things  that  fall  out 
every  day.  There  is  a  great  number  of  noblemen 
among  you,  that  live  not  only  idle  themselves  as 
drones,  subsisting  by  other  men's  labours,  who  are 
their  tenants,  and  whom  they  pare  to  the  quick, 
and  thereby  raise  their  revenues  ;  ^^  this  being  the 
only  instance  of  their  frugality,  for  in  all  other 
things  they  are  prodigal,  even  to  the  beggaring  of 
themselves:  but  besides  this, they  carry  about  with 
them  a  huge  number  of  idle  fellows,  who  never 
learned  any  art  by  which  they  may  gain  their 
living  :  and  these,  as  soon  as  either  their  lord  dies, 
or  they  themselves  fall  sick,  are  turned  out  of  doors ; 
for  your  lords  are  readier  to  feed  idle  people,  than 

^  Rack-rents  have  always  been  in  fashion.  The  upper  and 
privileged  classes  maintain  their  grandeur  on  oppression,  and 
never  care  how  great  the  sufferings  of  the  people  inay  be,  pro- 
vided their  own  incomes  are  not  diminished.  What  was  true  in 
Henry  the  Eighth's  time,  is  equally  so  now.  Sir  Thomas  More 
is  not  here  describing  an  imaginary  state  of  things,  a  part  of  his 
Utopian  scheme,  but  what  he  saw  daily  before  his  eyes,  what 
he  knew  to  be  the  fact,  what  formed  part  of  his  personal  expe- 
rience, and  urged  him  to  the  composition  of  the  present  work. 


28  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

to  take  care  of  the  sick  ;  ^^  and  oftener  the  heir  is 
not  able  to  keep  together  so  great  a  family  as  the 
predecessor  did.  Now  when  the  stomachs  of  those 
that  are  thus  turned  out  of  doors,  grow  keen,  they 
rob  no  less  keenly ;  and  what  else  can  they  do  ? 
for,  after  that,  by  wandering  about,  they  have  worn 
out  both  their  health  and  their  cloathes,  and  are 
tattered,  and  look  ghastly,  men  of  quality  will  not 
entertain  them,  and  poor  men  dare  not  do  it; 
knowing  that  one  who  had  been  bred  up  to  idleness 
and  pleasure,  and  who  was  used  to  walk  about  with 
his  sword  and  buckler,  ^^  despising  all  the  neigh- 
bourhood with  an  insolent  scorn,  as  far  below  him, 
is  not  fit  for  the  spade  and  mattock :  nor  will  he 
serve  a  poor  man  for  so  small  a  hire,  and  in  so  low 
a  diet  as  he  can  afford.'  To  this  he  answered, 
'This  sort  of  men  ought  to  be  particularly  che- 
rished among  us,  for  in  them  consists  the  force  of  the 
armies  for  which  we  may  have  occasion  ;  since  their 
birth  inspires  them  with  a  nobler  sense  of  honour 
than  is  to  be  found  among  tradesmen  or  plough- 
men.'    'You  may   as   well  say,'  replied    I,  'that 

"  I  hope  Sir  Thomas  More's  testimony  will  be  taken  for  this — 
the  more  so  as  the  conduct  of  these  lords  contrasts  so  strikingly 
with  that  of  the  middle  orders  of  all  times,  by  whom  the  poor 
and  sick  have  been  cared  for  and  supported. 

-*  An  ivory-headed  cane  now  supplies  the  place  of  sword  and 
buckler  ;  but  the  race  is  vinchanged ;  the  houses  of  the  great  still 
supply  the  country  with  thieves  and  highwaymen,  and  the  town 
with  courtezans.  In  one  respect,  if  Sir  Thomas's  lawyer  was 
correct,  there  is  a  considerable  alteration  ;  for  our  armies,  bad 
as  they  are,  have  long  been  recruited  from  better  materials  than 
gentlemen's  servants,  who  are  as  unfit  to  fight  as  to  work.  Ck)m- 
mon  thieves  labour  harder,  and  make  better  soldiers. 


HAPPY  r1':public.  29 

you  must  cherish  thieves  on  the  account  of  wars, 
for  you  will  never  want  the  one,  as  long  as  you 
have  the  other;  and  as  robbers  prove  sometimes 
t^allant  soldiers,  so  soldiers  prove  often  brave  rob- 
bers ;  so  near  an  alliance  there  is  between  those 
two  sorts  of  life.  '^  But  this  bad  custom  of  keep- 
ing many  servants,  that  is  so  common  among  you, 
is  not  peculiar  to  this  nation.  In  France  there  is 
yet  a  more  pestiferous  sort  of  people,  for  the  whole 
country  is  full  of  soldiers,  that  are  still  kept  up  in 
time  of  peace,  if  such  a  state  of  a  nation  can  be 
called  a  peace :  and  these  are  kept  in  pay  upon 
the  same  account  that  you  plead  for  those  idle  re- 
tainers about  noblemen  :  this  being  a  maxim  of 
those  pretended  statesmen,  that  it  is  necessary  for 
the  public  safety,  to  have  a  good  body  of  veteran 
soldiers  ever  in  readiness.^"     Thev  think  raw  men 


■•^  Towards  the  close  of  the  republic  the  Romans  exceeded  all 
other  nations  in  the  number  of  their  domestics  ;  one  evident 
mark  of  the  decline  of  manners,  and  the  approaching  extinction 
of  freedom.  Tatianus,  in  fact,  remarks,  that  among  that  pom- 
pous people  the  rich  were  accustomed  naidiov  ayiXag  loainp 
'nrTTiof  (poptcuag  (Tvi'aYtipiiv ;  that  is,  to  lead  about  a  crowd 
of  youths  at  their  heels.  In  the  Athenian  democracy  this  was 
forbidden  by  law.  In  modem  communities  the  rage  for  this 
species  of  luxury  is  very  much  diminished  by  considerations  of 
expense ;  but  in  Russia,  and  among  our  own  nobility,  a  resem- 
blance to  the  "  good  old  times"  is  still  to  a  certain  extent  kept 
up. 

•*"  The  French  have  never  been  thoroughly  cured  of  their  rage 
for  "  playing  soldiers,"  and  never  wiU  be  till  they  enjoy  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  free  government.  Their  fine  country  has  always 
been  kept  comparatively  poor  by  the  folly  and  wickedness  of 
their  kings,  whose  ambition  has  known  no  bounds,  though  their 
power  has.     Louis  XIV.,  kept  up  a  standing  army  of  440,000 


30  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

are  not  to  be  depended  on,  and  they  sometimes 
seek  occasions  for  making  war,  that  they  may  train 
up  their  soldiers  in  the  art  of  cutting-  throats,  or  as 
Sallust  observed,  for  keeping  their  hands  in  use, 
that  they  may  not  grow  dull  by  too  long  intermis- 
sion.^' But  France  has  learned  to  its  cost,  how 
dangerous  it  is  to  feed  such  beasts.  The  fate  of 
the  Romans,  Carthaginians,  and  Syrians,  and  many 
other  nations,  and  cities,  which  were  both  over- 
turned, and  quite  ruined  by  those  standing  armies, 
should  make  others  wiser:  and  the  folly  of  this 
maxim  of  the  French  appears  plainly  even  from 
this,  that  their  trained  soldiers  find  that  your  raw 
men  prove  often  too  hard  for  them;^^  of  which  I 

men ;  and  Napoleon,  at  several  periods  of  his  history,  had  no 
less,  frequently  more.  But  all  this  waste  of  life  and  treasure 
was  of  no  use  to  France.  The  men  were  taken  from  the  plough, 
and  the  resources  of  the  country  diminished,  simply  to  gratify 
the  paltry  desire  of  two  ignorant  persons  to  be  talked  of  by  per- 
sons more  ignorant  still.  Cromwell,  the  wisest  and  greatest 
politician  of  modem  times,  never  kept  on  foot  much  above 
thirty  thousand  men. 

^>  The  Romans  seldom  allowed  their  soldiers  to  lose  the  habit 
of  throat-cutting.  Perhaps  they  felt  for  the  honour  of  their 
swords,  and  would  not  subject  them  to  the  reproach  which  was 
cast  upon  that  of  Hudibras  ; 

.  "  The  tienchant  blade,  Toledo  trusty. 

For  want  of  fighting  had  grown  rusty. 
And  ate  into  itself,  for  lack 
Of  somebody  to  hew  and  hack." 

"'•  Historians  have  assigned  the  true  cause  for  these  ancient 
misfortunes  of  the  French  arms  :  the  people  were  still  more  op- 
pressed and  impoverished  than  in  England,  where  our  sturdy 
yeomen,  if  they  enjoyed  no  political  freedom,  had  yet  consider- 
able personal  liberty,  and  the  means  of  living  well.  Had  their 
poverty  been  equal  to  that  of  the  French  peasantry,  and  their 
discipline  inferior,  the  battles  of  Cressy,  Poictiers,  and  Agin- 


HAPPY    KKrUBLIC.  31 

uill  not  say  much,  lest  you  may  think  I  flatter 
llie  English  nation.  Every  day's  experience  shows, 
that  the  mechanics  in  the  towns,  or  the  clowns  in 
the  country,  are  not  afraid  of  fighting  with  those 
idle  gentlemen,  if  tliey  are  not  disabled  hy  some 
misfortune  in  their  body,  or  dispirited  by  extreme 
want,  so  that  you  need  not  fear,  that  those  well- 
shaped  and  strong  men,  (for  it  is  only  such  that 
noblemen  love  to  keep  about  them,  till  they  spoil 
them,)  who  now  grow  feeble  with  ease,  and  are 
softened  with  their  effeminate  manner  of  life,  would 
be  less  fit  for  action  if  they  were  well-bred  and 
well  employed. "  And  it  seems  very  unreasonable, 
that  for  the  prospect  of  war,  which  you  need  never 
have  but  when  you  please,  you  should  maintain  so 
many  idle  men,  as  will  always  disturb  you  in  time 
of  peace,  which  is  ever  to  be  more  considered  than 
Avar.  But  I  do  not  think  that  this  necessity  of 
stealing  arises   only  from  hence,  there  is  another 


court,  would  have  terminated  differently.  Raw  troops,  other 
things  being  equal,  must  always  yield  to  veterans  ;  and,  accord- 
ingly, the  author's  notions  are  on  this  point  unphilosophlcal. 

■^■5  On  the  contrary,  of  all  the  modes  yet  devised  for  crumbling 
an  army,  or  the  materials  of  an  army  to  pieces,  sloth  and  idle- 
ness are  the  most  effectual.  Not  to  allude  to  the  threadbare 
topic  of  Hannibal's  troops  in  the  Neapolitan  territories,  we  may 
refer  to  the  experience  of  our  own  generals  in  Hindoostan,  where 
the  men  soon  become  soft  and  useless  from  over-indulgence,  in 
conjunction,  no  doubt,  with  the  enervating  effects  of  climate, 
which  reduced  even  the  hardy  JMongols  into  silken  soldiers. 
The  case  of  the  Mantchoo  Tatars  in  China  has  been  exactly 
similar ;  and  wherever  the  iron  troops  of  the  north  have  been 
led  into  countries  where  the  climate  and  soil  dispose  to  indolence 
and  inactivity,  their  vigour  has  quickly  evaporated. 


32  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

cause  of  it  tliat  is  more  peculiar  to  England.' 
'  What  is  that  ?'  said  the  cardinal.  '  The  increase 
of  pasture,'  said  I,  '  by  which  your  sheep,  that 
are  naturally  mild,  and  easily  kept  in  order,  may 
be  said  now  to  devour  men,  and  unpeople,  not  only 
villages,  but  towns  :^*  for  wherever  it  is  found,  that 
the  sheep  of  any  soil  yield  a  softer  and  richer  wool 
than  ordinary,  there  the  nobility  and  gentry,  and 
even  those  holy  men  the  abbots,  not  contented  with 
the  old  rents  which  their  farms  yielded,  nor  think- 
ing it  enough  that  they  living  at  their  ease,  do  no 
good  to  the  public,  resolve  to  do  it  hurt  instead  of 
good.^^  They  stop  the  course  of  agriculture,  inclose 
grounds,  and  destroy  houses  and  towns,  reserving 
only  the  churches^  that  they  may  lodge  their  sheep 
in  them  :  ^^  and  as  if  forests  and  parks  had  swal- 


^*  It  is  well  known  that  pastoral  nations  occupy  five  times  the 
extent  of  land  they  would  require  for  their  support,  were  they 
addicted  to  agriculture.  In  Spain,  where  in  the  institution 
called  the  Mesta  we  have  a  relic  of  pastoral  manners,  traceable 
probably  to  the  Moors,  the  feeding  of  sheep  is  a  principal  cause 
of  the  neglect  of  agriculture.  The  enormous  flocks  of  the  Mesta 
are  migratory,  and  move  every  year  some  hundreds  of  miles, 
literally  devastating  the  country  over  which  they  pass. 

33  -^Ye  had  here  in  England,  therefore,  something  not  unlike 
the  Mesta,  at  least  in  its  effects ;  and  the  clergy,  regular  and  irre- 
gular, were  engaged  in  the  good  work,  as  in  Spain.  This 
must  be  one  among  the  many  advantages  of  a  Popish  priesthood 
enumerated  by  Dr.  Lingard  ;  but  he  is  quite  in  error  if  he  ima- 
gines the  Reformation  to  have  cooled  the  zeal  of  this  class  of  men 
for  their  own  interest.  On  this  point  things  remain  in  statu 
qun. 

'■'^  Bayle  tells  a  good  story,  somewhere  in  his  Dictionary,  of  an 
abbot  who  had  converted  a  church  into  a  stable.  It  was  in 
France,  and  set  the  example,  and  gave  the  him,  which  was  after- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  33 

lowed  up  too  little  soil,  those  worthy  countrymen 
turn  the  best  inhabited  places  into  solitudes ;  for 
when  any  unsatiable  wretch,  who  is  a  plag-ue  to  his 
country,  resolves  to  inclose  many  thousand  acres 
of  g^round,  the  owners,  as  well  as  tenants,  are 
turned  out  of  their  possessions  by  tricks,  or  by 
main  force,  or  being  wearied  out  with  ill  usage, 
they  are  forced  to  sell  them."  So  those  miserable 
people,  both  men  and  women,  married,  unmarried, 
old  and  young,  with  their  poor  but  numerous  fami- 
lies, (since  country  business  requires  many  hands,) 
are  all  forced  to  change  their  seats,  not  knowing 
whither  to  go;  and  they  must  sell  for  almost 
nothing,  their  household-stuff,  which  could  not 
bring  them  much  money,  even  though  they  might 
stay  for  a  buyer.  When  that  little  money  is  at  an 
end,  for  it  will  be  soon  spent,  what  is  left  for  them 
to  do,  but  either  to  steal  and  so  be  hanged,  (God 
knows  how^  justly,)  or  to  go  about  and  beg  ?  Xnd  if 
they  do  this,  they  are  put  in  prison  as  idle  vaga- 
bonds;^® whereas  they  would  willingly  work,  but 

wards  followed  up  by  the  laymen  at  the  revolution.  Our  Saviour 
found  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  converted  into  a  market-place 
and  den  of  thieves,  by  the  Jewish  priesthood.  The  spirit  of  the 
clergy  has  ever  been  the  same 

^'  From  this  we  may  perceive  how  old  the  arts  of  thriving 
on  a  large  scale  are.  There  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun. 
Even  in  wickedness  we  are  deprived  of  the  praise  of  originality. 

2*  What !  the  Mendicity  Society  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII  ? 
Charles  Lamb  borrowed  his  political  economy  from  the  Utopia;  for 
he  too,  like  Sir  Thomas  More,  took  up  the  gauntlet  for  the  gaber- 
lunzies,  and  lamented  the  prospect  of  their  extinction.  I  would 
he  had  been  as  long-lived  as  that  race  !  For  I  find  Plato  at 
work,  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Mendicity  Society,  for  the  purpose 

H 


34  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

can  find  none  that  will  hire  them  ;  for  there  is  no 
more  occasion  for  country  labour,  to  which  they 
have  been  bred,  when  there  is  no  arable  ground 
left.  One  shepherd  can  look  after  a  flock,  which 
will  stock  an  extent  of  ground  that  would  rec[uire 
many  hands,  if  it  were  to  be  ploughed  and  reaped. 
This  likewise  raises  the  price  of  corn  in  many 
places.  The  price  of  wool  is  also  risen,  that  the 
poor  people  who  were  wont  to  make  cloth,  are  no 
more  able  to  buy  it ;  and  this  likewise  makes  many 
of  them  idle :  for  since  the  increase  of  pasture, 
God  has  punished  the  avarice  of  the  owners,  by  a 
rot  among  the  sheep,  which  has  destroyed  vast 
numbers  of  them,  but  had  been  more  justly  laid 
upon  the  owners  themselves.  ^^  But  suppose  the 
sheep  should  increase  ever  so  much,  their  price  is 
not  like  to  fall ;  since  though  they  cannot  be  called 
a  monopoly,  because  they  are  not  engrossed  by  one 
person,  yet  they  are  in  so  few  hands,  and  these  are 
so  rich,  that  as  they  are  not  pressed  to  sell  them 

of  dissolving  and  bringing  to  nought  the  worshipful  company  of 
beggars,  whom,  in  his  simplicity,  he  reckons  the  father  of 
thieves,  house-breakers,  &c. :  but  most  vain  and  impotent  were 
his  endeavours  !  The  beggars  outlived  him,  saw  his  school  dis- 
solved, and  the  plough  driving  merrily  over  the  gardens  of  the 
Academy.  This  ought  to  have  satisfied  the  gentle  heart  of 
Charles  Lamb,  that  no  institutions,  no  laws,  no  societies,  or  cor- 
porations, can  really  do  anything  more  than  annoy  beggars  for  a 
short  time.  Like  the  Bedouins,  they  disperse  when  hard  pressed ; 
but  again  pour  forth  when  least  expected,  and  triumph  over 
everything.     And  so  let  it  be. 

'■''^  This  must  be  regarded  as  a  slip  of  the  pen ;  for,  judged 
strictly,  it  is  impious,  as  calling  in  question  the  justice  of  God, 
and  no  impiety  could  belong  to  Sir  Thomas  More. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  35 

sooner  than  they  have  a  mind  to  it,  so  they  never 
do  till  they  have  raised  the  price  as  high  as  is  pos- 
sible. And  on  the  same  account  it  is,  that  the 
other  kinds  of  cattle  are  so  dear,  and  so  much  the 
more,  because  that  many  villages  being  pulled 
down,  and  all  country-labour  being  much  neg- 
lected, there  are  none  that  look  after  the  breeding 
of  them.  The  rich  do  not  breed  cattle  as  they  do 
sheep,  but  buy  them  lean,  and  at  low  prices ;  and 
after  they  have  fattened  them  on  their  grounds, 
they  sell  them  again  at  high  rates.  And  I  do  not 
think  that  all  the  inconveniences  that  this  will  pro- 
duce, are  yet  observed  ;  for  as  they  sell  the  cattle 
dear,  so  if  they  are  consumed  faster  than  the  breed- 
ing countries  from  which  they  are  brought,  can 
afford  them,  then  the  stock  must  decrease,  and  this 
must  needs  end  in  a  great  scarcity  ;  and  by  these 
means  this  your  island,  that  seemed,  as  to  this  par- 
ticular, the  happiest  in  the  world,  will  suffer  much 
by  the  cursed  avarice  of  a  few  persons;  besides 
that,  the  raising  of  corn  makes  all  people  lessen 
their  families  as  much  as  they  can  ;  and  what  can 
those  who  are  dismissed  by  them  do,  but  either  beg 
or  rob  ?  And  to  this  last,  a  man  of  a  great  mind 
is  much  sooner  drawn  than  to  the  former.  Luxury 
likewise  breaks  in  apace  upon  you,  to  set  forward 
your  poverty  and  misery ;  there  is  an  excessive 
vanity  in  apparel  and  great  cost   in  diet;^°  and 


•"'  The  author  of  the  "  Fable  of  the  Bees,"  and  David  Hume, 
undertake  the  defence  of  luxury ;  and  their  reasoning  has  cer- 
tainly the  merit  of  being  very  ingenious  ;  and  what  is  more, 
well  suited  to  the  spirit  of  their  age,  when  in  a  great  measure  reli- 

H    3 


36  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

that  not  only  in  noblemen's  families,  but  even 
among  tradesmen,  and  among  the  farmers  them- 
selves, and  among  all  ranks  of  persons.  You  have 
also  many   infamous   houses,^'  and  besides  those 


gion  had  lost  its  influence,  and  morals  were  inconceivably  cor- 
rupt. A  change  for  the  better  has  since  been  effected.  Few 
men,  at  least  in  England,  would  now  venture,  whatever  they 
may  think,  to  maintain  the  profligate  doctrines  of  Mandeville 
or  Hume  ;  the  former  of  whom  contended  that  private  vices  are 
public  benefits,  while  the  latter  considered  adultery  a  more 
venial  offence  than  drunkenness.  Essays,  p.  159,  4to.  edition. 
Agreeably  to  this  view  of  the  vices  he  misrepresents  the  anec- 
dote of  Cato  and  Cassar  on  the  subject  of  Servilia's  intrigues. 
"  We  know,"  says  he,  "  that  Csesar,  during  Cataline's  conspi- 
racy, being  necessitated  to  put  into  Cato's  hands  a  billet-doux, 
which  discovered  an  intrigue  with  Servilia,  Cato's  own  sister, 
that  stern  philosopher  threw  it  back  to  him  with  indignation  ; 
and,  in  the  bitterness  of  his  wrath,  gave  him  the  appellation  of 
drunkard,  as  a  term  more  opprobrious  than  that  with  which  he 
could  more  justly  have  reproached  him."  This  forced  interpre- 
tation does  not  exhibit  any  of  Hume's  usual  subtlety  and  dis- 
crimination. Cato  was  ashamed  of  his  sister's  profligacy,  and 
used  the  term  sot  instead  of  adulterer,  (for  both  Caesar  and  Ser- 
vilia were  married,)  as  less  likely  to  excite  the  suspicions  of  the 
senate,  who  had  beheld  him  receive  and  return  the  note,  no  doubt 
with  much  chagrin  visible  in  his  countenance. 

*'  Milton,  Areopagitica,  §  32,  p.  208  f.  points  at  these  haunts 
of  debauchery  as  more  worthy  the  animadversion  of  govern- 
ment, than  the  printing  of  dangerous  books.  "  What  shall  be 
done,"  says  he,  "  to  inhibit  the  multitudes  that  frequent  those 
houses  where  drunkenness  is  sold  and  harboured  ?"  It  must  at 
the  same  time  be  confessed,  that  he  judged  the  political  notions 
of  Sir  Thomas  More,  Plato,  and  Lord  Bacon,  even  in  points  of 
this  kind,  altogether  visionary  and  impracticable.  "  To  se- 
quester out  of  the  world  into  Atlantic  and  Utopian  polities, 
which  never  can  be  drawn  into  use,  will  not  mend  our  condi- 
tion." §  33.  The  only  practicable  remedy,  in  his  opinion,  is 
education,  which  may  of  course  be  seconded  by  the  active  inter- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  37 

that  are  known,  the  taverns  and  ale-houses  are  no 
better;  add  to  these  dice,  cards,  tables,  foot-ball, 
tennis,  and  quoits,  in  which  money  runs  fast  away ; 
and  those  that  are  initiated  into  them,  must  in  con- 
clusion betake  themselves  to  robbing  for  a  supply. 
Banish  those  plagues,  and  give  order  that  these 
who  have  dispeopled  so  much  soil,  may  either  re- 
build the  villages  that  they  have  pulled  down,  in- 
let out  their  grounds  to  such  as  will  do  it ;  restrain 
those  engrossings  of  the  rich  that  are  as  bad  almost 
as  monopolies  ;  leave  fewer  occasions  to  idleness  ; 
let  agriculture  be  set  up  again,  and  the  manufacture 
of  the  wool  be  regulated,  that  so  there  may  be  work 
found  for  these  companies  of  idle  people,  whom 
want  forces  to  be  thieves,  or  who  now  being 
idle  vagabonds,  or  useless  servants,  will  certainly 
grow  thieves  at  last.  If  you  do  not  find  a  remedy 
to  these  evils,  it  is  a  vain  thing  to  boast  of  your 
severity  of  punishing  theft ;  which  though  it  may 
have  the  appearance  of  justice,  yet  in  itself  it  is 
neither  just  nor  convenient :  for  if  you  suffer  your 
people  to  be  ill  educated,  ^  and  their  manners  to 

ference  of  the  legislature.  Sir  Walter  Scott  describes  our 
theatres,  and  describes  them  truly,  as  haunts  of  barefaced  and 
incorrigible  vice;  {Life  by  Lockhart,  vol.  iv.)  and  in  all  ages 
taverns  and  bagnios  have  been  synonymous  terms. — Casauh.ui. 
ad  Tlieophrast.  Charact.  p.  365. 

"  Locke,  who  of  all  philosophers  was  probably  the  least 
likely  to  be  carried  away  by  his  imagination,  attributes  no  less 
influence  to  the  education  of  youth.  "  The  difference  to  be 
found  in  the  manners  and  abilities  of  man,  is  owing  more  to  their 
education  than  to  anything  else."  Thoughts  on  Education,  §  3"2,  p. 
44.  This  idea  adopted  by  Helvetius,  forms  the  basis  of  his  trea- 
tise ''  de  THomme,"  in  which  he  undertakes  to  demonstrate  "  que 


38  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

be  corrupted  from  their  infancy,  and  then  punish 
them  for  those  crimes  to  which  their  first  education 
disposed  them,  what  else  is  to  be  concluded  from 
this,  but  that  you  first  make  thieves,  and  then 
punish  them?' 

"  While  I  was  talking  thus,  the  counsellor  that 
was  present  had  prepared  an  answer,  and  had  re- 
solved to  resume  all  I  had  said,  according  to  the 
formality  of  a  debate,  in  which  things  are  generally 
repeated  more  faithfully  than  they  are  answered  ; 
as  if  the  chief  trial  that  were  to  be  made,  were  of 
men's  memories.  So  he  said  to  me,  'You  have 
talked  prettily  for  a  stranger,  having  heard  of  many 
things  among  us,  which  you  have  not  been  able  to 
consider  well ;  but  I  will  make  the  whole  matter 
plain  to  you,  and  will  first  repeat  in  order  all  that 
you  have  said,  then  I  will  show  how  much  the  igno- 
rance of  our  affairs  have  misled  you,  and  will,  in 
the  last  place,  answer  all  your  arguments.  And 
that  I  may  begin  where  I  promised,  there  were  four 

rhomme  n'est  vraiment  que  le  produit  de  son  education." — 
CEuvies,  &fc.  vii.  5.  Milton  was  scarcely  less  sanguine  in  his 
opinions  of  education,  but  his  lofty  original  mind  had  formed  to 
itself  a  very  peculiar  idea  of  that  system  of  training  which 
merits  such  an  appellation,  "•  The  end  of  learning,''''  he  says, 
"  is  to  repair  the  ruins  of  our  first  parents,  by  regaining  to  know 
God  aright,  and  out  of  that  knowledge  to  love  him,  to  imitate 
him,  to  be  like  him,  as  we  may  the  nearest  by  possessing  our 
souls  of  true  virtue,  which  being  united  to  the  heavenly  grace  of 
faith,  makes  up  the  highest  perfection."  Select  Prose  Works, 
vol.  I.  p.  144.  Plato,  long  before,  had  conceived  a  similar  idea 
of  what  education  should  be,  though,  on  some  points,  his  ideas 
were  necessarily  more  imperfect  than  ]Milton's.  Republic,  t.  vi. 
p.  334—346.  Edit.  Bekk. 


HAPPY    KKriBLlC.  39 

things' — '  Hold  your  peace,'  said  the  cardinal, 
*  for  you  will  not  have  done  soon  that  begin  thus  ; 
therefore  we  will  at  present  ease  you  of  the  trouble 
of  answering,  and  reserve  it  to  our  next  meeting, 
which  shall  be  to-morrow,  if  Raphael's  affairs  and 
yours  can  admit  of  it.  But,  Raphael,'  said  he  to 
me,  *I  would  gladly  know  of  you  upon  what  reason 
it  is  that  you  think  theft  ought  not  to  be  punished 
by  death  ?  *"'  Would  you  give  way  to  it  ?  or  do  you 
propose  any  other  punishment  that  will  be  more 
useful  to  the  public  ?  For  since  death  does  not 
restrain  theft,  if  men  thought  their  lives  would  be 
safe,  what  fear  or  force  could  restrain  ill  men  ? 
On  the  contrary,  they  would  look  on  the  mitigation 
of  the  punishment  as  an  invitation  to  commit 
more  crimes.'  I  answered, '  It  seems  to  me  a  very 
unjust  thing  to  take  away  a  man's  life  for  a  little 
money ;  for  nothing  in  the  world  can  be  of  equal 
value  with  a  man's  life  :**  and  if  it  is  said,  that  it 


"  On  this  subject  the  more  humane  and  philosophical  part  of 
the  world  begin  to  adopt  Sir  Thomas  More's  opinion.  It  seems 
probable,  moreover,  that  even  in  our  own  days  we  shall  in  part 
see  them  acted  upon. 

■'■'  The  author  of  the  "  Utopia"  was  free,  if  ever  any  man 
was,  from  the  influence  of  the  debasing  doctrine  of  castes,  which, 
though  openly  maintained  in  the  East  only,  is  everywhere  the 
genuine  creed  where  hereditary  distinctions  of  rank  prevail.  His 
humane  and  generous  sentiments  break  forth  on  all  occasions. 
He  does  not  undervalue  property,  or  counsel  others  to  make  light 
of  it ;  but  he  refuses  to  consider  any  creation  of  man  of  equal 
value  with  the  noblest  of  God's  creations.  He  knew  that  taking 
away  life  for  anything  but  murder  is  in  itself  murder,  and  that 
every  one  concerned  in  such  an  act  will  be  judged  as  a  murderer 
hereafter. 


40  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

is  not  for  the  money  that  one  suffers,  but  for  his 
breaking  the  law,  I  must  say,  extreme  justice  is  an 
extreme  injury:  for  we  ought  not  to  approve  of 
these  terrible  laws  that  make  the  smallest  offences 
capital;  nor  of  that  opinion  of  the  Stoics  that 
make  all  crimes  equal,  as  if  there  were  no  differ- 
ence to  be  made  between  the  killing  a  man,  and 
the  taking  his  purse ;  between  which,  if  we  exa- 
mine things  impartially,  there  is  no  likeness  nor 
proportion.  God  has  commanded  us  not  to  kill, 
and  shall  we  kill  so  easily  for  a  little  money  ? 
But  if  one  shall  say,  that  by  that  law  we  are  only 
forbid  to  kill  any,  except  when  the  laws  of  the 
land  allow  of  it ;  upon  the  same  grounds,  laws 
may  be  made  to  allow  of  adultery  and  perjuiy  in 
some  cases:  for  God  having  taken  from  us  the 
right  of  disposing,  either  of  our  own,  or  of  other 
people's  lives,  if  it  is  pretended  that  the  mutual 
consent  of  men  in  making  laws,  allowing  of  man- 
slaughter in  cases  in  which  God  has  given  us  no 
example,  frees  people  from  the  obligation  of  the 
divine  law,  and  so  makes  murder  a  lawful  action; 
what  is  this,  but  to  give  a  preference  to  human 
laws  before  the  Divine  ?  ^*  And,  if  this  is  once  ad- 
mitted, by  the  same  rule  men  may  in  all  other 
things  put  what  restrictions  they  please  upon  the 
laws  of  God.  If  by  the  Mosaical  law,  though  it 
Avas  rough  and  severe,  as  being  a  yoke  laid  on  an 
obstinate  and  servile  nation,  men  were  only  fined, 
and  not  put  to  death  for  theft ;  we  cannot  imagine 

*^  This  confirms  what  is  advanced  in  the  preceding  note. 


HAPPY    KKPUBUC.  41 

that  in  this  new  law  of  mercy,  in  which  God  treats 
us  with  the  tenderness  of  a  father,  he  has  g-iven  us 
a  greater  licence  to  cruelty,  than  he  did  to  the 
Jews.  Upon  these  reasons  it  is,  that  I  think  the 
putting  thieves  to  death  is  not  lawful ;  and  it  is 
plain  and  obvious  that  it  is  absurd,  and  of  ill  con- 
sequence to  the  commonwealth,  that  a  thief  and  a 
murderer  should  be  equally  pvmished  :  for  if  a 
robber  sees  that  his  danger  is  the  same,  if  he  is 
convicted  of  theft,  as  if  he  were  guilty  of  murder, 
this  will  naturally  set  him  on  to  kill  the  person 
whom  otherwise  he  would  only  have  robbed;  since, 
if  the  punishment  is  the  same,  there  is  more  secu- 
rity, and  less  danger  of  discovery,  when  he  that 
can  best  make  it  is  put  out  of  the  way ;  so  that  the 
terrifying  thieves  too  much,  provokes  them  to 
cruelty.""* 

"  *  But  as  to  the  question,  what  more  convenient 
way  of  punishment  can  be  found  ?  I  think  it  is 
much  easier  to  find  out  that  than  to  invent  any- 
thing that  is  worse.  Why  should  we  doubt  but 
the  way  that  was  so  long  in  use  among  the  old 
Romans,  who  understood  so  well  the  arts  of  govern- 
ment, was  vei*y  proper  for  their  punishment  ?  They 
condemned  such  as  they  found  guilty  of  great 
crimes  to  work  their  whole  lives  in  quarries,  or  to 


■•^  Our  contemporaries  are  at  length  coming  over  to  Sir 
Thomas's  opinion,  and  since  the  laws  have  been  framed  in  a 
great  measure  upon  this  conviction,  robberies  have  been  compa- 
ratively seldom  accompanied  by  murder.  Greater  mildness  in 
punishment  will  necessarily  produce  corresponding  mildness  in 
crime. 


42  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

dig  in  mines  with  chains  about  them/^  But  the 
method  that  I  liked  best  was  that  which  I  observed 
in  my  travels  in  Persia,  among  the  Polylerites, 
who  are  a  considerable  and  well-governed  peo- 
ple.*® They  pay  a  yearly  tribute  to  the  king  of 
Persia ;  but  in  all  other  respects  they  are  a  free 
nation,  and  governed  by  their  own  laws.  They  lie 
far  from  the  sea,  and  are  environed  with  hills ;  and 
being  contented  with  the  productions  of  their  own 
country,  which  is  very  fruitful,  they  have  little 
commerce  with  any  other  nations;  and  as  they, 
according  to  the  genius  of  their  country,  have  no 
appetite  of  enlarging  their  borders  ;  so  their  moun- 
tains, and  the  pension  that  they  pay  to  the  Per- 
sian, secure  them  from  all  invasions.  Thus  they 
have  no  wars  among  them  ;  they  live  rather  con- 
veniently  than   splendidly,   and    may   be   rather 

*''  I  would  not  propose  the  laws  of  any  ancient  state  as  a  pat- 
tern to  be  followed  by  modem  nations.  They  were  all,  with- 
out exception,  too  cruel ;  but  those  of  Athens  undoubtedly  the 
least  so.  Even  according  to  these,  however,  a  house-breaker 
caught  by  night  in  the  fact  might  be  slain  ;  and  Plato,  to  show 
that  he  approved  of  the  principle,  made  the  law  binding  in  his 
imaginary  state.  "  He  who  kills  a  house-breaker,  caught  by 
night  in  the  fact,  shall  be  free  from  all  guilt."  De  Legg.  1.  ix. 
p.  874,  C.  But  the  reason  of  this  is  clearly  explained  by  Gro- 
tius,  who  observes  that,  not  being  sure  that  the  thief  does  not 
likewise  meditate  murder,  we  may  kill  him  in  our  own  defence. 
Conf.  De  Jure  Bell,  et  Pac.  1.  II.  c.  i.  §.  12.  with  the  notes  of 
Gronovius  and  Barbeyrac.  Lipsius,  Civil.  Doct.  1.  II.  c.  xiii. 
shows  the  wisdom  of  mild  laws,  which  the  best  and  wisest  men 
of  all  ages  have  preferred  before  harshness  and  severity. 

*^  This  is  an  imaginary  people,  created  for  the  nonce.  Sir 
Thomas  More  was  never  at  a  loss  for  excellent  examples ;  for, 
if  he  found  them  not,  he  could  make  them. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC,  43 

called  a  happy  nation,  than  either  eminent  or 
famous  ;  for  I  do  not  think  that  they  are  known  so 
much  as  by  name  to  any  but  their  next  neigh- 
bours. Those  that  are  found  guilty  of  theft  among 
them  are  bound  to  make  restitution  to  the  owner, 
and  not  as  it  is  in  other  places,  to  the  prince,  for 
they  reckon  that  the  prince  has  no  more  right  to 
the  stolen  goods  than  the  thief  ;*^  but  if  that  which 
was  stolen  is  no  more  in  being,  then  the  goods  of 
the  thieves  are  estimated,  and,  restitution  being 
made  out  of  them,  the  remainder  is  given  to  their 
wives  and  children ;  and  they  themselves  are  con- 
demned to  serve  in  the  public  works,  but  are  neither 
imprisoned  nor  chained,  unless  there  happened 
to  be  some  extraordinary  circumstances  in  their 
crimes.  They  go  about  loose  and  free,  working 
for  the  public  :  if  they  are  idle  or  backward  to 
work,  they  are  whipped  ;  but  if  they  work  hard 
they  are  well  used,  and  treated  without  any  mark 
of  reproach,  only  the  lists  of  them  are  called  al- 
ways at  night,  and  then  they  are  shut  up,  and  they 
suffer  no  other  uneasiness  but  this  of  constant  la- 
bour ;  for  as  they  work  for  the  public,  so  they  are 
weli-enteilained  out  of  the  public  stock,  which  is 


^'  No,  but  princes  are  apt  to  consider  that  if  their  subjects 
will  be  vicious,  the  profits  of  their  vices  ought  to  accrue  to  them. 
And  it  is  to  be  feared  that  not  unfrequently  all  such  vices  as 
improve  the  revenue  are  well  thought  of  at  court.  It  is  but 
lately  that  we  have  discovered  the  immorality  of  lotteries,  which 
have  still  a  patron  in  Parliament,  though  denounced  by  the 
government  as  the  very  worst  source  from  which  money  can 
be  derived. 


44  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

done  differently  in  different  places/"  In  some 
places  that  which  is  bestowed  on  them  is  raised  by 
a  charitable  contribution ;  and,  though  this  way 
may  seem  uncertain,  yet  so  merciful  are  the  in- 
clinations of  this  people,  that  they  are  plentifully 
supplied  by  it;  but  in  other  places  public  revenues 
are  set  aside  for  them ;  or  there  is  a  constant  tax 
of  a  poll-money  raised  for  their  maintenance.  In 
some  places  they  are  set  to  no  public  work,  but 
every  private  man  that  has  occasion  to  hire  work- 
men goes  to  the  market-places,  and  hires  them  of 
the  public,  a  little  lower  than  he  would  do  a  free 
man  :*'  if  they  go  lazily  about  their  task,  he  may 
quicken  them  with  the  whip.  By  this  means  there 
is  always  some  piece  of  work  or  other  to  be  done 
by  them ;  and,  besides  their  livelihood,  they  earn 
somewhat  still  to  the  public.  They  wear  all  a 
peculiar  habit,  of  one  certain  colour,^^  and  their 


^'  Thieves,  and,  in  short,  criminals  of  all  kinds,  labour  for 
the  public  in  Tuscany,  where  capital  punishment  is  wholly 
abolished.  The  sound  of  their  chains  clanking  on  the  pave- 
ment is  generally  heard  about  breakfast-time,  particularly  at 
Leghorn,  and  probably  helps  to  promote  some  people's  diges- 
tion.    It  used  to  spoil  mine. 

^'  This  is  the  principle  acted  upon  in  our  penal  settlements, 
where  convict  labour  is  a  source  of  great  profit  to  the  colonists, 
many  of  whom  would  remain  at  home  were  there  not  a  good 
crop  of  thieves  to  work  for  them  cheap;  and,  therefore,  if  private 
vices  are  not  public  benefits,  it  cannot  be  said  that  they  are 
profitable  to  no  one. 

^■^  The  Grand  Duke  of  Tuscany  has  adopted  this  hint.  All 
his  convicted  criminals  wear  livery  :  they  who  have  hope,  red  ; 
the  hopeless — the  slaves  for  life — are  clad  in  yellow.  What 
effect  this  badge  may  produce  on  their  own  minds  is  more  than  I 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  45 

hair  is  cropped  a  little  above  their  ears,  and  a  little 
of  one  of  their  ears  is  cropped  off.  Their  friends 
are  allowed  to  give  them  either  meat,  drink,  or 
clothes,  so  they  are  of  their  proper  colour ;  but  it 
is  death,  both  to  the  giver  and  taker,  if  they  give 
them  money ;  nor  is  it  less  penal  for  any  free  man 
to  take  money  from  them,  upon  any  account  what- 
soever :  and  it  is  also  death  for  any  of  these  slaves 
(so  they  are  called)  to  handle  anns.  Those  of 
every  division  of  the  country  are  distinguished  by 
a  peculiar  mark, — and  it  is  capital  to  lay  that 
aside:  and  so  it  is  also  to  go  out  of  their  bounds, 
or  to  talk  with  a  slave  of  another  jurisdiction;"  and 
the  very  attempt  of  an  escape  is  no  less  penal  than 
an  escape  itself ;  it  is  death  for  any  other  slave  to 
be  accessory  to  it.  If  a  free  man  engages  in  it  he 
is  condemned  to  slavery  :  those  that  discover  it  are 
rewarded, — if  free  men,  in  money ;  and  if  slaves, 
with  liberty,  together  with  a  pardon  for  being  ac- 
cessory to  it ;  that  so  they  may  find  their  account 
rather  in  repenting  of  their  accession  to  such  a 
design  than  in  persisting  in  it. 

"  '  These  are  their  laws  and  rules  in  this  matter ; 
in  which  both  the  grentleness  and   advantages  of 


can  say  ;  on  me,  who  only  saw  them,  the  sight  made  a  deep  im- 
pression of  melancholy,  which  has  recurred  ever  and  anon  for 
years.  It  is,  doubtless,  more  likely  to  deter  from  crime  than  the 
shock  of  an  execution, — terrible  while  it  lasts,  but  soon  over,  and 
soon  forgotten. 

53  After  guarding  against  the  spirit  of  cruelty  in  the  first 
steps,  it  breaks  out  here.  Sir  Thomas  had  been  studying  Lycur- 
gus's  code,  and  caught  something  of  its  spirit. 


46  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

them  are  very  obvious  :  since,  by  these  means,  as 
vices  are  destroyed,  so  men  are  preserved,  but  are 
so  treated  that  they  see  the  necessity  of  being  good ; 
and  by  the  rest  of  their  life  they  make  reparation 
for  the  mischief  they  had  formerly  done.  Nor  is 
there  any  hazard  of  their  falling  back  to  their  old 
customs.  And  so  little  do  travellers  apprehend 
mischief  from  them  that  they  generally  make  use 
of  them  for  guides,'^*  from  one  jurisdiction  to  an- 
other; for  there  is  nothing  left  them  by  which  they 
can  rob,  or  be  the  better  for  it,  since,  as  they  are 
disarmed,  so  the  very  having  of  money  is  a  suffi- 
cient conviction;  and,  as  they  are  certainly  pun- 
ished if  discovered,  so  they  cannot  hope  to  escape  : 
for  their  habit  being  in  all  the  parts  of  it  different 
from  what  is  commonly  worn,  they  cannot  fly 
away,  unless  they  should  go  naked,  and  even  then 
their  cropped  ear  would  betray  them.  The  only 
danger  to  be  feared  from  them  is  their  conspiring 
against  the  government :  but  those  of  one  division 
or  neighbourhood  can  do  nothing  to  any  purpose, 
unless  a  general  conspiracy  were  laid  amongst  all 
the  slaves  of  the  several  jurisdictions,  which  cannot 
be  done,  since  they  cannot  meet  or  talk  together ; 

**  This  is  true  of  a  tribe  of  thieves  in  Hindoostan,  who  always 
prove  faithful  to  such  as  hire  and  pay  them ;  whereas  your  Euro- 
pean thieves  generally  practise  most  on  those  in  whose  service 
they  happen  to  be  engaged.  Sir  Thomas's  convicts  were  under 
tolerably  good  discipline,  and  had  little  chance  of  effecting  their 
escape,  on  account  of  the  misfortune  which  had  befallen  their  ears ; 
but,  by  the  same  regulation,  they  were  completely  cut  off  also 
from  all  chance  of  regaining  caste ;  for,  as  their  ears  would  not 
grow,  they  could  never  again  pass  for  persons  of  good  character. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  47 

nor  will  any  venture  on  a  (lesi<,^n  where  the  con- 
cealment would  be  so  dang-erous,  and  the  discovery 
so  profitable :  and  none  of  them  is  quite  hopeless 
of  recovering  his  freedom,  since  l)y  their  obedience 
and  patience,  and  by  g'iving-  g-rounds  to  believe 
that  they  will  change  their  manner  of  life  ibr  the 
future,  they  may  expect  at  last  to  obtain  their 
liberty  :  and  some  are  every  year  restored  to  it, 
upon  the  good  character  that  is  given  of  them.' 

"  '  When  I  had  related  all  this,  I  added,  that  I  did 
not  see  why  such  a  method  might  not  be  followed 
with  more  advantage  than  could  ever  be  expected 
from  that  severe  justice  which  the  counsellor  mag- 
nified so  much.  To  all  this  he  answered,  that  it 
could  never  be  so  settled  in  England,  without 
endangering  the  whole  nation  by  it ;  and  as  he 
said  that,  he  shook  his  head,  and  made  some 
grimaces,  and  so  held  his  peace ;  and  all  the  com- 
pany seemed  to  be  of  his  mind  :  only  the  cardinal 
said,  *  It  is  not  easy  to  guess  whether  it  would  suc- 
ceed well  or  ill,  since  no  trial  has  been  made  of 
it :"  but  if,  when  the  sentence  of  death  were  passed 


^^  The  cardinal  was  right ;  but  men  of  weak  understanding 
imagine  all  sorts  of  dangers  in  the  mere  attempt  to  improve  a 
nation's  laws.  And  some  who  even  set  up  for  philosophers,  and 
consider  themselves  above  prejudice,  are  among  the  foremost  to 
exclaim  against  improvement,  which  they  denominate  innova- 
tion. But  time,  as  Bacon  observes,  is  the  great  innovator.  He 
gradually  undermines  and  upsets  everything,  but  excites  no 
alarm,  because  he  effects  what  he  brings  to  pass  graduuUi/.  All 
friends  of  mankind  will  imitate  Time — carry  much  when  they 
can,  and  little  when  no  more  is  to  be  gained  ;  but  always  keep 
progressing  ;  for,  like  fruit,  the  institutions  of  one  age  grow  stale 
and  useless  by  the  next. 


48  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

upon  a  thief,  the  prince  would  reprieve  him  for  a 
while,  and  make  the  experiment  upon  him,  denying' 
him  the  privilege  of  a  sanctuary;  then,  if  it  had  a 
good  effect  upon  him,  it  might  take  place  ;  and,  if 
it  succeeded  not,  the  worst  would  be  to  execute  the 
sentence  on  the  condemned  person  at  last.  And  I 
do  not  see,'  said  he,  '  why  it  would  be  either  un- 
just or  inconvenient,  or  at  all  dangerous,  to  admit 
of  such  a  delay  ;  and  I  think  the  vagabonds  ought 
to  be  treated  in  the  same  manner  against  whom, 
though  we  have  made  many  laws,  yet  we  have  not 
been  able  to  gain  our  end  by  them  all.'  When  the 
cardinal  had  said  this,  then  they  all  fell  to  com- 
mend the  motion,  though  they  had  despised  it 
when  it  came  from  me  f^  but  they  did  more  par- 
ticularly commend  that  concerning  the  vagabonds, 
because  it  had  been  added  by  him. 

"I  do  not  know  whether  it  be  worth  the  while 
to  tell  what  followed,  for  it  was  very  ridicu- 
lous; but  I  shall  venture  at  it,  for,   as  it  is  not 


^  Of  course.  "  The  wise  poor  man  crieth  aloud,  and  no 
man  regardeth."  In  fact  it  is  the  received  opinion  among 
certain  classes,  that  no  poor  man  can  be  wise.  If  he  were,  they 
think  he  would  make  money.  Mr.  Caunter's  St.  Leon  is  their 
wise  man  :  a  person  who  has  discovered  the  philosopher's  stone, 
and  along  with  it  all  the  means  of  being  extremely  happy — ex- 
cept the  art  of  enjoying  what  he  has.  There  is  a  fine  philosophy 
in  these  lines : — 

"  These  are  but  sorry  first-fruits  of  our  wealth  ! 
If  only  such  shall  be  matured  and  plucked, 
Would  that  grim  want  again,  in  sackcloth  cased. 
Did  cramp  our  bones !    Look  how  thy  tawdry  gold 
Begins  to  mock  thee !     Thou'rt  already  cursed 
In  thy  possession.     Out  upon  this  dross, 
That  only  casts  a  splendour  over  ruin  1 
Thv  life's  in  jeopard  y  !" 


HAPPY    UKPUBLIC.  49 

foreign  to  this  matter,  so  some  good  use  may  be 
made  of  it.  There  was  a  jester  standing  by,  that 
counterfeited  the  fool  so  naturally  that  he  seemed 
to  be  really  one.  The  jests  at  which  he  offered 
were  so  cold  and  dull  that  we  laughed  more  at 
him  than  at  them;  yet  sometimes  he  said,  as  it 
were  by  chance,  things  that  were  not  unpleasant ; 
so  as  to  justify  the  old  proverb,  'That  he  who 
throws  the  dice  often  will  sometimes  have  a  lucky 
hit.'  When  one  of  the  company  had  said  that  I 
had  taken  care  of  the  thieves,  and  the  cardinal  had 
taken  care  of  the  vagabonds;  so  that  there  remained 
nothing  but  that  some  public  provision  might  be 
made  for  the  poor  whom  sickness  or  old  age  had 
disabled  from  labour  ;  *  Leave  that  to  me,'  said 
the  fool,  '  and  I  shall  take  care  of  them ;  for  there 
is  no  sort  of  people  whose  sight  I  abhor  more, 
having  been  so  often  Vexed  with  them  and  with 
their  sad  complaints;  but,  as  dolefully  soever  as 
they  have  told  their  tale  to  me,  they  could  never 
prevail  so  far  as  to  draw  one  penny  of  money  from 
me :  for  either  I  had  no  mind  to  give  them  any- 
thing, or,  when  I  had  a  mind  to  it,  I  had  nothing 
to  give  them :  and  they  now  know  me  so  well,  that 
they  will  not  lose  their  labour  on  me,  but  let  me 
pass  without  giving  me  any  trouble,  because  they 
hope  for  nothing  from  me, — no  more,  in  faith,  than 
if  I  were  a  priest.'"     But  I  would  have  a  law  made 

^"  I  recommend  this  passage  to  the  serious  consideration  of 
Dr.  Lingard,  who  seems  to  imagine  that  all  things  have  dete- 
riorated since  the  Reformation.     He  will  see  that  the  clergy,  at 

I 


50  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

for  sending  all  these  beg-gars  to  monasteries, — the 
men  to  the  Benedictines  to  be  lay-brothers,  and  the 
women  to  be  nuns.'  The  cardinal  smiled,  and  ap- 
proved of  it  in  jest ;  but  the  rest  liked  it  in  earnest. 
"  There  was  a  divine  present  who,  though  he  was 
a  grave,  morose  man,  yet  he  was  so  pleased  with  the 
reflection  that  was  made  on  the  priests  and  the 
monks,  that  he  began  to  play  with  the  fool,  and 
said  to  him,  '  this  will  not  deliver  you  from  all 
beggars,  except  you  take  care  of  us  friars.'  '  That 
is  done  already,'  answered  the  fool ;  '  for  the  cardi- 
nal has  provided  for  you  by  what  he  proposed  for 
the  restraining  vagabonds,  and  setting  them  to 
work;  for  I  know  no  vagabonds  like  you  !'*^  This 
was  well  entertained  by  the  whole  company,  who, 
looking  at  the  cardinal,  perceived  that  he  was  not 
ill-pleased  at  it ;  only  the  friar  himself  was  so  bit, 
as  may  be  easily  imagined,  and  fell  out  in  such  a 
passion  that  he  could  not  forbear  railing  at  the 
fool,  and  calling  him  knave,  slanderer,  backbiter, 
and  son  of  perdition,  and  cited  some  dreadful 
threatenings  out  of  the   scriptures  against  him.^^ 


least,  have  not.  They  remain  just  as  they  were  when  Cardinal 
Morton's  fool  had  the  painting  of  them. 

■'^  No  doubt  the  fool's  experience  had  furnished  him  with  no- 
thing in  the  matter  of  vagabondage  equal  to  the  friars.  On  this 
point  they  clearly  outdo  the  priests  themselves,  who  are  generally 
less  given  to  roammg  ;  though  one  meets  a  tolerable  sprinkling 
of  them  too,  wherever  there  is  sin  or  pleasure  to  be  found,  from 
the  fox's  tail  to  the  Parisian  salon. 

^^  If  the  reader  will  have  the  goodness  to  refer  to  Sterne's 
chapter  of  curses  in  "  Tristram  Shandy,"  he  will  see  with  what 
originality  scholars  can  swear.     Our  friar  was  still  more  inge- 


HAPPY    KEPUELIC.  51 

Now  the  jester  thought  he  was  in  his  element,  and 
laid  about  him  freely.  He  said, '  Good  friar,  be  not 
angry  !  for  it  is  written,  "  In  patience  possess  your 
soul." '  The  friar  answered,  (for  I  shall  give  you  his 
own  w'ords,)  '  T  am  not  angry,  you  hangman  !  at 
least  I  do  not  sin  in  it ;  for  the  Psalmist  says,  "  Be 
ye  angry  and  sin  not." '  Upon  this  the  cardinal  ad- 
monished him  gently,  and  wished  him  to  govern 
his  passions.  '  No,  my  lord !'  said  he, '  I  speak  not 
but  from  a  good  zeal,  which  I  ought  to  have ;  for 
holy  men  have  had  a  good  zeal,  as  it  is  said,  "  The 
zeal  of  thy  house  hath  eaten  me  up  ;"  and  we  sing 
in  our  church  that  those  who  mocked  Elisha  as  he 
went  up  to  the  house  of  God  felt  the  effects  of  his 
zeal ; — which  that  mocker,  that  rogue,  that  scoun- 
drel will  perhaps  feel!'^°     'You  do  this,  perhaps, 

nious  ;  for  he  selected  his  maledictory  language  out  of  Scripture, 
only  taking  care,  of  course,  to  twist  it  to  suit  his  own  purposes ; 
which  is  a  quite  orthodox  practice. 

""  This  is  a  stroke  quite  a  la  Rabelais;  and  might  very  well 
have  proceeded  from  "  Friar  John"  when  excited  to  wrath  in  his 
cups.  It  would  seem  that  the  spirit  of  the  Reformation  had, 
at  this  time^  some  influence  over  the  mind  of  More,  whether  its 
doctrines  ever  made  any  impression  on  him  or  not ;  for  no  Ro- 
man Catholic,  with  a  Roman  Catholic's  /'ee/i»^s,  could  thus  hold 
up  to  contempt  and  ridicule  one  of  the  Pope's  principal  instru- 
ments. Boccaccio  never  enjoyed  more  heartily  a  philippic 
against  the  clergy  or  the  monks  than  did  Sir  Thomas  More, 
who  yet  formed,  in  the  opinion  of  Swift,  one  of  that  sextumvir- 
ate  to  which  all  the  ages  of  the  world  cannot  add  a  seventh. 
And  what  were  those  six  illustrious  names  ?  Were  they  kings, 
or  prelates— or  monks,  or  friars — or  doctors  of  divinity  ? — Oh, 
no  !  Sir  Thomas  More  was  the  only  Christian  among  them. 
They  were  Junius,  and  Marcus  Brutus,  Socrates,  Epaminondas, 
Cato  of  Utica.  and  More.     I  could  name  a  seventh, — great  and 

I  2 


52  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

with  a  good  intention,'  said  the  cardinal ;  *  but,  in 
my  opinion,  it  were  wiser  in  you,  not  to  say  better 
for  you,  not  to  engage  in  so  ridiculous  a  contest 
with  a  fool.'  'No,  my  lord!'  answered  he,  'that 
were  not  wisely  done  ;  for  Solomon,  the  wisest  of 
men,  said,  "  answer  a  fool  according  to  his  folly  ;" 
which  I  now  do,  and  show  him  the  ditch  into 
which  he  will  fall,  if  he  is  not  aware  of  it :  for,  if 
the  many  mockers  of  Elisha,  who  was  but  one  bald 
man,  felt  the  effect  of  his  zeal,  what  will  become  of 
one  mocker  of  so  many  friars,  among  whom  there 
are  so  many  bald  men  ?  We  have  likewise  a  bull, 
by  which  all  that  jeer  us  are  excommunicated.'  ^' 
When  the  cardinal  saw  that  there  was  no  end  of 
this  matter,  he  made  a  sign  to  the  fool  to  withdraw, 
and  turned  the  discourse  another  way.  And,  soon 
after,  he  rose  from  the  table,  and,  dismissing  us,  he 
went  to  hear  causes. 

"  Thus,  Mr.  More,  I  have  run  out  into  a  tedious 
story,  of  the  length  of  which  I  had  been  ashamed, 
if,  as  you  earnestly  begged  it  of  me,  I  had  not  ob- 


iJlustrious  as  any  of  the  six,  save  one:  our  countryman,  too, 
covered  with  glory,  and  to  be  covered  with  still  greater,  as  the 
"  Defence  of  the  People  of  England  "  comes  more  actively  for- 
ward, to  take  its  place  beside  the  "  Paradise  Lost."  Milton 
is  that  seventh  name ;  a  name  which  even  Socrates  need  not  frown 
to  see  placed  on  a  level  with  his  own.  But  see  "  Gulliver's 
Travels,"  Part  III.  c.  vii. 

^'  I  trust  the  reader  will  acknowledge  the  dramatic  truth  to 
nature  of  this  whole  scene.  It  was  not  Sir  Thomas's  design  to 
write  a  novel ;  but  he  felt  exceedingly  disposed  to  verge  in  that 
direction;  and  I  wish,  as  things  go,  that  he  had  indulged  his 
vein. 


HAPPY    REPrBI.IC.  53 

served  you  to  hearken  to  it,  as  if  you  liad  no  mind 
to  lose  any  part  of  it :  I  might  have  contracted  it, 
but  I  resolved  to  give  it  you  at  large,  that  you 
might  observe  how  those  that  had  despised  what  I 
had  proposed  no  sooner  perceived  that  the  cardinal 
did  not  dislike  it,  but  they  presently  approved  of 
it,  and  fawned  so  on  him,  and  flattered  him  to  such 
a  degree,  that  they  in  good  earnest  applauded  those 
things  that  he  only  liked  in  jest.  And  from  hence 
you  may  gather  how  little  courtiers  would  value 
either  me  or  my  counsels."'^* 

To  this  I  answered,  "  you  have  done  me  a  great 
kindness  in  this  relation  :  for  as  everything  has 
been  related  by  you,  both  wisely  and  pleasantly, 
so  you  have  made  me  imagine  that  I  was  in  my 
own  country,  and  grown  young  again,  by  recall- 
ing that  good  cardinal  into  my  thoughts  in  whose 
family  I  was  bred  from  my  childhood :  and,  though 
you  are  upon  other  accounts  very  dear  to  me,  yet 
you  are  the  dearer  because  you  honour  his  memory 
so  much.  But,  after  all  this,  I  cannot  change  my 
opinion ;  for  I  still  think  that,  if  you   could  over- 

^''  The  writer  never  loses  sight  of  the  courtiers,  whom  no 
author  of  eminence,  in  any  age  or  country,  has  spared.  Our 
fashionable  novelists,  indeed,  appear  to  have  undertaken  their  de- 
fence, by  way  of  exhibiting  their  ingenuity,  and  in  the  hope  that 
some  one  will  say  of  them  what  IMilton  says  of  Belial,  that  their 

"  tongue 

Dropped  manna,  and  could  make  the  worse  appear 
The  better  reason." 

They  are,  no  doubt,  mighty  antagonists ;  and  3Iore,  Clarendon, 
Warburton,  Milton,  Bacon,  Hobbes,  and  so  on,  will  have  much 
ado  to  maintain  their  ground.     But  Jacta  est  uleu. 


54  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

come  that  aversion  which  you  have  to  the  courts  of 
princes,  you  might  do  a  great  deal  of  good  to  man- 
kind, by  the  advice  that  you  would  give.  And  this 
is  the  chief  design  that  every  good  man  ought  to 
jn'opose  to  himself  in  living  :  for,  whereas  your 
friend  Plato  thinks  that  then  nations  will  be  happy 
when  either  philosophers  become  kings,  or  kings 
become  philosophers,*'^  no  wonder  if  we  are  so  far 
from  that  happiness,  if  philosophers  will  not  think 
it  fit  for  them  to  assist  kings  with  their  counsels." 

"They  are  not  so  base-minded,"  said  he,  "but that 
they  would  willingly  do  it.  Many  of  them  have 
already  done  it  by  their  books,  if  these  that  are  in 
power  would  hearken  to  their  advices.  But  Plato 
judged  right  that,  except  kings  themselves  became 
philosophers,  it  could  never  be  brought  about  that 
they  who  from  their  childhood  are  corrupted  with 
false  notions  thould  fall  in  entirely  with  the  coun- 
cils of  philosophers, — which  he  himself  found  to 
be  true  in  the  person  of  Dionysius.  ^* 

"  Do  not  you  think  that  if  I  were  about  any  king, 
and  were  proposing  good  laws  to  him,  and  endea- 
vouring to  root  out  of  him  all  the  cursed  seeds  of 
evil  that  I  found  in  him,  I  should  either  be  turned 
out  of  his  court,  or,  at  least,  be  laughed  at  for  my 

S"  See  his  treatise  De  Eep.  V.  §.  18.  t.  I.  p.  389.  VI.  §.  18. 
t.  II.  p.  56.  Edit.  Stallbaitm,  where  the  learned  editor  quotes  the 
defence  of  this  celebrated  paradox  by  i^Iorgernstern.  De  Rep. 
Flat.  203 — 213.  And  a  criticism  on  it  by  Mviretus,  0pp.  t.  I. 
p.  66.  edit.  Runhh. 

''*  Who,  because  the  philosopher  desired  to  relieve  him  of  his 
ignorance,  sold  him  for  a  slave  !  Diog.  Laert,  III.  §.  14.  p. 
74.  edit.  Menage. 


HAPPY  REruni.ic.  55 

pains?'''  For  instance,  what  could  I  signify  if  I 
were  about  the  king  of  France,  and  were  called 
into  his  cabinet-council,  where  several  wise  men 
do,  in  his  hearing,  propose  many  expedients ;  as, 
by  wliat  arts  and  practices  INIilan  may  be  kept  ; 
and  Naples,  that  has  so  oft  slipped  out  of  their 
hands,  recovered  ;  and  how  the  Venetians,  and, 
after  them,  the  rest  of  Italy  may  be  subdued  ;  and 
then,  how  Flanders,  Brabant,  and  all  Burgundy, 
and  some  other  kingdoms,  which  he  has  swallowed 
already  in  his  designs,  might  be  added  to  his  em- 
pire. One  proposes  a  league  with  the  Venetians, 
to  be  kept  as  long  as  he  finds  his  account  in  it,  and 
that  he  ought  to  communicate  councils  with  them, 
and  give  them  some  share  of  the  spoil,  till  his  suc- 
cess makes  him  need  or  fear  them  less,  and  then  it 
will  be  easily  taken  out  of  their  hands.  Another 
proposes  the  hiring  the  Geiinans,  and  the  securing 
the  Switzers  by  pensions.  Another  proposes  the 
gaining  the  Emperor  by  money,  which  is  omnipo- 
tent with  him.*'''  Another  proposes  a  peace  with 
the  king  of  Arragon,  and,  in  order  to  the  cementing 
it,  the  yielding  up  the  king  of  Navarre's  preten- 
sions. Another  thinks  the  prince  of  Castile  is  to  be 
wrought  on  by  the  hope  of  an  alliance  ;  and  that 

'^^  Clarendon  lived  to  be  of  this  opinion,  and  bequeathed  it  as 
an  inheritance  to  his  sons.  See  the  preface  to  his  History, 
pasiim. 

^^  Honest  lago  understood  this  well :  "  put  money  in  thy 
purse  !"  It  is  everywhere  omnipotent,  save  against  virtue,  which 
resists  because  it  does  not  need  it.  The  good  man  is  never  a 
worshipper  of  gold.  He  will  use,  but  not  be  held  captive  by 
money  ;  though ^or  monev  he  sometimes  may 


56  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

some  of  his  courtiers  are  tx»  be  gained  to  the  French 
faction  by  pensions.  The  hardest  point  of  all  is 
what  to  do  with  England.  A  treaty  of  peace  is  to 
be  set  on  foot ;  and,  if  their  alliance  is  not  be  de- 
pended on,  yet  it  is  to  be  made  as  fi  rm  as  can  be  ;  and 
they  are  to  be  called  friends,  but  suspected  as  enemies : 
therefore  the  Scots  are  to  be  kept  in  readiness,  to  be 
let  loose  upon  England  on  every  occasion ;  and  some 
banished  nobleman  is  to  be  supported  underhand, 
(for  by  the  league  it  cannot  be  done  avowedly,)  who 
has  a  pretension  to  the  crown,  by  which  means  that 
suspected  prince  may  be  kept  in  awe.  ®^ 

"  Now,  when  things  are  in  so  great  a  feimen- 
tation,  and  so  many  gallant  men  are  joining  coun- 
cils how  to  carry  on  the  war,  if  so  mean  a  man 
as  I  am  should  stand  up,  and  wish  them  to  change 
all  their  councils, — to  let  Italy  alone,  and  stay  at 
home,  since  the  kingdom  of  France  was  indeed 
greater  than  that  it  could  be  well  governed  by  one 
man,  so  that  he  ought  not  to  think  of  adding 
others  to  it :  and  if,  after  this,  I  should  propose  to 
them  the  resolution  of  the  Achorif]ins,  a  people 
that  lie  over  against  the  isle  of  Utopia  to  the  south- 
east, who,  having  long  ago  engaged  in  a  war,  that 
they  might  gain  another  kingdom  to  their  king, 
who  had  a  pretension  to  it  by  an  old  alliance  by 
which  it  had  descended  to  him ;  and  having  con- 
quered it,  when  they   found  that  the  trouble  of 

^^  We  have  lived  to  see  a  better  state  of  things.  No  fear  now 
of  the  Scots  pouring  'n  upon  England ;  nor  is  there  any  banished 
nobleman,  with  a  pretence  to  the  crown,  who  can  cause  us  a 
moment's  uneasiness. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  57 

keeping'  it  was  equal  to  that  of  gaining  it ;  for  the 
fonquered  people  would  be  still  apt  to  rebel,  or  be 
exposed  to  foreign  invasions,  so  that  they  must 
always  be  in  war,  either  for  them  or  against  them  ; 
and  that,  therefore,  they  could  never  disband  their 
army  :  that  in  the  mean  time  taxes  lay  heavy  on 
them,  that  money  went  out  of  the  kingdom,  that 
their  blood  was  sacrificed  to  their  king's  glory, 
and  that  they  were  nothing  the  better  by  it,  even 
in  time  of  peace ;  their  manners  being  corrupted 
by  a  long  war,  robbing  and  murders  abounding 
everywhere;  and  their  laws  falling  under  contempt, 
because  their  king,  being  distracted  with  the  cares 
of  the  kingdom,  was  less  able  to  apply  his  mind  to 
any  one  of  them  ;  when  they  saw  there  could  be  no 
end  of  those  evils,  they,  by  joint  councils,  made  an 
humble  address  to  their  king,  desiring  him  to  choose 
which  of  the  two  kingdoms  he  had  the  greatest 
mind  to  keep, — since  he  could  not  hold  both  f^  for 
they  were  too  great  a  people  to  be  governed  by  a 
divided  king,  since  no  man  would  willingly  have 
a  groom  that  should  be  in  common  between  him 
and  another, — upon   which  the  good   prince  was 


^^  Sir  'J'homas  More,  we  see,  was  no  patron  of  legitimacy  or 
Divine  right.  He  puts  things  on  their  proper  footing,  consider, 
ing  the  prince  as  a  magistrate  appointed  for  the  people's  advari- 
tage, — not  for  his  own  ;  and  removable  wheti,  from  any  cause 
whatever,  he  becomes  incapable  of  performing  his  duties  as  the 
laws  require.  Such  were  the  opinions  of  Buchanan,  of  Milton, 
and  of  Locke  ;  and  they  were  recognized  by  the  British  constitu- 
tion when  James  II.  was  driven  ignominiously  from  the  throne 
of  these  realms. 


«-0  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

forced  to  quit  his  new  kingdom  to  one  of  his  friends, 
(who  was  not  long  after  dethroned,)  and  to  be  con- 
tented with  his  old  one.  To  all  this  I  would  add, 
that  after  all  those  warlike  attempts,  and  the  vast 
confusions,  with  the  consumptions  both  of  treasure 
and  of  people  that  must  follow  them,  perhaps,  up- 
on some  misfortune,  they  might  be  forced  to  throw 
up  all  at  last.  Therefore  it  seemed  much  more 
eligible  that  the  king  should  improve  his  ancient 
kingdom  all  he  could,  and  make  it  flourish  as 
much  as  was  possible  ;  that  he  should  love  his 
people,  and  be  beloved  of  them ;  that  he  should 
live  among  them,  and  govern  them  gently ;  and 
that  he  should  let  other  kingdoms  alone,  since  that 
which  had  fallen  to  his  share  was  big  enough, — if 
not  too  big  for  him.  Pray,  how  do  you  think  would 
such  a  speech  as  this  be  heard  ?"  "I  confess,"  said 
I,  "  I  think  not  very  well." 

"  But  what,"  said  he,  "  if  I  should  sort  with  ano- 
ther kind  of  ministers,  whose  chief  contrivances 
and  consultations  were,  by  what  art  treasure  might 
be  heaped  up  ?  Where  one  proposes  the  crying 
up  of  money,  when  the  king  had  a  great  debt  on 
him,  and  the  crying  it  down  as  much  when  his 
revenues  were  to  come  in  ;  that  so  he  might  both 
pay  much  with  a  little,  and  in  a  little  receive  a 
great  deal.  Another  proposes  a  pretence  of  a  war, 
that  so  money  may  be  raised  in  order  to  the  car- 
rying it  on,  and  that  a  peace  might  be  concluded 
as  soon  as  that  was  done ;  and  this  was  to  be  made 
up  with  such  appearances  of  religion  as  might 
work  on  the  peo2)le,  and  make  them  impute  it  to 


HAPPY    RKPUBLIC.  59 

the  piety  of  their  prince,"'  and  to  his  tenderness 
of  the  lives  of  his  subjects.  A  third  oft'ers  some 
old  musty  laws,  that  have  been  antiquated  by  a 
long  disuse ;  and  which,  as  they  had  been  forgot- 
ten by  all  the  subjects,  so  they  had  been  also 
broken  by  them :  and  that  the  levying  of  the 
penalties  of  these  laws,  as  it  would  bring  in  a  vast 
treasure,  so  there  might  be  a  very  good  pretence  for 
it,  since  it  would  look  like  the  executing  of  law, 
and  the  doing  of  justice.  A  fourth  proposes  the 
prohibiting  of  many  things  under  severe  penalties, 
especially  such  things  as  were  against  the  interest 
of  the  people,  and  then  the  dispensing  with  these 
prohibitions  upon  great  compositions,  to  those 
who  might  make  advantages  by  bi'eaking  them. 
This  would  sen^e  two  ends,  both  of  them  acceptable 
to  many ;  for  as  those  w  hose  avarice  led  them  to 
transgress,  would  be  severely  fined  ;  so  the  selling 
licenses  dear,  would  look  as  if  a  prince  were  tender 
of  his  people,  and  would  not  easily,  or  at  low- 
rates,  dispense  with  any  thing  that  might  be  against 
the   public   good. ""     Another  proposes,   that  the 

^  This  is  worthy  of  Macchiavelli,  and  as  instructive  as  a 
chapter  in  "  II  Principe."     It  paints  monarchs  to  the  life. 

""  We  have  here  another  Macchiavellian  remark,  which  shows 
how  carefully  Sir  Thomas  IVIore  had  read  history.  Raleigh 
had  much  the  same  opinion  of  princes.  In  that  fine  poem,  said 
to  have  been  written  the  night  before  his  execution,  but  which 
bears  the  marks  of  very  careful  study  and  correction,  he  says  : — 

"  Tell  Potentates  they  live, 
Acting  by  others  actions; 
Not  loved — unless  they  give ; 
Not  strong— but  by  their  factions : 
If  Potentates  reply. 
Give  Potentates  the  lie." 


60  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

judges  must  be  made  sure,  that  they  may  declare 
always  in  favour  of  the  prerogative;  that  they  must 
be  often  sent  for  to  court,  that  the  king  may  hear 
them  argue  those  points  in  which  he  is  concerned  ; 
since  that  how  unjust  soever  any  of  his  pretensions 
may  be,  yet  still  some  one  or  other  of  them,  either 
out  of  contradiction  to  others,  or  the  pride  of  sin- 
gularity, or  that  they  may  make  their  court,  would 
find  out  some  pretence  or  other  to  give  the  king  a 
fair  colour  to  carry  the  point  :^'  for  if  the  judges 
but  differ  in  opinion,  the  clearest  thing  in  the 
world  is  made  by  that  means  disputable,  and  truth 
being  once  brought  in  question,  the  king  upon  that 
may  take  advantage  to  expound  the  law  for  his 
own  profit.  The  judges  that  stand  out  will  be 
brought  over,  either  out  of  fear  or  modesty ;  and 
they  being  thus  gained,  all  of  them  may  be  sent 
to  the  bench  to  give  sentence  boldly,  as  the  king 
would  have  it :  for   fair  pretences  will  never  be 

^'  History  bears  out  the  author  here.  The  judges  under  Charles 
the  First,  in  the  action  against  Hampden  in  the  matter  of  ship- 
money,  exhibited  this  base  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  the 
prince,  which,  according  to  Clarendon,  was  the  first  cause  of  the 
civil  wars.  "  For  when  they  heard  this  demanded  in  a  court  of 
law,  as  a  right,  and  found  it,  by  sworn  judges  of  the  law,  ad- 
judged so,  upon  such  grounds  and  reasons  as  every  stander-by 
was  able  to  swear  was  not  law,  and  so  had  lost  the  pleasure  and 
delight  (and  marvellous  they  must  be  !)  of  being  kind  and  dutiful 
to  the  king ;  and  instead  of  giving,  were  required  to  pay,  and 
by  a  logic  that  left  no  man  anything  which  he  might  call  his 
own  ;  they  no  more  looked  upon  it  as  the  case  of  one  man,  but 
the  case  of  the  kingdom,  nor  as  an  imposition  laid  upon  them 
by  the  king,  but  by  the  judges  ;  which  they  thought  themselves 
bound  in  conscience  to  the  public  justice  not  to  submit  to."' 
History,  &^c.  i.  122  f. 


HAITY    REPUBLIC.  61 

wanting  when  sentence  is  to  be  given  in  the  prince "s 
favour  :  it  will  either  be  said,  that  equity  lies  on 
his  side,  or  some  words  in  the  law  will  be  found 
sounding  that  way,  or  some  forced  sense  w  ill  be 
put  on  them ;  and  when  all  other  things  fail,  the 
king's  undoubted  prerogative  will  be  pretended,  as 
that  which  is  above  all  law  ;"  and  to  which  a  reli- 
gious judge  ought  to  have  a  special  regard.  Thus 
all  consent  to  that  maxim  of  Crassus,  that  a  prince 
cannot  have  treasure  enough,  since  he  must  main- 
tain his  armies  out  of  it :  tliat  a  king,  even  though 
he  would,  can  do  nothing  unjustly:  that  all  pro- 
perty is  in  him,  not  excepting  the  veiy  persons  of 
his  subjects  :  and  that  no  man  has  any  other  pro- 
perty, but  that  which  the  king  out  of  his  goodness 
thinks  fit  to  leave  him  :  and  they  think  it  is  the 
prince's  interest,  that  there  be  as  little  of  this  left 
as  may  be,  as  if  it  were  his  advantage  that  the 
people  should  have  neither  riches  nor  liberty ; 
since  these  things  make  them  less  easy  and  tame  to 
a  cruel  and  unjust  government;  whereas  necessity 
and  poverty  blunts  them,  makes  them  patient,  and 
bears  them  down,  and  breaks  their  height  of  spirit, 
that  might  otherwise  dispose  them  to  rebel.  "^ 

"  Now,  what  if  after  all  these  propositions  w  ere 

'-  Speaking  of  certain  acts  of  Charles  the  First,  perpetrated 
in  this  spirit,  Bishop  Warburton  says,  "  If  this  wasnot  ii/ran/i]/, 
I  do  not  know  what  is."     Notes  on  Clarendon,  vii.  512. 

'*  This  is  enumerated  by  Aristotle  among  the  maxims  of 
tyranny.  In  despotic  governments,  and  such  as  aim  at  becoming? 
despotic,  the  people  are  bowed  to  the  earth  by  the  weight  of 
taxation  ;  while  the  rulers,  perhaps,  expend  the  money  collected 
in  sumptuous  edifices,  or  other  toys,  calculated   to  amuse  the 


62  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

made,  I  should  rise  up  and  assert,  that  such  councils 
were  both  unbecoming  a  king,  and  mischievous  to 
him  ;  and  that  not  only  his  honour,  but  his  safety  con- 
sisted more  in  his  people's  wealth,  than  in  his  own  ; 
— if  I  should  show,  that  they  choose  a  king  for  their 
own  sake,  and  not  for  his ;  ^*  that  by  his  care  and 
endeavours  they  may  be  both  easy  and  safe  ;  and 
that  therefore  a  prince  ought  to  take  more  care  of 
his  people's  happiness,  than  of  his  own,  as  a 
shepherd  is  to  take  more  care  of  his  flock  than  of 
himself.  It  is  also  certain,  that  they  are  much 
mistaken,  that  think  the  poverty  of  a  nation  is  a 
means  of  the  public  safety.  Who  c^uarrel  more 
than  beggars  do  ?  Who  does  more  earnestly  long 
for  a  change,  than  he  that  is  uneasy  in  his  present 
circumstances  ?  "^  And  who  run  in  to  create  con- 
fusions with  so  desperate  a  boldness,  as  those  who 
having  nothing  to  lose,  hope  to  gain  by  them  ?  If 
a  king  should  fall  under  so  much  contempt  or 
envy,  that  he  could  not  keep  his  subjects  in  their 
duty,  but  by  oppression  and  ill-usage,  and  by  im- 
poverishing them,  it  were  certainly  better  for  him 
to  quit  his  kingdom,  than  to  retain  it  by  such 
methods,  by  which  though  he  keeps  the  name  of 
authority,  yet  he  loses  the  majesty  due  to  it.     Nor 

vulgar.  With  this  view  the  pyramids  of  Egypt  were  erected  ; 
the  vast  amphitheatres  of  Rome  ;  the  triumphal  arches,  columns, 
&c.  of  Napoleon.  Arist.  Pol.  V.  viii,  p.  186.  Ccettling,  V.  xi. 
156.  Bekk. 

'*  James  the  First,  fool  and  tyrant  as  he  was,  acknowledged 
this.     Locke  on  Government,  II.  §  200. 

'^  The  French  Revolution  has  furnished  the  best  commentary 
on  this  text. 


HAPPY    UKPCBLIC.  63 

is  it  SO  becoming  tlie  dignity  of  a  king  to  reign 
over  beggars,  as  to  reign  over  rich  and  happy  sub- 
jects. And  therefore  Fabricius,  that  was  a  man  of 
a  noble  and  exalted  temper,  said,  he  would  rather 
govern  rich  men,  than  be  rich  himself;  and  for  one 
man  to  abound  in  wealth  and  pleasure,  when  all 
about  him  are  mourning  and  gi'oaning,  is  to  be  a 
jailor  and  not  a  king.  ■^'^  He  is  an  unskilful  phy- 
sician, that  cannot  cure  a  disease,  but  by  casting 
his  patient  into  another ;  so  he  that  can  find  no 
other  way  for  correcting  the  errors  of  his  people, 
but  by  taking  from  them  the  conveniences  of  life, 
shows  that  he  knows  not  what  it  is  to  govern  a 
free  nation.  He  himself  ought  rather  to  shake  off 
his  sloth,  or  to  lay  down  his  pride  ;  for  the  con- 
tempt or  hatred  that  his  people  have  for  him,  takes 
its  rise  from  the  vices  in  himself. "  Let  him  live 
upon  what  belongs  to  himself,  without  wronging 
others,  and  accommodate  his  expense  to  his  revenue. 
Let  him  punish  crimes,  and  by  his  wise  conduct  let 
him  endeavour  to  prevent  them,  rather  than  be  severe 
when  he  has  suffered  them  to  be  too  common.  Let 
him  not  rashly  revive  laws  that  are  abrogated  by 
disuse,  especially  if  they  have  been  long  forgotten, 
and  never  wanted.  And  let  him  never  take  any 
penalty  for  the  breach  of  them,  to  which  a  judge  would 
not  give  way  in  a  private  man,  but  would  look  on 
him  as  a  crafty  and  unjust  person  for  pretending  to  it. 


''^  But  princes  and  oligarchs  are  commonly  deaf  to  all  such 
sounds. 

"  It  may,  in  fact,  be  laid  down  as  a  truth  clear  as  any  in 
Euclid,  that  no  king  was  ever  hated  but  who  richly  deserved  it. 


64 


UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 


"  To  these  things  I  would  add  that  law  among 
the  Macarians,  that  lie  not  far  from  Utopia,  by 
which  their  king,  in  the  way  on  which  he  begins 
to  reign,  is  tied  by  an  oath  confiimed  by  solemn 
sacrifices,  never  to  have  at  once  above  a  thou- 
sand pounds  of  gold  in  his  treasures,  or  so  much 
silver  as  is  equal  to  that  in  valued®  This  law, 
as  they  say,  was  made  by  an  excellent  king, 
who  had  more  regard  to  the  riches  of  his  coun- 
try, than  to  his  own  wealth;  and  so  provided 
against  the  heaping  up  of  so  much  treasure,  as 
might  impoverish  the  people.  He  thought  that 
moderate  sum  might  be  sufficient  for  any  accident, 
if  either  the  king  had  occasion  for  it  against 
rebels,  or  the  kingdom  against  the  invasion  of  an 
enemy ;  but  that  it  was  not  enough  to  encourage  a 
prince  to  invade  other  men's  rights,  which  was  the 
chief  cause  of  his  making  that  law.  He  also 
thought,  that  it  was  a  good  provision  for  a  free  cir- 
culation of  money ;  that  it  is  necessary  for  the 
course  of  commerce  and  exchange ;  and  when  a 
king  must  distribute  all  these  extraordinary  acces- 
sions that  increase  treasure  beyond  the  due  pitch, 

''*  Here  the  author  fails  of  his  usual  sagacity.  For,  upon  such 
persons,  what  force  or  power  have  oaths  ?  Was  a  king  ever 
known  to  keep  an  oath,  when  to  break  it  seemed  more  for  his 
advantage  ?  Bayle,  on  this  point,  saw  further  than  Sir  Thomas 
I\Iore.  "  Entant  que  homme,  il  vous  dise  sincerement,  comme 
un  autre,  amicus  usque  ad  aras  ;  mais,  entant  que  souverain,  s'  il 
parle  selon  sa  pensee,  il  vous  dira,  j'observerai  le  traite  de  paix, 
pendant  qne  le  Men  de  mon  royaume  le  demandera ;  je  me 
moquerai  de  mon  serment,  des  que  la  maxime  de  I'Etat  le 
voudra."     Diet.  Hist,  et  crit.  art.  Agesilaus,  rem.  H. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  65 

it  makes  liim  less  disposed  to  oppress  his  subjects. 
Such  a  king  as  this  is,  will  be  the  terror  of  ill  men, 
and  will  be  beloved  of  all  good  men. 

"  If,  I  say,  I  should  talk  of  these  or  such  like 
things,  to  men  that  had  taken  their  bias  another 
way,  how  deaf  would  they  be  to  it  all  ?"  "  No 
doubt,  very  deaf,"  answered  I ;  "and  no  wonder;  for 
one  is  never  to  offer  at  propositions  or  advices,  that 
he  is  certain  will  not  be  entertained.  Discourses 
so  much  out  of  the  road  could  not  avail  anything, 
or  have  any  effect  on  men,  whose  minds  were  pre- 
possessed with  different  sentiments.  This  philoso- 
phical way  of  speculation  is  not  unpleasant  among 
friends  in  a  free  conversation,  but  there  is  no  room 
for  it  in  the  courts  of  princes,  where  great  affairs 
are  carried  on  by  authority."  ^^ 

"  That  is  what  I  was  saying,"  replied  he, "  that  there 
is  no  room  for  philosopliy  in  the  courts  of  princes." 
"  Yes,  there  is,"  said  I ;  "  but  not  for  this  speculative 
philosophy,  that  makes  every  thing  to  be  alike  fitting 
at  all  times.  But  there  is  another  philosophy  that 
is  more  pliable,  that  knows  its  proper  scene,  and  ac- 
commodates itself  to  it ;  and  that  teaches  a  man  to 
act  that  part  which  has  fallen  to  his  share  fitly  and 
decently.  If,  when  one  of  Plautus's  comedies  is 
upon  the  stage,  and  a  company  of  servants  are 
acting  their  parts,  you  should  come  out  in  the  garb 
of  a  philosopher,  and  repeat,  out  of  Octavia,  a  dis- 
course of  Seneca's  to  Nero,  had  it  not  been  better 
for   you  to   have  said    nothing,   than    by  mixing 

'^  Exactly,  and  in  opposition  to  reason. 


66  tjtopia;  or,  the 

things  of  such  different  natures,  to  have  made  such 
an  impertinent  trag-i-comedy  ?  For  you  spoil  and  cor- 
rupt the  play  that  is  in  hand,  when  you  mix  with 
it  things  disagreeing  to  it,  even  though  they  were 
better  than  it  is :  therefore  go  through  with  the 
play  that  is  acting  the  best  you  can ;  and  do  not 
confound  it,  because  another  that  is  pleasanter 
conies  into  your  thoughts.  It  is  even  so  in  a  com- 
monwealth, and  in  the  councils  of  princes.  If  ill 
opinions  cannot  be  quite  rooted  out,  and  if  you 
cannot  cure  some  received  vices  according  to  your 
wishes,  you  must  not  therefore  abandon  the  com- 
monwealth, or  forsake  the  ship  in  a  storm,  because 
you  cannot  command  the  winds ;  nor  ought  you  to 
assault  people  with  discourses  that  are  out  of  their 
road,  when  you  see  their  notions  are  such  that  you 
can  make  no  impression  on  them :  but  you  ought  to 
cast  about,  and  as  far  as  you  can  to  manage  things 
dexterously,  that  so  if  you  cannot  make  matters  go 
well,  they  may  be  as  little  ill  as  is  possible.  For  ex- 
cept all  men  were  good,*°  all  things  cannot  go  well ; 
which  I  do  not  hope  to  see  in  a  great  while." 

"  By  this,"  answered  he,  "  all  that  I  shall  do 
shall  be  to  preserve  myself  from  being  mad, 
while  I  endeavour  to  cure  the  madness  of  other 
people :  for,  if  I  will  speak  truth,  I  must  say 
such  things  as   I  was  formerly  saying ;    and  for 

^^  We  have  not  here  the  opinion  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  though 
he  appears  to  support  it.  It  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel  how  he 
demolishes,  de  fond  en  cowble,  this  maxim  of  temporizers,  who 
would  have  men  tolerate  all  the  evils  which  are  difficult  to  be 
removed. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  07 

lying,  whether  a  philosopher  can  do  it  or  not  I 
cannot  tell — I  am  sure  I  cannot  do  it.  But  thoug^h 
these  discourses  may  be  uneasy  and  ungrateful  to 
them,  I  do  not  see  why  they  should  seem  foolish  or 
extravagant:  indeed,  if  I  should  either  propose 
such  things  as  Plato  has  contrived  in  his  common- 
wealth, or  as  the  Utopians  practise  in  theirs, 
though  they  might  seem  better,  as  certainly  they 
are,  yet  they  are  so  quite  difterent  from  our  esta- 
blishment, which  is  founded  on  property,  there 
being  no  such  thing  among  them,  that  I  could 
not  expect  that  it  should  have  any  effect  on  them. 
But  such  discourses  as  mine,  that  only  call  past 
evils  to  mind,  and  give  warning  of  what  may  fol- 
low, have  nothing  in  them  that  is  so  absurd,  that 
they  may  not  be  used  at  any  time  ;  for  they  can 
only  be  unpleasant  to  those  who  are  resolved  to 
run  headlong  the  contrary  way :  and  if  we  must 
let  alone  every  thing  as  absurd  or  extravagant, 
which  by  reason  of  the  wicked  lives  of  many,  may 
seem  uncouth,  we  must,  even  among  Christians, 
give  over  pressing  the  greatest  part  of  those  things 
that  Christ  hath  taught  us :  though  he  has  com- 
manded us  not  to  conceal  them,  but  to  proclaim  on 
the  house  tops  that  which  he  taught  in  secret. 
The  greater  part  of  his  precepts  are  more  dis- 
agreeing to  the  lives  of  the  men  of  this  age,  than 
any  part  of  my  discourse  has  been;®'  but  the 
preachers  seem  to  have  learned  that  craft  to  which 


^'  They  are;  yet  who  will  dare  to  say  they  are  therefore 
Utopian  ? 


68  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

you  advise  me  :  for  they  observing  that  the  world 
would  not  willingly  suit  their  lives  to  the  rules  that 
Christ  has  given,  have  fitted  his  doctrine,  as  if  it 
had  been  a  leaden  rule  to  their  lives  ;*^  that  so, 
some  way  or  other,  they  might  agree  with  one 
another.  But  I  see  no  other  effect  of  this  com- 
pliance, except  it  be  that  men  become  more  secure 
in  their  wickedness  by  it.  And  this  is  all  the  suc- 
cess that  I  can  have  in  a  court ;  for  I  must  always 
differ  from  the  rest,  and  then  I  m  ill  signify  nothing ; 
or  if  I  agree  with  them,  then  I  will  only  help  for- 
ward their  madness.  I  do  not  comprehend  what 
you  mean  by  your  casting  about,  or  by  the  bend- 
ing and  handling  things  so  dexterously,  that  if 
they  go  not  well,  they  may  go  as  little  ill  as  may 
be  :  for  in  courts  they  will  not  bear  with  a  man's 
holding  his  peace,  or  conniving  at  them.  A  man 
must  bare-facedly  approve  of  the  worst  councils, 
and  consent  to  the  blackest  designs ;  so  that  one 
would  pass  for  a  spy,  or  possibly  for  a  traitor,^^  that 
did  but  coldly  approve  of  such  wicked  practices. 
And  when  a  man  is  engaged  in  such  a  society,  he 
will  be  so  far  from  being  able  to  mend  matters  by 
his  casting  about,  as  you  call  it,  that  he  will  find 


®^  See,  on  this  subject,  the  very  admirable  remarks  of 
Grotius,  De  Jure  Belli  et  Pads,  II.  i.  11.  Pascal,  with  that 
unrivalled  power  of  irony  which  distinguishes  him,  has  entered 
into  minute  details,  and  proved  by  numerous  quotations,  the 
truth  at  which  Sir  Thomas  Jlore  only  hints.  See  his  "  Lettres 
Provinciales,"  particularly  the  seventh,  in  which  he  discusses 
the  "  curious  question"  proposed  by  Caramuel, — "  savoirs  s'il 
est  peniiis  aux  jesuites  de  tuerles  jansenistes !"  t.  I.  p.  151. 
^'  Another  important  maxim  of  state. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  G'J 

no  occasions  of  doino-  any  o;ood  :  the  ill  comjiany 
will  sooner  corrupt  him,  than  be  the  better  ibr  him : 
or  if,  notwithstanding  all  their  ill  company,  he 
remains  still  entire  and  innocent,  yet  their  follies 
and  knavery  will  be  imputed  to  him ;  and  by 
mixing  councils  with  them,  he  must  bear  his  share 
of  all  the  blame  that  belongs  wholly  to  others. 

It  was  no  ill  simile,  by  which  Plato  set  forth 
the  unreasonableness  of  a  philosopher's  meddling 
with  government.  '  If  one,'  says  he, '  shall  see  a  great 
company  run  out  into  the  rain  every  day,  and  de- 
light to  be  wet  in  it;  and  if  he  knows  that  it  will 
be  to  no  purpose  for  him  to  go  and  persuade  them 
to  come  into  their  houses,  and  avoid  the  rain ;  so 
that  all  that  can  be  expected  from  his  going  to 
speak  to  them  will  be,  that  he  shall  be  wet  with 
them ;  when  it  is  so,  he  does  best  to  keep  within 
doors,  and  preserve  himself,  since  he  cannot  pre- 
vail enough  to  correct  other  people's  folly.' 

"  Though,  to  speak  plainly  what  is  my  heart,  I 
must  freely  own  to  you,  that  as  long  as  there  is 
any  property,  and  while  money  is  the  standard  of 
all  other  things,  I  cannot  think  that  a  nation  can 
be  governed  either  justly  or  happily.  Not  justly, 
because  the  best  things  will  fall  to  the  share  of 
the  worst  men;  nor  happily,  because  all  things 
will  be  divided  among  a  few,  (and  even  these  are 
not  in  all  respects  happy,)  the  rest  being  left  to  be 
absolutely  miserable,^*     Therefore  when  I  reflect 

*'  But  to  annihilate  property,  because  it  is  unequally  divided, 
would  be  like  cutting  off  one's  legs  to  cure  the  gout.  I  am 
surprised,   after  the  admirable  expose  of  Aristotle,   that  any 


70  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

on  the  wise  and  good  constitutions  of  tlie  Uto- 
pians, among  whom  all  things  are  so  well  governed, 
and  with  so  few  laws ;  and  among  whom  as  virtue 
hath  its  due  reward,  yet  there  is  such  an  equality 
that  every  man  lives  in  plenty :  and  when  I  com- 
pare with  them  so  many  other  nations  that  are  still 
making  new  laws,  and  yet  can  never  bring  their 
constitution  to  a  right  regulation,  among  whom 
though  every  one  has  his  property,  yet  all  the 
laws  that  they  can  invent  cannot  prevail  so  far, 
that  men  can  either  obtain  or  preserve  it,  or  be 
certainly  able  to  distinguish  what  is  their  own, 
from  what  is  another  man's,  (of  which  the  many 
law-suits  that  every  day  break  out,  and  depend 
without  any  end,  give  too  plain  a  demonstration ;)  ^^ 
when,  I  say,  I  balance  all  these  things  in  my 
thoughts,  I  grow  more  favourable  to  Plato,  and  do 
not  wonder  that  he  resolved,  not  to  make  any  laws 
for  such  as  would  not  submit  to  a  community  of 
all  things.  For  so  wise  a  man  as  he  was,  could  not 
but  foresee,  that  the  setting  all  upon  the  level  was 
the  only  way  to  make  a  nation  happy,  which  can- 
not be  obtained  as  long  as  there  is  property  :  for 


man,  least  of  all  Sir  Thomas  More,  should  have  ventured  to 
advocate  it.  Besides  being  impossible,  which,  one  might  think, 
would  be  sufficient  to  satisfy  most  persons,  Aristotle  completely 
proves  that,  even  if  it  could  be  realized,  no  advantage,  but  the 
contrary,  would  arise  from  it.  Property  is  evidently  intended  by 
Providence  to  be  one  great  instrument  of  civilization, 

*^  We  must  here  reply  in  the  hackneyed,  but  beautiful  lines 
of  Shakespear,  that  we  are  wise,  perhaps,  in  preferring  rather 

•' To  bear  the  ills  we  have, 
Than  fly  to  others  that  we  know  not  of." 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  /  I 

wlien  every  man  draws  to  himself  all  that  he  can 
compass,  by  one  title  or  another,  it  must  needs 
follow,  that  how  plentiful  soever  a  nation  may  be, 
yet  a  few  dividing  the  wealth  of  it  among  them- 
selves,^'' the  rest  must  fall  under  poverty.  So  that 
there  will  be  two  sorts  of  jieople  among  them,  that 
deserve  that  their  fortunes  should  be  interchanged  : 
the  former  being  useless,  but  wicked  and  ravenous ; 
and  the  latter,  who  by  their  constant  industry  serve 
the  public  more  than  themselves,  being  sincere  and 
modest  men.  From  whence  I  am  persuaded,  that 
till  property  is  taken  away,  there  can  be  no 
equitable  or  just  distribution  made  of  things,  nor 
can  the  world  be  happily  governed ;  for  as  long  as 
that  is  maintained,  the  greatest  and  the  far  best  part 
of  mankind  will  be  still  oppressed  with  aload  of  cares 
and  anxieties.  I  confess,  without  the  taking  of  it 
quite  away,  those  pressures  that  lie  on  a  great  part 
of  mankind,  may  be  made  lighter,  but  they  can 
never  be  quite  removed.  For  if  laws  were  made, 
determining  at  how  great  an  extent  in  soil,  and  at 
how  much  money   every   man   must   stop,*'    and 

^^  Here  is  the  evil,  in  the  bad  division,  not  in  the  existence  of 
property.  But  the  remedy  for  this,  as  far  as  remedy  is  practi- 
cable, or  perhaps,  in  our  present  state,  desirable,  is  in  the  hands 
of  every  legislature.  Abolish  the  law  of  primogeniture,  with 
everything  like  entail,  or  necessary  succession,  and  things  will 
soon  find  the  level  ordained  by  nature. 

^  All  laws  of  this  description  are  useless,  because  they  may 
be  so  easily  evaded.  Sir  Thomas  had  the  Spartan  common- 
wealth before  him,  where  regulations  of  this  kind  had  a  fairer 
trial  than  they  will  be  likely  ever  to  have  again ;  and  he  saw 
how  inefficient  they  were  to  restrain  luxury  and  the  lust  of 
wealth. 


72  uToriA  ;  or,  the 

limiting  the  prince  that  he  may  not  grow  too  great, 
and  restraining  the  people  that  they  may  not  be- 
come too  insolent,  and  that  none  might  factiously 
aspire  to  public  employments ;  and  that  they 
might  neither  be  sold  nor  made  burthensome  by  a 
great  expense,  since  otherwise  those  that  serve  in 
them,  will  be  tempted  to  reimburse  themselves  by 
cheats  and  violence,  and  it  will  become  necessary 
to  find  out  rich  men  for  undergoing  those  employ- 
ments for  which  wise  men  ought  rather  to  be  sought 
out  ;*^  these  laws,  I  say,  may  have  such  effects,  as 
good  diet  and  care  may  have  on  a  sick  man,  whose 
recovery  is  desperate — they  may  allay  and  mitigate 
the  disease,  but  it  can  never  be  quite  healed,  nor 
the  body  politic  be  brought  again  to  a  good  habit, 
as  long  as  property  remains.  And  it  will  fall  out, 
as  in  a  complication  of  diseases,  that  by  applying 
a  remedy  to  one  sore,  you  will  provoke  another ; 
and  that  which  removes  the  one  ill  symptom  pro- 
duces others,  while  the  strengthening  of  one  part 
of  the  body  weakens  the  rest." 

"  On  the  contrary,"  answered  I,  "  it  seems  to  me 
that  men  cannot  live  conveniently,  where  all  things 
are  common.  How  can  there  be  any  plenty,  where 
every   man    will  excuse    himself    from    labour  ?  *^ 

**  He  would  have  no  property  qualification  for  Members  of 
Parliament.  Character  and  abilities  were,  in  his  opinion,  a 
better  guarantee  for  good  conduct,  than  the  possession  of  any 
given  amount  of  money,  houses,  or  lands.  His  views  are  once 
more  brought  forward,  and  not  without  a  probability  that  they 
may  ere  long  be  acted  on. 

**  He  has  here  put  a  question,  which  has  never  to  this  day 
been  satisfactorily  answered. 


HAPFY    REPUBLIC.  73 

For  as  the  hope  of  gain  doth  not  excite  him,  so 
the  confidence  he  has  in  other  men's  industry 
may  make  him  slothful.  And  if  people  come 
to  be  pinched  with  want,  and  yet  cannot  dispose 
of  anything-  as  their  own,  what  can  follow  upon 
this  but  perpetual  sedition  and  bloodshed,  espe- 
cially when  the  reverence  and  authority  due  to 
magistrates  falls  to  the  ground  ?  For  I  cannot 
imagine  how  that  can  be  kept  up  among  those  that 
are  in  all  things  equal  to  one  another." 

"I  do  not  wonder,"  said  he,  "that  it  appears  so  to 
you,  since  you  have  no  notion,  or  at  least  no  right 
one,  of  such  a  constitution  :  but  if  you  had  been  in 
Utopia  with  me,  and  had  seen  their  laws  and  rules 
as  I  did,  for  the  space  of  five  years,  in  which  I  lived 
among  them,  and  during  which  time  I  was  so  de- 
lighted with  them,  that  indeed  I  would  never  have 
left  them  if  it  had  not  been  to  make  the  discovery 
of  that  new  world  to  the  Europeans,  you  would 
then  confess  that  you  had  never  seen  a  j^eople  so 
well  constituted  as  they  are." 

"  You  will  not  easily  persuade  me,"  said  Peter, 
"  that  any  nation  in  that  new  world  is  better 
governed  than  those  among  us.  For  as  our  un- 
derstandings are  not  worse  than  theirs,  so  our 
government,  if  I  mistake  not,  being  more  ancient, 
a  long  practice  has  helped  us  to  find  out  many 
conveniences  of  life  ;  and  some  happy  chances 
have  discovered  other  things  to  us,  which  no  man's 
understanding  could  ever  have  invented." 

"As  for  the  antiquity,  either  of  their  government 
or  of  ours,"  said  he,  "  you  cannot  pass  a  true  judg- 


74  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

ment  of  it,  unless  you  had  read  their  histories  ;  for 
if  they  are  to  be  believed,  they  had  towns  among 
them  before  these  parts  were  so  much  as  inhabited ; 
and  as  for  these  discoveries  that  have  been  either 
hit  on  by  chance,  or  made  by  ingenious  men,  these 
might  have  happened  there  as  well  as  here.  ^°  I 
do  not  deny  but  we  are  more  ingenious  than  they 
are,  but  they  exceed  us  much  in  industry  and  ap- 
plication. They  knew  little  concerning  us  before 
our  arrival  among  them.  They  call  us  all  by  a 
general  name  of  the  nations  that  lie  beyond  the 
equinoctial  line ;  for  their  chronicle  mentions  a 
shipwreck  that  was  made  on  their  coast  twelve 
hundred  years  ago,  and  that  some  Romans  and 
Egyptians  that  were  in  the  ship  getting  safe 
ashore,  spent  the  rest  of  their  days  amongst  them. 
And  such  was  their  ingenuity,  that  from  this  single 
opportunity  they  drew  the  advantage  of  learning, 
from  those  unlooked-for  guests,  all  the  useful  arts 
that  were  then  among  the  Romans,  which  those 
shipwrecked  men  knew ;  and  by  the  hints  that 
they  gave  them,  they  themselves  found  out  even 
some  of  those  arts  which  they  could  not  fully  ex- 
plain to  them ;  so  happily  did  they  improve  that 
accident  of  having  some  of  our  people  cast  upon 
their  shore.  But  if  any  such  accident  have  at  any 
time  brought  any  from  thence  into  Europe,  we 
have  been  so  far  from  improving  it,  that  we  do  not 

^^  Mr.  Keightley,  in  the  introduction  to  his  delightful  little 
volume  on  the  origin  and  transmission  of  Popular  Fictions,  has 
several  very  excellent  remarks  on  this  subject,  which  the  reader 
will  be  profited  by  perusing. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  75 

SO  much  as  remember  it :  as  in  after  times,  perhaps, 
it  will  be  forgot  by  our  people  that  I  was  ever 
there.  For  though  they  from  one  such  accident 
made  themselves  masters  of  all  the  good  inven- 
tions that  were  among  us,  yet  I  believe  it  would 
be  long  before  we  would  learn  or  put  in  practice 
any  of  the  good  institutions  that  are  among  them : 
and  this  is  the  true  cause  of  their  being  better 
governed,  and  living  happier  than  we  do,  though 
we  come  not  short  of  them  in  point  of  under- 
standing or  outward  advantages." 

Upon  this  I  said  to  him,  "I  do  earnestly  beg  of  you, 
that  you  would  describe  that  island  veiy  particularly 
to  us.  Be  not  too  short  in  it,  but  set  out  in  order 
all  things  relating  to  their  soil,  their  rivers,  their 
towns,  their  people,  their  manners,  constitution, 
laws,  and,  in  a  word,  all  that  you  imagine  we  de- 
sire to  know  ;  and  you  may  well  imagine  that  we 
desire  to  know  everything  concerning  them,  of 
which  we  are  hitheito  ignorant.  "  "  I  will  do  it  very 
willingly,"  said  he,  "  for  I  have  digested  the  whole 
matter  carefully,  but  it  will  take  up  some  time." 
"Let  us  go  then,"  said  I,  "first  and  dine,  and 
then  we  shall  have  leisure  enough."  "Be  it  so," 
said  he.^' 

So  we   went  in  and    dined,   and   after   dinner 

*'  In  these  parts  of  the  work,  no  less  than  in  Cicero's  fine 
Dialogue  on  the  Orator,  I  miss  that  admirable  art  which  dis- 
tinguishes from  all  other  productions  of  the  kind  the  Dialogues 
of  Plato.  In  these,  whatever  breaks  there  are,  seem  to  grow 
up  out  of  the  subject,  not  to  be  made  for  mere  convenience,  as 
they  are  in  the  present  volume. 


76  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

we  came  back  and  sat  down  in  the  same  place. 
I  ordered  my  servants  to  take  care  that  none  might 
come  and  interrupt  us,  and  both  Peter  and  I  de- 
sired Raphael  to  be  as  good  as  his  word.  So  when 
he  saw  that  we  were  very  intent  upon  it,  he  paused 
a  little  to  recollect  himself,  and  began  in  this 
manner. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  77 


BOOK    II. 


"  The  island  of  Utopia  in  the  middle,  where  it  is 
broadest,  is  two  hundred  miles  broad,  and  holds 
almost  at  the  same  breadth  over  a  great  part  of  it, 
but  grows  narrower  towards  both  ends.  Its  figure 
is  not  unlike  a  crescent ;  between  its  homs  the  sea 
comes  in  eleven  miles  broad,  and  spreads  itself 
into  a  great  bay,  which  is  environed  with  land  to 
the  compass  of  about  five  hundred  miles,  and  is 
well  secured  from  winds.  There  is  no  great  current 
in  the  bay,  and  the  whole  coast  is,  as  it  were,  one 
continued  harbour,  which  gives  all  that  live  in  the 
island  great  convenience  for  mutual  commerce  ; 
but  the  entry  into  the  bay,  what  by  rocks  on  one 
hand,  and  shallows  on  the  other,  is  very  dangerous. 
In  the  middle  of  it  there  is  one  single  rock  which 
appears  above  water,  and  so  is  not  dangerous  :  on 
the  top  of  it  there  is  a  tower  built,  in  which  a  garri- 
son is  kept.  The  other  rocks  lie  under  water,  and 
are  very  dangerous.  The  channel  is  known  only 
to  the  natives ;  so  that  if  any  stranger  should  enter 
into  the  bay,  without  one  of  their  pilots,  he  would 
run  a  great  danger  of  shipwreck ;  for  even  they 
themselves  could  not  pass  it  safe,  if  some  marks 
that  are  on  their  coast  did  not  direct  their  way  ; 


78  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

and  if  these  should  be  but  a  little  shifted,  any  fleet 
that  might  come  against  them,  how  great  soever  it 
were,  would  be  certainly  lost.  On  the  other  side 
of  the  island  there  are  likewise  many  harbours ; 
and  the  coast  is  so  fortified,  both  by  nature  and  art, 
that  a  small  number  of  men  can  hinder  the  descent 
of  a  great  army.  But  they  report  (and  there  re- 
main good  marks  of  it  to  make  it  credible)  that 
this  was  no  island  at  first,  but  a  part  of  the  conti- 
nent. Utopus  that  conquered  it  (whose  name  it 
still  carries,  for  Abraxa  was  its  first  name,  and^^ 
brought  the  rude  and  uncivilized  inhabitants  into 
such  a  good  government,  and  to  that  measure  of 
politeness  that  they  do  now  far  excel  all  the  rest  of 
mankind.  Having  soon  subdued  them,  he  designed 
to  separate  them  from  the  continent,  and  to  bring 
the  sea  qviite  about  them ;  and  in  order  to  that,  he 
made  a  deep  channel  to  be  digged,  fifteen  miles 
long.  He  not  only  forced  the  inhabitants  to  work 
at  it,  but  likewise  his  own  soldiers,  that  the  natives 
might  not  think  he  treated  them  like  slaves  ;  and, 
having  set  vast  numbers  of  men  to  work,  he  brought 
it  to  a  speedy  conclusion,  beyond  all  men's  expec- 
tations. By  this  their  neighbours,  who  laughed  at 
the  folly  of  the  undertaking  at  first,  were  struck 
with  admiration  and  terror,  when  they  saw  it 
brought  to  perfection. 

"  There  are  fifty-four   cities   in  the  island,  all 

^'  An  exact  imitation  of  the  manner  of  the  Greek  historians, 
who  constantly,  in  speaking  of  any  place,  mention  the  name  by 
which  it  was  anciently  known,  with  the  legend  invented,  per- 
haps, to  account  for  it. 


HAPPY    KKPUBLIC.  79 

large  and  well-built.  The  manners,  customs,  and 
laws  of  all  their  cities  are  the  same,  and  they 
are  all  contrived  as  near  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  ground  on  which  they  stand  will  allow;  the 
nearest  lie  at  least  twenty-four  miles  distance  from 
one  another,  and  the  most  remote  are  not  so  far 
distant  but  tiiat  a  man  can  go  on  foot  in  one  day 
from  it  to  that  which  lies  next  it.^'  Every  city 
sends  three  of  their  wisest  senators  once  a  year  to 
Amaurot,  for  consulting  about  their  common  con- 
cerns ;  for  that  is  the  chief  town  of  the  island, 
being  situated  near  the  centre  of  it,  so  that  it  is  the 
most  convenient  place  for  their  assemblies.  Every 
city  has  so  much  ground  set  off  for  its  jurisdiction 
that  there  is  twenty  miles  of  soil  round  it,  assigned 
to  it ;  and  where  the  towns  lie  wider,  they  have 
much  more  ground.  No  town  desires  to  enlarge 
their  bounds ;  for  they  consider  themselves  rather 
as  tenants  than  landlords  of  their  soil. 

"  They  have  built  over  all  the  country,  farm- 
houses for  husbandmen,  which  are  well-contrived, 
and  are  furnished  with  all  things  necessary  for 
country  labour.  Inhabitants  are  sent  by  turns 
from  the  cities  to  dwell  in  them ;  no  country 
family  has  fewer  than  forty  men  and  women 
in  it,  besides  two  slaves.  There  is  a  master  and 
a  mistress  set  over  every  family ;  and  over  thirty 
families  there  is  a  magistrate  settled.  Every  year, 
twenty  of  this  family  come  back  to  the  town, 
after  they  have  stayed  out  two  years  in  the  coun- 


'■*  This  was  the  case  with  the  several  Demi  of  Attica. 


80  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

try;  and,  in  their  room,  there  are  other  twenty  sent 
from  the  town,  that  they  may  learn  country  work 
from  those  that  have  been  ah-eady  one  year  in  the 
country,  which  they  must  teach  those  that  come 
to  them  the  next  year  from  the  town.  By  this 
means  such  as  dwell  in  those  country  farms  are 
never  ignorant  of  agriculture,  and  so  commit  no 
errors  in  it,  which  might  otherwise  be  fatal  to 
them,  and  bring  them  under  a  scarcity  of  corn. 
But,  though  there  is  every  year  such  a  shifting  of 
the  husbandmen,  that  none  may  be  forced  against 
his  mind  to  follow  that  hard  course  of  life  too  long, 
yet  many  among  them  take  such  pleasure  in  it, 
that  they  desire  leave  to  continue  many  years  in 
it.  These  husbandmen  labour  the  ground,  breed 
cattle,  hew  wood,  and  convey  it  to  the  towns, 
either  by  land  or  water,  as  is  most  convenient. 
They  breed  an  infinite  multitude  of  chickens  in  a 
very  curious  manner ;  for  the  hens  do  not  sit  and 
hatch  them,  but  they  lay  vast  numbers  of  eggs 
in  a  gentle  and  equal  heat,  in  which  they  are 
hatched  f*  and  they  are  no  sooner  out  of  the  shell, 
and  able  to  stir  about,  but  they  seem  to  consider 
those  that  feed  them  as  their  mothers,  and  follow 
them  as  other  chickens  do  the  hen  that  hatched 
them.  They  breed  very  few  horses,  but  those  they 
have  are  full  of  mettle,  and  are  kept  only  for  exer- 
cising their  youth  in  the  art  of  sitting  and  riding 


®^  See  a  full  account  of  this  process  in  "  Egypt  and  Moham- 
nied  All,"  where  I  have  brought  together  many  passages  of  an- 
cient authors  who  mention  the  subject.  Vol.  II.  pp.  327. 
577.  ff. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  iSl 

of  them ;  for  they  do  not  put  them  to  any  work, 
either  of  ploughing  or  carriage,  in  which  they  em- 
ploy oxen ;  for,  though  horses  are  stronger,  yet  they 
find  oxen  can  hold  out  longer ;  and,  as  they  are 
not  subject  to  so  many  diseases,  so  they  are  kept 
upon  a  less  charge,  and  with  less  trouble  ;  and 
when  they  are  so  worn  out  that  they  are  no  more 
fit  for  labour,  they  are  good  meat  at  last.  They 
sow  no  corn  but  that  which  is  to  be  their  bread  ; 
for  they  drink  either  wine,  cider,  or  perry,  and 
often  water, — sometimes  pure,  and  sometimes  boiled 
with  honey  or  liquorice,  with  which  they  abound.'* 
And,  though  they  know  exactly  well  how  much 
corn  will  serve  every  town,  and  all  that  tract  of 
country  which  belongs  to  it,  yet  they  sow  much 
more,  and  breed  more  cattle  than  are  necessaiy  for 
their  consumption  ;  and  they  give  that  overplus 
of  which  they  make  no  use  to  their  neighbours. 
When  they  want  anything  in  the  country  which 
it  does  not  produce,  they  fetch  that  from  the  town, 
without  carrying  anything  in  exchange  for  it ;  and 
the  magistrates  of  the  town  take  care  to  see  it  given 
them ;  for  they  meet  generally  in  the  town  once  a 
month,  upon  a  festival  day.  When  the  time  of 
harvest  comes,  the  magistrates  in  the  country  send 
to  those  in  the  towns,  and  let  them  know  how 
many  hands  they  will  need  for  reaping  the  harvest;' 
and  the  number  they  call  for  being  sent  to  them, 
they  commonly  dispatch  it  all  in  one  day. 

*-'  At  this  day  a  common  drink  of  the  lower  orders  in  Paris. 

L 


82  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 


OF    THEIR    TOWNS,    PARTICULARLY    OF   AMAUROT. 

"  He  that  knows  one  of  their  towns  knows  them 
all,  they  are  so  like  one  another,  except  where  the 
situation  makes  some  clifferenc  e.  I  shall  therefore 
describe  one  of  them,  and  it  is  no  matter  which  ; 
but  none  is  so  proper  as  Amaurot ;  for,  as  none 
is  more  eminent,  all  the  rest  yielding  in  prece- 
dence to  this,  because  it  is  the  seat  of  their 
supreme  council,  so  there  was  none  of  them  better 
known  to  me,  I  having  lived  for  five  years  alto- 
gether in  it. 

"  It  lies  upon  the  side  of  a  hill,  or  rather  a  rising 
ground.  Its  figure  is  almost  square  ;  for  from  the 
one  side  of  it,  which  shoots  up  almost  to  the  top  of 
the  hill,  it  runs  down  in  a  descent  for  two  miles  to 
the  river  Anider ;  but  it  is  a  little  broader  the 
other  way  that  runs  along  by  the  bank  of  that 
river.  The  Anider  rises  about  eighty  miles  above 
Amaurot,  in  a  small  spring  at  first ;  but,  other 
brooks  falling  into  it,  of  which  two  are  more  con- 
siderable, as  it  runs  by  Amaurot  it  is  grown  half- 
a-mile  broad ;  but  it  still  grows  larger  and  larger 
till,  after  sixty  miles'  course  below  it,  it  is  buried 
in  the  ocean.  Between  the  town  and  the  sea,  and 
for  some  miles  above  the  town,  it  ebbs  and  flows 
every  six  hours  with  a  strong  current.  The  tide 
comes  up  for  about  thirty  miles  so  full  that  there 
is  nothing  but  salt  water  in  the  river,  the  fresh 
water  being  driven  back  with  its  force ;  and  above 
that  for  some  miles  the  water  is  brackish,  but  a 


HAPPy    REPUBLIC.  83 

little  higher,  as  it  runs  by  the  town,  it  is  quite 

fresh;  and,  when  the  tide  ebbs,  it  continues  fresh 

all  along  to  the  sea.^^     There  is  a  bridge  cast  over 

the  river,  not  of  timber,  but  of  fair  stone,  consisting 

of  many  stately  arches ;  it  lies  at  that  part  of  the 

town  which  is  farthest  from  the  sea,  so  that  ships 

without  any  hindrance  lie  all  along  the  side  of  the 

town.     There  is  likewise  another  river  that  runs 

by  it,  which  though  it  is  not  great,  yet  it  runs 

pleasantly,  for  it  rises  out  of  the  same  hill  on 

which  the  town  stands,  and  so  runs  down  through 

it,  and  falls  in  the  Anider.     The  inhabitants  have 

fortified   the   fountain-head    of  this    river,   which 

springs  a  little  without  the  town  ;  that  so,  if  they 

should  happen  to  be  besieged,  the  enemy  might 

not  be  able  to  stop  or  divert  the   course   of  the 

water,  nor  poison  it ;  from  thence  it  is  carried  in 

earthern  pipes  to  the  lower  streets ;  and  for  those 

places  of  the  town  to  which  the  water  of  that  small 

river  cannot  be  conveyed,  they  have  great  cisterns 

fer  receiving  the  rain-water,  which  supplies  the 

want  of  the  other.     The  town  is  compassed  with  a 

high   and   thick  wall,  in  which  there   are  many 

towers  and  forts ;  there  is  also  a  broad  and  deep 

dry  ditch,  set  thick  with  thorns,  cast  round  three 

sides  of  the  town,  and  the  river  is  instead  of  a 

ditch  on  the  fourth  side.    The  streets  are  made  very 

convenient  for  all  carriages,  and  are  well  sheltered 

from  the  winds.     Their  buildings  are  good,  and 

are  so  uniform  that  a  whole  side  of  a  street  looks 


96  The  Thames  is  the  original  of  the  river  of  Amaurot. 

L  2 


84  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

like  one  house.^^  The  streets  are  twenty  feet 
broad  ;  there  lie  gardens  behind  all  their  houses ; 
these  are  large,  but  inclosed  with  buildings  that  on 
all  hands  face  the  streets  ;  so  that  every  house  has 
both  a  door  to  the  street,  and  a  back-door  to  the 
garden  ;  their  doors  have  all  two  leaves,  which  as 
they  are  easily  opened,  so  they  shut  of  their  own 
accord  ;  and,  there  being  no  property  among  them, 
every  man  may  freely  enter  into  any  house  whatso- 
ever. At  every  ten  years'  end  they  shift  their 
houses  by  lots.  They  cultivate  their  gardens  with 
great  care,  so  that  they  have  both  vines,  fruits, 
herbs,  and  flowers  in  them  ;  and  all  is  well  ordered 
and  so  finely  kept,  that  I  never  saw  gardens  any- 
where that  were  both  so  fruitful  as  theirs  are.  And 
this  humour  of  ordering  their  gardens  so  well,  is 
not  only  kept  up  by  the  pleasure  they  find  in  it, 
but  also  by  an  emulation  between  the  inhabitants 
of  the  several  streets,  who  vie  with  one  another  in 
this  matter;  and  there  is,  indeed,  nothing  belong- 
ing to  the  whole  town  that  is  both  more  useful 
and  more  pleasant.  So  that  he  who  founded  the 
town  seems  to  have  taken  care  of  nothing  more 
than  of  their  gardens;  for  they  say  the  whole 
scheme  of  the  town  was  designed  at  first  by  Uto- 


^'  The  remark  on  the  regularity  of  the  buildings  was  made 
by  the  ancients  on  the  cities  erected  by  Hippodamos,  the  archi- 
tect of  the  Peiraeus.  With  respect  to  the  width  of  the  streets, 
since  twenty  feet  were  accounted  sufficient,  we  may  infer  that  in 
those  times  the  space  between  the  houses  in  English  cities  was 
small  indeed;— exactly  as  it  is  now  in  Cairo  and  other  cities  of 
the  East. 


HAPPY    KKPUIU.IC.  85 

pus ;  but  he  left  all  that  belonged  to  the  ornament 
and  improvement  of  it,  to  be  added  by  those  that 
should  come  after  him,  that  being  too  much  for 
one  man  to  bring  to  perfection.  Their  records, 
that  contain  the  history  of  their  town  and  state, 
are  preserved  with  an  exact  care,  and  run  back- 
wards seventeen  hundred  and  sixty  years.  From 
these  it  appears,  that  their  houses  were  at  first  low 
and  mean,  like  cottages,  made  of  any  sort  of  tim- 
ber, and  were  built  with  mud  walls,  and  thatched 
with  straw.  But  now  their  houses  are  three  stories 
high,  the  fronts  of  them  are  faced  either  with  stone, 
plaistering,  or  brick ;  and  between  the  facings  of 
their  walls  they  throw  in  their  rubbish  ;  their  roofs 
are  flat,  and  on  them  they  lay  a  sort  of  plaister 
which  costs  very  little,  and  yet  it  is  so  tempered 
that  it  is  not  apt  to  take  fire,  so  it  resists  the 
weather  more  than  lead  does.  They  have  abun- 
dance of  glass  among  them,  with  which  they  glaze 
their  windows ;  they  use  also  in  their  windows  a 
thin  linen  cloth  that  is  so  oiled  or  gummed,  that 
by  that  means  it  both  lets  in  the  light  more  freely 
to  them,  and  keeps  out  the  wind  the  better. 

OF    THEIR    MAGISTRATES. 

"  Thirty  families  choose  every  year  a  magistrate, 
who  was  called  anciently  the  Syphogrant,  butisnow 
called  the  Philarch ;  ^    and  over  every  ten  sypho- 

3*  Translated,  this  word  would  signify  "a  lover  of  rule;"  and 
this,  no  doubt,  was  the  sense  in  which  Sir  Thomas  More  would 


86  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

grants,  with  the  families  subject  to  them,  there  is 
another  magistrate,  who  was  anciently  called  the 
Tranibore,  but  of  late  the  Archphilarch.  All  the 
syphogrants,  who  are  in  number  two  hundred, 
choose  the  Prince  out  of  a  list  of  four,  whom  the 
people  of  the  four  divisions  of  the  city  name  to 
them,  but  they  take  an  oath  before  they  proceed  to 
an  election  that  they  will  choose  him  whom  they 
think  meetest  for  the  office;  they  give  their  voices 
secretly,  so  that  it  is  not  known  for  whom  every- 
one gives  his  suft'rage.^^  The  prince  is  for  life, 
unless  he  is  removed  upon  suspicion  of  some  design 
to  enslave  the  people.  The  tranibors  are  newly 
chosen  every  year,  but  they  are  for  the  most  part 
still  continued.  All  their  other  magistrates  are 
only  annual. 

"  The  tranibors  meet  every  third  day,  and  oftener 
if  need  be,  and  consult  with  the  prince,  either  con- 
cei'ning  the  affairs  of  the  state  in  general,  or  such 
private  differences  as  may  arise  sometimes  among 
the  people ;  though  that  falls  out  but  seldom. 
There  are  always  two  syphogrants  called  into  the 
council  -  chamber,  and  these  are  changed  every 
day.  It  is  a  fundamental  rule  of  their  govern- 
ment, that  no  conclusion  can  be  made  in  anything 
that  relates  to  the  public,  till  it  has  been  first 
debated  three  several  days  in  their  council.     It  is 

have  it  understood.     But  there  were  officers  at  Athens,  both 
civil  and  military,  who  were  denominated  Phylarchs,  from  ^v- 
Xov  and   cipxri-    ^f^'^'"-  I-    128-  HI-   53.   VIII.  87,94,  114. 
Conf,  Plat.  Rep.  VIII.  5,  180.    Stallbaitm. 
99  Vote  by  Ballot. 


HAPPY    KKPUBLIC.  87 

death  for  any  to  meet  and  consult  concerning  the 
state,  unless  it  be  either  in  their  ordinary  council, 
or  in  the  assembly  of  the  whole  body  of  the 
people. 

"These  things  have  been  so  provided  among  them, 
that  the  prince  and  the  tranibors  may  not  conspire 
together  to  change  the  government,  and  enslave 
the  people  ;  and,  therefore,  when  anything  of  great 
importance  is  set  on  foot,  it  is  sent  to  the  syjdio- 
grants,  who,  after  they  have  communicated  it  with 
the  families  that  belong  to  their  divisions,  and 
have  considered  it  among  themselves,  make  report 
to  the  senate  ;  and  upon  great  occasions,  the  matter 
is  referred  to  the  council  of  the  whole  island. 
One  rule  observed  in  their  council  is,  never  to 
debate  a  thing  on  the  same  day  in  which  it  is  first 
proposed  ;  for  that  is  always  referred  to  the  next 
meeting,  that  so  men  may  not  rashly,  and  in  the 
heat  of  discourse  engage  themselves  too  soon, 
which  may  bias  them  so  much  that,  instead  of  con- 
sidering the  good  of  the  public,  they  will  rather 
study  to  maintain  their  own  notions ;  and,  by  a 
perverse  and  preposterous  sort  of  shame,  hazard 
their  country,  rather  than  endanger  their  own 
reputation,  or  venture  the  being  suspected  to  have 
wanted  foresight  in  the  expedients  that  they  pro- 
posed at  first.  And,  therefore,  to  prevent  this  they 
take  care  that  they  may  rather  be  deliberate  than 
sudden  in  their  motions. 


UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 


OF    THEIR    TRADES,    AND    MANNER   OF    LIFE. 

"Agriculture  is  that  which  is  so  universally 
understood  among  them  all,  that  no  person,  either 
man  or  woman,  is  ignorant  of  it ;  from  their  child- 
hood they  are  instructed  in  it,  partly  by  what  they 
learn  at  school,  and  partly  by  practice,  they  being 
led  out  often  into  the  fields  about  the  town,  where 
they  not  only  see  others  at  work,  but  are  likewise 
exercised  in  it  themselves.'"" 

"  Besides  agriculture,  which  is  so  common  to 
them  all,  every  man  has  some  peculiar  trade  to 
which  he  applies  himself,  such  as  the  manufacture 
of  wool,  or  flax,  masonry,  smiths'  work,  or  carpen- 
ters' work  ;  for  there  is  no  other  sort  of  trade  that 
is  in  great  esteem  among  them. 

"  All  the  island  over  they  wear  the  same  sort  of 
clothes,  without  any  other  distinction  except  that 
which  is  necessary  for  marking  the  difference  be- 
tween the  two  sexes,  and  the  married  and  un- 
married. The  fashion  never  alters ;  and,  as  it  is 
not  ungrateful,  nor  uneasy,  so  it  is  fitted  for  their 
climate,  and  calculated  both  for  their  summers  and 
winters.  Every  family  makes  their  own  clothes ; 
but  all  among  them,  women  as  well  as  men,  learn 


100  Agriculture,  though  not  unfavourable  to  personal  comfort 
and  independence,  very  often  indisposes  men  to  assert  their  poli- 
tical rights.  Rural  populations,  being,  in  fact,  generally  igno- 
rant, easily  become  a  prey  to  designing  and  plausible  knaves. 
Whatever  divides  men  brutalizes  them.  They  can  only  be 
civilized  by  being  brought  together  in  masses. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC. 


89 


one  or  other  of  the  trades  formerly  mentioned. 
Women,  for  the  most  part,  deal  in  wool  and  flax, 
which  suit  better  with  their  feebleness,  leaving  the 
other  ruder  trades  to  the  men.  Generally  the 
same  trade  passes  down  from  fother  to  son,  inclina- 
tions often  following  descent ;'°'  but  if  any  man's 
genius  lies  another  way,  he  is  by  adoption  trans- 
lated into  a  family  that  deals  in  the  trade  to  which 
he  is  inclined  ;  and  when  that  is  to  be  done,  care  is 
taken,  not  only  by  his  father  but  by  the  magistrate, 
that  he  may  be  put  to  a  discreet  and  good  man. 
And  if,  after  a  man  has  learned  one  trade,  he 
desires  to  acquire  another,  that  is  also  allowed,  and 
is  managed  in  the  same  manner  as  the  former. 
When  he  has  learned  both,  he  follows  that  which 
he  likes  best,  unless  the  public  has  more  occasion 
for  the  other. 

"  The  chief,  and  almost  the  only  business  of  the 
syphogrants  is,  to  take  care  that  no  man  may  live 
idle,  but  that  every  one  may  follow  his  trade  dili- 
gently."*' Yet  they  do  not  wear  themselves  out 
with  perpetual  toil  from  morning  to  night,  as  if 
they  were  beasts  of  burden,  which  as  it  is  indeed  a 
heavy  slavery,  so  it  is  the  common  course  of  life  of 
all  tradesmen  everywhere,  except  among  the  Uto- 
pians ;  but  they,  dividing  the  day  and  night  into 

'*"  More  or  less  this  must  be  the  case  in  all  countries.  But  it 
is  apt  to  create  a  spirit  of  caste,  than  which  nothing  can  be  more 
unfavourable  to  freedom  or  to  happiness.  The  Egyptians  were 
enslaved  by  it,  and  the  Hindoos  are,  though  no  institutions  have 
ever  been  able  to  maintain  it  rigidly. 

•'''■'  A  law  of  Solon. 


90  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

twenty-four  hours,  appoint  six  of  these  for  work, 
three  of  them  are  before  dinner ;  and  after  that 
they  dine,  and  interrupt  their  labour  for  two  hours, 
E^id  then  they  go  to  work  again  for  other  three 
hours,  and  after  that  they  sup,  and  at  eight  o'clock, 
counting  from  noon,  they  go  to  bed,  and  sleep 
eight  hours  ;  and  for  their  other  hours,  besides 
those  of  work,  and  those  that  go  for  eating  and 
sleeping,  they  are  left  to  every  man's  discretion  : 
yet  they  are  not  to  abuse  that  interval  to  luxury 
and  idleness,  but  must  employ  it  in  some  proper 
exercise,  according  to  their  various  inclinations, 
which  is  for  the  most  part  reading. 

"  It  is  ordinary  to  have  public  lectures  every 
morning  before  day-break  ;"'^  to  which  none  are 
obliged  to  go  but  those  that  are  marked  out  for 
literature  ;  yet  a  great  many,  both  men  and  women 
of  all  ranks,  go  to  hear  lectures  of  one  sort  or  an- 
other, according  to  the  variety  of  their  inclinations. 
But  if  others  that  are  not  made  for  contemplation 
choose  rather  to  employ  themselves  at  that  time  in 
their  trade,  as  many  of  them  do,  they  are  not  hin- 
dered, but  are  commended  rather  as  men  that  take 
care  to  serve  their  country.  After  supper,  they 
spend  an  hour  in  some  diversion ;  in  summer  it  is 
in  their  gardens,  and  in  winter  it  is  in  the  halls 

'"3  The  little  Arab  boys  in  Marocco  follow  this  plan.  Every 
morning  they  are  in  the  mosque  before  sunrise,  where  the  Sheikh 
expounds  to  them  the  Koran,  and  teaches  the  elements  of  read- 
ing and  writing.  Among  the  poor  there  is  only  one  hour 
devoted  to  learning  every  day  ;  for  immediately  after  breakfast 
all  the  pupils  go  to  work,  and  are  employed  till  the  evening. 
The  rich  do  as  they  please. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC. 


91 


where  they  eat ;  and  they  entertain  themselves  in 
them,  either  with  music  or  discourse.  They  do  not 
so  much  as  know  dice,  or  such  like  foolish  and  mis- 
chievous games.  They  have  two  sorts  of  games  not 
unlike  our  chess  ;  the  one  is  between  several  num- 
bei*s,  by  which  one  number,  as  it  were,  consumes 
another ;  the  other  resembles  a  battle  between  the 
vices  and  the  virtues,  in  which  the  enmity  in  the 
vices  among  themselves,  and  their  agreement  against 
virtue  is  not  unpleasantly  represented ;  together 
with  the  special  oppositions  between  the  particular 
virtues  and  vices ;  as  also  the  methods  by  which 
vice  does  either  openly  assault  or  secretly  under- 
mine virtue,  and  virtue,  on  the  other  hand,  resists 
it,  and  the  means  by  which  either  side  obtains  the 
victory. 

"But  this  matter  of  the  time  set  off  for  labour  is 
to  be  narrowly  examined,  otherwise  you  may,  per- 
haps, imagine  that,  since  there  are  only  six  hours 
appointed  for  work,  they  may  fall  under  a  scarcity 
of  necessary  provisions.  But  it  is  so  for  from  being 
true,  that  this  time  is  not  sufficient  for  supplying 
them  with  a  plenty  of  all  things,  that  are  either  ne- 
cessary or  convenient,  that  it  is  rather  too  much;  and 
this  you  will  easily  apprehend,  if  you  consider  how 
great  a  part  of  all  other  nations  is  quite  idle. 
First,  women  generally  do  little,  who  are  the  half 
of  mankind  ;'°^  and  if  some   few  women  are  dili- 

'"■'  Women  were  generally  industrious  at  Athens,  except  the 
very  rich.  In  our  own  country,  and  in  Germany,  the  same 
thing  could  once  be  said ;  but  other  maxims  now  prevail,  and 
it  is  thought  more  becoming  in  a  woman  to  discuss  the  merits  of 


92  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

gent  their  husbands  are  idle.  Then  consider  the 
great  company  of  the  idle  priests,  and  of  those  that 
are  called  religious  men ;  add  to  these  all  the  rich 
men,  chiefly  those  that  have  estates  in  lands,  who 
are  called  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  together  with 
their  families,  made  up  of  idle  persons  that  do 
nothing  but  go  swaggering  about.  '°^  Reckon  in 
with  these  all  those  strong  and  lusty  beggars  that 
go  about  pretending  some  disease  in  excuse  for 
their  begging ;  and  upon  the  whole  account  you 
will  find  that  the  number  of  those  by  whose 
labours  mankind  are  supplied, is  much  less  than  you 
did  perhaps  imagine.  Then  consider  how  few  of 
those  that  work  are  employed  in  labours  that  men 
do  really  need  ;  for  we  who  measure  all  things  by 
money,  give  occasions  to  many  trades  that  are  both 
vain  and  superfluous,  and  that  serve  only  to  sup- 
port riot  and  luxury.  For  if  those  who  are  at  work 
were  employed  only  in  such  things  as  the  con- 
veniences of  life  require,  there  would  be  such  an 
abundance  of  them,  and  by  that  means  the  prices 
of  them  would  so  sink,  that  tradesmen  could  not  be 
maintained  by  their  gains  ;  if  all  those  who  labour 
about  useless  things  were  set  to  more  profitable 
trades ;  and  if  all  that  number  that  languish  out 
their  life  in  sloth  and  idleness,  of  whom  every  one 
consumes  as  much  as  any  two  of  the  men  that  are 

opera-dancers,  or  novels  written  by  or  for  that  class  of  people, 
than  to  know  aught  of  household  matters. 

'"^  Sir  Thomas  More,  we  see,  was  no  admirer  of  the  Almack 
coteries,  et  hoc  genus  omne.  He  must  have  been  a  singular 
courtier  ! 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  93 

at  work  do,  were  forced  to  labour,  you  may  easily 
imagine  that  a  small  proportion  of  time  would 
serve  for  doing  all  that  is  either  necessary,  profit- 
able, or  pleasant  to  mankind,  pleasure  being  still 
kept  within  its  due  bounds,  which  appears  very 
plainly  in  Utopia,  lor  there,  in  a  great  city,  and  in 
all  the  territory  that  lies  round  it,  you  can  scarce 
find  five  hundred,  either  men  or  women,  that  by 
their  age  and  strength  are  capable  of  labour,  that 
are  not  engaged  in  it ;  even  the  syphogrants  them- 
selves, though  the  law  excuses  them,  yet  do  not 
excuse  themselves,  that  so  by  their  examples  they 
may  excite  the  industry  of  the  rest  of  the  people ; 
the  like  exemption  is  allowed  to  those  who,  being 
recommended  to  the  people  by  the  priests,  are  by 
the  secret  suflTrages  of  the  syphogrants  privileged 
from  labour,  that  they  may  apply  themselves 
wholly  to  study ;  and  if  any  of  these  fall  short  of 
those  hopes  that  he  seemed  to  give  at  first,  he  is 
obliged  to  go  to  work.'"^  And  sometimes  a  mecha- 
nic that  does  so  employ  his  leisure  hours  that  he 
makes  a  considerable  advancement  in  learning  is 
eased  from  being  a  tradesman,  and  ranked  among 
their  learned  men.  Out  of  these  they  choose  their 
ambassador,  their  priests,  their  tranibors,  and  the 
prince  himself,  who  was  anciently  called  their 
Barzenes,  but  is  called  of  late  their  Ademus. 

"  And  thus  from  the  great  numbers  among  them 
that  are  neither  suffered  to  be  idle,  nor  to  be  em- 
ployed in   any  fruitless  labour;  you  may  easily 

'"•^  A  re^'ulatton  of  Plato. 


94  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

make  the  estimate,  how  much  good  work  may  be 
done  in  those  few  hours  in  which  they  are  obliged 
to  labour.     But  besides  all  that  has  been  already 
said,  this  is  to  be  considered,  that  those  needful 
arts  which  are  among  them  are  managed  with  less 
labour  than  anywhere  else.     The  building,  or  the 
repairing    of    houses   among   us,    employs   many 
hands,  because  often  a  thriftless  heir  suffers  a  house 
that  his  father  built  to   fall  into  decay,  so  that  his 
successor  must,  at  a  great  cost,  repair  that  which  he 
might  have  kept  up  with  a  small  charge  :  and  often 
it  falls  out,  that  the  same  house  which  one  built  at 
a  vast  expense,  is  neglected  by  another  that  thinks 
he  has  a  more  delicate  sense  of  such  things,  and 
he  suffering  it  to  fall  to  ruin,  builds  another  at  no 
less  charge.  '*"'     But  among  the  Utopians,  all  things 
are  so  regulated,  that  men  do  very  seldom  build 
upon  any  new  piece  of  ground  ;  and  they  are  not 
only  very  quick  in  repairing  their  houses,  but  show 
their  foresight  in  preventing  their  decay,  so  that 
their  buildings  are  preserved  very  long,  with  very 
little  labour  :  and  thus  the  craftsmen  to  whom  that 
care  belongs,  are  often  without  any  employment, 
except  it  be  the  hewing  of  timber,  and  the  squaring 
of  stones,  that  so  the  materials  may  be  in  readiness 
for  raising  a  building  very  suddenly  when  there  is 
any  occasion  for  it. 

"As  for  their  clothes,  observe  how  little  work 
goes  for  them.  While  they  are  at  labour,  they 
are    clothed   with   leather    and    skins,   cast   care- 


'"^  Every  day  furnishes  examples  of  this. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  95 

lessly  about  them,  which  will  last  seven  years ;  '°* 
and  when  they  appear  in  public,  they  put  on 
an  upper  garment,  which  hides  the  other,  and 
these  are  all  of  one  colour,  and  that  is  the 
natural  colour  of  the  wool :  '"^  and  as  they  need  less 
woollen  cloth  than  is  used  anywhere  else,  so  that 
which  they  do  need  is  much  less  costly.  They 
use  linen  cloth  more  :  but  that  is  prepared  with 
less  labour,  and  they  value  cloth  only  by  the  white- 
ness of  the  linen,  or  the  cleanness  of  the  wool, 
without  much  regard  to  the  fineness  of  the  thread  ; 
and  whereas  in  other  places,  four  or  five  upper 
gamients  of  woollen  cloth,  and  of  different  colours, 
and  as  many  vests  of  silk  will  scarce  serve  one 
man  ;  and  those  that  are  nicer,  think  ten  too  few  : 
every  man  there  is  contented  with  one,  which  very 
oft  serves  him  two  years.  Nor  is  there  anything 
that  can  tempt  a  man  to  desire  more  ;  for  if  he  had 
them,  he  would  neither  be  the  wanner,  nor  would 
he  make  one  jot  the  better  appearance  for  it. 

"  And  thus  since  they  are  all  employed  in  some 
useful  labour,  and  since  they  content  themselves  with 
fewer  things,  it  falls  out  that  there  is  a  great  abun- 
dance of  all  things  among  them  ;  so  that  often,  for 
want  of  other  work,  if  there  is  any  need  of  mend- 
ing their  highways  at  any  time,  you  will  see  mar- 
vellous numbers  of  people  brought  out  to  work  at 
them  ;  and  when  there  is  no  occasion  of  any  public 

"^*  Dress  of  the  Greek  peasants. 

"*  A  Spartan  fashion.  Dyers  were  not  suffered  to  reside  in 
the  city ;  and  they  considered  coloured  cloths  as  so  much  good 
wool  spoiled. 


96  UTOPIA  ;    OR^    THE 

work,  the  hours  of  working  are  lessened  by  public 
proclamation,  for  the  magistrates  do  not  engage 
the  people  into  any  needless  labour,  since  by  their 
constitution  they  aim  chiefly  at  this,  that  except  in 
so  far  as  public  necessity  requires  it,  all  the  people 
may  have  as  much  free  time  for  themselves  as  may 
be  necessary  for  the  improvement  of  their  minds, 
for  in  this  they  think  the  happiness  of  life  con- 
sists."° 

OF    THEIR    TRAFFIC. 

*'  But  it  is  now  time  to  explain  to  you  the  mutual 
intercourse  of  this  people,  their  commerce,  and 
the  rules  by  which  all  things  are  distributed  among 
them.  As  their  cities  are  composed  of  families,  so 
their  families  are  made  up  of  those  that  are  nearly 
related  to  one  another.  Their  women,  when  they 
grow  up,  are  married  out ;  but  all  the  males,  both 
children  and  grandchildren,  live  still  in  the  same 
house,  in  great  obedience  to  their  common  parent, 

""  But  in  vicious  governments  it  is  important  to  deprive  the 
people  of  leisure,  and  prevent  their  acquiring  knowledge ;  or,  if 
any  instruction  is  allowed  them,  it  must  be  sophisticated  and  per- 
verted, as  in  the  empire  of  Austria,  and  some  other  countries  I 
could  name,  where  the  history  of  ancient  states  is  falsified  for 
the  purpose  of  bringing  democracy  into  discredit.  Information 
so  conveyed  is  worse  than  ignorance ;  for  the  man  who  knows 
nothing,  must  in  general  be  aware  of  his  deficiency ;  while 
those  who  derive  their  instruction  from  the  pernicious  sophists 
who  convert  history  and  criticism  into  a  party  pamphlet,  like 
Messrs.  Mitford  and  Mitchell,  pufFup  their  readers  with  the  notion 
that  they  possess  knowledge,  though  they  have  only  stufted  their 
minds  with  second-hand  prejudices. 


HAPPY    UKPUBLIC.  97 

unless  age  has  weakened  his  understanding ; '"  and 
in  that  case,  he  that  is  next  to  him  in  age  comes  in 
his  room.  But  lest  any  city  should  become  either 
out  of  measure  great,  or  fall  under  a  dispeopling 
by  any  accident,  provision  is  made  that  none  of 
their  cities  may  have  above  six  thousand  families 
in  it,  besides  those  of  the  country  round  it,  and 
that  no  family  may  have  less  than  ten,  and  more 
than  sixteen  persons  it ;  but  there  can  be  no  de- 
termined number  for  the  children  under  age :  and 
this  rule  is  easily  observed,  by  removing  some  of 
the  children  of  a  more  fruitful  couple  to  any  other 
family  that  does  not  abound  so  much  in  them.  By 
the  same  rule,  they  supply  cities  that  do  not  in- 
crease so  fast  by  others  that  breed  faster:"^  and  if 
there  is  any  increase  over  the  whole  island,  then 
they  draw  out  a  number  of  their  citizens  out  of 
the  several  towns,  and  send  them  over  to  the 
neighbouring  continent,  where,  if  they  find  that 
the  inhabitants  have  more  soil  than  they  can  well 

>"  An  Athenian  law  transferred  the  management  of  property 
to  sons,  when  through  age  or  infirmity  the  understanding  of 
the  father  became  impaired ;  and  the  misfortunes  of  the  poet 
Sophocles  is  well  known,  who  had  a  son  so  lost  to  virtue,  as  to 
accuse  his  parent  of  insanity  falsely,  for  the  sake  of  getting  pos- 
session of  his  estate.  The  tragedy  of  CEdipus  at  Kolonos,  was 
the  old  man's  only  defence. 

""<i  The  ties  of  home  had  evidently  little  force  over  Sir 
Thomas  JMore.  He  valued  not  at  all  the  attachment  to  parti- 
cular places,  which  in  some  is  so  strong  ;  and  I  plead  guilty  to 
the  same  indifference.  A  pleasant  place  is  to  me  a  pleasant  place, 
in  whatever  country  it  may  be  situated  ;  or,  if  one  spot  seems 
more  desirable  than  another,  it  is  where  great  men  have  lived  or 
died, — as  3Iarathon,  Thermopylee,  Athens,  or  Rome. 

M 


98  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

cultivate,  they  fix  a  colony,  taking  in  the  inhabi- 
tants to  theii*  society  if  they  will  live  with  them ; 
and  where  they  do  that  of  their  own  accord,  they 
quickly  go  into  their  method  of  life,  and  to  their 
rules,  and  this  proves  a  happiness  to  both  the 
nations :  for  according  to  their  constitution,  such 
care  is  taken  of  the  soil,  that  it  becomes  fruitful 
enough  for  both,  though  it  might  be  otherwise  too 
narrow  and  barren  for  any  one  of  them.  But  if 
the  natives  refuse  to  conform  themselves  to  their 
laws,  they  drive  them  out  of  those  bounds  which 
they  mark  out  for  themselves,  and  use  force  if  they 
resist.  For  they  account  it  a  very  just  cause  of 
war,  if  any  nation  will  hinder  others  to  come  and 
possess  a  part  of  their  soil,  of  which  they  make  no 
use,  but  let  it  lie  idle  and  uncultivated;"^  since 
every  man  has  by  the  law  of  nature  a  right  to  such 
a  waste  portion  of  the  earth,  as  is  necessary  for  his 
subsistence.  If  any  accident  has  so  lessened  the 
number  of  the  inhabitants  of  any  of  their  towns, 
that  it  cannot  be  made  up  from  the  other  towns  of 
the  island,  without  diminishing  them  too  much, 
(which  is  said  to  have  fallen  out  but  twice  since  they 
were   first   a   people,   by   two   plagues   that   were 

'13  This  is  undoubtedly  a  sound  doctrine.  Savages,  who  make 
use  of  but  a  small  portion  of  a  country,  have  no  right  to  obstruct 
settlers  coming  to  plant  a  colony  there  ;  but  neither  have  these 
latter  any  right,  on  the  other  hand,  wilfully  to  molest  or  harass 
the  natives.  At  this  conclusion  we  may  arrive  by  the  mere  ex- 
ercise of  our  reason,  in  the  same  way  as  others,  whom  we  now 
quote  as  authorities,  arrived  at  it.  See  Grot,  de  Jure  Belli  et 
Pacis.  II.  2.  iv.  p.  190,  with  the  notes  of  Gronovius  and  Bar- 
beyrac. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  99 

among  them,)  tlien  the  number  is  filled  up  by- 
recalling  so  many  out  of  their  colonies,  for  they 
will  abandon  their  colonies,  rather  than  suffer  any 
of  their  towns  to  sink  too  low. 

"  But  to  return  to  the  manner  of  their  living  toge- 
ther ;  the  ancientest  of  every  family  governs  it,  as 
has  been  said.  Wives  serve  their  husbands,  and 
children  their  parents,  and  always  the  younger 
serves  the  elder.  Every  city  is  divided  into  four 
equal  parts,  and  in  the  middle  of  every  part  there 
is  a  market-place.  That  which  is  brought  thither 
manufactured  by  the  several  families,  is  carried 
from  thence  to  houses  appointed  for  that  purpose, 
in  which  all  things  of  a  sort  are  laid  by  themselves ; 
and  every  father  of  a  family  goes  thither,  and  takes 
whatsoever  he  or  his  family  stand  in  need  of,  with- 
out either  paying  for  it,  or  laying  in  anything  in 
pawn  or  exchange  for  it.  There  is  no  reason  for 
denying  anything  to  any  person,  since  there  is  such 
plenty  of  everything  among  them  :  and  there  is  no 
danger  of  any  man's  asking  more  than  he  needs ; 
for  what  should  make  any  do  that,  since  they  are 
all  sure  that  they  will  be  always  supplied  ?  It  is 
the  fear  of  want  that  makes  any  of  the  whole  race 
of  animals  either  greedy  or  ravenous  ;,"•*  but  besides 

"*  In  irrational  animals  it  is  not  the /'ear,  but  the  feeling  of 
want  which  does  this.  ]\Ian,  however,  is  impelled  by  his  fears 
in  most  cases,  more  than  by  his  hopes ;  and  these,  too  commonly, 
render  him  cruel.  Confining  himself  whoUy  to  this  view  of  the 
matter,  Hobbes  was  led  to  derive  the  origin  of  society  from  fear, 
in  which  he  is  only  so  far  wrong  as  every  one  must  be  who  at- 
tributes to  a  single  cause  what  arose  from  many  causes.  See 
De  Give.  1.  I.  c.  i.  p.  3.  fF. 

M    2 


100  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

fear,  there  is  in  man  a  vast  pride,  that  makes  him 
fancy  it  a  particular  glory  for  him  to  excel  others 
in  pomp  and  excess.  But  by  the  laws  of  the  Uto- 
pians, there  is  no  room  for  these  things  among- 
them.  Near  these  markets  there  are  also  others  for 
all  sorts  of  victuals,  where  there  are  not  only  herbs, 
fruits,  and  bread,  but  also  fish,  fowl,  and  cattle. 
There  are  also  without  their  towns,  places  appointed 
near  some  running  water  for  killing  their  beasts,"^ 
and  for  washing  away  their  filth ;  which  is  done 
by  their  slaves,  for  they  suffer  none  of  their  citizens 
to  kill  their  cattle,  because  they  think,  that  pity 
and  good  nature,  which  are  among  the  best  of  those 
affections  that  are  born  with  us,  are  much  impaired 
by  the  butchering  of  animals.  Nor  do  they  suffer 
anything  that  is  foul  or  unclean  to  be  brought  within 
their  towns,  lest  the  air  should  be  infected  by  ill 
smells  which  might  prej  udice  their  health.  In  every 
streetthere  are  great  halls  that  lie  at  an  ec^ual  distance 
from  one  another,  which  are  marked  by  particular 
names.  The  syphogrants  dwell  in  these  that  are 
set  over  thirty  families,  fifteen  lying  on  one  side  of 
it,  and  as  many  on  the  other.  In  these  they  do  all 
meet  and  eat. '"'     The  stewards  of  every  one   of 

"5  The  utility  of  abattoirs,  we  see,  was  already  understood; 
but  it  was  reserved  for  our  own  age  to  act  upon  this  conviction. 

"S  Here  we  have  the  Common  Halls  of  Crete  and  Sparta, 
which  were  imitated  by  the  club-rooms  at  Athens.  Sir  Thomas 
More,  as  the  reader  wiU  have  already  seen  in  the  Introduction, 
though  supposed  to  recommend  visionary  and  impossible  things, 
scarcely  advances  a  notion  or  establishes  a  law,  in  his  imaginary 
state,  which  had  not  been  actually  carried  into  practice  in  the 
ancient  world. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  101 

them  come  to  the  maiket-pUice  at  an  appointed 
hour ;  and  according  to  the  number  of  those  that 
belong  to  their  hall,  they  carry  home  provisions. 
But  they  take  more  care  of  their  sick  than  of  any 
others,  who  are  looked  after,  and  lodged  in  public 
hospitals.  They  have  belonging  to  every  town 
four  hospitals,  that  are  built  without  their  walls, 
and  are  so  large,  that  they  may  pass  for  little  towns  : 
by  this  means,  if  they  had  ever  such  a  number  of 
sick  persons,  they  could  lodge  them  conveniently, 
and  at  such  a  distance,  that  such  of  them  as  are 
sick  of  infectious  diseases,  may  be  kept  so  far  from 
the  rest,  that  there  can  be  no  danger  of  contagion. '"' 
The  hospitals  are  so  furnished  and  stored  with  all 
things  that  are  convenient  for  the  ease  and  recovery 
of  the  sick,  and  those  that  are  put  in  them  are  all 
looked  after  with  so  tender  and  watchful  a  care, 
and  are  so  constantly  treated  by  their  skilful  phy- 
sicians, that  as  none  are  sent  to  them  against  their 
will,  so  there  is  scarce  one  in  a  whole  town,  that  if 
he  shouid  fall  ill,  would  not  choose  rather  to  go 
thither,  than  lie  sick  at  home. 

"  After  the  steward  of  the  hospitals  has  taken  for 
them  whatsoever  the  physician  does  prescribe  at 
the  market-place,  then  the  best  things  that  remain 
are  distributed  equally  among  the  halls,  in  pro- 
portion to  their  numbers  ;  only,  in  the  first  place, 
they  serve  the  prince,  the  chief  priest,  the  tranibors 
and  ambassadors,  and  strangers,  if  there  are  any ; 

"''  Lazzerettoes.  His  ideas  have  been  acted  on,  and  carried 
still  further  than  he  himself  contemplated  by  every  civilized 
nation  in  modern  Europe. 


102 


UTOPIA  ;    OR,   THE 


which  indeed  falls  out  but  seldom,  and  for  whom 
there  are  houses  well  furnished,  particularly  ap- 
pointed when  they  come  among  them.  "^  At  the 
hours  of  dinner  and  supper,  the  syphogranty  being 
called  together  by  sound  of  trumpet,  meets  and  eats 
together,  except  only  such  as  are  in  the  hospitals, 
or  lie  sick  at  home.  Yet  after  the  halls  are  served, 
no  man  is  hindered  to  cany  provisions  home  from 
the  market-place,  for  they  know  that  none  does 
that  but  for  some  good  reason  ;  for  though  any  that 
will,  may  eat  at  home,  yet  none  does  it  willingly, 
since  it  is  both  an  indecent  and  foolish  thing  for 
any  to  give  themselves  the  trouble  to  make  ready 
an  ill  dinner  at  home,  when  there  is  a  much  more 
plentiful  one  made  ready  for  him  so  near  at  hand. 
All  the  uneasy  and  sordid  services  about  these  halls, 
are  performed  by  their  slaves  ;  "^  but  the  dressing 
and  cooking  of  their  meat,  and  the  ordering  of 
their  tables,  belong  only  to  the  women,  which  goes 
round  all  the  women  of  every  family  by  turns. 
They  sit  at  three  or  more  tables,  according  to  their 
numbers ;  the  men  sit  towards  the  wall,  and  the 


"^  A  Cretan  regulation,  not  imitated  at  Sparta.  It  was  too 
humane. 

'  '^  That  is,  convicts.  Men  of  quick  feelings  would  revolt  at 
this ;  for,  though  it  might  possibly  benefit  the  convicts  to  be  thus 
employed,  it  would  decidedly  have  an  evil  influence  upon  the 
free  population.  The  practice  would  be  rendered  more  objec- 
tionable by  the  mingling  of  the  women  with  those  ruffians;  who, 
though  manageable  enough  upon  paper,  could  never  in  reality 
have  their  tongues  so  far  restrained,  as  to  render  them  safe  minis- 
ters to  modest  women.  The  practice,  however,  prevailed  in 
Crete,  from  whence  Sir  Thomas  borrowed  it. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  103 

women  sit  on  the  other  side,  that  if  any  of  them 
should  fall  suddenly  ill,  which  is  ordinary  to 
women  with  child,  she  may,  without  disturbing  the 
rest,  rise  and  go  to  the  nurse's  room,  who  are  there 
with  the  suckling  children,  where  there  is  always 
fire  and  clean  water  at  hand,  and  some  cradles  in 
which  they  may  lay  the  young  children,  if  there  is 
occasion  for  it,  and  that  they  may  shift  and  dress 
them  before  the  fire. 

"Every  child  is  nursed  by  its  own  mother,  if  death 
or  sickness  does  not  intervene  ;  ""^  and  in  that  case 
the  syphogrants  wives  find  out  a  nurse  quickly, 
which  is  no  hard  matter  to  do ;  for  any  one  that 
can  do  it,  offers  herself  cheerfully  :  for  as  they  are 
much  inclined  to  that  piece  of  mercy,  so  the  child 
whom  they  nurse,  considers  the  nurse  as  its  mother. 
All  the  children  under  five  years  old,  sit  among  the 
nurses ;  the  rest  of  the  younger  sort  of  both  sexes, 
till  they  are  fit  for  marriage,  do  either  serve  those 
tliat  sit  at  table,  or  if  they  are  not  strong  enough 
for  that,  they  stand  by  them  in  great  silence,  and 
eat  that  which  is  given  them  by  those  that  sit  at 
table;'*'  nor  have  they  any  other  formality  of 
dining.  In  the  middle  of  the  first  table,  which 
stands  in  the  upper  end  of  the  hall,  across  sits  the 
syphogrant  and  his  wife,  for  that  is  the  chief  and 
most  conspicuous  place.  Next  to  him  sit  two  of 
the  most  ancient,  for  there   go   always  four  to   a 

'*"  Here  nature  is  followed  as  she  ought  to  be ;  but  the  beauty 
of  the  practice,  and  the  evils  of  neglecting  it,  should  be  consi- 
dered in  the  eloquent  pages  of  Jeremy  Taylor's  Life  of  Christ. 

•2'  Another  Doric  custom,  prevailing  in  Crete. 


104  UTOPIA;    OK,    THE 

mess.  If  there  is  a  temple  within  that  syphogranty, 
the  priest  and  his  wife  sit  with  the  syphogrant. 
Next  them  there  is  a  mixture  of  old  and  young, 
who  are  so  placed,  that  as  the  young  are  set  near 
others,  so  they  are  mixed  with  the  more  ancient, 
which  they  say  was  appointed  on  this  account, 
that  the  gravity  of  the  old  people,  and  the  rever- 
ence that  is  due  to  them,  might  restrain  the  younger 
from  all  indecent  words  and  gestures.  '*^  Dishes 
are  not  served  up  to  the  whole  table  at  first,  but 
the  best  are  first  set  before  the  ancienter,  whose 
seats  are  distinguished  from  the  younger,  and  after 
them  all  the  rest  are  served  alike.  The  old  men 
distribute  to  the  younger  any  curious  meats  that 
happen  to  be  set  before  them,  if  there  is  not  such 
an  abundance  that  the  whole  company  may  be 
served. 

"  Thus  old  men  are  honoured  with  a  particular 
respect ;  yet  all  the  rest  fare  as  well  as  they  do. 
They  begin  both  dinner  and  supper  with  some 
lecture  of  morality  that  is  read  to  them  ;  '^^  but  it 
is  so  short,  that  it  is  not  tedious  nor  uneasy  to  them 
to  hear  it.  Upon  that  the  old  men  take  occasion 
to  entertain  those  about  them  with  some  useful  and 
pleasant  enlargements ;  but  they  do    not  engross 

'^2  A  Spartan  custom,  sometimes  imitated  at  Athens. 

12'  This  is  meant  to  supply  the  Grace  of  Christians,  and  the 
pious  libations  of  the  Pagan  world.  The  Romans,  however, 
who  thought  they  should  improve  upon  the  Greek  custom  of 
devoting  the  dinner-hour  to  the  dinner,  and  to  nothing  else,  had 
slaves  who  read  to  them  during  meals  ;  a  most  tedious  and  im- 
pertinent practice,  upon  which  this  of  the  Utopians  closely 
borders. 


HAPPY  ra:ruBLic.  105 

the  whole  discourse  so  to  themselves  during  their 
meals,  that  the  younger  may  not  put  in  for  a  share : 
on  the  conirary,  they  engage  them  to  talk,  that  so 
they  may  in  that  free  way  of  conversation,  find 
out  the  force  of  every  one's  spirit,  and  observe  their 
temper.  They  dispatch  their  dinners  quickly,  but 
sit  long  at  supper ;  because  they  go  to  work  after 
the  one,  and  are  to  sleep  after  the  other,  during 
which  they  think  the  stomach  carries  on  the  con- 
coction more  vigorously.  They  never  sup  without 
music,  and  there  is  always  fruit  served  up  after 
meat ;  while  they  sit  at  meat,  some  burn  perfumes, 
and  sprinkle  about  sweet  ointments,  and  sweet 
waters  :  and  they  are  wanting  in  nothing  that  may 
cheer  up  their  spirits,  for  they  give  themselves  a 
large  allowance  that  way,  and  indulge  themselves 
in  all  such  pleasures  as  are  attended  with  no  in- 
convenience. Thus  do  those  that  are  in  the  towns 
live  together  ;  but  in  the  country,  where  they  live 
at  a  greater  distance,  every  one  eats  at  home,  and 
no  family  wants  any  necessary  sort  of  provision, 
for  it  is  from  them  that  provisions  are  sent  unto 
those  that  live  in  the  towns. 


OF  THE  TRAVELLING  OF  THE  UTOPIANS. 

"  If  any  of  them  has  a  mind  to  visit  his  friends 
that  live  in  some  other  town,  or  desires  to  travel 
and  see  the  rest  of  the  country,  he  obtains  leave 
very  easily  from  the  syphogrants  and  tranibors  to 
do  it,  when  there  is  no  particular  occasion  for  him 


106  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

at  home.  '^*  Such  as  travel  carry  with  them  a  pass- 
port from  the  prince,  which  both  certifies  the 
licence  that  is  granted  for  travelling,  and  limits  the 
time  of  their  return.  They  are  furnished  with  a 
waggon  and  a  slave,  who  drives  the  oxen,  and 
looks  after  them ;  but  unless  there  are  women  in 
the  company,  the  waggon  is  sent  back  at  the  end 
of  the  journey  as  a  needless  trouble.  While  they 
are  on  the  road,  they  carry  no  provisions  with 
them ;  yet  they  want  nothing,  but  are  every  way 
treated  as  if  they  were  at  home.  If  they  stay  in 
any  place  longer  than  a  night,  every  one  follows 
his  proper  occupation,  and  is  very  well  used  by 
those  of  his  own  trade ;  but  if  any  man  goes  out 
of  the  city  to  which  he  belongs  without  leave,  and 
is  found  going  about  without  a  passport,  he  is 
roughly  handled,  and  is  punished  as  a  fugitive^ 
and  sent  home  disgracefully ;  and  if  he  falls  again 
into  the  like  fault,  he  is  condemned  to  slavery. '" 
If  any  man  has  a  mind  to  travel  only  over  the  pre- 
cinct of  his  own  city,  he  may  freely  do  it,  obtain- 

'^*  The  Spartans,  when  desirous  of  travelling,  were  required 
to  demand  permission  of  the  magistrates.  There  was  some 
wisdom  in  this ;  for,  though  few  would  vote  for  adopting  the 
regulation,  most  persons  who  have  witnessed  the  evil  effects  of 
travel  on  weak  and  ill-formed  and  ill-furnished  minds,  will 
confess  that,  if  persons  of  this  description  could  be  kept  at  home, 
they  would  escape  innumerable  miseries,  and  ultimately,  in 
many  cases,  total  perdition.  Comparatively  few  persons  are 
capable  of  travelling  without  danger  to  their  morals ;  fewer  with 
the  slightest  hope  of  benefiting  their  minds. 

'■■"  This  law  shows  how  fiercely  man  will  legislate  on  paper, 
when  the  meditations  of  a  few  years,  perhaps,  ripen  into  the 
model  of  a  state.     The  severity  here,  however,  is  merely  ridi- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  107 

ing  his  father's  permission  and  his  wife's  consent : 
but  when  he  comes  into  any  of  the  country  houses, 
he  must  labour  with  them  according  to  their  rules, 
if  he  expects  to  be  entertained  by  them;  and  if  he 
does  this,  he  may  freely  go  over  the  whole  pre- 
cinct, being  thus  as  useful  to  the  city  to  which  he 
belongs,  as  if  he  were  still  within  it.  Thus  you 
see  that  there  are  no  idle  persons  among  them,  nor 
pretences  of  excusing  any  from  labour.  There 
are  no  taverns,  no  ale-houses,  nor  stews  among 
them,  nor  any  other  occasions  of  corrupting  them- 
selves, or  of  getting  into  corners,  or  forming  them- 
selves into  parties :  all  men  live  in  full  view,  so 
that  all  are  obliged,  both  to  perform  their  ordinary 
task,  and  to  employ  themselves  well  in  their  spare 
hours.  And  it  is  certain,  that  a  people  thus  or- 
dered must  live  in  a  great  abundance  of  all  things ; 
and  these  being  equally  distributed  among  them, 
no  man  can  want  anything,  or  be  put  to  beg. 

"  In  their  great  council  at  Amaurot,  to  which 
there  are  three  sent  from  every  town  once  every 
year,  they  examine  what  towns  abound  in  provi- 
sions, and  what  are  under  any  scarcity,  that  so  the 
one  may  be  furnished  from  the  other ;  and  this  is 
done  freely,  without  any  sort  of  exchange ;  for 
according  to  their  plenty  or  scarcity,  they  supply, 
or  are  supplied  from  one  another ;  so  that  indeed 
the  whole  island  is,  as  it  were,  one  family.     When 

culous ;  for  practically  no  people  would  long  submit  to  it,  ex- 
cept those  who  have  gone  through  the  several  phases  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  have  returned  to  their  primitive  barbarism,  or  the  en- 
thusiastic framers  of  a  new  state. 


108  Utopia;  or,  the 

they  have  thus  taken  care  of  their  whole  country, 
and  laid  up  stores  for  two  years,  which  they  do  in 
case  that  an  ill  year  should  happen  to  come,  then 
they  order  an  exportation  of  the  overplus,  both  of 
corn,  honey,  wood,  flax,  wool,  scarlet,  and  purple ; 
wax,  tallow,  leather,  and  cattle,  which  they  send 
out  commonly  in  great  c^uantities  to  other  coun- 
tries. They  order  a  seventh  part  of  all  these 
goods  to  be  freely  given  to  the  poor  of  the  coun 
tries  to  which  they  send  them,  and  they  sell  the 
rest  at  moderate  rates.  And  by  this  exchange 
they  not  only  bring  back  those  few  things  that 
they  need  at  home,  (for  indeed  they  scarce  need 
anything  but  iron,)  but  likewise  a  great  deal  of 
gold  and  silver ;  and  by  their  driving  this  trade  so 
long,  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  how  vast  a  treasure 
they  have  got  among  them  :  so  that  now  they  do  not 
much  care  whether  they  sell  off  their  merchandize 
for  money  in  hand,  or  upon  trust.  A  great  part 
of  their  treasure  is  now  in  bonds,  but  in  all  their 
contracts  no  private  man  stands  bound,  but  the 
writing  runs  in  name  of  the  town ;  and  the  towns 
that  owe  them  money,  raise  it  from  those  private 
hands  that  owe  it  to  them,  and  lay  it  up  in  their 
public  chamber,  or  enjoy  the  profit  of  it  till  the 
Utopians  call  for  it ;  and  they  choose  rather  to  let 
the  greatest  part  of  it  lie  in  their  hands,  who  make 
advantage  by  it,  than  to  call  it  for  themselves  :  but 
if  they  see  that  any  of  their  other  neighbours  stand 
more  in  need  of  it,  then  they  raise  it,  and  lend  it 
to  them,  or  use  it  themselves  if  they  are  engaged 
in  a  war,  which  is  the  only  occasion  that  they  c-an 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  109 

have  for  all  that  treasure  that  they  have  laid  up  ; 
and  so  either  in  great  extremities,  or  sudden  acci- 
dents, they  may  serve  themselves  by  it ;  chiefly  for 
hiring  foreign  soldiers,  whom  they  more  willingly 
expose  to  danger  than  their  own  people.  '^*^  They 
give  them  great  pay,  knowing  well  that  this  will 
work  even  on  their  enemies,  and  engage  them  either 
to  betray  their  own  side,  or  at  least  to  desert  it,  or 
will  set  them  on  to  mutual  factions  among  them- 
selves. For  this  end  they  have  an  incredible  trea- 
sure ;  but  they  do  not  keep  it  as  a  treasure,  but  in 
such  a  manner  as  I  am  almost  afraid  to  tell  it, 
least  you  think  it  so  extravagant,  that  you  can 
hardly  believe  it ;  which  I  have  the  more  reason  to 
apprehend  from  others,  because  if  I  had  not  seen 
it  myself,  I  could  not  have  been  easily  persuaded 
to  have  believed  it  upon  any  man's  report. 

"  It  is  certain,  that  all  things  appear  so  far  in- 
credible to  us  as  they  differ  from  our  own  customs  ; 
but  one  who  can  judge  aright  will  not  wonder  to 
lind  that,  since  their  other  constitutions  differ  so 
much  from  ours,  their  value  of  gold  and  silver 
should  be  measured,  not  by  our  standard,  but  by 
one  that  is  very  different  from  it ;  for,  since  they 


'^  In  this  no  wise  or  brave  nation  will  ever  imitate  them. 
The  employment  of  mercenaries  has  been  the  ruin  of  every 
people  that  has  had  recourse  to  it,  and  must  always  produce  the 
same  result.  I  am  surprised,  therefore,  to  find  in  Sir  Thomas 
More  an  advocate  of  anything  so  pernicions,  which  should  be 
abandoned  to  the  patronage  of  those  mawkish  sentimentalists, 
who  look  forward  to  a  time  when  there  will  no  longer  be  men 
for  the  fulfilment  of  their  predictions. 


no  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

have  no  use  for  money  among  themselves,  but  keep 
it  for  an  accident,  that  though,  as  it  may  possibly 
fall  out,  it  may  have  great  intervals,  they  value  it 
no  farther  than  it  deserves,  or  may  be  useful  to 
them.  So  that  it  is  plain  that  they  must  prefer 
iron  either  to  gold  or  silver  ;  for  men  can  no  more 
live  without  iron  than  without  fire  or  water  ;'^^  but 
nature  has  marked  out  no  use  for  the  other  metals 
with  which  we  may  not  very  well  dispense.  The 
folly  of  man  has  enhanced  the  value  of  gold  and 
silver  because  of  their  scarcity;  whereas,  on  the 
contrary,  they  reason,  that  Nature,  as  an  indulgent 
parent,  has  given  us  all  the  best  things  very  freely 
and  in  great  abundance,  such  as  are  water  and 
earth,  but  has  laid  up  and  hid  from  us  the  things 
that  are  vain  and  useless. 

"  If  those  metals  were  laid  up  in  any  tower 
among  them,  it  would  give  jealousy  of  the  prince 
and  senate,  according  to  that  foolish  mistrust  into 
which  the  rabble  are  apt  to  fall,  as  if  they  intended 
to  cheat  the  people  and  make  advantages  to  them- 
selves by  it ;  or,  if  they  should  work  it  into  vessels, 
or  any  sort  of  plate,  they  fear  that  the  people 
might  grow  too  fond  of  it,  and  so  be  unwilling  to 
let  the  plate  be  run  down,  if  a  war  made  it  neces- 
sary to  pay  their  soldiers  with  it.  Therefore,  to 
prevent  all  these  inconveniences,  they  have  fallen 


127  This  is  erroneous.  In  remote  antiquity  all  the  useful  im- 
plements now  made  of  this  metal  were  manufactured  with  cop- 
per, which  they  understood  the  art  of  hardening,  as  did  likewise 
the  Peruvians,  before  the  discovery  of  their  country  by  the  Span- 
iards.    See  the  Letters  of  Count  Carli  on  America. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  Ill 

upon  an  expedient  which,  as  it  agrees  with  their 
other  policy,  so  is  very  different  from  ours,  and 
will  scarcely  oain  lielief  among-  us,  who  value  <2^old 
so  much,  and  lay  it  up  so  carefully ;  for,  whereas 
they  eat  and  drink  out  of  vessels  of  earth,  or  glass, 
that,  though  they  look  very  pretty,  yet  are  of  very 
slight  materials,  they  make  their  chamber-pots  and 
close-stools  of  gold  and  silver ;  and  that  not  only 
in  their  jjublic  halls,  but  in  their  private  houses. 
Of  the  same  metals  they  likewise  make  chains  and 
fetters  for  their  slaves ;  and,  as  a  badge  of  infamy, 
they  hang  an  earring  of  gold  to  some,  and  make 
others  wear  a  chain  or  a  coronet  of  gold  ;  and  thus 
they  take  care  by  all  manner  of  ways,  that  gold 
and  silver  may  be  of  no  esteem  among  them.  And 
from  hence  it  is,  that,  whereas  other  nations  part 
with  their  gold  and  their  silver  as  unwillingly  as  if 
one  tore  out  their  bowels,  those  of  Utopia  would 
look  on  their  giving  in  all  their  gold  or  silver, 
when  there  was  any  use  for  it,  but  as  the  parting 
with  a  trifle,  or  as  we  would  estimate  the  loss  of 
a  penny.  They  find  pearls  on  their  coast,  and 
diamonds  and  carbuncles  on  their  rocks  ;  they 
do  not  look  after  them,  but,  if  they  find  any  by 
chance,  they  polish  them,  and  therewith  adorn 
their  children,  ^vho  are  delighted  with  and  glory 
in  them  during  their  childhood ;  but,  when  they 
grow  to  years,  and  see  that  none  but  children  use 
such  baubles,  they  of  their  own  accord,  without 
being  bid  by  their  parents,  lay  them  aside,  and 
would  be  as  much  ashamed  to  use  them  after- 
wards,  as   children  among   us,  when  they  come 


112  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

to  years    are  of  their  nuts,   puppets,  and   other 
toys.'^^ 

"  I  never  saw  a  clearer  instance  of  the  different 
impressions  that  different  customs  make  on  people 
than  I  observed  in  the  ambassadors  of  the  Anemo- 
lians,  who  came  to  Amaurot  when  I  was  there. 
And,  because  they  came  to  treat  of  affairs  of  great 
consequence,  the  deputies  from  several  towns  had 
met  to  wait  for  their  coming.  The  ambassadors  of 
the  nations  that  lie  near  Utopia,  knowing-  their  cus- 
toms, and  that  fine  clothes  are  of  no  esteem  among 
them,  that  silk  is  despised,  and  gold  is  a  badge  of 
infamy,  used  to  come  very  modestly  clothed  ;  but 
the  Anemolians  that  lay  more  remote,  and  so  had 
little  commerce  with  them,  when  they  understood 
that  they  were  coarsely  clothed,  and  all  in  the 
same  manner,  they  took  it  for  granted  that  they 
had  none  of  those  fine  things  among  them  of  which 
they  made  no  use  ;  and  they,  being  a  vain-glorious, 
rather  than  a  wise  people,  resolved  to  set  them- 
selves out  with  so  much  pomp,  that  they  should 
look  like  gods,  and  so  strike  the  eyes  of  the  jioor 
Utopians  with  their  splendour.     Thus,  three  am- 


'-^  That  this  habit  of  mind  may  be  engendered  by  educa- 
tion, no  man  can  doubt.  Hut  cui  bono?  It  would  be  only 
transfering  the  foibles  now  fixed  on  gold  and  jewels  to  other 
objects.  The  difficulty  is  to  teach  mankind  the  true  value  of 
the  things  supplied  by  nature  for  their  use  and  ornament, 
among  which  the  finer  metals  and  the  precious  stones  are 
evidently  to  be  reckoned.  Nothing  is  gained  by  substituting  iron 
for  gold  as  the  object  of  inordinate  desire.  jSot  to  have  any 
desires  which  may  be  considered  inordinate,  is  the  point  to  be 
aimed  at. 


Happy  kepublic.  113 

bassadors  made  their  entry  with  an  hundred  atten- 
dants that  were  all  clad  in  garments  of  different 
colours,  and  the  greater  part  in  silk;  the  ambassa- 
dors themselves,  who  Avere  of  the  nobility  of  their 
country,  were  in  cloth  of  gold,  and  adorned  with 
massy  chains,  ear-rings,  and  rings  of  gold  ;'-^  their 
caps  were  covered  with  bracelets  set  full  of  pearls 
and  other  gems.  In  a  word,  they  were  set  out  with 
all  those  things  that,  among  the  Utopians,  were 
either  the  badges  of  slavery,  the  marks  of  infamy, 
or  children's  rattles.  It  was  not  unpleasant  to  see, 
on  the  one  side,  how  they  looked  big,  when  they 
compared  their  rich  habits  with  the  plain  clothes 
of  the  Utopians,  who  were  come  out  in  great  num- 
bers to  see  them  make  their  entry.  And,  on  the 
other  side,  to  observe  how  much  they  w^ere  mis- 
taken in  the  impression  which  they  hoped  this 
pomp  would  have  made  on  them ;  it  appeared  so 
ridiculous  a  show  to  all  that  had  never  stirred  out 
of  their  country,  and  so  had  not  seen  the  customs 
of  other  nations;  that,  though  they  paid  some 
reverence  to  those  that  were  the  most  meanly  clad, 

'*"  A  display  not  much  unlike  this  took  place  at  Washington, 
on  the  installation  of  the  President  Van  Buren,  where  the  Sena- 
tors of  the  Great  Republic  made  their  appearance  in  the  plainest 
dresses,  and  in  a  taste  almost  puritanical ;  while  the  European 
ambassadors,  laden  with  jewels,  feathers,  and  frippery,  excited 
the  laughter  and  contempt  of  the  Americans.  If  3Ir.  Cooper  had 
the  ordering  of  these  matters,  they  might  be  managed  somewhat 
diiFerently.  He  has,  during  his  residence  in  Europe,  discovered 
the  profound  wisdom  of  etiquette,  and  titles,  and  so  on  ;  and  may 
possibly  enlighten  his  countrymen  on  these  points.  But,  mean- 
while,  the  contrast  between  them  and  the  people  ofthe  Old  Con- 
tinent is  just  such  as  Sir  Thomas  More  describes  in  this  passage. 

N 


114  UTOPIA;    OR,  THE 

as  if  they  had  been  the  ambassadors,  yet  when 
they  saw  the  ambassadors  themselves,  so  full  of 
gold  chains,  they  looked  upon  them  as  slaves,  and 
made  them  no  reverence  at  all.  You  might  have 
seen  their  children,  who  were  grown  up  to  that 
bigness  that  they  had  thrown  away  their  jewels, 
call  to  their  mothers,  and  push  them  gently,  and 
cry  out,  '  See  that  great  fool  that  wears  pearls 
and  gems,  as  if  he  were  yet  a  child  !'  And  their 
mothers  answered  them  in  good  earnest,  '  Hold 
your  peace  !  this  is,  I  believe,  one  of  the  ambassa- 
dor's fools  !'  Others  censured  the  fashion  of  their 
chains,  and  observed  that  they  were  of  no  use,  for 
they  were  too  slight  to  bind  their  slaves,  who  could 
easily  break  them  ;  and  they  saw  them  hang  so 
loose  about  them,  that  they  reckoned  they  could 
easily  throw  them  away,  and  so  get  from  them. 
But,  after  the  ambassadors  had  staid  a  day  among 
them,  and  saw  so  vast  a  c^uantity  of  gold  in  their 
houses,  which  was  as  much  despised  by  them  as  it 
was  esteemed  in  other  nations,  and  that  there  was 
more  gold  and  silver  in  the  chains  and  fetters  of 
one  slave  than  all  their  ornaments  amounted  to, 
their  plumes  fell,  and  they  were  ashamed  of  all 
that  glory  for  which  they  had  formerly  valued 
themselves,  and  so  laid  it  aside :  to  which  they 
were  the  more  determined  when,  upon  their  en- 
gaging into  some  free  discourse  with  the  Utopians, 
they  discovered  their  sense  of  such  things,  and  their 
other  customs. 

"  The  Utopians   wonder  how  any  man  should 
be  so  much  taken  with  the  glaring,  doubtful  lustre 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  115 

of  a  jewel  or  stone,  that  can  look  up  to  a  star, 
or  to  the  sun  itself:  or  how  any  should  value 
himself  because  his  cloth  is  made  of  a  finer  thread; 
for,  how  fine  soever  that  thread  maybe,  it  was  once 
no  better  than  the  fleece  of  a  sheep,  and  that  sheep 
was  a  sheep  still  for  all  its  wearing  it.  They  won- , 
der  much  to  hear  that  gold,  which  in  itself  is  so 
useless  a  thing,  should  be  everywhere  so  much 
esteemed  that  even  man,  for  whom  it  was  made, 
and  by  whom  it  has  its  value,  should  yet  be 
thought  of  less  value  than  it  is ;  so  that  a  man  of 
lead,  who  has  no  more  sense  than  a  log  of  wood, 
and  is  as  bad  as  he  is  foolish,  should  have  many 
wise  and  good  men  serving  him,  only  because  he 
has  a  great  heap  of  that  metal ;  and  if  it  should  so 
happen  that  by  some  accident,  or  trick  of  law,  which 
does  sometimes  produce  as  great  changes  as  chance 
itself,  all  this  wealth  should  pass  from  the  master 
to  the  meanest  varlet  of  his  whole  family,  he  him- 
self would  very  soon  become  one  of  his  servants, 
as  if  he  were  a  thing  that  belonged  to  his  wealth, 
and  so  were  bound  to  follow  its  fortune.  But  they 
do  much  more  admire  and  detest  their  folly  who, 
when  they  see  a  rich  man,  though  they  neither 
owe  him  anything,  nor  are  in  any  sort  obnoxious  to 
him,  yet  merely  because  he  is  rich,  they  give  him 
little  less  than  divine  honours ;  even  though  they 
know  him  to  be  so  covetous  and  base-minded  that, 
notwithstanding  all  his  wealth,  he  will  not  part  with 
one  faithing  of  it  to  them  as  long  as  he  lives."° 


This  is   equal   to   anything  in  Juvenal  for  vigour  and 

N    2 


]  16  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

"  These  and  such  like  notions  have  that  people 
drunk  in,  partly  from  their  education,  being  bred 
in  a  country  whose  customs  and  constitutions  are 
very  opposite  to  all  such  foolish  maxims  ;  and 
partly  from  their  learning  and  studies.  For,  though 
there  are  but  few  in  any  town  that  are  excused 
from  labour  so  that  they  may  give  themselves 
wholly  to  their  studies,  these  being  only  such  per- 
sons as  discover  from  their  childhood  an  extraordi- 
nary capacity  and  disposition  for  letters,  yet  their 
children  and  a  great  part  of  the  nation,  both  men 
and  women,  are  taught  to  spend  those  hours  in 
which  they  are  not  obliged  to  work  in  reading ; 
and  this  they  do  their  whole  life  long. 

"  They  have  all  their  learning  in  their  own 
tongue  ;  which  is  both  a  copious  and  pleasant 
language,  and  in  which  a  man  can  fully  express 
his  mind :  it  runs  over  a  great  tract  of  many  coun- 
tries, but  it  is  not  equally  pure  in  all  places;  they 
have  never  so  much  as  heard  of  the  names  of  any 
of  those  philosophers  that  are  so  famous  in  these 
parts  of  the  world  before  we  went  among  them ; 
and  yet  they  had  made  the  same  discoveries  that 
the  Greeks  had  done,  both  in  music,  logic,  arith- 
metic, and  geometry.  But  as  they  are  equal  to 
the  ancient  philosophers  almost  in  all  things,  so 
they  far  exceed  our  modern  logicians,  for  they  have 
never  yet  fallen  upon  the  barbarous  niceties  that 


contempt  of  ordinary  opinion.      The  writer  was   evidently  in 
earnest.    There  is  no  affectation  in  this  energetic  diatribe  against 

vanity. 


HAPPY    UKPUBUC.  117 

our  youth  are  forced  to  learn  in  those  trifling  logi- 
t-al  schools  that  are  among  us ;  and  they  are  so  far 
from   minding   chimeras    and     fantastical   images 
made  in  tlie  mind,  that  none  of  them  could  compre- 
hend what  Ave  meant  when  we  talked  to  them  of  a 
man  in  the  abstract  as  common  to  all  men  in  parti- 
cular, (so  that  though  we  spoke  of  him  as  a  thing 
that  we  could  point  at  with  our  fingers,  yet  none 
of  them  could  perceive  him,)  and  yet  distinct  from 
every  one,  as  if  he  were  some  monstrous  colossus 
or  giant.    Yet  for  all  this  ignorance  of  these  empty 
notions,  they  knew  astronomy,  and  all  the  motions 
of  the  orbs  exactly ;  and  they  have  many  instru- 
ments, well  contrived  and  divided,  by  which  they  do 
very  accurately  compute  the  course  and   positions 
of  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars.     But  for  the  cheat  of 
divining  by  the  stars,  and  by  their  oppositions  or 
conjunctions,  it  has  not  so  much  as  entered  into 
their  thoughts.'^'     Theyliave  a  particular  sagacity, 

'^'  All  strong  minds  have  spumed  astrology  as,  what  Sir 
Thomas  More  here  calls  it,  "  a  cheat."  But  I  nowhere  remem- 
ber to  have  found  this  contempt  more  ably  expressed  than  in  a 
short  poem  called,  "  An  Honest  Man's  Fortune,"  prefixed,  with 
many  other  pieces,  to  the  plays  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher.  It 
is  conceived  in  a  strain  of  high  invective,  and  contains  very 
noble  and  proud  sentiments,  delivered  in  befitting  language. 
The  folly  of  these  obsolete  babblers  had,  it  seems,  provoked  the 
anger  of  the  poet ;  and  his  satire,  though  less  witty  than  Butler's, 
is,  if  possible,  still  more  cutting  and  effectual : 

"  Tell  me,  by  aU  your  arts  I  conjure  ye. 
Yes,  and  by  truth,  what  shall  become  of  me  ? 
Find  out  my  star,  if  each  one,  as  you  say, 
Have  his  peculiar  angel  and  his  way ; 
Obsene  my  fate,  next  fall  into  your  dreams. 
Sweep  clean  your  houses,  and  new-line  your  schemes. 
Then  say  your  worst !"  &c  6iC. 


118  UTOPIA  ;     OR,    THE 

founded  on  much  observation,  of  judging  of  the 
weather,  by  which  they  know  when  they  may  look 
for  rain,  wind,  or  other  alterations  in  the  air.  But 
as  to  the  philosophy  of  those  things,  and  the 
causes  of  the  saltness  of  the  sea,  and  of  its  ebbing 
and  flowing,  and  of  the  origin  and  nature  both 
of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  they  dispute  of  them, 
partly  as  our  ancient  philosophers  have  done,  and 
partly  upon  some  new  hypothesis,  in  which,  as 
they  difter  from  them,  so  they  do  not  in  all  things 
agree  among  themselves. 

"  As  for  moral  philosophy,  they  have  the  same 
disputes  among  them  that  we  have  here :  they 
examine  what  things  are  properly  good,  both  for 
the  body  and  the  mind  ;  and  whether  any  outward 
thing  can  be  calculated  truly  good,  or  if  that  temi 
belongs  only  to  the  endowments  of  the  mind. 
They  inquire  likewise  into  the  nature  of  virtue 
and  pleasure ;  but  their  chief  dispute  is  concern- 
ing the  happiness  of  a  man,  and  wherein  it  con- 
sists, whether  in  some  one  thing,  or  in  a  great 
many  ?  They  seem  indeed  more  inclinable  to 
that  opinion  that  places,  if  not  the  whole,  yet  the 
chief  part  of  a  man's  happiness  in  pleasure ;  '^*  and 
which  may  seem  more  strange,  they  make  use  of 
arguments  even  from  religion,  notwithstanding  its 


'32  This  adjunct  of  the  atomic  philosophy,  properly  under- 
stood, is  worthy  of  the  Academy.  Sir  Thomas  More  spoke 
advisedly  when  he  uttered  this  ;  and  so  far  agrees  with  Hobbes, 
who  says,  "  Every  man,  for  his  own  part,  calleth  that  which 
pleaseth,  and  is  delightful  to  himself,  good  ;  and  evil  that  which 
displeaseth  him."     Treatise  on  Human,  Nature,  c.  vii.  p.  4C. 


HAPPT    REPUBLIC.  119 

severity  and  roughness,  for  the  support  of  that 
opinion  that  is  so  indulgent  to  pleasure  ;  for  they 
never  dispute  concerning  happiness  without  fetch- 
ing some  arguments  from  the  principles  of  reli- 
gion, as  well  as  from  natural  reason,  since  with- 
out the  former,  they  reckon  that  all  our  enquiries 
after  happiness  must  be  but  conjectural  and  de- 
fective. 

"  Those  principles  of  their  religion  are,  that 
the  soul  of  man  is  immoital,  and  that  God  of  his 
goodness  has  designed  that  it  should  be  happy ; 
and  that  he  has  therefore  appointed  rewards  for 
good  and  virtuous  actions,  and  punishments  for 
vice,  to  be  distributed  after  this  life.  And  though 
these  principles  of  religion  are  conveyed  down 
among  them  by  tradition,  they  think  that  even 
reason  itself  determines  a  man  to  believe  and  ac- 
knowledge them  :  and  they  freely  confess,  that  if 
these  were  taken  away,  no  man  would  be  so  insen- 
sible, as  not  to  seek  after  pleasure  by  all  manner 
of  w'ays,  lawful  or  unlawful ;  using  only  this  cau- 
tion, that  a  lesser  pleasure  might  not  stand  in  the 
way  of  a  greater,  and  that  no  pleasure  ought  to 
be  pursued  that  should  draw  a  great  deal  of  pain 
after  it ;  for  they  think  it  the  maddest  thing  in  the 
world  to  pursue  virtue,  that  is  a  sour  and  difficult 
thing  :  ''^  and  not  only  to  renounce  the  pleasures 
of  life,  but  willingly  to  undergo  much  pain  and 
trouble,  if  a  man  has  no  prospect  of  a  reward. 
And  what  reward  can  there  be  for  one  that  has 

'53  I  apprehend  some  mistake  here.  Sir  Thomas  appears  to 
have  had  his  eye  on  monkerv,  not  on  virtue,  when  this  escaped 


120  UTOPIA;    OR,  THE 

passed  his  whole  life,  not  only  without  pleasure, 
but  in  pain,  if  there  is  nothing  to  be  expected  after 
death  ?  Yet  they  do  not  place  happiness  in  all 
sorts  of  pleasures,  but  only  in  those  that  in  them- 
selves are  good  and  honest :  for  whereas  there  is  a 
party  among  them  that  places  happiness  in  bare 
virtue,  others  think  that  our  natures  are  conducted 
by  virtue  to  happiness,  as  that  which  is  the  chief 
good  of  man.  They  define  virtue  thus,  that  it  is  a 
living  according  to  nature, '^^  and  think  that  we 
are  made  by  God  for  that  end.  They  do  believe 
that  a  man  does  then  follow  the  dictates  of  nature, 
when  he  pursues  or  avoids  things  according  to  the 
direction  of  reason  :  they  say,  that  the  first  dictate 
of  reason  is,  the  kindling  in  us  a  love  and  rever- 
ence for  the  Divine  Majesty,  to  whom  we  owe  both 
all  that  we  have,  and  all  that  we  can  ever  hope  for. 

from  him  ;  for,  of  virtue,  which  is  truly  such,  we  may  affirm, 
as  Milton  does  of  the  fountain  from  which  it  springs  :— 

"  How  charming  is  divine  pliilosophy  ! 
Not  harsh  and  crabbed  as  dull  fools  suppose. 
But  musical  as  is  Apollo's  lute, 
And  a  perpetual  feast  of  nectared  sweets. 
Where  no  crude  surfeit  reigns." 

'^^  This  is  the  famous  rule  of  the  Stoics,  of  which  the  reader 
will  find  the  most  complete  account  in  Lipsius's  "  Manuductio  ad 
Stoicorum  Philosophiam."  1.  II.  Diss.  xiv.  p.  774.  fF.  Seneca, 
who  has  written  finer  things  than  one  gives  him  credit  for,  ob- 
serves, that  "  Idem  est  beate  vivere,  et  secundum  naturam." 
The  only  difficulty  appears  to  be  to  determine  what  it  is  to  live 
according  to  nature  ;  for  I  imagine  that  every  man  will  be  sure 
to  conceive  that  nature  sanctions  whatever  he  thinks  right.  Ac- 
cordingly, there  is  some  danger  lest  men  should  adopt  the  deci- 
sion of  Protagoras,  and  imagine  themselves  the  only  standard 
of  what  is  right  and  proper ;  that  is,  decide  in  all  things  for 
themselves,  and  believe  that  everything  is  good  which  seems  so 
to  them.     Vide  Geel.  Hist.  Sophist,  p.  86—109. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  121 

In  the  next  place,  reason  directs  us  to  keep  our 
minds  as  free  of  passion,  and  as  cheerful  as  we 
can ;  and  that  we  should  consider  ourselves  as 
l)0und  by  the  ties  of  good  nature  and  humanity, 
to  use  our  utmost  endeavours  to  help  forward  the 
happiness  of  all  other  persons ;  for  there  was 
never  any  man  that  was  such  a  morose  and  severe 
pursuer  of  virtue,  and  such  an  enemy  to  pleasure, 
that  though  he  set  hard  rules  to  men  to  undergo 
much  pain,  many  watchings,  and  other  rigours, 
yet  did  not  at  the  same  time  advise  them  to  do  all 
they  could  in  order  to  the  relieving  and  easing 
such  people  as  were  miserable ;  and  did  not  repre- 
sent it  as  a  mark  of  a  laudable  temper,  that  it  was 
gentle  and  good  natured :  and  they  infer  from 
thence,  that  if  a  man  ought  to  advance  the  welfare 
and  comfort  of  the  rest  of  mankind,  there  being 
no  virtue  more  proper  and  peculiar  to  our  nature, 
than  to  ease  the  miseries  of  others,  to  free  them 
from  trouble  and  anxiety  in  furnishing  them  M'ith 
the  comforts  of  life,  that  consist  in  pleasure ;  nature 
does  much  more  vigorously  lead  him  to  do  all  this 
for  himself.  A  life  of  pleasure  is  either  a  real 
evil,  and  in  that  case  we  ought  not  only  not  to 
assist  others  in  their  pursuit  of  it,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, to  keep  them  from  it  all  we  can,  as  from 
that  which  is  hurtful  and  deadly  to  them  ;  or  if  it 
is  a  good  thing,  so  that  we  not  only  may,  but 
ought  to  help  others  to  it,  why  then  ought  not  a 
man  to  begin  with  himself  ?  Since  no  man  can 
be  more  bound  to  look  after  the  good  of  another, 
than  after  his  own  :  for  nature  cannot  direct  us  to 


122  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

be  good  and  kind  to  others,  and  yet  at  the  same 
time  to  be  unmerciful  and  cruel  to  ourselves. 
Thus  as  they  define  virtue  to  be  a  living  according 
to  nature,  so  they  reckon  that  nature  sets  all 
people  on  to  seek  after  pleasure,  as  the  end  of  all 
they  do. 

- "  They  do  also  observe,  that  in  order  to  the  sup- 
porting the  pleasures  of  life,  nature  inclines  us  to 
enter  into  society ;  for  there  is  no  man  so  much 
raised  above  the  rest  of  mankind,  that  he  should 
be  the  only  favourite  of  nature,  which  on  the  con- 
trary seems  to  have  levelled  all  those  together  that 
belong  to  the  same  species.  Upon  this  they  infer 
that  no  man  ought  to  seek  his  own  conveniences  so 
eagerly,  that  thereby  he  should  prejudice  others; 
and  therefore  they  think  that  not  only  all  agree- 
ments between  private  persons  ought  to  be  ob- 
served, "^  but  likewise  that  all  those  laws  ought  to 
be  kept,  which  either  a  good  prince  has  published 
in  due  form,  or  to  which  a  people,  that  is  neither 
oppressed  with  tyranny  nor  circumvented  by  fraud, 
has  consented,  for  distributing  those  conveniences 
of  life  which  afford  us  all  our  pleasures. 

"  They  think  it  is  an  evidence  of  true  wisdom 
for  a  man  to  pursue  his  own  advantages,  as  far  as 
the  laws  allow  it.  They  account  it  piety  to  prefer 
the  public  good  to  one's  private  concerns;  but 
they  think  it  unjust  for  a  man  to  seek  for  his  own 
pleasure,    by   snatching   another   man's   pleasures 

135  tc  Cum  omni  homine,  vel  servanda  est  fides,  vel  non  pa- 
ciscendum  ;  hoc  est,  vel  declaratum  belluin,  vel  certa  et  fida 
habenda  est  pax."     Hobbes,  De  Cive,  I.  iii.  p.  36. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  123 

from  him.  And  on  the  contraiy,  they  think  it  a 
sign  of  a  gentle  and  good  soul,  for  a  man  to  dis- 
pense with  his  own  advantage  for  the  good  of 
others ;  and  that  by  so  doing,  a  good  man  finds  as 
much  pleasure  one  way  as  he  parts  with  another ; 
for  as  he  may  expect  the  like  from  others  when  he 
may  come  to  need  it,  so  if  that  should  fail  him, 
yet  the  sense  of  a  good  action,  and  the  reflections 
tliat  one  makes  on  the  love  and  gratitude  of  those 
whom  he  has  so  obliged,  give  the  mind  more  plea- 
sure than  the  body  could  have  found  in  that  from 
which  it  had  restrained  itself  They  are  also  per- 
suaded that  God  will  make  up  the  loss  of  those 
small  pleasures  with  a  vast  and  endless  joy,  of 
which  religion  does  easily  convince  a  good  soul. 

"  Thus  upon  an  inquiry  into  the  whole  matter,  they 
reckon  that  all  our  actions,  and  even  all  our  virtues, 
terminate  in  pleasure,  as  in  our  chief  end  and  great- 
est happiness  :  and  they  call  every  motion  or  state^ 
either  of  body  or  mind,  in  which  nature  teaches  us 
to  delight,  a  pleasure.  And  thus  they  cautiously 
limit  pleasure,  only  to  those  appetites  to  which 
nature  leads  us;  for  they  reckon  that  nature  leads 
us  only  to  those  delights  to  which  reason  as  well 
as  sense  carries  us,  and  by  which  we  neither  injure 
any  other  person,  nor  let  go  greater  pleasures  for 
it,  and  which  do  not  draw  troubles  on  us  after 
them  :  but  they  look  upon  those  delights  which 
men,  by  a  foolish,  though  common  mistake,  call 
pleasure,  as  if  they  could  change  the  nature  of 
things  as  well  as  the  use  of  words,  as  things  that 
not  only  do  not  advance  our  happiness,  but  do 


124  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

rather  obstruct  it  very  much,  because  they  do  so 
entirely  possess  the  minds  of  those  that  once  go 
into  them  with  a  false  notion  of  pleasure,  that 
there  is  no  room  left  for  truer  and  purer  plea- 
sures. 

"  There  are  many  things  that  in  themselves 
have  nothing  that  it  is  truly  delighting  :  on  the 
contrary,  they  have  a  good  deal  of  bitterness  in 
them ;  and  yet  by  our  perverse  appetites  after  for- 
bidden objects,  are  not  only  ranked  among  the 
pleasures,  but  are  made  even  the  greatest  designs 
of  life.  Among  those  who  pursue  these  sophisti- 
cated pleasures,  they  reckon  those  whom  I  men- 
tioned before,  who  think  themselves  really  the  better 
for  having  fine  clothes ;"°  in  which  they  think  they 

'^^  This  idea  has  been  very  ingeniously  expanded  in  verse  by 
3Ir.  Horace  Smith,  who  probably,  however,  borrowed  nothing 
from  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  may  never  have  seen  the  "  Utopia." 

"  Since  mortals  are  all,  both  greatand  small, 

Created  by  their  dresses. 
And  folks  wWl  scan  the  worth  of  a  man 

By  that  which  he  possesses, — 
If  they  wish  to  draw  respect  and  awe 

From  ignorant  beholders. 
The  rich  must  wear  tlieir  virtues  rare 

Upon  their  backs  and  shoulders ; 
Yet  the  eye  that  probes  through  stars  and  robes. 

Wigs,  velvet,  silk,  and  ermine, 
Alay  feel  a  doubt,  whether  inside  or  out 

Our  homage  should  determine ; 
For  tile  judge's  nob  may  its  \nsdom  rob 

From  the  tail  of  a  four-legg'd  mother. 
And  the  grandeur's  germ  of  the  human  worm 

May  spring  from  liis  silken  brother.  . 

Plumes  !  pearls  !  that  gem  Beauty's  diadem  ! 

Unguents  !  tliat  perfume  give  it ! 
Your  pomp  and  grace  is  the  refuse  base 

Of  the  ostrich,  oyster,  and  civet ! 
Even  mighty  kings — those  helpless  things 

Whose  badge  is  the  royal  ermine — 
Their  gloiy's  pride  must  steal  from  the  hide 

Of  the  meanest  spotted  vermin. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  125 

are  doubly  mistaken,  both  in  the  opinion  that  they 
have  of  their  clothes,  and  in  the  opinion  that  they 
have  of  themselves  ;  for  if  you  consider  the  use  of 
clothes,  why  should  a  fine  thread  be  thought  better 
than  a  coarse  one  ?  And  yet  that  sort  of  men,  as  if 
they  had  some  real  advantages  beyond  others,  and 
did  not  owe  it  wholly  to  their  mistakes,  look  big, 
and  seem  to  fancy  themselves  to  be  the  more  valu- 
able on  that  account,  and  imagine  that  a  respect  is 
due  to  them  for  the  sake  of  a  rich  garment,  to 
which  they  would  not  have  pretended  if  they  had 
been  more  meanly  clothed  ;  and  they  resent  it  as 
an  affront  if  that  respect  is  not  paid  them.  It  is 
also  a  great  folly  to  be  taken  with  these  outward 
marks  of  respect  which  signify  nothing ;  for  what 
true  or  real  pleasure  can  one  find  in  this,  that  an- 
other man  stands  bare,  or  makes  legs  to  him  ? 
Will  the  bending  another  man's  thighs  give  you 
any  ease  ?  And  will  his  head's  being  bare  cure  the 
madness  of  yours  ?  And  yet  it  is  w^onderful  to  see 
how  this  false  notion  of  pleasure  bewitches  many 
who  delight  themselves  with  the  fancy  of  their 
nobility,  and  are  pleased  with  this  conceit,  that 
they  are  descended  from  ancestors  who  have  been 
held  for  some  successions  rich,  and  that  they 
have  had   great  possessions ;    for  this  is  all  that 


Since  the  lords  of  the  earth,  to  borrow  the  worth 

And  splendour  their  ^•anitJ'  wishes, 
Must  their  littleness  deck  in  the  gaudy  ivreck 

Of  birds,  and  beasts,  and  fishes ; 
Since  kings  confide  in  a  reptile's  hide 

To  make  their  greatness  greater. 
What  can  sages  cry,  as  the  pageant  they  eye. 

But,  Alack !  poor  human  nature ! 


126  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

makes  nobility  at  present.  Yet  they  do  not  think 
themselves  a  whit  the  less  noble,  though  their  im- 
mediate parents  have  left  none  of  this  wealth  to 
them  ;  or  though  they  themselves  have  squandered 
it  all  away. 

"  The  Utopians  have  no  better  opinion  of  those 
who  are  much  taken  with  gems  and  precious  stones, 
and  who  account  it  a  degree  of  happiness  next  to  a 
divine  one  if  they  can  purchase  one  that  is  very 
extraordinary ;  especially  if  it  be  of  that  sort  of 
stones  that  as  then  in  greatest  request :  for  the 
same  sort  is  not  at  all  times  of  the  same  value  with 
all  sorts  of  people ;  nor  will  men  buy  it  unless  it 
be  dismounted  and  taken  out  of  the  gold ;  and 
then  the  jeweller  is  made  to  give  good  security, 
and  required  solemnly  to  swear  that  the  stone  is 
true,  that  by  such  an  exact  caution  a  false  one  may 
not  be  bought  instead  of  a  true.  Whereas,  if  you 
were  to  examine  it,  your  eye  could  find  no  diffe- 
rence between  that  which  is  counterfeit  and  that 
which  is  true ;  so  that  they  are  all  one  to  you  as 
much  as  if  you  were  blind.  And  can  it  be  thought 
that  they  who  heap  up  an  useless  mass  of  wealth, 
not  for  any  use  that  it  is  to  bring  them,  but  merely 
to  please  themselves  with  the  contemplation  of  it, 
enjoy  any  true  pleasure  in  it  ?  The  delight  they 
find  is  only  a  false  shadow  of  joy.  Those  are  no 
better  whose  error  is  somewhat  different  from  the 
former,  and  who  hide  it  out  of  their  fear  of  losing 
it ;  for  what  other  name  can  fit  the  hiding  it  in  the 
earth,  or  rather  the  restoring  it  to  it  again,  it  being 
thus  cut  off  from  beins:  useful  either  to  its  owner 


HAPFY    REPUBLIC.  127 

or  to  the  rest  of  mankind  ?  And  yet  the  owner, 
having  hid  it  carefully  is  glad,  because  he  thinks 
he  is  now  sure  of  it.  And  in  case  one  should 
come  to  steal  itj  the  owner,  thougli  he  might  live 
perhaps  ten  years  after  that,  would  all  that  while 
after  the  theft,  of  which  he  knew  nothing,  find  no 
difference  between  his  having  it  or  losing  it,  for 
both  ways  it  was  equally  useless  to  him. 

"  Among  those  foolish  pursuers  of  pleasure  they 
reckon  all  those  that  delight  in  hunting,  or  birding, 
or  gaming  ;  of  whose  madness  they  have  only 
heard,  for  they  have  no  such  things  among  them. 
But  they  have  asked  us,  what  sort  of  pleasure  it  is 
that  men  can  find  in  throwing  the  dice  ?  For,  if 
there  were  any  pleasure  in  it,  they  think  the  doing 
it  so  often  should  give  one  a  surfeit  of  it.  And 
what  pleasure  can  one  find  in  hearing  the  barking 
and  howling  of  dogs,"^  which  seem  rather  odious 

'"  In  this  Sir  Thomas  More's  notions  agree  with  those  of 
most  philosophers  who  can  lay  claim  to  any  depth  or  originality. 
Xenophon,  indeed,  was  a  sportsman  who  loved  the  "  barking 
and  howling  of  dogs  ;"  but  he  was  also,  as  JMr.  Keightley,  ("  His- 
tory of  Greece,  p.  2!)0,)  very  properly  remarks,  a  "bad  citizen," 
who  favoured  the  enemies  of  his  country.  From  cruelly  hunting 
down  inferior  animals  the  step  is  short  and  easy  to  the  hunting 
down  of  men;  and  Xenophon's  patrons,  the  Lacedaemonians, 
had  annually  a  grand  hunt  of  this  kind,  during  which  the  agri- 
cultural peasantry  were  pursued  and  massacred  like  wild  beasts. 
Miiller,  indeed,  who  has  taken  all  nations  of  the  Doric  name 
under  his  protection,  pretends  to  question  the  correctness  of  the 
historians  on  whose  testimony  this  fact  is  believed  ;  but  in  Ger- 
many it  is  fashionable  to  question  everything  that  cannot  be 
refuted,  or  made  to  support  the  theory  of  the  day.  If  facts  will 
not  bend  they  must  be  dismissed,  and  have  their  existence 
denied. 


128  UTOPIA;    OR,  THE 

than  pleasant  sounds  ?  Nor  can  they  comprehend 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  dogs  run  after  a  hare,  more 
than  of  seeing  one  dog  run  after  another ;  for  you 
Imve  the  same  entertainment  to  the  eye  on  botli 
these  occasions,  if  the  seeing  them  run  is  that 
which  gives  the  pleasure,  since  that  is  the  same  in 
both  cases ;  but  if  the  pleasure  lies  in  seeing  the 
hare  killed  and  torn  by  the  dogs,  this  ought  rather 
to  stir  pity,  when  a  weak,  harmless,  and  fearful 
hare  is  devoured  by  a  strong,  fierce,  and  cruel  dog. 
Therefore  all  this  business  of  hunting  is,  among 
the  Utopians,  turned  over  to  their  butchers  ;'^*  and 
those  are  all  slaves,  as  was  formerly  said  ;  and  they 
look  on  hunting  as  one  of  the  basest  parts  of  a 
butcher's  work  ;  for  they  account  it  both  more 
profitable  and  more  decent  to  kill  those  beasts  that 
are  more  necessary  aud  useful  to  mankind  ;  where- 
as the  killing  and  tearing  of  so  small  and  miserable 
an  animal,  which  a  huntsman  jjroposes  to  himself, 
can  only  attract  him  with  the  false  show  of  plea- 
sure ;  for  it  is  of  so  little  use  to  him.  They  look 
on  the  desire  of  the  bloodshed  even  of  beasts  as  a 
mark  of  a  mind  that  is  already  corrupted  with 
cruelty,  or  that  at  least  by  the  frequent  returns  of 
so  brutal  a  pleasure  must  degenerate  into  it. 

"  Thus  though  the  rabble  of  mankind  look 
upon  these,  and  all  other  things  of  this  kind,  which 
are  indeed  innumerable,  as  pleasures,  the  Utopians 
on  ihe  contrary  observing,  that  there  is  nothing  in 


'^®  So  it  is  with  us.     W'e  have  our  butchers,  and  our  gentle- 
men butchers :  the  latter  for  killing  same. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  129 

the  nature  of  them  that  is  truly  pleasant,  conclude 
that  they  are  not  to  be  reckoned  among  pleasures  ; 
for  thoug'h  these  things  may  create  some  tickling- 
in  the  senses,  (which  seems  to  be  a  true  notion  of 
pleasure,)  yet  they  reckon  that  this  does  not  arise 
from  the  thing  itself,  but  from  a  depraved  custom, 
which  may  so  vitiate  a  man's  taste,  that  bitter 
things  may  pass  for  sweet ;  '^^  as  women  with  child 
think  pitch  or  tallow  tastes  sweeter  than  honey  : 
but  as  a  man's  sense  when  corrupted,  either  by  a 
disease  or  some  ill  habit,  does  not  change  the 
nature  of  other  things,  so  neither  can  it  change  the 
nature  of  pleasure. 

"They  reckon  up  several  sorts  of  these  plea- 
sures, which  they  call  true  ones  :  some  belong  to 
the  body,  and  others  to  the  mind.  The  pleasures 
of  the  mind  lie  in  knowledge,  and  in  that  delight 
w  hich  the  contemplation  of  truth  carries  with  it ; 
to  which  they  add  the  joyful  reflections  on  a  well- 
spent  life,  and  the  assured  hopes  of  a  future  hap- 
piness. They  divide  the  pleasures  of  the  body 
into  two  sorts ;  the  one  is  that  which  gives  our 
senses  some  real  delight,  and  is  perfomied  either 
by  the  recruiting  of  nature,  and  supplying  those 
parts  on  which  the  internal  heat  of  life  feeds,  and 
tliat  is  done  by  eating  or  drinking;  or  when  nature 

'^*  Payne  Knight  has  made  several  very  good  remarks  on 
tliis  subject.  He  controverts,  indeed,  the  notion  of  Sir  Thomas 
More,  that  in  the  perversion  of  taste  "  bitter  things  may  pass 
for  sweet ;"  but  observes,  that  "  all  those  tastes  which  are  natural 
lose,  and  all  those  which  are  unnatural  acquire  strength  by  in- 
dulgence." See  his  "  Analytical  Inquiry  into  the  Principles  of 
Taste."     Part  I.  ch.  i.  S  10. 


130  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

is  eased  of  any  surcharge  that  oppresses  it,  as 
when  we  empty  our  guts,  beget  children,  or  free 
any  of  the  parts  of  our  body  from  aches  or  heats 
by  friction.  There  is  another  kind  of  this  sort  of 
pleasure,  that  neither  gives  us  anything  that  oui: 
bodies  require,  nor  frees  us  from  anything  with 
which  we  are  overcharged  ;  and  yet  it  excites  our 
senses  by  a  secret  unseen  virtue,  and  by  a  gene- 
rous impression,  it  so  tickles  and  affects  them,  that 
it  turns  them  inwardly  upon  themselves,  and  this 
is  the  pleasure  begot  by  music.  Another  sort  of 
bodily  pleasure  is  that  which  consists  in  a  quiet 
and  good  constitution  of  body,  by  which  there  is 
an  entire  healthiness  spread  over  all  the  parts  of 
the  body,  not  allayed  with  any  disease.  This, 
when  it  is  free  from  all  mixture  of  pain,  gives  an 
inward  pleasure  of  itself,  even  though  it  should 
not  be  excited  by  any  external  and  delighting 
object ;  and  although  this  pleasure  does  not  so 
vigorously  affect  the  sense,  nor  act  so  strongly 
upon  it,  yet  as  it  is  the  greatest  of  all  pleasures,  so 
almost  all  the  Utopians  reckon  it  the  foundation 
and  basis  of  all  the  other  joys  of  life,  since  this 
alone  makes  one's  state  of  life  to  be  easy  and  de- 
sirable ;  and  when  this  is  wanting,  a  man  is  really 
capable  of  no  other  pleasure.  They  look  upon 
indolence  and  freedom  from  pain,  if  it  does  not 
rise  from  a  perfect  health,  to  be  a  state  of  stupidity 
rather  than  of  pleasure.  There  has  been  a  con- 
troversy in  this  mailer  very  narrowly  canvassed 
among  them,  whether  a  firm  and  entire  health 
could   be  called  a  pleasure  or  not  ?     Some  have 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC. 


131 


thought  that  there  was  no  pleasure,  but  that  which 
was  excited  by  some  sensible  motion  in  the  body. 
But  this  opinion  has  been  long  ago  run  down 
among  them,  so  that  now  they  do  almost  all  agree 
in  this,  that  health  is  the  greatest  of  all  bodily 
pleasures;  and  that  as  there  is  a  pain  in  sickness, 
which  is  as  opposite  in  its  nature  to  pleasure  as 
sickness  itself  is  to  health,  so  they  hold  that  health 
carries  a  pleasure  along  with  it :  and  if  any  should 
say,  that  sickness  is  not  really  a  pain,  but  that  it 
only  carries  a  pain  along  with  it,  they  look  upon 
that  as  a  fetch  of  subtility  that  does  not  much  alter 
the  matter.  So  they  think  it  is  all  one,  whether 
it  be  said  that  health  is  in  itself  a  pleasure,  or  that 
it  begets  a  pleasure,  as  fire  gives  heat ;  so  it  be 
granted,  that  all  those  whose  health  is  entire,  have 
a  true  pleasure  in  it :  and  they  reason  thus — what 
is  the  pleasure  of  eating,  but  that  a  man's  health 
which  had  been  weakened,  does  with  the  assist- 
ance of  food,  drive  away  hunger,  and  so  recruiting 
itself,  recovers  its  former  vigour  ?  And  being  thus 
refreshed,  it  finds  a  pleasure  in  that  conflict:  and 
if  the  conflict  is  pleasure,  the  victory  must  yet 
breed  a  greater  pleasure,  except  we  will  fancy  that 
it  becomes  stupid  as  soon  as  it  has  obtained  that 
which  it  pursued,  and  so  does  neither  know  nor 
rejoice  in  its  own  welfare.  If  it  is  said,  that  health 
cannot  be  felt,  they  absolutely  deny  that ;  for  what 
man  is  in  health,  that  does  not  perceive  it  when  he 
is  awake  ?  Is  there  any  man  that  is  so  dull  and 
stupid,  as  not  to  acknowledge  that  he  feels  a  de- 

o  2 


132  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

light  in  health  ?  '^^     And  what  is  delight,  but  ano- 
ther name  for  pleasure  ? 

"  But  of  all  pleasures,  they  esteem  those  to  be 
the  most  valuable  that  lie  in  the  mind ;  and  the 
chief  of  these  are  those  that  arise  out  of  true  virtue, 
and  the  witness  of  a  good  conscience.  They  ac- 
count health  the  chief  pleasure  that  belongs  to  the 
body,  for  they  think  that  the  pleasure  of  eating 
and  drinking,  and  all  the  other  delights  of  the 
body  are  only  so  far  desirable,  as  they  give  or 
maintain  health.  But  they  are  not  pleasant  in 
themselves  otherwise  than  as  they  resist  those  im- 
pressions that  our  natural  infirmity  is  still  making 
upon  us :  and  as  a  wise  man  desires  rather  to 
avoid  diseases  than  to  take  physic,  and  to  be  freed 
from  pain  rather  than  to  find  ease  by  remedies,  so 
it  were  a  more  desirable  state  not  to  need  this  sort 
of  pleasure,  than  to  be  obliged  to  indulge  it.  And 
if  any  man  imagines  that  there  is  a  real  happi- 
ness in  this  pleasure,  he  mvist  then  confess  that  he 
would  be  the  happiest  of  all  men,  if  he  were  to 
lead  his  life  in  a  perpetual  hunger,  thirst,  and 
itching,  and  by  consequence  in  perpetual  eating, 
drinking,   and    scratching  himself,'"    which    any 

i^"  To  give  this  sensible  delight,  the  health  must  be  extremely 
robust.  I  used  to  experience  it  with  peculiar  force  in  the 
Libyan  desert,  about  break  of  day,  when  the  sun  new  risen, 
a  fresh  breeze  fanning  the  cheek,  a  perceptible  buoyancy  in  the 
atmosphere,  united  with  genial  warmth,  seemed  to  produce  upon 
the  frame  an  eiFect  something  like  that  of  thrilling  music.  This 
is  evidently  what  the  Chancellor  means. 

'■"  These  arguments  are  borrowed  from  Plato,  by  whom,  in 
the  Gorgias;  if  I  remember  rightly,  they  are  arrayed  in  all  their 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  133 

one  may  easily  see  would  be  not  only  a  base 
but  a  miserable  state  of  life.  These  are  indeed 
the  lowest  of  pleasures,  and  the  least  pure ;  for 
we  can  never  relish  them,  but  when  they  are 
mixed  with  the  contrary  pains.  The  pain  of  hun- 
i,^er  must  give  us  the  pleasure  of  eating,  and  here 
the  pain  out-ballances  the  pleasure  :  and  as  the 
pain  is  more  vehement,  so  it  lasts  much  longer ; 
for  as  it  is  upon  us  before  the  pleasure  comes,  so  it 
does  not  cease,  but  with  the  pleasure  that  extin- 
guishes it,  and  that  goes  off  with  it ;  so  that  they 
think  none  of  those  pleasures  are  to  be  valued, 
but  as  they  are  necessary.  Yet  they  rejoice  in 
them,  and  with  due  gratitude  acknowledge  the 
tenderness  of  the  great  Author  of  nature,  who  has 
planted  in  us  appetites,  by  which  those  things  that 
are  necessary  for  our  preservation  are  likewise  made 
pleasant  to  us.  For  how  miserable  a  thing  would 
life  be,  if  those  daily  diseases  of  hunger  and  thirst 
were  to  be  carried  off  by  such  bitter  drugs,  as  we 
must  use  for  those  diseases  that  return  seldomer 
upon  us  ?  And  thus  these  pleasant,  as  well  as 
proper  gifts  of  nature,  do  maintain  the  strength 
and  the  sprightliness  of  our  bodies. 

"  They   do  also  entertain   themselves  with   the 
other  delights  that  they  let  in  at  their  eyes,  their 

force  and  beauty,  in  opposition  to  the  trio  of  Sophists  who  op- 
posed Socrates  in  his  developement  of  the  science  of  happiness. 
It  is  one  of  the  beauties  of  the  Utopia,  that  it  adopts  and 
modernizes  the  thoughts  of  the  greatest  men  of  antiquity,  whose 
'■  old  familiar  faces"  one  meets  beaming  upon  one  almost  in 
every  page. 


134  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

ears,  and  their  nostrils,  as  the  pleasant  relishes  and 
seasonings  of  life,  which  nature  seems  to  have 
marked  out  peculiarly  for  man  ;  since  no  other 
sort  of  animal  contemplates  the  figure  and  beauty 
of  the  universe,  nor  is  delighted  with  smells,  but 
as  they  distinguish  meats  by  them,  nor  do  they 
apprehend  the  concords  or  discords  of  sounds  ;  yet 
in  all  pleasures  whatsoever,  they  observe  this  tem- 
per, that  a  lesser  joy  may  not  hinder  a  greater,  and 
that  pleasure  may  never  breed  pain,  which  they 
think  does  always  follow  dishonest  pleasures.  But 
they  think  it  a  madness  for  a  man  to  wear  out  the 
beauty  of  his  face,  or  the  force  of  his  natural 
strength,  and  to  corrupt  the  sprightliness  of  his 
body  by  sloth  and  laziness,  or  to  waste  his  body  by 
fasting,  and  so  to  weaken  the  strength  of  his  con- 
stitution, and  reject  the  other  delights  of  life;  "^ 
unless  by  renouncing  his  own  satisfaction,  he  can 
either  serve  the  public,  or  promote  the  happiness 
of  others,  from  which  he  expects  a  greater  recom- 
pense from  God.  So  that  they  look  on  such  a 
course  of  life  as  a  mark  of  a  mind,  that  is  both 
cruel  to  itself,  and  ungrateful  to  the  Author  of 
nature,  as  if  we  would  not  be  beholden  to  him  for 
his  favours,  and  therefore  would  reject  all  his  bless- 
ings,  and   should   afflict   himself  for   the   empty 


'"•'^  The  author,  we  see,  was  no  friend  to  the  penances  of 
monkery;  but  thought,  like  Milton,  that  "in  those  vernal 
seasons  of  the  year,  when  the  air  is  calm  and  pleasant,  it  were 
an  injury  and  suUenness  against  nature  not  to  go  out  and  see 
her  riches,  and  partake  in  her  rejoicing  with  heaven  and  earth." 
Tractate  on  Education,  §  22.     Select  Frose  Wtirks,  I.  164. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  135 

shadow  of  virtue ;  or  for  no  better  end  than  to 
render  himself  capable  to  bear  those  misfortunes 
which  possibly  will  never  happen. 

"  This  is  their  notion  of  virtue  and  pleasure  ; 
they  think  that  no  man's  reason  can  carry  him  to 
a  truer  idea  of  them,  unless  some  discovery  from 
heaven  should  inspire  one  with  sublimer  notions. 
I  have  not  now  the  leisure  to  examine  all  this, 
whether  they  think  right  or  wrong  in  this  matter  ; 
nor  do  I  judge  it  necessary,  for  I  have  only  under- 
taken to  give  you  an  account  of  their  constitution, 
but  not  to  defend  everj^hing  that  is  among  them. 
I  am  sure,  that  whatsoever  may  be  said  of  their 
notions,  there  is  not  in  the  whole  world,  either  a 
better  people,  or  a  happier  government.  Their 
bodies  are  vigorous  and  lively ;  and  though  they 
are  but  of  a  middle  stature,  and  though  they  have 
neither  the  fruitfullest  soil,  nor  the  purest  air  in 
the  world,  yet  they  do  so  fortify  themselves  by  their 
temperate  course  of  life  against  the  unhealthiness 
of  their  air,  and  by  their  industry  they  do  so  cul- 
tivate their  soil,  that  there  is  nowhere  to  be  seen  a 
greater  increase,  both  of  com  and  cattle :  nor  are 
there  any  where  healthier  men  to  be  found,  and 
freer  from  diseases  than  among  them  ;  for  one  may 
see  there,  not  only  such  things  put  in  practice, 
that  husbandmen  do  commonly  for  manuring  and 
improving  an  ill  soil,  but  in  some  places  a  whole 
wood  is  plucked  up  by  the  roots,  as  well  as  whole 
ones  planted  in  other  places,  where  there  were  for- 
merly none.     In  doing  of  this,  the  chief  consider- 


136 


UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 


ation  they  have  is  of  carriage,  that  their  timber 
may  be  either  near  their  towns,  or  lie  upon  the  sea, 
or  some  river,  so  that  it  may  be  floated  to  them  ; 
for  it  is  a  harder  work  to  carry  wood  at  any  dis- 
tance over  land,  than  corn.  The  people  are  indus- 
trious, apt  to  learn,  as  well  as  cheerful  and  plea- 
sant ;  and  none  can  endure  more  labour,  when  it  is 
necessary,  than  they  ;  but,  except  in  that  case,  they 
love  their  ease. 

"  They  are  unwearied  pursuers  of  knowledge ; 
for  when  we  had  given  them  some  hints  of  the 
learning  and  discipline  of  the  Greeks,  concerning 
whom  we  only  instructed  them,  (for  we  know  that 
there  was  nothing  among  the  Romans,  except  their 
historians  and  their  poets,  that  they  value  much,) 
it  was  strange  to  see  how  eagerly  they  were  set  on 
learning  that  language.  We  began  to  read  a  little 
of  it  to  them,  rather  in  compliance  with  their  im- 
portunity, than  out  of  any  hopes  of  their  profiting 
much  by  it ;  but  after  a  short  trial,  we  found  they 
made  such  a  progress  in  it,  that  we  saw  our  labour 
was  like  to  be  more  successful  than  we  could  have 
expected.  They  learned  to  write  their  characters, 
and  to  pronounce  their  language  so  right,  and  took 
up  all  so  quick,  they  remembered  it  so  faithfully, 
and  became  so  ready  and  correct  in  the  use  of  it, 
that  it  would  have  looked  like  a  miracle,  if  the 
greater  part  of  those  whom  we  taught  had  not  been 
men,  both  of  extraordinary  capacity,  and  of  a  fit 
age  for  it.  They  were  for  the  greatest  part  chosen 
out  among  their  learned  men,  by  their  chief  coun- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  137 

cil,  though  some  learned  it  of  their  own  accord. 
In  three  years'  time  they  became  masters  of  the 
whole  language,  so  that  they  read  the  best  of  the 
Greek  authors  very  exactly.  I  am  indeed  apt  to 
think,  that  they  learned  that  language  the  more 
easily,  because  it  seems  to  be  of  kin  to  their  own. 
I  believe  that  they  were  a  colony  of  the  Greeks ; 
for  though  their  language  comes  nearer  the  Persian, 
yet  they  retain  many  names,  both  for  their  towns 
and  magistrates,  that  are  of  Greek  origination.  I 
had  happened  to  carry  a  great  many  books  with 
me,  instead  of  merchandise,  when  I  sailed  my 
fourth  voyage ;  for  I  was  so  far  from  thinking  of 
coming  back  soon,  that  I  rather  thought  never  to 
have  returned  at  all,  and  I  gave  them  all  my 
books,  among  which  many  of  Plato's  and  some  of 
Aristotle's  works  were.  I  had  also  Theophrastus  on 
plants,  which  to  my  great  regret,  was  imperfect ; 
for  having  laid  it  carelessly  by  while  we  were  at 
sea,  a  monkey  had  fallen  upon  it,  and  had  torn  out 
leaves  in  many  places.  They  have  no  books  of 
grammar,  but  Lascares,  for  I  did  not  carry  Theo- 
doras with  me  ;  nor  have  they  any  dictionaries  but 
Hesychius  and  Dioscorides.  They  esteem  Plu- 
tarch highly,  and  were  much  taken  with  Lucian's 
wit,  and  with  his  pleasant  way  of  writing.  As  for 
the  poets,  they  have  Aristophanes,  Homer,  Euri- 
pides, and  Sophocles  of  Aldus's  edition ;  and  for 
historians,  they  have  Thucydides,  Herodotus,  and 
Herodian.  One  of  my  companions,  Thricius  Api- 
natus,  happened  to  carry  with  him  some  of  Hippo- 
crates's  works,   and   Galen's  Microtechne,  which 


138  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

they  hold  in  great  estimation  ; '"  for  though  there 
is  no  nation  in  the  world  that  needs  physic  so  little 
as  they  do,  yet  there  is  not  any  that  honours  it  so 
much.  They  reckon  the  knowledge  of  it  to  be  one 
of  the  pleasantest  and  profitablest  parts  of  philo- 
sophy, by  which,  as  they  search  into  the  secrets  of 
nature,  so  they  not  only  find  marvellous  pleasure 
in  it,  but  think  that  in  making  such  inquiries  they 
do  a  most  acceptable  thing  to  the  Author  of  nature ; 
and  imagine  that  he,  as  all  inventors  of  curious 
engines,  has  exposed  to  our  view  this  great  machine 
of  the  universe,  we  being  the  only  creatures  capable 
of  contemplating  it :  and  that  therefore  an  exact 
and  curious  observer  and  admirer  of  his  workman- 
ship, is  much  more  acceptable  to  him  than  one  of 
the  herd;  who  as  if  he  were  a  beast,  and  not 
capable  of  reason,  looks  on  all  this  glorious  scene 
only  as  a  dull  and  unconcerned  spectator.  '''^ 

'''•'  This  is  one  of  the  lamest  parts  of  the  whole  work,  consi- 
dered with  a  view  to  probability.  What !  render  such  a  list  of 
foreign  authors,  in  a  new  language,  popular  in  so  few  years  !  I 
admire  Sir  Thomas's  taste  in  authors,  and  agree  with  him  in  his 
estimate  of  them  ;  but  cannot  otherwise  than  smile  when  I  find 
them  domiciliated  so  rapidly  among  the  Utopians. 

'■•^  Cicero,  De  Natura  Deorum,  II.  §.  37,  38,  has  translated 
a  passage  on  this  subject  from  Aristotle,  so  brilliant,  so  richly 
glowing  with  masculine  eloquence,  that  it  would  rather  appear 
to  have  proceeded  from  Plato's  own  mouth.  I  fear  to  attempt  it 
in  English.  Nevertheless,  as  the  reader  might  not  choose  to  be 
at  the  trouble  of  construing  the  original,  I  shall  endeavour  to 
give  the  sense.  "  Aristotle  admirably  describes  the  wonder 
which  would  seize  upon  men,  supposing  them  to  have  lived  up 
to  a  certain  age  under-ground,  and  to  be  then  brought  suddenly 
into  the  light.  Allowing  them  to  have  inhabited  subterranean 
palaces,  adorned  with  sculpture  and  painting,  and  every  ornament 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC. 


139 


"  The  minds  of  the  Utopians,  when  they  are 
once  excited  by  learning,  are  very  ingenious  in 
finding  out  all  such  arts  as  tend  to  the  conveniences 
of  life.  Two  things  they  owe  to  us,  which  are  the 
art  of  printing,  and  the  manufacture  of  paper :  yet 
they  do  not  owe  these  so  entirely  to  us,  but  that  a 
great  part  of  the  invention  was  their  own ;  for 
after  we  had  showed  them  some  paper  books  of 
Aldus's  impression,  and  began  to  explain  to  them 
the  way  of  making  paper,  and  of  printing,  though 
we  spake  but  very  crudely  of  both  these,  not  being 
practised  in  either  of  them,  they  presently  took 
up  the  whole  matter  from  the  hints  that  we  gave 
them ;  and  whereas  before  they  only  writ  on  parch- 
ment, or  on  the  barks  of  trees  or  reeds,  they  have 
now  set  up  the  manufacture  of  paper,  and  printing- 
presses  ;  and  though  at  first  they  could  not  arrive 
at  a  perfection  in  them,  yet  by  making  many 
essays,  they  at  last  found  out  and  corrected  all 
their  errors,  and  brought  the  whole  thing  to  perfec- 
tion ;  so  that  if  they  had  but  a  good  number  of 
Greek  authors,  they  would  be  cjuickly  supplied 
with  many  copies  of  them  ;  at  present,  though  they 

procurable  by  wealth  ;  admit  that  they  might  have  heard  of  the 
power  and  majesty  of  the  gods  ;  yet  how  great  would  be  their 
emotion  should  the  earth  open  suddenly,  and  disclose  to  them 
the  vast  scene  we  daily  witness  I  the  land — the  sea — the  sky — 
the  prodigious  volumes  of  the  clouds — the  power  of  the  winds — • 
the  sun,  its  magnitude,  its  splendour,  gilding  the  whole  earth, 
filling  the  whole  heaven  !  And  then,  the  spectacle  presented  by 
the  face  of  night !  The  whole  firmament  glittering  with  stars, 
the  increasing  or  waning  moon. — Seeing  all  these  things,  could 
they  doubt  that  there  are  gods,  or  that  these  are  their  works  ?" 


140 


UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 


have  no  more  than  those  I  have  mentioned,  yet  by 
several  impressions,  they  have  multiplied  them 
into  many  thousands. 

"  If  any  man  should  go  among  them  that  had 
some  extraordinary  talent,  or  that  by  much  tra- 
velling had  observed  the  customs  of  many  nations, 
(which  made  us  to  be  well  received,)  he  would  be 
very  welcome  to  them  ;  for  they  are  very  desirous 
to  know  the  state  of  the  whole  world.  Very  few  go 
among  them  on  the  account  of  traffic ;  for  what  can 
a  man  carry  to  them  but  iron,  or  gold  or  silver, 
which  merchants  desire  rather  to  export  than  im- 
port to  any  strange  country ;  and  as  for  their  ex- 
portation, they  think  it  better  to  manage  that 
themselves,  than  to  let  foreigners  come  and  deal  in 
it ;  for  by  this  means,  as  they  understand  the  state 
of  the  neighbouring  countries  better,  so  they  keep 
up  the  art  of  navigation,  which  cannot  be  main- 
tained but  by  much  practice  in  it. 

OF   THEIR    SLAVES,    AND    OF    THEIR    MARRIAGES. 

"They  do  not  make  slaves  of  prisoners  of  war, 
except  those  that  are  taken  fighting  against  them  ; 
nor  of  the  sons  of  their  slaves,  nor  of  the  slaves  of 
other  nations.  The  slaves  among  them  are  only 
such  as  are  condemned  to  that  state  of  life  for  some 
crime  that  they  had  committed,  or,  which  is  more 
common,  such  as  their  merchants  find  condemned 
to  die  in  those  parts  to  which  they  trade,  whom 
they  redeem  sometimes  at  low  rates ;  and  in  other 
]>laces  they  have  them  for  nothing,  and  so  they 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  14l 

fetch  them  away.  All  their  slaves  are  kept  at  per- 
petual labour,  and  are  always  chained,  but  with 
this  difference,  that  they  treat  their  own  natives 
much  worse,  looking  on  them  as  a  more  profligate 
sort  of  people ;  who  not  being  restrained  from 
crimes  by  the  advantages  of  so  excellent  an  edu- 
cation, are  judged  worthy  of  harder  usage  than 
others.  Another  sort  of  slaves  is  when  some  of 
the  poorer  sort  in  the  neighbouring  countries,  ofter 
of  their  own  accord  to  come  and  serve  them  ; 
they  treat  these  better,  and  use  them  in  all  other 
respects  as  well  as  their  own  countrymen,  ex- 
cept that  they  impose  more  labour  upon  them, 
which  is  no  hard  task  to  them  that  have  been  ac- 
customed to  it ;  and  if  any  of  these  have  a  mind 
to  go  back  to  their  own  covmtry,  which  indeed  falls 
out  but  seldom,  as  they  do  not  force  them  to  stay, 
so  they  do  not  send  them  away  empty-handed. 

"  I  have  already  told  you  with  what  care  they  look 
after  their  sick,  so  that  nothing  is  left  undone  that 
can  contribute  either  to  their  ease  or  health  :  and 
for  those  who  are  taken  with  fixed  and  incurable 
diseases,  they  use  all  possible  ways  to  cherish 
them,  and  make  their  lives  as  comfortable  as  may 
be :  they  visit  them  often,  and  take  great  pains  to 
make  their  time  pass  off  easily.  But  when  any  is 
taken  with  a  torturing  and  lingering  pain,  so  that 
there  is  no  hope,  either  of  recovery  or  ease,  the 
priests  and  magistrates  come  and  exhort  them,  that 
since  they  are  now  unable  to  go  on  with  the  busi- 
ness of  life,  and  are  become  a  burden  to  them- 
selves and  to  all  about  them,  so  that  they  have 


142  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

really  outlived  themselves,  they  would  no  longer 
nourish  such  a  rooted  distemper,  but  would  choose 
rather  to  die,  since  they  cannot  live,  but  in  much 
misery ;  being  assured,  that  if  they  either  deliver 
themselves  from  their  prison  and  torture,  or  are 
willing  that  others  should  do  it,  they  shall  be  happy 
after  their  deaths  :  and  since  by  their  dying  thus, 
they  lose  none  of  the  pleasures,  but  only  the  trou- 
bles of  life,  they  think  they  act  not  only  reasonably 
in  so  doing,  but  religiously  and  piously,  because 
they  follow  the  advices  that  are  given  them  by  the 
priests,  who  are  the  expounders  of  the  will  of  God 
to  them.  Such  as  are  wrought  on  by  these  per- 
suasions, do  either  starve  themselves  of  their  own 
accord,  or  they  take  opium,  '''^  and  so  they  die 
without  pain.  But  no  man  is  forced  on  this  way 
of  ending  his  life ;  and  if  they  cannot  be  persuaded 
to  it,  they  do  not  for  that  fail  in  their  attendance 
and  care  of  them.  But  as  they  believe  that  a 
voluntary  death,  when  it  is  chosen  upon  such  an 
authority,  is  very  honourable,  so  if  any  man  takes 
away  his  own  life,  without  the  approbation  of  the 
priests  and  the  senate,  they  give  him  none  of  the 

'■•^  This  is  one  of  those  maxims  of  a  "  rough  and  fierce 
philosophy,"  which  Bishop  Burnet  speaks  of  in  his  preface. 
It  differs  in  one  particular  from  Napoleon's  "philosophy," 
which  led  him,  from  motives  of  mistaken  humanity,  to  think  of 
poisoning  the  sick  in  Syria,  to  prevent  their  falling  into  the 
hands  of  a  savage  enemy.  The  Utopians  only  starved  or  poi- 
soned those  who  consented  to  be  so  treated ;  which,  Mr.  Hobbes 
assures  us,  could  be  doing  them  no  injury;  for  he  who  con- 
sents to  anything,  cannot  consider  himself  injured.  De  Cive. 
1.  I.  c.  iii.  §  7. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  143 

honours  of  a  decent   funeral,  but  throw  his  body 
into  some  ditch. 

Their  women  are  not  married  before  eighteen, 
nor  their  men  before  two-and-twenty ;  and  if  any 
of  them  run  into  forbidden  embraces  before  their 
marriage,  they  are  severely  punished,  and  the  pri- 
vilege of  marriage  is  denied  them,  unless  there  is 
a  special  warrant  obtained  for  it  afterwards  from 
the  prince.  Such  disorders  cast  a  great  reproach 
upon  the  master  and  mistress  of  the  family  in 
which  they  fall  out;  for  it  is  supposed  they  have 
been  wanting  to  their  duty.  The  reason  of  jjunish- 
ing  this  so  severely  is,  because  they  think  that  if 
they  were  not  strictly  restrained  from  all  vagrant 
appetites,  very  few  would  engage  in  a  married 
state,  in  which  men  venture  the  quiet  of  their  whole 
life,  being  restricted  to  one  person ;  besides  many 
other  inconveniences  that  do  accompany  it.  In 
the  way  of  choosing  of  their  wives,  they  use  a 
method  that  would  appear  to  us  very  absurd  and 
ridiculous,  but  is  constantly  observed  among  them, 
and  accounted  a  wise  and  good  rule.  Before  mar- 
riage, some  grave  matron  presents  the  bride 
naked,  '^^  whether  she  is  a  virgin  or  a  widow,  to  the 

^"^  The  Spartans  exposed  their  young  women  thus  habitually, 
and  partly  for  the  same  reason,  partly  for  the  purpose  of  correct- 
ing the  phlegmatic  temperament  of  the  Dorians.  Sir  Thomas 
More  has  reasons,  no  doubt,  on  his  side ;  but  tastes  differ,  at 
different  times ;  and  in  modern  Europe,  though  many  women  of 
fashion  would  not  object  to  the  trial,  as  is  clear  from  their  style 
of  dressing,  it  might  be  found  rather  inimical  than  otherwise 
to  marriage.  In  the  East,  according  to  I^ady  ^lontague,  the 
ladies  could  bear  the  scrutiny — so  beautiful  are  their  figures. 


144 


UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 


bridegroom ;  and  after  that,  some  grave  man  pre- 
sents the  bridegroom  naked  to  the  bride.  We 
indeed  both  laughed  at  this,  and  condemned  it  as 
a  very  indecent  thing.  But  they,  on  the  other 
hand,  wondered  at  the  folly  of  the  men  of  all  other 
nations,  who  if  they  are  but  to  buy  a  horse  of  a 
small  value,  are  so  cautious,  that  they  will  see  every 
part  of  him,  and  take  off  both  his  saddle,  and  all  his 
other  tackle,  that  there  may  be  no  secret  ulcer  hid 
under  any  of  them ;  and  that  yet  in  the  choice  of  a 
wife,  on  which  depends  the  happiness  or  unhappi- 
ness  of  the  rest  of  his  life,  a  man  should  venture 
upon  trust,  and  only  see  about  a  hand-breadth  of  the 
face,  all  the  rest  of  the  body  being  covered,  under 
which  there  may  lie  hid  that  which  may  be  conta- 
gious, as  well  as  loathesome.  All  men  are  not  so 
wise,  that  they  choose  a  woman  only  for  her  good 
qualities;  and  even  wise  men  consider  the  body  as 
that  which  adds  not  a  little  to  the  mind.  And  it 
is  certain,  there  may  be  some  such  deformitj'^  co- 
vered with  one's  clothes,  as  may  totally  alienate  a 
man  from  his  wife  when  it  is  too  late  to  part  with 
her;  for  if  such  a  thing  is  discovered  after  mar- 
riage, a  man  has  no  remedy  but  patience :  so  they 
think  it  is  reasonable,  that  there  should  be  a  good 
provision  made  against  such  mischievous  frauds. 

"  There  was  so  much  the  more  reason  in  making 
a  regulation  in  this  matter,  because  they  are  the 
only  people  of  those  parts  that  do  neither  allow  of 
polygamy,  nor  of  divorces,  except  in  the  case  of 
adultery,  or  insufterable  perverseness  :  for  in  these 
cases  the  senate  dissolves  the  marriage,  and  grants 


HAPl'Y    IIKI'UBMC.  145 

the  injured  person  leave  to  marry  again ;  but  the 
guilty  are  made  infamous,  and  are  never  allowed 
the   privilege   of  a  second   marriage.      None   are 
suffered  to  put  away  their  wives  against  their  wills, 
because  of  any  great  calamity  that  may  have  fallen 
on  their  person ;  for  they  look  on  it  as  the  height 
of  cruelty  and  treachery  to  abandon  either  of  the 
married  persons,  when  they  need  most  the  tender 
care  of  their  consort ;  and  that  chiefly  in  the  case 
of  old  age,  which  as  it  carries  many  diseases  along 
with  it,  so  it  is  a  disease  of  itself.  '■*'     But  it  falls 
often  out,  that  when  a  married  couple  do  not  agree 
well  together,  they  by  mutual  consent  separate,  and 
find  out  other  persons  with  whom  they  hope  they 
may  live  more  happily.  '^®     Yet  this  is  not  done 
without  obtaining  leave  of  the  senate,  which  never 
admits  of  a   divorce,    but   upon    a   strict  inquiry 
made,  both  by  the  senators  and  their  wives,  into 
the   grounds  upon   which  it  proceeds;  and  even 
when  they  are  satisfied  concerning  the  reasons  of 
it,  they  go  on  but  slowly,  for  they  reckon  that  too 
great  easiness  in  granting  leave  for  new  marriages, 
would  very  much  shake  the  kindness  of  married 
persons.     They  punish  severely  those  that  defile 
the  marriage  bed.     If  both  parties  are  married,  they 
are  divorced,  and  the   injured  jDersons  may  marry 
one  another,  or  whom  they  please ;  but  the  adul- 
terer and  the  adulteress  are  condemned  to  slavery. 
Yet  if  either  of  the  injured  j^ersons  cannot  shake 

'^'  A  humane  law. 

"•^  He  here  anticipates  fllilton's  notions,  which  are  those  of 
right  reason. 

P 


146  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

off  the  loveof  the  married  person,  they  may  live  with 
them  still  in  that  state,  but  they  must  follow  them 
to  that  labour  to  which  the  slaves  are  condemned ; 
and  sometimes  the  repentance  of  the  condemned 
person,  together  with  the  unshaken  kindness  of  the 
innocent  and  injured  person,  has  prevailed  so  far 
with  the  prince,  that  he  has  taken  off  the  sentence : 
but  those  that  relapse  after  they  are  once  pardoned, 
are  punished  with  death. 

"  Their  law  does  not  determine  the  punishment 
for  other  crimes;  but  that  is  left  to  the  senate,  to 
temper  it  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  fact. 
Husbands  have  power  to  correct  their  wives,  and 
parents  to  correct  their  children,  unless  the  fault  is 
so  great,  that  a  public  punishment  is  thought  ne- 
cessary for  the  striking  terror  into  others.  For  the 
most  part,  slavery  is  the  punishment  even  of  the 
greatest  crimes ;  for  as  that  is  no  less  terrible  to 
the  criminals  themselves  than  death,  so  they  think 
the  preserving  them  in  a  state  of  servitude  is  more 
for  the  interest  of  the  commonwealth,  than  the 
killing  them  outright;  since  as  their  labour  is  a 
greater  benefit  to  the  public  than  their  death  could 
be,  so  the  sight  of  their  misery  is  a  more  lasting  ter- 
ror to  other  men,  than  that  which  would  be  given 
by  their  death.  If  their  slaves  rebel,  and  will  not 
b^ar  their  yoke,  and  submit  to  the  labour  that  is 
enjoined  them,  they  are  treated  as  wild  beasts  that 
cannot  be  kept  in  order,  neither  by  a  prison,  nor 
by  their  chains,  and  are  at  last  put  to  death.  But 
those  who  bear  their  punishment  patiently,  and 
are  so  much  wrought  on  by  that  pressure  that  lies 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  147 

SO  hard  on  them,  that  it  appears  that  they  are 
really  more  troubled  for  the  crimes  they  have  com- 
mitted than  for  the  miseries  they  suffer,  are  not  out 
of  hope,  but  that  at  last  either  the  prince  will  by 
his  prerogative,  or  the  people  will  by  their  inter- 
cession restore  them  again  to  their  liberty,  or  at 
least  very  much  mitigate  their  slavery.  He  that 
tempts  a  married  woman  to  adultery,  is  no  less 
severely  punished  than  he  that  commits  it ;  '^^  for 
they  reckon  that  a  laid  and  studied  design  of  com- 
mitting any  crime,  is  equal  to  the  fact  itself;  since 
its  not  taking  eft'ect  does  not  make  the  person  that 
did  all  that  in  him  lay  in  order  to  it,  a  whit  the 
less  guilty. 

"  They  take  great  pleasure  in  fools,  '^°  and  as  it 
is  thought  a  base  and  unbecoming  thing  to  use 
them  ill,  so  they  do  not  think  it  amiss  for  people 
to  divert  themselves  with  their  folly.  And  they 
think  this  is  a  great  advantage  to  the  fools  them- 
selves ;  for  if  men  were  so  sullen  and  severe,  as 
not  at  all  to  please  themselves  with  their  ridiculous 
behaviour  and   foolish  sayings,  which  is  all  that 

'^^  We  have  far  better  authority  for  this :  "  whosoever  looketh 
on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her,  hath  committed  adultery  with  her 
already  in  his  heart." 

^'^  In  this  we  follow  closely  in  the  footsteps  of  the  Utopians, 
for  I  know  of  no  class  of  men  in  whom  the  world  takes  so  much 
pleasure  as  it  does  in  fools.  In  all  places  they  abound,  and 
are  well  received.  Every  one  makes  a  point  of  being  civil  to 
them  ;  for  though 

"  Les  fous  sont  ici  bas  pour  nos  menus  plaisirs," 
in  appearance  it  is  quite  otherwise.     In  fact,  being  in  a  majority, 
they  rule  the  roast,  at  least  in  what  is  called  the  "  great  world." 

p  2 


148  tjtopia;  or,  the 

they  can  do  to  recommend  themselves  to  others,  it 
could  not  be  expected  that  they  would  be  so  well 
looked  to,  nor  so  tenderly  used  as  they  must  other- 
wise be.  If  any  man  should  reproach  another  for 
his  being  misshaped  or  imperfect  in  any  part  of  his 
body,  it  would  not  at  all  be  thought  a  reflection 
on  the  person  that  was  so  treated,  but  it  would  be 
accounted  a  very  unw  orthy  thing  for  him  that  had 
upbraided  another  with  that  which  he  could  not 
help.  It  is  thought  a  sign  of  a  sluggish  and  sordid 
mind,  not  to  preserve  carefully  one's  natural  beauty, 
but  it  is  likewise  an  infamous  thing  among  them 
to  use  paint  or  fard.  '^'  And  they  all  see  that  no 
beauty  recommends  a  wife  so  much  to  her  husband, 
as  the  probity  of  her  life,  and  her  obedience ;  for 
as  some  few  are  catched  and  held  only  by  beauty, 
so  all  people  are  held  by  the  other  excellencies 
which  charm  all  the  world. 

"  As  they  fright  men  from  committing  crimes  by 
punishments,  so  they  invite  them  to  the  love  of 
virtue  by  public  honours.  Therefore  they  erect 
statues  in  honour  to  the  memories  of  such  worthy 

'''  On  this  point  we  exhibit  superior  wisdom.  We  all  paint 
at  present,  being  persuaded  that,  if  it  be  allowable  to  curl  one  s 
hair  and  wash  one's  face,  for  the  purpose  of  appearing  more 
agreeable  to  others,  the  same  patriotic  motive  requires  that  we 
should  take  one  step  more  for  their  pleasure,  and  paint  our 
cheeks,  our  lips,  and  our  foreheads.  And,  instead  of  being 
blamed  for  this,  we  are  entitled  to  very  high  praise ;  since,  were 
we  residing  on  some  desert  island,  where  our  ugliness  could 
offend  no  one,  it  is  very  certain  we  should  take  little  trouble 
with  ourselves.  Our  design  is  solely  to  give  delight,  by  exhi- 
biting a  handsome  mask  to  the  gaze  of  persons  who  might 
perhaps  be  terrified  at  the  reality  it  conceals. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  149 

men  as  have  deserved  well  of  their  country,  and 
set  these  in  their  market-places,'**  both  to  perpe- 
tuate the  remembrance  of  their  actions,  and  to  be  an 
incitement  to  their  posterity  to  follow  their  example. 

"  If  any  man  aspires  to  any  office  he  is  sure 
never  to  compass  it :  they  live  all  easily  together, 
for  none  of  the  magistrates  are  either  insolent  or 
cruel  to  the  people ;  but  they  affect  rather  to  be 
called  fathers,  and,  by  being  really  so,  they  well 
deserve  that  name ;  and  the  people  pay  them  all 
the  marks  of  honour  the  more  freely  because  none 
are  exacted  of  them.  The  prince  himself  has  no 
distinction,  either  of  garments  or  of  a  crown  ;  but  is 
only  known  by  a  sheaf  of  corn  that  is  carried 
before  him, — as  the  high-priest  is  also  known  by  a 
wax  light  that  is  carried  before  him. 

"  They  have  but  few  laws,  and  such  is  their  con- 
stitution that  they  need  not  many.  They  'do  very 
much  condemn  other  nations  whose  laws,  together 
with  the  commentaries  on  them,  swell  up  to  so 
many  volumes ;  for  they  think  it  an  unreasonable 
thing  to  oblige  men  to  obey  a  body  of  laws  that 
are  both  of  such  a  bulk  and  so  dark  that  they 
cannot  be  read  or  understood  by  every  one  of  the 
subjects.  '-^^ 

'*'  The  statues  of  the  illustrious  tyrannicides,  Harmodios  and 
Aristogeiton,  were  set  up  in  the  Athenian  agora,  and  near  them 
none  others  might  be  erected.  At  some  distance  in  the  square, 
however,  other  patriots,  as  Kimon,  for  example,  had  the  honour 
of  a  statue,  and  to  this  Sir  Thomas  IMore  alludes.  When  shall 
we  see  the  statues  of  Ireton,  Cromwell,  and  Bradshaw,  in  Covent 
Garden  ? 

'53  This  is  a /io/ne  thrust.    Our  laws  are  so  numerous  that,  toge- 


150  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

"  They  have  no  lawyers  among  them,  for  they 
consider  them  as  a  sort  of  people  Avhose  profession 
it  is  to  disguise  matters  as  well  as  to  wrest  laws ; 
and,  therefore,  they  think  it  is  much  better  that 
every  man  should  plead  his  own  cause,  and  trust  it 
to  the  judge,  as  well  as  in  other  places  the  client 
does  it  to  a  counsellor.'*''  By  this  means  they  both 
cut  off  many  delays  and  find  out  truth  more  cer- 
tainly-; for,  after  the  parties  have  laid  open  the 
merits  of  their  cause,  without  those  artifices  which 
lawyers  are  apt  to  suggest,  the  judge  examines  the 
whole  matter,  and  supports  the  simplicity  of  such 
well-meaning  persons  whom  otherwise  crafty  men 
would  be  sure  to  run  down ;  and  thus  they  avoid 
those  evils  which  appear  very  remarkably  among 
all  those  nations  that  labour  under  a  vast  load  of 
laws.  Every  one  of  them  is  skilled  in  their  law, 
for  as  it  is  a  very  short  study,  so  the  plainest  mean- 
ing of  which  words  are  capable  is  always  the  sense 
of  their  laws.  And  they  argue  thus  :  all  laws  are 
promulgated  for  this  end,  that  every  man  may 
know  his  duty  ;'"  and,  therefore,  the  plainest  and 


ther  with  their  commentaries,  they  would  have  furnished  suffi- 
cient solid  reading  for  Adam,  if  he  had  lived  until  now  ;  and 
the  best  of  it  is,  that  he  would  probably  have  been  as  wise  when 
he  concluded  as  when  he  began.  This  is  a  proud  boast  which 
few  nations  can  make  ;  and  we  may  add,  that  our  constitution, 
like  our  laws,  is  unintelligible  to  all  the  world. 

'^'*  This,  if  nothing  else,  will  always  recommend  the  "Utopia" 
to  the  thorough  detestation  of  the  men  in  wigs ;  the  more  so,  as 
the  author  himself  wore  a  wig,  and  ought  to  have  possessed  some 
knowledge  of  the  profession. 

'^^  This  is  a  grievous  mistake  ;    for  it  would  be  easy  to  de- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  I5l 

most  obvious  sense  of  the  words  is  that  which  must 
be  put  on  them ;  since  a  more  refined  exposition 
cannot  be  easily  comprehended,  and  laws  become 
thereby  useless  to  the  greater  part  of  mankind  who 
need  most  the  direction  of  them  :  for  to  them  it  is 
all  one  not  to  make  a  law  at  all,  and  to  couch  it  in 
such  teiTns  that,  without  a  quick  apprehension  and 
much  study,  a  man  cannot  find  out  the  true  mean- 
ing; of  it ;  and  the  s^enerality  of  mankind  are  both 
so  dull  and  so  much  employed  in  their  several 
trades,  that  they  have  neither  the  leisure  nor  the 
capacity  requisite  for  such  an  inquiry. 

"  Some  of  their  neighbours,  who  are  masters  of 
their  own  liberties,  having  long  ago,  by  the  assis- 
tance of  the  Utopians,  shaken  off  the  yoke  of 
tyranny ;  and,  being  much  taken  with  those  virtues 
that  they  observe  among  them,  have  come  to  them, 
and  desired  that  they  would  send  magistrates 
among  them  to  be  their  governors ;  some  changing 
them  every  year,  and  others  every  five  years.  At 
the  end  of  their  government  they  bring  them  back 
to  Utopia,  with  great  expressions  of  honour  and 
esteem,  and  carry  away  others  to  govern  in  their 
stead.  In  this  they  seem  to  have  fallen  upon  a 
very  good  expedient  for  their  own  happiness  and 
safety  ;  for,  since  the  good  or  ill  condition  of  a 


monstrate  that  laws  are  promulgated,  at  least  in  England,  ex- 
pressly to  preserve  men  from  the  knowledge  of  their  duty,  in 
order  that  they  may  fall  into  the  numerous  gins  and  traps  in- 
dustriously set  for  them,  and  pay  all  the  mulcts  and  penalties 
upon  which  the  profession  and  all  its  hangers-on  thrive  and  wax 
fat. 


152  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

nation  depends  so  much  upon  their  magistrates, 
they  could  not  have  made  a  better  choice  than  by 
pitching  on  men  whom  no  advantages  can  bias; 
for  wealth  is  of  no  use  to  them,  since  they  must  go 
so  soon  back  to  their  own  country,  and  they,  being 
strangers  among  them,  are  not  engaged  in  any  of 
their  heats  or  animosities ;  and  it  is  certain  that, 
when  public  judicatories  are  swayed  either  by  par- 
tial affections  or  by  avarice,  there  must  follow  upon 
it  a  dissolution  of  all  justice,  which  is  the  chief 
sinew  of  society. 

"  The  Utopians  call  those  nations  that  come  and 
ask  magistrates  from  them,  neighbours ;  but  they 
call  those  to  whom  they  have  been  more  particu- 
larly assisting,  friends.  And,  whereas  all  other 
nations  are  perpetually  either  making  leagues  or 
breaking  them,  they  never  enter  into  any  alliance 
with  any  other  state.  They  think  leagues  are  use- 
less things,  and  reckon  that,  if  the  common  ties  of 
human  nature  do  not  knit  men  together,  the  faith  of 
promises  will  have  no  great  effect  on  them :  and  they 
are  the  more  confirmed  in  this  by  that  which  they 
see  among  the  nations  round  about  them,  who  are  no 
strict  observers  of  leagues  and  treaties.  We  know 
how  religiously  they  are  observed  in  Europe ;  more 
particularly  where  the  Christian  doctrine  is  received, 
among  whom  they  are   sacred  and  inviolable  !  '*^ 

'^^  I  hope  Henry  the  Eighth  understood  the  full  force  of  this 
panegyric,  the  best  commentary  upon  which  is  to  be  found  in 
the  "  Dictionnaire  Historique  et  Critique"  of  Bayle,  article 
Agesilaus,  from  which  I  have  already  quoted  a  short  passage. 
Macchiavelli,  too,  and  Guiccardini,  furnish  numerous  examples 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  353 

Which  is  partly  owing  to  the  justice  and  goodness 
of  the  princes  themselves,  and  partly  to  the  reve- 
rence that  they  pay  to  the  popes ;  who,  as  they 
are  most  religious  observers  of  their  own  promises, 
so  they  exhort  all  other  princes  to  perfoi*m  theirs ; 
and,  when  fainter  methods  do  not  prevail,  they 
compel  them  to  it  by  the  severity  of  the  pastoral 
censure ;  and  think  that  it  would  be  the  most  in- 
decent thing  possible,  if  men  who  are  particularly 
designed  by  the  title  of  the  Faithful  should  not 
religiously  keep  the  faith  of  their  treaties.  But  in 
that  new-found  world,  which  is  not  more  distant 
from  us  in  situation  than  it  is  disagreeing  from  us 
in  their  manners  and  course  of  life,  there  is  no 
trusting  to  leagues,  even  though  they  were  made 
with  all  the  pomp  of  the  most  sacred  ceremonies 
that  is  possible.  On  the  contrary,  they  are  the 
sooner  broken  for  that,  some  slight  pretences  being 
found  in  the  words  of  the  treaties,  which  are  con- 
trived in  such  ambiguous  terais,  and  that  on 
design,  that  they  can  never  be  so  strictly  bound 
but  they  will  always  find  some  loop-hole  to  escape 
at;  and  so  they  break  both  their  leagues  and  their 
faith.  And  this  is  done  with  that  impudence,  that 
those  very  men  who  value  themselves  on  having 
suggested  these  advices  to  their  princes,  would  yet, 
with  a  haughty  scorn,  declaim  against  such  craft, 
or,  to  speak  plainer,  such  fraud  and  deceit,  if  they 

of  the  faith  of  Christian  princes,  who,  together  with  the  pope, 
have  probably  on  the  subject  of  oaths  outdone  in  profligacy  all 
the  tyrants  of  antiquity — which  is  saying  a  great  deal  for  them. 
Sir  Thomas's  irony  is  transparent. 


154  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

found  private  men  make  use  of  it  in  their  bar- 
gains; and  would  readily  say  that  they  deserved 
to  be  hang-ed  for  it.'^^ 

"  By  this  means  it  is  that  all  sort  of  justice  passes 
in  the  world  but  for  a  low-spirited  and  vulgar 
virtue,  which  is  far  below  the  dignity  of  royal 
greatness.  Or,  at  least,  there  are  two  sorts  of  jus- 
tice set  up.  The  one  is  mean,  and  creeps  on  the 
ground  ;  and  therefore  becomes  none  but  the 
baser  sort  of  men,  and  so  must  be  kept  in  severely 
by  many  restraints,  that  it  may  not  break  out 
beyond  the  bounds  that  are  set  to  it.  The  other  is 
the  peculiar  virtue  of  princes,  which,  as  it  is  more 
majestic  than  that  which  becomes  the  rabble,  so 
takes  a  freer  compass ;  and  lawful  or  unlawful  are 
only  measured  by  pleasure  and  interest.'^^  These 
practices  among  the  princes  that  lie  about  Utopia, 
who  make  so  little  account  of  their  faith,  seem  to 
be  the  reasons  that  determine  them  to  engage  in 
no  confederacies  ;  perhaps  they  would  change  their 
mind  if  they  lived  among  us.  But  yet,  though  trea- 
ties were  more  religiously  observed,  they  would  still 
dislike  the  custom  of  making  them;  since  the  world 
has  taken  up  a  false  maxim  upon  it,  as  if  there 
were  no  tie  of  nature  knitting  one  nation  to  an- 


'"  This  confirms  what  is  said  in  the  last  note. 

'^^  Kallikles,  in  the  Gorgias  of  Plato,  advocates  this  magni- 
ficent virtue,  which  Sir  Thomas  IMore  rightly  denominates  rol^al 
justice ;  and  which,  by  the  vulgar,  is  called  injustice.  The 
name  is  nothing.  Whatever  appellation  it  be  known  by,  it  is 
the  distinguishing  attribute  of  princes,  and  of  all  those  who 
surround  them  nearly,  and  profit  most  by  their  example. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  155 

other,  that  are  only  separated,  perhaps,  by  a  moun- 
tain or  a  river,  and  that  all  were  born  in  a  state  of 
hostility,'^^  and  so  mi<Tht  lawfully  do  all  that 
mischief  to  their  neighbours,  against  which  there 
is  no  provision  made  by  treaties.  And  that,  when 
treaties  are  made,  they  do  not  cut  off  the  enmity, 
or  restrain  the  license  of  preying  upon  one  an- 
other, if,  by  the  unskilfulness  of  wording  them, 
there  are  not  effectual  provisos  made  against  them. 
They,  on  the  other  hand,  judge  that  no  man  is  to 
be  esteemed  our  enemy  that  has  never  injured  us; 
and  that  the  partnership  of  the  human  nature  that 
is  among  all  men  is  instead  of  a  league.  And  that 
kindness  and  goodnature  unite  men  more  eft'ec- 
tually,  and  more  forcibly  than  any  agreements 
whatsoever  ;  since  thereby  the  engagements  of 
men's  hearts  become  stronger  than  anything  can 
be  to  which  a  few  words  can  bind  ihem. 


OF    THEIR    MILITARY   DISCIPLINE. 

"They  detest  war  as  a  very  brutal  thing;  and  which, 
to  the  reproach  of  human  nature,  is  more  practised 

'^^  As  Hobbes  contends  they  were.  In  fact,  this  doctrine 
constitutes  the  basis  of  his  political  philosophy,  which  is  more 
widely  spread,  and  has  more  advocates  in  the  world  than  would 
readily  be  believed.  It  is  founded,  however,  on  a  narrow  view 
of  human  nature;  as  Dr.  Adam  Ferguson,  among  others,  has 
shown.  In  fact,  it  is  man's  affections  and  sympathy  which 
plunge  him  in  hostility  ;  for,  "  by  enlisting  him  on  the  side  of 
one  tribe  or  community,  they  frequently  engage  him  in  war 
and  contention  with  the  rest  of  mankind." — History  of  Civit 
Societu,  part  I.  §.  2.  p.  17. 


156  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

by  men  than  any  sort  of  beasts  :  and  they,  against 
the  custom  of  almost  all  other  nations,  think  that 
there  is  nothing  more  inglorious  than  that  glory 
that  is  gained  by  war.  And,  therefore,  though  they 
accustom  themselves  daily  to  military  exercises, 
and  the  discipline  of  war,  in  which  not  only  their 
men  but  their  women"""  likewise  are  trained  up, 
that  so,  in  cases  of  necessity,  they  may  not  be  quite 
useless.  Yet  they  do  not  rashly  engage  in  war,  un- 
less it  be  either  to  defend  themselves  or  their  friends 
from  any  unjust  aggressors  ;  or  out  of  good  nature, 
or  in  compassion  to  an  oppressed  nation,  that  they 
assist  them  to  the  shaking  off  the  yoke  of  tyranny. 
They,  indeed,  help  their  friends  not  only  in  defen- 
sive but  also  in  offensive  wars  ;  but  they  never  do 
that  unless  they  had  been  consulted  with  while  the 
matter  was  yet  entire ;  and  that,  being  satisfied 
with  the  grounds  on  which  they  went,  they  had 
found  that  all  demands  of  reparation  were  rejected, 
so  that  a  war  was  necessary  :  which  they  do  not 
think  to  be  only  just  when  one  neighbour  makes 
an  inroad  on  another,  by  public  order,  and  carries 

'^^  This  is  a  very  absurd  crotchet  of  Plato's,  which  I  am 
astonished  to  find  adopted  by  any  man  who  has  had  the  advan- 
tage of  considering  the  objections  which  physiology  and  common 
sense  have  induced  later  philosophers  to  urge  againstit.  The  prac- 
tice, if  it  could  be  followed  up,  would  do  more  than  anything  else 
conceivable  towards  extinguishing  the  human  race,  and  begin 
by  obliterating  from  among  men  all  that  gentleness  and  suavity 
by  which  the  best  natures  are  distinguished,  and  which  take 
their  rise  from  female  influence.  To  unsex  women,  and  make 
rude  soldiers  of  them,  would  be  to  banish  from  amongst  us  the 
well-spring  of  the  highest  and  kindliest  of  our  feelings. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC,  157 

away  their  spoils  :  but  when  the  merchants  of  one 
country  are  oppressed  in  another,  either  under  the 
pretence  of  some  unjust  laws,  or  by  the  perverse 
wresting  of  g;ood  ones;  this  they  count  a  juster 
cause  of  war  than  the  other,  because  those  injuries 
are  done  under  some  colour  of  laws.  This  was  the 
only  ground  of  that  war  in  which  they  engaged 
with  the  Nephelogetes  against  the  Aleopolitanes, 
a  little  before  our  time  :  for  the  merchants  of  the 
former  having,  as  they  thought,  met  with  great 
injustice  among  the  latter,  that,  whether  it  was  in 
itself  right  or  wTong,  did  draw  on  a  terrible  war, 
many  of  their  neighbours  being  engaged  in  it ; 
and  their  keenness  in  carrying  it  on  being  sup- 
ported by  their  strength  in  maintaining  it,  it  not 
only  shook  some  very  flourishing  slates  and  very 
much  afflicted  others,  but,  after  a  series  of  muck 
mischief,  it  ended  in  the  entire  conquest  and 
slavery  of  the  Aleopolitanes,  who,  though  before 
the  war  they  were  in  all  respects  much  superior  to 
the  Nephelogetes,  yet  by  it  they  fell  under  their 
empire.  But  the  Utopians,  though  they  had  as- 
sisted them  in  the  war,  yet  pretended  to  no  share 
of  the  spoil. 

"  But,  though  they  assist  their  friends  so  vigor- 
ously in  taking  reparations  for  injuries  that  are  done 
them  in  such  matters,  yet  if  they  themselves  should 
meet  with  any  such  fraud,  provided  there  were  no 
violence  done  to  their  persons,  they  would  only 
carry  it  so  far  that,  unless  satisfaction  were  made, 
they  would  give  over  trading  with  such  a  peoj^le. 
This  is  not  done  because  they  consider  their  neigh- 


158  UTOPIA;    OR;    THE 

bours  more  than  their  own  citizens  ;  but,  since 
their  neighbours  trade  every  one  upon  his  own 
stock,  fraud  is  a  more  sensible  injury  to  them  than 
it  is  to  the  Utopians,  among  whom  the  public  only 
suffers  in  such  a  case ;  and,  since  they  expect  no- 
thing in  return  for  the  merchandise  that  they  ex- 
port but  that  in  which  they  abound  so  much,  and 
is  of  little  use  to  them,  the  loss  does  not  much 
aftect  them ;  therefore  they  think  it  would  be  too 
severe  a  thing  to  revenge  a  loss  that  brings  so  little 
inconvenience  with  it,  either  to  their  life  or  to  their 
livelihood,  with  the  death  of  many  people.  But  if 
any  of  their  people  is  either  killed  or  wounded 
wrongfully,  whether  that  be  done  by  public  au- 
thority or  only  by  private  men,  as  soon  as  they 
hear  of  it  they  send  ambassadors,  and  demand 
that  the  guilty  persons  may  be  delivered  up  to 
them  ;  and,  if  that  is  denied  they  declare  war ;  but 
if  that  is  done,  they  condemn  those  either  to  death 
or  slavery. 

"  They  would  be  both  troubled  and  ashamed  of 
a  bloody  victory  over  their  enemies ;  and  think  it 
would  be  as  foolish  a  purchase  as  to  buy  the  most 
valuable  goods  at  too  high  a  rate.  And  in  no 
victory  do  they  glory  so  much,  as  in  that  which  is 
gained  by  dexterity  and  good  conduct,  without 
bloodshed.^®'     They  appoint  public   triumphs  in 

'^'  This  was  the  notion  of  the  Harami,  or  Corporation  of 
Robbers,  in  Egypt.  See  the  story  of  Shater  Mansoor  in  the 
"Tales  of  the  Kamad'han."  It  prevailed  also,  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent, among  the  Spartans;  but  in  our  own  day  has  been  utterly 
discarded   by    the  greatest  generals,  who,  so   they  obtain  the 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC,  159 

such  cases,  and  erect  trophies  to  the  honour  of 
those  who  have  succeeded  well  in  them  ;  for  then 
do  they  reckon  that  a  man  acts  suitably  to  his 
nature  when  he  conc[uers  his  enemy  in  such  a  way 
that  no  other  creature  but  a  man  could  be  capable 
of  it,  and  that  is  by  the  strength  of  his  understand- 
ing. Bears,  lions,  boars,  wolves,  and  dogs,  and 
other  animals  employ  their  bodily  force  one  against 
another,  in  which,  as  many  of  them  are  superior  to 
man  both  in  strength  and  fierceness,  so  they  are  all 
subdued  by  the  reason  and  understanding  that  is 
in  him. 

"  The  only  design  of  the  Utopians  in  war,  is  to 
obtain  that  by  force  which,  if  it  had  been  granted 
them  in  time,  would  have  prevented  the  war ;  or, 
if  that  cannot  be  done,  to  take  so  severe  a  revenge 
of  those  that  have  injured  them,  that  they  may  be 
terrified  from  doing  the  like  in  all  time  coming. 
By  these  ends  they  measure  all  their  designs,  and 
manage  them  so  that  it  is  visible  that  the  appetite 
of  fame  or  vain  glory,  does  not  work  so  much  on 
them  as  a  just  care  of  their  own  security. 

"  As  soon  as  they  declare  war,  they  take  care  to 
have  a  great  many  schedules,  that  are  sealed  with 
their  common  seal,  affixed  in  the  most  conspicuous 
places  of  their  enemies'  country.  This  is  carried 
secretly,  and  done  in  many  places  all  at  once.  In 
those  they  promise  great  rewards  to  such  as  shall 

victory,  care  not  a  straw  for  the  expense  of  human  life  by  which 
it  is  purchased.  Accordingly,  they  gain  great  victories  and  an 
immensity  of  glory,  which  console  them  for  the  quantity  of 
plebeian  blood  they  shed. 


160 


UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 


kill  the  prince/^'''  and  lesser  in  proportion  to  such  as 
shall  kill  any  other  persons  who  are  those  on  whom, 
next  to  the  prince  himself,  they  cast  the  chief  blame 
of  the  war.  And  they  double  the  sum  to  him 
that,  instead  of  killing  the  person  so  marked  out, 
shall  take  him  alive,  and  put  him  in  their  hands. 
They  offer  not  only  indemnity  but  rewards  to  such 
of  the  persons  themselves  that  are  so  marked,  if 
they  will  act  against  their  countrymen.  By  this 
means  those  that  are  named  in  their  schedules 
become  not  only  distrustful  of  their  fellow-citizens, 
but  are  jealous  of  one  another,  and  are  much  dis- 
tracted by  fear  and  danger;  for  it  has  often  fallen 
out  that  many  of  them,  and  even  the  prince  him- 
self, have  been  betrayed  by  those  in  whom  they 
have  trusted  most :  for  the  rewards  that  the  Uto- 
pians oifer  are  so  unmeasurably  great  that  there  is 
no  sort  of  crime  to  which  men  cannot  be  drawn  by 
them.  They  consider  the  risk  that  those  run  who 
undertake  such  services,  and  offer  a  recompence 
proportioned  to  the  danger ;  not  only  a  vast  deal 
of  gold,  but  great  revenues  in  lands  that  lie  among 


'®^  Sir  Thomas  More's  mode  of  making  war  is  certainly  the 
most  objectionable  that  can  be  conceived.  It  would  put  a  dag- 
ger into  every  man's  hand,  and  furnish  a  ready  excuse  for  mur- 
ders without  number.  Had  the  princes  been  put  to  death  by  the 
enemy,  when  they  had  been  the  originators  of  an  unjust  war,  it 
had,  perhaps,  been  well.  But  who  would  have  determined 
when  the  war  urns  unjust  ?  Their  enemies  ?  But,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  an  enemy,  every  war  is  so  ;  and  most  unjust  of  all,  the 
wars  undertaken  in  defence  of  freedom.  This  mode,  therefore, 
of  terminating  national  quarrels  is  worse  than  that  of  the  scalp- 
ing Indians. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  161 

other  nations  that  are  their  friends,  where  they  may 
go  and  enjoy  them  very  securely  :  and  they  obT 
serve  the  promises  they  make  of  this  kind  most 
religiously.  They  do  very  much  approve  of  this 
way  of  corrupting  their  enemies,  though  it  appears 
to  others  to  be  a  base  and  cruel  thing ;  but  they 
look  on  it  as  a  wise  course,  to  make  an  end  of  that 
which  would  be  otherwise  a  great  war,  without  so 
much  as  hazarding  one  battle  to  decide  it.  They 
think  it  likewise  an  act  of  mercy  and  love  to 
mankind  to  prevent  the  great  slaughter  of  those 
that  must  otherwise  be  killed  in  the  progress  of 
the  war,  both  of  their  own  side  and  of  their  ene- 
mies, by  the  death  of  a  few  that  are  most  guilty ; 
and  that  in  so  doing  they  are  kind  even  to  their 
enemies,  and  pity  them  no  less  than  their  own 
people,  as  knowing  that  the  greater  part  of  them 
do  not  engage  in  the  war  of  their  own  accord, 
but  are  driven  into  it  by  the  passions  of  their 
prince. '^^ 

"  If  this  method  does  not  succeed  with  them,  then 
they  sow  seeds  of  contention  among  their  enemies, 
and  animate  the  prince's  brother,  or  some  of  the 
nobility,  to  aspire  to  the  crown.  If  they  cannot 
disunite  them  by  domestic  broils,  then  they  engage 
their  neighbours  against  them,  and  make  them'  set 
on  foot  some  old  pretensions,  which  are  never 
wanting  to  princes,  when  they  have  occasion  for 

"'^  The  condition  of  such  nations  would  be  still  more  to  be 
lamented,  if  the  remedy  were  not  placed  by  Providence  in  their 
own  hands.  If  their  princes  govern  ill,  they  know  what  to  do. 
There  are  other  forms  of  government  at  their  option. 

Q 


162  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

them.  And  they  supply  them  plentifully  with 
money,  though  but  very  sparingly  with  any  auxili-" 
ary  troops;  for  they  are  so  tender  of  their  own 
people  that  they  would  not  willingly  exchange 
one  of  them,  even  with  the  prince  of  their  enemies' 
country. 

"  But  as  they  keep  their  gold  and  silver  only  for 
such  an  occasion,  so  when  that  offers  itself  they 
easily  part  with  it,  since  it  would  be  no  inconve- 
nience to  them,  though  they  should  reserve  nothing 
of  it  to  themselves.  For,  besides  the  wealth  that 
they  have  among  them  at  home,  they  have  a  vast 
treasure  abroad ;  many  nations  round  about  them 
being  deep  in  their  debt.  So  that  they  hire  soldiers 
from  all  places  for  carrying  on  their  wars ;  but 
chiefly  from  the  Zapoletes,  who  live  five  hundred 
miles  from  Utopia  eastward.  They  are  a  rude, 
wild,  and  fierce  nation,  who  delight  in  the  woods 
and  rocks,  among  which  they  were  born  and  bred 
up.  They  are  hardened  both  against  heat,  cold, 
and  labour,  and  know  nothing  of  the  delicacies  of 
life.  They  do  not  apply  themselves  to  agricul- 
ture, nor  do  they  care  either  for  their  houses  or 
their  clothes.  Cattle  is  all  that  they  look  after ; 
and  for  the  greatest  part  they  live  either  by  their 
hunting  or  upon  rapine  ;  and  are  made,  as  it  were, 
only  for  war.  They  watch  all  opportunities  of 
engaging  in  it,  and  very  readily  embrace  such  as 
are  offered  them.  Great  numbers  of  them  will 
often  go  out,  and  offer  themselves  upon  a  very  low 
pay  to  serve  any  that  will  employ  them.  They 
know  none  of  the  arts  of  life,  but  those  that  lead 


HAPPY    KLPUBLIC.  163 

to  the  taking  it  away  ;  they  serve  those  that  hire 
them  both  with  much  courage  and  great  fidelity  ; 
l)ut  will  not  engage  to  serve  for  any  determined 
time,  and  agree  upon  such  terms  that  the  next 
day  they  may  go  over  to  the  enemies  of  those 
whom  they  serve,  if  they  offer  them  a  greater  pay  : 
and  they  will  perhaps  return  to  them  the  dry  after 
that,  upon  a  higher  advance  of  their  pay.'^*  There 
are  few  wars  in  which  they  make  not  a  consider- 
able part  of  the  armies  of  both  sides :  so  it  falls 
often  out,  that  they  that  are  of  kin  to  one  another, 
and  were  hired  in  the  same  country,  and  so  have 
lived  long  and  familiarly  together,  yet  they,  for- 
getting both  their  relation  and  former  friendship, 
kill  one  another  upon  no  other  consideration  but 
because  they  are  hired  to  it  for  a  little  money  by 
princes  of  different  interests.  And  so  great  regard 
have  they  to  money,  that  they  are  easily  wrought 
on  by  the  difference  of  one  penny  a  day  to  change 
sides.  So  entirely  does  their  avarice  turn  them  : 
and  yet  this  money,  on  which  they  are  so  much 
set,  is  of  little  use  to  them  ;  for  what  they  pur- 
chase thus  with  their  blood  they  quickly  waste  on 
luxury,  which  among  them  is  but  a  poor  and  miser- 
able form. 

"  This  nation  serves  the  Utopians  against  all 
people  whatsoever,  for  they  pay  higher  than  any 
other.     The  Utopians  hold  this  for  a  maxim,  that 

'^*  This  picture,  which  is  scarcely  exaggerated,  was  designed 
for  the  Swiss,  the  Arcadians  of  the  modern  world,  who,  by 
thus  trafficking  in  their  own  blood,  have  earned  an  infamous 
celebrity. 

Q   2 


164  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

as  they  seek  out  the  best  sort  of  men  for  their  own 
use  at  home,  so  they  make  use  of  this  worse  sort  of 
men  for  the  consumption  of  war;  and,  therefore, 
they  hire  them  with  the  offers  of  vast  rewards  to  ex- 
pose themselves  to  all  sorts  of  hazards,  out  of  which 
the  greater  part  never  returns  to  claim  their  pro- 
mises. Yet  they  make  them  good  most  religiously 
to  such  as  escape.  And  this  animates  them  to  ad- 
venture again  when  there  is  occasion  for  it;  for  the 
Utopians  are  not  at  all  troubled  how  many  of  them 
soever  happen  to  be  killed  ;  and  reckon  it  a  service 
done  to  mankind,  if  they  could  be  a  means  to  de- 
liver the  world  from  such  a  lewd  and  vicious  sort 
of  people,  that  seem  to  have  run  together  as  to  the 
drain  of  human  nature.  Next  to  these,  they  are 
served  in  their  wars  with  those  upon  whose  account 
they  undertake  them,  and  with  the  auxiliary  troops 
of  their  other  friends,  to  whom  they  join  some  few 
of  their  own  people,  and  send  some  man  of  eminent 
and  approved  virtue  to  command  in  chief  There 
are  two  sent  with  him,  who  during  his  command 
are  but  private  men,  but  the  first  is  to  succeed  him 
if  he  should  happen  to  be  either  killed  or  taken  ; 
and,  in  case  of  the  like  misfortune  to  him,  the 
third  comes  in  his  place ;  and  thus  they  provide 
against  ill  events,  that  such  accidents  as  may 
befal  their  generals  may  not  endanger  their  armies. 
When  they  draw  out  troops  of  their  own  people, 
they  take  such  out  of  every  city  as  freely  offer 
themselves  ;  for  none  are  forced  to  go  against 
their  wills,  since  they  think  that  if  any  man  is 
pressed  that  wants  courage,  he  will  not  only  act 


H.vppY  RF.rrnLic.  165 

faintly  but  by  his  cowardice  will  dishearten  others. 
But,  if  any  invasion  is  made  of  their  country, 
they  make  use  of  such  men,  if  they  have  good 
bodies,  though  they  are  not  brave,  and  either 
put  them  aboard  their  ships,  or  place  them  on 
the  walls  of  their  towns,  that  being  so  posted, 
they  may  not  find  occasions  of  flying  away ;  and 
thus  either  shame,  the  heat  of  action,  or  the  im- 
possibility of  flying,  bears  down  their  cowardice, 
and  so  they  make  often  a  virtue  of  necessity,  and 
behave  themselves  well,  because  nothing  else  is 
left  them.  But  as  they  force  no  man  to  go  into 
any  foreign  war  against  his  will,  so  they  do  not 
hinder  such  women  as  are  willing  to  go  along  with 
their  husbands  :  on  the  contrary,  they  encourage 
and  praise  them  much  for  doing  it ;  they  stand  often 
next  to  their  husbands  in  the  front  of  the  army. 
They  also  place  those  that  are  related  together,  and 
parents,  and  children,  kindred,  and  those  that  are 
mutually  allied  near  one  another ;  that  those  whom 
nature  has  inspired  with  the  greatest  zeal  of  assist- 
ing one  another,  may  be  the  nearest  and  readiest 
to  do  it ;  and  it  is  matter  of  great  reproach,  if 
husband  or  wife  survive  one  another,  or  if  a  child 
survives  his  parent,  and  therefore  when  they  come 
to  be  engaged  in  action,  they  continue  to  fight 
to  the  last  man,  if  their  enemies  stand  before  them. 
And  as  they  use  all  prudent  methods  to  avoid  the 
endangering  their  own  men,  and  if  it  is  possi- 
ble, let  all  the  action  and  danger  fall  upon  the 
troiips  that  they  hire ;  so  if  it  comes  to  that,  that 
they  must  engage,  they  charge  them  with  as  much 


166  UTOPIA  ;    OR,   THE 

courage,  as  they  avoided  it  before  with  prudence ; 
nor  is  it  a  fierce  charge  at  first,  but  it  increases  by 
degrees.  And  as  they  continue  in  action,  they 
grow  more  obstinate,  and  press  harder  upon  the 
enemy,  insomuch  that  they  will  much  sooner  die 
than  give  ground  ;  for  the  certainty  in  which  they 
are,  thattheir  children  will  be  well  looked  after  when 
they  are  dead,  frees  them  from  all  anxiety  concern- 
ing them,  which  does  often  master  men  of  great 
courage,  and  thus  they  are  animated  by  a  noble 
and  invincible  resolution.  Their  skill  in  military 
matters  increases  their  courage  ;  and  the  good  opi- 
nions which  are  infused  in  them  during  their  edu- 
cation, according  to  the  laws  of  the  country,  and 
their  learning,  add  more  vigour  to  their  minds  ;  for 
as  they  do  not  undervalue  life  to  the  degree  of 
throwing  it  away  too  prodigally,  so  they  are  not  so 
indecently  fond  of  it,  that  when  they  see  they  must 
sacrifice  it  honourably,  they  will  preserve  it  by 
base  and  unbecoming  methods.  In  the  greatest 
heat  of  action,  the  bravest  of  their  youth,  that  have 
jointly  devoted  themselves  for  that  piece  of  ser- 
vice, single  out  the  general  of  their  enemies,  and 
set  on  him  either  openly,  or  lay  an  ambuscade  for 
him.  If  any  of  them  are  spent  and  wearied  in 
The  attempt,  others  come  in  their  stead,  so  that 
they  never  give  over  pursuing  him,  either  by  close 
weapons,  when  they  can  get  near  him,  or  those 
that  wound  at  a  distance,  when  others  get  in  be- 
tween :  thus  they  seldom  fail  to  kill  or  take  him 
at  last,  if  he  does  not  secure  himself  by  flight. 
When  they  gain  the  day  in  any  battle,  they  kill  as 


HAITV    UEPUBLIC.  107 

few  as  possibly  they  can,  and  are  much  more  set 
on  taking  many  prisoners,  than  on  killing  those 
that  fly  before  them  :  nor  do  they  ever  let  their 
men  so  loose  in  the  pursuit  of  their  enemies,  that 
they  do  not  retain  an  entire  body  still  in  order;  so 
that  if  they  have  been  forced  to  eng-age  the  last  of 
their  battalions  before  they  could  gain  the  day, 
they  will  rather  let  their  enemies  all  escape  than 
pursue  them,  when  their  own  army  is  in  disorder  ; 
remembering  well  what  has  often  fallen  out  to 
themselves,  that  when  the  main  body  of  their  army 
has  been  quite  defeated  and  broken,  so  that  their 
enemies  reckoning  the  victory  was  sure,  and  in 
their  hands,  have  let  themselves  loose  into  an  irre- 
gular pursuit,  a  few  of  them  that  lay  for  a  reserve, 
waiting  a  fit  opportunity,  have  fallen  on  them 
while  they  were  in  this  chace,  straggling  in  disor- 
der, apprehensive  of  no  danger,  but  counting  the 
day  their  own,  and  have  turned  the  whole  action, 
and  so  wresting  out  of  their  hands  a  victory  that 
seemed  certain  and  undoubted,  the  vanquished 
have  of  a  sudden  become  victorious. 

"  It  is  hard  to  tell  whether  they  are  more  dex- 
terous in  laying  or  avoiding  ambushes  :  they  some- 
times seem  to  fly  when  it  is  far  from  their  thoughts; 
and  when  they  intend  to  give  ground,  they  do  it 
so,  that  it  is  very  hard  to  find  out  their  design. 
If  they  see  they  are  ill  posted,  or  are  like  to  be 
overpowered  by  numbers,  then  they  either  march 
off  in  the  night  with  great  silence,  or  by  some 
stratagem  they  delude  their  enemies  :  if  they  retire 
in  the  day-time,  they  do  it  in  such  order,  that  it  is 


168  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

no  less  dangerous  to  fall  upon  them  in  a  retreat, 
than  in  a  march.  They  fortify  their  camps  well 
with  a  deep  and  large  trench,  and  throw  up  the 
earth  that  is  dug  out  of  it  for  a  wall ;  nor  do  they 
employ  only  their  slaves  in  this,  but  the  whole 
army  works  at  it,  except  those  that  are  then  upon 
the  guard ;  so  that  when  so  many  hands  are  at 
work,  a  great  line  and  a  strong  fortification  is 
finished  in  so  short  a  time,  that  it  is  scarce  cre^ 
dible.  '^^  Their  armour  is  very  strong  for  defence, 
and  yet  is  not  so  heavy  as  to  make  them  uneasy  in 
their  marches ;  they  can  even  swim  with  it.  All 
that  are  trained  up  to  war,  practise  swimming 
much.  Both  horse  and  foot  make  great  use  of 
arrows,  and  are  very  expert  at  it.  They  have  no 
swords,  but  fight  with  a  poleaxe  that  is  both  sharp 
and  heavy,  by  which  they  thrust  or  strike  down  an 
enemy.  They  are  very  good  at  finding  out  war- 
like machines,  and  disguise  them  so  well,  that  the 
enemy  does  not  perceive  them  till  he  feels  the  use 
of  them  ;  so  that  he  cannot  prepare  such  a  defence 
against  them,  by  which  they  might  be  made  ridi- 
culous as  well  as  useless.  The  chief  consideration 
had  in  the  making  of  them  is,  that  they  may  be 
easily  carried  and  managed. 


'^''  The  author  had  here  in  view  the  practice  of  the  Roman 
armies,  who  worked  as  described  in  the  text,  and  have  left,  in 
almost  every  country  in  Europe,  a  camp  thus  fortified,  an  object 
of  admiration  to  all  mankind.  Never  was  military  discipline 
carried  so  far  as  by  the  republicans  of  Rome,  whose  valour  bore 
down  everything  before  it,  and  whose  perseverance  wore  out  the 
patience  of  the  most  determined  foes. 


HAPPY    RKPUBLIC.  169 

"If  they  agree  to  a  truce,  they  observe  it  so  reli- 
giously, that  no  provocations  will  make  them 
break  it.  They  never  lay  their  enemies'  country 
waste,  nor  burn  their  corn ;  and  even  in  their 
marches  they  take  all  possible  care,  that  neither 
horse  nor  foot  may  tread  it  down,  for  they  do  not 
know  but  that  they  may  have  use  for  it  themselves. 
They  hurt  no  man  that  they  find  disaiTned,  unless 
he  is  a  spy.  When  a  town  is  surrendered  to  them, 
tliey  take  it  into  their  protection ;  and  when  they 
carry  a  place  by  storm,  they  never  plunder  it,  but 
put  those  only  to  the  sword  that  opposed  the  ren- 
dering it  up,  and  make  the  rest  of  the  garrison 
slaves  :  but  for  the  other  inhabitants,  they  do  them 
no  hurt;  and  if  any  of  them  had  advised  a  sur- 
render of  it,  they  give  them  good  rewards  out  of 
the  estates  of  those  that  they  condemn,  and  distri- 
bute the  rest  among  their  auxiliary  troops,  but 
they  themselves  take  no  share  of  the  spoil. 

"  When  a  war  is  ended,  they  do  not  oblige  their 
friends  to  reimburse  them  of  their  expense  in  it ; 
but  they  take  that  from  the  conquered,  either  in 
money,  which  they  keep  for  the  next  occasion,  or 
in  lands,  out  of  wliich  a  constant  revenue  is  to  be 
paid  them  ;  by  many  increases,  the  revenue  which 
they  draw  out  from  several  countries  on  such  occa- 
sions, is  now  risen  to  above  700,000  ducats  a  year. 
They  send  some  of  their  own  people  to  receive 
these  revenues,  who  have  orders  to  live  magnifi- 
cently, and  like  princes,  and  so  they  consume  much 
of  it  upon  the  place;  and  either  bring  over  the 
rest  to  Utopia,  or  lend  it  to  that  nation  in  which  it 


170  UTOFIA  ;    OR,    THE 

lies.  This  they  most  commonly  do,  unless  some 
great  occasion,  which  falls  out  but  very  seldom, 
should  oblige  them  to  call  for  it  all.  It  is  out  of 
these  lands  that  they  assign  these  rewards  to  such 
as  they  encourage  to  adventure  on  desperate  at- 
tempts, which  was  mentioned  formerly.  If  any 
prince  that  engages  in  war  with  them  is  making 
preparations  for  invading  their  country,  they  pre- 
vent him,  and  make  his  country  the  seat  of  the 
war,  for  they  do  not  willingly  suffer  any  war  to 
break  in  upon  their  island ;  and  if  that  should  hap- 
pen, they  would  only  defend  themselves  by  their 
own  people,  but  would  not  at  all  call  for  auxiliary 
troops  to  their  assistance. 

OF    THE    RELIGIONS    OF    THE    UTOPIANS. 

"  There  are  several  sorts  of  religions,  not  only 
in  different  parts  of  the  island,  but  even  in  every 
town  ;  some  worshipping  the  sun,  others  the  moon, 
or  one  of  the  planets.  Some  worship  such  men  as 
have  been  eminent  in  former  times  for  virtue  or 
glory,  not  only  as  ordinary  deities,  but  as  the 
supreme  God;  yet  the  greater  and  wiser  sort  of 
them  worship  none  of  these,  but  adore  one  eternal, 
invisible,  infinite,  and  incomprehensible  Deity, "''' 
as  a  being  that  is  far  above  all  our  apprehensions, 
that  is  spread  over  the  whole  universe,  not  by  its 

'^''  Something  like  the  state  of  things  here  described  existed 
in  Greece,  and,  perhaps,  in  no  other  country,  at  least  to  the 
same  extent.  Sir  Thomas  More  evidently  does  not  disapprove 
of  it,  but  rather  exaggerates  the  superstition  of  the  ancients,  and 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  171 

bulk,  but  by  its  power  and  virtue;  him  they  call  the 
Father  of  all,  and  acknowledge  that  the  beginnings, 
the  increase,  tlie  progress,  the  vicissitudes,  and  the 
end  of  all  things  come  only  from  him ;  nor  do 
they  oft'er  divine  honours  to  any  but  to  him  alone. 
And  indeed,  though  they  differ  concerning  other 
things,  yet  all  agree  in  this,  that  they  think  there 
is  one  Supreme  Being  that  made  and  governs  the 
world,  whom  they  call  in  the  language  of  their 
country,  Mithras.  They  differ  in  this,  that  one 
thinks  the  God  whom  he  worships  is  this  Supreme 
Being,  and  another  thinks  that  his  idol  is  that 
God  ;  but  they  all  agree  in  one  principle,  that 
whatever  is  this  Supreme  Being,  is  also  that  great 
essence,  to  whose  glory  and  majesty  all  honours 
are  ascribed  by  the  consent  of  all  nations. 

"  By  degrees  they  all  fall  off  from  the  various  su- 
perstitions that  are  among  them,  and  grow  up  to  that 
one  religion  that  is  most  in  request,  and  is  much 
the  best ;  and  there  is  no  doubt  to  be  made,  but 
that  all  the  others  had  vanished  long  ago,  if  it  had 
not  happened  that  some  unlucky  accidents  falling 
on  those  who  were  advising  the  change  of  those 
superstitious  ways  of  worship,  these  have  been 
ascribed  not  to  chance,  but  to  somewhat  from  hea- 
ven, and  so  have  raised  in  them  a  I'ear  that  the 
god,  whose  worship  was  like  to  be  abandoned,  has 


allows  it  to  his  Utopians ;  for  even  the  Greeks  never  thought 
their  heroes,  or  deified  men,  even  on  the  same  level  with  their 
lowest  gods,  to  say  nothing  of  the  Supreme.  Their  philoso- 
phers conceived  of  God  as  we  do. 


172  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

interposed,  and  revenged  himself  on  those  that  de- 
signed it. 

"  After  they  had  heard  from  us  an  account  of 
the  doctrine,  the  course  of  life,  and  the  miracles  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  wonderful  constancy  of  so  many 
martyrs,  whose  blood  that  was  so  willingly  offered 
up  by  them,  was  the  chief  occasion  of  spreading 
their  religion  over  a  vast  number  of  nations,  it  is 
not  to  be  imagined  how  inclined  they  were  to  re- 
ceive it.  I  shall  not  determine  whether  this  pro- 
ceeded from  any  secret  inspiration  of  God,  or 
whether  it  was  because  it  seemed  so  favourable  to 
that  community  of  goods,  which  is  an  opinion  so 
particular,  as  well  as  so  dear  to  them  ;  since  they 
perceived  that  Christ  and  his  followers  lived  by 
that  rule ;  and  that  it  was  still  kept  up  in  some 
communities  among  the  sincerest  sort  of  Christians. 
From  whichsoever  of  these  motives  it  might  be, 
true  it  is,  that  many  of  them  came  over  to  our  reli- 
gion, and  were  initiated  into  it  by  baptism.  But 
as  two  of  our  number  were  dead,  so  none  of  the 
four  that  survived  were  in  priest's  orders,  therefore 
we  could  do  no  more  but  baptize  them  ;  so  that  to 
our  great  regret  they  could  not  partake  of  the  other 
sacraments,  that  can  only  be  administered  by 
priests :  but  they  are  instructed  concerning  them, 
and  long  most  vehemently  for  them ;  and  they 
were  disputing  very  much  among  themselves, 
whether  one  that  were  chosen  by  them  to  be  a 
priest,  would  not  be  thereby  qualified  to  do  all  the 
things  that  belong  to  that  character,  even  though 
he  had  no  authority  derived  from  the  pope;  and 


^  HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  173 

they  seemed  to  be  resolved  to  choose  some  for  that 
employment,  but  ihey  had  not  done  it  when  I  left 
them. 

"  Those  among  them  that  have  not  received  our 
religion,  yet  do  not  fright  any  from  it,  and  use 
none  ill  that  goes  over  to  it ;  so  that  all  the  while 
I  was  there,  one  man  was  only  punished  on  this 
occasion.  He  being  newly  baptized  did,  notwith- 
standing all  that  we  could  say  to  the  contrary,  dis- 
pute publicly  concerning  the  Christian  religion, 
with  more  zeal  than  discretion,  and  with  so  much 
heat,  that  he  not  only  preferred  our  worship  to 
theirs,  but  condemned  all  their  rites  as  profane, 
and  cried  out  against  all  that  adhered  to  them,  as 
impious  and  sacrilegious  persons,  that  were  to  be 
damned  to  everlasting  burnings.  Upon  this,  he 
having  preached  these  things  often,  was  seized  on, 
and  after  a  trial,  he  was  condemned  to  banish- 
ment, not  for  having  disparaged  their  religion,  but 
for  his  inflaming  the  people  to  sedition ;  for  this  is 
one  of  their  ancientest  laws,  that  no  man  ought  to 
be  punished  for  his  religion.  "'^  At  the  first  con- 
stitution of  their  government,  Utopus  having  un- 
derstood, that  before  his  coming  among  them,  the 
old  inhabitants  had  been  engaged  in  great  quarrels 
concerning  religion,  by  which  they  were  so  broken 
among  themselves,  that  he  found  it  an  easy  thing 
to  conquer  them,  since  they  did  not  unite  their 


'*■  Sir  Thomas  I\Iore  lived  to  think  differently,  and  became 
himself  a  persecutor !  So  little  is  man  capable  of  resisting  the 
spirit  of  his  age. 


174  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

forces  against  him,  but  every  different  party  in 
religion  fought  by  themselves.  Upon  that,  after 
he  had  subdued  them,  he  made  a  law  to  that  every 
man  might  be  of  what  religion  he  pleased,  and 
might  endeavour  to  draw  others  to  it  by  the  force 
of  argument,  and  by  amicable  and  modest  ways, 
but  without  bitterness  against  those  of  other  opi- 
nions, but  that  he  ought  to  use  no  other  force  but 
that  of  persuasion,  and  was  neither  to  mix  re- 
proaches nor  violence  with  it ;  and  such  as  did 
otherwise  were  to  be  condemned  to  banishment  or 
slavery. 

"  This  law  was  made  by  Utopus,  not  only  for 
preserving  the  public  peace,  which  he  saw  suffered 
much  by  daily  contentions  and  irreconcileable 
heats  in  these  matters,  but  because  he  thought  the 
interest  of  religion  itself  required  it.  He  judged 
it  was  not  fit  to  determine  anything  rashly  in  that 
matter ;  and  seemed  to  doubt  whether  those  dif- 
ferent forms  of  religion  might  not  all  come  from 
God,  who  might  inspire  men  differently,  he  being 
possibly  pleased  with  a  variety  in  it :  ""^  and  so  he 
thought  it  was  a  very  indecent  and  foolish  thing 
for  any  man  to  frighten  and  threaten  other  men  to 
believe  anything  because  it  seemed  true  to  him ; 
and  in  case  that  one  religion  were  certainly  true, 
and  all  the  rest  false,  he  reckoned  that  the  native 
force  of  truth  would  break  forth  at  last,  and  shine 


'^^  This  opinion  has  been  advanced  in  our  own  age;  and 
perhaps,  with  certain  restrictions,  it  may  be  true.  But  on  such 
a  j'oint  no  one  can  safely  dogmatize. 


H.vrrY  REruBLic.  175 

blight,  if  it  were  managed  only  by  the  strength  of 
argument,  and  with  a  winning  gentleness  ;  whereas, 
if  such  matters  were  carried  on  by  violence  and 
tumults,  then,  as  the  wickedest  sort  of  men  are 
always  the  most  obstinate,  so  the  holiest  and  best 
religion  in  the  world  might  be  overlaid  with  so 
much  foolish  superstition,  that  it  would  be  quite 
choked  w  ith  it,  as  com  is  with  briars  and  thorns ; 
therefore  he  left  men  wholly  to  their  liberty  in  this 
matter,  that  they  might  be  free  to  believe  as  they 
should  see  cause ;  only  he  made  a  solemn  and 
severe  law  against  such  as  should  so  far  degenerate 
from  the  dignity  of  human  nature,  as  to  think  that 
our  souls  died  with  our  bodies,  or  that  the  world 
was  governed  by  chance,  without  a  wise,  over- 
ruling Providence  :  for  they  did  all  formerly  be- 
lieve that  there  was  a  state  of  rewards  and  j^unish- 
ments  to  the  good  and  bad  after  this  life  ;  and  they 
look  on  those  that  think  otherwise,  as  scarce  fit  to 
be  counted  men,  since  they  degrade  so  noble  a 
being  as  our  soul  is,  and  reckon  it  to  be  no  better 
than  a  beast.  So  far  are  they  from  looking  on 
such  men  as  fit  for  human  society,  or  to  be  citizens 
of  a  well-ordered  conmionwealth ;  since  a  man  of 
such  principles  must  needs,  as  oft  as  he  dares  do 
it,  despise  all  their  law  s  and  customs  :  for  there  is 
no  doubt  to  be  made,  that  a  man  who  is  afraid  of 
nothing  but  the  law,  and  apprehends  nothing  after 
death,  will  not  stand  to  break  through  all  the  laws 
of  his  country,  either  by  fraud  or  force,  that  so  he 
may  satisfy  his  appetites.  They  never  raise  any 
that  hold  these  maxims,  either  to  honours  or  offices. 


176  UTOPIA;    OR,  THE 

nor  employ  them  in  any  public  trust,  but  despise 
them,  as  men  of  base  and  sordid  minds :  yet  they 
do  not  punish  them,  because  they  lay  this  down 
for  a  ground,  that  a  man  cannot  make  himself 
believe  anything  he  pleases,  nor  do  they  drive  any 
to  dissemble  their  thoughts  by  threatenings,  so 
that  men  are  not  tempted  to  lie  or  disguise  their 
opinions  among  them,  which  being  a  sort  of  fraud, 
is  abhorred  by  the  Utopians.  They  take,  indeed, 
care  that  they  may  not  argue  for  these  opinions, 
especially  before  the  common  people ;  but  they  do 
suffer,  and  even  encourage  them  to  dispute  con- 
cerning them  in  private  with  their  priests,  and 
other  grave  men,  being  confident  that  they  will 
be  cured  of  those  mad  opinions,  by  having  reason 
laid  before  them.  There  are  many  among  them 
that  run  far  to  the  other  extreme,  though  it  is 
neither  thought  an  ill  nor  unreasonable  opinion, 
and  therefore  is  not  at  all  discouraged.  They 
think  that  the  souls  of  beasts  are  immortal,  though 
far  inferior  to  the  dignity  of  the  human  soul,  and 
not  capable  of  so  great  a  happiness.  They  are 
almost  all  of  them  very  firmly  persuaded,  that 
good  men  will  be  infinitely  happy  in  another  state ; 
so  that  though  they  are  compassionate  to  all  that 
are  sick,  yet  they  lament  no  man's  death,  except 
they  see  him  part  with  life  uneasy,  and  as  if  he 
were  forced  to  it ;  for  they  look  on  this  as  a  very  ill 
presage,  as  if  the  soul,  being  conscious  to  itself  of 
guilt,  and  c^uite  hopeless,  were  afraid  to  die  from 
some  secret  hints  of  approaching  misery.  They 
think  that  such  a  man's  appearance  before  God 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  177. 

cannot  be  acceptable  to  him,  who  being  called  on, 
does  not  go  out  cheerfully,  but  is  backward  and 
unwilling,  and  is,  as  it  were,  dragged  to  it.  They 
are  struck  with  horror  when  they  see  any  die  in 
this  manner;  and  carry  them  out  in  silence,  and 
with  sorrow,  and  praying  God  that  he  would  be 
merciful  to  the  errors  of  the  departed  soul,  they 
lay  the  body  in  the  ground :  but  when  any  die 
cheerfully,  and  full  of  hope,  they  do  not  mourn 
for  them,  but  sing  hymns  when  they  carry  out 
their  bodies  ;  and  commending  their  souls  very  ear- 
nestly to  God,  in  such  a  manner,  that  their  whole 
behaviour  is  rather  grave  than  sad,  they  burn  their 
body,  and  set  up  a  pillar  where  the  pile  was  made, 
with  an  inscription  to  the  honour  of  such  men's 
memory.  And  when  they  come  from  the  funeral, 
they  discourse  of  their  good  life  and  worthy  actions, 
but  speak  of  nothing  oftener  and  with  more  plea- 
sure, than  of  their  serenity  at  their  death.  They 
think  such  respect  paid  to  the  memory  of  good 
men,  is  botli  the  greatest  incitement  to  engage 
others  to  follow  their  example,  and  the  most  ac- 
ceptable worship  that  can  be  offered  them ;  for 
they  believe  that  though,  by  the  imperfection  of 
human  sight,  they  are  invisible  to  us,  yet  they  are 
present  among  us,  and  hear  those  discourses  that 
pass  concerning  themselves.  And  they  think  that 
it  does  not  agree  to  the  happiness  of  departed 
souls,  not  to  be  at  liberty  to  be  where  they  will ; 
nor  do  they  imagine  them  capable  of  the  ingrati- 
tude of  not  desiring  to  see  those  friends,  with 
whom  thev  lived  on  earth  in  the  strictest  bonds  of 


178  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

love  and  kindness  :  and  they  judge  that  such  good 
principles,  as  all  other  good  things,  are  rather  in- 
creased than  lessened  in  good  men  after  their 
death  ;  so  that  they  conclude  they  are  still  among 
the  living,  and  do  observe  all  that  is  said  or  done 
by  them.  And  they  engage  in  all  affairs  that 
they  set  about  with  so  much  the  more  assurance, 
trusting  to  their  protection ;  and  the  opinion  that 
they  have  of  their  ancestors  being  still  present,  is 
a  great  restraint  on  them  from  all  ill  designs. 

"  They  despise  and  laugh  at  all  sorts  of  auguries, 
and  the  other  vain  and  superstitious  ways  of  divi- 
nation, that  are  so  much  observed  among  other 
nations ;  but  they  have  great  reverence  for  such 
miracles  as  cannot  flow  from  any  of  the  powers  of 
nature,  and  look  on  them  as  effects  and  indications 
of  the  presence  of  the  Supreme  Being,  of  which 
they  say  many  instances  have  occurred  among 
them ;  and  that  sometimes  their  public  prayers, 
whicli  upon  great  and  dangerous  occasions  they 
have  solemnly  put  up  to  God,  with  assured  confi- 
dence of  being  heard,  have  been  answered  in  a 
miraculous  manner. 

"  They  think  the  contemplating  Grod  in  his 
works,  and  the  adoring  him  for  them,  is  a  very 
acceptable  piece  of  worship  to  him. 

"  There  are  many  among  them  that,  upon  a 
motive  of  religion,  neglect  learning,  and  apply 
themselves  to  no  sort  of  study  ;  nor  do  they  allow 
themselves  any  leisure  time,  but  are  perpetually 
employed  in  doing  somewhat,  believing  that  by 
the  good  things  that  a  man  does  he  secures  to  him- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  179 

self  that  happiness  that  comes  after  death.  Some  of 
these  visit  the  sick ;  othei's  mend  highways,  cleanse 
ditches,  or  repair  bridges,  and  dig  turf,  gravel,  or 
stones.  Others  fell  and  cleave  timber,  and  bring 
wood,  corn,  and  other  necessaries,  on  carts  into  their 
towns.  Nor  do  these  only  serve  the  public,  but  they 
serve  even  private  men  more  than  the  slaves  them- 
selves do ;  for  if  there  is  anywhere  a  rough,  hard, 
and  sordid  piece  of  work  to  be  done,  from  which 
many  are  frightened  by  the  labour  and  loathsome- 
ness of  it,  if  not  the  despair  of  accomplishing  it, 
they  do  cheerfully,  and  of  their  own  accord,  take 
that  to  their  share ;  and  by  that  means,  as  they 
ease  others  very  much,  so  they  afflict  themselves, 
and  spend  their  whole  life  in  hard  labour ;  and 
yet  they  do  not  value  themselves  upon  that,  nor 
lessen  other  people's  credit,  that  by  so  doing  they 
may  raise  their  own  ;  but,  by  their  stooping  to 
such  servile  employments,  they  are  so  far  from 
being  despised  that  they  are  so  much  the  more 
esteemed  by  the  whole  nation. 

"  Of  these  there  are  two  sorts.  Some  live  un- 
married and  chaste,  and  abstain  from  eating  any 
sort  of  flesh,  and  thus  weaning  themselves  from 
all  the  pleasures  of  the  present  life,  which  they 
account  hurtful,  they  pursue,  even  by  the  hardest 
and  most  painful  methods  possible,  that  blessed- 
ness which  they  hope  for  hereafter ;  and  the  nearer 
they  approach  to  it  they  are  the  more  cheerful  and 
earnest  in  their  endeavours  after  it.  Another  sort 
of  them  are  less  willing  to  put  themselves  to  much 
toil,  and  so  they  prefer  a  married  state  to  a  single 

R  2 


180  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

one  ;  and  as  they  do  not  deny  themselves  the  plea- 
sure of  it,  so  they  think  the  begetting  of  children 
is  a  debt  which  they  owe  to  human  nature  and  to 
their  country.  Nor  do  they  avoid  any  pleasure 
that  does  not  hinder  labour ;  and,  therefore,  they 
eat  flesh  so  much  the  more  willingly  because  they 
find  themselves  so  much  the  more  able  for  work  by 
it.  The  Utopians  look  upon  these  as  the  wiser 
sect,  but  they  esteem  the  others  as  the  holier. 
They  would,  indeed,  laugh  at  any  man,  that  upon 
the  principles  of  reason,  would  prefer  an  unmarried 
state  to  a  married,  or  a  life  of  labour  to  an  easy 
life  ;  but  they  reverence  and  admire  such  as  do  it 
upon  a  motive  of  religion.  There  is  nothing  in 
which  they  are  more  cautious  than  in  giving  their 
opinions  positively  concerning  any  sort  of  religion. 
The  men  that  lead  those  severe  lives  are  called  in 
the  language  of  their  country,  Brutheskas,  which 
answers  to  those  we  call  religious  orders. 

"  Their  priests  are  men  of  eminent  piety,  and 
therefore  they  are  but  few  ;  for  there  are  only  thir- 
teen in  every  town,  one  for  every  temple  in  it ; 
but,  when  they  go  to  war,  seven  of  these  go  out 
with  their  forces,  and  seven  others  are  chosen  to 
supply  their  room  in  their  absence ;  but  these  enter 
again  upon  their  employment  when  they  return, 
and  those  who  served  in  their  absence  attend  upon 
the  high-priest  till  vacancies  fall  by  death ;  for 
there  is  one  that  is  set  over  all  the  rest.  They  are 
chosen  by  the  people,  as  the  other  magistrates  are, 
by  suffrages  given  in  secret,  for  preventing  of 
factions ;  and  when  they  are  chosen  they  are  con- 


HAPPY    RKPUI3LIC.  181 

secrated  by  the  college  of  priests.  The  care  of  all 
sacred  things,  and  the  worehip  of  God,  and  an  in- 
spection into  the  manners  of  the  people,  is  com- 
mitted to  them.  It  is  a  reproach  to  a  man  to 
be  sent  for  by  any  of  them,  or  to  be  even  spoken 
to  in  secret  by  them,  for  that  always  gives  some 
suspicions.  All  that  is  incumbent  on  them  is  only 
to  exhort  and  admonish  people ;  for  the  power  of 
correcting  and  punishing  ill  men  belongs  wholly 
to  the  prince  and  to  the  other  magistrates.  The 
severest  thing  that  the  priest  does  is  the  excluding 
of  men  that  are  desperately  wicked  from  joining  in 
their  worship.'*^  There  is  not  any  sort  of  punisli- 
ment  that  is  more  dreaded  by  them  than  this  ;  for, 
as  it  loads  them  with  infamy,  so  it  fills  them  with 
secret  horrors, — such  is  their  reverence  to  their  reli- 
gion. Nor  will  their  bodies  be  long  exempted  from 
their  share  of  trouble;  for,  if  they  do  not  very 
quickly  satisfy  the  priests  of  the  truth  of  their 
repentance,  they  are  seized  on  by  the  senate,  and 
punished  for  their  impiety.  The  breeding  of  the 
youth  belongs  to  the  priests ;  yet  they  do  not  take 
so  much  care  of  instructing  them  in  letters  as  of 
forming  their  minds  and  manners  aright  ;  and 
they  use  all  possible  methods  to  infuse  very  early 


'^'  This  was  accounted  a  grievous  punishment  among  the 
Greeks,  more  particularly  at  Athens,  where  religion  flourished 
more  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  ancient  world.  Impiety  they 
accounted  among  the  worst  offences  a  man  could  commit,  and  it 
was  their  firm  persuasion  that  his  wickedness  brought  a  curse 
upon  the  country  at  large ;  hence  the  severity  of  his  punish- 
ment. 


182  UTOPIA  ;    OR,    THE 

in  the  tender  and  flexible  minds  of  children  such 
opinions  as  are  both  good  in  themselves,  and  will 
be  useful  to  their  country  ;  for  when  deep  impres- 
sions of  these  things  are  made  at  that  age,  they 
follow  men  through  the  whole  course  of  their  lives, 
and  conduce  much  for  the  preserving  the  peace  of 
the  government,  which  suffers  by  nothing  more 
than  by  vices  that  rise  out  of  ill  opinions.  The 
wives  of  their  priests  are  the  most  extraordinary 
women  of  the  whole  country  :  sometimes  the  wo- 
men themselves  are  made  priests,  though  that  falls 
out  but  seldom,  nor  are  any  but  ancient  widows 
chosen  into  that  order. 

"  None  of  the  magistrates  have  greater  honour 
paid  them  than  is  paid  the  priests;  and  if  they 
should  happen  to  commit  any  crime,  they  would 
not  be  questioned  for  it :  their  punishment  is  left 
to  God  and  to  their  own  consciences ;  for  they  do 
not  think  it  lawful  to  lay  hands  on  any  man,  how 
wicked  soever  he  is,  that  has  been  in  a  peculiar 
manner  dedicated  to  God.''°  Nor  do  they  find  any 
great  inconvenience  in  this,  both  because  they  have 
so  few  priests,  and  because  these  are  chosen  with 
much  caution,  so  that  it  must  be  a  very  unusual 
thing  to  find  one  who  was,  merely  out  of  regard  to 
his  virtue,  and  for  his  being  esteemed  a  singularly 


'""  Here  we  discover  the  strongest  mark  anywhere  discernible 
throughout  the  work  that  the  author  was  a  Papist.  A  sensible 
Pagan  would  have  spurned  such  a  doctrine,  and  agreed  with  the 
Protestant  in  deciding  that,  in  proportion  to  the  sacredness  of  the 
priest's  calling,  should  be  the  severity  of  his  punishment  ;  for 
from  him  to  whom  much  is  given  much  should  be  required. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  183 

good  man,  raised  up  to  so  great  a  dignity,  degenerate 
into  such  corruption  and  vice.  And  if  such  a  thing 
should  fall  out,  (for  man  is  a  changeable  creature,) 
yet  there  being  few  piiests,  and  these  having  no 
autliority  but  that  which  arises  out  of  the  respect 
that  is  paid  them,  nothing  that  is  of  great  conse- 
quence to  the  public,  can  come  from  the  indemnity 
that  the  priests  enjoy. 

"  They  have,  indeed,  very  few  of  them,  lest 
greater  numbers  sharing  in  the  same  honour,  might 
make  the  dignity  of  that  order  which  they  esteem 
so  highly,  to  sink  in  its  reputation.  They  also 
think  it  is  hard  to  find  out  many  that  are  of  such  a 
pitch  of  goodness  as  to  be  equal  to  that  dignity  for 
which  they  judge  that  ordinary  virtues  do  not 
qualify  a  man  sufficiently  :  nor  are  the  priests  in 
greater  veneration  among  them  than  they  are 
among  their  neighbouring  nations,  as  you  may 
imagine  by  that  which  I  think  gives  occasion  for 
it. 

"  When  the  Utopians  engage  in  a  battle,  the 
priests  that  accompany  them  to  the  war  kneel  down 
during  the  action,  in  a  place  not  far  from  the  field, 
apparalled  in  their  sacred  vestments ;  and,  lifting 
up  their  hands  to  heaven,  they  pray,  first  for  peace, 
and  then  for  victory  to  their  own  side,  and  particu- 
larly that  it  may  be  gained  without  the  effusion  of 
much  blood  on  either  side  ;  and,  when  the  victory 
turns  to  tlieir  side,  they  run  in  among  their  own  men, 
to  restrain  their  fury  ;  and  if  any  of  their  enemies 
see  them  or  call  to  them,  they  are  preserved  by  that 
means ;  and  such  as  can  come  so  near  them  as  to 


184  UTOPIA;    OR,    THE 

touch  their  garments  have  not  only  their  lives  but 
their  fortunes  secured  to  them.  It  is  upon  this 
account  that  all  the  nations  round  about  consider 
them  so  much  and  pay  them  so  great  reverence,  that 
they  have  been  often  no  less  able  to  preserve  their 
own  people  from  the  fury  of  their  enemies  than  to 
save  their  enemies  from  their  rage  :  for  it  has  some- 
times fallen  out,  that  when  their  armies  have  been 
in  disorder  and  forced  to  fly,  so  that  their  enemies 
were  running  upon  the  slaughter  and  spoil,  the 
priests,  by  interposing,  have  stopped  the  shedding 
of  more  blood,  and  have  separated  them  from  one 
another ;  so  that,  by  their  mediation,  a  peace  has 
been  concluded  on  very  reasonable  terms ;  nor  is 
there  any  nation  about  them  so  fierce,  cruel,  or 
barbarous  as  not  to  look  upon  their  persons  as 
sacred  and  inviolable. 

"  The  first  and  the  last  day  of  the  month,  and  of 
the  year,  is  a  festival.  They  measure  their  months 
by  the  course  of  the  moon ;  and  their  years  by  the 
course  of  the  sun.  The  first  days  are  called  in 
their  language  the  Cynemernes,  and  the  last  the 
Trapemernes,  which  answers  in  our  language  to 
the  festival  that  begins,  or  ends  the  season. 

"They  have  magnificent  temples,  that  are  not 
only  nobly  built,  but  are  likewise  of  great  recep- 
tion ;  which  is  necessary,  since  they  have  so  few  of 
them.  They  are  a  little  dark  within,  which  flows 
not  from  any  error  in  their  architecture,  but  is 
done  on  design  ;  for  their  priests  think  that  too 
much  light  dissipates  the  thoughts,  and  that  a 
more  moderate   degree   of  it  both   recollects  the 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  1S5 

mind  and  raises  devotion.'"'  Though  there  are 
many  different  foniis  of  religion  among  them,  yet 
all  tliese,  how  various  soever,  agree  in  the  main 
point,  which  is  the  worshipping  the  Divine  Essence; 
and  therefore  there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  or  heard 
in  their  temples  in  which  the  several  persuasions 
among  them  may  not  agree ;  for  every  sect  performs 
those  rites  that  are  peculiar  to  it  in  their  private 
houses,  nor  is  there  anything  in  the  public  wor- 
ship that  contradicts  the  particular  ways  of  those 
different  sects.  There  are  no  images  of  God  in 
their  temples ;  so  that  every  one  may  represent  him 
to  his  thoughts  according  to  the  way  of  his  religion. 
Nor  do  they  call  this  one  God  by  any  other  name 
but  that  of  Mithras,  which  is  the  common  name  by 
which  they  all  express  the  Divine  Essence,  whatso- 
ever otherwise  they  think  it  to  be.  Nor  are  there 
any  prayers  among  them  but  such  as  every  one 
of  them  may  use  without  prejudice  to  his  own 
opinion. 

"  They  meet  in  their  temples  on  the  evening  of 
the  festival  that  concludes  a  season  ;  and,  not  hav- 

'^'  This  is  philosophically  true,  and  has  been  most  poetically 
employed  by  Milton,  in  a  passage  which,  though  known  to  every 
body,  may,  for  its  extreme  beauty,  find  a  place  here :  — 

"  But  let  my  due  feet  never  fail 
To  walk  the  studious  cloisters  pale. 
And  love  the  high  embowed  roof, 
With  antic  pillars  massy  proof, 
And  storied  windows  richly  dight. 
Casting  a  dim  religious  light : 
There  let  the  pealing  organ  blow 
To  the  full-voiced  choir  below. 
In  senice  high  and  anthems  clear. 
As  may  with  sweetness,  through  mine  ear. 
Dissolve  me  into  ecstacies. 
And  bring  all  heaven  before  mine  eyes '/" 


186  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

ing  yet  broken  their  fast,  they  thank  God  for  their 
good  success  during  that  year  or  month,  which  is 
then  at  an  end.  And  the  next  day,  being  that 
which  begins  the  new  season,  they  meet  early  in 
their  temples,  to  pray  for  the  happy  progress  of  all 
their  affairs  during  that  period  upon  which  they 
then  enter.  In  the  festival  which  concludes  the 
period  before  they  go  to  the  temple,  both  wives  and 
children  fall  on  their  knees  before  their  husbands 
or  parents,  and  confess  everything  in  which  they 
have  either  erred  or  failed  in  their  duty,  and  beg 
pardon  for  it.  Thus  all  little  discontents  in  fami- 
lies are  removed,  that  so  they  may  offer  up  their 
devotions  with  a  pure  and  serene  mind ;  for  they 
hold  it  a  great  impiety  to  enter  upon  them  with 
disturbed  thoughts  ;  or  when  they  are  conscious  to 
themselves  that  they  bear  hatred  or  anger  in  their 
hearts  to  any  person  ;  and  think  that  they  should 
become  liable  to  severe  punishments,  if  they  pre- 
sumed to  offer  sacrifices  without  cleansing  theit 
hearts,  and  reconciling  all  their  differences.  In 
the  temples  the  two  sexes  are  separated,  the  men 
go  to  the  right  hand  and  the  women  to  the  left  ;''* 
and  the  males  and  females  do  all  place  themselves 
before  the  head  and  master  or  mistress  of  that 
family  to  which  they  belong ;  so  that  those  who 
have  the  government  of  them  at  home  may  see 


''■-  This  was  the  regulation  in  most  of  the  primitive  churches, 
and  should  be  in  every  church  ;  but  I  do  not  see  the  necessity 
for  the  lofty  screen  said  to  exist  in  work-house  chapels ;  or,  if  it 
be  adopted  there,  it  should  be  everywhere. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  187 

their  deportment  in  public.  And  they  intermingle 
tliem  so,  that  the  younger  and  the  older  may  be 
set  by  one  another ;  for  if"  the  younger  sort  were 
all  set  together,  they  would  perhaps  trifle  away 
that  time  too  much  in  which  they  ought  to  beget 
in  themselves  a  most  religious  dread  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  which  is  the  greatest  and  almost  the  only 
incitement  to  virtue. 

"  They  offier  up  no  living  creature  in  sacrifice, 
nor  do  they  think  it  suitable  to  the  Divine  Being, 
from  whose  bounty  it  is  that  these  creatures  have 
derived  their  lives,  to  take  pleasure  in  their  death, 
or  the  offering  up  their  blood.  They  burn  incense, 
and  other  sweet  odours,  and  have  a  great  number 
of  wax-lights  during  their  worship  ;  not  out  of  any 
imagination  that  such  oblations  can  add  anything 
to  the  Divine  nature,  for  even  prayers  do  not  that ; 
but,  as  it  is  a  harmless  and  jaure  way  of  worship- 
ping God,  so  they  think  those  sweet  savours  and 
lights,  together  with  some  other  ceremonies,  do,  by 
a  secret  and  unaccountable  virtue,  elevate  men's 
souls,  and  inflame  them  with  more  force  and 
cheerfulness  during  the  Divine  worship. 

"  The  people  appear  all  in  the  temples  in  white 
garments;  but  the  priest's  vestments  are  parti- 
coloured ;  both  the  work  and  colours  are  wonder- 
ful :  they  are  made  of  no  rich  materials,  for  they 
are  neither  embroidered,  nor  set  with  precious 
stones,  but  are  composed  of  the  plumes  of  several 
birds,  laid  together  with  so  much  art,  and  so  neatly, 
that  the  true  value  of  them  is  far  beyond  the  cost- 
liest materials.      They  say  that,  in  the  ordering 


188  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

and  placing  those  plumes,  some  dark  mysteries 
are  represented,  which  pass  down  among  their 
priests  in  a  secret  tradition  concerning  them  ;  and 
that  they  are  as  hieroglyphics,  putting  them  in 
mind  of  the  blessings  that  they  have  received  from 
God,  and  of  their  duties  both  to  Him  and  to  their 
neighbours.  As  soon  as  the  priest  appears  in  those 
ornaments,  they  all  fall  prostrate  on  the  ground, 
with  so  much  reverence  and  so  deep  a  silence,  that 
such  as  look  on  cannot  but  be  struck  with  it,  as  if  it 
were  the  effect  of  the  appearance  of  a  deity.  After 
they  have  been  for  some  time  in  this  posture,  they 
all  stand  up,  upon  a  sign  given  by  the  priest,  and 
sing  some  hymns  to  the  honour  of  God,  some 
musical  instruments  playing  all  the  while.  These 
are  quite  of  another  form  than  those  that  are  used 
among  us ;  but  as  many  of  them  are  much  sweeter 
than  ours,  so  others  are  not  to  be  compared  to 
those  that  we  have.  Yet  in  one  thing  they  exceed 
us  much,  which  is,  that  all  their  music,  both  vocal 
and  instrumental,  does  so  imitate  and  express  the 
passions,  and  is  so  fitted  to  the  present  occasion, 
whether  the  subject-matter  of  the  hymn  is  cheerful, 
or  made  to  appease  or  trouble,  doleful  or  angry ; 
that  the  music  makes  an  impression  of  that  which 
is  represented,  by  which  it  enters  deep  into  the 
hearers,  and  does  very  much  affect  and  kindle 
them.  When  this  is  done,  both  priests  and  peo- 
ple offer  up  very  solemn  prayers  to  God  in  a  set 
form  of  words ;  and  these  are  so  composed  that 
whatsoever  is  pronounced  by  the  whole  assembly 
may  be  likewise  applied  by  every  man  in  particu- 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  189 

lar  to  his  own  condition.     In  these  they  acknow- 
ledge God  to  be  the  author  and   governor  of  the 
world,  and  the  fountain  of  all  the  good  that  they 
receive;  for  which  they  offer  up  their  thanksgivings 
to  Him,  and,  in  particular,  they  bless  Him  for  his 
goodness  in  ordering  it  so  that  they  are  born  under 
a  government  that  is  the  happiest  in  the  world, 
and  are  of  a  religion  that  they  hope  is  the  truest  of 
all  others ;  but,  if  they  are  mistaken,  and  if  there  is 
either  a  better   government,   or   a   religion  more 
acceptable  to  God,  they  implore  his  goodness  to 
let  them  know  it,  vowing  that  they  resolve  to  fol- 
low him  whithersoever  he  leads  them  ;  but  if  their 
government   is  the   best,  and   their  religion   the 
truest,  then  they  pray  that  he  may  fortify  them  in 
it,  and  bring  all  the  world  both  to  the  same  rules 
of  life,  and  to  the  same  opinions  concerning  him- 
self;  unless,  according  to  the  unsearchableness  of 
his  mind,  he  is  pleased  with  a  variety  of  religions. 
Then  they  pray  that  God  may  give  them  an  easy 
passage  at  last  to  himself;    not  presuming  to  set 
limits  to  him,  how  early  or  late  it  should  be ;  but, 
if  it  may  be  wished  for  without  derogating  from 
his  supreme   authority,  they  desire  rather  to  be 
quickly  delivered,   and  to  go  to  God,  though  by 
the  most  terrible  sort  of  death,  than  to  be  detained 
long,  from   seeing  him,   in  the   most  prosperous 
course   of   life    possible.      When  this  prayer  is 
ended,  they  all  fall  down  again  upon  the  ground, 
and  after  a  little  while  they  rise  up,  and  go  home 
to  dinner,  and  spend  the  rest  of  the  day  in  diver- 
sion, or  military  exercises. 


190  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

"  Thus  have  I  described  to  you  as  particularly 
as  I  could  the  constitution  of  that  commonwealth, 
which  I  do  not  only  think  to  be  the  best  in  the 
world,  but  to  be,  indeed,  the  only  commonwealth 
that  truly  deserves  that  name.  In  all  other  places 
it  is  visible  that  whereas  people  talk  of  a  common- 
wealth, every  man  only  seeks  his  own  wealth  ; 
but  there,  where  no  man  has  any  property,  all 
men  do  zealously  pursue  the  good  of  the  public  ; 
and,  indeed,  it  is  no  wonder  to  see  men  act  so 
differently,  for  in  other  commonwealths  eveiy  man 
knows  that,  unless  he  provides  for  himself,  how 
flourishing  soever  the  commonwealth  may  be,  he 
must  die  of  hunger ;  so  that  he  sees  the  necessity 
of  preferring  his  own  concerns  to  the  public.  But 
in  Utopia,  where  every  man  has  a  right  to  every- 
thing, they  do  all  know  that  if  care  is  taken  to 
keep  the  public  stores  full,  no  private  man  can 
want  anything ;  for  among  them  there  is  no  un- 
equal distribution,  so  that  no  man  is  poor,  nor  in 
any  necessity ;  and  though  no  man  has  anything, 
yet  they  are  all  rich  ;  for  what  can  make  a  man  so 
rich  as  to  lead  a  serene  and  cheerful  life,  free  from 
anxieties ;  neither  apprehending  want  himself,  nor 
vexed  with  the  endless  complaints  of  his  wife  ?  He 
is  not  afraid  of  the  misery  of  his  children,  nor  is  he 
contriving  how  to  raise  a  portion  for  his  daughters, 
but  is  secure  in  this,  that  both  he  and  his  wife,  his 
children  and  grandchildren,  to  as  many  genera- 
tions as  he  can  fancy,  will  all  live  both  plentifully 
and  happily,  since  among  them  there  is  no  less 
cai-e   taken  of  those  who   were  once  engaged   in 


HAPPY    REPUELIC.  191 

labour,  but  grow  afterwards  unable  to  follow  it, 
than  there  is  elsewhere  for  these  that  continue 
still  at  it.  I  would  gladly  hear  any  man  com- 
pare the  justice  that  is  among  them,  witli  that 
which  is  among  all  other  nations;  among  whom, 
may  I  perish,  if  I  see  anything  that  looks  either 
like  justice  or  equity.  For  what  justice  is  there 
in  this,  that  a  nobleman,  a  goldsmith,  or  a  banker, 
or  any  other  man  that  either  does  nothing  at  all, 
or  at  best  is  employed  in  things  that  are  of  no 
use  to  the  public,  should  live  in  great  luxury  and 
splendour  upon  that  which  is  so  ill-acquired,  and 
a  mean  man,  a  carter,  a  smith,  or  a  ploughman, 
that  works  harder  even  than  the  beasts  themselves, 
and  is  employed  in  labours  that  are  so  necessary 
that  no  commonwealth  could  hold  out  a  year  to 
an  end  without  them,  can  yet  be  able  to  earn  so 
poor  a  livelihood  out  of  it,  and  must  lead  so  miser- 
able a  life  in  it,  that  the  beasts'  condition  is  much 
better  than  theirs  ?  For,  as  the  beasts  do  not  work 
so  constantly,  so  they  feed  almost  as  well,  and 
more  pleasantly,  and  have  no  anxiety  about  that 
which  is  to  come ;  whereas  these  men  are  depressed 
by  a  barren  and  fruitless  employment,  and  are 
toimented  with  the  apprehensions  of  want  in  their 
old  age ;  since  that  which  they  get  by  their  daily 
labour  does  but  maintain  them  at  present,  and  is 
consumed  as  fast  as  it  comes  in  ;  so  that  there  is 
no  overplus  left  them  which  they  can  lay  up  for 
old  age.''^ 

'''  It  were  much  to  be  wished  that  iliose  who  regulate  the 


192  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

"Is  not  that  government  both  unjust  and  un- 
grateful that  is  so  prodigal  of  its  favours  to  those 
that  are  called  gentlemen,  or  goldsmiths,  or  such 
others  that  are  idle,  or  live  either  by  flattery,  or  by 
contriving  the  arts  of  vain  pleasure ;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  takes  no  care  of  those  of  a  meaner  sort, 
such  as  ploughmen,  colliers,  and  smiths,  without 
whom  it  could  not  subsist ;  but,  after  the  public 
has  been  served  by  them,  and  that  they  come  to  be 
oppressed  with  age,  sickness,  and  want,  all  their 
labours  and  the  good  that  they  have  done  are  for- 
gotten, and  all  the  recompence  given  them  is,  that 
they  are  left  to  die  in  great  misery  ;  and  the  richer 
sort  are  often  endeavouring  to  bring  the  hire  of 
labourers  lower,  not  only  by  their  fraudulent  prac- 
tices, but  by  the  laws  which  they  procure  to  be 
made  to  that  effect ;  so  that,  though  it  is  a  thing 


public  concerns  of  nations  were  actuated  by  principles,  and  ele- 
vated by  opinions  such  as  Sir  Thomas  More  generally  inculcates, 
more  particularly  in  relation  to  the  poor.  Blost  politicians  ex- 
hibit extreme  impatience  when  this  subject  is  forced  upon  their 
consideration.  They  appear  as  though  they  would  gladly  be  rid 
of  the  needy  altogether,  that  they  might  be  delivered  from  the 
task  of  providing  for  them  ;  but  Christianity,  were  its  precepts 
converted,  as  they  were  intended,  into  principles  of  action,  would 
banish  this  unholy  feeling,  and  render  the  providing  for  the  help- 
less one  of  the  most  pleasing,  though  difficult,  of  all  the  tasks  a 
statesman  has  to  accomplish.  "  He  who  giveth  to  the  poor 
lendeth  to  the  Lord  ;"  and  God  will  assuredly  requite  every 
good  act  a  hundred  fold  both  here  and  hereafter.  Politics 
are  commonly  kept  too  assiduously  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
influence  of  religion,  which,  nevertheless,  is  the  only  power 
that  can  purify  or  raise  that  science  of  sciences  to  its  proper  ele- 
vation. 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  193 

most  unjust  in  itself  to  give  such  small  rewards  to 
those  who  deserve  so  well  of  the  public,  yet  they 
have  given  these  hardships  the  name  and  colour 
of  justice,  by  procuring  laws  to  be  made  for  regu- 
lating it. 

"  Therefore  I  must  say  that,  as  I  hope  for  mercy, 
I  can  have  no  other  notion  of  all  the  other  govern- 
ments that  I  see  or  know,  than  that  they  are  a 
conspiracy  of  the  richer  sort,  who,  on  pretence  of 
managing  the  public,  do  only  pursue  their  private 
ends,  and  devise  all  the  ways  and  arts  that  they 
can  find  out;  first,  that  they  may,  without  danger, 
preserve  all  that  they  have  so  ill  acquired,  and 
then,  that  they  may  engage  the  poorer  sort  to  toil 
and  labour  for  them  at  as  low  rates  as  is  possible, 
and  oppress  them  as  much  as  they  please ;  and 
if  they  can  but  prevail  to  get  these  contrivances 
established  by  the  show  of  public  authority,  which 
is  considered  as  the  representative  of  the  whole 
people,  then  they  are  accounted  laws ;  and  yet 
these  wicked  men,  after  they  have  by  a  most 
insatiable  covetousness  divided  that  among  them- 
selves with  which  all  the  rest  might  have  been 
well  supplied,  are  far  from  that  happiness  that 
is  enjoyed  among  the  Utopians ;  for  the  use,  as 
well  as  the  desire  of  money  being  extinguished, 
there  is  much  anxiety  and  great  occasions  of  mis- 
chief cut  off  with  it.  And  who  does  not  see 
that  frauds,  thefts,  robberies,  quarrels,  tumults, 
contentions,  seditions,  murders,  treacheries,  and 
witchcrafts,  that  are  indeed  rather  punished  than 


194  UTOPIA  ;    OR,  THE 

restrained  by  the  severities  of  law,  would  all  fall  off 
if  money  were  not  any  more  valued  by  the  world  ? " 
Men's  fears,  solicitudes,  cares,  labours,  and  watch- 
ings  would  all  perish  in  the  same  moment  that 
the  value  of  money  did  sink.  Even  poverty  itself, 
for  the  relief  of  which  money  seems  most  neces- 
sary, would  fall,  if  there  were  no  money  in  the 
world.  And,  in  order  to  the  apprehending-  this 
aright,  take  one  instance. 

"  Consider  any  year  that  has  been  so  unfruitful 
that  many  thousands  have  died  of  hunger ;  and 
yet,  if  at  the  end  of  that  year  a  survey  were  made 
of  the  granaries  of  all  the  rich  men  that  have 
hoarded  up  the  corn,  it  would  be  found  that  there 
was  enough  among  them  to  have  prevented  all 
that  consumption  of  men  that  perished  in  that 
misery ;  and  that,  if  it  had  been  distributed  among 
them,  none  would  have  felt  the  terrible  effects  of 
that  scarcity ;  so  easy  a  thing  would  it  be  to  sup- 
ply all  the  necessities  of  life,  if  that  blessed  thing- 
called  money,  that  is  pretended  to  be  invented  for 
procuring  it,  were  not  really  the  only  thing  that 
obstructed  it. 

"  I  do  not  doubt  but  rich  men  are  sensible  of 
this,  and  that  they  know  well  how  much  a  greater 
happiness  it  were  to  want  nothing  that  were  ne- 
cessary than  to  abound  in  many  superfluities ; 
and  to  be  rescued  out  of  so  much  misery,  than  to 
abound  with  so  much  wealth.  And  I  cannot  think 
but  the  sense  of  every  man's  interest,  and  the 
authority  of  Christ's  commands,  who,  as  he  was 


HAPPY    REPUBLIC.  195 

infinitely  wise,  and  so  knew  what  was  best,  so 
was  no  less  good  in  discovering  it  to  us,  would 
have  drawn  all  the  world  over  to  the  laws  of  the 
Utopians,  if  pride,  that  plague  of  human  nature, 
that  is  the  source  of  so  much  misery,  did  not 
hinder  it ;  which  does  not  measure  happiness  so 
much  by  its  own  conveniences  as  by  the  miseries 
of  others;  and  would  not  be  satisfied  with  being 
thought  a  goddess,  if  none  were  left  that  were 
miserable, over  whom  she  might  insult;  and  thinks 
its  own  happiness  shines  the  brighter  by  com- 
paring it  with  the  misfortunes  of  other  persons ; 
that  so,  by  displaying  its  own  wealth,  they  may 
feel  their  poverty  the  more  sensibly.  This  is  that 
infernal  serpent  that  creeps  into  the  breasts  of 
mortals,  and  possesses  them  too  much  to  be  easily 
drawn  out ;  and  therefore  I  am  glad  that  the  Uto- 
pians have  fallen  upon  this  form  of  government, 
in  which  I  wish  that  all  the  world  could  be  so 
wise  as  to  imitate  them  ;  for  they  have  indeed 
laid  down  such  a  scheme  and  foundation  of  policy 
that,  as  men  live  hapjiy  under  it,  so  it  is  like 
to  be  of  great  continuance  :  for,  they  having  rooted 
out  of  the  minds  of  their  people  all  the  seeds, 
both  of  ambition  and  faction,  there  is  no  danger 
of  any  commotion  at  home ;  which  alone  has  been 
the  ruin  of  many  states  that  seemed  otherwise  to 
be  well  secured  ;  but  as  long  as  they  live  in 
peace  at  home,  and  are  governed  by  such  good 
laws,  the  envy  of  all  their  neighbouring  princes, 
who  have  often  attempted  their  ruin,  but  in  vain, 

s  2 


196  UTOPIA  5    OR,    THE 

will  never  be  able  to  put  their  state  into  any  com- 
motion or  disorder." 

When  Raphael  had  thus  made  an  end  of  speak- 
ing, though  many  things  occurred  to  me,  both 
concerning  the  manners  and  laws  of  that  people, 
that  seemed  very  absurd,  as  well  in  their  way 
of  making  war  as  in  their  notions  of  religion  and 
divine  matters ;  together  with  several  other  par- 
ticulars, but  chiefly  that  which  seemed  the  foun- 
dation of  all  the  rest,  their  living  in  common, 
without  any  use  of  money,  by  which  all  nobility, 
magnificence,  splendour  and  majesty,  which  ac- 
cording to  the  common  opinion  are  the  true  orna- 
ments of  a  nation,  would  be  quite  taken  away ; 
yet,  since  I  perceived  that  Raphael  was  weary, 
and  I  was  not  sure  whether  he  could  easily  bear 
contradiction  in  these  matters,  remembering  that 
he  had  taken  notice  of  some  who  seemed  to  think 
that  they  were  bound  in  honour  for  supporting 
the  credit  of  their  own  wisdom  to  find  out  some 
matter  of  censure  in  all  other  men's  inventions, 
besides  their  own ;  therefore  I  only  commended 
their  constitution,  and  the  account  he  had  given 
of  it  in  general ;  and  so  taking  him  by  the  hand, 
I  carried  him  to  supper,  and  told  him  I  would 
find  out  some  other  time  for  examining  that  matter 
more  particularly,  and  for  discoursing  more  co- 
piously concerning  it;  for  which  I  wish  I  may 
find  a  good  opportunity.  In  the  meanwhile, 
though  I  cannot  perfectly  agree  to  everything  that 
was  related  by  Raphael,  yet  there  are  many  things 


HAri'Y    KKrUBI.IC.  107 

in  the  commonwealth  of  Utopia  that  I  rather 
wish  than  hope  to  see  followed  in  our  govern- 
ments ;  though  it  must  be  confessed  that  he  is 
both  a  very  learned  man,  and  has  had  a  great 
practice  in  the  world. 


END    OF    THF,    UTOriA. 


NEW 

ATLANTIS. 

A 

WORK  UNFINISHED. 


WRITTEN    BY   THE   RIGHT   HONOURABLE 

FRANCIS,    LORD    V  E  R  U  L  A  M, 

VISCOUNT    ST.    ALBANS. 


It  would  tie  unjust  to  pass  judgment  on  this  fragment  of  Lord  Bacon,  as  though 
it  were  a  complete  work.  For,  since  the  whole  plan  of  tJie  New  Atlantis  has 
not  been  preserved,  we  are  unable  to  decide  whether  he  designed  this  portioli 
which  we  possess  to  form  an  important,  or  merely  a  subordinate  part.  In  my  own 
opinion,  his  lordship,  had  he  liied  to  perfect  his  imaginary  commonwealth,  would 
have  laid  comparatively  little  stress  on  the  college  of  the  Atlanteans :  though  a  thing 
by  no  means  to  be  overlooked  in  the  framing  of  a  state.  Rawley,  as  the  reader 
will  |)erceivc,  is  of  a  different  opinion.  To  him  we  appear  to  have  in  the  present 
fragment  that  which  Bacon  himself  regarded  as  the  kernel  of  his  common- 
wealth— that  in  behalf  of  which  he  invented  the  whole  fiction.  Could  I  adopt 
this  new  of  the  matter,  it  would  seem  to  me  a  cause  of  little  regret  that  he 
stopped  short  where  he  did.  There  is  nothing  very  marvellous  in  the  "  College 
of  the  Six  Days'  Work,"  nothing  in  search  of  which  a  great  man  needed  to 
have  sent  his  imagination  floundering  through  the  Pacific.  But  if,  as  I  imagine, 
it  was  Bacon's  intention  to  ha\'e  constructed  a  polity  in  all  respects  on  the  same 
s?ale,  as  excellent  in  laws  and  manners  as  in  studies,  then  the  fragment  of  the 
New  Atlantis  assumes  considerable  importance,  as  a  sort  of  platform,  staiidin;,- 
up<5n  which  we  may  in  some  measure  command  a  prospect  of  the  whole  scheme 
of  things  as  it  existed  in  the  conception  of  the  philosopher.  And,  under  this 
persuasion,  I  have  thought  the  New  Atlantis  worth  reprinting  at  the  end  of 
Sir  Thomas  Mores  philosophical  romance.  It  must  be  regarded  simply  as  a 
chapter  or  two  of  Lord  Bacon  s  "  Utopia" — as  a  wing,  or  an  apartment  of  one 
of  the  King  of  Bohemia's  Seven  Castles — which  may  not  even,  in  the  way  above 
suggested,  enable  us  tc  form  a  true  notion  of  the  other  apartments  and  castles — 
but  is  still  curious  in  itself,  and  worthy  of  the  degree  of  attention  likely  to  be 
bestowed  on  it.  Under  another  point  of  view,  every  fragment  of  this  legisla- 
tive kind,  proceeding  from  intellects  such  as  Bacon's,  will  be  thought  to  possess 
much  interest,  if  compared  w  ith  the  iniaginarj-  states  framed  by  Plato  in  his 
Republic  and  his  Laws;  or  dimly  shadowed  forth  by  Aristotle  in  his  Politics. 
It  may,  in  this  way,  be  seen  whether  and  how  much  men  have  progressed  in 
the  science  of  politics — whether  the  moderns,  when  free  to  choose,  form  a  loftier 
conception  of  national  happiness  than  the  nations  of  the  old  world ;  and  whether, 
their  theory  onc2  adopted,  they  pursue  better  or  wiser  means  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  their  ends. 


TO  THE  READER. 


This  fable  my  lord  devised,  to  the  end  that  he  might  exhibit 
therein  a  model  or  description  of  a  college,  instituted  for  the 
interpreting  of  nature, '  and  the  producing  of  great  and  mar- 
vellous works  for  the  benefit  of  men,  under  the  name  of  Solo- 
mon's House,  or,  the  College  of  the  Six  Days'  Works.  And  even 
so  far  his  lordship  hath  proceeded  as  to  finish  that  part.  Cer- 
tainly the  model  is  more  vast  and  high  than  can  possibly  be 
imitated  in  all  things,  notwithstanding  most  things  therein  are 
within  men's  power  to  effect.  His  lordship  thought  also  in  this 
present  fable  to  have  composed  a  frame  of  laws,  or  of  the  best 
state  or  mould  of  a  commonwealth  ;  but  foreseeing  it  would  be 
a  long  work,  his  desire  of  collecting  the  natural  history  diverted 
him,  which  he  preferred  many  degrees  before  it. 

This  work  of  the  New  Atlantis  (as  much  as  concerneth  the 
English  edition)  his  lordship  designed  for  this  place,  in  regard 
it  hath  so  near  affinity  (in  one  part  of  it)  with  the  preceding 
natural  history. 

RAWLEY. 


1  Rawley  probably  laid  more  stress  upon  this  "  interpreting  of  nature,"  than  on 
that  other  interpreting,  viz.  of  politics,  with  which  Lord  Bacon  certainly  designed 
to  have  enriched  the  present  work.  Why  this  portion  of  the  plan  was  abandoned, 
it  might  not  be  impossible  to  conjecture.  That  it  was  for  a  \'ery  different  reason 
from  the  one  laid  down  by  Hawley,  which  supposes  his  lordship  to  have  greatly 
preferred  secret-huntifig  to  the  promotion  of  human  happiness,  I  am  convinced. 
He  probably  dreaded  the  reputation  of  a  political  innovator ;  and  unless  to  propose 
changes  and  innovations,  to  what  end  should  he  h&ve  written  .' 


NEW    ATLANTIS. 


We  sailed  from  Peru  (where  we  had  continued 
for  the  space  of  one  whole  year)  for  China  and 
Japan,  by  the  South  Sea,  taking  with  us  victuals 
for  twelve  months,  and  had  good  winds  from  the 
east,  though  soft  and  weak,  for  five  months'  space 
and  more ;  but  then  the  wind  came  about,  and 
settled  in  the  west  for  many  days,  so  as  we  could 
make  little  or  no  way,  and  were  sometimes  in  pur- 
pose to  turn  back.  But  then  again  there  arose 
strong  and  great  winds  from  the  south,  with  a  point 
east,  which  carried  us  up,  for  all  that  we  could  do, 
towards  the  north  ;  by  which  time  our  victuals 
lailed  us,  though  we  had  made  good  spare  of 
them.-     So  that,  finding  ourselves  in  the  midst  of 

'•^  His  loitlship  was  evidently  little  versed  in  the  framing  of 
fictions,  except  the  tictions  of  law,  for  he  here  falls  at  the  very 
outset  into  a  clumsy  appearance  of  contradiction.  For,  after 
stating  that  the  ship  was  provisioned  for  twelve  months,  he  sup- 
poses, when  they  had  sailed  westward  during  five  months,  and 
been  tossed  about  some  short  time  (surely  not  seven  months 
more)  by  contrary  winds,  that  their  stock  fell  short,  notwith- 
standing they  had  been  frugal  in  the  use  of  it.  Honest  Lemuel 
Gulliver  managed  things  better  than  this  ;  and  Raphael  Hythlo- 
day,  though  scarcely  deserving,  for  truth  and  consistency,  to  be 


206  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

the  greatest  wilderness  of  waters  in  the  world, 
without  victuals,  we  gave  ourselves  for  lost  men, 
and  prepared  for  death.  Yet  we  did  lift  up  our 
hearts  and  voices  to  God  above,  "  who  showeth 
his  wonders  in  the  deep,"  beseeching  him  of  his 
mercy,  that  as  in  the  beginning  he  discovered  the 
face  of  the  deep,  and  brought  forth  dry  land,  so 
he  would  now  discover  land  to  us,  that  we  might 
not  perish.  And  it  came  to  pass  that  the  next 
day  about  evening  we  saw,  within  a  kenning  be- 
fore us,  towards  the  north,  as  it  were,  thicker 
clouds,  which  did  put  us  in  some  hope  of  land ; 
knowing  how  that  part  of  the  South  Sea  was  utterly 
unknown,  and  might  have  islands  or  continents 
that  hitherto  were  not  come  to  light.  Wherefore 
we  bent  our  course  thither,  where  we  saw  the  ap- 
pearance of  land  all  that  night ;  and  in  the  dawn- 
ing of  the  next  day  we  might  plainly  discern  that 
it  was  a  land  flat  to  our  sight,^  and  full  of  boscage, 
which  made  it  show  the  more  dark  :  and  after  an 
hour-and-a-half 's  sailing  we  entered  into  a  good 
haven,  being  the  port  of  a  fair  city,  not  great  in- 


compared  with  the  Lilliputian  voyager,  would  have  navigated 
the  Pacific  with  infinitely  greater  skill  and  regard  to  probabili- 
ties. 

3  When,  in  the  creation  of  imaginary  countries,  we  find  writers 
deliberately  relinquishing  whatever  advantages  works  of  fiction 
derive  from  skilful  descriptions  of  scenery,  the  omission  may 
reasonably  be  ascribed  to  the  absence  of  all  taste  for  the  pictur- 
esque. Lord  Bacon,  we  see,  with  every  possible  combination 
of  rocks,  wood,  and  water  at  his  disposal,  presents  us  wilfully 
with  a  flat  coast,  which,  though  forest-clothed,  produces  no  effect 
upon  the  imagination. 


NKW    ATLANTIS.  207 

deed,  but  well  built,  and  that  gave  a  pleasant 
view  from  the  sea.  And  we,  thinking  every  minute 
long  till  we  were  on  land,  came  close  to  the  shore, 
and  offered  to  land  ;  but  straightways  Ave  saw 
divers  of  the  people  with  batons  in  their  hands, 
as  it  were,  forbidding  us  to  land,  yet  without  any 
cries  or  fierceness,  but  only  as  warning  us  off  by 
signs  that  they  made.  Whereupon,  being  not  a 
little  discomforted,  we  were  advising  with  our- 
selves what  we  should  do.  During  which  time 
there  made  forth  to  us  a  small  boat  with  about 
eight  persons  in  it,  whereof  one  of  them  had  in 
his  hand  a  tip-stafl'  of  a  yellow  cane,  tipped  at 
both  ends  w  ith  blue,  who  made  aboard  our  ship 
w'ithout  any  show  of  distrust  at  all.  And  when  he 
saw  one  of  our  number  present  himself  somewhat 
afore  the  rest,  lie  drew  forth  a  little  scroll  of  parch- 
ment (somewhat  yellower  than  our  parchment,  and 
shining  like  the  leaves  of  writing-tables,  but  other- 
wise soft  and  flexible,)  and  delivered  it  to  our  fore- 
most man.  In  which  scroll  were  written  in  ancient 
Hebrew^  and  in  ancient  Greek,  and  in  good  Latin 
of  the  school,  and  in  Spanish,^  these  words, "  Land 
ye  not,  none  of  you,  and  provide  to  be  gone  from 


*  A  piece  of  gratuitous  improbability,  greater  than  any  in 
Utopia.  The  reader  at  once  sees  that  he  has  got  among  the 
Nephelococcygians,  that  cloud-race,  who  so  readily  lend  them- 
selves to  the  crotchets  of  imaginary  legislators.  It  is  not  by 
steps  such  as  this  that  Plato  leads  us  up  to  the  airy  platform  of 
his  republic.  We  there  gradually  lose  ourselves,  as  when  we 
sleep,  without  knowing  precisely  when  waking  ends,  and  dream- 
ing begins. 


208  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

this  coast  within  sixteen  days,  except  you  have 
further  time  given  you  :  meanwhile,  if  you  want 
fresh  water,  or  victual,  or  help  for  your  sick, 
or  that  your  ship  needeth  repair,  write  down 
your  wants,  and  you  shall  have  that  which  be- 
longeth  to  mercy."  This  scroll  was  signed  with 
a  stamp  of  cherubim's  wings,  not  spread,  but 
hanging  downwards,  and  by  them  a  cross.  This 
being  delivered,  the  officer  returned,  and  left  only 
a  servant  with  us  to  receive  our  answer.^  Con- 
sulting hereupon  amongst  ourselves,  we  were  much 
perplexed.  The  denial  of  landing,  and  hasty 
warning  us  away,  troubled  us  much.  On  the 
other  side,  to  find  that  the  people  had  languages, 
and  were  so  full  of  humanity,  did  comfort  us  not 
a  little ;  and,  above  all,  the  sign  of  the  cross  to 
that  instrument  was  to  us  a  great  rejoicing,  and,  as 
it  were,  a  certain  presage  of  good.  Our  answer 
was  in  the  Spanish  tongue,  "  That  for  our  ship  it 
was  well,  for  we  had  rather  met  with  calms  and 
contrary  winds  than  any  tempests.  For  our  sick, 
they  were  many,  and  in  very  ill  case,  so  that 
if  they  were  not  pemiitted  to  land,  they  ran  in 
danger  of  their  lives."     Our  other  wants  we  set 


*  A  Chinese  mandarin  doubtless  sat  for  this  picture,  though 
his  lordship  has  somewhat  softened  away  the  sharpness  of  the 
Mongol  features.  Both  the  Atlanteans,  however,  and  the  Chinese 
have  some  reason  for  their  Spartan  inhospitality  towards  stran- 
gers ;  especially  Europeans,  who  have  made  themselves  known 
in  the  eastern  seas  chiefly  by  their  roguery.  Excepting  where 
Christianity  has  been  honestly  imparted  to  the  natives,  their 
arrival  may  in  fact  be  considered  an  unmitigated  curse. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  209 

down  in  particular,  adding,  "  That  we  had  some 
little  store  of  merchandise,  which,  if  it  pleased 
them  to  deal  for,  it  might  supply  our  wants  with- 
out being  chargeable  unto  them."  We  offered 
some  reward  in  pistolets  unto  the  servant,  and  a 
piece  of  crimson  velvet  to  be  presented  to  the  offi- 
cer ;  but  the  servant  took  them  not,  nor  would 
scarce  look  upon  them ;  and  so  left  us,  and  went 
back  in  another  little  boat  which  was  sent  for 
him. 

About  three  hours  after  we  had  dispatched  our 
answer,  there  came  towards  us  a  person  (as  it 
seemed)  of  place.  He  had  on  him  a  gown,  with 
wide  sleeves  of  a  kind  of  water-camlet,  of  an 
excellent  azure  colour,  far  more  glossy  than  ours  ; 
his  under-apparel  was  green,  and  so  was  his  hat, 
being  in  the  form  of  a  turban,  daintily  made, 
and  not  so  huge  as  the  Turkish  turbans ;  and  the 
locks  of  his  hair  came  down  below  the  brims  of  it. 
A  reverend  man  was  he  to  behold.  He  came  in  a 
boat,  gilt  in  some  part  of  it,  with  four  persons  more 
only  in  that  boat,  and  was  followed  by  another 
boat,  wherein  were  some  twenty.  When  he  was 
come  within  a  flight-shot  of  our  ship,  signs  were 
made  to  us  that  we  should  send  forth  some  to  meet 
him  upon  the  water :  which  we  presently  did  in 
our  ship's  boat,  sending  the  principal  man  amongst 
us,  save  one,  and  four  of  our  number  with  him. 
When  we  were  come  within  six  yards  of  their 
boat,  they  called  to  us  to  stay,  and  not  to  approach 
further ;  which  we  did.  And  thereupon  the  man 
whom  I  before  described  stood  up,  and  with  a  loud 

T 


210  XEW    ATLANTIS. 

voice,  in  Spanish,  asked,  "  Are  ye  Christians  ?" 
We  answered,  "We  were;"  fearing  the  less  be- 
cause of  the  cross  we  had  seen  in  the  subscription. 
At  which  answer  the  said  person  lifted  up  his  right 
hand  towards  heaven,  and  drew  it  softly  to  his 
mouth,  (which  is  the  gesture  they  use  when  they 
thank  God,)  and  then  said,  "  If  you  will  swear,  all 
of  you,  by  the  merits  of  the  Saviour,  that  ye  are  no 
pirates,  nor  have  shed  blood,  lawfully  or  unlaw- 
fully, within  forty  days  past,  you  may  have  licence 
to  come  on  land."*'  We  said,  "  We  were  all  ready 
to  take  that  oath."  Whereupon  one  of  those  that 
were  with  him,  being,  as  it  seemed,  a  notary,  made 
an  entry  of  this  act.  Which  done,  another  of  the 
attendants  of  the  great  person,  who  was  with  him 
in  the  same  boat,  after  his  lord  had  spoken  a  little 
to  him,  said  aloud,  "  INIy  lord  would  have  you 
know  that  it  is  not  of  pride  or  greatness  that  he 


^  Here  the  Atlanteans  exhibit  all  that  simplicity  which 
might  be  expected  from  a  people  so  little  conversant  with  the 
rest  of  mankind.  The  question,  "  Are  you  pirates  ?"  anciently 
put  to  mariners  in  the  Grecian  seas,  was  sensible,  because,  as 
piracy  was  not  then  considered  dishonourable,  no  one  would  ob- 
ject to  answer  it.  But  among  this  nation  the  charge  of  piracy 
was  evidently  a  grave  charge.  It  may  therefore  be  wondered 
at,  that  any  people,  enlightened  by  the  slightest  degree  of  ex- 
perience, should  suppose  that  pirates  would  hesitate,  if  their 
immediate  interests  required  it,  to  swear  falsely,  the  Spartan 
article  of  faith  being  always  theirs,  "  that  chQdren  are  deluded 
with  playthings,  and  men  with  oaths."  But  this  consideration 
appears  to  have  had  no  weight  with  Lord  Bacon,  whose  worthy 
citizens  evidently  supposed  that  if  a  man  had  committed  mur- 
der, he  would  have  no  objection,  before  six  weeks  had  passed 
over  his  head,  ingenuously  to  confess  it. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  211 

Cometh  not  aboard  your  ship ;  but  for  that  in 
your  answer  you  declare  that  you  have  many  sick 
amongst  you,  he  was  warned  by  the  conservator  of 
health  of  the  city  that  he  should  keep  at  a  distance." 
We  bowed  ourselves  towards  him,  and  answered, 
"  We  were  his  humble  servants ;  and  accounted  for 
great  honour  and  singular  humanity  towards  us 
that  which  was  already  done  ;  but  hoped  well  that 
the  nature  of  the  sickness  of  our  men  was  not  in- 
fectious." So  he  returned  ;  and  a  while  after  came 
the  notary  to  us  aboard  our  ship,  holding  in  his 
hand  a  fruit  of  that  country,  like  an  orange,  but  of 
colour  between  orange-tawny  and  scarlet,  which 
casts  a  most  excellent  odour :  he  used  it,  as  it 
seemeth,  for  a  preservative  against  infection.  He 
gave  us  our  oath,  "  By  the  name  of  Jesus  and  his 
merits;"  and  after  told  us,  that  the  next  day  by 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  should  be  sent  to, 
and  brought  to  the  Strangers'-House,^  (so  he  called 
it,)  where  we  should  be  accommodated  of  things 
both  for  our  whole  and  for  our  sick.  So  he  left 
ns ;  and  when  we  offered  him  some  pistol ets,  he, 
smiling,  said,  "  He  must  not  be  twice  paid  for  one 
labour  ;"^  meaning  (as  I  take  it)  that  he  had  salary 


"  In  plain  English,  a  Lazaretto.  I  have  enjoyed  the  hospi- 
tality exercised  in  a  Strangers'-House  of  this  description,  and 
never  fared  better  in  my  life.  There  was,  however,  one  circum- 
stance in  which  our  guardians  and  entertainers  differed  from  the 
Atlanteans,- — they  cherished  no  antipathy  to  being  paid  twice, 
or,  indeed,  ten  times,  could  they  have  met  with  any  person  dis- 
posed so  far  to  try  their  powers  of  endurance. 

'  This  will  call  to  mind  an  untoward  incident  in  his  lord- 

T    2 


212  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

sufficient  of  the  state  foi*  his  service;  for  (as  I  after 
learned)  they  call  an  officer  that  taketh  rewards, 
"  twice  paid." 

The  next  morning  early  there  came  to  us  the 
same  officer  that  came  to  us  at  first  with  his  cane, 
and  told  us,  "  He  came  to  conduct  us  to  the  Stran- 
gers'-House,  and  that  he  had  prevented  the  hour, 
because  we  might  have  the  whole  day  before  us 
for  our  business :  for,"  said  he,  "  if  you  will  follow 
my  advice,  there  shall  first  go  with  me  some  few  of 
you  and  see  the  place,  and  how  it  may  be  made 
convenient  for  you ;  and  then  you  may  send  for 
your  sick,  and  the  rest  of  your  number,  which  ye 
will  bring  on  land."  We  thanked  him,  and  said, 
"  That  this  care  which  he  took  of  desolate  strangers 
God  would  reward."  And  so  six  of  us  went  on 
land  with  him  ;  and  when  we  were  on  land,  he 
went  before  us,  and  turned  to  us,  and  said,  "  He 
was  but  our  servant  and  our  guide."  He  led  us 
through  three  fair  streets,  and  all  the  way  we  went 
there  were  gathered  some  people  on  both  sides, 
standing  in  a  row,  but  in  so  civil  a  fashion,  as  if  it 
had  been  not  to  wonder  at  us,  but  to  welcome  us ; 
and  divers  of  them,  as  we  passed  by  them,  put 
their  arms  a  little  abroad,  which  is  their  gesture 
when  they  bid  any  welcome.  The  Strangers'- 
House  is  a  fair  and  spacious  house,  built  of  brick. 


ship's  own  history.     He  could,  indeed,  say  with  Ovid,  and  so, 
perhaps,  may  we  all, — 

meliora  video,  proboque, 

Deteiiora  sequor. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  213 

of  somewhat  a  bluer  ^  colour  tlian  our  brick,  and 
with  handsome  windows,  some  of  glass,  some  of  a 
kind  of  cambric  oiled.  He  brought  us  first  into 
a  fair  parlour  above-stairs,  and  then  asked  us, 
"  What  number  of  persons  we  were,  and  how 
many  sick  ?"  We  answered,  "  We  were  in  all, 
sick  and  whole,  one-and-fifty  persons,  whereof  our 
sick  were  seventeen."  He  desired  us  to  have 
patience  a  little,  and  to  stay  till  he  came  back  to 
us,  which  was  about  an  hour  after ;  and  then  he 
led  us  to  see  the  chambers  which  were  provided  for 
us,  being  in  number  nineteen.  They  having  cast 
it  (as  it  seemeth)  that  four  of  those  chambers, 
which  were  better  than  the  rest,  might  receive  four 
of  the  principal  men  of  our  company,  and  lodge 
them  alone  by  themselves ;  and  the  other  fifteen 
chambers  were  to  lodge  us,  two  and  two  together. 
The  chambei*s  were  handsome  and  cheerful  cham- 
bers, and  furnished  civilly.  Then  he  led  us  to  a 
long  gallery,  like  a  dortoir,  where  he  showed  us 
all  along  the  one  side  ( for  the  other  side  was  but 
wall  and  window)  seventeen  cells,  very  neat  ones, 
having  partitions  of  cedar-wood.     Which  gallery 


'  Lord  Bacon  was  evidently  affected  with  peculiar  pleasure 
by  the  sight  of  things  of  a  blue  colour.  He  might  perhaps 
have  made  an  exception  in  disfavour  of  Blue  Stockings,  whom 
modem  philosophers,  in  this  differing  from  the  ancients,  almost 
universally  agree  to  dislike.  They  appear,  all  and  several  of 
them,  to  adopt  the  creed  of  Hippolytus, — ao(p>]v  ^k  fiiffw,  "  I 
hate  a  Blue," — though  they  have  not  between  them  all  fur- 
nished us  with  one  sound  reason  for  their  antipathy.  It  is  very 
certain,  however,  that  few  persons  are  quite  at  ease  in  the  pre- 
(Efnce  of  their  superiors, 


214  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

and  cells,  being  in  all  forty,  (many  more  than  we 
needed,)  were  instituted  as  an  infirmary  for  sick 
persons.  And  he  told  us  withal,  that  as  any  of 
our  sick  waxed  well,  he  might  be  removed  from  his 
cell  to  a  chamber;  for  which  purpose  there  were 
set  forth  ten  spare  chambers,  besides  the  number 
we  spake  of  before.  This  done,  he  brought  us  back 
to  the  parlour,  and  lifting  up  his  cane  a  little,  as 
they  do  when  they  give  any  charge  or  command, 
said  to  us,  "  Ye  are  to  know,  that  the  custom  of  the 
land  requireth  that  after  this  day  and  to-morrow, 
(which  we  give  you  for  removing  your  people  from 
your  ship,)  you  are  to  keep  within  doors  for  thi*ee 
days.  But  let  it  not  trouble  you,  nor  do  not  think 
yourselves  restrained,  but  rather  left  to  your  rest 
and  ease.  You  shall  want  nothing  ;  and  there  are 
six  of  our  people  appointed  to  attend  you  for  any 
business  you  may  have  abroad."  We  gave  him 
thanks  with  all  affection  and  respect,  and  said, 
"  God  surely  is  manifested  in  this  land."  We 
offered  him  also  twenty  pistol ets ;  but  he  smiled, 
and  only  said,  "  What,  twice  paid  ?"  and  so  he 
left  us. 

Soon  after,  our  dinner  was  served  in,  which  was 
right  good  viands,  both  for  bread  and  meat,  better 
than  any  collegiate  diet  that  I  have  known  in 
Europe.  We  had  also  drink  of  three  sorts,  all 
wholesome  and  good ;  wine  of  the  grape,  a  drink 
of  grain,  such  as  is  with  us  our  ale,  but  more  clear, 
and  a  kind  of  cider  made  of  a  fruit  of  that  country, 
a  wonderful  pleasing  and  refreshing  drink.  Be- 
sides, there  were  brought  in  to  us  great  store  of 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  215 

those  scarlet  oranges  for  our  sick,  which  (they  said) 
were  an  assured  remedy  for  sickness  taken  at  sea. 
There  was  given  us  also  a  box  of  small  grey  or 
whitish  pills,  which  they  wished  our  sick  should 
take,  one  of  the  pills  every  night  before  sleep, 
which  (they  said)  would  hasten  their  recovery. 

The  next  day,  after  that  our  trouble  of  carriage 
and  removing  of  our  men  and  goods  out  of  our 
ship  was  somewhat  settled  and  quiet,  I  thought 
good  to  call  our  company  together,  and  when  they 
were  assembled  said  unto  them,  "  My  dear  friends, 
let  us  know  ourselves,  and  how  it  standeth  with 
us.  We  are  men  cast  on  land,  as  Jonas  was 
out  of  the  whale's  belly,  when  we  were  as  buried 
in  the  deep.  And  now  we  are  on  land,  we  are 
but  between  death  and  life ;  for  we  are  beyond 
both  the  Old  World  and  New  ;  and  whether  ever 
we  shall  see  Europe  God  only  knoweth  :  it  is  a 
kind  of  miracle  hath  brought  us  hither,  and  it  must 
be  little  less  that  shall  bring  us  hence.  Therefore, 
in  regard  of  our  deliverance  past,  and  our  danger 
present  and  to  come,  let  us  look  up  to  God,  and 
every  man  reform  his  own  ways.  Besides,  we  are 
come  here  amongst  a  Christian  people,  full  of  piety 
and  humanity  ;  let  us  not  bring  that  confusion  of 
face  upon  ourselves  as  to  show  our  vices  or  un- 
worthiness  before  them.  Yet  there  is  more  ;  for 
they  have  by  commandment  (though  in  form  of 
courtesy)  cloistered  us  within  these  walls  for  three 
days :  who  knoweth  whether  it  be  not  to  take  some 
taste  of  our  manners  and  conditions  ;  and  if  they 
find  them  bad,  to  banish  us  straightways ;  if  good, 


216  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

to  give  us  further  time  ?  For  these  men  that  they 
have  given  us  for  attendance  may  withal  have  an 
eye  upon  us.  Therefore  for  God's  love,  and  as  we 
love  the  weal  of  our  souls  and  bodies,  let  us  so 
behave  ourselves  as  we  may  be  at  peace  with  God, 
and  may  find  grace  in  the  eyes  of  this  people." 
Our  company  with  one  voice  thanked  me  for  my 
good  admonition,  and  promised  me  to  live  soberly 
and  civilly,  and  without  giving  any  the  least  occa- 
sion of  offence.  So  we  spent  our  three  days  joy- 
fully, and  without  care,  in  expectation  what  would 
be  done  with  us  when  they  were  expired  :  during 
■which  time  we  had  every  hour  joy  of  the  amend- 
ment of  our  sick,  who  thought  themselves  cast  into 
some  divine  pool  of  healing,  they  mended  so  kindly 
and  so  fast. 

The  morrow  after  our  three  days  were  past, 
there  came  to  us  a  new  man  that  we  had  not  seen 
before,  clothed  in  blue  as  the  former  was,  save  that 
his  turban  was  white,  with  a  small  red  cross  on  the 
top;  he  had  also  a  tippet  of  fine  linen.  At  his 
coming  in  he  did  bend  to  us  a  little,  and  put  his 
arms  abroad.  We  of  our  parts  saluted  him  in  a 
very  lowly  and  submissive  manner,  as  looking  that 
from  him  we  should  receive  sentence  of  life  or 
death.  He  desired  to  speak  with  some  few  of  us ; 
whereupon  six  of  us  only  staid,  and  the  rest 
avoided  the  room.  He  said,  "  I  am  by  office 
governor  of  this  House  of  Strangers,  and  by  voca 
tion  I  am  a  Christian  priest ;  and  therefore  am  come 
to  you  to  offer  you  my  service  both  as  strangers, 
and  chiefly  as  Christians.     Some  things  1  may  tell 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  217 

you,  which  I  think  you  will  not  be  unwilling  to 
hear.  The  state  hath  given  you  licence  to  stay  on 
land  for  the  space  of  six  weeks.  And  let  it  not 
trouble  you  if  your  occasions  ask  further  time,  for 
the  law  in  this  point  is  not  precise ;  and  I  do  not 
doubt  but  myself  shall  be  able  to  obtain  for  you 
such  further  lime  as  shall  be  convenient.  Ye  shall 
also  understand  that  the  Strangers'-House  is  at 
this  time  rich  and  much  aforehand,  for  it  hath  laid 
up  revenue  these  thirty-seven  years  ;  for  so  long  it 
is  since  any  stranger  arrived  in  this  part.  And, 
therefore,  take  ye  no  care,  the  state  will  defray  you 
all  the  time  you  stay,  neither  shall  you  stay  one 
day  less  for  that.  As  for  any  merchandise  you 
have  brought,  ye  shall  be  well  used,  and  have  your 
return  either  in  merchandise,  or  in  gold  and  silver ; 
for  to  us  it  is  all  one.  And  if  you  have  any  other 
request  to  make,  hide  it  not,  for  ye  shall  find  we 
will  not  make  your  countenance  to  fall  by  the 
answer  ye  shall  receive.  Only  this  I  must  tell  you, 
that  none  of  you  must  go  above  a  karan"  (that  is  with 
them  a  mile  and  a-half )  "  from  the  walls  of  the 
city  without  special  leave."  We  answered,  after  we 
had  looked  awhile  upon  one  another,  admiring  this 
gracious  and  parent-like  usage,  "That  we  could  not 
tell  what  to  say,  for  we  wanted  words  to  express  our 
thanks,  and  his  noble  free  offers  left  us  nothing  to 
ask.  It  seemed  to  us  that  we  had  before  us  a  pic- 
ture of  our  salvation  in  heaven  ;  for  we  that  were  a- 
while  since  in  the  jaws  of  death,  were  now  brought 
into  a  place  whej-e  we  found  nothing  but  consola- 
tions.    For  the  commandment  laid  upon  us,  we 


218  NEW    ATLANTIS. 

would  fail  to  obey  it,  though  it  was  impossible  but 
our  hearts  should  be  inflamed  to  tread  further  upon 
this  happy  and  holy  ground."  We  added,  "  That 
our  tongues  should  first  cleave  to  the  roofs  of  our 
mouths  ere  we  should  forget  either  this  reverend 
person,  or  this  whole  nation  in  ovir  prayers."  We 
also  most  humbly  besought  him  to  accept  of  us  as 
his  true  servants,  by  as  just  a  right  as  ever  men 
on  earth  were  bounden,  laying  and  presenting 
both  our  persons  and  all  we  had  at  his  feet.  He 
said,  "  He  was  a  priest,  and  looked  for  a  priest "s 
reward,  which  was  our  brotherly  love,  and  the 
good  of  our  souls  and  bodies." '°  So  he  went  from 
us,  not  without  tears  of  tenderness  in  his  eyes ;  and 
left  us  also  confused  with  joy  and  kindness,  saying 
amongst  ourselves,  "That  we  were  come  into  a 
land  of  angels  which  did  appear  to  us  daily,  and 
present  us  with  comforts  which  we  thought  not  of, 
much  less  expected." 

The  next  day,  about  ten  o'clock,  the  governor 
came  to  us  again,  and  after  salutations,  said  fami- 
liarly, "That  he  was  come  to  visit  us,"  and  called 
for  a  chair,  and  sat  him  down  :  and  being  some  ten 
of  us  (the  rest  were  of  the  meaner  sort,  or  else  gone 
abroad)  sat  clown  with  him.  And  when  we  were 
seated,  he  began  thus,  "  We  of  this  island  of  Ben- 
salem  (for  so  they  call  it  in  their  language)  have 
this,  that  by  means  of  our  solitary  situation,   and 

'"  This  was  a  rare  priest.  Here  in  England  he  would  pro- 
bably have  been  an  antipluralist,  and  desirous  of  beholding  the 
bishops  residing  in  their  dioceses,  instead  of  embroiling  the 
nation  by  their  speeches  in  the  House  of  Lords. 


NEW    ATLA.VTIS.  211> 

the  laws  of  secrecy  which  we  have  for  our  travel- 
lers, and  our  rare  admission  of  strangers,  we  know 
well  most  part  of  the  habitable  world,  and  are 
ourselves  unknown.  Therefore,  because  he  that 
knoweth  least  is  fittest  to  ask  questions,  it  is  more 
reason,  for  the  entertainment  of  the  time,  that  ye 
ask  me  questions  than  that  I  ask  you."  We  an- 
;^wered,  "That  we  humbly  thanked  him  that  he 
would  give  us  leave  so  to  do,  and  that  we  con- 
ceived by  the  taste  we  had  already,  that  there  was 
no  worldly  thing  on  earth  more  worthy  to  be 
known  than  the  state  of  that  happy  land."  But, 
above  all,"  we  said,  "  since  that  we  were  met  from 
the  several  ends  of  the  world,  and  hoped  assuredly 
that  we  should  meet  one  day  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  for  that  we  were  both  parts  Christians, 
we  desired  to  know  (in  respect  that  land  was  so 
remote,  and  so  divided  by  vast  and  unknown  seas 
from  the  land  where  our  Saviour  walked  on  earth,) 
who  was  the  apostle  of  that  nation,  and  how  it  was 
converted  to  the  faith  ?"  It  appeared  in  his  face 
that  he  took  great  contentment  in  this  our  ques- 


"  Of  which,  however,  they  had  hitherto  seen  little,  save  its 
red  oranges  and  good  cheer.  A  man  shut  up  in  a  quarantine 
palace,  and  invited  to  dine  every  day  with  the  chief  Comptroller 
of  the  Customs,  or  with  the  Bishon  of  London,  would  assuredly 
conceive  there  could  be  no  such  thing  as  a  half-starved  pauper, 
a  beggar,  or  a  hungry  labourer,  in  all  England.  Lord  Bacon's 
simple  mariners  were  nearly  in  this  predicament.  They  knew 
nothing  of  the  country,  understood  none  of  its  institutions,  had 
no  experience  among  the  "meaner  sort"  of  the  population;  yet, 
finding  all  their  own  wants  supplied  bountifully,  they  jumped  at 
once,  and  very  naturally,  to  the  conclusion  that  the  whole  land 
must  needs  be  happy. 


220  NEW    ATLANTIS. 

tion.  He  said,  "  Ye  knit  my  heart  to  you  by 
asking  this  question  in  the  first  place,  for  it  show- 
eth  that  you  '  first  seek  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;' 
and  I  shall  gladly  and  briefly  satisfy  your  demand. 
"  About  twenty  years  after  the  ascension  of  our 
Saviour,  it  came  to  pass  that  there  was  seen  by  the 
people  of  Renfusa  (a  city  upon  the  eastern  coast  of 
our  island,)  within  sight,  (the  night  was  cloudy 
and  calm,)  as  it  might  be  some  miles  in  the  sea,  a 
great  pillar  of  light,  not  sharp,  but  in  form  of  a 
column  or  cylinder,  rising  from  the  sea,  a  great  way 
up  towards  heaven,  and  on  the  top  of  it  was  seen 
a  large  cross  of  light,  more  bright  and  resplendent 
than  the  body  of  the  pillar  :  upon  which  so  strange 
a  spectacle  the  people  of  the  city  gathered  apace 
together  upon  the  sands  to  wonder,  and  so  after 
put  themselves  into  a  number  of  small  boats  to  go 
nearer  to  this  marvellous  sight.  But  when  the 
boats  were  come  within  about  sixty  yards  of  the 
pillar,  they  found  themselves  all  bound,  and  could 
go  no  further,  yet  so  as  they  might  move  to  go 
about,  but  might  not  approach  nearer ;  so  as  the 
boats  stood  all  as  in  a  theatre,  beholding  this  light 
as  a  heavenly  sign.  It  so  fell  out  that  there  was  in 
one  of  the  boats  one  of  the  wise  men  of  the  Society 
of  Solomon's  House,  (which  house  or  college,  my 
good  brethren,  is  the  very  eye  of  this  kingdom,) 
who  having  a  while  attentively  and  devoutly  viewed 
and  contemplated  this  pillar  and  cross,  fell  down 
upon  his  face,  and  then  raised  himself  upon  his 
knees,  and  lifting  up  his  hands  to  heaven,  made 
his  prayers  in  this  manner ; 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  221 

"'Lord  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  thou  hast 
vouchsafed  of  thy  grace  to  those  of  our  order  to 
know  thy  works  of  creation,  and  true  secrets  of 
them,  and  to  discern  (as  far  as  appertainelh  to  the 
generations  of  men)  between  divine  miracles,  works 
of  nature,  works  of  art,  and  impostures  and  illu- 
sions of  all  sorts  !  I  do  here  acknowledge  and 
testify  before  this  people  that  the  thing  we  now 
see  before  our  eyes  is  thy  finger,  and  a  true  mira- 
cle. And  forasmuch  as  we  learn  in  our  books 
that  thou  never  workest  miracles  but  to  a  divine 
and  excellent  end,  (for  the  laws  of  nature  are  thine 
own  laws,  and  thou  exceedest  them  not  but  upon 
good  cause,)  we  most  humbly  beseech  thee  to  pros- 
per this  great  sign,  and  to  give  us  the  interpreta- 
tion and  use  of  it  in  mercy,  which  thou  dost  in 
some  part  secretly  promise  by  sending  it  unto 
us !' 

"  When  he  had  made  his  prayer,  he  presently 
found  the  boat  he  was  in  moveable  and  unbound, 
whereas  all  the  rest  remained  still  fast ;  and  taking 
that  for  an  assurance  of  leave  to  approach,  he 
caused  the  boat  to  be  softly  and  with  silence 
rowed  towards  the  pillar  :  but  ere  he  came  near  it, 
the  pillar  and  cross  of  light  brake  up,  and  cast 
itself  abroad,  as  it  were,  into  a  firmament  of  many 
stars;  which  also  vanished  soon  after,  and  there 
was  nothing  left  to  be  seen  but  a  small  ark  or 
chest  of  cedar,  dry,  and  not  wet  at  all  with  water, 
though  it  swam ;  and  in  the  fore-end  of  it,  which 
was  towards  him,  grew  a  small  green  branch  of 
palm.     And  when  the  wise  man  had  taken  it  with 


222  NE-W   ATLANTIS. 

all  reverence  into  his  boat,  it  opened  of  itself,  and 
there  was  found  in  it  a  book  and  a  letter,  both 
written  in  fine  parchment,  and  wrapped  in  sindons 
of  linen.  The  book  contained  all  the  canonical 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  according 
as  you  have  them,  (for  we  know  well  what  the 
churches  with  you  receive,)  and  the  Apocalypse 
itself,  and  some  other  books  of  the  New  Testament 
which  were  not  at  that  time  written,  were  never- 
theless in  the  book.  And  for  the  letter,  it  was  in 
these  words: 

"  '  I,  Bartholomew,  a  servant  of  the  Highest,  and 
apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  was  warned  by  an  angel  that 
appeared  to  me  in  a  vision  of  glory,  that  I  should 
commit  this  ark  to  the  floods  of  the  sea.  Therefore  I 
do  testify  and  declare  unto  that  people  where  God 
shall  ordain  this  ark  to  come  to  land,  that  in  the  same 
day  is  come  unto  them  salvation,  and  peace,  and 
good  will  from  the  Father,  and  from  the  Lord  Jesus.' 

"  There  were  also  in  both  these  writings,  as  well 
the  book  as  the  letter,  wrought  a  great  miracle,  con- 
formable to  that  of  the  apostles  in  the  original  gift 
of  tongues.  For  there  being  at  that  time  in  this 
land  Hebrews,  Persians,  and  Indians,  besides  the 
natives,  every  one  read  upon  the  book  and  letter  as 
if  they  had  been  written  in  his  own  language. 
And  thus  was  this  land  saved  from  infidelity  (as 
the  remain  of  the  old  world  was  from  water)  by  an 
ark,  through  the  apostolical  and  miraculous  evan- 
gelism of  St.  Bartholomew."  '*    And  here  he  paused, 

'-  There  is  a  certain  magnificence  in  the  wild  legend  that 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  223 

and  a  messenger  came  and  called  him  forth  from 
us.  So  this  was  all  that  passed  in  that  con- 
ference. 

The  next  day  the  same  governor  came  again  to 
us  immediately  after  dinner,  and  excused  himself, 
saying,  "  That  the  day  before  he  was  called  from 
us  somewhat  abruptly,  but  now  he  would  make  us 
amends,  and  spend  some  time  with  us,  if  we  held 
his  company  and  conference  agreeable."  We 
answered,  "  That  we  held  it  so  agreeable  and  plea- 
sing to  us,  as  we  forgot  both  dangers  past  and  fears 
to  come  for  the  time  we  heard  him  speak,  and  that 
we  thought  an  hour  spent  with  him  was  worth 
years  of  our  fonner  life."  He  bowed  himself  a 
little  to  us,  and  after  we  were  set  again  he  said, 
"  Well,  the  questions  are  on  your  part."  One  of 
our  number  said,  after  a  little  pause,  "  There  was 
a  matter  we  were  no  less  desirous  to  know  than 
fearful  to  ask,  lest  we  might  presume  too  far  ;  but 
encouraged  by  his  rare  humanity  towards  us,  that 
we  could  scarce  think  ourselves  strangers,  being 
his  vowed  and  professed  servants,  we  would  take 
the  hardiness  to  propound  it ;  humbly  beseeching 
him,  if  he  thought  it  not  fit  to  be  answered,  that  he 

his  lordship  here  relates,  of  which,  as  the  reader  will  have  ob- 
served, there  is  not  a  trace  in  the  Utopia.  Bacon's  imagination 
was  rich  and  fertOe,  as  is  proved  by  the  abundance  of  his  meta- 
phors, and  the  strange  walks  into  which  he  often  conducts  his 
speculations  ;  but  the  artful  ordering,  the  proportioning  grace- 
fully, and  the  apt  and  natural  uniting  of  the  several  parts  of  a 
work  of  fiction,  entered  not  into  his  conception  of  authorship. 
His  philosophy  had  grazed  his  mind  bare,  and  left  his  rhetoric 
to  wander  about  lank  and  woe-be-gone. 


224  NEW   ATLAXTIS. 

would  pardon  it,  though  he  rejected  it."  We 
said,  "  We  well  observed  those  his  words  which  he 
formerly  spake,  that  this  happy  island  where  we 
now  stood  was  known  to  few,  and  yet  knew  most 
of  the  nations  of  the  world  ;  which  we  found  to  be 
true,  considering  they  had  the  languages  of  Europe, 
and  knew  much  of  our  state  and  business ;  and 
yet  we  in  Europe,  notwithstanding  all  the  remote 
discoveries  and  navigations  of  this  last  age,  never 
heard  any  the  least  inkling  or  glimpse  of  this  is- 
land. This  we  found  wonderful  strange,  for  that  all 
nations  have  interknowledge  one  of  another,  either 
by  voyage  into  foreign  parts,  or  by  strangers  that 
come  to  them  :  and  though  the  traveller  into  a  fo- 
reign country,  doth  commonly  know  more  by  the  eye 
than  he  that  stayeth  at  home  can  by  relation  of  the 
traveller,  yet  both  ways  suffice  to  make  a  mutual 
knowledge  in  some  degree  on  both  parts.  But  for 
this  island,  we  never  heard  tell  of  any  ship  of 
theirs  that  had  been  seen  to  arrive  upon  any  shore 
of  Europe,  no  nor  of  either  the  East  or  West 
Indies,  nor  yet  of  any  ship  of  any  other  part  of 
the  world  that  had  made  return  from  them.  And 
yet  the  marvel  rested  not  in  this,  for  the  situation 
of  it,  as  his  lordship  said,  in  the  secret  conclave  of 
such  a  vast  sea,  might  cause  it :  but  then,  that  they 
should  have  knowledge  of  the  languages,  books, 
affairs  of  those  that  lie  such  a  distance  from  them, 
it  was  a  thing  we  could  not  tell  what  to  make  of; 
for  that  it  seemed  to  us  a  condition  and  property 
of  divine  powers  and  beings,  to  be  hidden  and 
unseen  to  others,  and  yet  to  have  others  open  and 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  225 

as  in  a  light  to  them."  At  this  speech  the  gover- 
nor gave  a  gracious  smile,  and  said,  "  That  we  did 
well  to  ask  pardon  for  this  question  we  now  asked, 
for  that  it  imported  as  if  we  thought  this  land  a 
land  of  magicians,  that  sent  forth  spirits  of  the 
air  into  all  parts  to  bring  them  news  and  intelli- 
gence of  other  countries."  It  was  answered  by 
us  all  in  all  possible  humbleness,  but  yet  with  a 
countenance  taking  knowledge  that  we  knew  that 
he  spake  it  but  merrily,  "  That  we  were  apt  enough 
to  think  there  was  somewhat  supernatural  in  this 
island,  but  yet  rather  as  angelical  than  magical. 
But  to  let  his  lordship  know  truly  what  it  was 
that  made  us  tender  and  doubtful  to  ask  this  ques- 
tion, it  was  not  any  such  conceit,  but  because  we 
remembered  he  had  given  a  touch  in  his  foimer 
speech,  that  this  land  had  laws  of  secrecy  touching 
strangers."  To  this  he  said,  "You  remember  it 
right :  and  therefore  in  that  I  shall  say  to  you, 
I  must  reserve  some  particulars,  which  it  is  not 
lawful  for  me  to  reveal ;  but  there  will  be  enough 
left  to  give  you  satisfaction. 

"  You  shall  understand,  that  which  perhaps  you 
will  scarce  think  credible,  that  about  three  thou- 
sand years  ago,  or  somewhat  more,  the  navigation 
of  the  world,  especially  for  remote  voyages,  was 
greater  than  at  this  day.''   Do  not  think  with  your- 

'•'  It  is  of  course  necessary  to  understand  the  Atlantic  oracle 
cum  grano  ;  though  certainly  the  expeditions  of  Hanno,  of 
Pharaoh  Necho,  of  Nearchus,  and  others,  (rather  less  indeed 
than  three  thousand  years  ago,)  might  give  some  colour  to  his 
ideas.     His  lordship  had  probably  formed  juster  notions  of  the 

U 


226  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

selves  that  I  know  not  how  much  it  is  increased 
with  you  within  these  threescore  years ;  I  know  it 
well :  and  yet  I  say,  greater  then  than  now. 
Whether  it  was  that  the  example  of  the  ark  that 
saved  the  remnant  of  -  men  from  the  universal 
deluge,  gave  men  confidence  to  adventure  upon 
the  waters,  or  what  it  was,  but  such  is  the  truth. 
The  Phoenicians,  and  especially  the  Tyrians,  had 
great  fleets  :  so  had  the  Carthaginians  their  colony, 
which  is  yet  further  west.  Toward  the  east  the 
shipping  of  Egypt  and  of  Palestina  was  likewise 
great;  China  also,  and  the  great  Atlanlis,  that  you 
call  America,  which  have  now  but  junks  and 
canoes,  abounded  then  in  tall  ships.  This  island, 
as  appeareth  by  faithful  registers  of  those  times, 
had  then  fifteen  hundred  strong  ships  of  great 
content.  Of  all  this  there  is  with  you  sparing 
memory  or  none,  but  we  have  large  knowledge 
thereof. 

"  At  that  time  this  land  was  known  and  fre- 
quented by  the  ships  and  vessels  of  all  the  nations 
before  named,  and,  as  it  cometh  to  jjass,  they  had 
many  times  men  of  other  countries  that  were  no 
sailors  that  came   with    them,  as  Persians,  Chal- 

fleets  and  navigations  of  the  Tyrians,  Carthaginians,  and  other 
commercial  nations  of  antiquity,  than  we  of  the  present  age 
entertain.  Men  were  in  his  time  less  removed  from  the  condi- 
tion, in  naval  affairs,  of  those  industrious  and  enterprising 
people,  and  consequently  less  disdainful  of  their  arts.  From 
the  deck  of  a  hundred-and-twenty  gun  ship,  we  are  apt  to  look 
down  with  scorn  on  the  war-galleys  and  smaller  merchant  ships 
of  the  old  world  — forgetting  sometimes,  perhaps,  that  they  hud 
built  ships  larger  than  aay  ever  used  in  modern  times. 


XKAV    ATLANTIS.  1^2/ 

deans,  Arabians ;  so  as  almost  all  nations  of  might 
and  fame  resorted  hither,  of  whom  we  have  some  stirps 
and  little  tribes  with  us  at  this  day.  And  for  our 
own  ships,  they  went  sundry  voyag^es,  as  well  to 
your  straits,  which  you  call  the  Pillars  of  Hercules, 
as  to  other  parts  in  the  Atlantic  and  Mediterra- 
nean seas ;  as  to  Pegu,  w  hich  is  the  same  with 
Cambalu,  and  Quinsay  upon  the  Oriental  seas,  as 
far  as  to  the  borders  of  East  Tartary. 

"  At  the  same  time,  and  an  age  after  or  more,  the 
inhabitants  of  the  great  Atlantis  did  flourish.  For 
though  the  narration  and  description  which  is 
made  by  a  great  man  '*  with  you,  of  the  descen- 
dants of  Neptune  planted  there,  and  of  the  mag- 
nificent temple,  palace,  city,  and  hill,  and  the 
manifold  streams  of  goodly  navigable  rivers  which 
(as  so  many  chains)  environed  the  same  site  and 
temple,  and  the  several  degrees  of  ascent  whereby 
men  did  climb  up  to  the  same,  as  if  it  had  been  a 

■*  Plato,  in  whose  Criiias  all  these  marvellous  descriptions 
may  be  seen.  It  sometimes  seems  to  me  not  a  little  extraordi- 
nary that  persons  roaming  through  literature  in  search  of  plea- 
sure, should  so  seldom  enter  upon  the  domains  of  this  Archi- 
mago,  where  so  many  magical  sights  and  shows  abound. 
Spenser  is  not  more  fanciful,  Shakspeare  not  more  imaginative, 
JMilton  not  more  sublime.  Our  ancestors  differed  from  us  on 
this  point.  The  traces  of  Plato  are  everywhere  visible  upon 
their  thoughts,  whether  they  philosophize,  or  launch  forth  into 
the  wilds  of  tiction.  There  was  a  statue  of  Eros  in  the  groves 
of  the  Academy,  and  he  appears  to  have  waved  his  wings,  and 
shed  his  "purple  light"  over  the  language  of  Plato,  and  this 
may  possibly  constitute  the  spell  which  he  casts  on  all  who 
attain  to  know  him.  He  can  be  an  object  of  indifference  only 
to  strangers. 

u  2 


228  NEW   ATLANTIS, 

scala  cceli,  be  all  poetical  and  fabulous  ;  yet  so  much 
is  true,  that  the  said  country  of  Atlantis,  as  well  as 
that  of  Peru,  then  called  Coya,  as  that  of  Mexico, 
then  named  Tyrambel,  were  mig-hty  and  proud 
kingdoms  in  arms,  shipping-,  and  riches ;  so  mighty, 
as  at  one  time  (or  at  least  within  the  space  of  ten 
years)  they  both  made  two  g-reat  expeditions  ;  they 
of  Tyrambel  throug-h  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean Sea,  and  they  of  Coya,  through  the  South 
Sea,  upon  this  our  island.  And  for  the  former  of 
these,  which  was  into  Europe,  the  same  author 
amongst  you  (as  it  seemeth)  had  some  relation 
from  the  Eg-yptian  priest  whom  he  citeth,  for  as- 
suredly such  a  thing  there  was.  But  whether  it  were 
the  ancient  Athenians  that  had  the  glory  of  the 
repulse  and  resistance  of  those  forces,  I  can  say 
nothing- ;  but  certain  it  is,  there  never  came  back 
either  ship  or  man  from  that  voyag-e.  Neither 
had  the  other  voyage  of  those  of  Coya  upon  us  had 
better  fortune,  if  they  had  not  met  with  enemies  of 
greater  clemency.  For  the  king  of  this  island,  (by 
name  Altabin,)  a  wise  man  and  a  great  warrior, 
knowing  well  both  his  own  strength  and  that  of 
his  enemies,  handled  the  matter  so,  as  he  cut  off 
their  land-forces  from  their  ships,  and  entoiled  both 
their  navy  and  their  camp  with  a  greater  power 
than  theirs,  both  by  sea  and  land,  and  compelled 
them  to  render  themselves  without  striking  stroke  ; 
and  after  they  were  at  his  mercy,  contenting  him- 
self only  with  their  oath  that  they  should  no  more 
bear  arms  against  him,  dismissed  them  all  in 
safety.     But  the  Divine  revenge  overtook  not  long 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  229 

after  thoseproud enterprises ;  for  witliin  less  than  the 
space  of  one  hundred  years,  the  great  Atlantis  was 
utterly  lost  and  destroyed,  not  by  a  great  earth- 
quake, as  your  man  saith,  '•*  (for  that  whole  tract  is 
little  subject  to  earthquakes,)  but  by  a  particular 
deluge  or  inundation,  those  countries  having  at 
this  day  far  greater  rivers,  and  far  higher  moun- 
tains to  pour  down  waters,  than  any  part  of  the 
old  world.  But  it  is  true,  that  the  same  inunda 
tion  was  not  deep,  not  past  forty  foot  in  most 
places  from  the  ground  ;  so  that  although  it  de- 
stroyed man  and  beast  generally,  yet  some  few 
wild  inhabitants  of  the  wood  escaped  :  birds  also 
were  saved  by  flying  to  the  high  trees  and  woods. 
For  as  for  men,  although  they  had  buildings  in 
many  places  higher  than  the  depth  of  the  water, 
yet  that  inundation,  though  it  were  shallow,  had  a 
long  continuance,  whereby  they  of  the  vale  that  were 
not  drowned,  perished  for  want  of  food,  and  other 
things  necessary.  So  as  marvel  you  not  at  the 
thin  population  of  America,  nor  at  the  rudeness 
and  ignorance  of  the  people,  for  you  must  account 
your  inhabitants  of  America  as  a  young  people. 


"  Here  I  will  take  the  "man's"  word  in  preference  to  the 
Atlantean  priest's.  The  western  coast  of  America  is  liable  still 
more  than  the  western  coast  of  Europe  to  the  shock  of  earth- 
quakes. Indeed,  it  might  almost  be  said  that  the  earthquake 
has  its  home  among  the  Andes,  where  it  has,  within  the  memory 
of  men  now  living,  wrought  fearful  havoc,  and  effected  wonder- 
ful changes  in  the  aspect  of  the  globe.  For  an  account  of  some 
of  these,  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  Von  Humboldt's  descrip- 
tion of  the  country  round  Chimborazo,  whose  unscaleable  peak 
a  bold  party  of  travellers  some  years  ago  attempted  to  ascend. 


230  XEW    ATLANTIS. 

younger  a  thousand  years  at  the  least  than  the  rest 
of  the  world,  for  that  there  was  so  much  time  be- 
tween the  universal  flood  and  their  paiticular 
inundation.  For  the  poor  remnant  of  human 
seed  which  remained  in  their  mountains,  peopled 
the  country  again  slowly  by  little  and  little  ;  and 
being  simple  and  a  savage  people,  (not  like  Noah 
and  his  sons,  '*'  which  was  the  chief  family  of  the 
earth,)  they  were  not  able  to  leave  letters,  arts,  and 
civility  to  their  posterity.  And  having  likewise,  in 
their  mountainous  habitations  been  used  (in  respect 
of  the  extreme  cold  of  those  regions)  to  clothe 
themselves  with  the  skins  of  tigers,  "^  bears,  and 
great  hairy  goats  that  they  have  in  those  parts; 
when  after  they  came  down  into  the  valley,  and 
found  the  intolerable  heats  which  are  there,  and 
knew  no  means  of  lighter  apparel,  they  were  forced 
to  begin  the  custom  of  going  naked,  which  conti- 
iiueth  at  this  day  :  only  they  take  great  pride  and 
delight  in  the  feathers  of  birds  ;  and  this  also  they 
took  from  those  their  ancestors  of  the  mountains, 
who  were  invited  unto  it  by  the  infinite  flight  of 
birds  that  came  up  to  the  high  grounds  while  the 
waters  stood  below.  So  you  see  by  this  main  ac- 
cident of  time  we  lost  our  traffic  with  the  Ameri- 
cans, with  whom,  of  all  others,  in  regard  they  lay 
nearest  to  us,  we  had  most  commerce.     As  for  the 


'^  His  lordship's  brevity  here  borders  on  obscurity.  Were 
the  aboriginal  Anjericans,  in  his  opinion,  of  a  race  difFerenv 
from  the  Noachidse  ? 

"-The  tiger  is  not  a  native  of  the  American  continent;  bui 
this  had  not  been  ascertained  in  Bacon's  time. 


XEW    ATLANTIS.  231 

otlier  j)arts  of  the  world,  it  is  most  manifest  that 
in  the  ages  following'  (whether  it  were  in  respect  of 
wars,  or  by  a  natural  revolution  of  time,)  navigation 
did  everywhere  greatly  decay,  and  especially  far  voy- 
ages (the  rather  by  the  use  of  galleys  and  such 
vessels  as  could  hardly  brook  the  ocean)  were  alto- 
gether left  and  omitted.  So  then,  that  part  of 
intercourse  which  could  be  from  other  nations  to 
sail  to  us,  you  see  how  it  hath  long  since  ceased, 
except  it  were  by  some  rare  accident,  as  this  of 
yours.  But  now  of  the  cessation  of  that  other  part  of 
intercourse,  which  might  be  by  our  sailing  to  other 
nations,  I  must  yield  you  some  other  cause;  for  I 
cannot  say  (if  I  would  say  truly)  but  our  shipping 
for  number,  strength,  mariners,  pilots,  and  all 
things  that  appertain  to  navigation,  is  as  great  as 
ever ;  and  therefore  why  we  should  sit  at  home  I 
shall  now  give  you  an  account  by  itself,  and  it 
will  draw'  nearer  to  give  you  satisfaction  to  your 
princi^aal  question. 

"There  reigned  in  this  island,  about  one  thousand 
nine  hundred  years  ago,  a  king,  whose  memory  of 
all  others  we  most  adore,  not  superstitiously,  but 
as  a  divine  instrument,  though  a  mortal  man  :  his 
name  was  Salomon  a,  and  we  esteem  him  as  the 
lawgiver  of  our  nation.  This  king  had  a  large 
heart,  inscrutable  for  good,  and  was  wholly  bent 
to  make  his  kingdom  and  people  happy.  He 
therefore,- taking  into  consideration  how  sufficient 
and  substantive  this  land  was  to  maintain  itself 
without  any  aid  at  all  of  the  foreigner,  being  five 
thousand  six  hundred  miles  in  circuit,  and  of  rare 


232  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

fertility  of  soil  in  the  greatest  part  thereof;  and 
finding  also  the  shipping  of  this  country  might  be 
plentifully  set  on  work,  both  by  fishing  and  by 
transportations  from  port  to  port,  and  likewise  by 
sailing  unto  some  small  islands  that  are  not  from 
us,  and  are  under  the  crown  and  laws  of  this  state, 
and  recalling  into  his  memory  the  happy  and 
flourishing  estate  wherein  this  land  then  was,  so  as 
it  might  be  a  thousand  ways  altered  to  the  worse, 
but  scarce  any  one  way  to  the  better;  thought 
nothing  wanted  to  his  noble  and  heroical  inten- 
tions, but  only  (as  far  as  human  foresight  might 
reach)  to  give  perpetuity  to  that  which  was  in  his 
time  so  happily  established  :  therefore  amongst  his 
other  fundamental  laws  of  this  kingdom  he  did 
ordain  the  interdicts  and  prohibitions  which  we  have 
touching  the  entrance  of  strangers,  which  at  that 
time  (though  it  was  after  the  calamity  of  America) 
was  frequent,  doubting  novelties  and  commixture 
of  manners.  It  is  true,  the  like  law  against  the 
admission  of  strangers  without  license  is  an  ancient 
law  in  the  kingdom  of  China,  and  yet  continued 
in  use  ;  but  there  it  is  a  poor  thing,  and  hath  made 
them  a  curious,  ignorant,  fearful,  foolish  nation. 
But  our  lawgiver  made  his  law  of  another  temper. 
For,  first,  he  hath  preserved  all  points  of  humanity, 
in  taking  order  and  making  provision  for  the  relief 
of  strangers  distressed,  whereof  you  have  tasted." 
At  which  speech,  as  reason  was,  we  all  rose  up  and 
bowed  ourselves.  He  went  on.  "  That  king  also 
still  desiring  to  join  humanity  and  policy  together, 
and  thinking  it  against  humanity  to  detain  stran- 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  233 

IJ^eis  here  against  their  wills,  and  against  policy, 
that  they  should  return  and  discover  their  know- 
ledge of  this  state,  he  took  this  course.  He  did 
ordain,  tliat  of  the  strangers  that  should  be  per- 
mitted to  land,  as  many,  at  all  times,  might  de- 
part as  would,  but  as  many  as  would  stay  should 
have  very  good  conditions  and  means  to  live  from 
the  state.  Wherein  he  saw  so  far,  that  now  in  so 
many  ages  since  the  prohibition  we  have  memory 
not  of  one  ship  that  ever  returned,  and  but  of  thir- 
teen persons  only  at  several  times  that  chose  to 
return  in  our  bottoms.  What  those  few  that  re- 
turned may  have  reported  abroad,  I  know  not;  but 
you  must  think,  whatsoever  they  have  said  could  be 
taken  where  they  came  but  for  a  dream.  Now  for 
our  travelling  from  hence  into  parts  abroad,  our 
lawgiver  thought  fit  altogether  to  restrain  it.  So 
is  it  not  in  China,  for  the  Chinese  sail  where  they 
will,  or  can  ;  which  showeth  that  their  law  of  keep- 
ing out  strangers  is  a  law  of  pusillanimity  and 
fear.  But  this  restraint  of  ours  hath  one  only  ex- 
ception, which  is  admirable,  preserving  the  good 
which  Cometh  by  communicating  with  strangere, 
and  avoiding  the  hurt,  and  I  will  now  open  it  to 
you.  And  here  I  shall  seem  a  little  to  digress,  but 
you  will  by  and  by  find  it  pertinent.  You  shall 
understand,  my  dear  friends,  that  amongst  the  ex- 
cellent acts  of  that  king  one  above  all  hath  the  pre- 
eminence :  it  was  the  erection  and  institution  of  an 
order  or  society,  which  we  call  Solomon's  House,  the 
noblest  foundation  (as  we  think)  that  ever  was 
upon  the  earth,  and  the  lantern  of  this  kingdom. 


234  NETT   ATLANTIS. 

It  is  dedicated  to  tlie  study  of  the  v.orks  and  crea- 
tures of  God.  Some  think  it  beareth  the  founders 
name  a  little  corrupted,  as  if  it  should  be  Salo- 
mon's house,  but  tlie  records  write  it  as  it  is 
spoken;  so  as  I  take  it  to  be  denominate  of  the 
king  of  the  Hebrews,  which  is  famous  with  you, 
and  no  stranger  to  us,  for  we  have  some  parts  of 
his  works  which  with  you  are  lost,  namely,  that 
natural  history  which  he  wrote  of  all  plants,  from 
the  cedar  of  Lebanon  to  the  moss  that  growetli  out 
of  the  wall,  and  of  all  things  that  have  life  and 
motion.  This  maketh  me  think  that  our  king 
finding  himself  to  symbolize  in  many  things  with 
that  king  of  the  Hebrews  (which  lived  many  years 
before  him)  honoured  him  with  the  title  of  this 
foundation.  And  I  am  the  rather  induced  to  be  oi' 
this  opinion,  for  that  I  find  in  ancient  records  this 
order  or  society  is  sometimes  called  Solomon's 
House,  and  sometimes  the  College  of  the  Six 
Days'  Works  ;  whereby  I  am  satisfied  that  our  ex- 
cellent king  had  learned  from  the  Hebrews  that 
God  had  created  the  world  and  all  that  therein  is 
within  six  days,  and  therefore  he  instituting  that 
house  for  the  finding  out  of  the  true  nature  of  all 
things,  (whereby  God  might  have  the  more  glory 
in  the  workmanship  of  them,  and  men  the  more 
fruit  in  their  use  of  them,)  did  give  it  also  that 
second  name.  But  now,  to  come  to  our  present 
purpose.  When  the  king  had  forbidden  to  all  his 
people  navigation  in  any  part  that  was  not  under 
his  crown,  he  made  nevertheless  this  ordinance, 
that  every  twelve  years  there  should  be  set  forth 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  255 

out  of  this  kingdom  two  ships  appointed  to  several 
voyages ;  that  in  either  of  these  ships  there  should 
he  a  mission  of  three  of  the  fellows  or  hrethren  of 
Solomon's  House,  whose  errand  was  only  to  give 
us  kno\\ledge  of  the  affairs  and  state  of  those 
countries  to  which  they  were  designed,  and  espe- 
cially of  the  sciences,  arts,  manufactures,  and  in- 
ventions of  all  the  world  ;  and  withal  to  biing 
unto  us  books,  instruments,  and  patterns  in  every 
kind  :  that  the  ships,  after  they  had  landed 
the  brethren,  should  return,  and  that  the  brethren 
should  stay  abroad  till  the  new  mission.  The 
shijjs  are  not  otherwise  fraught  than  with  store  of 
victuals,  and  good  quantity  of  treasure,  to  remain 
with  the  brethren  for  the  buying  of  such  things 
and  rewarding  of  such  persons  as  they  should 
think  fit.  Now  for  me  to  tell  you  how  the  vulgar 
sort  of  mariners  are  contained  from  being  disco- 
vered at  land,  apd  how  they  that  must  be  put  on 
shore  for  any  time  colour  themselves  under  the 
names  of  other  nations,  and  to  what  places  these 
voyages  have  been  designed,  and  what  places  of 
rendezvous  are  appointed  for  the  new  missions, 
and  the  like  circumstances  of  the  practice,  I  may 
not  do  it,  neither  is  it  much  to  your  desire.  But 
thus  you  see  we  maintain  a  trade,  not  for  gold, 
silver,  or  jewels,  nor  for  silks,  nor  for  spices, 
nor  any  other  commodity  of  matter,  but  only  for 
God's  first  creature,  which  was  light ;  to  have  light, 
I  say,  of  the  growth  of  all  parts  of  the  world." 

And   when  he  had  said  this  he  was  silent,  and 
so  were  we  all ;  for  indeed  we  were  all  astonished 


236  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

to  hear  so  strange  things  so  probably  told.  And 
he,  perceiving  that  we  were  willing  to  say  some- 
what, but  had  it  not  ready,  in  great  courtesy  took 
us  off,  and  descended  to  ask  us  questions  of  our 
voyage  and  fortunes;  and  in  the  end  concluded, 
that  we  might  do  well  to  think  with  ourselves 
what  time  of  stay  we  would  demand  of  the  state ; 
and  bade  us  not  to  scant  ourselves,  for  he  would 
procure  such  time  as  we  desired.  Whereupon  we 
all  rose  up  and  presented  ourselves  to  kiss  the 
skirt  of  his  tippet ;  but  he  would  not  suffer  us, 
and  so  took  his  leave.  But  when  it  came  once 
amongst  our  people,  that  the  state  used  to  offer 
conditions  to  strangers  that  would  stay,  we  had 
work  enough  to  get  any  of  our  men  to  look  to  our 
ship,  and  to  keep  them  from  going  presently  to 
the  governor  to  crave  conditions;  but  with  much 
ado  we  refrained  them  till  we  might  agree  what 
course  to  take. 

We  took  ourselves  now  for  freemen,  seeing  there 
was  no  danger  of  our  utter  perdition,  and  lived 
most  joyfully,  going  abroad,  and  seeing  what  was 
to  be  seen  in  the  city  and  places  adjacent  within 
our  tedder,  and  obtaining  acquaintance  with  many 
of  the  city,  not  of  the  meanest  quality,  at  whose 
hands  we  found  such  humanity,  and  such  a  free- 
dom and  desire  to  take  strangers  as  it  were  into 
their  bosom,  as  was  enough  to  make  us  forget  all 
that  was  dear  to  us  in  our  own  countries,  and  con- 
tinually we  met  with  many  things  right  worthy  of 
observation  and  relation ;  as  indeed,  if  there  be 
a  mirror  in  the  world  worthy  to  hold  men's  eyes 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  237 

it  is  that  country.  One  day  there  were  two  of 
our  company  bidden  to  a  feast  of  the  family,  as 
they  call  it ;  a  most  natural,  pious,  and  reverend 
custom  it  is,  showin^i^  that  nation  to])e  compounded 
of  all  g-oodness.  This  is  the  manner  of  it :  it  is 
•jranted  to  any  man  that  shall  live  to  see  thirty 
persons  descended  of  his  body  alive  together,  and 
all  above  three  years  old,  to  make  this  feast,  which 
is  done  at  the  cost  of  the  state.  The  father  of  the 
family,  whom  they  call  the  tirsan,  two  days  before 
the  feast,  taketh  to  him  three  of  such  friends  as  he 
liketh  to  choose,  and  is  assisted  also  by  the  gover- 
nor of  the  city  or  place  where  the  feast  is  cele- 
brated ;  and  all  the  persons  of  the  family  of  both 
sexes  are  summoned  to  attend  him.  These  two 
days  the  tirsan  sitteth  in  consultation  concerning 
the  good  estate  of  the  family.  There,  if  there  be 
any  discord  or  suits  between  any  of  the  family, 
they  are  compounded  and  appeased  ;  there,  if  any 
of  the  family  be  distressed  or  decayed,  order  is 
taken  for  their  relief,  and  competent  means  to  live  ; 
there,  if  any  be  subject  to  vice  or  take  ill  courses, 
they  are  reproved  and  censured.  So  likewise,  di- 
rection is  given  touching  marriages,  and  the 
courses  of  life  which  any  of  them  should  take, 
with  divers  other  the  like  orders  and  advices.  The 
governor  assisteth  to  the  end,  to  put  in  execution 
by  his  public  authority  the  decrees  and  orders  of 
the  tirsan,  if  they  should  be  disobeyed,  though 
that  seldom  needeth ;  such  reverence  and  obedi- 
ence they  give  to  the  order  of  nature.  The  tirsan 
doth  also  then  ever  choose  one  man  from  amongst 


23o  NEW    ATLANTIS. 

his  sons  to  live  in   house  with   him,  who  is  called 
ever  after  the  son  of  the  vine ;  the  reason  will  here- 
after appear.     On  the  feast-day  the  father  or  tirsan 
Cometh  forth,  after  divine  service,  into  a  large  room 
where  the  feast  is  celebrated,  which  room  hath  an 
half-pace  at  the  upper  end.     Against  the  wall,  in 
the  middle  of  the  half-pace,  is  a  chair  placed  for 
him,  with   a  table  and   carpet  before  it :  over  the 
chair  is  a  state  made  round  or  oval,  and  it  is  of 
ivy  ;  an  ivy  somewhat  whiter  than  ours,  like  the 
leaf  of  a  silver  asp,   but   more    shining,  for  it  is 
green    all    winter.     And    the    state    is   curiously 
wrought   with  silver   and    silk   of  divers  colours, 
broiding  or  binding  in  the  ivy,  and  is  ever  of  the 
work  of  some  of  the  daughters  of  the  family,  and 
veiled  over  at  the  top  with  a  fine  net  of  silk  and 
silver  :  but  the  substance  of  it  is  true  ivy,  whereof, 
after  it  is  taken  down,  the  friends  of  the  family 
are  desirous  to  have  some  leaf  or  sprig  to  keep. 
The  tirsan  cometh  forth  with  all  his  generation  or 
lineage,  the  males  before  him,  and  the  females  fol- 
lowing him.     And  if  there  be  a  mother  from  whose 
body  the  whole  lineage  is  descended,  there  is  a  tra- 
verse placed  in  a  loft  above  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  chair,  with  a  private  door,  and  a  carved  window 
of  glass,  leaded  with  gold  and  blue,   where  she 
sitteth,  but  is  not  seen.  "     When  the  tirsan  is  come 

'^  What  the  object  of  this  seclusion  of  the  mother  of  the  family 
could  be,  I  am  unable  to  conjecture,  since  the  young  women  were 
freely  introduced  among  their  brethren.  Perhaps  it  may  have  been 
designed  to  conceal  the  ravages  of  years,  to  give  rise  in  the 
minds  of  the  spectators  to  an  idea  of  beauty,  which  her  appear- 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  239 

fovtli,  he  sitteth  down  in  the  chair,  and  all  the 
lineage  place  themselves  against  the  wall,  both  at 
his  back,  and  upon  the  return  of  the  half-pace,  in 
order  of  their  years,  without  difference  of  sex,  and 
stand  upon  their  feet.  When  he  is  set,  the  room 
being  always  full  of  company,  but  well  kept,  and 
without  disorder,  after  some  pause  there  cometh  in 
from  the  lower  end  of  the  roomataratan,  (which  is 
asmuch  as  an  herald,)  and  on  either  side  of  him  two 
young  lads,  whereof  one  carrieth  a  scroll  of  their 
shining  yellow  parchment,  and  the  other  a  cluster 
of  grapes  of  gold,  with  a  long  foot  or  stalk ;  the 
herald  and  children  are  clothed  with  mantles  of 
sea-water  green  satin,  but  the  herald's  mantle  is 
streamed  with  gold,  and  hath  a  train.  Tlien  the 
herald  w  ith  three  courtesies,  or  rather  inclinations, 
cometh  up  as  far  as  the  half-pace,  and  there  first 
taketh  into  his  hand  the  scroll.  This  scroll  is  the 
king's  charter,  containing  gift  of  revenue,  and 
many  privileges,  exemptions,  and  points  of  honour 
granted  to  the  father  of  the  family  ;  and  it  is  ever 
styled  and  directed,  to  such  an  one,  our  well- 
beloved  friend  and  creditor,  which  is  a  title  proper 
only  to  this  case  ;  for  they  say,  the  king  is  debtor 
to  no  man,  but  for  propagation  of  his  subjects. 
The  seal  set  to  the  kings  charter  is  the  king  s 
image,  embossed  or  moulded  in  gold.     And  thougSi 


ance  might  have  destroyed;  since  old  age  in  women  is  often 
more  observable  than  in  men.  Whatever  his  lordship's  idea 
may  have  been,  however,  I  think  the  practice  less  venerable 
than  it  would  have  been  to  place  the  aged  pair  on  contiguous 
thrones,  to  receive  together  the  homage  of  their  offspring. 


240  NEW   ATLANTIS, 

such  charters  be  expedited  of  course,  and  as  of 
right,  yet  they  are  varied  by  discretion,  according 
to  the  number  and  dignity  of  the  family.  This 
charter  the  herald  readeth  aloud  ;  and  while  it  is 
read,  the  father  or  tirsan  standeth  up,  supported 
by  two  of  his  sons,  such  as  he  chooseth.  Then 
the  herald  mounteth  the  half-pace,  and  delivereth 
the  charter  into  his  hand,  and  with  that  there  is 
an  acclamation  by  all  that  are  present  in  their  lan- 
guage, which  is  thus  much,  "  Hapjjy  are  the  people 
of  Bensalem."  Then  the  herald  taketh  into  his 
hand  from  the  other  child  the  cluster  of  grapes, 
which  is  of  gold,  both  the  stalk  and  the  grapes, 
but  the  grapes  are  daintily  enamelled ;  and  if  the 
males  of  the  family  be  the  greater  number,  the 
grapes  are  enamelled  purple,  with  a  little  sun  set 
on  the  top  ;  if  the  females,  then  they  are  enamelled 
into  a  greenish  yellow,  with  a  crescent  on  the  top. 
The  grapes  are  in  number  as  many  as  there  are 
descendants  of  the  family.  This  golden  cluster 
the  herald  delivereth  also  to  the  tirsan,  who  pre- 
sently delivereth  it  over  to  that  son  that  he  had 
formerly  chosen  to  be  in  house  with  him,  who 
beareth  it  before  his  father  as  an  ensign  of  honour 
when  he  goeth  in  public  ever  after,  and  is  there- 
upon called  the  son  of  the  vine.  After  this  cere- 
mony ended,  the  father  or  tirsan  retireth,  and  after 
some  time  cometh  forth  again  to  dinner,  where  he 
sitteth  alone  under  the  state  as  before ;  and  none 
of  his  descendants  sit  with  him,  of  what  degree  or 
dignity  soever,  except  he  hap  to  be  of  Solomon's 
House.     He  is  served  only  by  his  own  childreu. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  2Al 

such  as  are  male,  who  perform  unto  him  all  ser- 
vice of  the  table  upon  the  knee,  and  the  women 
only  stand  about  him,  leaning  ag^ainst  the  wall. 
The  room  below  his  half-pace  hath  tables  on  the 
sides  for  the  guests  that  are  bidden,  who  are  served 
with  great  and  comely  order ;  and  toward  the  end 
of  dinner,  which  in  the  greatest  feasts  with  them 
lastetli  never  above  an  hour  and  a  half,  there  is  a 
hymn  sung,  varied  according  to  the  invention  of 
him  that  composed  it,  (for  they  have  excellent 
poetry,)  but  the  subject  of  it  is  always  the  praises 
of  Adam,  and  Noah,  and  Abraham ;  whereof  the 
foimer  two  peopled  the  world,  '^  and  the  last  was 
the  father  of  the  faithful :  concluding  ever  with  a 
thanksgiving  for  the  nativity  of  our  Saviour,  in 
whose  birth  the  births  of  all  are  only  blessed. 
Dinner  being  done,  the  tirsan  retireth  again,  and 
having  withdrawn  himself  alone  into  a  place  where 
he  maketh  some  private  prayers,  he  cometh  forth 
the  third  time  to  give  the  blessing,  with  all  his 
descendants,  who  stand  about  him  as  at  the  first. 

''  Lord  Bacon  entertained  no  respect  for  those  doctrines  of 
political  economy,  according  to  which  a  principal  merit  of 
legislators  consists  in  checking  population  ;  that  is,  in  building 
a  new  Tower  of  Babel,  to  save  ourselves  from  a  human  inunda- 
tion. There  are,  no  doubt,  stages  of  society  in  which  men 
learn  to  regard  each  other  with  wolfish  eyes,  and  sigh  for  a 
tliinner  crop  of  brethren  ;  but  this  never  happens  until  the 
heart  is  literally  diseased  by  cupidity  and  selfishness.  It  is  not 
that  the  world  is  too  small  to  contain  its  inhabitants ;  but  that 
some  people  take  up  more  room  than  belongs  to  them,  in  illus- 
tration of  which  Swift,  in  his  rough  way,  tells  a  very  good  story. 
"  A  mountebank,  in  Leicester-fields,  had  drawn  a  huge  assembly 
about  him.     Among  the  rest,  a  fat  unwieldy  fellow,  half  stifled 

X 


242  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

Then  he  calleth  them  forth  by  one  and  by  one  by 
name,  as  he  pleaseth,  though  seldom  the  order  of 
age  be  inverted.     The  person  that  is  called,  the 
table  being  before  removed,  kneeleth  down  before 
the  chair,  and  the  father  layeth   his  hand  upon  his 
head,  or  her  head,  and  giveth  the  blessing  in  these 
words  :  "  Son  of  Bensalem,  or  daughter  of  Ben- 
salem,  thy  father  saith  it,  the  man  by  whom  thou 
hast  breath  and  life  speaketh  the  word  ;  the  blessing 
of  the  everlasting  Father,  the  Prince  of  peace,  and 
the  Holy  Dove  be  upon  thee  and  make  the  days  of 
thy  pilgrimage  good  and  many."     This  he  saith  to 
every  of  them :  and  that  done,  if  there  be  any  of 
his  sons  of  eminent  merit  and  virtue,  so   they  be 
not  above   two,  he   calleth    for  them   again,  and 
sayeth,  laying  his   arm  over  their  shoulders,  they 
standing,  "  Sons,  it  is  well  you  are  born  ;  give  God 
the  praise,  and  persevere  to  the  end  :"  and  withal 
delivereth  to  either  of  them  a  jewel,  made  in  the 
figure  of  an  ear  of  wheat,  which  they  ever  after 
wear  in  the  front   of  their  turban   or  hat.     This 

in  the  press,  would  be  every  fit  crying  out,  '  Lord  !  what  a  filthy 
crowd  is  here  !  Pray,  good  people,  give  way  a  little.  Bless 
me,  what  a  devil  has  raked  this  rabble  together  !  Zounds,  what 
squeezing  is  this  !  Honest  friend,  remove  your  elbow.'  At 
last  a  weaver  that  stood  next  him,  could  hold  out  no  longer. 
'  A  plague  confound  you,'  said  he,  '  for  an  overgrown  sloven  : 
and  who,  in  the  devil's  name,  1  won  ler,  helps  to  make  up  the 
crowd  half  so  much  as  yourself?  Don't  you  consider  that  you  take 
up  more  room  with  that  carcass  than  any  five  here  ?  Is  not  the 
place  as  free  for  me  as  for  you  ?  Bring  your  own  guts  to  a  rea- 
sonable compass,  and  be  damned,  and  then  I'll  engage  we  shall 
have  room  enough  for  us  all !'  " — Preface  to  the  Tale  of  a  Tub, 
p.  32. 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  243 

(lone,  they  fall  to  music  and  dances,  and  other 
recreations  after  their  manner,  for  the  rest  of  the 
day.     This  is  the  full  order  of  that  feast. 

By  that  time  six  or  seven  days  were  spent,  I 
was  fallen  into  strait  acquaintance  with  a  merchant 
of  that  city,  whose  name  was  Joabin  :  he  was  a 
Jew,  and  circumcised,  for  they  have  some  few  stirps 
of  Jews  yet  remaining  among  them,  whom  they 
leave  to  their  own  religion,  which  they  may  the 
better  do,  because  they  are  of  a  far  differing  dis- 
position from  the  Jews  in  other  parts.  For  whereas 
they  hate  the  name  of  Christ,  and  have  a  secret 
inbred  rancour  against  the  people  among  whom 
they  live  ;  these  contrariwise  give  unto  our  Saviour 
many  high  attributes,  and  love  the  nation  of  Ben- 
salem  extremely.  Surely  this  man  of  w^hom  I 
speak,  would  ever  acknowledge  that  Christ  was 
born  of  a  virgin,  and  that  he  was  more  than  a 
man ;  and  he  would  tell  how  God  made  him  ruler 
of  the  seraphims  which  guard  his  throne :  and 
they  call  him  also  the  Milken  Way,  and  the  Eliah 
of  the  Messiah,  and  many  other  high  names ; 
which  though  they  be  inferior  to  his  Divine  Majesty, 
yet  they  are  far  from  the  language  of  other  Jews. 
And  for  the  country  of  Bensalem,  this  man  would 
make  no  end  of  commending  it,  being  desirous,  by 
tradition  among  the  Jews  there,  to  have  it  believed, 
that  the  people  thereof  were  of  the  generations  of 
Abraham  by  another  son,  whom  they  call  Nacho- 
ran  ;  and  that  Moses  by  a  secret  cabala  ordained 
the  laws  of  Bensalem,  which  they  now  use ;  and 
that  when  the  Messiah  should  come  and  sit  in  his 

X  2 


244  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

throne  at  Jerusalem,  the  king  of  Bensalem  should 
sit  at  his  feet,  whereas  other  kings  should  keep  at  a 
great  distance.  But  yet,  setting  aside  these  Jewish 
dreams,  the  man  was  a  wise  man  and  learned,  and  of 
great  policy,  and  excellently  seen  in  the  laws  and  cus- 
toms of  that  nation.  Amongst  other  discourses, 
one  day  I  told  him,  I  was  much  affected  with  the 
relation  I  had  from  some  of  the  company,  of  their 
custom  in  holding  the  feast  of  the  family,  for  that 
methought  I  had  never  heard  of  a  solemnity 
wherein  nature  did  so  much  preside.  And  because 
propagation  of  families  proceedeth  from  the  nup- 
tial copulation,  I  desired  to  know  of  him  what 
laws  and  customs  they  had  concerning  marriage, 
and  whether  they  kept  marriage  well,  and  whether 
they  were  tied  to  one  wife.  For  that  where  popu- 
lation is  so  much  affected,  and  such  as  with  them 
it  seemed  to  he,  there  is  commonly  permission  of 
plurality  of  wives.^°  To  this  he  said,  "  You  have 
reason  to  commend  that  excellent  institution  of 
the  feast  of  the  family ;  and  indeed  we  have  expe- 
rience that  those  families  that  are  partakers  of  the 
blessings  of  that  feast  do  flourish  and  pi'osper  ever 


^^  In  certain  circumstances,  or  among  a  simple  people,  polygamy 
might  prove  a  means  of  increasing  the  population.  'I'here  are 
instances  in  the  East  of  men  with  seventy  or  eighty  children,  all 
living,  and  arriving  at  man's  estate;  and  in  the  primitive  times 
the  practice  tended  to  the  more  rapid  peopling  of  the  earth. 
But,  among  nations  civUized  or  half-civilized,  where  luxury 
and  idleness  prevaO,  its  operation  would  be  different.  In  fact, 
Turks  with  four  wives  have  commonly  fewer  children  than 
their  neighbours  who  are  content  with  one ;  and  the  causes  are 
obvious. 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  245 

after  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  But  hear  me 
now,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  1  know.  You  shall 
understand  that  there  is  not  under  the  heavens  so 
chaste  a  nation  as  this  of  Bensalem,  nor  so  free 
from  all  pollution  or  foulness ;  it  is  the  virgin  of 
the  world,  I  remember  I  have  read  in  one  of  your 
European  books,  of  an  holy  hermit  amongst  you 
that  desired  to  see  the  spirit  of  fornication,  and 
there  appeared  to  him  a  little  foul  ugly  Ethiop. 
But  if  he  had  desired  to  see  the  spirit  of  chastity 
of  Bensalem,  it  would  have  appeared  to  him  in 
the  likeness  of  a  fair  beautiful  cherubim  ;  for  there 
is  nothing  amongst  mortal  men  more  fair  and  ad- 
mirable than  the  chaste  minds  of  this  people. 
Know  therefore  that  with  them  there  are  no  stews, 
no  dissolute  houses,  no  courtezans,  nor  anything  of 
that  kind ;  nay,  they  wonder  with  detestation  at 
you  in  Europe  which  peraiit  such  things.  They 
say  you  have  put  marriage  out  of  office  ;  for  mar- 
riage is  ordained  a  remedy  for  unlawful  concu- 
piscence, and  natural  concupiscence  seemeth  as  a 
spur  to  marriage  :-'  but  when  men  have  at  hand  a 
remedy  more  agreeable  to  their  corrupt  will,  mar- 
riage is  almost  expulsed.  And  therefore  there  are 
with  you  seen  infinite  men  that  marry  not,  but 
choose  rather  a  libertine  and  impure  single  life 
than  to  be  yoked  in  marriage  ;  and  many  that  do 
marry,  marry  late,  when  the  prime  and  strength 


2'  On  this  subject  the  reader  will  do  well  to  consult  IMilton's 
"  Doctrine  and  Discipline  of  Divorce,"  more  particularly  chap- 
ters iv.  V.  and  xxi. 


246  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

of  their  years  is  past;  and  when  they  do  marry,  what 
is  marriage  to  them  but  a  very  bargain,  wherein  is 
sought  alliance,  or  portion,  or  reputation,  with 
some  desire  almost  indifferent  of  issue,  and  not  the 
faithful  nuptial  union  of  man  and  wife  that  was 
first  instituted.  Neither  is  it  possible  that  those  that 
have  cast  away  so  basely  so  much  of  their  strength, 
should  gx'eatly  esteem  children,  being  of  the  same 
matter,  as  chaste  men  do.  So  neither  during  mar- 
riage is  the  case  much  amended,  as  it  ought  to 
be  if  those  things  were  tolerated  only  for  neces- 
sity. No,  but  they  remain  still  as  a  very  affront 
to  marriage  ;  the  haunting  of  those  dissolute  places, 
or  resort  to  courtezans,  are  no  more  punished  in 
married  men  than  in  bachelors  :  and  the  depraved 
custom  of  change,  and  the  delight  in  meretricious 
embracements,  where  sin  is  turned  into  art,  maketh 
marriage  a  dull  thing,  and  a  kind  of  imposition  or 
tax.  ^'  They  hear  you  defend  these  things  as  done 
to  avoid  greater  evils,  as  advoutries,  deflowering  of 
virgins,  unnatural  lust,  and  the  like  :  but  they  say 
this  is  a  prept)sterous  wisdom,  and  they  call  it  Lot's 
offer,  who  to  save  his  guests  from  abusing,  offered 
his  daughters.     Nay,  they  say  further,  that  there  is 

2«  Again,  see  Milton  in  the  work  above  quoted,  chapter  iii. 
In  this  treatise  of  the  great  poet,  glowing  with  imagery,  border- 
ing in  many  places  on  the  wild  sublimity  of  the  Dithyrambic 
ode,  the  reader  will  find  nobler,  and  therefore  truer  notions  of 
love,  than  any  other  writer,  ancient  or  modern,  has  given  utter- 
ance to.  The  question  is  further  considered  in  the  "  Tetrachor- 
don,"  where,  in  commenting  on  four  texts  of  Scripture,  Miltojn 
gives  free  scope  both  to  his  imagination  and  his  logical  acute >. 
ness,  nowhere,  perhaps,  more  visible. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  247 

little  gained  in  this,  for  that  the  same  vices  and 
appetites  do  still  remain  and  abound,  unlawful 
lust  being  like  a  furnace,  that  if  you  stop  the 
flames  altogether,  it  will  quench,  but  if  you  give 
it  any  vent,  it  will  rage.  As  for  masculine  love, 
tliey  have  no  touch  of  it ;  and  yet  there  are  not  so 
faithful  and  inviolate  friendships  in  the  world 
again  as  are  there :  and  to  speak  generally,  as  I 
said  before,  I  have  not  read  of  any  such  chastity 
in  any  people  as  theirs.  And  their  usual  saying 
is,  that  whosoever  is  unchaste  cannot  reverence 
himse'f  And  they  say,  that  the  reverence  of  a 
man's  self  is,  next  religion,  the  chiefest  bridle  of 
all  vices."  "  And  when  he  had  said  this,  the  good 
Jew  paused  a  little.  Whereupon  I,  far  more  will- 
ing to  hear  him  speak  on  than  to  speak  myself, 
yet  thinking  it  decent  that  upon  his  pause  of 
speech  I  should  not  be  altogether  silent,  said  only 
this,  "  That  I  would  say  to  him  as  the  widow  of 
Sarepta  said  to  Elias,  that  he  was  come  to  bring  to 
memory  our  sins ;  and  that  I  confess  the  righte- 
ousness of  Bensalem  was  greater  than  the  righte- 
ousness of  Europe,"     At  which  speech  he  bowed  his 

*^'  This  is  so  true,  that  even  without  the  aid  of  visible  reli- 
gion, some  great  men  have  maintained  their  fealty  to  virtue. 
Among  vulgar  moralists,  nevertheless,  it  is  customary  to  mistake 
the  nature  of  self-respect,  which  they  confound  with  pride, 
though  no  two  things  can  at  bottom  be  more  dissimilar.  The 
wise  man  respects  himself  as  the  workmanship  of  God,  as  one 
of  those  for  whom  Christ  suffered  ;  the  proud  man,  because  he 
discovers  in  his  own  character  or  condition  something  superior 
to  what  his  neighbour  possesses.  And  unquestionably  the  latter 
thinks  and  judges  very  differently  from  the  former. 


248  NEW    ATLANTIS. 

head,  and  went  on  in  this  manner  :  "  They  have 
also  many  wise  and  excellent  laws  touching  mar- 
riage. They  allow  no  polygamy.  They  have  or- 
dained that  none  do  intermarry  or  contract  until  a 
month  be  past  from  their  first  interview.  Mar- 
riage without  consent  of  parents  they  do  not  make 
void,  but  they  mulct  it  in  the  inheritors ;  for  the 
children  of  such  marriages  are  not  admitted  to  in- 
herit above  a  third  part  of  their  parents'  inheri- 
tance.^^ I  have  read  in  a  book  of  one  of  your  men  of 
a  feigned  commonwealth,  where  the  married  couple 
are  permitted,  before  they  contract,  to  see  one  ano- 
ther naked.  *^     This  they  dislike,  for  they  think  it  a 

°*  An  act  of  injustice,  which  while  aimed  at  the  parents 
strikes  only  the  children.  It  is  not  a  little  surprising  that,  when 
about  to  propose  a  reformation  of  laws,  men  should  so  pertina- 
ciously cling  to  palpable  wrong. 

■•''  The  "feigned  Commonwealth"  here  glanced  at,  the  reader 
will  discover  to  be  no  other  than  the  "  Utopia,"  in  which,  p. 
143  of  the  present  volume,  the  regulation  here  condemned  is 
found.  It  strikes  me  that  his  lordship  has  by  no  means  im- 
proved upon  Sir  Thomas  More  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  for  a  bad 
practice  has  substituted  a  worse.  Very  little  of  the  unhappiness 
of  marriage  ever  springs  from  defects  of  the  person.  It  is  the 
character  that,  if  possible,  men  should  be  anxious  to  behold  naked. 
It  is  in  that  the  deformity  is  likely  to  lie  that  shall  blast  their 
hopes,  and  render  their  days  cheerless,  and  life  itself  a  burden. 
Familiarity,  which  dissipates  the  illusion  of  a  beautiful  face, 
when  the  face  alone  is  beautiful,  actually  confers  beauty  on  a 
plain  one,  if  the  mind  within  be  lovely.  Projects  such  as  the 
above,  therefore,  must  be  regarded  as  mere  fantastic  vagaries, 
unworthy  of  their  authors ;  though  history  furnishes  examples 
of  men  who  reduced  the  theory  of  our  polity-builders  to  prac- 
tice. Thus  "  Francis  Sforza,  Duke  of  Milan,  was  so  curious 
in  this  behalf,  as  old  Burton  remarks,  that  he  would  not  marry 
the  Duke  of  Mantua's  daughter,  except  he  might  see  her  naked 
Urat."— Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  II.  472. 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  249 

scorn  to  give  a  refusal  after  so  familiar  knowledge  : 
but  because  of  many  hidden  defects  in  men  and 
\\  omen's  bodies,  they  have  a  more  civil  way  ;  for 
they  have  near  every  town  a  couple  of  pools,  which 
they  call  Adam  and  Eve's  pools,  where  it  is  per- 
mitted to  one  of  the  friends  of  the  man,  and  ano- 
ther of  the  friends  of  the  woman,  to  see  them  seve- 
rally bathe  naked." 

And  as  we  were  thus  in  conference,  there  came 
one  that  seemed  to  be  a  messenger,  in  a  rich  huke, 
that  spake  with  the  Jew ;  whereupon,  he  turned  to 
me,  and  said,  "  You  will  pardon  me,  for  I  am  com- 
manded away  in  haste." 

The  next  morning  he  came  to  me  again,  joyful, 
as  it  seemed,  and  said,  "  There  is  word  come  to  the 
governor  of  the  city  that  one  of  the  fathers  of 
Solomon "s  House  will  be  here  this  day  seven-night; 
we  have  seen  none  of  them  this  dozen  years.  His 
coming  is  in  state,  but  the  cause  of  his  coming  is 
secret.  I  will  provide  you  and  your  fellows  of  a 
good  standing  to  see  his  entry."  I  thanked  him 
and  told  him,  "  I  was  most  glad  of  the  news." 

The  day  being  come,  he  made  his  entry.  He  was 
a  man  of  middle  stature  and  age,  comely  of  person, 
and  had  an  aspect  as  if  he  pitied  men.  He  was 
clothed  in  a  robe  of  fine  black  cloth,  with  wide 
sleeves  and  a  cape :  his  under  garment  was  of  ex- 
cellent white  linen  down  to  the  foot,  girt  with  a 
girdle  of  the  same,  and  a  sindon  or  tippet  of  the 
same  about  his  neck :  he  had  gloves  that  were 
curious,  and  set  with  stone,  and  shoes  of  peach- 
coloured  velvet ;  his  neck  was  bare  to  the  shoul- 


250  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

ders  :  his  hat  was  like  a  helmet  or  Spanish  mon- 
teia,  and  his  locks  curled  below  it  decently,  they 
were  of  colour  brown  :  his  beard  was  cut  round , 
and  of  the  same  colour  with  his  hair,  somewhat 
lighter.^^  He  was  carried  in  a  rich  chariot,  with- 
out wheels,  litter-wise,  with  two  horses  at  either 
end,  richly  trapped  in  blue  velvet  embroidered, 
and  two  footmen  on  either  side  in  the  like  attire. 
The  chariot  was  all  of  cedar,  gilt,  and  adorned  with 
crystal,  save  that  the  fore-end  had  pannels  of 
sapphires  set  in  borders  of  gold,  and  the  hinder 
end  the  like  of  emeralds  of  the  Peru  colour.  There 
was  also  a  sun  of  gold,  radiant  upon  the  top,  in 
the  midst ;  and  on  the  top  before  a  small  cherub 
of  gold,  with  wings  displayed.  The  chariot  was 
covered  with  cloth  of  gold,  tissued  upon  blue.  He 
had  before  him  fifty  attendants,  young  men  all, 
in  white  satin  loose  coats  up  to  the  mid-leg,  and 
stockings  of  white  silk,  and  shoes  of  blue  velvet, 
and  hats  of  blue  velvet,  with  fine  plumes  of  divers 
colours  set  round  like  hatbands.  Next  before  the 
chariot  went  two  men  bare-headed,  in  linen  gar- 
ments down  to  the  foot,  girt,  and  shoes  of  blue 
velvet,  who  carried  the  one  a  crosier,  the  other  a 
pastoral-staflf  like  a  sheep-hook,  neither  of  them  of 
metal,  but  the  crosier  of  balm-wood,  the  pastoral 
staff  of  cedar.  Horsemen  he  had  none,  neither 
before  nor  behind  his  chariot,  as  it  seemeth,  to 
avoid   all   tumult  and  trouble.     Behind  his  cha- 


■■"'  And  yet,  as  Lord  Bacon  must  have  been  aware,  the  beard 
is  usually  darker  than  the  hair. 


'''  NEW    ATLANTIS.  251 

riot  went  all  the  officers  and  principals  of  the 
companies  of  the  city.  He  sat  alone  upon  cushions 
of  a  kind  of  excellent  plush,  blue,  and  under  his 
foot  curious  carpets  of  silk  of  divers  colours,  like 
the  Persian,  but  far  finer.  He  held  up  his  bare 
hand  as  he  went,  as  blessing  the  people,  but  in 
silence.  The  street  was  so  wonderfully  well  kept, 
so  that  there  was  never  any  army  had  their  men 
stand  in  better  batlle-array  than  the  people  stood. 
The  windows  likewise  were  not  crowded,  but  every 
one  stood  in  them  as  if  they  had  been  placed. 
When  the  show  was  past,  the  Jew  said  to  me,  "  I 
shall  not  be  able  to  attend  you  as  I  would,  in 
regard  of  some  charge  the  city  hath  laid  upon  me, 
for  the  entertaining  of  this  great  person." 

Three  days  after,  the  Jew  came  to  me  again,  and 
said,  "  Ye  are  happy  men !  for  the  father  of  Solo- 
mon's House  taketh  knowledge  of  your  being  here, 
and  commanded  me  to  tell  yovi,  that  he  will  admit 
all  your  company  to  his  presence,  and  have  private 
conference  with  one  of  you  that  ye  shall  choose  ; 
and  for  this  hath  appointed  the  next  day  after  to- 
morrow. And,  because  he  meaneth  to  give  you 
liis  blessing,  he  hath  appointed  it  in  the  forenoon." 

We  came  at  our  day  and  hour,  and  I  was  chosen 
by  my  fellows  for  the  private  access.  We  found 
him  in  a  fair  chamber,  richly  hung,  and  carpeted 
under  foot,  without  any  degrees  to  the  state.'*  He 
was  seated  upon  a  low  throne  richly  adorned,  and 
a  rich  cloth  of  state  over  his  head  of  blue  satin, 

'•^  That  is,  without  any  steps. 


252  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

embroidered.  He  was  alone,  save  that  he  had  two 
pages  of  honour,  on  either  hand,  one  finely  attired 
in  white.  His  under-garments  were  the  like  that 
we  saw  him  wear  in  the  chariot ;  but  instead  of  his 
gown,  he  had  on  him  a  mantle,  with  a  cape  of  the 
same  fine  black,  fastened  about  him.  When  we 
came  in,  as  we  were  taught,  we  bowed  low  at  our 
first  entrance;  and  when  we  were  come  near  his 
chair,  he  stood  up,  holding  forth  his  hand  ungloved, 
and  in  posture  of  blessing  ;  and  we  every  one  of 
us  stooped  down  and  kissed  the  hem  of  his  tippet. 
That  done,  the  rest  departed,  and  I  remained.  Then 
he  warned  the  pages  forth  of  the  room,  and  caused 
me  to  sit  down  beside  him,  and  spake  to  me  thus 
in  the  Spanish  tongue  : — 

"  God  bless  thee,  my  son,  I  will  give  thee  the 
greatest  jewel  I  have ;  for  I  will  impart  unto  thee, 
for  the  love  of  God  and  men,  a  relation  of  the  true 
state  of  Solomon's  House.  Son,  to  make  you  know 
the  true  state  of  Solomon's  House,  I  will  keep  this 
order : — first,  I  will  set  forth  unto  you  the  end  of 
our  foundation  ;  secondly,  the  j^i'eparations  and 
instruments  we  have  for  our  works ;  thirdly,  the 
several  employments  and  functions  whereto  our 
fellows  are  assigned  ;  and  fourthly,  the  ordinances 
and  rites  which  we  observe. 

"  The  end  of  our  foundation  is  the  knowledge  of 
causes  and  secret  motions  of  things,^®  and  the  en- 


'^  Solomon's  House,  therefore,  was  simply  a  college,  instituted 
for  the  study  of  natural  philosophy.  Lord  Bacon  evidently  ex- 
perienced the  influence  of  his  own  favourite  pursuit,  in  erecting 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  253 

larging  of  the  bounds  of  human  empire,  to  the 
effecting  of  all  things  possible. 

"  The  preparations  and  instruments  are  these. 
We  have  large  and  deep  caves  of  several  depths : 
the  deepest  are  sunk  six  hundred  fathoms,  and 
some  of  them  are  digged  and  made  under  great 
hills  and  mountains ;  so  that  if  you  reckon  toge- 
ther the  depth  of  the  hill  and  the  depth  of  the 
cave,  they  are  (some  of  them)  above  three  miles 
deep  :  for  we  find  that  the  depth  of  a  hill  and  the 
depth  of  a  cave  from  the  flat  is  the  same  thing, 
both  remote  alike  from  the  sun  and  heaven's  beams 
and  from  the  open  air.  These  caves  we  call  '  the 
lower  region,'  and  we  use  them  for  all  coagulations, 
indurations,  refrigerations,  and  conservations  of 
bodies.  We  use  them  likewise  for  the  imitation  of 
natural  mines,  and  the  producing  also  of  new 
artificial  metals,  by  compositions  and  materials 
which  we  use  and  lay  there  for  many  years.  We 
use  them  also  sometimes  (which  may  seem  strange) 
for  curing  of  some  diseases,^^  and  for  prolongation 


the  platform  of  his  imaginary  state ;  since  he  brings  so  early 
and  piominently  forward  what  had  better,  perhaps,  have  been 
reserved  for  an  after  part  of  the  work.  Had  the  whole  design 
been  completed,  this  college  would  no  doubt  have  deserved  to 
be  described  incidentally  ;  but,  if  the  whole  fiction  was  invented 
simply  as  a  frame  in  which  to  set  this  not  over-valuable  gem,  it 
must  be  acknowledged  that  great  men  sometimes  run  into  ex- 
travagancies, no  less  than  their  inferiors. 

■•^  It  was  with  a  view  to  expose  the  extravagance  of  such 
under-ground  sweating  apartments,  that  the  description  of  Mr. 
Bailey's  Sicilian  cavern  was  introduced  into  "  Margaret  Ravens-^ 
croft."     Lord  Bacon  himself  suspected  that  the  notion  would 


254  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

of  life  in  some  hermits  that  choose  to  live  there, 
well  accommodated  of  all  things  necessary,  and, 
indeed,  live  very  long ;  by  whom  also  we  learn 
many  things. 

"We  have  burials  in  several  earths,  where  we 
put  divers  cements,  as  the  Chinese  do  their  porce- 
lain ;  but  w^e  have  them  in  greater  variety,  and 
some  of  them  finer.  We  also  have  great  variety  of 
composts  and  soils  for  making  of  the  earth  fruit- 
ful. 

"  We  have  high  towers,  the  highest  about  half-a- 
mile  in  height,^"  and  some  of  them  likewise  set 
upon  high  mountains,  so  that  the  advantage  of  the 
hill  with  the  tower  is,  in  the  highest  of  them,  three 
miles  at  least.  And  these  places  we  call  '  the 
upper  region,'  accounting  the  air  between  the  high 
places  and  the  low  as  a  '  middle  region.'  We  use 
these  towers,  according  to  their  several  heights  and 

"  seem  strange;"  but  nevertheless  overcame  his  repugnance  to 
the  strangeness,  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  a  company  of 
underground  hermits,  burying  themselves  alive  in  search  of  lon- 
gevity. Nay,  more,  it  did  not  seem  strange  to  his  lordship  that 
these  cave-dwellers  should  be  able  to  instruct  those  above 
ground ;  and,  in  fact,  a  man  shut  up  in  a  hole,  would  be  able  to 
collect  from  the  small  cluster  of  circumstances  around  him, 
some  few  particulars  new  to  the  rest  of  mankind. 

^°  An  honest  German,  named  Etzler,  has  put  forward  in  a 
little  volume  of  his,  still  more  splendid  inventions  than  are  here 
described.  He  has  a  notion  that  we  may  build  habitable  islands 
on  a  large  scale,  with  towns,  gardens,  forests,  &c.,  upon  them ; 
and  in  these  comfortable  contrivances,  float  over  the  ocean  un- 
locked, and  unconscious  of  sea-sickness.  The  only  obstacle  to 
the  construction  of  these  floating  Paradises,  which  are  the  next 
step  to  Gulliver's  flying-island,  is  the  few  millions  it  would 
cost.     Otherwise  nothing  would  be  more  easy. 


XEW    ATLANTIS.  255 

situations,  for  insolation,  i*efrigeration,  conserva- 
tion, and  for  the  view  of  divers  meteors,  as  winds, 
rain,  snow,  hail,  and  some  of  the  fiery  meteors  also. 
And  upon  them,  in  some  places,  are  dwellings  of 
hermits,  whom  we  visit  sometimes,  and  instruct 
what  to  observe. 

"  We  have  great  lakes,  both  salt  and  fresh,  where- 
of we  have  use  for  the  fish  and  fowl.  We  use  them 
also  for  burials  of  some  natural  bodies  ;  for  we  find 
a  difference  in  things  buried  in  earth,  or  in  air 
below  the  earth,  and  things  buried  in  water.  We 
have  also  pools  of  which  some  do  strain  fresh 
water  out  of  salt,  and  others  hy  art  do  turn  fresh 
water  into  salt.^'  We  have  also  some  rocks  in  the 
midst  of  the  sea,  and  some  bays  upon  the  shore  for 
some  works  wherein  are  required  the  air,  and  vapour 
of  the  sea.  We  have  likewise  violent  streams  and 
cataracts,  which  serve  us  for  many  motions;  and 
likewise  engines  for  multiplying  and  enforcing  of 
winds,  to  set  also  agoing  divers  motions. 


^'  In  one  of  the  Channel  Islands  a  plan  has  been  recently 
formed,  not  indeed  for  converting  salt  water  into  fresh,  but  for 
converting  sea-fish  into  fresh-water  fish.  Large  sheets  of  water 
near  the  shore,  formerly  entered  by  the  tide,  have  been  dammed 
off,  and  several  kinds  of  fish,  hitherto  found  only  in  the  sea,  in- 
troduced. The  experiment  is  too  recent  to  allow  of  a  final  judg- 
ment's being  passed  upon  it ;  but  Sir  Francis  Head,  to  whose 
"Home  Tour  "  we  are  indebted  for  a  very  interesting  account  of 
it,  witnessed  the  taking  of  several  of  the  young  colonists,  which 
he  afterwards  aided  in  demolishing.  The  flavour,  he  says,  ap- 
peared no  way  inferior  to  that  of  similar  fish  caught  in  salt 
water;  so  that  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  scheme  will  be 
attended  by  complete  success. 


256  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

"We  have  also  a  number  of  artificial  wells  and 
fountains,  made  in  imitation  of  the  natural  sources 
and  baths ;  as  tincted  upon  vitriol,  sulphur,  steel, 
brass,  lead,  nitre,  and  other  minerals.  And  again, 
we  have  little  wells  for  infusions  of  many  things, 
where  the  waters  take  the  virtue  quicker  and  better 
tban  in  vessels  or  basins.  And  amongst  them  we 
have  a  water  which  we  call  '  water  of  paradise,' 
being  by  that  we  do  to  it  made  very  sovereign 
for  health  and  prolongation  of  life.^* 

"  We  have  also  great  and  spacious  houses  where 
we  imitate  and  demonstrate  meteors,  as  snow,  hail, 
rain,  some  artificial  rains  of  bodies,  and  not  of 
water,  thunders,  lightnings ;  also  generations  of 
bodies  in  air,  as  frogs,  flies,  and  divers  others. 

"  We  have  also  certain  chambers  which  we  call 
'  chambers  of  health,'  where  we  qualify  the  air,  as 
we  think  good  and  proper  for  the  cure  of  divers 
diseases,  and  preservation  of  health. 

"  We  have  also  fair  and  large  baths,  of  several 
mixtures,  for  the  cure  of  diseases,  and  the  restoring 
of  man's  body  from  arefaction ;  and  others  for  the 
confirming  of  it  in  strength  of  sinews,  vital  parts, 
and  the  very  juice  and  substance  of  the  body. 

"  We  have  also  large  and  various  orchards  and 
gardens,  wherein  we  do  not  so  much  respect  beauty 


^■^  The  Chinese,  also,  have  an  essence  which  may  very  pro- 
perly be  called  the  "  water  of  paradise,"  since  it  shortens  the 
passage  thither  of  all  who  take  it.  Philosophy  acknowledges  but 
one  elixir  of  life,  which  being  within  every  one's  reach  is  seldom 
used — I  mean  temperance.  Every  other  means  of  lengthening 
the  span  of  human  existence  is  as  puerile  as  it  is  useless. 


NETV   ATLANTIS.  257 

as  variety  of  ground  and  soil,  proper  for  divers 
trees  and  herbs ;  and  some  very  spacious,  where 
trees  and  berries  are  set,  whereof  we  make  divers 
kinds  of  drinks,  besides  the  vineyards.  In  these 
we  practise  likewise  all  conclusions  of  grafting  and 
inoculating,  as  well  of  wild  trees  as  fruit-trees, 
which  produceth  many  effects.  And  we  make,  by 
art,  in  the  same  orchards  and  gardens,  trees  and 
flowers  to  come  earlier  or  later  than  their  seasons, 
and  to  come  up  and  bear  more  speedily  than  by 
their  natural  course  they  do  ;  we  make  them  also, 
by  art,  much  greater  than  their  nature,  and  their 
fruit  greater  and  sweeter,  and  of  differing  taste, 
smell,  colour,  and  figure  from  their  nature  ;  and 
many  of  them  we  so  order  that  they  become  of 
medicinal  use." 

"  We  have  also  means  to  make  divers  plants  rise 
by  mixtures  of  earths  without  seeds ;  and  likewise 
to  make  divers  new  plants  differing  from  the  vul- 
gar, and  to  make  one  tree  or  plant  turn  into  an- 
other.^* 

^•^  In  this  way  the  wild  fruits  of  the  earih  were  originally 
reclaimed,  and  rendered  useful.  Gardening  is  now  conversant 
with  innumerable  arts  for  extending  the  dominion  of  man  over 
the  vegetable  kingdom  ;  and  in  process  of  time  our  empire  will, 
no  doubt,  be  stUl  further  extended. 

^*  I  have  nowhere  seen  so  remarkable  a  proof  of  what  may 
be  effected  in  this  way  as  in  the  gardens  of  Boghos  Bey,  at  Alex- 
andria. "  Here  I  was  shown  a  very  extraordinary  fruit-tree, 
produced  by  a  process  highly  ingenious.  They  take  three  seeds, 
— the  citron,  the  lemon,  and  the  orange, — and  carefully  remov- 
ing the  external  cuticle  from  both  sides  of  one  of  them,  and  from 
one  side  of  the  two  others,  place  the  former  between  the  latter, 
and,  binding  the  three  together  with  fine  grass,  plant  them  in 

Y 


258  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

'*  We  have  also  parks  and  inclosures  of  all  sorts 
of  beasts  and  birds ;  which  we  use  not  only  for 
view  or  rareness,  but  likewise  for  dissections  and 
trials,  that  thereby  we  may  take  light  what  may  be 
wrought  upon  the  body  of  man  ;  whei'ein  we  find 
many  strange  effects  :  as,  continuing  life  in  them, 
though  divers  parts,  which  you  account  vital,  be 
perished  and  taken  forth  ;  resuscitating  of  some 
that  seem  dead  in  appearance,  and  the  like.  We 
try  also  all  poisons  and  other  medicines  upon 
them,^*  as  well  of  surgery  as  physic.  By  art  like- 
wise we  make  them  greater  or  taller  than  their  kind 
is,  and  contrariwise  dwarf  them  and  stay  their 
growth  ;  we  make  them  more  fruitful  and  bearing 
than  their  kind  is,  and  contrariwise  barren  and  not 
generative.  Also  we  make  them  differ  in  colour, 
shape,  activity,  many  ways.  We  find  means  to 
make  commixtures  and  copulations  of  divers  kinds, 
which  have  produced  many  new  kinds,  and  them 
not  barren,  as  the  general  opinion  is.^°     We  make 

the  earth.  From  this  mixed  seed  springs  a  tree  the  fruit  of 
which  exhibits  three  distinct  species  included  within  one  rind, 
the  division  being  perfectly  visible  externally,  and  the  flavour  of 
each  compartment  as  different  as  if  it  had  grown  on  a  separate 
tree.  This  method  of  producing  a  tripartite  fruit  has  been  in- 
troduced by  Boghos  Bey  from  Smyrna,  his  native  city,  where  it 
is  said  to  have  been  practised  from  time  immemorial." — Egypt  ^ 
and  Mohammed  Ali,  II.  3G3,  f. 

^*  Majendie,  and  other  physiologists,  have  followed  up  this 
hint  with  a  magnificent  disregard  of  animal  life.  It  is  fortunate 
that  the  laws  protect  men  from  the  rage  of  experimentalists,  or 
we  should  assuredly  have  poisons,  and  other  medicines  "  tried 
upon  them." 

"'''  I  have  somewhere  read  of  a  race  of  muJes  said  to  be  en- 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  259 

a  number  of  kinds  of  serpents,  worms,  flies,  fishes, 
of  putrefaction ;  whereof  some  are  advanced  (in 
effect)  to  be  perfect  creatures,  like  beasts  or  birds, 
and  have  sexes,  and  do  propagate.  Neither  do  we 
this  by  chance,  but  we  know  beforehand  of  what 
matter  and  commixture,  what  kind  of  those  crea- 
tures will  arise. 

"  We  have  also  particular  pools  where  we  make 
trials  upon  fishes,  as  we  have  said  before  of  beasts 
and  birds. 

"  We  have  also  places  for  breed  and  generation  of 
those  kinds  of  worms  and  flies  which  are  of  special 
use,  such  as  are  with  you  your  silkw  orms  and  bees. 

"  I  will  not  hold  you  long  with  recounting  of 
our  brewhouses,  bakehouses,  and  kitchens,  where 
are  made  divers  drinks,  breads,  and  meats,  rare  and 
of  special  effects.  Wines  we  have  of  grapes,  and 
drinks  of  other  juice,  of  fruits,  of  grains,  and  of 
roots  ;  and  of  mixtures  with  honey,  sugar,  manna, 
and  fruits  dried  and  decocted  ;  also  of  the  tears,  or 
woundings  of  trees,  and  of  the  pulp  of  canes.  And 
these  drinks  are  of  several  ages,  some  to  the  age  or 
last  of  forty  years.  We  have  drinks  also  brewed 
with  several  herbs  and  roots  and  spices,  yea  with 
several  fleshes  and  white-meats  ;  whereof  some  of 
the  drinks  are  such  as  they  are  in  effect  meat  and 
drink  both,  so  that  divers,  especially  in  age,  do 
desire  to  live  with  them  with  little  or  no  meat  or 


dowed  with  feriility  ;  but  the  report  probably  originated  with 
incautious  observers,  or  credulous  narrators,  who  were  never  at 
the  pains  to  observe. 

y  2 


260  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

bread.  And  above  all  we  strive  to  have  drinks  of 
extreme  thin  parts,  to  insinuate  into  the  body,  and 
yet  without  all  biting,  sharpness  or  fretting  ;  inso- 
much as  some  of  them  put  upon  the  back  of  your 
hand  will,  with  a  little  stay,  pass  through  to  the 
palm,  and  yet  taste  mild  to  the  mouth.  We  have 
also  waters  which  we  ripen  in  that  fashion  as  they 
become  nourishing,  so  that  they  are  indeed  excel- 
lent drink  ;  and  many  will  use  no  other.  Breads 
we  have  of  several  grains,  roots,  and  kernels;  yea 
and  some  of  flesh  and  fish  dried,  with  divers  kinds 
of  leavenings  and  seasonings ;  so  that  some  do  ex- 
tremely move  appetites ;  some  do  nourish  so  as 
divers  do  live  of  them  without  any  other  meat,  who 
live  very  long.  So,  for  meats,  we  have  some  of  them 
so  beaten  and  made  tender  and  mortified,  yet  with- 
out all  corrupting,  as  a  weak  heat  of  the  stomach 
will  turn  them  into  good  chylus,  as  well  as  a  strong 
heat  would  meat  otherwise  prepared.  We  have 
some  meats  also,  and  breads  and  drinks,  which 
taken  by  men  enable  them  to  fast  long  after ;  and 
some  other  that  used  make  the  very  flesh  of 
men's  bodies  sensibly  more  hard  and  tough,  and 
their  strength  far  greater  than  othei-wise  it  would 
be. 

"  We  have  dispensatories,  or  shops  of  medicines, 
wherein  you  may  easily  think,  if  we  have  such 
variety  of  plants  and  living  creatures  more  than 
you  have  in  Europe,  (for  we  know  what  you  have,) 
the  simples,  drugs,  and  ingredients  of  medicines 
must  likewise  be  in  so  much  the  greater  variety. 
We  have  them  likewise  of  divers  ages,  and  long 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  261 

fermentations.  And  for  their  preparations,  we  have 
not  only  all  manner  of  exquisite  distillations  and 
sejiarations,  and  especially  by  jrentle  heats,  and 
percolations  through  divers  strainers,  yea  and 
substances  ;  but  also  exact  forms  of  composition, 
whereby  they  incorporate  almost  as  they  were 
natural  simples. 

"  We  have  also  divers  mechanical  arts  which 
you  have  not,  and  stuffs  made  by  them,  as  papers, 
linen,  silks,  tissues,  dainty  works  of  feathers  of 
wonderful  lustre,  excellent  dyes,  and  many  others ; 
and  shops  likewise  as  well  for  such  as  are  not 
brought  into  vulgar  use  amongst  us,  as  for  those  that 
are.  For  you  must  know,  that  of  the  things  before 
recited  many  are  grown  into  use  throughout  the 
kingdom  ;  but  yet,  if  they  did  flow  from  our  in- 
vention, we  have  of  them  also  for  patterns  and  prin- 
ciples. 

"  We  have  also  furnaces  of  great  diversities,  and 
that  keep  great  diversity  of  heats,  fierce  and  quick, 
strong  and  constant,  soft  and  mild,  blown,  quiet, 
dry,  moist,  and  the  like.  But,  above  all,  we  have 
heats  in  imitation  of  the  sun's  and  heavenly  bodies' 
heats,  that  pass  divers  inequalities,  and,  as  it  were, 
orbs,  progresses,  and  returns,  whereby  we  may  pro- 
duce admirable  effects.  Besides,  we  have  heats  of 
dungs,  and  of  bellies  and  maws  of  living  creatures, 
and  of  their  bloods  and  bodies ;  and  of  hays  and 
herbs  laid  up  moist;  of  lime  unquenched,  and 
such  like.  Instniments,  also,  which  generate  heat 
only  by  motion;  and  further,  places  for  strong  in- 
solations ;  and,  again,  places  under  the  earth  which 


262  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

by  nature  or  art  yield  heat.  These  divers  heats  we 
use  as  the  nature  of  the  operation  which  we  intend 
requireth. 

"  We  have  also  perspective-houses,  where  we 
make  demonstration  of  all  lights  and  radiations, 
and  of  all  colours ;  and  of  things  uncoloured  and 
transparent,  we  can  represent  unto  you  all  several 
colours,  not  in  rainbows,  (as  it  is  in  gems  and 
prisms,)  but  of  themselves  single.  We  represent, 
also,  all  multiplications  of  light,  which  we  carry  to 
great  distance,  and  make  so  sharp  as  to  discern 
small  jjoints  and  lines ;  also  all  colourations  of 
light,  all  delusions  and  deceits  of  the  sight,  in 
figures,  magnitudes,  motions,  colours ;  all  demon- 
strations of  shadows.  We  find,  also,  divers  means 
yet  unknown  to  you  of  producing  of  light  origin- 
ally from  divers  bodies.  We  procure  means  of 
seeing  objects  afar  oflf,  as  rn  the  heavens,  and  re- 
mote places ;  and  represent  things  near  as  afar  oflf, 
and  things  afar  off  as  near,  making  feigned  dis- 
tances. We  have  also  helps  for  the  sight  far  above 
spectacles  and  glasses  in  use.  We  have  also  glasses 
and  means  to  see  small  and  minute  bodies  perfectly 
and  distinctly,  as  the  shapes  and  colours  of  small 
flies  and  worms,  grains  and  flaws  in  gems,  which 
cannot  otherwise  be  seen ;  observations  in  urine 
and  blood,  not  otherwise  to  be  seen.  We  make 
artificial  rainbows,  halos,  and  circles  about  light. 
We  represent  also  all  manner  of  reflections,  re- 
fractions, and  multiplication  of  visual  beams  of 
objects. 

"  We   have  also  precious  stones   of  all   kinds. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  263 

many  of  them  of  great  beauty,  and  to  you  un- 
known ;  crystals  likewise,  and  glasses  of  divers 
kinds,  and  amongst  them  some  of  metals  vitrifi- 
cated,  and  other  materials,  besides  those  of  which 
you  make  glass.  Also  a  number  of  fossils  and 
imperfect  minerals  which  you  have  not ;  likewise 
loadstones  of  prodigious  virtue,  and  other  rare 
stones  both  natural  and  artificial. 

"  We  have  also  sound-houses,  where  we  practise 
and  demonstrate  all  sounds  and  their  generation. 
We  have  hannonies,  which  you  have  not,  of  quar- 
ter sounds,  and  lesser  slides  of  sounds ;  divers  in- 
struments likewise  to  you  unknown,  some  sweeter 
than  any  you  have  ;  with  bells  and  rings  that  are 
dainty  and  sweet.     We  represent  small  sounds  as 
great  and   deep,  likewise   great  sounds  extenuate 
and  sharp.     We  make  divers  tremblings  and   war- 
bling of  sounds,  which  in  their  original  are  entire  ; 
we  represent  and  imitate  all  articulate  sounds  and 
letters,  and  the    voices   and  notes   of  beasts  and 
birds.^^     We  have  certain  helps,   which  set  to  the 
ear  do  further  the  hearing  greatly.     We  have  also 
divers  strange  and   artificial   echos  reflecting   the 
voice  many  times,  and  as  it  were  tossing  it ;  and 
some  that  give  back  the  voice  louder  than  it  came, 
some  shriller,  and  some  deeper ;  yea  some  render- 
ing the  voice  differing  in  the  letters  or  articulate 
sound  from  that  they  receive.     We  have  all  means 


^  This  was  carried  to  considerable  perfection  in  ancient 
Greece,  where  persons  were  found  who  could  even  imitate  the 
nightingale. 


264  NEW   ATLANTIS. 

to  convey  sounds  in  trunks  and  pipes  in  strange 
lines  and  distances. 

"We  have  also  perfume-houses,  wherewith  we 
join  also  practices  of  taste  :  we  multiply  smells, 
which  may  seem  strange ;  we  imitate  smells,  mak- 
ing all  smells  to  breath  out  of  other  mixtures  than 
those  that  give  them.  We  make  divers  imitations 
of  taste  likewise,  so  that  they  will  deceive  any 
man's  taste.  And  in  this  house  we  contain  also  a 
confiture-house,  where  we  make  all  sweetmeats 
dry  and  moist,  and  divers  pleasant  wines,  milks, 
broths,  and  salads,  far  in  greater  variety  than  you 
have. 

"We  also  have  engine-houses,  where  are  prepared 
engines  and  instruments  for  all  sorts  of  motions. 
There  we  imitate  and  practice  to  make  swifter 
motions  than  any  you  have,  either  out  of  your 
muskets,  or  any  engine  that  you  have;  and  to 
make  them  and  multiply  them  more  easily,  and 
with  small  force,  by  wheels  and  other  means ;  and 
to  make  them  stronger  and  more  violent  than  yours 
are,  exceeding  your  greatest  cannons  and  basilisks.'" 
We  represent  also  ordnance  and  instruments  of 
war,  and  engines  of  all  kinds;  and  likewise 
new  mixtures  and  compositions  of  gunpowder, 
wildfires  burning  in  water  and  unquenchable ;  ^' 


'*  Vide  Lips.  Poliorcet. 

^®  His  lordship  here  attributes  to  the  Atlanteans  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Greek  tire,  the  cou^position  of  which  is  no  longer 
known.  Its  effects,  however,  are  eloquently  described  by  Gib- 
bon, ''Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire."  x.  11,  14, 
ff.  140;  who  has  likewise  endeavoured  to  discover  the  ingre- 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  265 

also  fireworks  of  all  variety,  both  for  pleasure  and 
use.  We  imitate  also  flights  of  birds  :  we  have 
some  degrees  of  flying  in  the  air  :  we  have  ships 
and  boats  for  going  under  water,  and  brooking  of 
seas ;  also  swimming  girdles  and  supporters.''"  We 
have  divers  curious  clocks,  and  other  like  motions 
of  return,  and  some  perpetual  motions.  We  imi- 
tate also  motions  of  living  creatures  by  images  of 
men,  beasts,  birds,  fishes,  and  serpents  :  we  have 
also  a  great  number  of  other  various  motions, 
strange  for  quality,  fineness,  and  subtilty. 

"We  have  also  a  mathematical  house,  where  are 

dients  of  which  it  consisted,  observing,  however,  that  "  the  his- 
torian who  presumes  to  analyze  this  extraordinary  composition, 
should  suspect  his  own  ignorance  and  that  of  his  Byzantine 
guides,  so  prone  to  the  marvellous,  so  careless,  and  in  this  in- 
stance, so  jealous  of  the  truth.  From  their  obscure,  and  perhaps 
fallacious  hints,  it  should  seem  that  the  principal  ingredients  of 
the  Greek  fire  was  the  naptha,  or  liquid  bitumen,  a  light,  tena- 
cious, and  inflammable  oil,  which  springs  from  the  earth,  and 
catches  fire  as  soon  as  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  air.  The 
naptha  was  mingled,  I  know  not  by  what  method  or  in  what 
proportion,  with  sulphur  and  with  the  pitch  that  is  extracted 
from  the  evergreen  firs.  From  this  mixture,  which  produced 
a  thick  smoke,  and  a  loud  explosion,  proceeded  a  fierce  and  ob- 
stinate flame,  which  not  only  rose  in  perpendicular  ascent,  but 
likewise  burnt  with  equal  vehemence  in  descent  or  lateral  pro- 
gress. Instead  of  being  extinguished,  it  was  nourished  and 
quickened  by  the  element  of  water  ;  and  sand,  wine,  or  vinegar, 
were  the  only  remedies  that  could  damp  the  fury  of  this  power- 
ful agent,  which  was  justly  denominated  by  the  Greeks,  the 
liquid  or  maritime  fire." 

■*"  This  invention  has  at  length  been  really  made,  and  the 
efEcacy  of  such  contrivances  in  preserving  life  was  lately  exempli- 
fied in  that  calamitous  accident  of  the  steam-boat,  in  which  all 
on  board  were  drowned,  save  one,  who  had  about  him  a  swim- 
ming-girdle, such  as  Lord  Bacon  here  speaks  of. 


266  NEW    ATLANTIS. 

represented  all  instruments,  as  well  of  geometry 
as  astronomy,  exquisitely  made. 

"  We  have  also  houses  of  deceits  of  the  senses, 
where  we  represent  all  manner  of  feats  of  juggling^, 
false  apparitions,  impostures  and  illusions  and  their 
fallacies.  And  surely  you  will  easily  believe  that 
we  that  have  so  many  things  truly  natural,  which 
induce  admiration,  could  in  a  world  of  particulars 
deceive  the  senses,  if  we  would  disguise  those 
things,  and  labour  to  make  them  more  miraculous. 
But  we  do  hate  all  impostures  and  lies,  insomuch 
as  we  have  severely  forbidden  it  to  all  our  fellows, 
under  pain  of  ignominy  and  fines,  that  they  do 
not  show  any  natural  work  or  thing  adorned  or 
swelling,  but  only  pure  as  it  is,  and  without  all 
affectation  of  strangeness. 

"  These  are,  my  son,  the  riches  of  Solomon's  House. 

"  For  the  several  employments  and  offices  of  our 
fellows,  we  have  twelve  that  sail  into  foreign  coun- 
tries under  the  names  of  other  nations,  (for  our 
own  we  conceal,)  who  bring  us  the  books  and  ab- 
stracts, and  patterns  of  experiments  of  all  other  parts. 
These  we  call  'merchants  of  light.' 

"We  have  three  that  collect  the  experiments 
which  are  in  all  books.   These  we  call  'depredators.' 

"  We  have  three  that  collect  the  experiments  of 
all  mechanical  arts,  and  also  of  liberal  sciences, 
and  also  of  practices  which  are  not  brought  into 
arts.     These  we  call '  mystery  men.' 

"  We  have  three  that  try  new  experiments,  such 
as  themselves  think  good.  These  we  call '  pioneers' 
or  'miners. 


NEW    ATLANTIS.  267 

"  We  have  three  that  draw  the  experiments  of 
the  former  four  into  titles  and  tables,  to  ^ve  the  bet- 
ter light  for  the  drawing-  of  observations  and  axioms 
out  of  them.     These  we  call  '  compilers.' 

"  We  have  three  that  bend  themselves,  looking 
into  the  experiments  of  their  fellows,  and  cast 
about  how  to  draw  out  of  them  things  of  use  and 
practice  for  man's  life  and  knowledge,  as  well  for 
works  as  for  plain  demonstration  of  causes,  means 
of  natural  divinations,  and  the  easy  and  clear  dis- 
covery of  the  virtues  and  parts  of  bodies.  These 
we  call  'dowry  men,'  or  'benefactors.' 

"  Then,  after  divers  meetings  and  consults  of 
our  whole  number,  to  consider  of  the  former 
labours  and  collections,  we  have  three  that  take 
care  out  of  them  to  direct  new  experiments  of  a 
higher  light,  more  penetrating  into  nature  than  the 
former.     These  we  call  '  lamps.' 

"  W^e  have  three  others  that  do  execute  the  ex- 
periments so  directed,  and  report  them.  These  we 
call  '  inoculators.' 

"Lastly,  we  have  three  that  raise  the  former  dis- 
coveries by  experiments  into  greater  observations, 
axioms,  and  aphorisms.  These  we  call '  interpreters 
of  nature.' 

"  We  have  also,  as  you  must  think,  novices  and 
apprentices,  that  the  succession  of  the  former  em- 
ployed men  do  not  fail ;  besides  a  great  number  of 
servants  and  attendants,  men  and  women.  And 
this  we  do  also ;  we  have  consultations  which  of 
the  inventions  and  experiences  which  we  have  dis- 
covered shall  be  published,  and  which  not ;  and 


268  ^EW   ATLANTIS. 

take  all  an  oath  of  secrecy  for  the  concealing  of 
those  which  we  think  meet  to  keep  secret,  though 
some  of  those  we  do  reveal  sometimes  to  the  state, 
and  some  not. 

"For  our  ordinances  and  rites,  we  have  two  very 
long  and  fair  galleries.  In  one  of  these  we  place 
patterns  and  samples  of  all  manner  of  the  more 
rare  and  excellent  inventions ;  in  the  other  we 
place  the  statues  of  all  principal  inventors.  There 
we  have  the  statue  of  your  Columbus,  that  disco- 
vered the  West  Indies  ;  also  the  inventor  of  ships  ; 
your  monk  that  was  the  inventor  of  ordnance  and 
of  gunpowder  ;  the  inventor  of  music ;  the  inven- 
tor of  letters  ;  the  inventor  of  printing  ;  the  inven- 
tor of  observations  of  astronomy;  the  inventor  of 
works  in  metal ;  the  inventor  of  glass ;  the  inven- 
tor of  -silk  of  the  worm ;  the  inventor  of  wine ; 
the  inventor  of  corn  and  bread  ;  the  inventor  of 
sugars  :  and  all  these  by  more  certain  tradition  than 
you  have.  Then  we  have  divers  inventors  of  our 
own,  of  excellent  works,  which  since  you  have  not 
seen,  it  were  too  long  to  make  descriptions  of  them ; 
and  besides,  in  the  rioht  understanding;  of  those 
descriptions  you  might  easily  err.  For  upon  every 
invention  of  value  we  erect  a  statue  to  the  inven- 
tor, and  give  him  a  liberal  and  honourable  reward. 
These  statues  are  some  of  brass,  some  of  marble 
and  touchstone,  some  of  cedar  and  other  special 
woods  gilt  and  adorned,  some  of  iron,  some  of  sil- 
ver, some  of  gold. 

"  We  have  certain  hymns  and  services  which  we 
say  daily   of  laud  and  thanks  to  God  for  his  mar- 


NEW   ATLANTIS.  269 

vellous  works  ;  and  forms  of  prayers  imploring  his 
aid  and  blessing  for  the  illumination  of  our 
labours,  and  the  turning  them  into  good  and  holy 
uses. 

"  Lastly,  we  have  circuits  or  visits  of  divers  prin- 
cipal cities  of  the  kingdom,  where,  as  it  cometh 
to  pass,  we  do  publish  such  new  profitable  inven- 
tions as  we  think  good.  And  we  do  also  declare 
natural  divinations  of  diseases,  plagues,  swarms  of 
hurtful  creatures,  scarcity,  tempest,  earthquakes, 
great  inundations,  comets,  temperature  of  the  year, 
and  divers  other  things ;  and  we  give  counsel 
thereupon  what  the  people  shall  do  for  the  preven- 
tion and  remedy  of  them." 

And  when  he  had  said  this,  he  stood  up  ;  and 
I,  as  I  had  been  taught,  kneeled  down,  and  he  laid 
his  right  hand  upon  my  head,  and  said,  "  God 
bless  thee,  my  son,  and  God  bless  this  relation 
whicli  I  have  made  ;  I  give  thee  leave  to  publish  it 
for  the  good  of  other  nations,  for  we  here  are  in 
God's  bosom,  a  land  unknown."  And  so  he  left 
me,  having  assigned  a  value  of  about  two  thousand 
ducats  for  a  bounty  to  me  and  my  fellows;  for 
they  give  great  largesses  where  they  come  upon  all 
occasions.'" 

THE    REST    WAS    NOT    PERFECTED. 


^'  Here  the  fragment  terminates  abruptly.  It  is  no  doubt  to 
be  regretted  that  the  design  was  never  completed,  but  enough  re- 
mains  to  convince  us  that  this  kind  of  composition  was  not  pre- 
cisely that  in  which  Bacon  was  best  calculated  to  shine. 


MAGNALIA    NATURE 
PR^CIPUE    QUOAD    USUS    HUMANOS. 


The  prolongation  of  life. 

The  restitution  of  youth  in  some  degree. 

The  retardation  of  age. 

The  curing  of  diseases  counted  incurable. 

The  mitigation  of  pain. 

]More  easy  and  less  loathsome  purgings. 

The  increasing  of  strength  and  activity. 

The  increasing  of  ability  to  suffer  torture  or 
pain. 

The  altering  of  complexions,  and  fatness,  and 
leanness. 

The  altering  of  statures. 

The  altering  of  features. 

The  increasing  and  exalting  of  the  intellectual 
parts. 

\  ersion  of  bodies  into  other  bodies. 

Making  of  new  species. 

Transplanting  of  one  species  into  another. 

Instruments  of  destruction,  as  of  war  and  poison. 

Exhilaration  of  the  spirits,  and  putting  them  in 
good  disposition. 


MAGNALIA    NATURjE.  271 

Force  of  the  imagination,  either  upon  another 
body,  or  upon  the  body  itself. 

Acceleration  of  time  in  maturations. 

Acceleration  of  time  in  clarifications. 

Acceleration  of  putrefaction. 

Acceleration  of  decoction. 

Acceleration  of  germination. 

Making  rich  composts  for  the  earth. 

Impressions  of  the  air,  and  raising  of  tempests. 

Great  alteration,  as  in  induration,  emollition,&c. 

Turning  crude  and  watery  substances  into  oily 
and  unctuous  substances. 

Drawing  of  new  foods  out  of  substances  not  now 
in  use. 

Making  new  threads  for  apparel,  and  new  stuffs, 
such  as  are  paper,  glass,  &c. 

Natural  divinations. 

Deceptions  of  the  senses. 

Greater  pleasures  of  the  senses. 

Artificial  minerals  and  cements. 


THE    END. 


Joseph  Rickerby,  Printer,  Sherboum  Lane. 


WORKS  JUST  PUBLISHED 

BY 

JOSEPH  RICKERBY,  SHERBOURN  LANE, 

KING    WILLIAM    STREET,    CITY. 


I. 

In  ail  elegant  8vo.  volume,  half-bound  Morocco,  gilt  edges,  price  10s.  (id.;  Large 
Paper  Copies  16s. 

THE    BOOK    OF    THE    CARTOONS, 

BY  THE  REV.  RICHARD  CATTERMOLE,  B.D. 

The  Engravings  by  Warren  andMoLLisoN. 

*.*  A  few  Impressions  of  the  Pla'es,  India  Proofs,  on  4to.  Colombier,  with  Histori- 
cal Account,  price  2Is. 


"  A  deep  feeling  of  the  sentiment  that  pervades  the  designs,  and  a  nice  percep- 
tion and  just  appreciation  of  their  peculiar  excellences,  joined  to  the  taste  and 
learning  of  a  connoisseur,  are  the  characteristics  of  this  elegantly-written  volume. 
The  portraitof  Raffaellb  is  exquisitely  beautiful." — Spectator. 

"  The  Cartoons  are,  as  our  readers  are  well  aware,  se\en  in  number.  The 
lolumc  before  us  presents  these  charmingly  engra\'ed  in  the  line  manner.  The 
expression  of  the  originals  is  admirably  preser\ed  ;  better,  indeed,  than  in  works 
of  far  higher  pretension,  and  wherein  greater  space  gave  as  ample  opportunities  as 
the  graver  could  desire  for  the  display  of  its  powers." — Atlas. 

"  The  purpose  and  the  execution  of  this  volume  are  alike  admirable.  Mr.  C'at- 
termole's  criticism  is  not  a  tame  or  glib  reiteration  of  the  old  truisms  or  sophistica- 
tions about  art,  but  is  the  result  of  that  genuine  and  unforced  spirit  of  love  which 
always  includes  high  conception  of  the  spiritual  and  the  beautiful,  and  is  in  itseff 
made  up  of  p.ietr)',  philosophy,  and  religion.  It  is  reserved  only  for  a  spirit  of  this 
kind  to  do  justice  to  Ralfaelle." — Ktuminer. 

"  This  is  a  beautiful  book ;  and,  as  something  tending  to  elevate  the  tiste  of 
nur  country,  we  cordially  recommend  it,  and  hope  that  it  will  find  its  way  into 
every  comer  of  the  ISini:'— Metropolitan. 

"  This  is  an  elegant  book.  The  prints  are  beautiful ;  and  there  are  but  few  of 
our  readers  who  may  not  have  access  to,  and  compare  them  with  the  originals." — 
True  Sun. 

"  This  is  an  extremely  elegant  work  ;  and  whether  considered  as  a  contribution  to 
the  Fine  Arts,  or  an  elucidation  of  the  gTeat  paintings  which  fonii  the  subject  of 
t,  will  l)e  generally  ai'ceptable  and  popular.  The  volume  is  exquisitely  got  up  in 
tlie  pictorial  as  well  as  the  typographical  department." — Liverpool  Chronicle. 


Works  just  Published  by  Joseph  Rlckerhy. 


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FORMERLY   OF   PEMBROKE  COLLEGE,   CAMBRIDGE; 

AND  ONE   OF   THE   CLASSICAL   MASTERS  OF    CHRIST'S    HOSPITAL. 


"  The  office  which  the  Reverend  Editor  has  fiUed  of  Classical  Master  in  Christ's 
Hospital,  and  his  edition  of  Homer's  Iliad,  are  sufficient  pledges  that  he  is  a  ripe 
and  critical  scholar  as  regards  the  ancient  languages  of  Greece  and  Rome.  But 
ne^'er,  we  venture  to  say,  have  his  talents  and  acquirements  been  so  worthily,  or 
so  alily  and  usefully  directed  as  in  tlie  present  instance.  It  is  wonderful  to  us  how 
the  New  Testament  in  the  original,  witli  all  the  illustrations  and  condensed  phi- 
lological and  expository  notes  that  are  here  added,  could  be  published  in  the  style 
in  which  they  appear  for  One  Guinea.  But  the  proprietor  of  course,  and  upon 
the  surest  grounds,  anticipates  an  extensive  and  continuous  sale  of  the  work.  It  is, 
without  a  doubt,  destuied  to  be  in  high  repute,  when  he  and  the  editor  are  no 
more  ;  and  in  proof  of  this  we  ask,  with  the  most  perfect  confidence  of  a  corrobo- 
rative judgment,  any  one  who  has  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the  .Greek  language, 
or  of  the  necessity  and  demand  that  have  long  existed  for  such  a  work  as  the  pre- 
sent, but  to  spend  half  an  hour  in  scanning  its  features. 

"  We  are  anxious  to  recommend  this  precious  volume,  in  as  far  as  in  us  lies; 
still,  without  any  inspection  of  the  style  in  which  it  is  got  up,  and  its  intrinsic 
exceUeiices,  no  description  can  do  it  justice. 

"  In  the  first  place,  although  the  whole,  the  text  as  well  as  notes,  &c.,  form  but 
one  octavo  volume,  and  a  handsome  one  it  is,  the  Greek  is  remarkably  distinct, 
presenting  a  beautiful  specimen  of  typography.  In  one  rare  but  most  important 
particular  the  Editor  has  reason  to  congratulate  himself;  we  mean  as  regards  the 
precise  and  abundant  punctuation  throughout  observed,  a  help  that  has  in  most 
editions  of  tlie  New  Testament  been  much  neglected. 

"In  the  second  place,  the  Notes  and  the  Readings  are  evidently  the  result  of 
great  research,  sound  judgment,  and  deep  acquaintance  both  with  theological  and 
classical  literature. 

' '  This  edition  in  short,  as  set  forth  by  the  publisher,  is  peculiaily  adapted  to  the 
use  of  Academical  Students,  Candidates  for  Holy  Orders,  and  the  higlier  Classes  of 
great  Schools.  It  supplies  also  a  commentary,  which  may  suffice  for  the  ordinary 
purposes  of  the  Clergy,  and  even  for  references  to  the  matured  Divine.  And  when 
it  is  considered  that  the  Text,  the  Notes,  a  Chronological  Harmony,  and  Indices 
of  Words  and  Phrases,  of  Matters  and  Proper  Names,  as  well  as  of  Philology,  are 
appended,  the  whole  bound  up  in  one  volume,  it  is  not  too  much  to  assert,  that 
Mr.'TroUope's  edition  of  the  New  Testament  will  be  hailed  by  the  biblical  and 
classical  student  as  a  precious  assistant." — Monthly  Revieiv. 


Works  just  Published  by  Joseph  Rickerby, 

II Z. 

In  demy  8\'o.,  price  7s->  cloth  lettered, 

PROVERBIAL     PHILOSOPHY 

A 

BOOK  OF  THOUGHTS  AND  ARGUMENTS, 

Oiiginally  treated. 
BY    MARTIN    FAKQUHAR    TUPPER,    ESQ.,   M.A. 


In  foolscap  8vo.,  4s.  6d.,  cloth  extra,  a  new  and  revised  Edition  of 

BUNYAN'S     PILGRIM'S    PROGRESS  : 

WITH 

AX  ORIGINAL  MEMOIR,  BY  J.  A.  ST.  JOHN  ; 

A 

KEY  TO  THE  SPIRITUAL  PORTIONS  OF  THE  DREAM  ; 
AND  ALL  PASSAGES  OF  SCRIPTURE 

Heretofore  merely  referred  to,  printed  at  lengrth  as  Foot-notes ;  rendering 
the  Work  particularly  useful  for  Family  reading. 


"  A  more  entirely  satisfactory  edition  of  Bunyan  could  not  have  been  given  to  the 
world.  Nothing  could  siuT)ass  the  neatness  and  excellence  of  the  workmanship ; 
and  what  may  be  called  the  accessaries  to  the  work  are  of  a  character  materially  to 
enhance  its  value.  The  Memoir  e\itices  much  talent  and  discrimination,  and  the 
Key  will  be  found  of  great  ad\-antage  in  a  referential  use  of  the  work.  And  lastly, 
tbe  Scriptural  Passages,  which  are  supplied  in  the  form  of  marginal  Notes,  will  be 
interesting  as  aids  to  analyse  the  mind  of  the  author,  and  to  point  out  useful  and 
perhaps  unexpected  applications  of  the  sacred  text." — hiverpuil  Courier. 

"  This  is  a  neat,  cheap,  and  in  evcrj-  respect  a  satisfactory  pocket  edition  of  Bun- 
yan's  immortal  and  invaluable  work.  We  regard  the  features  and  the  additions 
which  characterize  this  last  attempt  to  render  the  •  Pilgrims  Progress'  more  use- 
ful and  popular  than  e\er,  to  be  decided  improvements.  There  is  an  elegant  Life 
prefixed  of  the  Author  by  Mr.  J.  A.  St.  John,  who  is  favourably  known  in  the 
literarj-  world,  and  whose  edition  of  the  '  Select  Works  of  John  Milton,'  namely 
those  in  prose,  has  seciu-ed  for  him  the  high  character  of  originality  and  depth,  as 
well  as  of  being  possessed  of  those  many  indispensable  requisites  which  extensive 
reading  and  diligent  study  alone  can  produce.  In  the  present  case,  there  is  a  genial 
and  generous  spirit,  an  appreciation  of  Bunyan's  history,  character  and  piety,  that 
are  exceedingly  instrtictiie  and  gratifying.  To  increase  the  most  effectual  aids  to 
practical  usefulness,  the  texts  of  Scripture  are  printed  at  the  foot  of  each  page,  and 
Henn-  Wood's  Key  to  the  principal  matter,  spiritual  and  otherwise,  is  prefixed." — 
Mnnthty  Bevieic. 

"  The  volume  is  very  handsomely  got  up,  the  size  is  verj-  convenient,. and  the  type 
very  clear."— ReorfiHfi-  Sfen-urii. 

"  A  new  and  extremely  neat  edition." — Sherborne  Mermry. 


4  Works  just  Published  by  Joseph  Rickerby. 

V. 

In-post  18mo.,  cloth  elegant,  gilt  edges,  3s.  6d.,  (Ruby  Edition,) 

LYRIC     POEMS     BY     DR.     WATTS. 

Witi.  Life  of  the  Author,  hy  ~R.   Southey,  Esq. 


■•  The  writings  of  Dr.  Watts,  whether  in  poetry  or  prose,  will  ever  maintain,  as 
they  ever  have  maintained,  a  high  place  in  the  estimation  of  those  who  consider 
the  moral  and  religious  character  of  the  nation  an  object  of  paramount  impor- 
tance."— Liverpool  Courier: 

"  This  is  a  very  beautiful  edition  of  a  series  of  poems,  than  which  there  are  few 
in  our  language  more  treasured  by  the  pious,  or  more  admired  by  general  readers." 

"A  beautiful  miniature  work,  containing  the  chief  productions  of  this  sacred 
poet,  is  amongst  the  literary  no\'elties  of  the  day.  The  editor  is  Dr.  Southey,  who 
has  written  an  interesting  Memoir  of  the  Author ;  the  volume  is  verj'  portable,  ele- 
gantly bound,  and  admirably  calculated  for  a  Christmas  present." — Reading  Mer- 
cury, 

VI. 

A  VALUABLE  PARENTAL   GIFT. 

Now  Publishing,  (witli  Sixty  Engravings,)  price  only  4s.  cloth  lettered, 

(To  be  completed  in  Twenty  Monthly  Volumes,) 

THE 

HISTORY     OF    ENGLAND, 

BV 

HUME,  SMOLLETT,  AND  STEBBING. 

Hume  10,— Smollett,  6,— Stebbing,  4  vols,  continuing  the  History  to  the  death  of 
William  IV. 


"  This  edition  of  Hume  possesses  many  recommendations  which  those  which 
have  preceded  itai'C  very  deficient  in;  the  di\-isions  and  subdivisions  of  the  various 
epochs  are  well  planned ;  the  notes  of  reference  and  explanation  most  conveniently 
arranged,  and  t)ie  engra\-ings  are  remarkably  faithful  and  tastefully  executed. 
The  binding  is  very  elegant  and  novel. ' — Reading  Mercury. 

"  Prefixed  to  the  first  volume,  Mr.  Stebbing  has  a  weU-written  Essay  on  the 
Study  of  History,  which  peculiarly  adapts  this  edition  for  one  of  the  purposes  con- 
templated in  its  publication,  namely  that  of  a  monthly  gift-book  from  parents  to 
their  sons.    The  engraved  illustrations  are  well  executed." — Liverpool  Courier. 

"The  work  is  very  handsomely  got  up,  and  the  paper  and  typography  are  unex- 
ceptionable.   The  engravings  are  all  good." — Birmingham  Journal. 

"  This  edition  of  the  History  of  England  is  chiefly  to  be  recommended  for  the 
continuation  it  promises  up  to  our  own  times,  and  which  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Steb- 
bing can  scarcely  fail  to  be  ably  conducted.' — Norwich  Mercury. 


vai. 

In  the  Press,  and  shortly  will  be  Published,  in  Eight  vols.,  post  8vo.,the 

SELECT   WORKS    OF    JEREMY    TAYLOR,  D.D. ; 

With  an  Account  of  the  Life  and  Times  of  the  Author, 
BY   THE    REV.  GEORGE    CROLY,  D.D.