1838
1836
828
PELUk Tintikalingi pijat Anebijak

:
ARTES
LIBRARY
1817
SCIENTIA
VERITAS
OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
E PLURIANS UNIUM
TUEBOR
BI-QUERIS·PENINSULAM·ANⱭNAM.
CIRCUMSPICE
!
endows d gabe konks
1838
M836u
828
1
Masterpieces of English Prose Literature.
Edited by J. A. ST. JOHN, Esq.
VOLS. I. & II.
In two handsome Vols. with Portrait, and Frontispiece from design by CATTER-
MOLE, price 12s.
THE SELECT WORKS OF JOHN MILTON, viz.
AREOPAGITICA
EARLY LIFE and WRITINGS
TENURE of KINGS
ACCOUNT of his own Studies
TRACTATE en EDUCATION
EIKONOKLASTES
OUTLINE of a COMMONWEALTH
FAMILIAR LETTERS, &c. &c.
WITH A PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE,
and copious Notes,
By J. A. ST. JOHN, Esq.

"He who has not read and studied, and fed his mind and imagination upon the
Prose Works of Milton, knows not the full greatness of that poe-patriot. In the
volumes we have the concentrated essence of the poet, philosopher, and politician's
sublimated thoughts. The learned Editor has given a fine outline of the public life
and times of Milton, and introduced a succession of Nores, various, original, and
profound."-Scots Times.
VOL. III.
In one Vol. small 8vo. with Portrait, price 6s.
LOCKE ON EDUCATION:
With NOTES; and an Historical Account of the progress of Education in Egypt.
Persia, Crete, Sparta, Athens, Rome, among the early Christians, and in the Mid-
dle Ages.
By J. A. ST. JOHN, Esq.
"Keen sagacity in observing the wants and dispositions of childhood and youth.
and clear discrimination in the application of means, forni the leading characteristics
of this work. The DISCOURSE' by Mr. ST. JOHN is one of the most learned,
able, and elegant disquisitions of the kind we have ever met with."-Liverpool
Courier.
Incdes عامسة
in t
Rever


THE
MASTERPIECES
OF

ENGLISH
PROSE LITERATURE.
i
VOL IV.
:
..

1
UTOPIA:
OR,
THE HAPPY REPUBLIC.
A
Philosophical Romance,
BY SIR THOMAS MORE.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,

THE NEW ATLANTIS,
BY LORD BACON.
WITH
A Preliminary Discourse,
CONTAINING
An Analysis of Flato's Republic, &c., and copious Notes,
BY
J. A. ST. JOHN, ESQ.
LONDON:
JOSEPH RICKERBY, SHER
KING WILLIAM STREET
18381
1
LONDON:
JOSEPH RICKERBY, PRINTER,
SHERBOURN LANE.


CONTENTS.
...
:
Preliminary Discourse
Object of the Utopia
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Its imaginary Laws founded on experience
Character of the Author
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Milton's Opinion of Plato's Republic
Spirit of Plato's Republic
Other imaginary States
Outline of Plato's Republic
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Morgenstern-Stallbaum-Muretus...
Greatest Happiness principle
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Idea of old Agc
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Community of Wives and Children
Improvement of the Human Race
Condition of Women
Learned Women of Antiquity
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Division of the Population into Three Classes
Philosophers, Kings
Plato's Idea of a Philosopher
The Three Forms of Government
Tyranny-Slavery
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Power of Education
Republic of Hippodamos
Critique of Aristotle
Fabulous State of Theopompos
Cities of War and Peace
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Ancients had some Knowledge of America
Romance of Euhemeros
Plan of the Utopią
Artful Commencement
Primary Interlocutor
Introduction of the Author
Monotony of Manners, &c.
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CONTENTS.
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Preliminary Discourse
Town and Country
Form of Government
Vote by Ballot
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Who are dangerous in a State
Political Discipline
Religion of the Utopians
Variety of Sects
Conclusion
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Bishop Burnet's Preface to the topta
The Author's Letter to Peter Giles
Hellenism of Sir Thomas More
Usurpations of Servants-Lord Bacon
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Labours of Sir Thomas More-Lord Brougham
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Capital of Utopia-Gulliver
Missionaries to Utopia
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Power of the Critics
Anecdote of a Catholic Priest
The Utopia.- Book F.
Character of Henry VIII.
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Negociations at Bruges-Proverbs
Character of Peter Giles
Latin Authors-Lucretius
Introduction of Raphael Hythloday
Saying of Anaxagoras
Voyages of Americus Vespucius
Ships of the Eastern Ocean
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l'assion 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
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Raphael visits England-Wisdom of our Ancestors
Cardinal Morton
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Discussions on the Penal Code
Profligate Nobility
Armies of Servants-Thieves
Customs of Rome and Athens...
Standing Armies-Napoleon-Cromwell
Effeminate Troops
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Pastoral Nations
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Ejection of Peasants
Mendicity Society
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Avarice of the Rich-Fable of the Bees
Hume-Cato-Cæsar
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CONTENTS.
The Utopia.-Book E.
Milton's Areopagitica
Political Discipline and Education
The Lawyer and the Cardinal
Penal Code
Punishment of Thieres
Profits of Vice
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Employment of Criminals
Thief Guides
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Dangers of Innovation
Caunter's St. Leon
Cardinal's Fool and the Clergy
A Friar's Curses
The Six great Names
The Fool's Wisdom
Character of Courtiers
Conduct of Philosophers
Reformation of Kings
Passion for ar
A King's Minister
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Sir Walter Raleigh's Notion of Princes
Corruption of Judges
A Courtier's Notion of Prerogative
Object of a King
Why Kings are hated
Kings' Oaths
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Philosophy unfashionable at Court
Councils of Princes
Primitive Christians
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Caramuel's Question
Plato's Idea of a Political Philosopher
Making of new Laws
Division of Property
Qualification of Legislators
Landing in Utopia
The Utopia.-Book EE.
Capital of Utopia
*
Origin of the Name of Utopia
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Description of the principal Cities
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Egg Ovens-Egypt and Mohammed Ali
Beverage of the Utopians
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City of Amaurot
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River of Aneider
How the Utopian Cities were laid out
Magistrates
Vote by Ballot
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Against Princely Conspirators
Arts and Trades
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8
CONTENTS.
The Utopia.-Book EE.
Regulation of Industry
Lectures before Breakfast
Industry of Women
Sturdy Beggars
General Industry
Private Luxury
Style of Dress
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Trade and Commerce
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Size of Cities
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Uncultivated Land
Cause of Cruelty
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Common Halls of Crete and Sparta
Lazarettoes
Dinner Trumpet
Nursing of Children
Custom at Meals
Utopian Travelling
Who are fit to Travel
Absence of Taverns
-Gold and Silver
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Foreign Mercenaries
Uses of Iron
Gold and Jewels
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Value of the Precious Metals
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Installation of President Van Buren ...
Ambassador's Fool
Worship of Wealth
Tongue-learning
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An honest man's Fortune
Moral Philosophy
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Immortality of the Soul
Stoic Philosophy
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Religion of Compacts
Philosophy of Dress...
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Diatribe against Hunting…..
Theory of true Pleasure
Pleasures of the Mind
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Milton's Tractate of Education
Necessity of Revelation
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Cicero de Natura Deorum
Slaves of Utopia
Approbation of Suicide
Humane Poisoning-Napoleon ...
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Marriage Regulations
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Theory of Divorce-Milton
Theory of Punishment
Great Utility of Fools
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CONTENTS.
9
The Utopia.-Book EE.
Against Painting the Face
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Statues of Ireton, Cromwell, and Bradshaw
Clearness of the Laws
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Inviolable Faith of Princes
Royal Justice
A
Military Discipline
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Martial Women
Tales of Ramad'han
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Theory of Assassination
Sinews of War
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Utopian Mercenaries-Swiss
› Fortifications-Roman Armies...
Revenues
Religion of the Utopians
Conversion to Christianity
Universal Toleration
Utopian Sceptics
Funerals
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Monks
Priests
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Exclusion from the Temples
Mark of a Papist
Festivals
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Absence of Images from their Temples
Bloodless Sacrifices
Public Stores
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Consideration for the Poor
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Conspiracy of the Rich against the Poor
Famines
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Plague of Human Nature
Conclusion
New Atlantis.
Introductory Note
Preface
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Voyage in the South Seas
Idea of the Picturesque
Landing in Atlantis...
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Picture of a Chinese Mandarin
Master of the Port
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Are you Pirates...
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Strangers' House
Dislike of Blue Stockings
Right good Viands
Self-Congratulations
A good Priest
Chinese Regulation
Idea of a happy Land
Miraculous Light
Ark of Cedar Wood ...
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CONTENTS.
}
New Atlantis.
A Dash of the Supernatural
Conversation with the Governor
Expedition of Pharaoh Necho
Fleets of Ancients
Plato's Critias
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Wars of the Atlanteans
The Man's Word
Idea of the Deluge
Antiquities of Atlantis
Inhospitable Laws
Chinese Regulations
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Scientific Travellers
Feast of the Family.
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Seclusion of the Mother
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Fondness for Pomp
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Ceremonies
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Political Econorny-Anecdote of a Mountebank
A Father's Blessing
Conversation with a Jew
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Polygamy
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Milton on Divorce
The Tetracordon
DAO
Power of Self-Respect
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Father of Solomon's House
Costume of a Natural Philosopher
The wise Jew again
History of Solomon's House
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Sicilian Cavern-Margaret Ravenscroft
High Towers-Etzler
Sir Francis Head's Home Tour...
Fresh and salt Water Fish
Water of Paradise
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Improvement in Gardening
Egypt and Mahommed Ali
Breed of Animals
Culinary Operations ...
Operations of Industry
Of Lies
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Deceits of the Senses...
Experimentalists
Divine Service-Hymns
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PRELIMINARY
DISCOURSE.
B
{
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 brute mean, without acknowledgment
Of common right or interest in the end;
Used or abused 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-
1
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 custom's 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-
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
V
vances no opinions which would require more than
a very moderate portion of ability to defend.
Not that I by any means pretend he is always
right. 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 experience,
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
More, 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 acquainted with his works, but re-echo-
ing the remarks of some strainer after originality,
affect to form 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.
vii
the case in the days of Sir Thomas More! Never-
theless, though fully alive to all the evils and
dangers to which the advocacy of popular govern-
ment was likely to expose him, he fearlessly, 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 the
present.
Many, indeed, may conceive that by its very ex-)
travagance it was rendered innoxious and unobjec-
tionable. For even princes and nobles would dis-
cover 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-
hers 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 favour-
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-
viii
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
gination abhors, but rather soared too high into the
ideal world in search of an exemplar and pattern
for human 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 acquire 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 what 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 ridicule, 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-
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
ix
cealed from view. He absorbs the whole mind of
those who gain his intimacy. There is a glory
about his ideas, as about the heads of the apostles,
which appears to be brightly reflected from our own
fancy as we read, and to transform us into some-
thing like his resemblance. We feel ourselves in
presence of the beautiful; it descends around us
like a shower, but a shower that warms and fructifies,
and clothes even the most barren 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.
Gættling, Pref. ad. Aristot. Polit. p. xii attributes to Harris
the Oceana of Harrington, which, therefore, he had never read.
X
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 Modern Philosophy,"
t. iv. pp. 424-448, he might, however, have discovered not
only the real author of the work, but a very full and able
analysis of its contents.
2 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,
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xi
object, still the form and the manner in which this
is done 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 objects
and the essential parts of the work referring to
them must then have obtained.'
4
113
Morgenstern, whose arguments are abridged and
represented with much ingenuity by Stallbaum,
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
happiness. 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
5
atque eam ob causam non περὶ πολιτείας, sed περὶ δικαιοσύνης
librum suum inscripsisse arbitrati sunt, ii eodem jure Aristotelem,
quum de politicis scriberet, non politicam, sed ethicam docere
voluisse dicerent.”—Pref. ad Arist. Pol. p. xi.
* Introductions to the Dialogues of Plato. 407 f.
4 De Argument. et Cons. Lib. Plat. de Repub. t. iii. p. 20.
5 Comment. ad Plat. Polit. p. 309. ff.
xii
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
&
6
same discussion, and contends that the philoso-
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; that 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. 615. ff.
7 De Argum. et Consil. &c. iii. 26. "Quum enim omnis
fere disputatio, licet a justicia notione exploranda proficiscatur,
tamen in describenda indole et natura tum optimi hominis tum
perfectæ civitatis contineatur, dubitari non posco arbitramur,
quin in hac ipsa re præcipuam questionem versari putare debe-
amus."
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xiii
Sa-
itself into an elevated and majestic form.
crates, who afterwards turns out to be the builder
of the state, descends to the Peiræeos, 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 preserved. 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-
2
xiv
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
different 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.
8
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-
* Rep. V. §. §. 6, 7. 1. 348. ff.—Stallbaum.
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
XV
ing 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 with 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 arež
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 as they are in 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 love
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 Montague acutely remarks, women have their
full share, if not something more, in the manage-
с
xviii
PRELIMINARY 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, irritability, 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, where
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 functions of
government, by no means precluded from furnish-
ing from among their own ranks, both wise legis-
lators and able commanders,
R
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 philosophy 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 term 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."
⁹ Conf. Stallbaum De Argument. et Consil &c, i. 36. Mor-
genstern. p. 202-212. De Geer. Diatr. de Polit. Plat. Princip.
p. 164-175. with Books vi. and vii. of the Republic, passim.
1
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xxi
It has be observed above, that Plato divides
the powers 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-wisdom,
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 rulers, 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. ¹º
Having explained and described the several ex-
cellencies of a state, which, as I have observed, are
in his view identical with those of the individual,
he proceeds to develope the corruptions and perver-
sions of government, which likewise correspond
exactly with various modifications of human de-
1" De Repub. iv. 427 e.—435 a.
xxii
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 pages of that "holiest of
men," to whom we owe the "Paradise Lost," and
the "Defensio pro Populo Anglicano."
To proceed: there is no form 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-

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xxiii
tocracy, but, more properly, a representative Demo-
cracy, slides by fatal necessity, first into Timocracy,
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 legitimate
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 how perver-
sion is effected in each. In the first place, while
reason 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 form 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 Circæan art, he
transforms them into hogs, rings their noses, and
turns them to grunt, feed, and fatten for his use in
the sty of slavery. "1 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 hereditary oppressors,
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,
11 Conf. Stallbaum. i. 38. De Repub. viii. 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 perish 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
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xxvii
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 platforms 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, 'conforming 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 Peiræeos, and im-
proving the method of distributing streets, and
laying out cities, conceived the plan of an ideal
republic, of which Aristotle has preserved an out-
xxviii
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
sorts 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
introduced 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 suffrages 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, formed 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 arms, 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 upon the judicial regula-
tions of this ancient Utopia, which, he insists, " are
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xxxi
not less blamable, since their direct tendency is
to convert judges 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 acquit, as his own reason directs. By the inno-
vations of Hippodamos, legal proceedings would
be involved in inextricable confusion. The defen-
dant might be ordered by one judge to pay twenty
minæ, 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 minæ, 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." 12
12 I have here made use of the able, but somewhat para-
phrastic, and not always faithful translation of Dr. Gillies, ii. 6.
xxxii
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
3
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 Athenæus and Dionysius of
Halicarnassos, collected in the course of his read-
ing a number of extraordinary relations, which he
published under the title of Oavμaoía. In this
work, as Servius, in his Commentary on the Sixth
book of the Æneid, 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-
Gottling, who, like Dr. Gillies himself,
rangement of the text, calls it chapter v.
divisions of the received editions.
loves to alter the ar-
Bekker preserves the
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xxxiii
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 the
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 spacious
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
each 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 career 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, few of
whom ever came to a peaceful end, but fell in bat-
tle, overwhelmed with 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 amongst 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,
produced 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 former 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.'
13
Both König 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 Mexico and Peru, who, in those magnifi-
cent ruins recently disinterred, have left irrefragable
13 Elian. Hist. Var. iii. 18.
++
D 2
xxxvi
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
imp
proofs of their 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,
but with sufficient geographical latitude to obviate
the possibility of inconvenient applications.
Euhemeros founded his imaginary commonwealth
in a different quarter 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 Fœlix. 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 his own history, and that
of his family. In this work Diodorus Siculus
found the materials for the greater portion of

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xxxvii
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. 14
Such were the models which evidently suggested
o 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 of
Aristotle and Macchiavelli, by which he would
have sacrificed, perhaps, some degree of temporary
popularity, and incurred additional personal risk,
but at the same time would unquestionably have
enjoyed a higher and more widely-spread reputa-
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 to
excite the suspicion that he feels not all its value, and
consequently is scarcely capable of forcibly in-

14 Præpar. Evangel. ii. 2. Conf. Schoell. Hist. de la Litera-
ture Grecque. t. iii, p. 249. ff.
xxxviii
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
Its form, to the judi-
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.
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
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
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 lúx-
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
1
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-
bassador, 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
PRELIMINARY 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
affairs of nations to a standstill, negociations are
suspended; and, during the interval of leisure thus
created, Sir Thomas 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 Savμaría 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

PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
xliii
"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 rogues, 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 effectually
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 would 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.
of
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 wholę
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
family 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 farms 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 corn.”
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
wholly 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-
xlviii
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
4
he was constrained to treat with some deference
the prejudices of his age. 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
might 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 rulers, even when selected with
greatest care, and checked by most restraints, bursts
е
i
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 among the people: though that falls
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.
li
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
fairly; but, as if other circumstances should be
e 3
lii
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
1
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
effect 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
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
liii
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.
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 machinery of pass-
ports since imitated to so great an extent on the
continent, likewise originated among the Spartan
1
liv
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
!
oligarchs, who by every 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
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
lv
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
topic 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 whole 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."
lvi
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

mas More is scarcely a Christian in the Uto-
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.
lvii
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.
Hampstead, December, 1837.
J. A. ST. JOHN.

1

UTOPIA:
OR,
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 reform 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,
lxii
PREFACE, BY BISHOP BURNET.
We
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.
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, Beaumont 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 BURNET.
lxiii
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 More 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 1516, 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 the 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
himself 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 wild 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-
lxiv
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
TO
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 Raphael 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
More 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." Many writers of merit and
F

2
SIR THOMAS MORE'S
than of the Latin, the plainer my words are, they
will resemble his simplicity the more, 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
only 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 could
not give me much trouble, all that belonged to me
2
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
in which he supposes it to have been written. Most 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 the
things that I had heard; but although this 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 men's
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 my servants; for all these
things I reckon as a part of business, except a man
will resolve to be a stranger at home: and with
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
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, "
cr 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.
F 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.
3
My servant, John Clement, has started some
4 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 be 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.
LETTER TO PETER GILES.
5
6
things 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 I 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
6 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
with me in supposing the said traveller to be not a little in-
debted to the Utopia. It must be owned that More 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
Eschines 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.
6
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,
7 This, I believe, was no fiction. At least, Sir Thomas's
great-grandson tells us, that "many great learned men, as
Budæus 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 the people to the faith of Christ, whose manners
LETTER TO PETER GILES.
when one desires it only for advancing the Chris-
tian religion, 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 differ
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.
:
8
SIR THOMAS MORE'S
much; some are of so morose a temper, so sour a
disposition, and make such absurd judgments of
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;
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.
:
LETTER TO PETER GILES.
9
they do their 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 advantage
that a bald man has, who can catch hold of ano-
ther by the hair, while the other cannot return the
like upon him.'
him. They are safe as it were of gun-
shot, since there is nothing in them considerable
enough 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?10 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, "Why, 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."
""
10 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 the 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 buy 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,
tr 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. 176. 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 Constip
tution, in the time of the Tudors.

UTOFIA; 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." 12
Those that were appointed by the prince to treat
with us, met us at Bruges, according to agree-
ment; they were all worthy 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-
¡2 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 REPUBLIC.
13
*
:
sure. And, since our business did admit of it,
I went to Antwerp while I was there, among
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 front 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
.
1
(C
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.'s 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
13 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.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
15
might be one of those four-and-twenty who were
left at the furthest place at which they touched, in
their last 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 øver
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
14 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. I have found it, how-
ever, in no author older than Cicero's time; though, no doubt,
he derived it from good sources. “Præclarè Anaxagoras,” says
he, "qui cum Lampsaci moreretur, quærentibus amicis, vellet ne
Clazomenas in patriam, si quid accidisset, auferri, nihil necesse
est, inquit, undique enim ad inferos tantumdem viæ est." Tusc.
Quæst. i. §. 43. Diogenes Laertius probably, as Menage
conjectures, made use of Cicero's authority. Hoòc tùr dvopop-
οῦντα ὅτι ἐπὶ ξένης τελευτᾷ, πανταχόθεν, ἔφη, ὁμοία
¿otìv ý eis äidov karábatıç, 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 them 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 équator, 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; 15 the soil was withered, all things
:
15 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
affected, 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.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
17
looked dismally, and all places were either quite
uninhabited, or abounded with 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; 16 but afterwards they found ships made with
round-keels and canvass sails, and in all things
like our ships; and the seamen understood both
astronomy and navigation. He got wonderfully
•
16 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.
Scheffer. 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 wind their cany waggons light."
Par. Lost, iii. 437. ff.
G

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.
But as he told us of many things that were
17 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. Many 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.”


PPY REPUBLIC.
19
amiss in those new-found nations, so he reckoned
up not a few things, from which patterns might be
taken for correcting the errors of these nations
among whom we live; of which an account may
be given, as I have already promised, at some other
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


UTOPIA; OR, TH
T
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.” 18 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
18 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. ve have seen, could
occasionally condescend to flatter him, it was because he yielded
to the necessities of the times, and was o do all the good in
his power.
1

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
21
a man much more than I do any of the great men
in the world. Yet I think you would do a thing
well becoming so generous and so philosophical a
soul as yours is, if you would apply your time and
thoughts to public affairs, even though you may
happen 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..19 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 opi-
nion of me, and in the judgment that you make of
things for as I have not that capacity that you
19 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
trength of reason, that their royal throne could not be
ced without corruption, because that positive, confident,
temper, which virtue infused into a man, was a perpetual
public business."—Gulliver'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; 20 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
:
20 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 REPUBLIC.
23
✓
made us, that we all love to be flattered, and to
please ourselves with our own notions. The old
crow loves his young, 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. 22
re
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 great princes, who are apt to mistake it for duty, and to
prefer 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 happen to be extensive; otherwise they would not
be apt to mistake flattery for duty, 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
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 never fails
of bringing forth much wretched fruit.”—Sons of Lord Claren-
don, Preface to his History, vol. i. p. 14.
22 Sir Thomas More, we see, viewed with no less contempt
than Bentham, the arguments against innovation drawn from
1
24
UTOPIA; OR, THE
х
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. 23
"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 Hunt could
scarcely have expressed the idea more dryly or neatly.
23 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 Moloch 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.
25
•
and virtues, than for the high character he bore:
he was of a middle stature, not broken with age;
his looks begot reverence rather than fear; his con-
versation was easy, but serious and grave; he took
pleasure sometimes to try the force of those that
came as suitors to him upon business, by speaking
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 was 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 acquired to his
great cost, a vast stock of wisdom: 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
1

26
UTOPIA; OR, THE
1
24
-
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. 25 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-


21 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.
25 Locke and Montaigne 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 appeared to be
called for. So would the divine Plato, whose indignation against ·
wickedness was proportioned to his distance from it.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
27
C
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 foreign 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, car 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; 26 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

The upper and
26 Rack-rents have always been in fashion.
privileged classes maintain their grandeur on oppression, and
never care how great the sufferings of the people may 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
!!!
take care of the sick; 27 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, 28 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
27 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.
26 An ivory-headed cane now supplies the place of sword and
buckler; but the race is unchanged; 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. Com-
mon thieves labour harder, and make better soldiers.
1

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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
gallant 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. They think raw men
29
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 παίδων ἀγέλας ὥσπερ
ίππων φορβάδας συναγείρειν ; that is, to lead about a crowd
of youths at their heels. In the Athenian democracy this was
forbidden by law. In modern 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.
30 The French have never been thoroughly cured of their rage
for "playing soldiers," and never will 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; 32 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 modern times, never kept on foot much above
thirty thousand men.
31 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 trenchant blade, Toledo trusty,
For want of fighting had grown rusty,
And ate into itself, for lack
Of somebody to hew and hack."
ider-
32 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
able personal liberty, and the means of living well. ]
poverty been equal to that of the French peasantry,
discipline inferior, the battles of Cressy, Poictiers, a
heir
heir
.}
gin-


HAPPY REPUBLIC.
31
will not say much, lest you may think I flatter
the 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 they are not disabled by 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
war. 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 unphilosophical.
33 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 Mongols 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 in activity, their vigour has quickly evaporated.


32
UTOPIA; OR, THE
cause of it that 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:34 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: 36 and as if forests and parks had swal-

35
34 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 Mestu 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 Mestu
are migratory, and move every year some hundreds of miles,
literally devastating the country over which they pass.
35 We had here in England, therefore, something not unlike
the Mestu, 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
quo.
36 Bayle tells a good story, somewhere in his Dictionar,
abbot who had converted a church into a stable.
France, and set the example, and gave the hint, which…..
an
in

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 plague to his
country, resolves to inclose many thousand acres
of ground, 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. 37 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? And if
they do this, they are put in prison as idle vaga-
bonds; 38 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.
37 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.
36 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
1

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 require
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. 39 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.
39 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.
угод

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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
40
40 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

UTOPIA; OR, THE
ww 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 Cæsar on the subject of Servilia's intrigues.
"We know," says he, "that Cæsar, 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 Cæsar 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 11:
ive inter-

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
37
that are in, the taverns and ale-houses are no
better; 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, or
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
42
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.-Casaubon.
ad Theophrast. Charact. p. 365.
42 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,§32, p.
44. This idea adopted by Helvétius, forms the basis of his trea-
tise "de l'Homme," 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
l'homme n'est vraiment que le produit de son education."-
Œuvres, &c. 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 lik him, as we may the nearest by possessing our
of true virtue, which being united to the heavenly grace of
the highest perfection." Select Prose Works,
Plato, long before. h conceived a similar idea
ucation shod be, thon
sarily more imperfect t

p.
makes
44
6. Edit. Bekk.
some points, his ideas
lton's. Republic. t. vi.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
39
i
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 ?43. 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

43 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.
44 The author of the "Utopia" was free, if ever any man
was, from the influence of the debasing doctrine of custes, 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 perjury 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 ín 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 ? 45 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
was 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
45 This confirms what is advanced in the preceding note.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
that in this new law of mercy, in which God treats
us with the tenderness of a father, he has given 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 punished: 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.16
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 very proper for their punishment? They
condemned such as they found guilty of great
crimes to work, their whole lives in quarries, or to

46 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.

UTOPIA; OR, THE
dig in mines with chains about them.47 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.48 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
47 I would not propose the laws of any ancient state as a pat-
tern to be followed by modern 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.
48 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
well-entertained out of the public stock, which is
49 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.50 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,52 and their
59 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.
5 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.
52 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
4
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 arms. 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;53 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 gentleness 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
1
them are very obvious: since, by these means.
vices are destroyed, so men are preserved, but one
so treated that they see the necessity of being govu;
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;
1
ir
54 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 effec
escape, on account of the misfortune which had befallen
but, by the same regulation, they were completely cu
from all chance of regaining caste; for, as their ears v
grow, they could never again pass for persons of good
SO
ot
r.
"

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
nor will any venture on a design where the con-
cealment would be so dangerous, and the discovery
so profitable: and none of them is quite hopeless
of recovering his freedom, since by their obedience
and patience, and by giving grounds to believe .A.
that they will change their manner of life for 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 :55 but if, when the sentence of death were passed
55 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 gradually. 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 ;56 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
56 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 inatured and plucked,
Would that grim want
Did cramp our bones!
Begins to mock thee!
again, in sackcloth cased,
Look how thy tawdry gold
Thou'rt already cursed
In thy possession. Out upon this dross,
That only casts a splendour over ruin !
THY LIFE'S IN JEOPARDY!"
:

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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 fabour; 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
57 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 beggars 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.
58 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 roaming; 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.
59 If the reader will have the goodness to refer t
chapter of curses in "Tristram
originality scholars can swear.
rne's
Shandy," he will see
what
Our friar was still r
nge-
1

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
5
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 words,) 'I 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!'60 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.
60 This is a stroke quite à 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 feelings, 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


2
UTOPIA; OR, THE
(6
with a good intention,' said the cardinal; but, in
my opinion, it were wiser in you, not to say ther
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 oh-
illustrious 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.
61 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 REPUBLIC.
53
served you to hearken to it, as if you had 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.
›› 62
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-
62 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 Milton says of Belial, that their
tongue
Dropped manna, and could make the worse appear
The better reason."
They are, no doubt, mighty antagonists; and More, Clarendon,
Warburton, Milton, Bacon, Hobbes, and so on, will have much
ado to maintain their ground. But jacta est alea.

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
propose 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,63 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.
64
"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
63 See his treatise De Rep. V. §. 18. t. I. p. 389. VI. §. 18.
t. II. p. 56. Edit. Stallbaum, where the learned editor quotes the
defence of this celebrated paradox by Morgernstern. De Rep.
Plat. 203-213. And a criticism on it by Muretus, Opn. t. I.
p. 66. edit. Runkh.
64 Who, because the philosopher desired to relieve him
ignorance, sold him for a slave! Diog. Laert. III. §.
74. edit. Ménage.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
55
pains ?65 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 what arts and practices Milan 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 Germans, 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
65 Clarendon lived to be of this opinion, and bequeathed it as
an inheritance to his sons. See the preface to his History,
passim.
66 Honest Iago understood this well: "put money in thy
purse!" It is every where 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 for money he sometimes may

56
UTOPIA; OR, THE
some of his courtiers are to 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 firm 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.
67
Now, when things are in so great a fermen-
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 Achorians, 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
67 We have lived to see a better state of things. No fear now
of the Scots pouring in 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
лючив
long
صب
keeping it was equal to that of gaining it; for the
conquered 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;68 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

·
68 Sir Thomas 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 advan-
tage, not for his own; and removable when, 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.

58
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 people, and make them impute it to

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
59
the piety of the
of the lives of his
old musty laws,
prince, and to his tenderness
objects. A third offers some
have been antiquated by a
!
long disuse; and wh 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 breaking them.
This would serve two ends, both of them acceptable
to many; for as those whose 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. 70 Another proposes, that the
69 This is worthy of Macchiavelli, and as instructive as a
chapter in "Il Principe." It paints monarchs to the life.
70 We have here another Macchiavellian remark, which shows
how carefully Sir Thomas More 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
71 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.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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 will be
put on them; and when all other things fail, the
king's undoubted prerogative will be pretended, as i
that which is above all law;72 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: that a king, even though
he would, can do nothing unjustly: that all pro-
perty is in him, not excepting the very 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.73
:
Now, what if after all these propositions were
72 Speaking of certain acts of Charles the First, perpetrated
in this spirit, Bishop Warburton says, "If this was not tyranny,
I do not know what is." Notes on Clarendon, vii. 512.
73 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
xation; while the rulers, perhaps, expend the money collected
⠀ sumptuous edifices, or other toys, calculated to amuse the

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 quarrel more
than beggars do? Who does more earnestly long
for a change, than he that is uneasy in his present
circumstances? 75 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. Gættling, V. xi.
156. Bekk.
7+ James the First, fool and tyrant as he was, acknowledged
this. Locke on Government, II. § 200.
75 The French Revolution has furnished the best commentary
on this text.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
63
76
is it so becoming the 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 groaning, 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.
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. -
on-ft
Let
76 But princes and oligarchs are commonly deaf to all such
sounds.
77 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 confirmed 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 value." 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,
Muto persons, what force or power have oaths?
ikeaf.
Mm.2
R1729
78 Here the author fails of his usual sagacity. For, upon such
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
More. "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 traité de paix,
pendant que le bien de mon royaume le demandera; je me
moquerai de mon serment, des que la maxime de l'Etat le
voudra." Dict. Hist. et crit. art. Agesilaus, rem. H.


HAPPY REPUBLIC.
65
it makes him 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.
(c
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 philosophy 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
79 Exactly, and in opposition to reason.
K

66
UTOPIA; OR, THE
i
things of such different natures, to have made such
an impertinent tragi-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
comes 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
50 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 comble, this maxim of temporizers, who
would have men tolerate all the evils which are difficult to be
removed.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
67
it or not I
lying, whether a philosopher can do
cannot tell—I am sure I cannot do it. But though
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 different 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
pres seem to have learned that craft to which
$1
61 They are; yet who will dare to say they are therefore
Utopian?
1
K 2

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;
82 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 will 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
82 See, on this subject, the very admirable remarks of
Grotius, De Jure Belli et Pacis, 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 More only hints. See his "Lettres
Provinciales," particularly the seventh, in which he discusses
the "curious question" proposed by Caramuel,-“ savoirs s'il
est permis aux jesuites de tuer les jansenistes !" t. I. p. 151.
83 Another important maxim of state.


HAPPY REPUBLIC.
69
no occasions of doing any good; the ill company
will sooner corrupt him, than be the better for 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 exposé of Aristotle, that any

UTOPIA; OR, THE
on the wise and good constitutions of the 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


жо
separty

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
Shakespear, that we are wise, perhaps, in ferring rather
to alm picopla
Aut
"To bear the ills we have.
Than fly to others that we know out o
:
Fad
and pkning

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
71.
'
86
when 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 people 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 a load 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,
87 and
66 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.
87 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 kiud 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
UTOPIA; 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;38
88 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? 89
88 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.
89 He has here put a question, which has never to this day
been satisfactorily answered.
*

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
73
So
For as the hope of gain doth not excite him,
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 people so
well constituted as they are."
CC
"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
---

90
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. 20 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
90 Mr. Keightley, in the introduction to his delightful little
volume on the origin and transmission of lar Fictions, has
several very excellent remarks on this set, which the read
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 amongʻus, 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 very 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 hitherto 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. 91
So we went in and dined, and after dinner
9 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.

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 horns 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
un a great danger of shipwreck; for even they
emselves could not pass it safe, if some marks
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 92
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 quite 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.
r
There are fifty-four cities in the island, all

92 An exact imitation of the manner of the Greek historians,
who constantly, in speaking of any place, mention the nae
which it was anciently known, with the legend invented,
haps, to account for it.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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 that 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-
93 This was the case with the several Demi of Attica.
W

80
UTOPIA; OR, THE
ཨམྨཱ ཀ
try; 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 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; 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
94 See a full account of this process in "
med Ali," where I have brought together
cient authors who mention the subject.
577. ff.
and Moham-
passages of an-
II. pp. 327

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
81
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 necessary 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.
95 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 difference. 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 wate brackish, but a

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
83
96
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
for 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.97 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-

97 The remark on the regularity of the buildings was made
by the ancients on the cities erected by Hippodamos, the archi-
tect of the Peiræus. 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 and other cities of
the East.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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.
the
OF THEIR MAGISTRATES.
Thirty families choose every year a magistrate,
who was called anciently the Syphogrant, but is now
called the Philarch; 98 and over every ten sypho-
se 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 suffrage.99 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-
cerning 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 pu-
λov and άoxy. Pollux. I. 128. III. 53. VIII. 87, 94, 114.
Conf. Plat. Rep. VIII. 5, 180. Stallbaum.
99 Vote by Ballot.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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 sypho-
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.

88
UTOPIA; OR, THE
F
(c
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.100
"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.
be

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 father to son, inclina-
tions often following descent ;101 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.
(vit
“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.102 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
101 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.
.0% 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,
and 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;103 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
103 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 even
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-
bers, 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 far 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;104 and if some few women are dili-
10+ Women were generally industrious at Athens, except the
very rich.
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.
Doute.
UTOPIA; OR, THE
truth?
Sain
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. 105 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.
105 Sir Thomas More, we see, was no admirer of the Almark
coteries, et hoc genus omne. He must have been a singu
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, for 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 suffrages 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. 106 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
ambassadors, 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
10A regulation 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. 107 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-
107 Every day furnishes examples of this.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
95
108
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: 109 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
garments 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 warmer, 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
108 Dress of the Greek peasants.
109 A Spartan fashion. Dyers were not suffered to reside in
the city; and they considered coloured cloths as so much good
wool spoiled.
+

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.
*
110
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,
110 But in vicious governments it is important to deprive the
people of leisure, and prevent their acquiring knowledge; or, it
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, puff up their readers with the notion
that they possess knowledge, though they have only stuffed their
minds with second-hand prejudices.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
97
his room.
unless age has weakened his understanding;
111 and
in that case, he that is next to him in age comes in
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:"12 and if Y
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 Edipus at Kolonos, was
the old man's only defence.
The ties of home had evidently little force over Sir
Thomas More. 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 Marathon, Thermopylæ, Athens, or Ronie.
M
i

98
UTOPIA; OR, THE
-
cultivate, they fix a colony, taking in the inhabi-
tants to their 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; 13 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
113 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,) then 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; 114 but besides
114 In irrational animals it is not the fear, but the feeling of
want which does this. Man, however, is impelled by his fears
in most cases, more than by his hopes; and these, too commonly,
render him cruel. Confining himself wholly 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 Cive. 1. I. c. i. p. 3. ff.
Bor M
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
X
anything that is foul or unclean to be brought within
their towns, lest the air should be infected by ill
smells which might prejudice their health. In every
street there are great halls that lie at an equal 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. 116 The stewards of every one of
115 The utility of abattoirs, we see, was already understood;
but it was reserved for our own age to act upon this conviction.
116 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 will 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.
Mao U
L

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
101
them come to the market-place 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.
117
'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;
117 Lazzerettoes. His ideas have been acted on, and carried
still further than he himself contemplated by every civilized
nation in modern Europe.
1
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. 118 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 carry 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; 19 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
118 A Cretan regulation, not imitated at Sparta. It was too
humane.
119 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 te 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 ip
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; 20 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
that 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; 121
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
120 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.
121 Another Doric custom, prevailing in Crete.
A
104
UTOPIA; OR, 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; 123 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
122 A Spartan custom, sometimes imitated at Athens.
123 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 REPUBLIC.
105
the whole discourse so to themselves during their
meals, that the younger may not put in for a share:
on the contrary, 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.
V
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, 124
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-
125
124 The Spartans, when desirous of travelling, were required
to deinand permission of the inagistrates. 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.
125 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 quantities 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 can
4.2
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. 126 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
find 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
126 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 shouid 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.
110
UTOPIA; OR, THE
V
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;127 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.
111
upon an expedient which, as it agrees with their
other policy, so is very different from ours, and
will scarcely gain belief among us, who value gold
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 public 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 fearbuncles. on their rocks; they
do not look after them, but, if they find any by
chance, they polish them, and therewith adorn
their children, who 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. 128
'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 poor
Utopians with their splendour. Thus, three am-
128 That this habit of mind may be engendered by educa-
tion, no man can doubt. But 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. Not to have ang
desires which may be considered inordinate, is the point to b
aimed at.
HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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 were of the nobility of their
country, were in cloth of gold, and adorned with
.199 their
massy chains, ear-rings, and rings of gold;
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 were 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,
170 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 Mr. Cooper had
the ordering of these matters, they might be managed somewhat
differently. 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 quantity 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 may be, 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 farthing of it to them as long as he lives.130
130 This is equal to anything in Juvenal for vigour and
subject-
N 2

116
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 REPUBLIC.
117
our youth are forced to learn in those trifling logi-
cal schools that are among us; and they are so far
from minding chimeras and fantastical images
made in the mind, that none of them could compre-
hend what we 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. They have a particular sagacity,
131
131 All strong minds have spurned 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 all 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;
Observe my fate, next fall into your dreams,
Sweep clean your houses, and new-line your schemes,
Then say your worst!" &c. &c.
←
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 differ 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 term
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; 132 and
which may seem more strange, they make use of
arguments even from religion, notwithstanding its
132 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, 66
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. 46.

HAPPY 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 immortal, 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 ways, 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: 13 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
133 I apprehend some mistake here. Sir Thomas appears to
have had his eye on monkery, not on virtue, when this escaped

1

120
UTOPIA; OR, THE
کہا
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, 3 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 philosophy!
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."
134 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 seem
to them. Vide Geel. Hist. Sophist. p. 86-109.


HAPPY REPUBLIC.
121
can ;
In the next place, reason directs us to keep our
minds as free of passion, and as cheerful as we
and that we should consider ourselves as
bound 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 with
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, 135 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 Cum omni homine, vel servanda est fides, vel non pa-
ciscendum; hoc est, vel declaratum bellon, gel certa et fida
habenda est pax." Hobbes, De Cive. 1. i. p. 36.
+

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
123
Suut vood
from him. And on the contrary, 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
that 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
ú


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;136 in which they think they
136 This idea has been very ingeniously expanded in verse by
Mr. Horace Smith, who probably, however, borrowed nothing
from Sir Thomas More, and may never have seen the "Utopia."
"Since mortals are all, both great and small,
Created by their dresses,
And folks will 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 their virtues rare
Upon their backs and shoulders;
Yet the eye that probes through stars and robes,
Wigs, velvet, silk, and ermine,
May feel a doubt, whether inside or out
Our homage should determine;
For the judge's nob may its wisdom rob
From the tail of a four-legg'd mother,
And the grandeur's germ of the human worm
May spring from his silken brother.
Plumes! pearls! that gem Beauty's diadem!
Unguents that 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 glory'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 wonderful 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
hu
we ask i
Since the lords of the earth, to borrow the worth
And splendour their vanity wishes,
Must their littleness deck in the gaudy wreck
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 is 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 being useful either to its owner
*

HAPPY 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 it, the owner, though 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.
rr
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
137
137 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 bowling of dogs ;" but he was also, as Mr. Keightley, (“ His-
tory of Greece, p. 290,) 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 Lacedæmonians,
had annually a grand hunt of this kind, during which the agri-
cultural peasantry were pursued and massacred like wild beasts.
Müller, 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
have the same entertainment to the eye on both
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;
.138 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 proposes 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 the contrary observing, that there is nothing in
138 So it is with us. We have our butchers, and our gentle-
men butchers: the latter for killing game.

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
129
the nature of them that is truly pleasant, conclude
that they are not to be reckoned among pleasures;
for though 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.
139
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
which 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 performed either
by the recruiting of nature, and supplying those
parts on which the internal heat of life feeds, and
that is done by eating or drinking; or when nature
139 Payne Knight has made several very good remarks on
this 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. § 10.
0

130
UTOPIA; OR, THE
1
!
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 our
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 matter 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-
王
​0 2

132
UTOPIA; OR, THE
•
light in health ? 140 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 must 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
140 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 effect something like that of thrilling music. This
is evidently what the Chancellor means.
14 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-
ger 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
1
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
142
142 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 sullenness against nature not to go out and see
her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth.”
Tractate on Education, § 22. Select Prose Works, 1. 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 everything 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 corn and cattle: nor are
there any where hearthier 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-

UTOPIA; OR, THE
!
136
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
dorus 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; 143 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.
144
143 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.
14 Cicero, De Naturâ 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
idito is
stupit
the

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
139
Ae
Ao pike-
"The minds of the Utopians, when they are tud **
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-500,) then
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 quickly 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! 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 ?”
I have
tion

140
UTOPIA; OR, THE
ลง
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
to know the state of the whole world.
very desirous
Very few go
for what can
among them on the account of traffic;
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
places they have them for nothing, and so they

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
141
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, offer
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 country, 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 beco e 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, 145 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
145 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
assures us, could be doing
sents to anything, cannot
1. I. c. iii. § 7.
be so treated; which, Mr. Hobbes
hem no injury; for he who con-
sider himself injured. De Cive.

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 punish-
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,
146 whether she is a virgin or a widow, to the
146 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 Lady Montague, the
ladies could bear the scrutiny-so beautiful are their figures.
2

144
UTOPIA; OR, THE
What!
No
bridegroom; and after that, some grave man pre-
fl. 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 deformity 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 insufferable perverseness: for in these
cases the senate dissolves the marriage, and grants

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
145
149
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. 147 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 persons 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 persons cannot shake
147 A humane law.
148 He here anticipates Milton's notions, which are those of
right reason.
P

146
UTOPIA; OR, THE
off the love of 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
bear 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;
149 for
they reckon that a laid and studied design of com-
mitting any crime, is equal to the fact itself; since
its not taking effect 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, 150 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
149 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.”
150 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
UTOPIA; 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 unworthy 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. 151 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
151 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, 152 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. 153
152 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 More alludes. When shall
we see the statues of Ireton, Cromwell, and Bradshaw, in Covent
Garden ?
153 This is a home thrust. Our laws are so numerous that, toge-
1
*

150
UTOPIA; OR, THE
"They have no lawyers among them, for they
consider them as a sort of people whose 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.154 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;155 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.
154 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.
155 This is a grievous mistake; for it would be easy to de-
HAPPY REPUBLIC.
151
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 terms that, without a quick apprehension and
much study, a man cannot find out the true mean-
ing of it; and the generality 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! 156
156 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.
153
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 perform 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 terms, 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 hanged for it.'57
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,
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.158 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-
157 This confirms what is said in the last note.
158 Kallikles, in the Gorgias of Plato, advocates this magni-
ficent virtue, which Sir Thomas More rightly denominates royal
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,159 and so might 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 effec-
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 them.
OF THEIR MILITARY DISCIPLINE.
“They detest war as a very brutal thing; and which,
to the reproach of human nature, is more practised
159 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 Civil
Society, part I. §. 2. p. 17.

156
UTOPIA; OR, THE
1
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
160 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 against it. 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 good 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 wrong, 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 states and very
much afflicted others, but, after a series of much
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.
thèm 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 people.
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
affect 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.
CC
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
161
16 This was the notion of the Harami, or Corporation of
Robbers, in Egypt. See the story of Shater Mansoor in the
"Tales of the Ramad'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 conquers 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.
those they promise great rewards to such as shall
In
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,10% 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 offer 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 whọ
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
it.
162 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,
had, perhaps, been well. But who would have determined
when the war was 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 ob-
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. 163
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
163 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 REPUBLIC.
163
164
to the taking it away; they serve those that hire
them both with much courage and great fidelity;
but 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 day 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
164 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

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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
troops 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, that their 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

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
167
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 engage 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

UTOPIA; OR, THE
168
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. 165
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.
164 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 REPUBLIC.
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 disarmed, unless
he is a spy. When a town is surrendered to them,
they 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 which 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
UTOPIA; 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, 160
as a being that is far above all our apprehensions,
that is spread over the whole universe, not by its
166 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
را
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. 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 fear 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.
TC
1 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; und
i

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
173
they seemed to be resolved to choose some for that
employment, but they 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 ane 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. 167 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

167 Sir Thomas More lived to think differently, and became
himself a persecutor! So little is man capable of resisting the
spirit of his age.
VerM

174
UTOPIA; OR, THE
हे
1
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: 168 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
168 This opinion has been advanced in our own age; and
perhaps, with certain restrictions, it may be true. But on such
a point no one can safely dogmatize.
HAPPY REPUBLIC.
175

bright, 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 with it, as corn 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 punish-
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 commonwealth; since a man of
such principles must needs, as oft as he dares do
it, despise all their laws 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,
dom
such
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 quite 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 both 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 they lived on earth in the strictest bonds of
R

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,
which 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 God 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; others 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
sört 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-
پھر
HAPPY REPUBLIC.
181
secrated by the college of priests. The care of all
sacred things, and the worship 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. 169 There is not any sort of punish-
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
church
punished for their impiety. The breeding of the education
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

169 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
Education in the tender and flexible minds of children such

priest
from
Siculor
arm
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.17° 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

170 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 priests, and these having no
authority 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.

(C
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 their 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
I
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.
185
mind and raises devotion.17¹ Though there are
many different forms of religion among them, yet
all these, 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-

171 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 cloister's 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 service 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
1
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 their
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;"72
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
172 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
them 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 offer 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 pure 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
;
•
וי

188
UTOFIA; 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.

A
:
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 every 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
care taken of those who were once engaged in

HAPPY REPUBLIC.
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, with 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
tormented 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.173
173 It were much to be wished that those 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. Most 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
S
!

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 Pride.
Utopians, if pride, that plague of human nature, he sen
that is the source of so much misery, did not
hinder it; which does not measure happiness sɔ
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 happy 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; 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
HAPPY REPUBLIC.
197
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 THE UTOPIA.
ร

252-263
NEW
ATLANTIS.
A
WORK UNFINISHED.
(
WRITTEN BY THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
FRANCIS, LORD VERULA M,
VISCOUNT ST. ALBANS.

1
.
It would be unjust to pass judgment on this fragment of Lord Bacon, as though
it were a complete work. For, since the whole plan of the New Atlantis has
not been preserved, we are unable to decide whether he designed this portion
which we possess to form an important, or merely a subordinate part. In my own
opinion, his lordship, had he lived to perfect his imaginary commonwealth, wouid
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 perceive, 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 view 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 have constructed a polity in all respects on the same
scale, as excellent in laws and manners as in studies, then the fragment of the
New Atlantis assumes considerable importance, as a sort of platform, standing
upon 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 More's 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. Seren Castles-which may not even, in the way above
suggested, enable us to 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 with the imaginary states framed by Plara in his
Republic and his Lays; 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 once adopted, they pursue better or wiser means for the accomplish-
ment of their ends.

:
TO THE READER.
Cer-
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.
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 very different reason
from the one laid down by Rawley, which supposes his lordship to have greatly
preferred secret-hunting 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 have 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, för 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
failed us, though we had made good spare of
them. So that, finding ourselves in the midst of
is
2 His lordship was evidently little versed in the framing of
fictions, except the fictions 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 prépared 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,³ 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.
NEW 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 we 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-staff of a yellow cane, tipped at
both ends with blue, who made aboard our ship
without any show of distrust at all. And when he
saw one of our number present himself somewhat
afore the rest, he 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 permitted to land, they ran in
danger of their lives." Our other wants we set
5 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-
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.
cer;
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
NEW ATLANTIS.
I
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, My lord would have you
know that it is not of pride or greatness that he
6 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 children 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
us; and when we offered him some pistolets, 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 for 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,
Deteriora sequor.
NEW ATLANTIS.
213
9
of somewhat a bluer colour than 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 chambers 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
9 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
modern 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,-coon di µiow, “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-
sence 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 three
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 pistolets; 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.
us.
:
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
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 I 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 time 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 where 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 our 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.” ¹º 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 down 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
10 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 ATLANTIS.
219
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-
swered, "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 Rques-
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 Bishop 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
T
CC
'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 appertaineth 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
NEW 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:
Awhich
'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,
12 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 former 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
(C
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 fertile, 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 ATLANTIS.
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 former
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-
13
13 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 Atlantis, 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 pass, 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 had
the
built ships larger than any ever used in modern times.

-
NEW ATLANTIS.
227
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 voyages, 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, which 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 14 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
4 Plato, in whose Critias 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,
Milton 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 fiction. 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 cæli, 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 mighty 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 great expeditions; they
of Tyrambel through 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 Egyptian 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 voyage. 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
15
after those proud enterprises; for within 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,
15 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
NEW ATLANTIS.
17
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 particular
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, 16 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-
nueth 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
16 His lordship's brevity here borders on obscurity. Were
the aboriginal Americans, in his opinion, of a race different
from the Noachida?
17 The tiger is not a native of the American continent; but
this had not been ascertained in Bacon's time.
٢٠
.
NEW ATLANTIS.
231
other parts 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
principal 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 Salomona, 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
gers 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, that 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 strangers,
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
NEW ATLANTIS.
:
It is dedicated to the study of the works and crea-
tures of God.
Some think it beareth the founder's
name a little corrupted, as if it should be Salo-
mon's house, but the 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 groweth 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 of
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.
235
:
out of this kingdom two ships appointed to several
voyages; that in either of these ships there should
be a mission of three of the fellows or brethren of
Solomon's House, whose errand was only to give
us knowledge 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 bring
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
ships 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, and 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, showing that nation to be compounded
of all goodness. This is the manner of it: it is
granted 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
238
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. 17 When the tirsan is come
:
18 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 appea
NEW ATLANTIS.
239
.
forth, 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 room a taratan, (which is
as much 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. Then the
herald with 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 king's charter is the king's
image, embossed or moulded in gold. And though
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, "Happy 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.
241
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 against 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
lasteth 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
former 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.
19 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
thinner 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
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:
wonder, helps to make up the
Don't you consider that you take
Is not the
than any five here?
Bring your own guts to a rea-
a
C
who, in the devil's name, I
crowd half so much as yourself?
up more room with that carcass
place as free for me as for you?
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
done, 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 whom 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 believe?.
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 be, there is commonly permission of
plurality of wives.2 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 prosper ever
20
20 In certain circumstances, or among a simple people, polygamy
might prove a means of increasing the population. There 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 civilized or half-civilized, where luxury
and idleness prevail, 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 I 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 permit 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
21 On this subject the reader will do well to consult Milton'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 greatly 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. 21
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 preposterous 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
22 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, Milton
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,
and yet there are not so
they have no touch of it;
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
himself. And they say, that the reverence of a
man's self is, next religion, the chiefest bridle of
all vices." 23 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
23 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.
1
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, 25 This they dislike, for they think it a
ftrik
24
G
24 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.
25 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 merc 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
first."-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
women'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.
There
ders: his hat was like a helmet or Spanish mon-
tera, 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.25 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.
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-staff 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-
26 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 battle-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 you, 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
his 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.25 He
was seated upon a low throne richly adorned, and
a rich cloth of state over his head of blue satin,
27 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 preparations 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,28 and the en-
28 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,29 and for prolongation
the platform of his imaginary state; since he brings so early
and prominently 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.
9 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 we 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,30 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.
30 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-
rocked, 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
Otherwise nothing would be more easy.
cost.
NEW ATLANTIS.
255
situations, for insolation, refrigeration, 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 by art do turn fresh
water into salt.31 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.
3 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
than 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.³2
"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
32 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 seldoni
used I mean temperance. Every other means of lengthening
the span of human existence is as puerile as it is useless.
NEW 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.33
"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.³+
33 In this way the wild fruits of the earth 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 still further extended.
3+ 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-trec,
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; wherein 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.36 We make
35
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. 363, f.
35 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."
36 I have somewhere read of a race of mules said to be en-
?
259
NEW ATLANTIS.
#
·
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 silkworms 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 fertility; but the report probably originated with
incautious observers, or credulous narrators, who were never at
the pains to observe.
Y 2
260
NEW ATLANTIS.
1
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 otherwise 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
separations, and especially by gentle 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. Instruments, 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 points 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 off, as in the heavens, and re-
mote places; and represent things near as afar off,
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.
2
We have also precious stones of all kinds,
1
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 harmonies, 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.37 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
37 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.38
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;
38 Vide Lips. Poliorcet.
39
39 His lordship here attributes to the Atlanteans an acquaint-
ance with the Greek fire, the composition 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.10 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."
40 This invention has at length been really made, and the
efficacy 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 give 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."
We 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
NEW ATLANTIS.
чи
Vivent
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 right 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
which 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.
41 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
PRÆCIPUE 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.
Version 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 NATURÆ.
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, Sherbourn Lane.



THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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