UTOPIA

INTRODUCTION

Sir Thomas More, son of Sir John More, a justice of the King's Bench, wasborn in 1478, in Milk Street, in the city of London. After his earliereducation at St. Anthony's School, in Threadneedle Street, he was placed, as a boy, in the household of Cardinal John Morton, Archbishop ofCanterbury and Lord Chancellor. It was not unusual for persons of wealthor influence and sons of good families to be so established together in arelation of patron and client. The youth wore his patron's livery, andadded to his state. The patron used, afterwards, his wealth or influencein helping his young client forward in the world. Cardinal Morton hadbeen in earlier days that Bishop of Ely whom Richard III. Sent to theTower; was busy afterwards in hostility to Richard; and was a chiefadviser of Henry VII. , who in 1486 made him Archbishop of Canterbury, andnine months afterwards Lord Chancellor. Cardinal Morton--of talk atwhose table there are recollections in "Utopia"--delighted in the quickwit of young Thomas More. He once said, "Whoever shall live to try it, shall see this child here waiting at table prove a notable and rare man. "

At the age of about nineteen, Thomas More was sent to Canterbury College, Oxford, by his patron, where he learnt Greek of the first men who broughtGreek studies from Italy to England--William Grocyn and Thomas Linacre. Linacre, a physician, who afterwards took orders, was also the founder ofthe College of Physicians. In 1499, More left Oxford to study law inLondon, at Lincoln's Inn, and in the next year Archbishop Morton died. 

More's earnest character caused him while studying law to aim at thesubduing of the flesh, by wearing a hair shirt, taking a log for apillow, and whipping himself on Fridays. At the age of twenty-one heentered Parliament, and soon after he had been called to the bar he wasmade Under-Sheriff of London. In 1503 he opposed in the House of CommonsHenry VII. 's proposal for a subsidy on account of the marriage portion ofhis daughter Margaret; and he opposed with so much energy that the Houserefused to grant it. One went and told the king that a beardless boy haddisappointed all his expectations. During the last years, therefore, ofHenry VII. More was under the displeasure of the king, and had thoughtsof leaving the country. 

Henry VII. Died in April, 1509, when More's age was a little over thirty. In the first years of the reign of Henry VIII. He rose to large practicein the law courts, where it is said he refused to plead in cases which hethought unjust, and took no fees from widows, orphans, or the poor. Hewould have preferred marrying the second daughter of John Colt, of NewHall, in Essex, but chose her elder sister, that he might not subject herto the discredit of being passed over. 

In 1513 Thomas More, still Under-Sheriff of London, is said to havewritten his "History of the Life and Death of King Edward V. , and of theUsurpation of Richard III. " The book, which seems to contain theknowledge and opinions of More's patron, Morton, was not printed until1557, when its writer had been twenty-two years dead. It was thenprinted from a MS. In More's handwriting. 

In the year 1515 Wolsey, Archbishop of York, was made Cardinal by Leo X. ;Henry VIII. Made him Lord Chancellor, and from that year until 1523 theKing and the Cardinal ruled England with absolute authority, and calledno parliament. In May of the year 1515 Thomas More--not knighted yet--wasjoined in a commission to the Low Countries with Cuthbert Tunstal andothers to confer with the ambassadors of Charles V. , then only Archdukeof Austria, upon a renewal of alliance. On that embassy More, aged aboutthirty-seven, was absent from England for six months, and while atAntwerp he established friendship with Peter Giles (Latinised AEgidius), a scholarly and courteous young man, who was secretary to themunicipality of Antwerp. 

Cuthbert Tunstal was a rising churchman, chancellor to the Archbishop ofCanterbury, who in that year (1515) was made Archdeacon of Chester, andin May of the next year (1516) Master of the Rolls. In 1516 he was sentagain to the Low Countries, and More then went with him to Brussels, where they were in close companionship with Erasmus. 

More's "Utopia" was written in Latin, and is in two parts, of which thesecond, describing the place ([Greek text]--or Nusquama, as he called itsometimes in his letters--"Nowhere"), was probably written towards theclose of 1515; the first part, introductory, early in 1516. The book wasfirst printed at Louvain, late in 1516, under the editorship of Erasmus, Peter Giles, and other of More's friends in Flanders. It was thenrevised by More, and printed by Frobenius at Basle in November, 1518. Itwas reprinted at Paris and Vienna, but was not printed in England duringMore's lifetime. Its first publication in this country was in theEnglish translation, made in Edward's VI. 's reign (1551) by RalphRobinson. It was translated with more literary skill by Gilbert Burnet, in 1684, soon after he had conducted the defence of his friend LordWilliam Russell, attended his execution, vindicated his memory, and beenspitefully deprived by James II. Of his lectureship at St. Clement's. Burnet was drawn to the translation of "Utopia" by the same sense ofunreason in high places that caused More to write the book. Burnet's isthe translation given in this volume. 

The name of the book has given an adjective to our language--we call animpracticable scheme Utopian. Yet, under the veil of a playful fiction, the talk is intensely earnest, and abounds in practical suggestion. Itis the work of a scholarly and witty Englishman, who attacks in his ownway the chief political and social evils of his time. Beginning withfact, More tells how he was sent into Flanders with Cuthbert Tunstal, "whom the king's majesty of late, to the great rejoicing of all men, didprefer to the office of Master of the Rolls;" how the commissioners ofCharles met them at Bruges, and presently returned to Brussels forinstructions; and how More then went to Antwerp, where he found apleasure in the society of Peter Giles which soothed his desire to seeagain his wife and children, from whom he had been four months away. Thenfact slides into fiction with the finding of Raphael Hythloday (whosename, made of two Greek words [Greek text] and [Greek text], means"knowing in trifles"), a man who had been with Amerigo Vespucci in thethree last of the voyages to the new world lately discovered, of whichthe account had been first printed in 1507, only nine years before Utopiawas written. 

Designedly fantastic in suggestion of details, "Utopia" is the work of ascholar who had read Plato's "Republic, " and had his fancy quickenedafter reading Plutarch's account of Spartan life under Lycurgus. Beneaththe veil of an ideal communism, into which there has been worked somewitty extravagance, there lies a noble English argument. Sometimes Moreputs the case as of France when he means England. Sometimes there isironical praise of the good faith of Christian kings, saving the bookfrom censure as a political attack on the policy of Henry VIII. Erasmuswrote to a friend in 1517 that he should send for More's "Utopia, " if hehad not read it, and "wished to see the true source of all politicalevils. " And to More Erasmus wrote of his book, "A burgomaster of Antwerpis so pleased with it that he knows it all by heart. "

H. M. 

DISCOURSES OF RAPHAEL HYTHLODAY, OF THE BEST STATE OF A COMMONWEALTH

Henry VIII. , the unconquered King of England, a prince adorned with allthe virtues that become a great monarch, having some differences of nosmall consequence with Charles the most serene Prince of Castile, sent meinto Flanders, as his ambassador, for treating and composing mattersbetween them. I was colleague and companion to that incomparable manCuthbert Tonstal, whom the King, with such universal applause, latelymade Master of the Rolls; but of whom I will say nothing; not because Ifear that the testimony of a friend will be suspected, but rather becausehis learning and virtues are too great for me to do them justice, and sowell known, that they need not my commendations, unless I would, according to the proverb, "Show the sun with a lantern. " Those that wereappointed by the Prince to treat with us, met us at Bruges, according toagreement; they were all worthy men. The Margrave of Bruges was theirhead, and the chief man among them; but he that was esteemed the wisest, and that spoke for the rest, was George Temse, the Provost of Casselsee:both art and nature had concurred to make him eloquent: he was verylearned in the law; and, as he had a great capacity, so, by a longpractice in affairs, he was very dexterous at unravelling them. After wehad several times met, without coming to an agreement, they went toBrussels for some days, to know the Prince's pleasure; and, since ourbusiness would admit it, I went to Antwerp. While I was there, amongmany that visited me, there was one that was more acceptable to me thanany other, Peter Giles, born at Antwerp, who is a man of great honour, and of a good rank in his town, though less than he deserves; for I donot know if there be anywhere to be found a more learned and a betterbred young man; for as he is both a very worthy and a very knowingperson, so he is so civil to all men, so particularly kind to hisfriends, and so full of candour and affection, that there is not, perhaps, above one or two anywhere to be found, that is in all respectsso perfect a friend: he is extraordinarily modest, there is no artificein him, and yet no man has more of a prudent simplicity. Hisconversation was so pleasant and so innocently cheerful, that his companyin a great measure lessened any longings to go back to my country, and tomy wife and children, which an absence of four months had quickened verymuch. One day, as I was returning home from mass at St. Mary's, which isthe chief church, and the most frequented of any in Antwerp, I saw him, by accident, talking with a stranger, who seemed past the flower of hisage; his face was tanned, he had a long beard, and his cloak was hangingcarelessly about him, so that, by his looks and habit, I concluded he wasa seaman. As soon as Peter saw me, he came and saluted me, and as I wasreturning his civility, he took me aside, and pointing to him with whomhe had been discoursing, he said, "Do you see that man? I was justthinking to bring him to you. " I answered, "He should have been verywelcome on your account. " "And on his own too, " replied he, "if you knewthe man, for there is none alive that can give so copious an account ofunknown nations and countries as he can do, which I know you very muchdesire. " "Then, " said I, "I did not guess amiss, for at first sight Itook him for a seaman. " "But you are much mistaken, " said he, "for hehas not sailed as a seaman, but as a traveller, or rather a philosopher. This Raphael, who from his family carries the name of Hythloday, is notignorant of the Latin tongue, but 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 thatthe Romans have left us nothing that is valuable, except what is to befound in Seneca and Cicero. He is a Portuguese by birth, and was sodesirous of seeing the world, that he divided his estate among hisbrothers, ran the same hazard as Americus Vesputius, and bore a share inthree of his four voyages that are now published; only he did not returnwith him in his last, but obtained leave of him, almost by force, that hemight be one of those twenty-four who were left at the farthest place atwhich they touched in their last voyage to New Castile. The leaving himthus did not a little gratify one that was more fond of travelling thanof returning home to be buried in his own country; for he used often tosay, that the way to heaven was the same from all places, and he that hadno grave had the heavens still over him. Yet this disposition of mindhad cost him dear, if God had not been very gracious to him; for afterhe, with five Castalians, had travelled over many countries, at last, bystrange good fortune, he got to Ceylon, and from thence to Calicut, wherehe, very happily, found some Portuguese ships; and, beyond all men'sexpectations, returned to his native country. " When Peter had said thisto me, I thanked him for his kindness in intending to give me theacquaintance of a man whose conversation he knew would be so acceptable;and upon that Raphael and I embraced each other. After those civilitieswere past which are usual with strangers upon their first meeting, we allwent to my house, and entering into the garden, sat down on a green bankand entertained one another in discourse. He told us that when Vesputiushad sailed away, he, and his companions that stayed behind in NewCastile, by degrees insinuated themselves into the affections of thepeople of the country, meeting often with them and treating them gently;and at last they not only lived among them without danger, but conversedfamiliarly with them, and got so far into the heart of a prince, whosename and country I have forgot, that he both furnished them plentifullywith all things necessary, and also with the conveniences of travelling, both boats when they went by water, and waggons when they trained overland: he sent with them a very faithful guide, who was to introduce andrecommend them to such other princes as they had a mind to see: and aftermany days' journey, they came to towns, and cities, and to commonwealths, that were both happily governed and well peopled. Under the equator, andas far on both sides of it as the sun moves, there lay vast deserts thatwere parched with the perpetual heat of the sun; the soil was withered, all things looked dismally, and all places were either quite uninhabited, or abounded with wild beasts and serpents, and some few men, that wereneither less wild nor less cruel than the beasts themselves. But, asthey went farther, a new scene opened, all things grew milder, the airless burning, the soil more verdant, and even the beasts were less wild:and, at last, there were nations, towns, and cities, that had not onlymutual commerce among themselves and with their neighbours, but traded, both by sea and land, to very remote countries. There they found theconveniencies of seeing many countries on all hands, for no ship went anyvoyage into which he and his companions were not very welcome. The firstvessels that they saw were flat-bottomed, their sails were made of reedsand wicker, woven close together, only some were of leather; but, afterwards, they found ships made with round keels and canvas sails, andin all respects like our ships, and the seamen understood both astronomyand navigation. He got wonderfully into their favour by showing them theuse of the needle, of which till then they were utterly ignorant. Theysailed before with great caution, and only in summer time; but now theycount all seasons alike, trusting wholly to the loadstone, in which theyare, perhaps, more secure than safe; so that there is reason to fear thatthis 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 observed inevery place, it would be too great a digression from our present purpose:whatever is necessary to be told concerning those wise and prudentinstitutions which he observed among civilised nations, may perhaps berelated by us on a more proper occasion. We asked him many questionsconcerning all these things, to which he answered very willingly; we madeno inquiries after monsters, than which nothing is more common; foreverywhere one may hear of ravenous dogs and wolves, and cruelmen-eaters, but it is not so easy to find states that are well and wiselygoverned. 

As he told us of many things that were amiss in those new-discoveredcountries, so he reckoned up not a few things, from which patterns mightbe 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 someother time; for, at present, I intend only to relate those particularsthat he told us, of the manners and laws of the Utopians: but I willbegin with the occasion that led us to speak of that commonwealth. AfterRaphael had discoursed with great judgment on the many errors that wereboth among us and these nations, had treated of the wise institutionsboth here and there, and had spoken as distinctly of the customs andgovernment of every nation through which he had past, as if he had spenthis whole life in it, Peter, being struck with admiration, said, "Iwonder, Raphael, how it comes that you enter into no king's service, forI am sure there are none to whom you would not be very acceptable; foryour learning and knowledge, both of men and things, is such, that youwould not only entertain them very pleasantly, but be of great use tothem, by the examples you could set before them, and the advices youcould give them; and by this means you would both serve your owninterest, and be of great use to all your friends. " "As for my friends, "answered he, "I need not be much concerned, having already done for themall that was incumbent on me; for when I was not only in good health, butfresh and young, I distributed that among my kindred and friends whichother people do not part with till they are old and sick: when they thenunwillingly give that which they can enjoy no longer themselves. I thinkmy friends ought to rest contented with this, and not to expect that fortheir sakes I should enslave myself to any king whatsoever. " "Soft andfair!" 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 changeof the word, " said he, "does not alter the matter. " "But term it as youwill, " replied Peter, "I do not see any other way in which you can be souseful, both in private to your friends and to the public, and by whichyou can make your own condition happier. " "Happier?" answered Raphael, "is that to be compassed in a way so abhorrent to my genius? Now I liveas I will, to which I believe, few courtiers can pretend; and there areso many that court the favour of great men, that there will be no greatloss if they are not troubled either with me or with others of mytemper. " Upon this, said I, "I perceive, Raphael, that you neitherdesire wealth nor greatness; and, indeed, I value and admire such a manmuch more than I do any of the great men in the world. Yet I think youwould do what would well become so generous and philosophical a soul asyours is, if you would apply your time and thoughts to public affairs, even though you may happen to find it a little uneasy to yourself; andthis you can never do with so much advantage as by being taken into thecouncil of some great prince and putting him on noble and worthy actions, which I know you would do if you were in such a post; for the springsboth of good and evil flow from the prince over a whole nation, as from alasting fountain. So much learning as you have, even without practice inaffairs, or so great a practice as you have had, without any otherlearning, would render you a very fit counsellor to any king whatsoever. ""You are doubly mistaken, " said he, "Mr. More, both in your opinion of meand in the judgment you make of things: for as I have not that capacitythat you fancy I have, so if I had it, the public would not be one jotthe better when I had sacrificed my quiet to it. For most princes applythemselves more to affairs of war than to the useful arts of peace; andin these I neither have any knowledge, nor do I much desire it; they aregenerally more set on acquiring new kingdoms, right or wrong, than ongoverning well those they possess: and, among the ministers of princes, there are none that are not so wise as to need no assistance, or atleast, that do not think themselves so wise that they imagine they neednone; and if they court any, it is only those for whom the prince hasmuch personal favour, whom by their fawning and flatteries they endeavourto fix to their own interests; and, indeed, nature has so made us, thatwe all love to be flattered and to please ourselves with our own notions:the old crow loves his young, and the ape her cubs. Now if in such acourt, made up of persons who envy all others and only admire themselves, a person should but propose anything that he had either read in historyor observed in his travels, the rest would think that the reputation oftheir wisdom would sink, and that their interests would be much depressedif they could not run it down: and, if all other things failed, then theywould fly to this, that such or such things pleased our ancestors, and itwere well for us if we could but match them. They would set up theirrest on such an answer, as a sufficient confutation of all that could besaid, as if it were a great misfortune that any should be found wiserthan his ancestors. But though they willingly let go all the good thingsthat were among those of former ages, yet, if better things are proposed, they cover themselves obstinately with this excuse of reverence to pasttimes. I have met with these proud, morose, and absurd judgments ofthings in many places, particularly once in England. " "Were you everthere?" said I. "Yes, I was, " answered he, "and stayed some monthsthere, not long after the rebellion in the West was suppressed, with agreat slaughter of the poor people that were engaged in it. 

"I was then much obliged to that reverend prelate, John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardinal, and Chancellor of England; a man, "said he, "Peter (for Mr. More knows well what he was), that was not lessvenerable for his wisdom and virtues than for the high character he bore:he was of a middle stature, not broken with age; his looks begotreverence rather than fear; his conversation was easy, but serious andgrave; he sometimes took pleasure to try the force of those that came assuitors to him upon business by speaking sharply, though decently, tothem, and by that he discovered their spirit and presence of mind; withwhich he was much delighted when it did not grow up to impudence, asbearing a great resemblance to his own temper, and he looked on suchpersons as the fittest men for affairs. He spoke both gracefully andweightily; he was eminently skilled in the law, had a vast understanding, and a prodigious memory; and those excellent talents with which naturehad furnished him were improved by study and experience. When I was inEngland the King depended much on his counsels, and the Government seemedto be chiefly supported by him; for from his youth he had been all alongpractised in affairs; and, having passed through many traverses offortune, he had, with great cost, acquired a vast stock of wisdom, whichis not soon lost when it is purchased so dear. One day, when I wasdining with him, there happened to be at table one of the Englishlawyers, who took occasion to run out in a high commendation of thesevere execution of justice upon thieves, 'who, ' as he said, 'were thenhanged so fast that there were sometimes twenty on one gibbet!' and, uponthat, he said, 'he could not wonder enough how it came to pass that, since so few escaped, there were yet so many thieves left, who were stillrobbing in all places. ' Upon this, I (who took the boldness to speakfreely before the Cardinal) said, 'There was no reason to wonder at thematter, since this way of punishing thieves was neither just in itselfnor good for the public; for, as the severity was too great, so theremedy was not effectual; simple theft not being so great a crime that itought to cost a man his life; no punishment, how severe soever, beingable to restrain those from robbing who can find out no other way oflivelihood. In this, ' said I, 'not only you in England, but a great partof the world, imitate some ill masters, that are readier to chastisetheir scholars than to teach them. There are dreadful punishmentsenacted against thieves, but it were much better to make such goodprovisions by which every man might be put in a method how to live, andso be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing and of dying forit. ' 'There has been care enough taken for that, ' said he; 'there aremany handicrafts, and there is husbandry, by which they may make a shiftto live, unless they have a greater mind to follow ill courses. ' 'Thatwill not serve your turn, ' said I, 'for many lose their limbs in civil orforeign wars, as lately in the Cornish rebellion, and some time ago inyour wars with France, who, being thus mutilated in the service of theirking and country, can no more follow their old trades, and are too old tolearn new ones; but since wars are only accidental things, and haveintervals, let us consider those things that fall out every day. Thereis a great number of noblemen among you that are themselves as idle asdrones, that subsist on other men's labour, on the labour of theirtenants, whom, to raise their revenues, they pare to the quick. This, indeed, is the only instance of their frugality, for in all other thingsthey are prodigal, even to the beggaring of themselves; but, besidesthis, they carry about with them a great number of idle fellows, whonever learned any art by which they may gain their living; and these, assoon as either their lord dies, or they themselves fall sick, are turnedout of doors; for your lords are readier to feed idle people than to takecare of the sick; and often the heir is not able to keep together sogreat a family as his predecessor did. Now, when the stomachs of thosethat are thus turned out of doors grow keen, they rob no less keenly; andwhat else can they do? For when, by wandering about, they have worn outboth their health and their clothes, and are tattered, and look ghastly, men of quality will not entertain them, and poor men dare not do it, knowing that one who has been bred up in idleness and pleasure, and whowas used to walk about with his sword and buckler, despising all theneighbourhood with an insolent scorn as far below him, is not fit for thespade and mattock; nor will he serve a poor man for so small a hire andin so low a diet as he can afford to give him. ' To this he answered, 'This sort of men ought to be particularly cherished, for in themconsists the force of the armies for which we have occasion; since theirbirth inspires them with a nobler sense of honour than is to be foundamong tradesmen or ploughmen. ' 'You may as well say, ' replied I, 'thatyou must cherish thieves on the account of wars, for you will never wantthe one as long as you have the other; and as robbers prove sometimesgallant soldiers, so soldiers often prove brave robbers, so near analliance there is between those two sorts of life. But this bad custom, so common among you, of keeping many servants, is not peculiar to thisnation. In France there is yet a more pestiferous sort of people, forthe whole country is full of soldiers, still kept up in time of peace (ifsuch a state of a nation can be called a peace); and these are kept inpay upon the same account that you plead for those idle retainers aboutnoblemen: this being a maxim of those pretended statesmen, that it isnecessary for the public safety to have a good body of veteran soldiersever in readiness. They think raw men are not to be depended on, andthey sometimes seek occasions for making war, that they may train uptheir 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 longan intermission. " But France has learned to its cost how dangerous it isto feed such beasts. The fate of the Romans, Carthaginians, and Syrians, and many other nations and cities, which were both overturned and quiteruined by those standing armies, should make others wiser; and the follyof this maxim of the French appears plainly even from this, that theirtrained soldiers often find your raw men prove too hard for them, ofwhich I will not say much, lest you may think I flatter the English. Every day's experience shows that the mechanics in the towns or theclowns in the country are not afraid of fighting with those idlegentlemen, if they are not disabled by some misfortune in their body ordispirited 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 keepabout them till they spoil them), who now grow feeble with ease and aresoftened with their effeminate manner of life, would be less fit foraction if they were well bred and well employed. And it seems veryunreasonable that, for the prospect of a war, which you need never havebut when you please, you should maintain so many idle men, as will alwaysdisturb you in time of peace, which is ever to be more considered thanwar. But I do not think that this necessity of stealing arises only fromhence; there is another cause of it, more peculiar to England. ' 'What isthat?' said the Cardinal: 'The increase of pasture, ' said I, 'by whichyour sheep, which are naturally mild, and easily kept in order, may besaid now to devour men and unpeople, not only villages, but towns; forwherever it is found that the sheep of any soil yield a softer and richerwool than ordinary, there the nobility and gentry, and even those holymen, the dobots! not contented with the old rents which their farmsyielded, nor thinking it enough that they, living at their ease, do nogood to the public, resolve to do it hurt instead of good. They stop thecourse of agriculture, destroying houses and towns, reserving only thechurches, and enclose grounds that they may lodge their sheep in them. Asif forests and parks had swallowed up too little of the land, thoseworthy countrymen turn the best inhabited places into solitudes; for whenan insatiable wretch, who is a plague to his country, resolves to enclosemany thousand acres of ground, the owners, as well as tenants, are turnedout of their possessions by trick or by main force, or, being wearied outby ill usage, they are forced to sell them; by which means thosemiserable people, both men and women, married and unmarried, old andyoung, with their poor but numerous families (since country businessrequires many hands), are all forced to change their seats, not knowingwhither to go; and they must sell, almost for nothing, their householdstuff, which could not bring them much money, even though they might stayfor a buyer. When that little money is at an end (for it will be soonspent), what is left for them to do but either to steal, and so to behanged (God knows how justly!), or to go about and beg? and if they dothis they are put in prison as idle vagabonds, while they would willinglywork but can find none that will hire them; for there is no more occasionfor country labour, to which they have been bred, when there is no arableground left. One shepherd can look after a flock, which will stock anextent of ground that would require many hands if it were to be ploughedand reaped. This, likewise, in many places raises the price of corn. Theprice of wool is also so risen that the poor people, who were wont tomake cloth, are no more able to buy it; and this, likewise, makes many ofthem idle: for since the increase of pasture God has punished the avariceof the owners by a rot among the sheep, which has destroyed vast numbersof them--to us it might have seemed more just had it fell on the ownersthemselves. But, suppose the sheep should increase ever so much, theirprice is not likely to fall; since, though they cannot be called amonopoly, because they are not engrossed by one person, yet they are inso few hands, and these are so rich, that, as they are not pressed tosell them sooner than they have a mind to it, so they never do it tillthey have raised the price as high as possible. And on the same accountit is that the other kinds of cattle are so dear, because many villagesbeing pulled down, and all country labour being much neglected, there arenone who make it their business to breed them. The rich do not breedcattle as they do sheep, but buy them lean and at low prices; and, afterthey have fattened them on their grounds, sell them again at high rates. And I do not think that all the inconveniences this will produce are yetobserved; for, as they sell the cattle dear, so, if they are consumedfaster than the breeding countries from which they are brought can affordthem, then the stock must decrease, and this must needs end in greatscarcity; and by these means, this your island, which seemed as to thisparticular the happiest in the world, will suffer much by the cursedavarice of a few persons: besides this, the rising of corn makes allpeople lessen their families as much as they can; and what can those whoare dismissed by them do but either beg or rob? And to this last a manof a great mind is much sooner drawn than to the former. Luxury likewisebreaks in apace upon you to set forward your poverty and misery; there isan excessive vanity in apparel, and great cost in diet, and that not onlyin noblemen's families, but even among tradesmen, among the farmersthemselves, and among all ranks of persons. You have also many infamoushouses, and, besides those that are known, the taverns and ale-houses areno better; add to these dice, cards, tables, football, tennis, andquoits, in which money runs fast away; and those that are initiated intothem must, in the conclusion, betake themselves to robbing for a supply. Banish these plagues, and give orders that those who have dispeopled somuch soil may either rebuild the villages they have pulled down or letout their grounds to such as will do it; restrain those engrossings ofthe rich, that are as bad almost as monopolies; leave fewer occasions toidleness; let agriculture be set up again, and the manufacture of thewool be regulated, that so there may be work found for those companies ofidle people whom want forces to be thieves, or who now, being idlevagabonds or useless servants, will certainly grow thieves at last. Ifyou do not find a remedy to these evils it is a vain thing to boast ofyour severity in punishing theft, which, though it may have theappearance of justice, yet in itself is neither just nor convenient; forif you suffer your people to be ill-educated, and their manners to becorrupted from their infancy, and then punish them for those crimes towhich their first education disposed them, what else is to be concludedfrom this but that you first make thieves and then punish them?'

"While I was talking thus, the Counsellor, who was present, had preparedan answer, and had resolved to resume all I had said, according to theformality of a debate, in which things are generally repeated morefaithfully than they are answered, as if the chief trial to be made wereof men's memories. 'You have talked prettily, for a stranger, ' said he, 'having heard of many things among us which you have not been able toconsider well; but I will make the whole matter plain to you, and willfirst repeat in order all that you have said; then I will show how muchyour ignorance of our affairs has misled you; and will, in the lastplace, answer all your arguments. And, that I may begin where Ipromised, there were four things--' 'Hold your peace!' said theCardinal; 'this will take up too much time; therefore we will, atpresent, ease you of the trouble of answering, and reserve it to our nextmeeting, which shall be to-morrow, if Raphael's affairs and yours canadmit of it. But, Raphael, ' said he to me, 'I would gladly know uponwhat reason it is that you think theft ought not to be punished by death:would you give way to it? or do you propose any other punishment thatwill be more useful to the public? for, since death does not restraintheft, if men thought their lives would be safe, what fear or force couldrestrain ill men? On the contrary, they would look on the mitigation ofthe punishment as an invitation to commit more crimes. ' I answered, 'Itseems to me a very unjust thing to take away a man's life for a littlemoney, for nothing in the world can be of equal value with a man's life:and if it be said, "that it is not for the money that one suffers, butfor his breaking the law, " I must say, extreme justice is an extremeinjury: for we ought not to approve of those terrible laws that make thesmallest offences capital, nor of that opinion of the Stoics that makesall crimes equal; as if there were no difference to be made between thekilling a man and the taking his purse, between which, if we examinethings impartially, there is no likeness nor proportion. God hascommanded 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 anyexcept when the laws of the land allow of it, upon the same grounds, lawsmay be made, in some cases, to allow of adultery and perjury: for Godhaving taken from us the right of disposing either of our own or of otherpeople's lives, if it is pretended that the mutual consent of men inmaking laws can authorise man-slaughter in cases in which God has givenus no example, that it frees people from the obligation of the divinelaw, and so makes murder a lawful action, what is this, but to give apreference to human laws before the divine? and, if this is onceadmitted, by the same rule men may, in all other things, put whatrestrictions 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 andservile nation, men were only fined, and not put to death for theft, wecannot imagine, that in this new law of mercy, in which God treats uswith the tenderness of a father, He has given us a greater licence tocruelty than He did to the Jews. Upon these reasons it is, that I thinkputting thieves to death is not lawful; and it is plain and obvious thatit is absurd and of ill consequence to the commonwealth that a thief anda murderer should be equally punished; for if a robber sees that hisdanger is the same if he is convicted of theft as if he were guilty ofmurder, this will naturally incite him to kill the person whom otherwisehe would only have robbed; since, if the punishment is the same, there ismore security, and less danger of discovery, when he that can best makeit is put out of the way; so that terrifying thieves too much provokesthem to cruelty. 

"But as to the question, 'What more convenient way of punishment can befound?' I think it much easier to find out that than to invent anythingthat is worse; why should we doubt but the way that was so long in useamong the old Romans, who understood so well the arts of government, wasvery proper for their punishment? They condemned such as they foundguilty of great crimes to work their whole lives in quarries, or to digin mines with chains about them. But the method that I liked best wasthat which I observed in my travels in Persia, among the Polylerits, whoare a considerable and well-governed people: they pay a yearly tribute tothe King of Persia, but in all other respects they are a free nation, andgoverned by their own laws: they lie far from the sea, and are environedwith hills; and, being contented with the productions of their owncountry, which is very fruitful, they have little commerce with any othernation; and as they, according to the genius of their country, have noinclination to enlarge their borders, so their mountains and the pensionthey pay to the Persian, secure them from all invasions. Thus they haveno wars among them; they live rather conveniently than with splendour, and may be rather 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 buttheir next neighbours. Those that are found guilty of theft among themare bound to make restitution to the owner, and not, as it is in otherplaces, to the prince, for they reckon that the prince has no more rightto the stolen goods than the thief; but if that which was stolen is nomore in being, then the goods of the thieves are estimated, andrestitution being made out of them, the remainder is given to their wivesand children; and they themselves are condemned to serve in the publicworks, but are neither imprisoned nor chained, unless there happens to besome extraordinary circumstance in their crimes. They go about loose andfree, working for the public: if they are idle or backward to work theyare whipped, but if they work hard they are well used and treated withoutany mark of reproach; only the lists of them are called always at night, and then they are shut up. They suffer no other uneasiness but this ofconstant labour; for, as they work for the public, so they are wellentertained out of the public stock, which is done differently indifferent places: in some places whatever is bestowed on them is raisedby a charitable contribution; and, though this way may seem uncertain, yet so merciful are the inclinations of that people, that they areplentifully supplied by it; but in other places public revenues are setaside for them, or there is a constant tax or poll-money raised for theirmaintenance. In some places they are set to no public work, but everyprivate man that has occasion to hire workmen goes to the market-placesand hires them of the public, a little lower than he would do a freeman. If they go lazily about their task he may quicken them with the whip. Bythis means there is always some piece of work or other to be done bythem; and, besides their livelihood, they earn somewhat still to thepublic. They all wear a peculiar habit, of one certain colour, and theirhair is cropped a little above their ears, and a piece of one of theirears is cut 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 lesspenal for any freeman to take money from them upon any accountwhatsoever: and it is also death for any of these slaves (so they arecalled) to handle arms. Those of every division of the country aredistinguished by a peculiar mark, which it is capital for them to layaside, to go out of their bounds, or to talk with a slave of anotherjurisdiction, and the very attempt of an escape is no less penal than anescape itself. It is death for any other slave to be accessory to it;and if a freeman engages in it he is condemned to slavery. Those thatdiscover it are rewarded--if freemen, in money; and if slaves, withliberty, together with a pardon for being accessory to it; that so theymight find their account rather in repenting of their engaging in such adesign than in persisting in it. 

"These are their laws and rules in relation to robbery, and it is obviousthat they are as advantageous as they are mild and gentle; since vice isnot only destroyed and men preserved, but they are treated in such amanner as to make them see the necessity of being honest and of employingthe rest of their lives in repairing the injuries they had formerly doneto society. Nor is there any hazard of their falling back to their oldcustoms; and so little do travellers apprehend mischief from them thatthey generally make use of them for guides from one jurisdiction toanother; for there is nothing left them by which they can rob or be thebetter for it, since, as they are disarmed, so the very having of moneyis a sufficient conviction: and as they are certainly punished ifdiscovered, so they cannot hope to escape; for their habit being in allthe parts of it different from what is commonly worn, they cannot flyaway, unless they would go naked, and even then their cropped ear wouldbetray them. The only danger to be feared from them is their conspiringagainst the government; but those of one division and neighbourhood cando nothing to any purpose unless a general conspiracy were laid amongstall the slaves of the several jurisdictions, which cannot be done, sincethey cannot meet or talk together; nor will any venture on a design wherethe concealment would be so dangerous and the discovery so profitable. None are quite hopeless of recovering their freedom, since by theirobedience and patience, and by giving good grounds to believe that theywill change their manner of life for the future, they may expect at lastto obtain their liberty, and some are every year restored to it upon thegood character that is given of them. When I had related all this, Iadded that I did not see why such a method might not be followed withmore advantage than could ever be expected from that severe justice whichthe Counsellor magnified so much. To this he answered, 'That it couldnever take place in England without endangering the whole nation. ' As hesaid this he shook his head, made some grimaces, and held his peace, while all the company seemed of his opinion, except the Cardinal, whosaid, 'That it was not easy to form a judgment of its success, since itwas a method that never yet had been tried; but if, ' said he, 'whensentence of death were passed upon a thief, the prince would reprieve himfor a while, and make the experiment upon him, denying him the privilegeof a sanctuary; and then, if it had a good effect upon him, it might takeplace; and, if it did not succeed, the worst would be to execute thesentence on the condemned persons at last; and I do not see, ' added he, 'why it would be either unjust, inconvenient, or at all dangerous toadmit of such a delay; in my opinion the vagabonds ought to be treated inthe same manner, against whom, though we have made many laws, yet we havenot been able to gain our end. ' When the Cardinal had done, they allcommended the motion, though they had despised it when it came from me, but more particularly commended what related to the vagabonds, because itwas his own observation. 

"I do not know whether it be worth while to tell what followed, for itwas very ridiculous; but I shall venture at it, for as it is not foreignto this matter, so some good use may be made of it. There was a Jesterstanding by, that counterfeited the fool so naturally that he seemed tobe really one; the jests which he offered were so cold and dull that welaughed more at him than at them, yet sometimes he said, as it were bychance, things that were not unpleasant, so as to justify the oldproverb, 'That he who throws the dice often, will sometimes have a luckyhit. ' When one of the company had said that I had taken care of thethieves, and the Cardinal had taken care of the vagabonds, so that thereremained nothing but that some public provision might be made for thepoor whom sickness or old age had disabled from labour, 'Leave that tome, ' said the Fool, 'and I shall take care of them, for there is no sortof people whose sight I abhor more, having been so often vexed with themand with their sad complaints; but as dolefully soever as they have toldtheir tale, they could never prevail so far as to draw one penny from me;for either I had no mind to give them anything, or, when I had a mind todo it, I had nothing to give them; and they now know me so well that theywill not lose their labour, but let me pass without giving me anytrouble, because they hope for nothing--no more, in faith, than if I werea priest; but I would have a law made for sending all these beggars tomonasteries, the men to the Benedictines, to be made lay-brothers, andthe women to be nuns. ' The Cardinal smiled, and approved 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 thisreflection that was made on the priests and the monks that he began toplay with the Fool, and said to him, 'This will not deliver you from allbeggars, except you take care of us Friars. ' 'That is done already, 'answered the Fool, 'for the Cardinal has provided for you by what heproposed for restraining vagabonds and setting them to work, for I knowno vagabonds like you. ' This was well entertained by the whole company, who, looking at the Cardinal, perceived that he was not ill-pleased atit; only the Friar himself was vexed, as may be easily imagined, and fellinto such a passion that he could not forbear railing at the Fool, andcalling him knave, slanderer, backbiter, and son of perdition, and thencited some dreadful threatenings out of the Scriptures against him. Nowthe Jester thought he was in his element, and laid about him freely. 'Good Friar, ' said he, 'be not angry, for it is written, "In patiencepossess your soul. "' The Friar answered (for I shall give you his ownwords), 'I am not angry, you hangman; at least, I do not sin in it, forthe Psalmist says, "Be ye angry and sin not. "' Upon this the Cardinaladmonished him gently, and wished him to govern his passions. 'No, mylord, ' 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 househath eaten me up;" and we sing in our church that those who mocked Elishaas he went up to the house of God felt the effects of his zeal, whichthat mocker, that rogue, that scoundrel, will perhaps feel. ' 'You dothis, perhaps, with a good intention, ' said the Cardinal, 'but, in myopinion, it were wiser in you, and perhaps better for you, not to engagein so ridiculous a contest with a Fool. ' 'No, my lord, ' answered he, 'that were not wisely done, for Solomon, the wisest of men, said, "Answera Fool according to his folly, " which I now do, and show him the ditchinto which he will fall, if he is not aware of it; for if the manymockers of Elisha, who was but one bald man, felt the effect of his zeal, what will become of the mocker of so many Friars, among whom there are somany bald men? We have, likewise, a bull, by which all that jeer us areexcommunicated. ' When the Cardinal saw that there was no end of thismatter he made a sign to the Fool to withdraw, turned the discourseanother way, and soon after rose from the table, and, dismissing us, wentto hear causes. 

"Thus, Mr. More, I have run out into a tedious story, of the length ofwhich I had been ashamed, if (as you earnestly begged it of me) I had notobserved you to hearken to it as if you had no mind to lose any part ofit. I might have contracted it, but I resolved to give it you at large, that you might observe how those that despised what I had proposed, nosooner perceived that the Cardinal did not dislike it but presentlyapproved of it, fawned so on him and flattered him to such a degree, thatthey in good earnest applauded those things that he only liked in jest;and from hence you may gather how little courtiers would value either meor my counsels. "

To this I answered, "You have done me a great kindness in this relation;for as everything has been related by you both wisely and pleasantly, soyou have made me imagine that I was in my own country and grown youngagain, by recalling that good Cardinal to my thoughts, in whose family Iwas bred from my childhood; and though you are, upon other accounts, verydear 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 thatif you could overcome that aversion which you have to the courts ofprinces, you might, by the advice which it is in your power to give, do agreat deal of good to mankind, and this is the chief design that everygood man ought to propose to himself in living; for your friend Platothinks that nations will be happy when either philosophers become kingsor kings become philosophers. It is no wonder if we are so far from thathappiness while philosophers will not think it their duty to assist kingswith their counsels. " "They are not so base-minded, " said he, "but thatthey would willingly do it; many of them have already done it by theirbooks, if those that are in power would but hearken to their good advice. But Plato judged right, that except kings themselves became philosophers, they who from their childhood are corrupted with false notions wouldnever fall in entirely with the counsels of philosophers, and this hehimself found to be true in the person of Dionysius. 

"Do not you think that if I were about any king, proposing good laws tohim, and endeavouring to root out all the cursed seeds of evil that Ifound in him, I should either be turned out of his court, or, at least, be laughed at for my pains? For instance, what could I signify if I wereabout the King of France, and were called into his cabinet council, whereseveral wise men, in his hearing, were proposing many expedients; as, bywhat arts and practices Milan may be kept, and Naples, that has so oftenslipped out of their hands, recovered; how the Venetians, and after themthe rest of Italy, may be subdued; and then how Flanders, Brabant, andall Burgundy, and some other kingdoms which he has swallowed already inhis designs, may be added to his empire? One proposes a league with theVenetians, to be kept as long as he finds his account in it, and that heought to communicate counsels with them, and give them some share of thespoil till his success makes him need or fear them less, and then it willbe easily taken out of their hands; another proposes the hiring theGermans and the securing the Switzers by pensions; another proposes thegaining the Emperor by money, which is omnipotent with him; anotherproposes a peace with the King of Arragon, and, in order to cement it, the yielding up the King of Navarre's pretensions; another thinks thatthe Prince of Castile is to be wrought on by the hope of an alliance, andthat some of his courtiers are to be gained to the French faction bypensions. The hardest point of all is, what to do with England; a treatyof peace is to be set on foot, and, if their alliance is not to bedepended on, yet it is to be made as firm as possible, and they are to becalled friends, but suspected as enemies: therefore the Scots are to bekept in readiness to be let loose upon England on every occasion; andsome banished nobleman is to be supported underhand (for by the League itcannot be done avowedly) who has a pretension to the crown, by whichmeans that suspected prince may be kept in awe. Now when things are inso great a fermentation, and so many gallant men are joining counsels howto carry on the war, if so mean a man as I should stand up and wish themto change all their counsels--to let Italy alone and stay at home, sincethe kingdom of France was indeed greater than could be well governed byone man; that therefore he ought not to think of adding others to it; andif, after this, I should propose to them the resolutions of theAchorians, a people that lie on the south-east of Utopia, who long agoengaged in war in order to add to the dominions of their prince anotherkingdom, to which he had some pretensions by an ancient alliance: thisthey conquered, but found that the trouble of keeping it was equal tothat by which it was gained; that the conquered people were always eitherin rebellion or exposed to foreign invasions, while they were obliged tobe incessantly at war, either for or against them, and consequently couldnever disband their army; that in the meantime they were oppressed withtaxes, their money went out of the kingdom, their blood was spilt for theglory of their king without procuring the least advantage to the people, who received not the smallest benefit from it even in time of peace; andthat, their manners being corrupted by a long war, robbery and murderseverywhere abounded, and their laws fell into contempt; while their king, distracted with the care of two kingdoms, was the less able to apply hismind to the interest of either. When they saw this, and that there wouldbe no end to these evils, they by joint counsels made an humble addressto their king, desiring him to choose which of the two kingdoms he hadthe greatest mind to keep, since he could not hold both; for they weretoo great a people to be governed by a divided king, since no man wouldwillingly have a groom that should be in common between him and another. Upon which the good prince was forced to quit his new kingdom to one ofhis friends (who was not long after dethroned), and to be contented withhis old one. To this I would add that after all those warlike attempts, the vast confusions, and the consumption both of treasure and of peoplethat must follow them, perhaps upon some misfortune they might be forcedto throw up all at last; therefore it seemed much more eligible that theking should improve his ancient kingdom all he could, and make itflourish as much as possible; that he should love his people, and bebeloved of them; that he should live among them, govern them gently andlet other kingdoms alone, since that which had fallen to his share wasbig enough, if not too big, for him:--pray, how do you think would such aspeech as this be heard?"

"I confess, " said I, "I think not very well. "

"But what, " said he, "if I should sort with another kind of ministers, whose chief contrivances and consultations were by what art the prince'streasures might be increased? where one proposes raising the value ofspecie when the king's debts are large, and lowering it when his revenueswere to come in, that so he might both pay much with a little, and in alittle receive a great deal. Another proposes a pretence of a war, thatmoney might be raised in order to carry it on, and that a peace beconcluded as soon as that was done; and this with such appearances ofreligion as might work on the people, and make them impute it to thepiety of their prince, and to his tenderness for the lives of hissubjects. A third offers some old musty laws that have been antiquatedby a long disuse (and which, as they had been forgotten by all thesubjects, so they had also been broken by them), and proposes the levyingthe penalties of these laws, that, as it would bring in a vast treasure, so there might be a very good pretence for it, since it would look likethe executing a law and the doing of justice. A fourth proposes theprohibiting of many things under severe penalties, especially such aswere against the interest of the people, and then the dispensing withthese prohibitions, upon great compositions, to those who might findtheir advantage in breaking them. This would serve two ends, both ofthem acceptable to many; for as those whose avarice led them totransgress would be severely fined, so the selling licences dear wouldlook as if a prince were tender of his people, and would not easily, orat low rates, dispense with anything that might be against the publicgood. Another proposes that the judges must be made sure, that they maydeclare always in favour of the prerogative; that they must be often sentfor to court, that the king may hear them argue those points in which heis concerned; since, how unjust soever any of his pretensions may be, yetstill some one or other of them, either out of contradiction to others, or the pride of singularity, or to make their court, would find out somepretence or other to give the king a fair colour to carry the point. Forif the judges but differ in opinion, the clearest thing in the world ismade by that means disputable, and truth being once brought in question, the king may then take advantage to expound the law for his own profit;while the judges that stand out will be brought over, either through fearor modesty; and they being thus gained, all of them may be sent to theBench to give sentence boldly as the king would have it; for fairpretences will never be wanting when sentence is to be given in theprince's favour. It will either be said that equity lies of his side, orsome words in the law will be found sounding that way, or some forcedsense will be put on them; and, when all other things fail, the king'sundoubted prerogative will be pretended, as that which is above all law, and to which a religious judge ought to have a special regard. Thus allconsent to that maxim of Crassus, that a prince cannot have treasureenough, since he must maintain his armies out of it; that a king, eventhough he would, can do nothing unjustly; that all property is in him, not excepting the very persons of his subjects; and that no man has anyother property but that which the king, out of his goodness, thinks fitto leave him. And they think it is the prince's interest that there beas little of this left as may be, as if it were his advantage that hispeople should have neither riches nor liberty, since these things makethem less easy and willing to submit to a cruel and unjust government. Whereas necessity and poverty blunts them, makes them patient, beats themdown, and breaks that height of spirit that might otherwise dispose themto rebel. Now what if, after all these propositions were made, I shouldrise up and assert that such counsels were both unbecoming a king andmischievous to him; and that not only his honour, but his safety, consisted more in his people's wealth than in his own; if I should showthat they choose a king for their own sake, and not for his; that, by hiscare 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 hisown, as a shepherd is to take more care of his flock than of himself? Itis also certain that they are much mistaken that think the poverty of anation is a mean of the public safety. Who quarrel more than beggars?who does more earnestly long for a change than he that is uneasy in hispresent circumstances? and who run to create confusions with so desperatea boldness as those who, having nothing to lose, hope to gain by them? Ifa king should fall under such contempt or envy that he could not keep hissubjects in their duty but by oppression and ill usage, and by renderingthem poor and miserable, it were certainly better for him to quit hiskingdom than to retain it by such methods as make him, while he keeps thename of authority, lose the majesty due to it. Nor is it so becoming thedignity of a king to reign over beggars as over rich and happy subjects. And therefore Fabricius, a man of a noble and exalted temper, said 'hewould rather govern rich men than be rich himself; since for one man toabound in wealth and pleasure when all about him are mourning andgroaning, is to be a gaoler and not a king. ' He is an unskilfulphysician that cannot cure one disease without casting his patient intoanother. So he that can find no other way for correcting the errors ofhis people but by taking from them the conveniences of life, shows thathe knows not what it is to govern a free nation. He himself ought ratherto shake off his sloth, or to lay down his pride, for the contempt orhatred that his people have for him takes its rise from the vices inhimself. Let him live upon what belongs to him 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 besevere when he has suffered them to be too common. Let him not rashlyrevive laws that are abrogated by disuse, especially if they have beenlong forgotten and never wanted. And let him never take any penalty forthe 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. To these things I would add that law among the Macarians--a people thatlive not far from Utopia--by which their king, on the day on which hebegan to reign, is tied by an oath, confirmed by solemn sacrifices, neverto have at once above a thousand pounds of gold in his treasures, or somuch silver as is equal to that in value. This law, they tell us, wasmade by an excellent king who had more regard to the riches of hiscountry than to his own wealth, and therefore provided against theheaping up of so much treasure as might impoverish the people. Hethought that moderate sum might be sufficient for any accident, if eitherthe king had occasion for it against the rebels, or the kingdom againstthe invasion of an enemy; but that it was not enough to encourage aprince to invade other men's rights--a circumstance that was the chiefcause of his making that law. He also thought that it was a goodprovision for that free circulation of money so necessary for the courseof commerce and exchange. And when a king must distribute all thoseextraordinary accessions that increase treasure beyond the due pitch, itmakes him less disposed to oppress his subjects. Such a king as thiswill be the terror of ill men, and will be beloved by all the good. 

"If, I say, I should talk of these or such-like things to men that hadtaken their bias another way, how deaf would they be to all I could say!""No doubt, very deaf, " answered I; "and no wonder, for one is never tooffer propositions or advice that we are certain will not be entertained. Discourses so much out of the road could not avail anything, nor have anyeffect on men whose minds were prepossessed with different sentiments. This philosophical way of speculation is not unpleasant among friends ina free conversation; but there is no room for it in the courts ofprinces, where great affairs are carried on by authority. " "That is whatI was saying, " replied he, "that there is no room for philosophy in thecourts of princes. " "Yes, there is, " said I, "but not for thisspeculative philosophy, that makes everything to be alike fitting at alltimes; but there is another philosophy that is more pliable, that knowsits proper scene, accommodates itself to it, and teaches a man withpropriety and decency to act that part which has fallen to his share. Ifwhen one of Plautus' comedies is upon the stage, and a company ofservants are acting their parts, you should come out in the garb of aphilosopher, and repeat, out of _Octavia_, a discourse of Seneca's toNero, would it not be better for you to say nothing than by mixing thingsof such different natures to make an impertinent tragi-comedy? for youspoil and corrupt the play that is in hand when you mix with it things ofan opposite nature, even though they are much better. Therefore gothrough with the play that is acting the best you can, and do notconfound it because another that is pleasanter comes into your thoughts. It is even so in a commonwealth and in the councils of princes; if illopinions cannot be quite rooted out, and you cannot cure some receivedvice according to your wishes, you must not, therefore, abandon thecommonwealth, for the same reasons as you should not forsake the ship ina storm because you cannot command the winds. You are not obliged toassault people with discourses that are out of their road, when you seethat their received notions must prevent your making an impression uponthem: you ought rather to cast about and to manage things with all thedexterity in your power, so that, if you are not able to make them gowell, they may be as little ill as possible; for, except all men weregood, everything cannot be right, and that is a blessing that I do not atpresent hope to see. " "According to your argument, " answered he, "allthat I could be able to do would be to preserve myself from being madwhile I endeavoured to cure the madness of others; for, if I speak with, I must repeat what I have said to you; and as for lying, whether aphilosopher can do it or not I cannot tell: I am sure I cannot do it. Butthough these discourses may be uneasy and ungrateful to them, I do notsee why they should seem foolish or extravagant; indeed, if I shouldeither propose such things as Plato has contrived in his 'Commonwealth, 'or as the Utopians practise in theirs, though they might seem better, ascertainly they are, yet they are so different from our establishment, which is founded on property (there being no such thing among them), thatI could not expect that it would have any effect on them. But suchdiscourses as mine, which only call past evils to mind and give warningof what may follow, leave nothing in them that is so absurd that they maynot be used at any time, for they can only be unpleasant to those who areresolved to run headlong the contrary way; and if we must let aloneeverything as absurd or extravagant--which, by reason of the wicked livesof many, may seem uncouth--we must, even among Christians, give overpressing the greatest part of those things that Christ hath taught us, though He has commanded us not to conceal them, but to proclaim on thehousetops that which He taught in secret. The greatest parts of Hisprecepts are more opposite to the lives of the men of this age than anypart of my discourse has been, but the preachers seem to have learnedthat craft to which you advise me: for they, observing that the worldwould 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 theirlives, that so, some way or other, they might agree with one another. ButI see no other effect of this compliance except it be that men becomemore secure in their wickedness by it; and this is all the success that Ican have in a court, for I must always differ from the rest, and then Ishall signify nothing; or, if I agree with them, I shall then only helpforward their madness. I do not comprehend what you mean by your'casting about, ' or by 'the bending and handling things so dexterouslythat, if they go not well, they may go as little ill as may be;' for incourts they will not bear with a man's holding his peace or conniving atwhat others do: a man must barefacedly approve of the worst counsels andconsent to the blackest designs, so that he would pass for a spy, or, possibly, for a traitor, that did but coldly approve of such wickedpractices; and therefore when a man is engaged in such a society, he willbe so far from being able to mend matters by his 'casting about, ' as youcall it, that he will find no occasions of doing any good--the illcompany will sooner corrupt him than be the better for him; or if, notwithstanding all their ill company, he still remains steady andinnocent, yet their follies and knavery will be imputed to him; and, bymixing counsels with them, he must bear his share of all the blame thatbelongs wholly to others. 

"It was no ill simile by which Plato set forth the unreasonableness of aphilosopher's meddling with government. 'If a man, ' says he, 'were tosee a great company run out every day into the rain and take delight inbeing wet--if he knew that it would be to no purpose for him to go andpersuade them to return to their houses in order to avoid the storm, andthat all that could be expected by his going to speak to them would bethat he himself should be as wet as they, it would be best for him tokeep within doors, and, since he had not influence enough to correctother people's folly, to take care to preserve himself. '

"Though, to speak plainly my real sentiments, I must freely own that aslong as there is any property, and while money is the standard of allother things, I cannot think that a nation can be governed either justlyor happily: not justly, because the best things will fall to the share ofthe worst men; nor happily, because all things will be divided among afew (and even these are not in all respects happy), the rest being leftto be absolutely miserable. Therefore, when I reflect on the wise andgood constitution of the Utopians, among whom all things are so wellgoverned and with so few laws, where virtue hath its due reward, and yetthere is such an equality that every man lives in plenty--when I comparewith them so many other nations that are still making new laws, and yetcan never bring their constitution to a right regulation; where, notwithstanding every one has his property, yet all the laws that theycan invent have not the power either to obtain or preserve it, or even toenable men certainly to distinguish what is their own from what isanother's, of which the many lawsuits that every day break out, and areeternally depending, give too plain a demonstration--when, I say, Ibalance 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 wouldnot submit to a community of all things; for so wise a man could not butforesee that the setting all upon a level was the only way to make anation happy; which cannot be obtained so long as there is property, forwhen every man draws to himself all that he can compass, by one title oranother, it must needs follow that, how plentiful soever a nation may be, yet a few dividing the wealth of it among themselves, the rest must fallinto indigence. So that there will be two sorts of people among them, who deserve that their fortunes should be interchanged--the formeruseless, but wicked and ravenous; and the latter, who by their constantindustry serve the public more than themselves, sincere and modestmen--from whence I am persuaded that till property is taken away, therecan be no equitable or just distribution of things, nor can the world behappily governed; for as long as that is maintained, the greatest and thefar best part of mankind, will be still oppressed with a load of caresand anxieties. I confess, without taking it quite away, those pressuresthat lie on a great part of mankind may be made lighter, but they cannever be quite removed; for if laws were made to determine at how greatan extent in soil, and at how much money, every man must stop--to limitthe prince, that he might not grow too great; and to restrain the people, that they might not become too insolent--and that none might factiouslyaspire to public employments, which ought neither to be sold nor madeburdensome by a great expense, since otherwise those that serve in themwould be tempted to reimburse themselves by cheats and violence, and itwould become necessary to find out rich men for undergoing thoseemployments, which ought rather to be trusted to the wise. These laws, Isay, might have such effect as good diet and care might have on a sickman whose recovery is desperate; they might allay and mitigate thedisease, but it could never be quite healed, nor the body politic bebrought again to a good habit as long as property remains; and it willfall out, as in a complication of diseases, that by applying a remedy toone sore you will provoke another, and that which removes the one illsymptom produces others, while the strengthening one part of the bodyweakens the rest. " "On the contrary, " answered I, "it seems to me thatmen cannot live conveniently where all things are common. How can therebe any plenty where every man will excuse himself from labour? for as thehope of gain doth not excite him, so the confidence that he has in othermen's industry may make him slothful. If people come to be pinched withwant, and yet cannot dispose of anything as their own, what can followupon this but perpetual sedition and bloodshed, especially when thereverence and authority due to magistrates falls to the ground? for Icannot imagine how that can be kept up among those that are in all thingsequal to one another. " "I do not wonder, " said he, "that it appears soto you, since you have no notion, or at least no right one, of such aconstitution; but if you had been in Utopia with me, and had seen theirlaws and rules, as I did, for the space of five years, in which I livedamong them, and during which time I was so delighted with them thatindeed I should never have left them if it had not been to make thediscovery of that new world to the Europeans, you would then confess thatyou had never seen a people so well constituted as they. " "You will noteasily persuade me, " said Peter, "that any nation in that new world isbetter governed than those among us; for as our understandings are notworse than theirs, so our government (if I mistake not) being moreancient, a long practice has helped us to find out many conveniences oflife, and some happy chances have discovered other things to us which noman's understanding could ever have invented. " "As for the antiquityeither of their government or of ours, " said he, "you cannot pass a truejudgment of it unless you had read their histories; for, if they are tobe believed, they had towns among them before these parts were so much asinhabited; and as for those discoveries that have been either hit on bychance or made by ingenious men, these might have happened there as wellas here. I do not deny but we are more ingenious than they are, but theyexceed us much in industry and application. They knew little concerningus before our arrival among them. They call us all by a general name of'The nations that lie beyond the equinoctial line;' for their chroniclementions a shipwreck that was made on their coast twelve hundred yearsago, and that some Romans and Egyptians that were in the ship, gettingsafe ashore, spent the rest of their days amongst them; and such wastheir ingenuity that from this single opportunity they drew the advantageof learning from those unlooked-for guests, and acquired all the usefularts that were then among the Romans, and which were known to theseshipwrecked men; and by the hints that they gave them they themselvesfound out even some of those arts which they could not fully explain, sohappily did they improve that accident of having some of our people castupon their shore. But if such an accident has at any time brought anyfrom thence into Europe, we have been so far from improving it that we donot so much as remember it, as, in aftertimes perhaps, it will be forgotby our people that I was ever there; for though they, from one suchaccident, made themselves masters of all the good inventions that wereamong us, yet I believe it would be long before we should learn or put inpractice any of the good institutions that are among them. And this isthe true cause of their being better governed and living happier than we, though we come not short of them in point of understanding or outwardadvantages. " Upon this I said to him, "I earnestly beg you woulddescribe that island very particularly to us; be not too short, but setout in order all things relating to their soil, their rivers, theirtowns, their people, their manners, constitution, laws, and, in a word, all that you imagine we desire to know; and you may well imagine that wedesire to know everything concerning them of which we are hithertoignorant. " "I will do it very willingly, " said he, "for I have digestedthe 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. "He consented; we went in and dined, and after dinner came back and satdown in the same place. I ordered my servants to take care that nonemight come and interrupt us, and both Peter and I desired Raphael to beas good as his word. When he saw that we were very intent upon it hepaused a little to recollect himself, and began in this manner:--

"The island of Utopia is in the middle two hundred miles broad, and holdsalmost at the same breadth over a great part of it, but it grows narrowertowards both ends. Its figure is not unlike a crescent. Between itshorns the sea comes in eleven miles broad, and spreads itself into agreat bay, which is environed with land to the compass of about fivehundred miles, and is well secured from winds. In this bay there is nogreat current; the whole coast is, as it were, one continued harbour, which gives all that live in the island great convenience for mutualcommerce. But the entry into the bay, occasioned by rocks on the onehand and shallows on the other, is very dangerous. In the middle of itthere is one single rock which appears above water, and may, therefore, easily be avoided; and on the top of it there is a tower, in which agarrison is kept; the other rocks lie under water, and are verydangerous. The channel is known only to the natives; so that if anystranger should enter into the bay without one of their pilots he wouldrun great danger of shipwreck. For even they themselves could not passit safe if some marks that are on the coast did not direct their way; andif these should be but a little shifted, any fleet that might comeagainst them, how great soever it were, would be certainly lost. On theother side of the island there are likewise many harbours; and the coastis so fortified, both by nature and art, that a small number of men canhinder the descent of a great army. But they report (and there remainsgood marks of it to make it credible) that this was no island at first, but a part of the continent. Utopus, that conquered it (whose name itstill carries, for Abraxa was its first name), brought the rude anduncivilised inhabitants into such a good government, and to that measureof politeness, that they now far excel all the rest of mankind. Havingsoon subdued them, he designed to separate them from the continent, andto bring the sea quite round them. To accomplish this he ordered a deepchannel to be dug, fifteen miles long; and that the natives might notthink he treated them like slaves, he not only forced the inhabitants, but also his own soldiers, to labour in carrying it on. As he set a vastnumber of men to work, he, beyond all men's expectations, brought it to aspeedy conclusion. And his neighbours, who at first laughed at the follyof the undertaking, no sooner saw it brought to perfection than they werestruck with admiration and terror. 

"There are fifty-four cities in the island, all large and well built, themanners, customs, and laws of which are the same, and they are allcontrived as near in the same manner as the ground on which they standwill allow. The nearest lie at least twenty-four miles' distance fromone another, and the most remote are not so far distant but that a mancan go on foot in one day from it to that which lies next it. Every citysends three of their wisest senators once a year to Amaurot, to consultabout their common concerns; for that is the chief town of the island, being situated near the centre of it, so that it is the most convenientplace for their assemblies. The jurisdiction of every city extends atleast twenty miles, and, where the towns lie wider, they have much moreground. No town desires to enlarge its bounds, for the people considerthemselves rather as tenants than landlords. They have built, over allthe country, farmhouses for husbandmen, which are well contrived, andfurnished with all things necessary for country labour. Inhabitants aresent, by turns, from the cities to dwell in them; no country family hasfewer than forty men and women in it, besides two slaves. There is amaster and a mistress set over every family, and over thirty familiesthere is a magistrate. Every year twenty of this family come back to thetown after they have stayed two years in the country, and in their roomthere are other twenty sent from the town, that they may learn countrywork from those that have been already one year in the country, as theymust teach those that come to them the next from the town. By this meanssuch as dwell in those country farms are never ignorant of agriculture, and so commit no errors which might otherwise be fatal and bring themunder a scarcity of corn. But though there is every year such a shiftingof the husbandmen to prevent any man being forced against his will tofollow that hard course of life too long, yet many among them take suchpleasure in it that they desire leave to continue in it many years. Thesehusbandmen till the ground, breed cattle, hew wood, and convey it to thetowns either by land or water, as is most convenient. They breed aninfinite multitude of chickens in a very curious manner; for the hens donot sit and hatch them, but a vast number of eggs are laid in a gentleand equal heat in order to be hatched, and they are no sooner out of theshell, and able to stir about, but they seem to consider those that feedthem as their mothers, and follow them as other chickens do the hen thathatched them. They breed very few horses, but those they have are fullof mettle, and are kept only for exercising their youth in the art ofsitting and riding them; for they do not put them to any work, either ofploughing or carriage, in which they employ oxen. For though theirhorses are stronger, yet they find oxen can hold out longer; and as theyare not subject to so many diseases, so they are kept upon a less chargeand with less trouble. And even when they are so worn out that they areno more fit for labour, they are good meat at last. They sow no corn butthat which is to be their bread; for they drink either wine, cider orperry, and often water, sometimes boiled with honey or liquorice, withwhich they abound; and though they know exactly how much corn will serveevery town and all that tract of country which belongs to it, yet theysow much more and breed more cattle than are necessary for theirconsumption, and they give that overplus of which they make no use totheir neighbours. When they want anything in the country which it doesnot produce, they fetch that from the town, without carrying anything inexchange for it. And the magistrates of the town take care to see itgiven them; for they meet generally in the town once a month, upon afestival day. When the time of harvest comes, the magistrates in thecountry send to those in the towns and let them know how many hands theywill need for reaping the harvest; and the number they call for beingsent to them, they commonly despatch it all in one day. 

OF THEIR TOWNS, PARTICULARLY OF AMAUROT

"He that knows one of their towns knows them all--they are so like oneanother, except where the situation makes some difference. I shalltherefore describe one of them, and none is so proper as Amaurot; for asnone is more eminent (all the rest yielding in precedence to this, because it is the seat of their supreme council), so there was none ofthem better known to me, I having lived five years all together in it. 

"It lies upon the side of a hill, or, rather, a rising ground. Itsfigure is almost square, for from the one side of it, which shoots upalmost 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 runsalong by the bank of that river. The Anider rises about eighty milesabove Amaurot, in a small spring at first. But other brooks falling intoit, of which two are more considerable than the rest, as it runs byAmaurot it is grown half a mile broad; but, it still grows larger andlarger, till, after sixty miles' course below it, it is lost in theocean. 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 comesup about thirty miles so full that there is nothing but salt water in theriver, the fresh water being driven back with its force; and above that, for some miles, the water is brackish; but a little higher, as it runs bythe town, it is quite fresh; and when the tide ebbs, it continues freshall along to the sea. There is a bridge cast over the river, not oftimber, but of fair stone, consisting of many stately arches; it lies atthat part of the town which is farthest from the sea, so that the 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 thetown stands, and so runs down through it and falls into the Anider. Theinhabitants have fortified the fountain-head of this river, which springsa little without the towns; that so, if they should happen to bebesieged, the enemy might not be able to stop or divert the course of thewater, nor poison it; from thence it is carried, in earthen pipes, to thelower streets. And for those places of the town to which the water ofthat small river cannot be conveyed, they have great cisterns forreceiving the rain-water, which supplies the want of the other. The townis compassed with a high and thick wall, in which there are many towersand forts; there is also a broad and deep dry ditch, set thick withthorns, cast round three sides of the town, and the river is instead of aditch on the fourth side. The streets are very convenient for allcarriage, and are well sheltered from the winds. Their buildings aregood, and are so uniform that a whole side of a street looks like onehouse. The streets are twenty feet broad; there lie gardens behind alltheir houses. These are large, but enclosed with buildings, that on allhands face the streets, so that every house has both a door to the streetand 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, therebeing no property among them, every man may freely enter into any housewhatsoever. At every ten years' end they shift their houses by lots. They cultivate their gardens with great care, so that they have bothvines, fruits, herbs, and flowers in them; and all is so well ordered andso finely kept that I never saw gardens anywhere that were both sofruitful and so beautiful as theirs. And this humour of ordering theirgardens so well is not only kept up by the pleasure they find in it, butalso by an emulation between the inhabitants of the several streets, whovie with each other. And there is, indeed, nothing belonging to thewhole town that is both more useful and more pleasant. So that he whofounded the town seems to have taken care of nothing more than of theirgardens; for they say the whole scheme of the town was designed at firstby Utopus, but he left all that belonged to the ornament and improvementof it to be added by those that should come after him, that being toomuch for one man to bring to perfection. Their records, that contain thehistory of their town and State, are preserved with an exact care, andrun backwards seventeen hundred and sixty years. From these it appearsthat their houses were at first low and mean, like cottages, made of anysort of timber, and were built with mud walls and thatched with straw. But now their houses are three storeys high, the fronts of them are facedeither with stone, plastering, or brick, and between the facings of theirwalls they throw in their rubbish. Their roofs are flat, and on themthey lay a sort of plaster, which costs very little, and yet is sotempered that it is not apt to take fire, and yet resists the weathermore than lead. They have great quantities of glass among them, withwhich they glaze their windows; they use also in their windows a thinlinen cloth, that is so oiled or gummed that it both keeps out the windand gives free admission to the light. 

OF THEIR MAGISTRATES

"Thirty families choose every year a magistrate, who was anciently calledthe Syphogrant, but is now called the Philarch; and over every tenSyphogrants, with the families subject to them, there is anothermagistrate, who was anciently called the Tranibore, but of late theArchphilarch. All the Syphogrants, who are in number two hundred, choosethe Prince out of a list of four who are named by the people of the fourdivisions of the city; but they take an oath, before they proceed to anelection, that they will choose him whom they think most fit for theoffice: they give him their voices secretly, so that it is not known forwhom every one gives his suffrage. The Prince is for life, unless he isremoved upon suspicion of some design to enslave the people. TheTranibors are new chosen every year, but yet they are, for the most part, continued; all their other magistrates are only annual. The Traniborsmeet every third day, and oftener if necessary, and consult with thePrince either concerning the affairs of the State in general, or suchprivate differences as may arise sometimes among the people, though thatfalls out but seldom. There are always two Syphogrants called into thecouncil chamber, and these are changed every day. It is a fundamentalrule of their government, that no conclusion can be made in anything thatrelates to the public till it has been first debated three several daysin their council. It is death for any to meet and consult concerning theState, unless it be either in their ordinary council, or in the assemblyof the whole body of the people. 

"These things have been so provided among them that the Prince and theTranibors may not conspire together to change the government and enslavethe people; and therefore when anything of great importance is set onfoot, it is sent to the Syphogrants, who, after they have communicated itto the families that belong to their divisions, and have considered itamong themselves, make report to the senate; and, upon great occasions, the matter is referred to the council of the whole island. One ruleobserved in their council is, never to debate a thing on the same day inwhich it is first proposed; for that is always referred to the nextmeeting, that so men may not rashly and in the heat of discourse engagethemselves too soon, which might bias them so much that, instead ofconsulting the good of the public, they might rather study to supporttheir first opinions, and by a perverse and preposterous sort of shamehazard their country rather than endanger their own reputation, orventure the being suspected to have wanted foresight in the expedientsthat they at first proposed; and therefore, to prevent this, they takecare that they may rather be deliberate than sudden in their motions. 

OF THEIR TRADES, AND MANNER OF LIFE

"Agriculture is that which is so universally understood among them thatno person, either man or woman, is ignorant of it; they are instructed init from their childhood, partly by what they learn at school, and partlyby 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 itthemselves. Besides agriculture, which is so common to them all, everyman has some peculiar trade to which he applies himself; such as themanufacture of wool or flax, masonry, smith's work, or carpenter's work;for there is no sort of trade that is in great esteem among them. Throughout the island they wear the same sort of clothes, without anyother distinction except what is necessary to distinguish the two sexesand the married and unmarried. The fashion never alters, and as it isneither disagreeable nor uneasy, so it is suited to the climate, andcalculated both for their summers and winters. Every family makes theirown clothes; but all among them, women as well as men, learn one or otherof the trades formerly mentioned. Women, for the most part, deal in wooland flax, which suit best with their weakness, leaving the ruder tradesto the men. The same trade generally passes down from father to son, inclinations often following descent: but if any man's genius liesanother way he is, by adoption, translated into a family that deals inthe trade to which he is inclined; and when that is to be done, care istaken, not only by his father, but by the magistrate, that he may be putto a discreet and good man: and if, after a person has learned one trade, he desires to acquire another, that is also allowed, and is managed inthe same manner as the former. When he has learned both, he follows thatwhich he likes best, unless the public has more occasion for the other. 

The chief, and almost the only, business of the Syphogrants is to takecare that no man may live idle, but that every one may follow his tradediligently; yet they do not wear themselves out with perpetual toil frommorning to night, as if they were beasts of burden, which as it is indeeda heavy slavery, so it is everywhere the common course of life amongstall mechanics except the Utopians: but they, dividing the day and nightinto twenty-four hours, appoint six of these for work, three of which arebefore dinner and three after; they then sup, and at eight o'clock, counting from noon, go to bed and sleep eight hours: the rest of theirtime, besides that taken up in work, eating, and sleeping, is left toevery man's discretion; yet they are not to abuse that interval to luxuryand idleness, but must employ it in some proper exercise, according totheir various inclinations, which is, for the most part, reading. It isordinary to have public lectures every morning before daybreak, at whichnone are obliged to appear but those who are marked out for literature;yet a great many, both men and women, of all ranks, go to hear lecturesof one sort or other, according to their inclinations: but if others thatare not made for contemplation, choose rather to employ themselves atthat time in their trades, as many of them do, they are not hindered, butare rather commended, as men that take care to serve their country. Aftersupper they spend an hour in some diversion, in summer in their gardens, and in winter in the halls where they eat, where they entertain eachother either with music or discourse. They do not so much as know dice, or any such foolish and mischievous games. They have, however, two sortsof games not unlike our chess; the one is between several numbers, inwhich one number, as it were, consumes another; the other resembles abattle between the virtues and the vices, in which the enmity in thevices among themselves, and their agreement against virtue, is notunpleasantly represented; together with the special opposition betweenthe particular virtues and vices; as also the methods by which viceeither openly assaults or secretly undermines virtue; and virtue, on theother hand, resists it. But the time appointed for labour is to benarrowly examined, otherwise you may imagine that since there are onlysix hours appointed for work, they may fall under a scarcity of necessaryprovisions: but it is so far from being true that this time is notsufficient for supplying them with plenty of all things, either necessaryor convenient, that it is rather too much; and this you will easilyapprehend if you consider how great a part of all other nations is quiteidle. First, women generally do little, who are the half of mankind; andif some few women are diligent, their husbands are idle: then considerthe great company of idle priests, and of those that are called religiousmen; add to these all rich men, chiefly those that have estates in land, who are called noblemen and gentlemen, together with their families, madeup of idle persons, that are kept more for show than use; add to theseall those strong and lusty beggars that go about pretending some diseasein excuse for their begging; and upon the whole account you will findthat the number of those by whose labours mankind is supplied is muchless than you perhaps imagined: then consider how few of those that workare employed in labours that are of real service, for we, who measure allthings by money, give rise to many trades that are both vain andsuperfluous, and serve only to support riot and luxury: for if those whowork were employed only in such things as the conveniences of liferequire, there would be such an abundance of them that the prices of themwould so sink that tradesmen could not be maintained by their gains; ifall those who labour about useless things were set to more profitableemployments, and if all they that languish out their lives in sloth andidleness (every one of whom consumes as much as any two of the men thatare at work) were forced to labour, you may easily imagine that a smallproportion of time would serve for doing all that is either necessary, profitable, or pleasant to mankind, especially while pleasure is keptwithin its due bounds: this appears very plainly in Utopia; for there, ina great city, and in all the territory that lies round it, you can scarcefind five hundred, either men or women, by their age and strength capableof labour, that are not engaged in it. Even the Syphogrants, thoughexcused by the law, yet do not excuse themselves, but work, that by theirexamples they may excite the industry of the rest of the people; the likeexemption is allowed to those who, being recommended to the people by thepriests, are, by the secret suffrages of the Syphogrants, privileged fromlabour, that they may apply themselves wholly to study; and if any ofthese fall short of those hopes that they seemed at first to give, theyare obliged to return to work; and sometimes a mechanic that so employshis leisure hours as to make a considerable advancement in learning iseased from being a tradesman and ranked among their learned men. Out ofthese they choose their ambassadors, their priests, their Tranibors, andthe Prince himself, anciently called their Barzenes, but is called oflate their Ademus. 

"And thus from the great numbers among them that are neither suffered tobe idle nor to be employed in any fruitless labour, you may easily makethe estimate how much may be done in those few hours in which they areobliged to labour. But, besides all that has been already said, it is tobe considered that the needful arts among them are managed with lesslabour than anywhere else. The building or the repairing of houses amongus employ many hands, because often a thriftless heir suffers a housethat his father built to fall into decay, so that his successor must, ata great cost, repair that which he might have kept up with a smallcharge; it frequently happens that the same house which one person builtat a vast expense is neglected by another, who thinks he has a moredelicate sense of the beauties of architecture, and he, suffering it tofall to ruin, builds another at no less charge. But among the Utopiansall things are so regulated that men very seldom build upon a new pieceof ground, and are not only very quick in repairing their houses, butshow their foresight in preventing their decay, so that their buildingsare preserved very long with but very little labour, and thus thebuilders, to whom that care belongs, are often without employment, exceptthe hewing of timber and the squaring of stones, that the materials maybe in readiness for raising a building very suddenly when there is anyoccasion for it. As to their clothes, observe how little work is spentin them; while they are at labour they are clothed with leather andskins, cut carelessly about them, which will last seven years, and whenthey 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 thewool. As they need less woollen cloth than is used anywhere else, sothat which they make use of is much less costly; they use linen clothmore, but that is prepared with less labour, and they value cloth only bythe whiteness of the linen or the cleanness of the wool, without muchregard to the fineness of the thread. While in other places four or fiveupper garments of woollen cloth of different colours, and as many vestsof silk, will scarce serve one man, and while those that are nicer thinkten too few, every man there is content with one, which very often serveshim 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 onejot the better appearance for it. And thus, since they are all employedin some useful labour, and since they content themselves with fewerthings, it falls out that there is a great abundance of all things amongthem; so that it frequently happens that, for want of other work, vastnumbers are sent out to mend the highways; but when no public undertakingis to be performed, the hours of working are lessened. The magistratesnever engage the people in unnecessary labour, since the chief end of theconstitution is to regulate labour by the necessities of the public, andto allow the people as much time as is necessary for the improvement oftheir minds, in which they think the happiness of life consists. 

OF THEIR TRAFFIC

"But it is now time to explain to you the mutual intercourse of thispeople, their commerce, and the rules by which all things are distributedamong them. 

"As their cities are composed of families, so their families are made upof those that are nearly related to one another. Their women, when theygrow up, are married out, but all the males, both children andgrand-children, live still in the same house, in great obedience to theircommon parent, unless age has weakened his understanding, and in thatcase he that is next to him in age comes in his room; but lest any cityshould become either too great, or by any accident be dispeopled, provision is made that none of their cities may contain above sixthousand families, besides those of the country around it. No family mayhave less than ten and more than sixteen persons in it, but there can beno determined number for the children under age; this rule is easilyobserved by removing some of the children of a more fruitful couple toany other family that does not abound so much in them. By the same rulethey supply cities that do not increase so fast from others that breedfaster; and if there is any increase over the whole island, then theydraw out a number of their citizens out of the several towns and sendthem over to the neighbouring continent, where, if they find that theinhabitants have more soil than they can well cultivate, they fix acolony, taking the inhabitants into their society if they are willing tolive with them; and where they do that of their own accord, they quicklyenter into their method of life and conform to their rules, and thisproves a happiness to both 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 drivethem out of those bounds which they mark out for themselves, and useforce if they resist, for they account it a very just cause of war for anation to hinder others from possessing a part of that soil of which theymake no use, but which is suffered to lie idle and uncultivated, sinceevery man has, by the law of nature, a right to such a waste portion ofthe earth as is necessary for his subsistence. If an accident has solessened the number of the inhabitants of any of their towns that itcannot be made up from the other towns of the island without diminishingthem too much (which is said to have fallen out but twice since they werefirst a people, when great numbers were carried off by the plague), theloss is then supplied by recalling as many as are wanted from theircolonies, for they will abandon these rather than suffer the towns in theisland to sink too low. 

"But to return to their manner of living in society: the oldest man ofevery family, as has been already said, is its governor; wives servetheir husbands, and children their parents, and always the younger servesthe elder. Every city is divided into four equal parts, and in themiddle of each there is a market-place. What is brought thither, andmanufactured by the several families, is carried from thence to housesappointed for that purpose, in which all things of a sort are laid bythemselves; and thither every father goes, and takes whatsoever he or hisfamily stand in need of, without either paying for it or leaving anythingin exchange. There is no reason for giving a denial to any person, sincethere is such plenty of everything among them; and there is no danger ofa man's asking for more than he needs; they have no inducements to dothis, since they are sure they shall always be supplied: it is the fearof want that makes any of the whole race of animals either greedy orravenous; but, besides fear, there is in man a pride that makes him fancyit a particular glory to excel others in pomp and excess; but by the lawsof the Utopians, there is no room for this. Near these markets there areothers for all sorts of provisions, 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 killingtheir beasts and for washing away their filth, which is done by theirslaves; for they suffer none of their citizens to kill their cattle, because they think that pity and good-nature, which are among the best ofthose affections that are born with us, are much impaired by thebutchering of animals; nor do they suffer anything that is foul orunclean to be brought within their towns, lest the air should be infectedby ill-smells, which might prejudice their health. In every street thereare great halls, that lie at an equal distance from each other, distinguished by particular names. The Syphogrants dwell in those thatare set over thirty families, fifteen lying on one side of it, and asmany on the other. In these halls they all meet and have their repasts;the stewards of every one of them come to the market-place at anappointed hour, and according to the number of those that belong to thehall they carry home provisions. But they take more care of their sickthan of any others; these are lodged and provided for in publichospitals. They have belonging to every town four hospitals, that arebuilt without their walls, and are so large that they may pass for littletowns; 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 ofthem as are sick of infectious diseases may be kept so far from the restthat there can be no danger of contagion. The hospitals are furnishedand stored with all things that are convenient for the ease and recoveryof the sick; and those that are put in them are looked after with suchtender and watchful care, and are so constantly attended by their skilfulphysicians, that as none is sent to them against their will, so there isscarce one in a whole town that, if he should fall ill, would not chooserather to go thither than lie sick at home. 

"After the steward of the hospitals has taken for the sick whatsoever thephysician prescribes, then the best things that are left in the marketare distributed equally among the halls in proportion to their numbers;only, in the first place, they serve the Prince, the Chief Priest, theTranibors, the Ambassadors, and strangers, if there are any, which, indeed, falls out but seldom, and for whom there are houses, wellfurnished, particularly appointed for their reception when they comeamong them. At the hours of dinner and supper the whole Syphograntybeing called together by sound of trumpet, they meet and eat together, except only such as are in the hospitals or lie sick at home. Yet, afterthe halls are served, no man is hindered to carry provisions home fromthe market-place, for they know that none does that but for some goodreason; for though any that will may eat at home, yet none does itwillingly, since it is both ridiculous and foolish for any to givethemselves the trouble to make ready an ill dinner at home when there isa much more plentiful one made ready for him so near hand. All theuneasy and sordid services about these halls are performed by theirslaves; but the dressing and cooking their meat, and the ordering theirtables, belong only to the women, all those of every family taking it byturns. They sit at three or more tables, according to their number; themen sit towards the wall, and the women sit on the other side, that ifany of them should be taken suddenly ill, which is no uncommon caseamongst women with child, she may, without disturbing the rest, rise andgo to the nurses' room (who are there with the sucking children), wherethere is always clean water at hand and cradles, in which they may laythe young children if there is occasion for it, and a fire, that they mayshift and dress them before it. Every child is nursed by its own motherif death or sickness does not intervene; and in that case theSyphogrants' wives find out a nurse quickly, which is no hard matter, forany one that can do it offers herself cheerfully; for as they are muchinclined to that piece of mercy, so the child whom they nurse considersthe nurse as its mother. All the children under five years old sit amongthe nurses; the rest of the younger sort of both sexes, till they are fitfor marriage, either serve those that sit at table, or, if they are notstrong enough for that, stand by them in great silence and eat what isgiven them; nor have they any other formality of dining. In the middleof the first table, which stands across the upper end of the hall, sitthe Syphogrant and his wife, for that is the chief and most conspicuousplace; next to him sit two of the most ancient, for there go always fourto a mess. If there is a temple within the Syphogranty, the Priest andhis wife sit with the Syphogrant above all the rest; next them there is amixture of old and young, who are so placed that as the young are setnear others, so they are mixed with the more ancient; which, they say, was appointed on this account: that the gravity of the old people, andthe reverence that is due to them, might restrain the younger from allindecent words and gestures. Dishes are not served up to the whole tableat first, but the best are first set before the old, whose seats aredistinguished from the young, and, after them, all the rest are servedalike. The old men distribute to the younger any curious meats thathappen to be set before them, if there is not such an abundance of themthat the whole company may be served alike. 

"Thus old men are honoured with a particular respect, yet all the restfare as well as they. Both dinner and supper are begun with some lectureof morality that is read to them; but it is so short that it is nottedious nor uneasy to them to hear it. From hence the old men takeoccasion to entertain those about them with some useful and pleasantenlargements; but they do not engross the whole discourse so tothemselves during their meals that the younger may not put in for ashare; on the contrary, they engage them to talk, that so they may, inthat free way of conversation, find out the force of every one's spiritand observe his temper. They despatch their dinners quickly, but sitlong at supper, because they go to work after the one, and are to sleepafter the other, during which they think the stomach carries on theconcoction more vigorously. They never sup without music, and there isalways fruit served up after meat; while they are at table some burnperfumes and sprinkle about fragrant ointments and sweet waters--inshort, they want nothing that may cheer up their spirits; they givethemselves a large allowance that way, and indulge themselves in all suchpleasures as are attended with no inconvenience. Thus do those that arein the towns live together; but in the country, where they live at agreat distance, every one eats at home, and no family wants any necessarysort of provision, for it is from them that provisions are sent untothose that live in the towns. 

OF THE TRAVELLING OF THE UTOPIANS

If any man 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 leavevery easily from the Syphogrant and Tranibors, when there is noparticular occasion for him at home. Such as travel carry with them apassport from the Prince, which both certifies the licence that isgranted for travelling, and limits the time of their return. They arefurnished with a waggon and a slave, who drives the oxen and looks afterthem; but, unless there are women in the company, the waggon is sent backat the end of the journey as a needless encumbrance. While they are onthe road they carry no provisions with them, yet they want for nothing, but are everywhere treated as if they were at home. If they stay in anyplace longer than a night, every one follows his proper occupation, andis very well used by those of his own trade; but if any man goes out ofthe city to which he belongs without leave, and is found rambling withouta passport, he is severely treated, he is punished as a fugitive, andsent home disgracefully; and, if he falls again into the like fault, iscondemned to slavery. If any man has a mind to travel only over theprecinct of his own city, he may freely do it, with his father'spermission and his wife's consent; but when he comes into any of thecountry houses, if he expects to be entertained by them, he must labourwith them and conform to their rules; and if he does this, he may freelygo over the whole precinct, being then as useful to the city to which hebelongs as if he were still within it. Thus you see that there are noidle persons among them, nor pretences of excusing any from labour. Thereare no taverns, no ale-houses, nor stews among them, nor any otheroccasions of corrupting each other, of getting into corners, or formingthemselves into parties; all men live in full view, so that all areobliged both to perform their ordinary task and to employ themselves wellin their spare hours; and it is certain that a people thus ordered mustlive in great abundance of all things, and these being equallydistributed among them, no man can want or be obliged to beg. 

"In their great council at Amaurot, to which there are three sent fromevery town once a year, they examine what towns abound in provisions andwhat are under any scarcity, that so the one may be furnished from theother; and this is done freely, without any sort of exchange; for, according to their plenty or scarcity, they supply or are supplied fromone another, so that indeed the whole island is, as it were, one family. When they have thus taken care of their whole country, and laid up storesfor two years (which they do to prevent the ill consequences of anunfavourable season), they order an exportation of the overplus, both ofcorn, honey, wool, flax, wood, wax, tallow, leather, and cattle, whichthey send out, commonly in great quantities, to other nations. Theyorder a seventh part of all these goods to be freely given to the poor ofthe countries to which they send them, and sell the rest at moderaterates; and by this exchange they not only bring back those few thingsthat 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 thistrade so long, it is not to be imagined how vast a treasure they have gotamong them, so that now they do not much care whether they sell off theirmerchandise for money in hand or upon trust. A great part of theirtreasure is now in bonds; but in all their contracts no private manstands bound, but the writing runs in the name of the town; and the townsthat owe them money raise it from those private hands that owe it tothem, lay it up in their public chamber, or enjoy the profit of it tillthe Utopians call for it; and they choose rather to let the greatest partof it lie in their hands, who make advantage by it, than to call for itthemselves; but if they see that any of their other neighbours stand morein need of it, then they call it in and lend it to them. Whenever theyare engaged in war, which is the only occasion in which their treasurecan be usefully employed, they make use of it themselves; in greatextremities or sudden accidents they employ it in hiring foreign troops, whom they more willingly expose to danger than their own people; theygive them great pay, knowing well that this will work even on theirenemies; that it will engage them either to betray their own side, or, atleast, to desert it; and that it is the best means of raising mutualjealousies among them. For this end they have an incredible treasure;but they do not keep it as a treasure, but in such a manner as I amalmost afraid to tell, lest you think it so extravagant as to be hardlycredible. This I have the more reason to apprehend because, if I had notseen it myself, I could not have been easily persuaded to have believedit upon any man's report. 

"It is certain that all things appear incredible to us in proportion asthey differ from known customs; but one who can judge aright will notwonder to find that, since their constitution differs so much from ours, their value of gold and silver should be measured by a very differentstandard; for since they have no use for money among themselves, but keepit as a provision against events which seldom happen, and between whichthere are generally long intervening intervals, they value it no fartherthan it deserves--that is, in proportion to its use. So that it is plainthey must prefer iron either to gold or silver, for men can no more livewithout iron than without fire or water; but Nature has marked out no usefor the other metals so essential as not easily to be dispensed with. Thefolly of men has enhanced the value of gold and silver because of theirscarcity; whereas, on the contrary, it is their opinion that Nature, asan indulgent parent, has freely given us all the best things in greatabundance, such as water and earth, but has laid up and hid from us thethings that are vain and useless. 

"If these metals were laid up in any tower in the kingdom it would raisea jealousy of the Prince and Senate, and give birth to that foolishmistrust into which the people are apt to fall--a jealousy of theirintending to sacrifice the interest of the public to their own privateadvantage. 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 unwillingto let the plate be run down, if a war made it necessary, to employ it inpaying their soldiers. To prevent all these inconveniences they havefallen upon an expedient which, as it agrees with their other policy, sois it very different from ours, and will scarce gain belief among us whovalue gold so much, and lay it up so carefully. They eat and drink outof vessels of earth or glass, which make an agreeable appearance, thoughformed of brittle materials; while they make their chamber-pots and close-stools of gold and silver, and that not only in their public halls but intheir private houses. Of the same metals they likewise make chains andfetters for their slaves, to some of which, as a badge of infamy, theyhang an earring of gold, and make others wear a chain or a coronet of thesame metal; and thus they take care by all possible means to render goldand silver of no esteem; and from hence it is that while other nationspart with their gold and silver as unwillingly as if one tore out theirbowels, those of Utopia would look on their giving in all they possess ofthose metals (when there were any use for them) but as the parting with atrifle, or as we would esteem the loss of a penny! They find pearls ontheir coasts, and diamonds and carbuncles on their rocks; they do notlook after them, but, if they find them by chance, they polish them, andwith them they adorn their children, who are delighted with them, andglory in them during their childhood; but when they grow to years, andsee 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 muchashamed to use them afterwards as children among us, when they come toyears, are of their puppets and other toys. 

"I never saw a clearer instance of the opposite impressions thatdifferent customs make on people than I observed in the ambassadors ofthe Anemolians, who came to Amaurot when I was there. As they came totreat of affairs of great consequence, the deputies from several townsmet together to wait for their coming. The ambassadors of the nationsthat lie near Utopia, knowing their customs, and that fine clothes are inno esteem among them, that silk is despised, and gold is a badge ofinfamy, used to come very modestly clothed; but the Anemolians, lyingmore remote, and having had little commerce with them, understanding thatthey were coarsely clothed, and all in the same manner, took it forgranted that they had none of those fine things among them of which theymade no use; and they, being a vainglorious rather than a wise people, resolved to set themselves out with so much pomp that they should looklike gods, and strike the eyes of the poor Utopians with their splendour. Thus three ambassadors made their entry with a hundred attendants, allclad in garments of different colours, and the greater part in silk; theambassadors themselves, who were of the nobility of their country, werein cloth-of-gold, and adorned with massy chains, earrings and rings ofgold; their caps were covered with bracelets set full of pearls and othergems--in a word, they were set out with all those things that among theUtopians were either the badges of slavery, the marks of infamy, or theplaythings of children. It was not unpleasant to see, on the one side, how they looked big, when they compared their rich habits with the plainclothes of the Utopians, who were come out in great numbers to see themmake their entry; and, on the other, to observe how much they weremistaken in the impression which they hoped this pomp would have made onthem. It appeared so ridiculous a show to all that had never stirred outof their country, and had not seen the customs of other nations, thatthough they paid some reverence to those that were the most meanly clad, as if they had been the ambassadors, yet when they saw the ambassadorsthemselves so full of gold and chains, they looked upon them as slaves, and forbore to treat them with reverence. You might have seen thechildren who were grown big enough to despise their playthings, and whohad thrown away their jewels, call to their mothers, push them gently, and cry out, 'See that great fool, that wears pearls and gems as if hewere yet a child!' while their mothers very innocently replied, 'Holdyour peace! this, I believe, is one of the ambassadors' fools. ' Otherscensured the fashion of their chains, and observed, 'That they were of nouse, for they were too slight to bind their slaves, who could easilybreak them; and, besides, hung so loose about them that they thought iteasy to throw their away, and so get from them. " But after theambassadors had stayed a day among them, and saw so vast a quantity ofgold in their houses (which was as much despised by them as it wasesteemed in other nations), and beheld more gold and silver in the chainsand fetters of one slave than all their ornaments amounted to, theirplumes fell, and they were ashamed of all that glory for which they hadformed valued themselves, and accordingly laid it aside--a resolutionthat they immediately took when, on their engaging in some free discoursewith the Utopians, they discovered their sense of such things and theirother customs. The Utopians wonder how any man should be so much takenwith the glaring doubtful lustre of a jewel or a stone, that can look upto a star or to the sun himself; or how any should value himself becausehis cloth is made of a finer thread; for, how fine soever that thread maybe, it was once no better than the fleece of a sheep, and that sheep, wasa sheep still, for all its wearing it. They wonder much to hear thatgold, which in itself is so useless a thing, should be everywhere so muchesteemed that even man, for whom it was made, and by whom it has itsvalue, should yet be thought of less value than this metal; that a man oflead, who has no more sense than a log of wood, and is as bad as he isfoolish, should have many wise and good men to serve him, only because hehas a great heap of that metal; and that if it should happen that by someaccident or trick of law (which, sometimes produces as great changes aschance itself) all this wealth should pass from the master to the meanestvarlet of his whole family, he himself would very soon become one of hisservants, as if he were a thing that belonged to his wealth, and so werebound to follow its fortune! But they much more admire and detest thefolly of those who, when they see a rich man, though they neither owe himanything, nor are in any sort dependent on his bounty, yet, merelybecause he is rich, give him little less than divine honours, even thoughthey know him to be so covetous and base-minded that, notwithstanding allhis wealth, he will not part with one farthing of it to them as long ashe lives!

"These and such like notions have that people imbibed, partly from theireducation, being bred in a country whose customs and laws are opposite toall such foolish maxims, and partly from their learning and studies--forthough there are but few in any town that are so wholly excused fromlabour as to give themselves entirely up to their studies (these beingonly such persons as discover from their childhood an extraordinarycapacity and disposition for letters), yet their children and a greatpart of the nation, both men and women, are taught to spend those hoursin which they are not obliged to work in reading; and this they dothrough the whole progress of life. They have all their learning intheir own tongue, which is both a copious and pleasant language, and inwhich a man can fully express his mind; it runs over a great tract ofmany countries, but it is not equally pure in all places. They had neverso much as heard of the names of any of those philosophers that are sofamous in these parts of the world, before we went among them; and yetthey had made the same discoveries as the Greeks, both in music, logic, arithmetic, and geometry. But as they are almost in everything equal tothe ancient philosophers, so they far exceed our modern logicians forthey have never yet fallen upon the barbarous niceties that our youth areforced to learn in those trifling logical schools that are among us. Theyare so far from minding chimeras and fantastical images made in the mindthat none of them could comprehend what we meant when we talked to themof a man in the abstract as common to all men in particular (so thatthough we spoke of him as a thing that we could point at with ourfingers, yet none of them could perceive him) and yet distinct from everyone, as if he were some monstrous Colossus or giant; yet, for all thisignorance of these empty notions, they knew astronomy, and were perfectlyacquainted with the motions of the heavenly bodies; and have manyinstruments, well contrived and divided, by which they very accuratelycompute the course and positions of the sun, moon, and stars. But forthe cheat of divining by the stars, by their oppositions or conjunctions, it has not so much as entered into their thoughts. They have aparticular sagacity, founded upon much observation, in judging of theweather, by which they know when they may look for rain, wind, or otheralterations in the air; but as to the philosophy of these things, thecause of the saltness of the sea, of its ebbing and flowing, and of theoriginal and nature both of the heavens and the earth, they dispute ofthem partly as our ancient philosophers have done, and partly upon somenew hypothesis, in which, as they differ from them, so they do not in allthings agree among themselves. 

"As to moral philosophy, they have the same disputes among them as wehave here. They examine what are properly good, both for the body andthe mind; and whether any outward thing can be called truly _good_, or ifthat term belong only to the endowments of the soul. They inquire, likewise, into the nature of virtue and pleasure. But their chiefdispute is concerning the happiness of a man, and wherein itconsists--whether in some one thing or in a great many. They seem, indeed, more inclinable to that opinion that places, if not the whole, yet the chief part, of a man's happiness in pleasure; and, what may seemmore strange, they make use of arguments even from religion, notwithstanding its severity and roughness, for the support of thatopinion so indulgent to pleasure; for they never dispute concerninghappiness without fetching some arguments from the principles of religionas well as from natural reason, since without the former they reckon thatall our inquiries after happiness must be but conjectural and defective. 

"These are their religious principles:--That the soul of man is immortal, and that God of His goodness has designed that it should be happy; andthat He has, therefore, appointed rewards for good and virtuous actions, and punishments for vice, to be distributed after this life. Thoughthese principles of religion are conveyed down among them by tradition, they think that even reason itself determines a man to believe andacknowledge them; and freely confess that if these were taken away, noman would be so insensible as not to seek after pleasure by all possiblemeans, lawful or unlawful, using only this caution--that a lesserpleasure might not stand in the way of a greater, and that no pleasureought to be pursued that should draw a great deal of pain after it; forthey think it the maddest thing in the world to pursue virtue, that is asour and difficult thing, and not only to renounce the pleasures of life, but willingly to undergo much pain and trouble, if a man has no prospectof a reward. And what reward can there be for one that has passed hiswhole life, not only without pleasure, but in pain, if there is nothingto be expected after death? Yet they do not place happiness in all sortsof pleasures, but only in those that in themselves are good and honest. There is a party among them who place happiness in bare virtue; othersthink that our natures are conducted by virtue to happiness, as thatwhich is the chief good of man. They define virtue thus--that it is aliving according to Nature, and think that we are made by God for thatend; they believe that a man then follows the dictates of Nature when hepursues or avoids things according to the direction of reason. They saythat the first dictate of reason is the kindling in us a love andreverence for the Divine Majesty, to whom we owe both all that we haveand, all that we can ever hope for. In the next place, reason directs usto keep our minds as free from passion and as cheerful as we can, andthat we should consider ourselves as bound by the ties of good-nature andhumanity to use our utmost endeavours to help forward the happiness ofall other persons; for there never was any man such a morose and severepursuer of virtue, such an enemy to pleasure, that though he set hardrules for men to undergo, much pain, many watchings, and other rigors, yet did not at the same time advise them to do all they could in order torelieve and ease the miserable, and who did not represent gentleness andgood-nature as amiable dispositions. And from thence they infer that ifa 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 toease the miseries of others, to free from trouble and anxiety, infurnishing them with the comforts of life, in which pleasure consists)Nature much more vigorously leads them to do all this for himself. Alife of pleasure is either a real evil, and in that case we ought not toassist others in their pursuit of it, but, on the contrary, to keep themfrom it all we can, as from that which is most hurtful and deadly; or ifit is a good thing, so that we not only may but ought to help others toit, why, then, ought not a man to begin with himself? since no man can bemore bound to look after the good of another than after his own; forNature cannot direct us to be good and kind to others, and yet at thesame time to be unmerciful and cruel to ourselves. Thus as they definevirtue to be living according to Nature, so they imagine that Natureprompts all people on to seek after pleasure as the end of all they do. They also observe that in order to our supporting the pleasures of life, Nature inclines us to enter into society; for there is no man so muchraised above the rest of mankind as to be the only favourite of Nature, who, on the contrary, seems to have placed on a level all those thatbelong to the same species. Upon this they infer that no man ought toseek his own conveniences so eagerly as to prejudice others; andtherefore they think that not only all agreements between private personsought to be observed, but likewise that all those laws ought to be keptwhich either a good prince has published in due form, or to which apeople that is neither oppressed with tyranny nor circumvented by fraudhas consented, for distributing those conveniences of life which affordus all our pleasures. 

"They think it is an evidence of true wisdom for a man to pursue his ownadvantage as far as the laws allow it, they account it piety to preferthe public good to one's private concerns, but they think it unjust for aman to seek for pleasure by snatching another man's pleasures from him;and, on the contrary, they think it a sign of a gentle and good soul fora man to dispense with his own advantage for the good of others, and thatby this means a good man finds as much pleasure one way as he parts withanother; for as he may expect the like from others when he may come toneed it, so, if that should fail him, yet the sense of a good action, andthe reflections that he makes on the love and gratitude of those whom hehas so obliged, gives the mind more pleasure than the body could havefound in that from which it had restrained itself. They are alsopersuaded that God will make up the loss of those small pleasures with avast and endless joy, of which religion easily convinces a good soul. 

"Thus, upon an inquiry into the whole matter, they reckon that all ouractions, and even all our virtues, terminate in pleasure, as in our chiefend and greatest happiness; and they call every motion or state, eitherof body or mind, in which Nature teaches us to delight, a pleasure. Thusthey cautiously limit pleasure only to those appetites to which Natureleads us; for they say that Nature leads us only to those delights towhich reason, as well as sense, carries us, and by which we neitherinjure any other person nor lose the possession of greater pleasures, andof such as draw no troubles after them. But they look upon thosedelights which men by a foolish, though common, mistake call pleasure, asif they could change as easily the nature of things as the use of words, as things that greatly obstruct their real happiness, instead ofadvancing it, because they so entirely possess the minds of those thatare once captivated by them with a false notion of pleasure that there isno room left for pleasures of a truer or purer kind. 

"There are many things that in themselves have nothing that is trulydelightful; on the contrary, they have a good deal of bitterness in them;and yet, from our perverse appetites after forbidden objects, are notonly ranked among the pleasures, but are made even the greatest designs, of life. Among those who pursue these sophisticated pleasures theyreckon such as I mentioned before, who think themselves really the betterfor having fine clothes; in which they think they are doubly mistaken, both in the opinion they have of their clothes, and in that they have ofthemselves. For if you consider the use of clothes, why should a finethread be thought better than a coarse one? And yet these men, as ifthey had some real advantages beyond others, and did not owe them whollyto their mistakes, look big, seem to fancy themselves to be morevaluable, and imagine that a respect is due to them for the sake of arich garment, to which they would not have pretended if they had beenmore meanly clothed, and even resent it as an affront if that respect isnot paid them. It is also a great folly to be taken with outward marksof respect, which signify nothing; for what true or real pleasure can oneman find in another's standing bare or making legs to him? Will thebending another man's knees give ease to yours? and will the head's beingbare cure the madness of yours? And yet it is wonderful to see how thisfalse notion of pleasure bewitches many who delight themselves with thefancy of their nobility, and are pleased with this conceit--that they aredescended from ancestors who have been held for some successions rich, and who have had great possessions; for this is all that makes nobilityat present. Yet they do not think themselves a whit the less noble, though their immediate parents have left none of this wealth to them, orthough they themselves have squandered it away. The Utopians have nobetter 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 canpurchase one that is very extraordinary, especially if it be of that sortof stones that is then in greatest request, for the same sort is not atall times universally of the same value, nor will men buy it unless it bedismounted and taken out of the gold. The jeweller is then made to givegood security, and required solemnly to swear that the stone is true, that, by such an exact caution, a false one might not be bought insteadof a true; though, if you were to examine it, your eye could find nodifference between the counterfeit and that which is true; so that theyare all one to you, as much as if you were blind. Or can it be thoughtthat they who heap up a useless mass of wealth, not for any use that itis to bring them, but merely to please themselves with the contemplationof it, enjoy any true pleasure in it? The delight they find is only afalse shadow of joy. Those are no better whose error is somewhatdifferent from the former, and who hide it out of their fear of losingit; 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 usefuleither to its owner or to the rest of mankind? And yet the owner, havinghid it carefully, is glad, because he thinks he is now sure of it. If itshould be stole, the owner, though he might live perhaps ten years afterthe theft, of which he knew nothing, would find no difference between hishaving or losing it, for both ways it was equally useless to him. 

"Among those foolish pursuers of pleasure they reckon all that delight inhunting, in fowling, or gaming, of whose madness they have only heard, for they have no such things among them. But they have asked us, 'Whatsort of pleasure is it that men can find in throwing the dice?' (for ifthere were any pleasure in it, they think the doing it so often shouldgive one a surfeit of it); 'and what pleasure can one find in hearing thebarking and howling of dogs, which seem rather odious than pleasantsounds?' Nor can they comprehend the pleasure of seeing dogs run after ahare, more than of seeing one dog run after another; for if the seeingthem run is that which gives the pleasure, you have the sameentertainment to the eye on both these occasions, since that is the samein both cases. But if the pleasure lies in seeing the hare killed andtorn by the dogs, this ought rather to stir pity, that a weak, harmless, and fearful hare should be devoured by strong, fierce, and cruel dogs. Therefore all this business of hunting is, among the Utopians, turnedover to their butchers, and those, as has been already said, are allslaves, and they look on hunting as one of the basest parts of abutcher's work, for they account it both more profitable and more decentto kill those beasts that are more necessary and useful to mankind, whereas the killing and tearing of so small and miserable an animal canonly attract the huntsman with a false show of pleasure, from which hecan reap but small advantage. They look on the desire of the bloodshed, even of beasts, as a mark of a mind that is already corrupted withcruelty, or that at least, by too frequent returns of so brutal apleasure, must degenerate into it. 

"Thus though the rabble of mankind look upon these, and on innumerableother things of the same nature, as pleasures, the Utopians, on thecontrary, observing that there is nothing in them truly pleasant, conclude that they are not to be reckoned among pleasures; for thoughthese things may create some tickling in the senses (which seems to be atrue notion of pleasure), yet they imagine that this does not arise fromthe thing itself, but from a depraved custom, which may so vitiate aman's taste that bitter things may pass for sweet, as women with childthink pitch or tallow taste sweeter than honey; but as a man's sense, when corrupted either by a disease or some ill habit, does not change thenature of other things, so neither can it change the nature of pleasure. 

"They reckon up several sorts of pleasures, which they call true ones;some belong to the body, and others to the mind. The pleasures of themind lie in knowledge, and in that delight which the contemplation oftruth carries with it; to which they add the joyful reflections on a well-spent life, and the assured hopes of a future happiness. They divide thepleasures of the body into two sorts--the one is that which gives oursenses some real delight, and is performed either by recruiting Natureand supplying those parts which feed the internal heat of life by eatingand drinking, or when Nature is eased of any surcharge that oppresses it, when we are relieved from sudden pain, or that which arises fromsatisfying the appetite which Nature has wisely given to lead us to thepropagation of the species. There is another kind of pleasure thatarises neither from our receiving what the body requires, nor its beingrelieved when overcharged, and yet, by a secret unseen virtue, affectsthe senses, raises the passions, and strikes the mind with generousimpressions--this is, the pleasure that arises from music. Another kindof bodily pleasure is that which results from an undisturbed and vigorousconstitution of body, when life and active spirits seem to actuate everypart. This lively health, when entirely free from all mixture of pain, of itself gives an inward pleasure, independent of all external objectsof delight; and though this pleasure does not so powerfully affect us, nor act so strongly on the senses as some of the others, yet it may beesteemed as the greatest of all pleasures; and almost all the Utopiansreckon it the foundation and basis of all the other joys of life, sincethis alone makes the state of life easy and desirable, and when this iswanting, a man is really capable of no other pleasure. They look uponfreedom from pain, if it does not rise from perfect health, to be a stateof stupidity rather than of pleasure. This subject has been verynarrowly canvassed among them, and it has been debated whether a firm andentire health could be called a pleasure or not. Some have thought thatthere was no pleasure but what was 'excited' by some sensible motion inthe body. But this opinion has been long ago excluded from among them;so that now they almost universally agree that health is the greatest ofall bodily pleasures; and that as there is a pain in sickness which is asopposite in its nature to pleasure as sickness itself is to health, sothey hold that health is accompanied with pleasure. And if any shouldsay that sickness is not really pain, but that it only carries pain alongwith it, they look upon that as a fetch of subtlety that does not muchalter the matter. It is all one, in their opinion, whether it be saidthat health is in itself a pleasure, or that it begets a pleasure, asfire gives heat, so it be granted that all those whose health is entirehave a true pleasure in the enjoyment of it. And they reason thus:--'Whatis the pleasure of eating, but that a man's health, which had beenweakened, does, with the assistance of food, drive away hunger, and sorecruiting itself, recovers its former vigour? And being thus refreshedit finds a pleasure in that conflict; and if the conflict is pleasure, the victory must yet breed a greater pleasure, except we fancy that itbecomes stupid as soon as it has obtained that which it pursued, and soneither knows nor rejoices in its own welfare. ' If it is said thathealth cannot be felt, they absolutely deny it; for what man is inhealth, that does not perceive it when he is awake? Is there any manthat is so dull and stupid as not to acknowledge that he feels a delightin health? And what is delight but another name for pleasure?

"But, of all pleasures, they esteem those to be most valuable that lie inthe mind, the chief of which arise out of true virtue and the witness ofa good conscience. They account health the chief pleasure that belongsto the body; for they think that the pleasure of eating and drinking, andall the other delights of sense, are only so far desirable as they giveor maintain health; but they are not pleasant in themselves otherwisethan as they resist those impressions that our natural infirmities arestill making upon us. For as a wise man desires rather to avoid diseasesthan to take physic, and to be freed from pain rather than to find easeby remedies, so it is more desirable not to need this sort of pleasurethan to be obliged to indulge it. If any man imagines that there is areal happiness in these enjoyments, he must then confess that he would bethe happiest of all men if he were to lead his life in perpetual hunger, thirst, and itching, and, by consequence, in perpetual eating, drinking, and scratching himself; which any one may easily see would be not only abase, but a miserable, state of a life. These are, indeed, the lowest ofpleasures, and the least pure, for we can never relish them but when theyare mixed with the contrary pains. The pain of hunger must give us thepleasure of eating, and here the pain out-balances the pleasure. And asthe pain is more vehement, so it lasts much longer; for as it beginsbefore the pleasure, so it does not cease but with the pleasure thatextinguishes it, and both expire together. They think, therefore, noneof those pleasures are to be valued any further than as they arenecessary; yet they rejoice in them, and with due gratitude acknowledgethe tenderness of the great Author of Nature, who has planted in usappetites, by which those things that are necessary for our preservationare likewise made pleasant to us. For how miserable a thing would lifebe if those daily diseases of hunger and thirst were to be carried off bysuch bitter drugs as we must use for those diseases that return seldomerupon us! And thus these pleasant, as well as proper, gifts of Naturemaintain the strength and the sprightliness of our bodies. 

"They also entertain themselves with the other delights let in at theireyes, their ears, and their nostrils as the pleasant relishes andseasoning of life, which Nature seems to have marked out peculiarly forman, since no other sort of animals contemplates the figure and beauty ofthe universe, nor is delighted with smells any further than as theydistinguish meats by them; nor do they apprehend the concords or discordsof sound. Yet, in all pleasures whatsoever, they take care that a lesserjoy does not hinder a greater, and that pleasure may never breed pain, which they think always follows dishonest pleasures. But they think itmadness for a man to wear out the beauty of his face or the force of hisnatural strength, to corrupt the sprightliness of his body by sloth andlaziness, or to waste it by fasting; that it is madness to weaken thestrength of his constitution and reject the other delights of life, unless by renouncing his own satisfaction he can either serve the publicor promote the happiness of others, for which he expects a greaterrecompense from God. So that they look on such a course of life as themark of a mind that is both cruel to itself and ungrateful to the Authorof Nature, as if we would not be beholden to Him for His favours, andtherefore rejects all His blessings; as one who should afflict himselffor the empty shadow of virtue, or for no better end than to renderhimself capable of bearing those misfortunes which possibly will neverhappen. 

"This is their notion of virtue and of pleasure: they think that no man'sreason can carry him to a truer idea of them unless some discovery fromheaven should inspire him with sublimer notions. I have not now theleisure to examine whether they think right or wrong in this matter; nordo I judge it necessary, for I have only undertaken to give you anaccount of their constitution, but not to defend all their principles. Iam sure that whatever may be said of their notions, there is not in thewhole world either a better people or a happier government. Their bodiesare vigorous and lively; and though they are but of a middle stature, andhave neither the fruitfullest soil nor the purest air in the world; yetthey fortify themselves so well, by their temperate course of life, against the unhealthiness of their air, and by their industry they socultivate their soil, that there is nowhere to be seen a greaterincrease, both of corn and cattle, nor are there anywhere healthier menand freer from diseases; for one may there see reduced to practice notonly all the art that the husbandman employs in manuring and improving anill soil, but whole woods plucked up by the roots, and in other placesnew ones planted, where there were none before. Their principal motivefor this is the convenience of carriage, that their timber may be eithernear their towns or growing on the banks of the sea, or of some rivers, so as to be floated to them; for it is a harder work to carry wood at anydistance over land than corn. The people are industrious, apt to learn, as well as cheerful and pleasant, and none can endure more labour when itis necessary; but, except in that case, they love their ease. They areunwearied pursuers of knowledge; for when we had given them some hints ofthe learning and discipline of the Greeks, concerning whom we onlyinstructed them (for we know that there was nothing among the Romans, except their historians and their poets, that they would value much), itwas 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 theirimportunity than out of any hopes of their reaping from it any greatadvantage: but, after a very short trial, we found they made suchprogress, that we saw our labour was like to be more successful than wecould have expected: they learned to write their characters and topronounce their language so exactly, had so quick an apprehension, theyremembered it so faithfully, and became so ready and correct in the useof it, that it would have looked like a miracle if the greater part ofthose whom we taught had not been men both of extraordinary capacity andof a fit age for instruction: they were, for the greatest part, chosenfrom among their learned men by their chief council, though some studiedit of their own accord. In three years' time they became masters of thewhole language, so that they read the best of the Greek authors veryexactly. I am, indeed, apt to think that they learned that language themore easily from its having some relation to their own. I believe thatthey were a colony of the Greeks; for though their language comes nearerthe Persian, yet they retain many names, both for their towns andmagistrates, that are of Greek derivation. I happened to carry a greatmany books with me, instead of merchandise, when I sailed my fourthvoyage; for I was so far from thinking of soon coming back, that I ratherthought never to have returned at all, and I gave them all my books, among which were many of Plato's and some of Aristotle's works: I hadalso Theophrastus on Plants, which, to my great regret, was imperfect;for having laid it carelessly by, while we were at sea, a monkey hadseized upon it, and in many places torn out the leaves. They have nobooks of grammar but Lascares, for I did not carry Theodorus with me; norhave they any dictionaries but Hesichius and Dioscerides. They esteemPlutarch highly, and were much taken with Lucian's wit and with hispleasant way of writing. As for the poets, they have Aristophanes, Homer, Euripides, and Sophocles of Aldus's edition; and for historians, Thucydides, Herodotus, and Herodian. One of my companions, ThriciusApinatus, happened to carry with him some of Hippocrates's works andGalen's Microtechne, which they hold in great estimation; for thoughthere 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 knowledgeof it one of the pleasantest and most profitable parts of philosophy, bywhich, as they search into the secrets of nature, so they not only findthis study highly agreeable, but think that such inquiries are veryacceptable to the Author of nature; and imagine, that as He, like theinventors of curious engines amongst mankind, has exposed this greatmachine of the universe to the view of the only creatures capable ofcontemplating it, so an exact and curious observer, who admires Hisworkmanship, is much more acceptable to Him than one of the herd, who, like a beast incapable of reason, looks on this glorious scene with theeyes of a dull and unconcerned spectator. 

"The minds of the Utopians, when fenced with a love for learning, arevery ingenious in discovering all such arts as are necessary to carry itto perfection. Two things they owe to us, the manufacture of paper andthe art of printing; yet they are not so entirely indebted to us forthese discoveries but that a great part of the invention was their own. We showed them some books printed by Aldus, we explained to them the wayof making paper and the mystery of printing; but, as we had neverpractised these arts, we described them in a crude and superficialmanner. They seized the hints we gave them; and though at first theycould not arrive at perfection, yet by making many essays they at lastfound out and corrected all their errors and conquered every difficulty. Before this they only wrote on parchment, on reeds, or on the barks oftrees; but now they have established the manufactures of paper and set upprinting presses, so that, if they had but a good number of Greekauthors, they would be quickly supplied with many copies of them: atpresent, though they have no more than those I have mentioned, yet, byseveral impressions, they have multiplied them into many thousands. Ifany man was to go among them that had some extraordinary talent, or thatby much travelling had observed the customs of many nations (which madeus to be so well received), he would receive a hearty welcome, for theyare very desirous to know the state of the whole world. Very few goamong them on the account of traffic; for what can a man carry to thembut iron, or gold, or silver? which merchants desire rather to exportthan import to a strange country: and as for their exportation, theythink it better to manage that themselves than to leave it to foreigners, for by this means, as they understand the state of the neighbouringcountries better, so they keep up the art of navigation which cannot bemaintained but by much practice. 

OF THEIR SLAVES, AND OF THEIR MARRIAGES

"They do not make slaves of prisoners of war, except those that are takenin battle, nor of the sons of their slaves, nor of those of othernations: the slaves among them are only such as are condemned to thatstate of life for the commission of some crime, or, which is more common, such as their merchants find condemned to die in those parts to whichthey trade, whom they sometimes redeem at low rates, and in other placeshave them for nothing. They are kept at perpetual labour, and are alwayschained, but with this difference, that their own natives are treatedmuch worse than others: they are considered as more profligate than therest, and since they could not be restrained by the advantages of soexcellent an education, are judged worthy of harder usage. Another sortof slaves are the poor of the neighbouring countries, who offer of theirown accord to come and serve them: they treat these better, and use themin all other respects as well as their own countrymen, except theirimposing more labour upon them, which is no hard task to those that havebeen accustomed to it; and if any of these have a mind to go back totheir own country, which, indeed, falls out but seldom, as they do notforce 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, sothat nothing is left undone that can contribute either to their case orhealth; and for those who are taken with fixed and incurable diseases, they use all possible ways to cherish them and to make their lives ascomfortable as possible. They visit them often and take great pains tomake their time pass off easily; but when any is taken with a torturingand lingering pain, so that there is no hope either of recovery or ease, the priests and magistrates come and exhort them, that, since they arenow unable to go on with the business of life, are become a burden tothemselves and to all about them, and they have really out-livedthemselves, they should no longer nourish such a rooted distemper, butchoose rather to die since they cannot live but in much misery; beingassured that if they thus deliver themselves from torture, or are willingthat others should do it, they shall be happy after death: since, bytheir acting thus, they lose none of the pleasures, but only the troublesof life, they think they behave not only reasonably but in a mannerconsistent with religion and piety; because they follow the advice giventhem by their priests, who are the expounders of the will of God. Suchas are wrought on by these persuasions either starve themselves of theirown accord, or take opium, and by that means die without pain. But noman is forced on this way of ending his life; and if they cannot bepersuaded to it, this does not induce them to fail in their attendanceand care of them: but as they believe that a voluntary death, when it ischosen upon such an authority, is very honourable, so if any man takesaway his own life without the approbation of the priests and the senate, they give him none of the honours of a decent funeral, but throw his bodyinto a 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 marriagethey are severely punished, and the privilege of marriage is denied themunless they can obtain a special warrant from the Prince. Such disorderscast a great reproach upon the master and mistress of the family in whichthey happen, for it is supposed that they have failed in their duty. Thereason of punishing this so severely is, because they think that if theywere not strictly restrained from all vagrant appetites, very few wouldengage in a state in which they venture the quiet of their whole lives, by being confined to one person, and are obliged to endure all theinconveniences with which it is accompanied. In choosing their wivesthey use a method that would appear to us very absurd and ridiculous, butit is constantly observed among them, and is accounted perfectlyconsistent with wisdom. Before marriage some grave matron presents thebride, naked, whether she is a virgin or a widow, to the bridegroom, andafter that some grave man presents the bridegroom, naked, to the bride. We, indeed, both laughed at this, and condemned it as very indecent. Butthey, on the other hand, wondered at the folly of the men of all othernations, who, if they are but to buy a horse of a small value, are socautious that they will see every part of him, and take off both hissaddle and all his other tackle, that there may be no secret ulcer hidunder any of them, and that yet in the choice of a wife, on which dependsthe happiness or unhappiness of the rest of his life, a man shouldventure upon trust, and only see about a handsbreadth of the face, allthe rest of the body being covered, under which may lie hid what may becontagious as well as loathsome. All men are not so wise as to choose awoman only for her good qualities, and even wise men consider the body asthat which adds not a little to the mind, and it is certain there may besome such deformity covered with clothes as may totally alienate a manfrom his wife, when it is too late to part with her; if such a thing isdiscovered after marriage a man has no remedy but patience; they, therefore, think it is reasonable that there should be good provisionmade against such mischievous frauds. 

"There was so much the more reason for them to make a regulation in thismatter, because they are the only people of those parts that neitherallow of polygamy nor of divorces, except in the case of adultery orinsufferable perverseness, for in these cases the Senate dissolves themarriage and grants the injured person leave to marry again; but theguilty are made infamous and are never allowed the privilege of a secondmarriage. None are suffered to put away their wives against their wills, from any great calamity that may have fallen on their persons, for theylook on it as the height of cruelty and treachery to abandon either ofthe 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 manydiseases along with it, so it is a disease of itself. But it frequentlyfalls out that when a married couple do not well agree, they, by mutualconsent, separate, and find out other persons with whom they hope theymay live more happily; yet this is not done without obtaining leave ofthe Senate, which never admits of a divorce but upon a strict inquirymade, both by the senators and their wives, into the grounds upon whichit is desired, and even when they are satisfied concerning the reasons ofit they go on but slowly, for they imagine that too great easiness ingranting leave for new marriages would very much shake the kindness ofmarried people. They punish severely those that defile the marriage bed;if both parties are married they are divorced, and the injured personsmay marry one another, or whom they please, but the adulterer and theadulteress are condemned to slavery, yet if either of the injured personscannot shake off the love of the married person they may live with themstill in that state, but they must follow them to that labour to whichthe slaves are condemned, and sometimes the repentance of the condemned, 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 withdeath. 

"Their law does not determine the punishment for other crimes, but thatis left to the Senate, to temper it according to the circumstances of thefact. Husbands have power to correct their wives and parents to chastisetheir children, unless the fault is so great that a public punishment isthought necessary for striking terror into others. For the most partslavery is the punishment even of the greatest crimes, for as that is noless terrible to the criminals themselves than death, so they think thepreserving them in a state of servitude is more for the interest of thecommonwealth than killing them, since, as their labour is a greaterbenefit to the public than their death could be, so the sight of theirmisery is a more lasting terror to other men than that which would begiven by their death. If their slaves rebel, and will not bear theiryoke and submit to the labour that is enjoined them, they are treated aswild beasts that cannot be kept in order, neither by a prison nor bytheir chains, and are at last put to death. But those who bear theirpunishment patiently, and are so much wrought on by that pressure thatlies so hard on them, that it appears they are really more troubled forthe crimes they have committed than for the miseries they suffer, are notout of hope, but that, at last, either the Prince will, by hisprerogative, or the people, by their intercession, restore them again totheir liberty, or, at least, very much mitigate their slavery. He thattempts a married woman to adultery is no less severely punished than hethat commits it, for they believe that a deliberate design to commit acrime is equal to the fact itself, since its not taking effect does notmake the person that miscarried in his attempt at all the less guilty. 

"They take great pleasure in fools, and as it is thought a base andunbecoming thing to use them ill, so they do not think it amiss forpeople to divert themselves with their folly; and, in their opinion, thisis a great advantage to the fools themselves; for if men were so sullenand severe as not at all to please themselves with their ridiculousbehaviour and foolish sayings, which is all that they can do to recommendthemselves to others, it could not be expected that they would be so wellprovided for nor so tenderly used as they must otherwise be. If any manshould reproach another for his being misshaped or imperfect in any partof his body, it would not at all be thought a reflection on the person sotreated, but it would be accounted scandalous in him that had upbraidedanother with what he could not help. It is thought a sign of a sluggishand sordid mind not to preserve carefully one's natural beauty; but it islikewise infamous among them to use paint. They all see that no beautyrecommends a wife so much to her husband as the probity of her life andher obedience; for as some few are caught and held only by beauty, so allare attracted by the other excellences which charm all the world. 

"As they fright men from committing crimes by punishments, so they invitethem to the love of virtue by public honours; therefore they erectstatues to the memories of such worthy men as have deserved well of theircountry, and set these in their market-places, both to perpetuate theremembrance of their actions and to be an incitement to their posterityto follow their example. 

"If any man aspires to any office he is sure never to compass it. Theyall live easily together, for none of the magistrates are either insolentor cruel to the people; they affect rather to be called fathers, and, bybeing really so, they well deserve the name; and the people pay them allthe marks of honour the more freely because none are exacted from them. The Prince himself has no distinction, either of garments or of a crown;but is only distinguished by a sheaf of corn carried before him; as theHigh Priest is also known by his being preceded by a person carrying awax light. 

"They have but few laws, and such is their constitution that they neednot many. They very much condemn other nations whose laws, together withthe commentaries on them, swell up to so many volumes; for they think itan unreasonable thing to oblige men to obey a body of laws that are bothof such a bulk, and so dark as not to be read and understood by every oneof the subjects. 

"They have no lawyers among them, for they consider them as a sort ofpeople whose profession it is to disguise matters and to wrest the laws, and, therefore, they think it is much better that every man should pleadhis own cause, and trust it to the judge, as in other places the clienttrusts it to a counsellor; by this means they both cut off many delaysand find out truth more certainly; for after the parties have laid openthe merits of the cause, without those artifices which lawyers are apt tosuggest, the judge examines the whole matter, and supports the simplicityof such well-meaning persons, whom otherwise crafty men would be sure torun down; and thus they avoid those evils which appear very remarkablyamong all those nations that labour under a vast load of laws. Every oneof them is skilled in their law; for, as it is a very short study, so theplainest meaning of which words are capable is always the sense of theirlaws; and they argue thus: all laws are promulgated for this end, thatevery man may know his duty; and, therefore, the plainest and mostobvious sense of the words is that which ought to be put upon them, sincea more refined exposition cannot be easily comprehended, and would onlyserve to make the laws become useless to the greater part of mankind, andespecially to those who need most the direction of them; for it is allone not to make a law at all or to couch it in such terms that, without aquick apprehension and much study, a man cannot find out the true meaningof it, since the generality of mankind are both so dull, and so muchemployed in their several trades, that they have neither the leisure northe capacity requisite for such an inquiry. 

"Some of their neighbours, who are masters of their own liberties (havinglong ago, by the assistance of the Utopians, shaken off the yoke oftyranny, and being much taken with those virtues which they observe amongthem), have come to desire that they would send magistrates to governthem, some changing them every year, and others every five years; at theend of their government they bring them back to Utopia, with greatexpressions of honour and esteem, and carry away others to govern intheir stead. In this they seem to have fallen upon a very good expedientfor their own happiness and safety; for since the good or ill conditionof a nation depends so much upon their magistrates, they could not havemade a better choice than by pitching on men whom no advantages can bias;for wealth is of no use to them, since they must so soon go back to theirown country, and they, being strangers among them, are not engaged in anyof their heats or animosities; and it is certain that when publicjudicatories are swayed, either by avarice or partial affections, theremust follow a dissolution of justice, the chief sinew of society. 

"The Utopians call those nations that come and ask magistrates from themNeighbours; but those to whom they have been of more particular service, Friends; and as all other nations are perpetually either making leaguesor breaking them, they never enter into an alliance with any state. Theythink leagues are useless things, and believe that if the common ties ofhumanity do not knit men together, the faith of promises will have nogreat effect; and they are the more confirmed in this by what they seeamong the nations round about them, who are no strict observers ofleagues and treaties. We know how religiously they are observed inEurope, more particularly where the Christian doctrine is received, amongwhom they are sacred and inviolable! which is partly owing to the justiceand goodness of the princes themselves, and partly to the reverence theypay to the popes, who, as they are the most religious observers of theirown promises, so they exhort all other princes to perform theirs, and, when fainter methods do not prevail, they compel them to it by theseverity of the pastoral censure, and think that it would be the mostindecent thing possible if men who are particularly distinguished by thetitle of 'The Faithful' should not religiously keep the faith of theirtreaties. But in that new-found world, which is not more distant from usin situation than the people are in their manners and course of life, there is no trusting to leagues, even though they were made with all thepomp of the most sacred ceremonies; on the contrary, they are on thisaccount the sooner broken, some slight pretence being found in the wordsof the treaties, which are purposely couched in such ambiguous terms thatthey can never be so strictly bound but they will always find someloophole to escape at, and thus they break both their leagues and theirfaith; and this is done with such impudence, that those very men whovalue themselves on having suggested these expedients to their princeswould, with a haughty scorn, declaim against such craft; or, to speakplainer, such fraud and deceit, if they found private men make use of itin their bargains, and would readily say that they deserved to be hanged. 

"By this means it is that all sort of justice passes in the world for alow-spirited and vulgar virtue, far below the dignity of royalgreatness--or at least there are set up two sorts of justice; the one ismean and creeps on the ground, and, therefore, becomes none but the lowerpart of mankind, and so must be kept in severely by many restraints, thatit may not break out beyond the bounds that are set to it; the other isthe peculiar virtue of princes, which, as it is more majestic than thatwhich becomes the rabble, so takes a freer compass, and thus lawful andunlawful are only measured by pleasure and interest. These practices ofthe princes that lie about Utopia, who make so little account of theirfaith, seem to be the reasons that determine them to engage in noconfederacy. Perhaps they would change their mind if they lived amongus; but yet, though treaties were more religiously observed, they wouldstill dislike the custom of making them, since the world has taken up afalse maxim upon it, as if there were no tie of nature uniting one nationto another, only separated perhaps by a mountain or a river, and that allwere born in a state of hostility, and so might lawfully do all thatmischief to their neighbours against which there is no provision made bytreaties; and that when treaties are made they do not cut off the enmityor restrain the licence of preying upon each other, if, by theunskilfulness of wording them, there are not effectual provisoes madeagainst them; they, on the other hand, judge that no man is to beesteemed our enemy that has never injured us, and that the partnership ofhuman nature is instead of a league; and that kindness and good natureunite men more effectually and with greater strength than any agreementswhatsoever, since thereby the engagements of men's hearts become strongerthan the bond and obligation of words. 

OF THEIR MILITARY DISCIPLINE

They detest war as a very brutal thing, and which, to the reproach ofhuman nature, is more practised by men than by any sort of beasts. They, in opposition to the sentiments of almost all other nations, think thatthere is nothing more inglorious than that glory that is gained by war;and therefore, though they accustom themselves daily to militaryexercises and the discipline of war, in which not only their men, buttheir women likewise, are trained up, that, in cases of necessity, theymay not be quite useless, yet they do not rashly engage in war, unless itbe either to defend themselves or their friends from any unjustaggressors, or, out of good nature or in compassion, assist an oppressednation in shaking off the yoke of tyranny. They, indeed, help theirfriends not only in defensive but also in offensive wars; but they neverdo that unless they had been consulted before the breach was made, and, being satisfied with the grounds on which they went, they had found thatall demands of reparation were rejected, so that a war was unavoidable. This they think to be not only just when one neighbour makes an inroad onanother by public order, and carries away the spoils, but when themerchants of one country are oppressed in another, either under pretenceof some unjust laws, or by the perverse wresting of good ones. This theycount a juster cause of war than the other, because those injuries aredone under some colour of laws. This was the only ground of that war inwhich they engaged with the Nephelogetes against the Aleopolitanes, alittle before our time; for the merchants of the former having, as theythought, met with great injustice among the latter, which (whether it wasin itself right or wrong) drew on a terrible war, in which many of theirneighbours were engaged; and their keenness in carrying it on beingsupported by their strength in maintaining it, it not only shook somevery flourishing states and very much afflicted others, but, after aseries of much mischief ended in the entire conquest and slavery of theAleopolitanes, who, though before the war they were in all respects muchsuperior to the Nephelogetes, were yet subdued; but, though the Utopianshad assisted them in the war, yet they pretended to no share of thespoil. 

"But, though they so vigorously assist their friends in obtainingreparation for the injuries they have received in affairs of this nature, yet, if any such frauds were committed against themselves, provided noviolence was done to their persons, they would only, on their beingrefused satisfaction, forbear trading with such a people. This is notbecause they consider their neighbours more than their own citizens; but, since their neighbours trade every one upon his own stock, fraud is amore sensible injury to them than it is to the Utopians, among whom thepublic, in such a case, only suffers, as they expect no thing in returnfor the merchandise they export but that in which they so much abound, and is of little use to them, the loss does not much affect them. Theythink, therefore, it would be too severe to revenge a loss attended withso little inconvenience, either to their lives or their subsistence, withthe death of many persons; but if any of their people are either killedor wounded wrongfully, whether it be done by public authority, or only byprivate men, as soon as they hear of it they send ambassadors, and demandthat the guilty persons may be delivered up to them, and if that isdenied, they declare war; but if it be complied with, the offenders arecondemned either to death or slavery. 

"They would be both troubled and ashamed of a bloody victory over theirenemies; and think it would be as foolish a purchase as to buy the mostvaluable goods at too high a rate. And in no victory do they glory somuch as in that which is gained by dexterity and good conduct withoutbloodshed. In such cases they appoint public triumphs, and erecttrophies to the honour of those who have succeeded; for then do theyreckon that a man acts suitably to his nature, when he conquers his enemyin such a way as that no other creature but a man could be capable of, and that is by the strength of his understanding. Bears, lions, boars, wolves, and dogs, and all other animals, employ their bodily force oneagainst another, in which, as many of them are superior to men, both instrength and fierceness, so they are all subdued by his reason andunderstanding. 

"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, ifthat cannot be done, to take so severe a revenge on those that haveinjured them that they may be terrified from doing the like for the timeto come. By these ends they measure all their designs, and manage themso, that it is visible that the appetite of fame or vainglory does notwork so much on there as a just care of their own security. 

"As soon as they declare war, they take care to have a great manyschedules, that are sealed with their common seal, affixed in the mostconspicuous places of their enemies' country. This is carried secretly, and done in many places all at once. In these they promise great rewardsto such as shall kill the prince, and lesser in proportion to such asshall kill any other persons who are those on whom, next to the princehimself, they cast the chief balance of the war. And they double the sumto him that, instead of killing the person so marked out, shall take himalive, and put him in their hands. They offer not only indemnity, butrewards, to such of the persons themselves that are so marked, if theywill act against their countrymen. By this means those that are named intheir schedules become not only distrustful of their fellow-citizens, butare jealous of one another, and are much distracted by fear and danger;for it has often fallen out that many of them, and even the princehimself, have been betrayed, by those in whom they have trusted most; forthe rewards that the Utopians offer are so immeasurably great, that thereis no sort of crime to which men cannot be drawn by them. They considerthe risk that those run who undertake such services, and offer arecompense proportioned to the danger--not only a vast deal of gold, butgreat revenues in lands, that lie among other nations that are theirfriends, where they may go and enjoy them very securely; and they observethe promises they make of their kind most religiously. They very muchapprove of this way of corrupting their enemies, though it appears toothers to be base and cruel; but they look on it as a wise course, tomake an end of what would be otherwise a long war, without so much ashazarding one battle to decide it. They think it likewise an act ofmercy and love to mankind to prevent the great slaughter of those thatmust otherwise be killed in the progress of the war, both on their ownside and on that of their enemies, by the death of a few that are mostguilty; and that in so doing they are kind even to their enemies, andpity them no less than their own people, as knowing that the greater partof them do not engage in the war of their own accord, but are driven intoit by the passions of their prince. 

"If this method does not succeed with them, then they sow seeds ofcontention among their enemies, and animate the prince's brother, or someof the nobility, to aspire to the crown. If they cannot disunite them bydomestic broils, then they engage their neighbours against them, and makethem set on foot some old pretensions, which are never wanting to princeswhen they have occasion for them. These they plentifully supply withmoney, though but very sparingly with any auxiliary troops; for they areso tender of their own people that they would not willingly exchange oneof 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 noconvenience to them, though they should reserve nothing of it tothemselves. For besides the wealth that they have among them at home, they have a vast treasure abroad; many nations round about them beingdeep in their debt: so that they hire soldiers from all places forcarrying on their wars; but chiefly from the Zapolets, who live fivehundred miles east of Utopia. They are a rude, wild, and fierce nation, who delight in the woods and rocks, among which they were born and bredup. They are hardened both against heat, cold, and labour, and knownothing of the delicacies of life. They do not apply themselves toagriculture, nor do they care either for their houses or their clothes:cattle is all that they look after; and for the greatest part they liveeither by hunting or upon rapine; and are made, as it were, only for war. They watch all opportunities of engaging in it, and very readily embracesuch as are offered them. Great numbers of them will frequently go out, and offer themselves for a very low pay, to serve any that will employthem: they know none of the arts of life, but those that lead to thetaking it away; they serve those that hire them, both with much courageand 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 theenemies of those whom they serve if they offer them a greaterencouragement; and will, perhaps, return to them the day after that upona higher advance of their pay. There are few wars in which they make nota considerable part of the armies of both sides: so it often falls outthat they who are related, and were hired in the same country, and sohave lived long and familiarly together, forgetting both their relationsand former friendship, kill one another upon no other consideration thanthat of being hired to it for a little money by princes of differentinterests; and such a regard have they for money that they are easilywrought on by the difference of one penny a day to change sides. Soentirely does their avarice influence them; and yet this money, whichthey value so highly, is of little use to them; for what they purchasethus with their blood they quickly waste on luxury, which among them isbut of a poor and miserable form. 

"This nation serves the Utopians against all people whatsoever, for theypay higher than any other. The Utopians hold this for a maxim, that asthey seek out the best sort of men for their own use at home, so theymake use of this worst sort of men for the consumption of war; andtherefore they hire them with the offers of vast rewards to exposethemselves to all sorts of hazards, out of which the greater part neverreturns to claim their promises; yet they make them good most religiouslyto such as escape. This animates them to adventure again, whenever thereis occasion for it; for the Utopians are not at all troubled how many ofthese happen to be killed, and reckon it a service done to mankind ifthey could be a means to deliver the world from such a lewd and vicioussort of people, that seem to have run together, as to the drain of humannature. Next to these, they are served in their wars with those uponwhose account they undertake them, and with the auxiliary troops of theirother friends, to whom they join a few of their own people, and send someman of eminent and approved virtue to command in chief. There are twosent with him, who, during his command, are but private men, but thefirst 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 all events, that such accidents as maybefall their generals may not endanger their armies. When they draw outtroops of their own people, they take such out of every city as freelyoffer themselves, for none are forced to go against their wills, sincethey think that if any man is pressed that wants courage, he will notonly act faintly, but by his cowardice dishearten others. But if aninvasion is made on their country, they make use of such men, if theyhave good bodies, though they are not brave; and either put them aboardtheir ships, or place them on the walls of their towns, that being soposted, they may find no opportunity of flying away; and thus eithershame, the heat of action, or the impossibility of flying, bears downtheir cowardice; they often make a virtue of necessity, and behavethemselves well, because nothing else is left them. But as they force noman to go into any foreign war against his will, so they do not hinderthose women who are willing to go along with their husbands; on thecontrary, they encourage and praise them, and they stand often next theirhusbands in the front of the army. They also place together those whoare related, parents, and children, kindred, and those that are mutuallyallied, near one another; that those whom nature has inspired with thegreatest zeal for assisting one another may be the nearest and readiestto do it; and it is matter of great reproach if husband or wife surviveone another, or if a child survives his parent, and therefore when theycome to be engaged in action, they continue to fight to the last man, iftheir enemies stand before them: and as they use all prudent methods toavoid the endangering their own men, and if it is possible let all theaction and danger fall upon the troops that they hire, so if it becomesnecessary for themselves to engage, they then charge with as much courageas they avoided it before with prudence: nor is it a fierce charge atfirst, but it increases by degrees; and as they continue in action, theygrow more obstinate, and press harder upon the enemy, insomuch that theywill much sooner die than give ground; for the certainty that theirchildren will be well looked after when they are dead frees them from allthat anxiety concerning them which often masters men of great courage;and thus they are animated by a noble and invincible resolution. Theirskill in military affairs increases their courage: and the wisesentiments which, according to the laws of their country, are instilledinto them in their education, give additional vigour to their minds: foras they do not undervalue life so as prodigally to throw it away, theyare not so indecently fond of it as to preserve it by base and unbecomingmethods. In the greatest heat of action the bravest of their youth, whohave devoted themselves to that service, single out the general of theirenemies, set on him either openly or by ambuscade; pursue him everywhere, and when spent and wearied out, are relieved by others, who never giveover the pursuit, either attacking him with close weapons when they canget near him, or with those which wound at a distance, when others get inbetween them. So that, unless he secures himself by flight, they seldomfail at last to kill or to take him prisoner. When they have obtained avictory, they kill as few as possible, and are much more bent on takingmany prisoners than on killing those that fly before them. Nor do theyever let their men so loose in the pursuit of their enemies as not toretain an entire body still in order; so that if they have been forced toengage the last of their battalions before they could gain the day, theywill rather let their enemies all escape than pursue them when their ownarmy is in disorder; remembering well what has often fallen out tothemselves, that when the main body of their army has been quite defeatedand broken, when their enemies, imagining the victory obtained, have letthemselves loose into an irregular pursuit, a few of them that lay for areserve, waiting a fit opportunity, have fallen on them in their chase, and when straggling in disorder, and apprehensive of no danger, butcounting the day their own, have turned the whole action, and, wrestingout of their hands a victory that seemed certain and undoubted, while thevanquished have suddenly become victorious. 

"It is hard to tell whether they are more dexterous in laying or avoidingambushes. They sometimes 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 hardto find out their design. If they see they are ill posted, or are liketo be overpowered by numbers, they then either march off in the nightwith great silence, or by some stratagem delude their enemies. If theyretire in the day-time, they do it in such order that it is no lessdangerous to fall upon them in a retreat than in a march. They fortifytheir camps with a deep and large trench; and throw up the earth that isdug 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 theguard; so that when so many hands are at work, a great line and a strongfortification is finished in so short a time that it is scarce credible. Their armour is very strong for defence, and yet is not so heavy as tomake them uneasy in their marches; they can even swim with it. All thatare trained up to war practise swimming. Both horse and foot make greatuse of arrows, and are very expert. They have no swords, but fight witha pole-axe that is both sharp and heavy, by which they thrust or strikedown an enemy. They are very good at finding out warlike machines, anddisguise them so well that the enemy does not perceive them till he feelsthe use of them; so that he cannot prepare such a defence as would renderthem useless; the chief consideration had in the making them is that theymay be easily carried and managed. 

"If they agree to a truce, they observe it so religiously that noprovocations will make them break it. They never lay their enemies'country waste nor burn their corn, and even in their marches they takeall possible care that neither horse nor foot may tread it down, for theydo not know but that they may have use for it themselves. They hurt noman whom they find disarmed, unless he is a spy. When a town issurrendered to them, they take it into their protection; and when theycarry a place by storm they never plunder it, but put those only to thesword that oppose the rendering of it up, and make the rest of thegarrison slaves, but for the other inhabitants, they do them no hurt; andif any of them had advised a surrender, they give them good rewards outof the estates of those that they condemn, and distribute the rest amongtheir auxiliary troops, but they themselves take no share of the spoil. 

"When a war is ended, they do not oblige their friends to reimburse theirexpenses; but they obtain them of the conquered, either in money, whichthey keep for the next occasion, or in lands, out of which a constantrevenue is to be paid them; by many increases the revenue which they drawout from several countries on such occasions is now risen to above700, 000 ducats a year. They send some of their own people to receivethese revenues, who have orders to live magnificently and like princes, by which means they consume much of it upon the place; and either bringover the rest to Utopia or lend it to that nation in which it lies. Thisthey most commonly do, unless some great occasion, which falls out butvery seldom, should oblige them to call for it all. It is out of theselands that they assign rewards to such as they encourage to adventure ondesperate attempts. If any prince that engages in war with them ismaking preparations for invading their country, they prevent him, andmake his country the seat of the war; for they do not willingly sufferany war to break in upon their island; and if that should happen, theywould only defend themselves by their own people; but would not call forauxiliary troops to their assistance. 

OF THE RELIGIONS OF THE UTOPIANS

"There are several sorts of religions, not only in different parts of theisland, but even in every town; some worshipping the sun, others the moonor one of the planets. Some worship such men as have been eminent informer times for virtue or glory, not only as ordinary deities, but asthe supreme god. Yet the greater and wiser sort of them worship none ofthese, but adore one eternal, invisible, infinite, and incomprehensibleDeity; as a Being that is far above all our apprehensions, that is spreadover the whole universe, not by His bulk, but by His power and virtue;Him they call the Father of All, and acknowledge that the beginnings, theincrease, the progress, the vicissitudes, and the end of all things comeonly 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 inthis: that they think there is one Supreme Being that made and governsthe world, whom they call, in the language of their country, Mithras. They differ in this: that one thinks the god whom he worships is thisSupreme Being, and another thinks that his idol is that god; but they allagree in one principle, that whoever is this Supreme Being, He is alsothat great essence to whose glory and majesty all honours are ascribed bythe consent of all nations. 

"By degrees they fall off from the various superstitions that are amongthem, and grow up to that one religion that is the best and most inrequest; and there is no doubt to be made, but that all the others hadvanished long ago, if some of those who advised them to lay aside theirsuperstitions had not met with some unhappy accidents, which, beingconsidered as inflicted by heaven, made them afraid that the god whoseworship had like to have been abandoned had interposed and revengedthemselves on those who despised their authority. 

"After they had heard from us an account of the doctrine, the course oflife, and the miracles of Christ, and of the wonderful constancy of somany martyrs, whose blood, so willingly offered up by them, was the chiefoccasion of spreading their religion over a vast number of nations, it isnot to be imagined how inclined they were to receive it. I shall notdetermine whether this proceeded from any secret inspiration of God, orwhether it was because it seemed so favourable to that community ofgoods, 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 sincerestsort of Christians. From whichsoever of these motives it might be, trueit is, that many of them came over to our religion, and were initiatedinto it by baptism. But as two of our number were dead, so none of thefour that survived were in priests' orders, we, therefore, could onlybaptise them, so that, to our great regret, they could not partake of theother sacraments, that can only be administered by priests, but they areinstructed concerning them and long most vehemently for them. They havehad great disputes among themselves, whether one chosen by them to be apriest would not be thereby qualified to do all the things that belong tothat character, even though he had no authority derived from the Pope, and they seemed to be resolved to choose some for that employment, butthey had not done it when I left them. 

"Those among them that have not received our religion do not fright anyfrom it, and use none ill that goes over to it, so that all the while Iwas there one man was only punished on this occasion. He being newlybaptised did, notwithstanding all that we could say to the contrary, dispute publicly concerning the Christian religion, with more zeal thandiscretion, and with so much heat, that he not only preferred our worshipto theirs, but condemned all their rites as profane, and cried outagainst all that adhered to them as impious and sacrilegious persons, that were to be damned to everlasting burnings. Upon his havingfrequently preached in this manner he was seized, and after trial he wascondemned to banishment, not for having disparaged their religion, butfor his inflaming the people to sedition; for this is one of their mostancient laws, that no man ought to be punished for his religion. At thefirst constitution of their government, Utopus having understood thatbefore his coming among them the old inhabitants had been engaged ingreat quarrels concerning religion, by which they were so divided amongthemselves, that he found it an easy thing to conquer them, since, instead of uniting their forces against him, every different party inreligion fought by themselves. After he had subdued them he made a lawthat every man might be of what religion he pleased, and might endeavourto draw others to it by the force of argument and by amicable and modestways, but without bitterness against those of other opinions; but that heought to use no other force but that of persuasion, and was neither tomix with it reproaches nor violence; and such as did otherwise were to becondemned 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 irreconcilable heats, but because he thought the interest of religion itself required it. Hejudged it not fit to determine anything rashly; and seemed to doubtwhether those different forms of religion might not all come from God, who might inspire man in a different manner, and be pleased with thisvariety; he therefore thought it indecent and foolish for any man tothreaten and terrify another to make him believe what did not appear tohim to be true. And supposing that only one religion was really true, and the rest false, he imagined that the native force of truth would atlast break forth and shine bright, if supported only by the strength ofargument, and attended to with a gentle and unprejudiced mind; while, onthe other hand, if such debates were carried on with violence andtumults, as the most wicked are always the most obstinate, so the bestand most holy religion might be choked with superstition, as corn is withbriars and thorns; he therefore left men wholly to their liberty, thatthey might be free to believe as they should see cause; only he made asolemn and severe law against such as should so far degenerate from thedignity of human nature, as to think that our souls died with our bodies, or that the world was governed by chance, without a wise overrulingProvidence: for they all formerly believed that there was a state ofrewards and punishments to the good and bad after this life; and they nowlook on those that think otherwise as scarce fit to be counted men, sincethey degrade so noble a being as the soul, and reckon it no better than abeast's: thus they are far from looking on such men as fit for humansociety, or to be citizens of a well-ordered commonwealth; since a man ofsuch principles must needs, as oft as he dares do it, despise all theirlaws and customs: for there is no doubt to be made, that a man who isafraid of nothing but the law, and apprehends nothing after death, willnot scruple to break through all the laws of his country, either by fraudor force, when by this means he may satisfy his appetites. They neverraise any that hold these maxims, either to honours or offices, noremploy them in any public trust, but despise them, as men of base andsordid minds. Yet they do not punish them, because they lay this down asa maxim, that a man cannot make himself believe anything he pleases; nordo they drive any to dissemble their thoughts by threatenings, so thatmen are not tempted to lie or disguise their opinions; which being a sortof fraud, is abhorred by the Utopians: they take care indeed to preventtheir disputing in defence of these opinions, especially before thecommon people: but they suffer, and even encourage them to disputeconcerning them in private with their priest, and other grave men, beingconfident that they will be cured of those mad opinions by having reasonlaid before them. There are many among them that run far to the otherextreme, though it is neither thought an ill nor unreasonable opinion, and therefore is not at all discouraged. They think that the souls ofbeasts are immortal, though far inferior to the dignity of the humansoul, and not capable of so great a happiness. They are almost all ofthem very firmly persuaded that good men will be infinitely happy inanother state: so that though they are compassionate to all that aresick, yet they lament no man's death, except they see him loath to partwith life; for they look on this as a very ill presage, as if the soul, conscious to itself of guilt, and quite hopeless, was afraid to leave thebody, from some secret hints of approaching misery. They think that sucha man's appearance before God cannot be acceptable to Him, who beingcalled on, does not go out cheerfully, but is backward and unwilling, andis as it were dragged to it. They are struck with horror when they seeany 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 departedsoul, they lay the body in the ground: but when any die cheerfully, andfull of hope, they do not mourn for them, but sing hymns when they carryout their bodies, and commending their souls very earnestly to God: theirwhole behaviour is then rather grave than sad, they burn the body, andset up a pillar where the pile was made, with an inscription to thehonour of the deceased. When they come from the funeral, they discourseof his good life, and worthy actions, but speak of nothing oftener andwith more pleasure than of his serenity at the hour of death. They thinksuch respect paid to the memory of good men is both the greatestincitement to engage others to follow their example, and the mostacceptable worship that can be offered them; for they believe that thoughby the imperfection of human sight they are invisible to us, yet they arepresent among us, and hear those discourses that pass concerningthemselves. They believe it inconsistent with the happiness of departedsouls not to be at liberty to be where they will: and do not imagine themcapable of the ingratitude of not desiring to see those friends with whomthey lived on earth in the strictest bonds of love and kindness: besides, they are persuaded that good men, after death, have these affections; andall other good dispositions increased rather than diminished, andtherefore conclude that they are still among the living, and observe allthey say or do. From hence they engage in all their affairs with thegreater confidence of success, as trusting to their protection; whilethis opinion of the presence of their ancestors is a restraint thatprevents their engaging in ill designs. 

"They despise and laugh at auguries, and the other vain and superstitiousways of divination, so much observed among other nations; but have greatreverence for such miracles as cannot flow from any of the powers ofnature, and look on them as effects and indications of the presence ofthe Supreme Being, of which they say many instances have occurred amongthem; and that sometimes their public prayers, which upon great anddangerous occasions they have solemnly put up to God, with assuredconfidence of being heard, have been answered in a miraculous manner. 

"They think the contemplating God in His works, and the adoring Him forthem, is a very acceptable piece of worship to Him. 

"There are many among them that upon a motive of religion neglectlearning, and apply themselves to no sort of study; nor do they allowthemselves any leisure time, but are perpetually employed, believing thatby the good things that a man does he secures to himself that happinessthat comes after death. Some of these visit the sick; others mendhighways, cleanse ditches, repair bridges, or dig turf, gravel, or stone. Others fell and cleave timber, and bring wood, corn, and othernecessaries, on carts, into their towns; nor do these only serve thepublic, but they serve even private men, more than the slaves themselvesdo: for if there is anywhere a rough, hard, and sordid piece of work tobe done, from which many are frightened by the labour and loathsomenessof it, if not the despair of accomplishing it, they cheerfully, and oftheir own accord, take that to their share; and by that means, as theyease others very much, so they afflict themselves, and spend their wholelife in hard labour: and yet they do not value themselves upon this, norlessen other people's credit to raise their own; but by their stooping tosuch servile employments they are so far from being despised, that theyare so much the more esteemed by the whole nation. 

"Of these there are two sorts: some live unmarried and chaste, andabstain from eating any sort of flesh; and thus weaning themselves fromall the pleasures of the present life, which they account hurtful, theypursue, even by the hardest and painfullest methods possible, thatblessedness which they hope for hereafter; and the nearer they approachto it, they are the more cheerful and earnest in their endeavours afterit. Another sort of them is less willing to put themselves to much toil, and therefore prefer a married state to a single one; and as they do notdeny themselves the pleasure of it, so they think the begetting ofchildren 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 thereforeeat flesh so much the more willingly, as they find that by this meansthey are the more able to work: the Utopians look upon these as the wisersect, but they esteem the others as the most holy. They would indeedlaugh at any man who, from the principles of reason, would prefer anunmarried state to a married, or a life of labour to an easy life: butthey reverence and admire such as do it from the motives of religion. There is nothing in which they are more cautious than in giving theiropinion positively concerning any sort of religion. The men that leadthose severe lives are called in the language of their countryBrutheskas, 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 thirteen in every town, one for every temple; but whenthey go to war, seven of these go out with their forces, and seven othersare chosen to supply their room in their absence; but these enter againupon their employments when they return; and those who served in theirabsence, attend upon the high priest, till vacancies fall by death; forthere is one set over the rest. They are chosen by the people as theother magistrates are, by suffrages given in secret, for preventing offactions: and when they are chosen, they are consecrated by the collegeof priests. The care of all sacred things, the worship of God, and aninspection into the manners of the people, are committed to them. It isa reproach to a man to be sent for by any of them, or for them to speakto him in secret, for that always gives some suspicion: all that isincumbent on them is only to exhort and admonish the people; for thepower of correcting and punishing ill men belongs wholly to the Prince, and to the other magistrates: the severest thing that the priest does isthe excluding those that are desperately wicked from joining in theirworship: there is not any sort of punishment more dreaded by them thanthis, for as it loads them with infamy, so it fills them with secrethorrors, such is their reverence to their religion; nor will their bodiesbe long exempted from their share of trouble; for if they do not veryquickly satisfy the priests of the truth of their repentance, they areseized on by the Senate, and punished for their impiety. The educationof youth belongs to the priests, yet they do not take so much care ofinstructing them in letters, as in forming their minds and mannersaright; they use all possible methods to infuse, very early, into thetender and flexible minds of children, such opinions as are both good inthemselves and will be useful to their country, for when deep impressionsof these things are made at that age, they follow men through the wholecourse of their lives, and conduce much to preserve the peace of thegovernment, which suffers by nothing more than by vices that rise out ofill opinions. The wives of their priests are the most extraordinarywomen of the whole country; sometimes the women themselves are madepriests, though that falls out but seldom, nor are any but ancient widowschosen into that order. 

"None of the magistrates have greater honour paid them than is paid thepriests; and if they should happen to commit any crime, they would not bequestioned for it; their punishment is left to God, and to their ownconsciences; for they do not think it lawful to lay hands on any man, howwicked soever he is, that has been in a peculiar manner dedicated to God;nor do they find any great inconvenience in this, both because they haveso few priests, and because these are chosen with much caution, so thatit must be a very unusual thing to find one who, merely out of regard tohis virtue, and for his being esteemed a singularly good man, was raisedup to so great a dignity, degenerate into corruption and vice; and ifsuch a thing should fall out, for man is a changeable creature, yet, there being few priests, and these having no authority but what rises outof the respect that is paid them, nothing of great consequence to thepublic can proceed from the indemnity that the priests enjoy. 

"They have, indeed, very few of them, lest greater numbers sharing in thesame honour might make the dignity of that order, which they esteem sohighly, to sink in its reputation; they also think it difficult to findout many of such an exalted pitch of goodness as to be equal to thatdignity, which demands the exercise of more than ordinary virtues. Norare the priests in greater veneration among them than they are amongtheir neighbouring nations, as you may imagine by that which I thinkgives occasion for it. 

"When the Utopians engage in battle, the priests who accompany them tothe war, apparelled in their sacred vestments, kneel down during theaction (in a place not far from the field), and, lifting up their handsto heaven, pray, first for peace, and then for victory to their own side, and particularly that it may be gained without the effusion of much bloodon either side; and when the victory turns to their side, they run inamong their own men to restrain their fury; and if any of their enemiessee them or call to them, they are preserved by that means; and such ascan come so near them as to touch their garments have not only theirlives, but their fortunes secured to them; it is upon this account thatall the nations round about consider them so much, and treat them withsuch reverence, that they have been often no less able to preserve theirown people from the fury of their enemies than to save their enemies fromtheir rage; for it has sometimes fallen out, that when their armies havebeen in disorder and forced to fly, so that their enemies were runningupon the slaughter and spoil, the priests by interposing have separatedthem from one another, and stopped the effusion of more blood; 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 notto 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 bythe course of the sun: the first days are called in their language theCynemernes, 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, butextremely spacious, which is the more necessary as they have so few ofthem; they are a little dark within, which proceeds not from any error inthe architecture, but is done with design; for their priests think thattoo much light dissipates the thoughts, and that a more moderate degreeof it both recollects the mind and raises devotion. Though there aremany different forms of religion among them, yet all these, how varioussoever, agree in the main point, which is the worshipping the DivineEssence; and, therefore, there is nothing to be seen or heard in theirtemples in which the several persuasions among them may not agree; forevery sect performs those rites that are peculiar to it in their privatehouses, nor is there anything in the public worship that contradicts theparticular ways of those different sects. There are no images for God intheir temples, so that every one may represent Him to his thoughtsaccording to the way of his religion; nor do they call this one God byany other name but that of Mithras, which is the common name by whichthey all express the Divine Essence, whatsoever otherwise they think itto be; nor are there any prayers among them but such as every one of themmay use without prejudice to his own opinion. 

"They meet in their temples on the evening of the festival that concludesa season, and not having yet broke their fast, they thank God for theirgood success during that year or month which is then at an end; and thenext day, being that which begins the new season, they meet early intheir temples, to pray for the happy progress of all their affairs duringthat period upon which they then enter. In the festival which concludesthe period, before they go to the temple, both wives and children fall ontheir knees before their husbands or parents and confess everything inwhich they have either erred or failed in their duty, and beg pardon forit. Thus all little discontents in families are removed, that they mayoffer up their devotions with a pure and serene mind; for they hold it agreat impiety to enter upon them with disturbed thoughts, or with aconsciousness of their bearing hatred or anger in their hearts to anyperson whatsoever; and think that they should become liable to severepunishments if they presumed to offer sacrifices without cleansing theirhearts, and reconciling all their differences. In the temples the twosexes are separated, the men go to the right hand, and the women to theleft; and the males and females all place themselves before the head andmaster or mistress of the family to which they belong, so that those whohave the government of them at home may see their deportment in public. And they intermingle them so, that the younger and the older may be setby one another; for if the younger sort were all set together, theywould, perhaps, trifle away that time too much in which they ought tobeget in themselves that religious dread of the Supreme Being which isthe greatest and almost the only incitement to virtue. 

"They offer up no living creature in sacrifice, nor do they think itsuitable to the Divine Being, from whose bounty it is that thesecreatures have derived their lives, to take pleasure in their deaths, orthe offering up their blood. They burn incense and other sweet odours, and have a great number of wax lights during their worship, not out ofany imagination that such oblations can add anything to the divine nature(which even prayers cannot do), but as it is a harmless and pure way ofworshipping God; so they think those sweet savours and lights, togetherwith some other ceremonies, by a secret and unaccountable virtue, elevatemen's souls, and inflame them with greater energy and cheerfulness duringthe divine worship. 

"All the people appear in the temples in white garments; but the priest'svestments are parti-coloured, and both the work and colours arewonderful. They are made of no rich materials, for they are neitherembroidered nor set with precious stones; but are composed of the plumesof several birds, laid together with so much art, and so neatly, that thetrue value of them is far beyond the costliest materials. They say, thatin the ordering and placing those plumes some dark mysteries arerepresented, which pass down among their priests in a secret traditionconcerning them; and that they are as hieroglyphics, putting them in mindof the blessing that they have received from God, and of their duties, both to Him and to their neighbours. As soon as the priest appears inthose ornaments, they all fall prostrate on the ground, with so muchreverence and so deep a silence, that such as look on cannot but bestruck 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 hymns to the honour of God, some musical instruments playing all the while. These are quite ofanother form than those used among us; but, as many of them are muchsweeter than ours, so others are made use of by us. Yet in one thingthey very much exceed us: all their music, both vocal and instrumental, is adapted to imitate and express the passions, and is so happily suitedto every occasion, that, whether the subject of the hymn be cheerful, orformed to soothe or trouble the mind, or to express grief or remorse, themusic takes the impression of whatever is represented, affects andkindles the passions, and works the sentiments deep into the hearts ofthe hearers. When this is done, both priests and people offer up verysolemn prayers to God in a set form of words; and these are so composed, that whatsoever is pronounced by the whole assembly may be likewiseapplied by every man in particular to his own condition. In these theyacknowledge God to be the author and governor of the world, and thefountain of all the good they receive, and therefore offer up to himtheir thanksgiving; and, in particular, bless him for His goodness inordering it so, that they are born under the happiest government in theworld, and are of a religion which they hope is the truest of all others;but, if they are mistaken, and if there is either a better government, ora religion more acceptable to God, they implore His goodness to let themknow it, vowing that they resolve to follow him whithersoever he leadsthem; 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 worldboth to the same rules of life, and to the same opinions concerningHimself, unless, according to the unsearchableness of His mind, He ispleased with a variety of religions. Then they pray that God may givethem an easy passage at last to Himself, not presuming to set limits toHim, how early or late it should be; but, if it may be wished for withoutderogating from His supreme authority, they desire to be quicklydelivered, and to be taken to Himself, though by the most terrible kindof death, rather than to be detained long from seeing Him by the mostprosperous course of life. When this prayer is ended, they all fall downagain upon the ground; and, after a little while, they rise up, go hometo dinner, and spend the rest of the day in diversion or militaryexercises. 

"Thus have I described to you, as particularly as I could, theConstitution of that commonwealth, which I do not only think the best inthe world, but indeed the only commonwealth that truly deserves thatname. In all other places it is visible that, while people talk of acommonwealth, every man only seeks his own wealth; but there, where noman has any property, all men zealously pursue the good of the public, and, indeed, it is no wonder to see men act so differently, for in othercommonwealths every man knows that, unless he provides for himself, howflourishing soever the commonwealth may be, he must die of hunger, sothat he sees the necessity of preferring his own concerns to the public;but in Utopia, where every man has a right to everything, they all knowthat if care is taken to keep the public stores full no private man canwant anything; for among them there is no unequal distribution, so thatno man is poor, none in necessity, and though no man has anything, yetthey are all rich; for what can make a man so rich as to lead a sereneand cheerful life, free from anxieties; neither apprehending wanthimself, nor vexed with the endless complaints of his wife? He is notafraid of the misery of his children, nor is he contriving how to raise aportion for his daughters; but is secure in this, that both he and hiswife, his children and grand-children, to as many generations as he canfancy, will all live both plentifully and happily; since, among them, there is no less care taken of those who were once engaged in labour, butgrow afterwards unable to follow it, than there is, elsewhere, of thesethat continue still employed. I would gladly hear any man compare thejustice that is among them with that of 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, abanker, 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 ingreat luxury and splendour upon what is so ill acquired, and a mean man, a carter, a smith, or a ploughman, that works harder even than the beaststhemselves, and is employed in labours so necessary, that no commonwealthcould hold out a year without them, can only earn so poor a livelihoodand must lead so miserable a life, that the condition of the beasts ismuch better than theirs? For as the beasts do not work so constantly, sothey feed almost as well, and with more pleasure, and have no anxietyabout what is to come, whilst these men are depressed by a barren andfruitless employment, and tormented with the apprehensions of want intheir old age; since that which they get by their daily labour does butmaintain them at present, and is consumed as fast as it comes in, thereis no overplus left to lay up for old age. 

"Is not that government both unjust and ungrateful, that is so prodigalof its favours to those that are called gentlemen, or goldsmiths, or suchothers who are idle, or live either by flattery or by contriving the artsof vain pleasure, and, on the other hand, takes no care of those of ameaner sort, such as ploughmen, colliers, and smiths, without whom itcould not subsist? But after the public has reaped all the advantage oftheir service, and they come to be oppressed with age, sickness, andwant, all their labours and the good they have done is forgotten, and allthe recompense given them is that they are left to die in great misery. The richer sort are often endeavouring to bring the hire of labourerslower, not only by their fraudulent practices, but by the laws which theyprocure to be made to that effect, so that though it is a thing mostunjust in itself to give such small rewards to those who deserve so wellof the public, yet they have given those hardships the name and colour ofjustice, by procuring laws to be made for regulating them. 

"Therefore I must say that, as I hope for mercy, I can have no othernotion of all the other governments that I see or know, than that theyare a conspiracy of the rich, who, on pretence of managing the public, only pursue their private ends, and devise all the ways and arts they canfind out; first, that they may, without danger, preserve all that theyhave so ill-acquired, and then, that they may engage the poor to toil andlabour for them at as low rates as possible, and oppress them as much asthey please; and if they can but prevail to get these contrivancesestablished by the show of public authority, which is considered as therepresentative of the whole people, then they are accounted laws; yetthese wicked men, after they have, by a most insatiable covetousness, divided that among themselves with which all the rest might have beenwell supplied, are far from that happiness that is enjoyed among theUtopians; for the use as well as the desire of money being extinguished, much anxiety and great occasions of mischief is cut off with it, and whodoes not see that the frauds, thefts, robberies, quarrels, tumults, contentions, seditions, murders, treacheries, and witchcrafts, which are, indeed, rather punished than restrained by the seventies of law, wouldall fall off, if money were not any more valued by the world? Men'sfears, solicitudes, cares, labours, and watchings would all perish in thesame moment with the value of money; even poverty itself, for the reliefof which money seems most necessary, would fall. But, in order to theapprehending this aright, take one instance:--

"Consider any year, that has been so unfruitful that many thousands havedied of hunger; and yet if, at the end of that year, a survey was made ofthe granaries of all the rich men that have hoarded up the corn, it wouldbe found that there was enough among them to have prevented all thatconsumption of men that perished in misery; and that, if it had beendistributed among them, none would have felt the terrible effects of thatscarcity: so easy a thing would it be to supply all the necessities oflife, if that blessed thing called money, which is pretended to beinvented for procuring them was not really the only thing that obstructedtheir being procured!

"I do not doubt but rich men are sensible of this, and that they wellknow how much a greater happiness it is to want nothing necessary, thanto 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 ofevery man's interest, added to the authority of Christ's commands, who, as He was infinitely wise, knew what was best, and was not less good indiscovering it to us, would have drawn all the world over to the laws ofthe Utopians, if pride, that plague of human nature, that source of somuch misery, did not hinder it; for this vice does not measure happinessso much by its own conveniences, as by the miseries of others; and wouldnot be satisfied with being thought a goddess, if none were left thatwere miserable, over whom she might insult. Pride thinks its ownhappiness shines the brighter, by comparing it with the misfortunes ofother persons; that by displaying its own wealth they may feel theirpoverty the more sensibly. This is that infernal serpent that creepsinto the breasts of mortals, and possesses them too much to be easilydrawn out; and, therefore, I am glad that the Utopians have fallen uponthis form of government, in which I wish that all the world could be sowise as to imitate them; for they have, indeed, laid down such a schemeand foundation of policy, that as men live happily under it, so it islike to be of great continuance; for they having rooted out of the mindsof their people all the seeds, both of ambition and faction, there is nodanger of any commotions at home; which alone has been the ruin of manystates that seemed otherwise to be well secured; but as long as they livein peace at home, and are governed by such good laws, the envy of alltheir neighbouring princes, who have often, though in vain, attemptedtheir ruin, will never be able to put their state into any commotion ordisorder. "

When Raphael had thus made an end of speaking, though many thingsoccurred to me, both concerning the manners and laws of that people, thatseemed very absurd, as well in their way of making war, as in theirnotions of religion and divine matters--together with several otherparticulars, but chiefly what seemed the foundation of all the rest, their living in common, without the use of money, by which all nobility, magnificence, splendour, and majesty, which, according to the commonopinion, are the true ornaments of a nation, would be quite takenaway--yet since I perceived that Raphael was weary, and was not surewhether he could easily bear contradiction, remembering that he had takennotice of some, who seemed to think they were bound in honour to supportthe credit of their own wisdom, by finding out something to censure inall other men's inventions, besides their own, I only commended theirConstitution, and the account he had given of it in general; and so, taking him by the hand, carried him to supper, and told him I would findout some other time for examining this subject more particularly, and fordiscoursing more copiously upon it. And, indeed, I shall be glad toembrace an opportunity of doing it. In the meanwhile, though it must beconfessed that he is both a very learned man and a person who hasobtained a great knowledge of the world, I cannot perfectly agree toeverything he has related. However, there are many things in thecommonwealth of Utopia that I rather wish, than hope, to see followed inour governments.