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7 
 
UTOPIA: 
 
 Written in Latin by 
 
 Sif THOMAS MOKE, 
 CHANCELLOR 
 
 ENGLAND: 
 
 Tranflated into EngUfh. 
 
 LONDON., 
 
 Printed for EirtatO C^tftDell at the 
 Rofe and Crown in St. Taul's 
 Church-Yard. MDCLXXXIV. 
 
/)9^^3Jy 
 
 <)^'h<h&i<h<h(h<h'<hi<h(h(h<h(h(h'i^(h(h 
 
 THE 
 
 PREFACE- 
 
 •^Here is no way of writing fp 
 proper, for the refining and 
 polifhing a Language, as the 
 tranflating of Books into it, if he 
 that undertakes it, has a competent 
 skill of the one Tcngue, and is a 
 Matter of the other. When a Man 
 writes his own Thoughts, the heat 
 of his Fancy, and the quicknefs of 
 his Mind, carry him fo much after 
 the Notions themfelves, that for 
 the moft part he is too warm to judg 
 pi the aptnefs of Words, and the 
 
 A $ juft. 
 
The Preface. 
 
 juftnefs of Figures ^ fo that he either 
 negleds thefe too much, or over- 
 does them : But when a Man tran- 
 flates, he has none of thefe Heats 
 about him : and therefore the French 
 took no ill Method, when they in- 
 tended to reform and beautify their 
 Language , in fetting their beft 
 Writers on Work to tranflate the 
 Greek and Latin Authors into it. 
 There is fo little praife got by Tran- 
 flations, that a Man cannot be en- 
 gaged to it out of Vanity, for it 
 has paft for a fign of a flow Mind, 
 that can amufeicfelf with fo mean 
 an Entertainment ; but we begin to 
 grow wifer, and tho ordinary Tran- 
 flators mufl fucceed ill in the efteem 
 pjF the World, yet fome have ap- 
 peared of late that will, I hope, 
 bring that way of writing in credit^ 
 The Englifh t^anguage has wrought 
 it felf out, both of the fulfome Pe- 
 dantry 
 
T'he Preface. 
 
 dantry under which it laboured long 
 ago, and the trifling way of dark 
 and unintelligible Wit that came af- 
 ter that/ and out of the courle ex- 
 travagance df Canting that fucceed- 
 ed this : but as one Extream com- 
 monly produces another , fo we 
 were beginning to fly into afublime 
 pitch, of a ftrong but falfe Rhe- 
 torick, which had much corrupted, 
 not only the Stage, but even the 
 Pulpit, two places, that tho they 
 ought not to be named together, 
 much lefs to refemble one another • 
 yet it cannot be denied, but the 
 Rule and Meafure of Speech is ge- 
 nerally taken from them ; but that 
 florid fl:rain is almofl: quite worn out, 
 and is become now as ridiculous as it 
 was once admired. So that without 
 cither the Expence or Labour that 
 the French have undergone, our 
 Language has, like a rich Wine, 
 
 A 4 wrought 
 
■^^■'— *^— — ^»" ■■■■■■II - ^ - , . ^ - -, . I , , , . , r . ■ J ■ , . , - - 
 
 The Preface. 
 
 wrought out its Tartar, and is ia- 
 infenfibly brought tp a Purity that 
 could not have Jbeea compafled 
 without much la^bour, ; had it not 
 been for the great advantage that 
 we have of a Fmce^ who is {o great 
 a Judg, that his fingle approbation 
 or diflike has almoft as great an Au- 
 thority over our Language, as his 
 prerogative gives him over our 
 Coin. We are now fo much re- 
 fined, that how defe(3:iyeloever our 
 Imaginations or Reafonings may 
 be, yet our Language has fewer 
 Faults, and is more natural and pro- 
 per, than it was ever at any time 
 before. When one cornpares the 
 beft Writers of the laft Age, with 
 thefe that excel in this, the diffe- 
 rence is very difcernable : even the 
 great Sir Francis 'BacoUy that was the 
 firft that writ our Language correft- 
 ' V : as he is ftill our beft Author, yet 
 
 'f?. 
 
the Preface^ 
 
 in fome places has Figures fo (Ironcr^ 
 that they could not pals now before 
 afeverejudg. I will not provoke 
 i:he prefent Mafters of the Stage, by 
 prefening the Authors of the latl 
 Age to them: for tho they ail ac- 
 kaowledg that they corr.e far iliorc 
 of S, Johnforiy ^eamont and hktchr^ 
 yet 1 believe they are better pleafed 
 to fay this themfelves, than to have 
 it obferved by others. Their Lan- 
 guage is now certainly properer, and 
 more natural than it was formerly, 
 chiefly fince the corredion that was 
 given by the ^ehearfal ; and it is to 
 Be hoped, that the Effay on Foetry^ 
 which may be well matched with 
 the beft Pieces of its kind that even 
 Juguftus's Age produced, will have 
 a more powerful Operation, if cleat 
 fenfe, joined with home but gen- 
 tle Reproofs, can work more on pur 
 
 Writers, 
 
The Preface. 
 
 Writers, than that unmerciful expo- 
 fing of them has done. 
 
 I have now much leifure, and 
 want diverfion, fo I have be- 
 ftowed fome of my hours upon 
 Tranflations, in which I have pro- 
 pofed no ill Patterns to my felf ; 
 but the Reader will be beft able to 
 judg whether I have copied skil- 
 fully after fuch Originals. This 
 fmall Volume which I now publifli, 
 being writ by one of the greateft 
 Men that this Ifland has produced, 
 feemed to me to contain fb many 
 fine and well-digefted Notions, 
 that I thought it might be no un- 
 kind nor ill entertainment to the 
 Nation, to put a Book in their 
 Hands, to; which they have fo 
 good a Title«, and which has a 
 ymy common fate upon it, to be 
 
 more 
 
The Preface. 
 
 more known and admired all the 
 World over, than here at Home. 
 It was once tranflated into Eng- 
 lifh not long after it was written • 
 and I was once apt to think it 
 might have been done by Sir Tho- 
 mas Sldore himfelf: for as it is in 
 the Englifli of his Age, and not 
 unlike his Stile ; fo the Tranflator 
 has taken a liberty that feems 
 too great for any but the Author 
 himfelf, who is Mafter of his own 
 Book, andfo may leave out or al- 
 ter his Original as he pleafes : 
 which is more than a Tranflator 
 ought to do, I am lure it is more* 
 than I have prefumed to do. 
 
 ,Jri was writ in the Yieair 1516, 
 as appears by the Date of the Let- 
 ter of ^eter Q'tkys^ in which he 
 (ays^ That it;' was fent him but a 
 
 few 
 
T'he Preface. 
 
 few days before from the Author, 
 and that bears date the firft of 2^o- 
 Vemher that Year ; but I cannot 
 imagine how he comes to be cal- 
 led Sheriff of London in the Title 
 of the Book, for in all our printed 
 Catalogues of Sheriffs, his Name 
 is npt to be found. I do not think 
 my fclf concerned in the Matter 
 of his Book, no more than any o- 
 ther Tranflator is in his Author: 
 nor do I think JMore himfelf went 
 in heartily to that which is the 
 chief Bafis of his Utopia^ the ta- 
 king away of all Property ^ and the 
 levelling the World ^ but that he 
 only intended to fet many Notions 
 in his Reader's way ; and that he 
 might not (eem too much in earned, 
 he went fo far out of all Roads to 
 do it the lefs fufpeded : the ear-'^ 
 iieftnefs with which he recom- 
 mends 
 
The Preface. 
 
 mends the precaution ufed in Mar- 
 riages among the Utopiansy makes 
 one think that he had a misfortune 
 in his own choice, and that there- 
 fore he was fo cautious on that 
 Head . for the ftridnefs of his Life 
 covers him from fevcre Cenfures : 
 His fetting out fo barbarous a pra- 
 aice, as the hiring of Affaffinates 
 to take off Enemies, is fo wild and 
 fo immoral both, that it does not 
 admit of any thing to foften or ex- 
 cufe it, much lefs to juftif y it ; and 
 the advifing Men in fome Cafes 
 to put an end to their Lives, not- 
 withftanding all the Caution with 
 which he guards it, is a piece of 
 rough and fierce Philofophy, The^ 
 tendcreft part of the whole Work, 
 was the reprefentation he gives of 
 Henry the Seventh's Court ; and his 
 Difcourfes upon it, towards the 
 
 end 
 
The Preface. 
 
 end of the firft Book^ in which hi^ 
 Difguife is fo thin, that the Matter 
 would not have been much plainer 
 if he had named him : But when 
 he ventured to write fo freely of the 
 Father in the Sori'» Reign, and to 
 give fuch an Idea of Government 
 under the haughtieft Prince, and 
 the moi^ impatient of uneafy Re- 
 ftraints that ever reighed in Engkndy 
 who yec was fo far from being dif- 
 pleafed with him for it, that as he 
 made him long his particular 
 Friend, fo he employed him in all 
 his Affairs afterwards, and raifedhim 
 to be L.Chancellor,! thought I rrtight 
 venture to put it in more Mbderii' 
 Englifli : for as the Tranflators of 
 PlttUrcVs Herosy or of TuUks Of- 
 fices, are not concerned, either in 
 the Maxims, or in the Actions that 
 idiey relate • fo I, who only tell, in 
 Li.i the 
 
The Preface. 
 
 the beft Englifli I can , what 
 Sir Thomas SMore writ in very Ele- 
 gant Latin, muft leave his Thoughts 
 and Notions to the Reader's cen- 
 fure, and do think my felf liable 
 for nothing but the fidelity of the 
 Tranflation, and the corre^Stnefs of 
 the Englifli ; and for that I can on- 
 ly fay, that I have writ as carefully^ 
 and as well as I can. 
 
A A A A A A A A A A « & A & & Od w A 6 6 w 
 
 iftfffff;fzf|5ffffff 
 THE 
 
 Author's Epifll© 
 
 t d 
 
 Pe ter Gi les. 
 
 I Am almoji ajljahted, niy dearejl Peter 
 Giles, to fend yon this Book^ of the 
 Utopian Common- Wealth, after al- 
 mofi a Tears delay 5 whereas Ho doubi 
 yoH looH^d for it within fix Weeh^ : for as 
 yOH k^ovi> 1 had ko dccafion foir ujlng my In-- 
 vention^ or for taking pajns to put things 
 into any method^ hecaufe I had nothing to do^ 
 but to repeat exactly thojk things that 1 heard 
 Raphael relate in your prefence 3 fo neither 
 was there any occajion given for & Jludied 
 Ejloquence : Jince as he deliijered things to us 
 of the fndden^ and ih d carelifs Stile 5 fo 
 h$ £eip^^ 4s yoit k^ow^ 4 greaUT Majier of 
 
The Author's Epiftle 
 
 the Greek^^ than of the Latin 5 the plainer 
 my words are^ they will refemhle his fimpli" 
 city the more : and will he by confequence the 
 marer to the 'truths and that is all that I 
 thinks ties on me : and it k indeed the only 
 thing in which I thought my felf concerned, 
 1 confefs^ I had very little left on me in this 
 Matter^ for otherwife the inventing and or- 
 dering of fitch a Scheme^ would have put a 
 Man of an ordinary pitchy either of (^apaci* 
 ty^ or of Learnings to fame pains ^ and have 
 coft him fome time 5 hut if it had been ne* 
 cejjary that this T^latien fwuld have been 
 made^ not only truly, but eloquently^ it could 
 never have been performed by me, even after 
 all the pains and time that I could have 
 heflowed upon it. My part in it was fo very 
 fmall, that it could not give me much trou- 
 ble, all that belonged to me being only to give 
 a true and full account of the things that 1 
 had heard : but although this required fo ve- 
 ry little of my time 5 yet even that little was 
 long denied me by my other Affairs, which 
 prefs much upon me : for while in pleadings 
 and hearings and in judging or compofwg 
 of Caufes, in waiting on fome Men upon Bu- 
 finefs, and on others 09tt of Rejpeff, the 
 greatefl part of the Day is fpent on other 
 M&ns Affairs^ the remainder of it mufl be 
 
 given 
 
to P ETE R Gil es. 
 
 given to my Family at home : So that I can 
 
 nferve no fart of it to my felf that is^ to 
 
 f^y Study : Imufi talk, ^ith my Wife^ and 
 
 chat with my Children^ and I have fomevphat 
 
 to fay to my Servants 5 for all thefe things I 
 
 recl^nas apart ef Buftnefs^except a Man will 
 
 refolve to be a Stranger at Home : and with 
 
 vphomfoever either Nature^ Chance^ or Choice 
 
 has engaged a Man^ in any Commerce^ he 
 
 mnft evdtuvour to mak§ himfelf as acceptable 
 
 to thefi about him^ as he pojfibly can 5 ufing 
 
 jlill fiich a, temper in a, that he may not fpoil 
 
 them by at^ excejjim gentknefi^ fo that his 
 
 Servants may not become his Majiers. I^ 
 
 fuch things as I have named to you^ dcf Days^ 
 
 Months J and Tears flip avpay 5 what Is then 
 
 left for Writing ^ and yet 1 h'^ve faid nO" 
 
 thing of that time that mufi go for Sleeps 
 
 or for Meat : in which many do wajie almofl 
 
 as much of their time^ as in Sleeps vfihicb 
 
 confumes very near the half of our Life 5 
 
 '4nd indeed Ml the time which I can gain to 
 
 my felf is that which I fieal from my Sleep 
 
 4nd my Meals ^ and becauji that is not 
 
 much^ I have made hut a flow progrefs $ yet 
 
 hecaufe it is fomewhat^ I have at laji got to 
 
 an end of my Utopia, which I now fend to 
 
 yon^ andexpeS that after you have read it^ 
 
 ym will kt me k^ovp if you cm put me in mind 
 
 B 2 ef 
 
The Author's Epiftle 
 
 of atjy thing that has efcaped me 5 for tho I 
 TfOhld thinks my felf very hafpy^if I had hut 
 as mhih Invention and Learning as I k^ow I 
 have Memory^ Uphich makes me generally dC" 
 pend much upon it^ yet I do not relie Jo en* 
 tirely on it, as to think lean forget nothing. 
 
 My Servant John Clement has Jiarted 
 fome things that Jfjake nie : Ton kjtow he was 
 prefent with us, as I thinly he ought to he at 
 every Converfation that may he of nfe to him^ 
 for I promife my felf great Matters from the 
 progrefi he has fo early made in the Greeks 
 and Roman Learning. As far as my Me* 
 mory ferves me, the Bridg over Anider at 
 Amaurot, was 500 paces broad, according 
 to Raphael/ account 5 but John affures me^ 
 he Jpoke only of 300 paces 5 therefore I pray 
 you recolleS what you can remember of this, 
 for if you agree with him, I will believe that 
 I have been mijlak^n 5 but if you remember 
 nothing of it, I will not alter what I have 
 written, hecaufe it is according to the beji of 
 my remembrance : far as I will tak§ care that 
 there may be nothing falfly fet down ^ fi ^ 
 there is any thing doubtful, tho I may perhaps 
 tell a lie, yet I am Jure I will not make one 3 
 for I would rather paji for a ^ood Man^ 
 than for a wife Man : hut it will be eajy to 
 correhthis ^ifiakf^^ if y9H can either meet 
 
 with 
 
CO Peter Giles. 
 
 mth Raphael bintfdf^ or h^ow how to roriu 
 to him, 
 
 I have another Difficulty that frejjes me 
 
 more^ and mak^s your writing to him the 
 
 t^Qre neceffary : I J^ow not whom I ought to 
 
 blame for it^whether Raphael,^^;^5(?r myfelf^ 
 
 for a^ we did notthink^of askingit^fo neither 
 
 did he of telHng us^ in what part of the newr 
 
 found (Vorld Utopia is Jituated '^ this was 
 
 fuch an omijfion that I would gladly redeem 
 
 if at any rate : I am ajt)amed^ that after I 
 
 have told Jo many thwgs concerning this 
 
 Ifland^ I cannot let my Readers kpow in 
 
 what Sea it lies. There are fome among us 
 
 that have a mighty dejre to go thifher^ and 
 
 in particular^ one pious Divine is very ear^ 
 
 nefi on it^ not fo much out of a vain curioR^ 
 
 ty of fieing unknown Countries^ as, that he. 
 
 may advance our Religion^ which is fo hap* 
 
 fily begun to be planted there 5 and that he 
 
 may do this regularly^ he intends to procure 
 
 a Mijjion from the Pope^ and to be fent thi^ 
 
 ther as their Bijbpp. In fuch a cafe as this^ 
 
 he mal^s no fcruple of afpiring to that Cba^ 
 
 rdiJer^ and thinl^s it is rather meritorious tQ 
 
 be ambitious of it^ when one dejires it only 
 
 for advancing the Chrijiia^ Religign^ and not 
 
 for any Honour or Advantage that may be 
 
 had by it, but is alfed meerly by a pious Zeal. 
 
 B g There^^ 
 
The Author's Epiftle 
 
 Therefore I earnejily beg it of you^ if yon 
 can pojjihly meet with Raphael, or if yen 
 know how to write to him^ that you will he 
 f leafed to inform your felf of thefe things^ 
 that there may be no falfjood left in my 
 Book^^ nor any important Truth wanting. 
 And perhaps it will not he unfit to let him fee 
 the Book^ it felf: for hs no Man can corred 
 any Errors that may be in itj fo well as he 5 
 fo by reading it^ he will be able to give a 
 more perfe& judgment of it than he can do 
 npon any Difiourje concerning it : and you 
 will be likewife able to difcover whether this 
 Z)ndertal{ing of mine is acceptable to him or 
 not 5 for if he intends to write a Relation of 
 his Travels^ perhaps he will not be pleafed 
 that I JJjould prevent him^ in that part that 
 belongs to the Utopian Common- Wealth 5 
 fnce if I Jhould do fo^ his Book^ will not 
 furprize the World with the pleafure which 
 this new "Difcovery will give the Age. And 
 lam fo little fond of appearing in print up- 
 m this occafion^ that if he diflih^s it^ I will 
 lay it ajide 3 ^/fnd even though he Jl)ould ap^ 
 prove of it^ I am not poftively determined 
 as to the publijlnng of it. Mens tafles dij^r 
 much ^ fome are of fo morofe a Temper^ fo 
 four a Dijpojition^and mak^fuch abfurd Judg- 
 ments of Things^ that Men of chearful and 
 
 lively 
 
to Peter Giles. 
 
 lively Tempers^ who indulge their Genius, 
 feem much more happy ^ than thofe who wajie 
 their time and jireKgth in order to the pub- 
 lijinng fome Book^^ that tho of it felf it 
 might be ujeful or pleafavt^ yet inflead of bet- 
 ing wellreceived^will be fare to be either loa* 
 thed at^ or cenfared. Many kpovp nothing 
 of Learning^and others defpifeit : a Man that 
 is accffjiomed to a courje and harjl) Sile^ 
 thinks every thing is rough that is not barba-^ 
 rous. Our tricing Pretenders to Learnings 
 thinks all is flight that is not dreji up in 
 words that are worn out ofuji'^fome love only 
 old things^ and many lik^ nothing but what 
 is their own. Some are fo fourjtbat they can 
 allow no Jejis^ and others arefo dull that they 
 can endure nothing that is fharp 5 and fome 
 are as much afraid of any thing that is quick 
 or lively^ as a Man bit with a mad Dog is 
 of Water 5 others are fo light and trnfetled^ 
 that their Thoughts change as quick^as they do 
 their Pojiures : and fome^ when they meet 
 in Taverns^ take upon them amovg their Cups 
 to pafs Cenfures very freely on all Writers 5 
 and with a fupercilious liberty to condemn 
 every thing that they do not like: in which they 
 have the advantage that a bald Man has^ 
 who can catch hold of another by the Hair^ 
 while the other cannot return the like upon 
 
 ? 4 
 
The Author's Epiftle, .&c. 
 
 him. Thej are fafe as it were of Gun- 
 JI)ot^ ftnce there is nothiftg in them conjidera^ 
 ble erwttgh to he tah^n hold of. And fome are 
 fo Hfithiinkfnl^ that even when they are well* 
 f leafed with a Book^^ yet they thinks they owe 
 fioihing to the Author ^ and are lil^e thofe 
 rude Guejis^ who after they have been well 
 et7tertained at a good Dinner^ go away when 
 'they have gUiied their Appetites^ rvithoHt fo 
 WHch as thanking him that treated them. But 
 who would pMt himfelf to the charge of ma- 
 l^ng a Feafi for <^en ofjuch nice Palats, 
 and fo different Tajies 3 rvho are fo forget^ 
 ful of the Civilities that are done them .<? But 
 do )pu onc^ clear thofe Points with Raphael, 
 and then it will he time enough to conjider 
 whether it be Jit to puhhJJ) it or not 5 for 
 ftnce I have been at the pains to nfrite it^ if he 
 confents to the publijinng it^ 1 T^ill follow my 
 Friend' s Advice^ and chiefly yours. Fare* 
 wel my dear Peter, commend me kindly to 
 your good Wife^ and love me Jiill as you 
 ufe to do^ for I affure yon I love you daily 
 m(^r^ and mare. 
 
 T H 5 
 
i^iUMMMk 
 
 f f f f f f f f :^ rftf f ^^f 5js|$ 
 The Difcourfes of 
 
 Raphael HythlodAy^ 
 
 Of the beft State of a 
 
 Common- Wealth. 
 
 Written hy Sir Thomas More, Citi;^n 
 and Sheriff of London. 
 
 HE N U r the 8th, the uncon- 
 quered King of Englaftd^ a 
 Prince adorned with all the 
 Vertues that become a great 
 Monarch 3 having fome DifE^rences of no 
 fmall Conftquence with Charles ih^ mod 
 ferene Prince of Cajiile, fcnt me iiito 
 Flanders as his Ambaffador, for treating 
 ^nd comppfing Matters between them. I 
 
 was 
 
I 
 
 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 was CoUegue and Companion to that in- 
 comparable Man Cuthbert Tonfial^ whom 
 the King made lately Matter of the Rolls^ 
 with fuch an llniverfal Applaufe, of 
 whom I will fay nothing, not becaufe I 
 fear that the Teftimony of a Friend will 
 be fufpeded, but rather becaufe his 
 Learning and Vermes are greater than 
 that they can be fet forth with advantage 
 by me, and they are fo well known, that 
 they need not my Commendations, unlefi 
 I would, according to the Proverb, Shew 
 the Sun mth a Lafjthorn. Thofe that were 
 appointed by the Prince to treat with us, 
 met us at jBr^ge/^according to Agreement : 
 they were all worthy Men. The Marl^ 
 grave of Bruges was their Head, and the 
 chief Man among them , but he that was 
 efteemed the wifeft, and that (poke for 
 the reft, was George Temfe the Provoftof 
 Cajfeljie 3 both Art and Nature had con- 
 curred to make him eloquent : He was 
 very learned in the Law 5 and as he had 
 a great Capacity, fo by a long practice in 
 Affairs, he was very dextrous at them. 
 After we had met once and again, and 
 could not come to an Agreement, they 
 went to Brf/JJeh for fome days to receive 
 the Prince's Pkafure. And fince our Bu- 
 
 finefi 
 
UTOPIA. f 
 
 finefs did admit of it, I went to Aniwerp : 
 While I was there, among many that vifi- 
 ted me, there was one that was more ac- 
 ceptable to me than any other 5 Teeter 
 Giles born at Antwerp^ who is a Man of 
 great Honour, and of a good Rank in 
 his Town 5 yet it is not fuch as he de- 
 ftrves : for I do not know if there be 
 any where to be found a learneder and 
 a better bred young Man : for as he is 
 both a very worthy Perfon, and a very 
 knowing Man 5 fo he is (b civil to all 
 Men, and yet fo particularly kind to his 
 Friends, and is fo full of Candor and At 
 feftion, that there is not perhaps above 
 one or two to be found any where, that 
 is in all refpeds fo perfeft a Friend as he 
 is : He is extraordinarily modeft, there is 
 no artifice in him 5 and yet no Man has 
 more of a prudent fimplicity than he has : 
 His Converfation was fo pleafant and fo 
 innocently chearful, that his Company 
 did in a great meafure leffen any longings 
 to go back to my Country, and to my 
 Wife and Children, which an abfence of 
 four months had quickned very much. 
 One day as I was returning home from 
 Mafs at St. Maries^ which is the chief 
 Churcbj and the mod frequented of any in 
 
 AKtvpcrp^ 
 
Sir Thomas More'i 
 
 Antvperp^ ! faw him by accident talking 
 with 3 Scranger, that feemed pad the 
 flower of his Age , his Face was tanned, 
 he had a long Beard, and his Goak was 
 hanging car^lefly about him, fo that by his 
 Looks and Habit, I concluded he was a 
 Seaman, As foon as Peter faw me, he came 
 and faluted me , and as I was returning 
 his Civility, he took me afide, and point- 
 ing to him with whom he had been diP- 
 courfing, hefaid, Do you feeth^tMan? 
 I was juft thinking to bring him to you. I 
 ^nfwercd. He (hould have been very wel- 
 come on your account : And on hfe own 
 too, repFied he, if you knew the Man 5 
 for there is none alive that can give you 
 fo copious an account' of unknown Na- 
 tions and Countries as he can do 5 whicti 
 I know you very much defire. Theq 
 faid I, I did not guefe amif&, fpr at firft 
 fight I took him for a Seaman : But you 
 are much miftaken, faid he, for he has 
 not failed as a Seaman, but as a TravelJerj 
 or rather as a Philofopher ^ for this J?^- 
 fhad^ who from his Family carries the 
 Name of Hjtblodaj^ as he is not igno- 
 rant of the Latine Tongue, fo be is emi- 
 nently learned in the Greek, having ap- 
 plied himfelf niore parucularly to tha$ 
 
 than 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 than to the former, becaufe he had given 
 himfelf much to Philofophy, in which he 
 knew that the Tomans have left us no- 
 thing that is valuable, except what is to 
 be found in Semta and Cketo. He is a 
 FortHguefe by birth, and was fo defirous 
 of feeing the World, that he divided his 
 Eftate among his Brothers, and run For- 
 tunes with ^kmericHsVefpHiiuf^ and bore a 
 fliare in thrqf of his four Voyages, that 
 are now publiftied : only he did not re- 
 turn with him in his laft, but obtained 
 leave of him almoft by force, that he 
 might be one of thofe four and twenty 
 who were left at the fartheft place at 
 which they touched, in their laft Voyage 
 toNerv Cafiile. The leaving him thus, 
 did not a little gratify one that was more 
 fond of travelling than of returning home, 
 to be buried in his ownCountry jfor he 
 HM^oftei^ 
 
 Wasjheiame fro m alTpIaces 5 and hethat 
 figJnoGrave, Eadlhe Heav ens ITiU over 
 him.' iret This dirpoGtibn ot Mind had" 
 coIThim dear, if God had not been very 
 gracious to him 5 for after he, with five 
 Capliani, had travelled over many Coun- 
 tries, at laft, by a ftrange wod fortune, 
 he got to Cejlor;^ and from thence to Ca- 
 
Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 licut^ and there he very happily found 
 fome PortHgueJe Ships 5 and fo, beyond 
 all Mens expeftations, he came back to 
 his own Country. When Peter had C^id 
 this to me, I thanked him for his kind- 
 nefi, in intending to give me the acquain- 
 tance of a Man, whofe Conver(ation he 
 knew would be fo acceptable to me , and 
 upon that Raphael and I embraced one 
 another : And after thofe Civilities were 
 paft, which are ordinary for Strangers 
 upon their firft meeting. We went all to 
 my Hou(e, and entring into the Garden, 
 (at down on a green Bank, and entertain- 
 ed one another in Difcourfe. He told us, 
 that whfn l^ejputw had failed away, he 
 and his Companions that ftaid behind in 
 V^W'Cafiile^ did by degrees infinuat^ 
 themfelves into the People of the Coun-^ 
 try, meeting often with tliem, and treat- 
 ing them gently : and at laft they grew 
 not only to live among them without darjr 
 ger,but to converfe familiarly with them 5 
 and got fo far into the Heart of a Prince, 
 whofe Name and Country I have forgot, 
 that he both furni(hed them plentifully 
 with all things neceffary, and ajfo with 
 the conveniences of travellings both 
 Boats when they went by Water, and 
 
 Wagons 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 Wagons when they travelled over Land 5 
 and he (ent with them a very faithful 
 Guide, who was to introduce and re- 
 commend them to fuch other Princes as 
 they had a mind to fee ; and after m;my 
 days Journey, they came to Towns, and 
 Cities, and to Common- Wealths, that 
 were both happily governed,and well peo- 
 pled. Under, the /Equator^ and as far on 
 both fide: oi it as the Sun moves, tlitre 
 lay vaft Deftrts that were parched with 
 the perpetual heat of the Sun 5 the Soil 
 Was withered, all Things looked difmally, 
 and all Places were either quite uninhabi- 
 ted, or abounded with Wild Beads and 
 Serpents, and (bme few Men, that were 
 neither lefi wild, nor le(s cruel than the 
 Beafts themfelves. But as they went far- 
 ther, a new Scene opened, all things grew 
 milder, the Air lets burning, the Soil more 
 verdant, and even the Beafts were lefi 
 wild; And at laft there are Nations, 
 Towns, and Cities, that have not only 
 mutual commerce among themfelves, and 
 with their Neighbours, but trade both by 
 Sea and Land, to very remote Countries. 
 There they found the Conveniencies of 
 feeing many Countries on all Hands, for 
 no Ship went any Voyage into which Jbe 
 
 and 
 
8t Sir Thomas Morc'j 
 
 and his Companions were not very wel- 
 cotftc. The firft Veffels that they fiW 
 were Flat-bottomed, their Sails were 
 made of Reeds and Wicker woven clofe 
 together^ only fome were made of Lea- 
 ther 5 but afterwards they found Ships 
 made with round Keels, and Canva(s Sails, 
 and in all things hke our Ships: and the 
 Seamen underftood both Aftrbnomy and 
 Navigation. He got wonderfully into 
 their favour, by (hewing them the ufe of 
 the Needle, of which till then they were 
 utterly ignorant 5 and wheteas they (ailed 
 before with great caution, and only iri 
 Summer-time, now they count all Siea(bn^ 
 alike, trufting wholly to the Load(tone, 
 in which they are perhaps more (ecure 
 thanfafe, (b that there is rea(bn to fear, 
 that this Difcovery which wis thought 
 would prove (b much to their Advan- 
 tage, may by their imprudence become 
 an occafion of much Mi(chief to thertl 
 But it were too long to dwell on all that 
 he told us he had ob(erved in every place; 
 it would be too great a digreflion from 
 our prefent purpo(e : and what-ever is ne- 
 cefl&ry to be told, chiefly concerning the 
 wi(e and prudent Inttitutions that he 
 oljdferved among civilized Natiorts, may 
 
 perhaps' 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 perhaps be related by us on a more pro- 
 per occafion. We ask'd him many que- 
 ftions concerning all thefe thingS5to which 
 he anfwered very willingly s only we 
 itiade no enquiries after Monfters, than 
 which nothing is more common , for 
 every where one may hear of ravenous 
 Dogs and Wolves, and cruel Men-eaters 5 
 but it is not fb ea(y to find States that are 
 well and wifely governed. ^— 
 
 But as he told us of many things that 
 were amils id thofe New-found Nations, 
 fo he reckoned up not a few things, from 
 which Patterns might be taken for cor- 
 reding the Errors of thefe Nations a- 
 mong whom we live 3 of Which an ac- 
 count may be given, as I have already 
 promifed, at fome other time 5 for at pre- 
 fent I intend only to relate thefe Particu- 
 lars that he told us of the Manners and 
 Laws of the Utofians : but I will begin 
 with the Occafion that led us to fpeak of 
 that Common-Wealth. After Raphael 
 had difcourfed with great judgment of the 
 Errors that were both among us and thefe 
 Nationsj of which there was no fmall 
 number, and had treated of the wife In- 
 ftitutions both here and there, and had 
 Ipoken as diftinftly of the Cuftoms and 
 
 C Govern* 
 
I o Sir Thomas Mote'j 
 
 Government of every Nation through 
 which he had paft, as if he had fpent his 
 vs?hole Life in it 5 Peter being ftruck M^ith 
 admiration, faid, I wonder, l^afhael^ how 
 it comes that you enter into no King's 
 Service, for I am fure there are none to 
 whom you would not be very acceptable : 
 for your Learning and Knowledg, both 
 of Men and Things, is fuch, that you 
 would not cfnly entertain them very plea- 
 fantly, but be of good ufe to them, by 
 the Examples that you CQuld fet before' 
 them, and the Advices that you oould 
 give them ^ and by this means you would 
 both ferve your own Intereft^ and be of 
 great u(e to all your Friends. As for my 
 Friends, anfwered he, I need not be much 
 concerned, having already done all that 
 was incumbent on me toward them 5 foT; 
 when I was not only in good Health, but 
 freftj rnd yoling, 1 diftributed that among 
 itiy Kindred and Friends, which other 
 People do not part with till they are old 
 and fick 5 and th^n they unwillingly give 
 among them,that which they can enjoy nc 
 longer therofelves. I think my Friends 
 ought to reft contented with this, and not 
 to expeft th^t for their iafces I (hould en- 
 Save my itXf to any King wbatfoever. 
 -:.:r:.^ Soft 
 
UTOPIA/ 
 
 II 
 
 $oft and fair, faid Peter, I do not mean 
 that you (hould be a Slave to any Ring,^ 
 but only that you fliould aflift them, and- 
 be ufeful to thefn. The change of ih^ 
 Word, (aid. he, does not alter the Matter. 
 But term it as you will, replied Peter^ i 
 do not fee any other way in which you 
 can be Co ufeful, both in private to your 
 Friends, and to the Publick, and by which' 
 you can make your own Condition hap- 
 pier. Happier ! anfwered Raphael, ^ isf 
 that to be compafled in a way fo abhor- 
 rent to my Genius ? Now I live as I wilj; p' 
 to which I believe fSw. Courtiers can pre- ^ 
 tend; and there are fo very many that If 
 court the Favour of great Men, that there 
 will be no great lofi, if they are not 
 troubled either with me, or with others 
 of my temper. Upon this, I faid, I per- 
 ceive Raphael that you neither defire 
 Wealth nor Gceatnefi .3 and indeed I va- 
 fue and admire fuch a Man much more 
 than I do any of the great Men in the 
 World. Yet I think you would do a 
 thing well-becoming fo generous and Co 
 philofophic^l a Soul as yours is, if you 
 would apply your Time and Thoughts to 
 Publick Affairs, even though you may 
 happen to find that a little uncaly to your 
 
 e ^ me 
 
II Sir Thomas More'x 
 
 felf 5 and this you can never do with fo 
 much advantage, as by being taken into 
 the Council of fomc great Prince, and by 
 (etting him on to noble and wori-hy 
 Things, which I know you would do^u 
 you were in fuch a Poft 5 for the Springs, 
 bmlTor GoodT and_ Ev il, flo w over a 
 whole Natron^~ Fom the Prin ce, as from 
 alalting^FountairiL So muclTLearning as 
 you have,~even without praftice in Af- 
 fairs 3 or fo great a pradice as you have 
 had, without any other Learning, would 
 render you a very fit Counfellor to any 
 King whatfoever, You are doubly mi- 
 ftaken, (aid he, Mr. i^lore^ both in } our 
 Opinion of me, and in the Judgment 
 that you make of things : for as I have 
 not that Capacity that you fancy to be in 
 me 5 fo if I had it, the Publick would 
 not be one jot the better, when I had fa- 
 crificed my quiet to it. For moft Prin- 
 ces apply themfelves more to warlike Mat- 
 ters, than to the ufeful Arts of Peace 5 
 and in thefe I neither have any knowledg, 
 nor do I much defire it : They are ge- 
 nerally more fet on acquiring new King- 
 doms, right or wrong, than on govern- 
 ing thofe well that they have : and among 
 the Minifters of Princes, there are none 
 
 that 
 
UTOPIA. 15 
 
 that either are not fo wife as not to need 
 any affiftance^or at lead that do not think 
 themfelves fo wife, that they imagine 
 they need none 5 and if they do court 
 any, it is only thofe for whom the Prince 
 has much perfonal Favour, whom by their 
 Faunings and Flatteries they endeavour 
 to fix to their own Interefts : and indeed 
 Nature lias loTmade us, tEatwc all love to 
 be fla tter ed, and to pl eafe ou r felves wltS 
 our own Notions. The^ld^Crow loves 
 his Young, and the Ape his Cubs. Now 
 if in fuch a Court, made up of Perfons 
 th^t envy all other|^nd do only admire 
 themfelves, oneft^Hd but propofe any 
 thing that he had either read in Hiftory, 
 or obferved in his Travels, the reft would 
 think that the Reputation of their Wit 
 dom would fink, and that their Interefts 
 would be much depreffed, if they could 
 not run it down ; And if all other things 
 failed, then they would fly to this. That 
 fuch or fuch things pleafed our Anceftors, 
 and it were well for us if we could but 
 match them. They would fet up their 
 Reft on fuch an Anfwer, as a fufBcient 
 confutation of all that could be (aid 5 a§ 
 if this were a great Mifehief, that any 
 1|iould be found wifer than his Anceftors: 
 
 C 3 §tt| 
 
Sir Thomas More'i^ 
 
 hut tho they willingly let go all the good 
 Things that were among thofe of former 
 Ages 5 yet if better things are propofed, 
 they cover themfelvcs obftinately with 
 this excufe, of reverence to part Times. 
 I -have met with thefe proud, morofe, and 
 abfurd Judgments of Things in many pla- 
 tes, particularly once in Et7gland. Was 
 you ever there, faid I ? Yes, I w^as, an- 
 •Twered he, and ftaid fome months there, 
 not long after the Rebellion in the VVeft 
 \vas fuppreffed, with a great (laughter of 
 the poor People that were engaged in 
 it. 
 
 I was then muchi|Wiged to that reve- 
 rend Prelate Ji>hn ^mrton Archbifhop of 
 Cat7terhurj^' Cardim)^ and Chancellor of 
 Ef7g!ar7d ^ a Man, ftid he, Peter ( for 
 Mr. «i^<?re knows well what he was) that 
 was not left venerable for his Wi(Hom and 
 Vertuc?, than for the high Charafter he 
 bpre : He was of a middle ftature, not 
 broken with Age ; his looks begot Reve- 
 rence rather than Fear 3 his Converfttion 
 was eafv% but ferious and grave $ he took 
 pleafure fometimes to try the force of 
 thofe that came as Suiters to him upon 
 Bufinels, by (peaking (harply, tho de- 
 cendy to them, and by that he difcovered 
 
 their 
 
U T O P lh7~~ , 1 5 
 
 their Spirit and prefence of Mind 5 with 
 which he was much delighted, when it 
 did not grow up to an impudence, as 
 bearing a great refemblance to his own 
 temper , and he look'd on fuch Perfons as 
 the fitteft Men for Affairs. He fpoke 
 both gracefully and weightily 5 he was 
 eminently skilled in the Law, and had a 
 vaft llnderftanding, and a prodigious 
 Memory : and thofe excellent Talents 
 with which Nature had furniOied him, 
 were improved by Study and Experience. 
 When I was in Englaffd^ the King de- 
 pended much on his Councils, and the 
 Government feem^^ to be chiefly fup- 
 ported by him , for from his Youth up, 
 he had been all along pradifed in Affairs 5 
 and having paffed through many Traver- 
 fes of Fortune, he had acquired to his 
 great coft, a vaft ftock of Wifdom : 
 which is not foon loft, when it is purcha- 
 fed fo dear. One (Jay when I was dining 
 with him, there hapned to be at Table 
 one of the Englifh Lawyers, who took 
 occafion to run out in a high commenda- 
 tion of the fevere execution of Juftice 
 tipon Thieves, who, as he faid, were then 
 hanged fo faft, that there were fometimes 
 20 on one Gibbet 3 and upon that he faid,he 
 
 C4 
 
1 6 Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 could not wonder enough how it came 
 to pafi, that fiqce fo few efcaped, there 
 were yet (b many Thieves left who were* 
 ftill robbing in all places. Upon this, I 
 who took the boldnefi to fpeak freely be- 
 fore the Cardinal, (aid. There was no 
 reafbn to wonder at the Matter, fince 
 this way of puniftiing Thieves, was nei- 
 ther juft in it Self, nor good for the Pub- 
 lick 5 for as the Severity was too great, 
 fo the Remedy was not efFeftual 5 fimple 
 Theft not being fo great a Crime, that it 
 ought to coft a Man his Life 5 and no Pu- 
 niffiment how fevere foever, being able 
 fo reftrain thofe from robbing, who can 
 find out no other way of livelihood 5 and 
 in this, faid I, not only you in Efjgland^ 
 but a great part of the World, imitate 
 fome ill Mafters, that are readier to cha- 
 {life their Scholars, than to teach them. 
 There are dreadful Punifliments enaded 
 againft Thieves, but it were much better 
 to make fuch good Provifions, by which 
 every Man might be put in a Method how 
 to live, and fo be pireferved from the fatal 
 neccffity of dealing, and of dying for it. 
 There has been care enough taken for 
 that, faid he, there are many Handy crafts, 
 and there is Hufbandry, by which they 
 
 may 
 
UTOPIA. \7 
 
 may make a (hift to live,unle(s:they have a 
 greater mind to follow ill Courfes. That 
 will not ferve your turn, faid I, for many 
 lofe their Limbs in Civil or Forreign 
 Wars, as lately in the Cormfl) Rebellion, 
 and fome time ago in your Wars with 
 Brance^ who being thus mutilated in the 
 Service of their King and Country, can 
 no more follow their old Trades, and arc 
 too old to learn new Ones : But fince 
 Wars are only accidental Things, and 
 have Intervals5let us confider thofe Things 
 that fall out every day. There is a great 
 number of Noble Men among you, that 
 live not only idle themfelves as Drones, 
 fubfifting by other Mens Labours, who 
 are their Tenants, and whom they pare to 
 the quick, and thereby raife their Reve- 
 nues 5 this being the only inftance of their 
 Frugality, for in all other things they are 
 Prodigal, even to the beggering of them- 
 (elves : But befides this, they carry about 
 with them a huge number of idle Fellows, 
 who never learn d any Art by which they 
 niay gain their Living 5 and thefe, as 
 foon as either their Lord dies, or they 
 themfelves fa ll fick, are t urned out of 
 JQorsp for your Lords are re adieFtb 
 teed idle People, than to take^^ jTthe 
 
 iick 3 
 
f ^ Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 fick 5 and often the Heir is not able to 
 kie^p together fo great a Family as hi3 
 Predeceffor did : Now when the Sto- 
 fnachs of tbofe that are thus turned out 
 of Doors, grow keen, they rob no lefi 
 Iceienly ^ and what elfecan they do? for 
 s^frprfh^t, by wandring about, they have 
 WPfn QUt both their Health and their 
 CIpaths, and are tattered, and look ghaft- 
 ly. Men of Quality will not entertain 
 ih^m, ^nd poor Men dare not do it 3 
 knowing th^t one who has been bred up 
 in Idleqefi and Pleafure,and who was ufed 
 to walk ^bout with his Sword and Buckler, 
 cjefpifing all the Neighbourhood with an 
 iafolent Scorn, as far below him, is not 
 fit for the Spade and Mattock : Nor will 
 he (erve a poor Man for fo fmall a Hire, 
 ^nd in (b low a Diet as he can afford. To 
 this he ^nfwered. This fort of Men ought 
 to be particularly cherifhed among us, for 
 in then) confifts the Force of the Armies 
 for whiph we may have occafion 5 fince 
 their j^irth infpires them with a nobler 
 ftpce of Honour, than is to be found a- 
 mong Tradefmen or Ploughmen. You 
 may as well fay, replied I, that you muft 
 cherifli Thieves on the account of Wars, 
 for you will never want the one, as long 
 
 as 
 
as you have |:Ji|e other 5 and gs Robbers 
 prove fometirnes gallai^t Souldjers, fo, Sou)- 
 di,ers prov:^ oft^n or^ve fVobbers, fonear 
 an Alliance ther^ is between thofe tvyp 
 fcrts pf Life. But this bad cuftom of 
 keeping many Servants, that is fa common 
 among you, is not peculiar to thjs Nation, 
 In Fraf^ce there is yet a more peftiferpqs 
 fort of People, for the whole Country \s 
 full pf Souldiers, that are ftill kept up ip 
 time of Peace 5 if fuch a ftate of a Nati- 
 on can be calkd a Peace : and thefe pre 
 kept in Pay upon the (ame account that 
 you plead for thofe Idle Retainers abput 
 ^pble Men : ^his being a Maxim of thqfe 
 pretended Statefmen, That it is neceflary 
 for the Publick Safety, to have a good 
 Body of Veteran Souldiers evef in reacli- 
 nefs. Thpy think raw Men are not to be 
 depended on, and they fometimes ftek 
 Occafions for making War, that they may 
 train up their Souldiers in the Art of cut- 
 ting Throats, or as Sahfi ohferyed, for 
 keeping their Hands in ufe, that they n^ay 
 not grow dull by too long an interraiffion. 
 Biat France has learn'd, to its coft, how 
 dangerous it is to feed fuch Eeafts. The 
 fate of the Romatis ^ Cartbagifjiafts^ 
 and Sjriarjs^ and roany ptjief NatipnSj 
 
 and 
 
lo S/> Thomas Moife'j 
 
 ■I 
 
 and Cities, which were both overturned, 
 and quite ruined by thofe (landing Ar- 
 mies, fhould make others wifer : and the 
 folly of this Maxim of the Fre//rA, appears 
 plainly even from this, that their trained 
 Souldiers find your raw Men prove often 
 too hard for them 3 of which I will not 
 fty much, left you may think I flatter the 
 Englifh Nation. Every day's Experience 
 (hews, that the Mechanicks in the Towns, 
 or the Clowns in the Country, are not 
 afraid of fighting with tho(e idle Gentle- 
 men, if they are not difabled by (bme 
 Misfortune in their Body, or difpirited by 
 cxtream Want. ^ So that you need not 
 fear, that thofe well-(hapcd and ftrong 
 Men, (for it is only fuch that Noblemen 
 love to keep about them, till they (poil 
 them ) who now grow feeble with eafe, 
 and are (bftned with their effeminate man- 
 ner of Life, would be lefi fit for Aftion 
 if they were, well bred and well employ- 
 ed. And it (cems very unreafbnable, that 
 for the profpeft of a War, which you 
 need never have but when you pleafe, 
 you (hould maintain fo many idle Men, ^s 
 will always difturb you in time of Peace, 
 which is ever to be more eonfiderecl thaa 
 War. But I do not think that this nc- 
 
UTOPIA. 21 
 
 ccffity of Stealing, arifes only from hence, 
 there is another Caufe of it that is more 
 peculiar to Effgland, What is that f faid 
 the Cardinal : The encrcafe of Pafture, 
 faid I, by which your Sheep, that are 
 naturally mild, and eafily kept in order, 
 may be faid now to devour Men, and un- 
 people, not only Villages, but Towns: 
 For where-ever it is found, that the Sheep 
 of any Soil yield a fofter and richer Wool 
 than ordinary, there the Nobility and 
 Gentry, and even thofe Holy Men the 
 Abbots, not contented with the old 
 Rents which their Farms yielded, nor 
 thinking it enough thsft they living at 
 their ea(e, do no good to the Publick, re- 
 folve to do it Hurt inftead of Good. They 
 ftop the courfe of Agriculture, inclofc 
 Grounds, and deftroy Houfes and Towns^ 
 referving only the Churches, that they 
 may lodg their Sheep in them : And as if 
 Forrefts and Parks had fwallowed up too 
 little Soil, thofe worthy Country-Men 
 turn the beft inhabited Places into Soli- 
 tudes 5 for when any un&tiable Wretch, 
 who is a Plague to his Country, refolves 
 to inclofemany thouland Acresof Ground, 
 the Owners, as well as Tenants, are turned 
 out of their Poflisflions, by Tricks, or by 
 
 main 
 
tt Sir "f hoftks Mtyre V 
 
 nffsirt f o¥ce, 6r betfig tvea'Fiecf out witH ill 
 t>fag;e, tH^y a^e forced to Ml them. So 
 iht)(e nf]fi(erci We People, bo(!h Men ana 
 Woiiren, Married, Urirriarried, Old and 
 Young, with their Pobi', but numerous 
 Families, (firice CoVmtt^y-Btrflriefi requires 
 n^jany HahtJs) are afll forced to change 
 their Seats, not knowing wTiither to go 5 
 S'nd they m^ift ftll for almbft nothing,their 
 HoufnoW- fluff, which cotild not bring 
 ^hem tnucli Mofiy, even tho they might 
 ftay for a Buydr : when tfrat little Mony 
 ?s at an end^, f6r ift Mil be (bon (pent 5 
 Whnt is ltd for them' to do, but either to 
 fteal, atM fo- to be hanged, (God knows 
 ho^v juftly) 01^ to' go about and beg? 
 And if tfhey do this, tk^^j^e putin Pri-* 
 ioti as- idle ^agabondy^ wKereas they 
 vc^6uld willingly work, but can' find none 
 that will hire thiem 5 for there is no more 
 6ccafion for' GbUriti'y L^bur, to which 
 fhey have beeh bred, when ^ there is no 
 Arable Gronhd feft. CXrtifc^ Shepherd can 
 h!>i9fc after' aPlbck, v^hlbh will ftock an 
 extent of <5r6and that \VbUld require ma- 
 fty hands, if it! were" to be ploughed ana 
 reaped. Thi^ likewife faifes tlie prke of 
 Corn in m3:ny places, the price of W ooU 
 iialfo fo riftri, that the p6or People who 
 
 were 
 
UTOPIA. ^ if 
 
 were wont to make Cloth, drd fid tt6f€ 
 able to buy it 5 and this likewife mak^* 
 many of them idle : For fince the incre^fe 
 of Pafture, God has puni(hed the Ava- 
 rice of the Owners, by a Rot among the 
 Sheep, which has deftroyed Vaft fiumbcrs 
 of them, but had been more juftly faifd 
 upon the Owners themfelves. But fup- 
 pofe the Sheep (hould encreafe eter fo 
 much, their Price is not like to fall 3 flnc^ 
 tho they cannnt be called a t^oHopdy^ b#-' 
 caufethey are not engroffed by ofie Per- 
 fon, yet they are in (b jfew hand?, and 
 thefe are fb rich, that as they ztt not 
 preft to fell them (boner than they halre af 
 mind to it, (b they never do if till they 
 have railed the Price as high as is- p6ffii3^fe^/ 
 And on the fame acGouut it i^, Ibat the' 
 other kinds of Cattel ^re fo dea?^ arid fo 
 much the more, becaule that many Vil* 
 iages being pulled down, and all Coudlty-' 
 Labour being much negledted, tl^re are 
 none that look after the bi^eediug of thetni. 
 TheRich do not breed Cattel as they dd 
 Sheep, but buy them Lean, and at Idw 
 Prices 5 and after they have fatned thefi* 
 on their Grounds, they fell ihem again at 
 high rates. And I do not think that all' 
 the Inconveniences that this will produce,^ 
 
 are 
 
24 Sir Thomas Morc'j 
 
 are yet obferved ^ for as they (ell the Cat- 
 tle dear, Co if they are confiimed fafter 
 then the breeding Countries from which 
 they are brought, can afford them 5 then 
 the ftock moft decrcafe, and this muft 
 needs end in a great Scarcity 5 and by 
 thefe means this your Ifland, that (eemed 
 as to this particular, the happieft in the 
 World, will fuffer much by the curfed 
 Avarice of a few Perfons ^ befides that, 
 the rifing of Corn makes b11 People leffen 
 their Families as much as they can 5. and 
 what can thofc who are difmiffed by them 
 do, but either Beg or Rob ? And to this 
 Iaft,a Man of a great Mind is much fooner 
 drawn than to the former. Luxury like* 
 wife breaks in apace upon you, to fet 
 forward your Poverty and Mifery 3 there 
 is an exceffive Vanity in Apparel, and 
 great Coft in Diet , and that not only in 
 Nobleraens Families, but even among 
 Tradefmen^and among the Farmers them- 
 (elves, and among all Ranks of Perfons. 
 You have alfo many infamous Houfes, and 
 befides thofe that are known, the Taverns 
 and Alehoufcs are no better 3 add to thefe, 
 Dice,Cardsy Tables, Football, Tennis, and 
 Coits,in which Mony runs faftaway^ and 
 thofe that are initiated into them, muft in 
 
 con- 
 
UTOPIA. ij 
 
 coiiGlufion betake themfelves to robbing 
 for a (upply. BaniOi thole Plagues,, and 
 give order that thefe who have difpeopled 
 fo much Soil, may either rebuild the Vil- 
 lages that they have pulled down, or 
 let out their Grounds to fuch as will do 
 it : Reftrain thofe engroffings of the 
 Richythat are as bad almofl: as Monopolies 5 
 leave fewer Occaiions to Idlenels 5 let A- 
 griculture be fet up again, and the Manu- 
 fafture of the WooU be regulated, that 
 fo there may be Work found for thefe 
 Companies of Idle People, whom wane 
 Forces to be Thieves, or who now being 
 idle Vagabonds, or ufelefi Servants, will 
 Ciertainly grow Thieves at laflr. If yoii 
 do not find a Remedy to thefe Evils, it is 
 ^ vain thing to boaft of your Severity of 
 puniftiing Theft ^ which tho it may have 
 the appearance of Juftice, yet in it felf it 
 is neither juft nor convenient : for if you 
 iufFeryour People to be ill Educated, and 
 their Manners to be corrupted from their 
 infancy, and then punilh them for thofe 
 Crimes to which their firft Education dif 
 jTofed^them, what elfe is to be concluded 
 from this, but that you firft make Thieves, 
 and then punilb them ? 
 
 D W^hile 
 
1 6 Sir Thomas Morc'j 
 
 Wliik I was talking thus, the Counci- 
 lor that was prefent had prepared an An- 
 fwcr, and" tad refolved to refume all I 
 had iaid, according to the Formality of a 
 Debate^ in which things are generally re- 
 peated more faithfully than they are an- 
 fwercd ^ as if the chief trial that were to 
 be made, were of Mens Memories. So 
 he faid to me, you have talked prettily 
 for a Stranger, having heard of many 
 things among U3, which you have not 
 been abk to confider well 5 but I will 
 make the whole Matter plain to you, and 
 , will firfl: repeat in order all that you have 
 faid, then I will (hew how much the ig- 
 norance of our Affairs has mifled you, and 
 will in the laft place anfwer all your Ar- 
 guments. And that I may begin where I 
 
 promifed, there were four things • 
 
 Hold your Peace, faid the Cardinal, for 
 you will not have done foon that begin 
 thus 5 therefore we will at prefenteafe 
 you of the trouble of anfwering, and re- 
 ferve it to our next meeting, which (hall 
 be to morrow, if Raphael's Affairs and 
 yours can admit of it : But T^aphael^ (aid 
 be to me, I would gladly know of you 
 upon what Reafon it is that you think 
 Theft ought not to be puni(hed by Death ? 
 
 Would 
 
UTOPIA. 1-; 
 
 Would you give way to it ? or do you 
 propole any other PuniQiment that will 
 be more ufeful to the Publick ? For (ince 
 Death does not reftraia Theft, if Men 
 thought their Lives would be fife, what 
 Fear or Force could reftrain ill Men ? On 
 the contrary, they would look on the mi- 
 tigation of the Punifliment, as an invita- 
 tion to commit more Crimes. I anfwered. 
 It (eems to me a very unjuft thing to take 
 away a Man s Life for a little Mony 5 for 
 nothing in the World can be of equal 
 value with a Man's Life : And if it is (aid, 
 that it is not for the Mony that one fufter5', 
 but for his breaking the Law 5 I mu(i fay, 
 cxtream Juftice is an extream Injury .* for 
 we ought not to approve of thefe terrible 
 Laws that make the fmalleit Offences ca- 
 pital 5 nor of that Opinion of the Stoick^ 
 that makes all Crimes equal, as if there 
 were no difference to be made between 
 the killing a Man, and the taking his 
 Purfe^ between which if we examine 
 things impartially, there is no likenefi 
 nor proportion. God has commanded us^ 
 not to kill, and (hall we kill fo eafily for 
 a little Mony ? But if one (hall fay. That 
 by that Law we are only forbid to kill 
 any, except U'hen the Laws of the Lard 
 
 D 2 allow 
 
a 8 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 allow of it 5 upon the fame Grounds, 
 Laws may be made to allow of Adultery 
 and Perjury in (bme Cafes : for God 
 having taken from us the Right of difpo- 
 fing, either of our own, or of other Peo- 
 ples Lives, if it is pretended that the mu- 
 tual Confent of Men in making Laws, al- 
 lowing of Manflaughter in Cafes in which 
 God has given us no Example, frees Peo- 
 ple from the Obligation of the Divine 
 Law, and fo makes Murder a lawful A3i- 
 on 5 What is this, but to give a prefe- 
 rence to Humane Laws before the Divine? 
 And if this is once admitted, by the fame 
 Rule Men may in all other things put what 
 Reftriftions they plcaie upon the Laws 
 of God. If by the ^ofakal Law, tho it 
 was rough and fevere, as being a Yoke 
 laid on an obftinate and fervile Nation, 
 Men were only fined, and not put to 
 death for Theft 5 we cannot imagine that 
 in this new Law of Mercy, in which God 
 treats us with the tendernefs of a Father, 
 he has given us a greater Licenfe to Cruel- 
 ty, than he did to the Jevps. Upon thefe 
 Reafons it is, that I think the putting 
 Thieves to death is not lawful 5 and it is. 
 plain and obvious that it is abfurd, and of 
 ill Confequence to the Common- Wealth, 
 
 that 
 
UTOPIA. 29 
 
 that a Thief and a Murderer (hould be 
 equally puniftied : for if a Robber fees 
 that his Danger is the (ame, if he is con- 
 vifted of Theft, as if he were guilty of 
 Murder, this will naturally (et him on to 
 kill the Perfon whom otherwife he would 
 only have robbed, fince if the Punifliment 
 is the fame, there is more fecurity, and lefi 
 danger of difcovery, when he that can 
 beft make it is put out of the way 5 fo that 
 the terrifying Thieves too much, provokes 
 them to cruelty. 
 
 But as to the Queftion, What more 
 convenient way of Punifliment can be 
 found ? I think it is much eafier to find out 
 that, than to invent any thing that is 
 worfe 5 Why fliould we doubt but the 
 way that was fo long in ufe among the 
 old Romai7s^ who underftood fo well the 
 Arts of Government, was very proper 
 for their Punifliment ? they condemned 
 fuch a^ they found guilty of great Crimes, 
 ^o work their Vi^hole Lives in Quarries, 
 or tp dig in Mines with Chains about 
 them. But the Method that I liked befl", 
 was that which I oblerved in my Travels 
 in Perjia^ among the Folykrits^ who are a 
 confiderable and well-governed People. 
 They pay a yearly Tribute to the King 
 
 * C) 3 of 
 
3 
 
 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 of Ferja 5 but in all other refpefts they 
 are a free Mation, and governed by their 
 own Laws. They He far from the Sea, 
 jind ^re environed with Hills 5 and being 
 contented with th^ Produftions of their 
 own Country, which is very fruitful, 
 tht7 have little commerce with any other 
 Nation , and as they, according to the 
 Genius of their Country, have no ap- 
 petite of inlarging their Borders 5 (b their 
 Mountains, and the Penfion that they pay 
 to the Perjia^^ (ccure them from all Inva- 
 fions. Thus they have no Wars among 
 them ^ they live rather conveniently than 
 fplendidly, and may be rather called a 
 Hnppy Nation, than either Eminent or 
 Famous ^ for I do not think that they are 
 known fo much as by Name to any but 
 their next Neighbours. Thofc that are 
 found guilty of Theft among them, are 
 bound to make reftitution to the Owner, 
 and not as it is in other places, to the 
 Prince, for they reckon that the Prince 
 has no mpre right to the Oollen Goods 
 than the Thief ^ but if that which was 
 ftollen is no more in being, then the 
 Goods of the Thieves are eftimated, and 
 Reftitution being made out of them, the 
 Remainder is given to ^h^ir Wivcb and 
 
 Children : 
 
UTOPIA. ^i 
 
 Children : And they themfelves are con- 
 demned to ferve in the Publick Works,but 
 are neither imprifoned, nor chained, vinlels 
 there hapned to be fotne extraordinary 
 Circumftances in their Crimes. They go 
 about loofe and free, working for the 
 Publick; If they are Idle or backward to 
 work, they are whipp'd 3 but if they 
 work hard, they are well ufed and treated 
 without any mark of Reproach, only 
 the Lifts of them are called always at 
 Night, and then they are (hut up, and 
 they fuffer no other uneafineli, but this of 
 conftant Labour 5 for as they work for 
 the Publick, fo they are well entertained 
 out of the Publick Stock, which is done 
 differently in different places : In fome 
 places, that which is beftowed on them, 
 is raifed by a charitable Contribution 5 and 
 tho this way may feem uncertain, yet fo 
 merciful are the Inclinations of that Peo- 
 ple, that they are plentifully fupplied by 
 it 5 but in other places Publick Revenues 
 are fet afide for them 5 or there is a con- 
 ftant Tax of a Poll-mony raifed for their 
 Maintenance. In fome places they are (et 
 to no Publick Work, but every privat 
 Man that has occafion to hire Workmen, 
 goes to the Market-places and hires them 
 
 P 4 of 
 
3 i Sir Thomas >4ore'5 
 
 of the Publick^a lutk lower than he would 
 do a Free-man : If they go lazily about 
 their Task, he may quicken them with 
 the Whip. By this means there is always 
 (bme piece of Work or other to be done 
 by them 5 and befide their Lively hood, 
 they earn fomewhat (till to the Publick. 
 They wear all a peculiar Habi , of one 
 certain colour, and their Hair is cropt a 
 little above their Ears, and a lit tie of one 
 of their Ears is cut off. Their Friends 
 are allowed to give tht m either Meat, 
 Drink, or Clothes, fo ihc> are of their 
 proper Colour 5 bur ir in Death, both to 
 the Giver and Taker, if they give them 
 Mony 5 nor is it left penal for any Free- 
 man to take Mony from them, upon any 
 account whatfoever : And it is alfo Death 
 for any of thefe Slaves ( fo they are cal- 
 led) to handll Arms. Thofe of every 
 Divifion of the Country, are diftinguifti- 
 cd by a peculiar Mark : And it is capital 
 to lay that afide, and fo it is alfo to go 
 out of their Bounds, or to talk with a 
 Slave of another Jurifdiftion 3 and the 
 very attempt of an efcape, is nolefi penal 
 than an elcape it (elf 5 it is Death for any 
 other Slave to be acceffary to itrlf a Free- 
 man engages in it, he is condemned to 
 
 {lavery; 
 
UTOPIA. 35 
 
 flavery : Thofe that diicover it are re- 
 warded 5 if Free-men, in Mony 5 and if 
 Slaves, with Liberty, together with a Par- 
 idon for being acceffary to it 5 that fo they 
 may find their Account, rather in repent- 
 ing of their acceffion to fuch a defign,than 
 in perfifting in it. 
 
 Tbefe are their Laws and Rules in this 
 Mattery in which both the Gentlene^ 
 and the Advantages of them are very ob- 
 vious 5 finee by thefe Means, as Vices are 
 deftroyed, fo Men are preferved 5 but are 
 fo treated, that they fee the neceffity of 
 being good : and by the reft of their Life 
 they make reparation for the Mifchief they 
 had formerly done. Nor is there any 
 hazard of their falling back to their old 
 Cuftoms : And fo little do Travellers ap- 
 prehend Mifchief from them, that they 
 generally make ufe of them for Guides, 
 from one Jurifdidion to another 5 for 
 there i^ nothing left them by which they 
 can rob, or be the better for it, fince as 
 they are dilarmed, fo the very having of 
 Mony ia a ifufEcient Conviftion : and as 
 ^hey are certainly punifhed if difcovered, 
 fo they cannot hope to elcape ; for their 
 Habit being in all the parts of it dif- 
 ferent 
 
^ 4 Sir Thomas M orts 
 
 ferent from what is commonly worn, 
 they cannot fly away, unlefi they (hould 
 go naked, and even then their erop'd 
 Ear would betray them. The on- 
 ly danger to be feared from them, is their 
 confpiring againft the Government : but 
 thofe of one Divifion and Neighbour- 
 hood can do nothing to any purpole, un- 
 kis a general Confpiracy were laid amongft 
 all the Slaves of the feveral Juri(di(ftions, 
 which cannot be done, fince they cannot 
 meet or talk together 5 nor will any ven- 
 ture on a Defign where the Concealment 
 would be fo dangerous, and the Difcove- 
 ry Co profitable: and none of them is 
 quite hopelefs of recovering his Free- 
 dom, fince by their Obedience and Pa- 
 tience, and by giving grounds to believe 
 that they will change their manner of Life 
 for the future, they may expeft at laft to 
 obtain their Liberty : and fome are every 
 Year reftored to it, upon the good Cha- 
 racter that is given of them. When I 
 had related all this, I added. That I did 
 not fte why fach a Method might not be 
 followed with more advantage, than could 
 ever be expected from that fevere Juftice 
 which the Counfcllor magnified fo much. 
 
 To 
 
UTOPIA. 35 
 
 To all this he anfvvered. That it could ne- 
 ver be fo (etled in Englarjd^ without en- 
 dangering the whole Nation by it 5 and 
 as he faid that, he (hook his Head, and 
 made forne grimaceSjaod foheld his peaces 
 and all the Company (eemed to be of his 
 mind : only the Cardinal (aid. It is not 
 ea(y togue(s whether it would fucceed 
 well or ill, fince no trial has been made 
 of it : But if when the Sentence of Death 
 were pa(t upon a Thief, the Prince would 
 reprieve him for a while, and make the 
 Experiment upon him, denying him the 
 privilege of a Sanftuary 5 then if it had 
 XI good efied upon him, it might take 
 place 5 and if it fucceeded not, the worfl: 
 v^ould be, to execute the Sentence on 
 the condemned Perfons at Ia(t. And I do not 
 (ee, (aid he, why it would be either injuft 
 or inconvenient, or at all dangerous, to 
 admit of fuch a delay : And 1 think the 
 Vagabonds ought to be treated in the 
 fame manner, againft whom tho we have 
 made many Laws, yet we have not been 
 able to gain our end by them all. When 
 the Cardinal had faid this, then they all 
 fell to commend the Motion, tho they 
 had dc(pi(ed it when it came from me :, 
 but they did more particularly commend 
 
 that 
 
3 6 Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 that concerning the Vagabonds, becaufe 
 it had been added by him. 
 
 I do not ktiow whether it be worth the 
 while to tell what followed, for it was 
 very ridiculous ^ but I Qiall venture at it, 
 for as it is not forreign to this Matter, fo 
 (bme good ufe may be made of it. There 
 was a Jefter ftanding by, that counterfei- 
 ted the Fool fo naturally, that he (eemed 
 to be really one. The Jefts at which he 
 oficred were fo cold and dull, that we 
 laughed more at him than at them 3 yet 
 fometimes he faid, as it were by chance, 
 things that were not unpleafant , fo as to 
 )uftify the old Proverb, That he who throws 
 the Dice often^ wU fometimes have a lucky 
 Hit. When one of the Company had 
 faid, that I had taken care of the Thieves, 
 and the Cardinal had taken care of the 
 Vagabonds,fo that there remained nothing 
 but that fome publick Provifion might be 
 made/ for [the Poor»> whom Sicknefi or 
 Old Age had difabled from Labour: Leave 
 that to me, faid the Fool, and I (hall take 
 care of them ^ for there is no fort of Peo- 
 ple whole fight I abhor more, having been 
 fo often vexed with them, and with their 
 fad Complaints 5 but as dolefully foeveras 
 they haye told their Tale to me, they 
 
 could 
 
UTOPIA. 37 
 
 could never prevail fo far a€ to draw one 
 Penny of Mony from me : for either I 
 had no mind to give them any thing, or 
 when I had a mind to it, I had nothing 
 to give them : and they now know me fo 
 well, that they will not lofe their labour 
 on me, but let me pals without giving me 
 any trouble, becaufe they hope for no- 
 thing from me, no more in faith than if I 
 were a Prieji : But I would have a Law 
 made, for (ending all thefe Beggars to 
 Monafteries, the Men to the BentdiQines 
 to be Lay-Brothers, and the Women to be 
 Nuns. The Cardinal fmiled, and ap- 
 proved of it in jcft 5 but the reft liked it 
 in earneft. There was a Divine prefent, 
 who tho he was a grave morofe Man, yet 
 he was fo pleafed with this Refleftion that 
 was made on the Priefts and the Monks, 
 that he began tc^play with the Fool, and 
 faid to him, This will not deliver you 
 from all Beggers, except you take care of 
 us Friars, That is done already, an- 
 fwered the Fool, for the Cardinal has pro- 
 vided for you, by what he propofed for 
 the reftraining Vagabonds, and fetting 
 them to work, for I know no Vagabonds 
 like you. This was well entertained by 
 the whole Company^ who looking at 
 
 the 
 
5 8 Sir T homas More V 
 
 the Cardinal, perceived that he was not 
 ill pleafed at it 5 only the Friar himfelf 
 was Co bit, as may be eafily imagined, and 
 fell out into fuch a paffion^that he could not 
 forbear railing at the Fool, and called him 
 K?7ave.^SUfJclerer^ Back})7ter^2iX\di Son ofPerdi- 
 twn^ and cited fome dreadful Threatnings 
 out of the Scriptures againfl: him. Now 
 the Jefter thought he was in his Element, 
 and laid about him freely : he faid. Good 
 Friar be not angry, for it is written. In 
 fuikf7cc pojfefs your Scttl, The Friar an- 
 fwcred, (for I (hall give you his own 
 words ) I am not angry, you Hangman ^ 
 at leaft I do not fin in it, for the Pfalmift 
 fays, Be ye angry^ and Jin noK Upon 
 this the Cardinal admoniftied him gently, 
 and wilhed him to govern his Paffions. 
 No, my Lord, faid he, I fpeak not but 
 from a good Zeal,whichf ought to have, 
 for Holy Men have had a good Zealjas it is 
 faid, T/je Zeai of thy Honfi hath eaten me 
 tif 5 and we fing in our Church, that thofe 
 who mock'd Elijlu as he went up to the 
 Houfe of God, felt the EfFefts of his 
 Zeal 5 which that Mocker, that Rogue, 
 that Scoundrel, will perhaps feel. You do 
 this perhaps with a goodintentioUjfaid the 
 Cardinal 5 but in my Opinion, it were 
 
 wifer 
 
UTOPIA. ^9 
 
 wifer in you, not to fayTa terfoTyou, ™^ 
 not to engage in Co ridiculous a Cooteft 
 with a Fool. No, my Lord, anfvvered 
 he, that were not wifely done 3 for Solo- 
 tJiorj, the wifeft of Men, faid, Anfwer a 
 Fool acccrdirig to his foUy 5 which I now 
 do, and (hew him the Ditch into which 
 he will fall, if he is not aware of it 5 for 
 if the many Mockers of Elijha, who was 
 but one bald Man, felt the EfFed of. his 
 Zeal, What will become of one Mocker 
 of fo many Friars, among whom there 
 are fo many bald Men > We have hkewife 
 a Bull, by which all that jeer us are ex- 
 communicated. When the Cardinal faw 
 'that there was no end of this Matter, he 
 made a fign to the Fool to withdraw, 'and 
 turned the Difcourfe another way 5 and 
 foon after he rofe from the Table, and diG- 
 miffing us, he went to hearCaufes. 
 
 Thus, Mr. More^ I have run out into a 
 tedious Story, of the length of which I 
 had been afhamed, if, as. you earneftly 
 begged it of me, I had not obferved yoii 
 to hearken to it, as if you had no mind 
 to lofe any part of it ; I might have 
 contraftcd it, but I refoived to give 
 it you at large, that you might obfcrve 
 how thofe that had defpifcd what I had 
 
 propoled, 
 
40 Sir Thomas Morc'j 
 
 propofed, no fooner perceived that the 
 Cardinal did not diflike it, but they pre- 
 fently approved of it, and fawned (b on 
 him, and flattered him to fuch a degree^ 
 that they in good earneft applauded thofe 
 things that he only liked in jeft. And 
 from hence you may gather, how little 
 Courtiers would value either me or my 
 Counfels. 
 
 To this I anfwered. You have done m^ 
 a great kindnefi in this Relation 5 Tor a5 
 every thing has been related by you, both 
 wifely and pleaj&ntly, fo you have made 
 me imagine, that I was in my own Coun- 
 try, and grown young again, by recalling 
 that good Cardinal into my thoughts, in 
 whofe Family I was bred from my Child- 
 hood : And tho you are upon other ac- 
 counts very dear to me, yet you are the 
 dearer, becaufc you honour his Memory 
 fo much : but after all this I cannot change 
 my Opinion, for I ftill think that if you 
 could overcome that averfion which you 
 have to the Courts of Princes, you might 
 do a great deal of good to Mankind, by 
 the Advices that you would give 3 and 
 this is the chief Defign that every good 
 Man ought to propofe to himfelf in living: 
 for whereas your Friend Plato thinks that 
 
 then 
 
UTOPIA. 41 
 
 then Nations will be happy, when either 
 Pfailofophers become Kings, or Kings be- 
 come Philofophers.No wonder if we are fo 
 far from that Happinefs, if Philofbphers 
 will not think it fit for them to adift 
 Kings with their Councels. Ttey are not 
 £0 £afe minded, (aid he, but that they 
 would willingly do it : many of them 
 iiave already done it by their Books, if 
 thefe that are in Power would hearken to 
 their good Advices. But PI^o judged 
 right, that except Kings themfelves be- 
 came Philofophers, it could never be 
 iMTOUght about, that they who from their 
 Childhood are corrupted with falfe No- 
 tions, (hould lall in intirely with the 
 Counfelsof Philofophers, which he him- 
 ielf found to be true in the Perfon of 
 
 Do not you think, that if I were about 
 «ny King, and were propofing good Laws 
 to him, and endeavouring to root out of 
 him all the curfed Seeds of Evil that I 
 Ibund in him, I (hould either be turned 
 out of Ms Court, or at leaft be laughed at 
 for my pains ? For Inftance, What could I 
 fignify if I were about the King oiFrame^ 
 and were called into his Cabinet-Council, 
 where fcveral wife Men do in his hearing 
 
 E propofe 
 
42 S/V Thomas Mcxe'y 
 
 propoft many Expedients 5 as by what 
 Arts and Pradices Milan may be kept 3 
 and 'Naples^ that has fo oft flip'd out of 
 their hands, recovered 5 and how the 
 Venetians^ and after them the reft of Itafy 
 may be fubdued , and then! how Flati' 
 derfy Brabant^ and all Burgundy y and ibme 
 other Kingdoms which he has fwallowed 
 already in his Defigns, may be added to 
 his Empire. One propofes a League with 
 the Venetians^ to be kept as long as he 
 finds his account in it, and that he ought 
 to communicate Councils with them, and 
 give them Ibme (hare of the Spoil, till his 
 Succefi makes him need or fear them left, 
 and then it will be eafily taken out of 
 their Hands. Another propofes the hire- 
 jng the Germans^ and the fecuring the 
 Smtzers by Penfions. Another propofes 
 the gaining the Emperor by Mony, which 
 is Omnipotent with him. Another pro- 
 pofes a Peace with the King of Arragon^ 
 and in order to the cementing it, the 
 yielding up the King of Navars Pretenfi- 
 on?; Another thinks the Priilte of Ca- 
 Jiile is to be wrought on, by the hope of 
 an Alliance ^ and that fome of his Cour- 
 tiers are to be gained to the French Fa^ 
 £lion by Penfions. The hardeft Point 
 
 of 
 
UTOPIA. 45 
 
 of all is, what to do with Ef7glanci: a 
 Treaty of Peace is to be iet on foot, and 
 if their Alliance is not to be depended 
 on, yet it is to be made as firm as can be 5 
 and they are to be called FViends, but 
 fufpefted as Enemies ; Therefore the Scots 
 are to be kept in readiriefs, to be let looft 
 upon Engla?7d on every occafion 5 and 
 ftme banidied Nobleman is to be fuppor- 
 ted underhand, ( for by the League it 
 cannot be done avowedly) who has a 
 pretenfion to the Crown, by which means 
 that fufpefted Prince may be kept hi awe. 
 Now when thin,2;s are in (b great a Fer- 
 mentation, and fo many gallant Men are 
 joining Councils, how to carry on the 
 War, if fo mean; a Man as I am fhould 
 ftand up, and wifti them to change all 
 their Councils, to let //.//; alone, and (lay 
 at home, fince the Kingdom of France 
 was indeed greater than that it could be 
 well governed by one Man ^ So that he 
 ought not to think of adding others to 
 it : And if after this, i (liould propofe to 
 them the Htfblutions oi xht Achorians^ a 
 People that lie over againft the Ifle of 
 Utopia to the South-eaft, who having 
 long ago engaged in a War, that they 
 might gain another Kingdom to their 
 
 E 2 "^^^^i 
 
44 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 King, who had a Pretenfion to it by an 
 old Alliance, by which it had defended 
 to him 5 and having conquered it, when 
 they found that the trouble of keeping it, 
 was equal to that of gaining it 5 for the 
 conquered People would be ftill apt to 
 rebel, or be expofed to Forreign Invafi- 
 onF, fo that they muft always be in War, 
 cither for them, or againft them 5 and th<ft 
 therefore they could never difband their 
 Army : That in the mean time Taxes lay 
 heavy on them, that Mony went out x)f 
 the Kingdom 3 that their Blood was (a- 
 crificed to their King's Ghrj/^^nd that they 
 were nothing the better by it, even in 
 time of Peace 5 their Manners being cor- 
 rupted by a long War 5 Robbing and 
 Murders abounding every where, and 
 their Laws falling under contempt,becaiile 
 their King being diftrafted with the Cares 
 of the Kingdom, was lefi able to apply 
 his Mind to any one of them 3 when they 
 (aw there would be no end of thofe Evils, 
 they by joint Councils made an humble 
 Addrefi to their King, defiring him to 
 chufe which of the two Kingdoms he bad 
 the greateft mind to keep, fince he could 
 not hold both s for they were too great a 
 People to be governed by a divided King, 
 
 fince 
 
UTOPIA. 45 
 
 fince no Man would willingly have a 
 Groom that (hould be in common be- 
 tween him and another. Upon which the 
 good Prince was forced to quit his new 
 Kingdom to one of his Friends, ( who 
 was not long after dethroned ) and to be 
 contented with his old One. To all this 
 I would add, that after all thofe Warlike 
 Attempts, and the vaft Confufions, with 
 the Confumptions both of Trealure and 
 of People, that muft follow them 5 per* 
 haps uponfome Misfortune, they might 
 be forced to throw up all at laft 5 there- 
 fore it feemed much more eligible that the 
 King (hould improve his ancient King- 
 dom all he could, and make it flourilh as 
 much as was poffible 3 that he (hould 
 love bis People, and be beloved of them 5 
 that be (hould live among them, and go- 
 vern them gently 5 and that he (hould let 
 other Kingdoms alone, fince that which 
 had fallen to his (hare was big enough, if 
 not too big for him. Pray how do you 
 think would fuch a Speech as this be 
 heard ? I confe(s, faid I, I think not very 
 well. 
 
 But what faid he, if I (hould (on with 
 another kind of Minifters, who(e chief 
 Contrivances and Gon(ultations were, by 
 
 E 3 wb^t 
 
46 Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 what Art Treafure might be heaped up ? 
 Where one propofcs, the crying up of 
 Mony, when the King had a great Debt 
 on hioi, and the crying it down as much 
 iwhen his Revenues were to come in, that 
 fo he might both pay much with a little, 
 and in a litde receive a great deal : Ano- 
 thcr propofes a pretence of a War, that 
 fo Money might be raifed in order to the 
 carrying it on, and that a Peace might be 
 concluded as ibon as thiit was done 5 and 
 this was to be made up with fuch appear- 
 ances of Religion as might work on the 
 People, and make them impute it to the 
 piety of their Prince, and to his tendernefi 
 of the Lives of his Subjcfts. A third offers 
 fjipe eld mufty Laws, that have been 
 antiquated by a long difufe 5 and which, 
 fls they had been forgotten by all the Sub- 
 jccls, fo they had been alfo broken by 
 ihcm f and that the levying of the Penal- 
 ties of thele Lawsy as it would bring in a 
 vaft Treafure, fo there might be a very 
 good Pretence for it, fince it would look 
 like the executing of Law, and the doing 
 of Juftice. A fourth propofes the prohi- 
 biting of many things under fevere Penal- 
 lies, efpecialiy fuch things as were againft 
 the Intertft oif. the People, and then the 
 
 difpen- 
 
UTOPIA. 47 
 
 di(penfing with theft Prohibitions upon' 
 great Compofitions, to thofe who might 
 make Advantages by breaking them. This 
 would ferve two ends^both of them accep- 
 table to many 5 for as thoie whofe Avarice 
 led them to tranfgrefi, would be feverely 
 fined 5 (bthe felling Licences dear, would 
 look as if a Prince were tender of his Peo- 
 ple, and would not eafily, or at low Rates, 
 difpen(e with any thing that might be a- 
 gainft the Publick Good. Another pro- 
 poies, tha(^^ Judges muft be made fure, 
 that they may declare always in favor of 
 the Prerogative, that they muft be often 
 fent for to Court, that the King may hear 
 them areue thofe Points in which he is 
 concerned :, fince that how unjuft ibever 
 any of his Pretenfions may be, yet ffill 
 fome one or other of them, either out of 
 contradiftion to others, or the pride of 
 fingularity , or that they may make 
 their Court, would find out fome Pre- 
 tence or other to give the King_ a_fair co- 
 lour to carry the Point ; For if the Jud ges 
 but differ in Opinion, the cleareJt thing 
 in the World is made by that m eanr? i(^ 
 'putable, "and Truth being once brought in 
 "queftion, the King upon that may take 
 ^vantage to expound the Law for his 
 
 Ip 4 owq 
 
4 8 Sir Thomas Mote'5 
 
 own profit: the Judges that ftand out 
 will be brought over, either out of fear or 
 inodefty , and they being thus gained, all 
 of them may be fent to the Bench to give 
 Sen tence boldly,as the Kin^ w ould have it : 
 for Fair Pretences w ill never 5c wanting 
 when Sentence is t o be giv e n in th e 
 Prince's Fav or : it will either beTaid, that 
 Equity lies ot his fide, or fome words in 
 the Law will be found founding that way, 
 or fome forced fence will be put on thecQ^ 
 and when all other things faitt|he King's 
 undoubted Prerogative will be pretended, 
 as that which is above all Law 3 and to 
 which a Religious Judg ought to have 
 a fpecial regard. Thus all confent to that 
 Maxim of Crajfm^ That a Prince cannot 
 have Treafure enough, fince he muft main- 
 tain his Armies out of it : that a King, 
 even tho he would, can do nothing un- 
 juftly5 that all Property is in him, not 
 excepting the very Perfons of hisSubjeSs : 
 And that no Man has any other Property, 
 but that which the King out of his good- 
 nefs thinks fit to leave him : and they 
 think it is the Prince's Intereft, that there 
 be as little of this left as may be, as if it 
 were his advantage that his People fhould 
 have neither Riches nor Liberty 5 fince 
 
 thefe 
 
UTOPIA, 49 
 
 thefe things make them lefi ca(y and tame 
 to a cruel and injuft Government, whereas 
 Neceffity and Poverty blunts them, 
 makes them patient, and bears them down, 
 and breaks that height of Spirit^that might 
 otherwife difpofe them to rebel. Now 
 what if after all thefe Propofitions 
 were made, I fliould rife up and affert. 
 That fuch Councels were both unbecom- 
 ing aKi ng, and mifchi evous t o him : and 
 that not only his Hdno FBut hi s Safety con* 
 filtcJmore in EisHPcoples W ealtltTtBan 
 in his owns it I liaould tfaew, that they 
 cEoofeTKTng for their own fake, and not 
 for his s that by his care and endeavors 
 they may be both eafy and (afe : and that 
 therefore a Prince ought to take more care 
 of his Peoples Happinefe, than of his own, 
 as a Shepherd is to take more care of his 
 Flock than of himfelf. It is alfo certain, 
 that they are much miftaken, that think 
 the Poverty of a Nation is a means of the 
 Publick Safety : Who quarrel more than 
 B^gers do? who dixs more earneftly 
 long for a change, than he that is uneafy 
 in his prefent Circumftances > and who 
 run in to create Confuficws with fo defpe- 
 rate a boldnefi, as thofe who having no- 
 thing to lofe, hope to gain by them> If 
 
5 o Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 a King (liould fall under (b much con- 
 tempt or envy, that he could not keep 
 his Subjeds in their Duty, but by Op- 
 prcffion and ill Ufage, and by impove- 
 HiiHng them, it were certainly better for 
 luci to quit his Kingdom, than to retain 
 it by fuch Methods, by which tho he 
 keeps the Name of Authority, y^t he 
 lofo the Ma)efty duetoit. Nor~^Kinb 
 becoming the Uignity of a "KTng~l:o"reign 
 over^ ggars, as to rerghover ficfi ~^and 
 happy SuBjeCls. Aiid~thereBre fabrHiu^, 
 that was"a Man of a noble and exalted 
 Temper, (aid. He would rather govejm 
 rich Men, than be rich hinsftlf, and_for 
 one Man t oiBound' in Wealth and Ple a- 
 fare, when all abo ut him are mourning 
 qnd groaning, is to^ a ^^j oaTeFand not a 
 XI52~~He[H^^ 
 
 cannot c ure a Dife afe, but by cafting his 
 Patient i nto anothe r ; So he that can find 
 no ether way for correcting the Errors of 
 his People, but by taking from them the 
 Conveniences of Life,{liews that he knows 
 not what it is to govern a free Nation. 
 He himfclf ought rather to fhake oft his 
 Sloth, or to lay down his Pride ; for the 
 Contempt or Hatred that his People have 
 fox hi.TTj takes its rife from the Vices in 
 
UTOPIA. 51 
 
 himfelC Let him live upon what belongs 
 to himlelfi without wronging others, and 
 accommodate his Expence to his Reve- 
 nue. Let him punifh Crimes, and by his 
 wife Condud: let him endeavour to pre- 
 vent them, rather than be fevere when he 
 has fufFered them to be too common : Let 
 him not rafhly revive Laws that are ab- 
 brogated by difufe, efpecially if they have 
 been long forgotten, and never wanted. 
 And let him never take any Penalty for 
 the breach of them, to which a Judg 
 would not give way in a private Man, but 
 would look on him as a crafty and unjuft 
 Perlbn for pretending to it. To thcfe 
 things I would add, that Law among the 
 Mcicarians^ that lie not far from Utopia^ 
 by which their King, in the day on which 
 he begins to reign, is tied by an Oath con- 
 firmed by folcmn Sacrifices, never to have 
 at once above a thouftnd Pounds of 
 Gold in his Treafures, or fo much Silver 
 as is equal to that in value. This Law, as 
 they fay, was made by an excellent King, 
 who had more regard to the Riches of his 
 Country, than to his own Wealth 5 and 
 io provided againft the heaping up of fo 
 much Treafure, as might impoverifti the 
 (People : he thought that moderate Sum 
 
 might 
 
5 1 S/> Thomas More'i^ 
 
 might be (ufficient for any Accident ^ if ei- 
 ther the King had occafion for it againft 
 Rebcls,or the Kingdom againft the Invafipn 
 of anEnemy^but that it was not enough to 
 encourage a Prince to invade other Mens 
 Rights, which was the chief caufe of his 
 making that Law. He al(b thought, th^t 
 it was a good Provifion for a free circula- 
 tion of Mony, that is neceflary for the 
 courfe of CcMnmerce and Exchange : And 
 when a King muft diftribute afi thefc ex- 
 traordinary Acceffions that encreafe Trea- 
 fiire beyond the due pitch, it make^ him 
 left difpofed to oppreG his Subjefts. Such 
 a King as this is, will be the terror of ill 
 Men,and will be beloved of all good Men. 
 If, I fiy, I fhould talk of thefc or fiicb 
 like things, to Men that had taken their 
 biafs another way, how deaf would they 
 be to it all ? No doubt, very cjeaf, an- 
 fwered I , and no wonder, for one is n<e- 
 ver to offer at Propofitions or Advices, 
 that he is certain will not be entercained. 
 Difcourfes fo much out of the rqad could 
 not avail any thing, nor have any effed 
 on Men, whofe Minds were prepi^eflfed 
 with different Semiraents.This Philofophi- 
 cal way of Speculation, is not unpkalant 
 among Friends in a becConvenimon y 
 
 but 
 
UTOPIA. 55 
 
 but there is no room for it in the Courts 
 of Princes, where great Affairs arc carried 
 on by Authority. That is what I was 
 iaying, replied he, that there is no room 
 for Philofophy in the Courts of Princes, 
 Ye?5 there is, faid I, but not for this Spe- 
 culative Philofophy, that makes ever,y 
 thirtg to be alike fitting at all times : But 
 there is another Philofophy that is more 
 pliable, that knows its proper Scene, and 
 accommodates it (elf to it; and that 
 teaches a Man to aft that 'part wbkh has 
 fallen to his (hare, fitly and decently. If 
 when one of Plantuss Ccnnedies is upon 
 the Stage, and a Company of Servants 
 are ading their parts, you ftiould come 
 out in the Garb of a Philofopher, and 
 tepeat out of O^avia^ a Difcourfe of 5^- 
 )necas to Nero^ had it not been better for 
 you to havie (aid nothing, than by mixir^ 
 things of fuch different Natures, to have 
 tnade fuch an impertinent Tragi-Comedy ? 
 fcr you fpoil and corrupt the Play that is 
 in t^nd, when you mix with it things di(^ 
 agreeing to it, even tho they were better 
 than it is : therefore go through with the 
 Pky that is afting, the beft you can 5 and 
 do not confound it, becaufe another that 
 is pleafanter comes into your thoughts. It 
 
 is 
 
5 4 Sir T homas More'x 
 
 is even (b in a Common-Wealth, and ia 
 the Councils of Princes 5 if ill Opini- 
 ons cannot be quite rooted out 3 and if 
 you cannot cure fome received Vices ac- 
 cording to your v^'ifties, you muft not 
 therefore abandon the Common- Wealth 5 
 or forlake the Ship in a Scorm^becaufe you 
 cannot command the Winds ; nor ought 
 you to affault People with Difcourfes that 
 are out of their Road, when you fee 
 their Notions are fuch that you can make 
 no impreffion on them : but you ought 
 to cafl about, and as far as you can to 
 manage things dextroufly, that fb if you 
 cannot make Matters go well, they may 
 he as little ill as is poflible^ for except all 
 Men were good, all things cannot go 
 Well 5 which I do not hope to fee in a 
 great while. By this, anfwered he, all 
 that I (hall do (hall be to preferve my 
 felf from being mad, while I endeavour 
 to cure the madneis of other People : for 
 if I Will (peak truth,l muft fay fuch things 
 as I was formerly faying 3 and for lying, 
 whether a Philofopher can do it or not, I 
 cannot tell 3 I am fure I cannot do it. 
 But tho the(e Di(cour(€S may be uneafy 
 and ungrateful to them, I do not fee why 
 they (hould feem foolifh or extravagant : 
 
 indeed 
 
UTOPIA. 55 
 
 indeed if I (hould either propofe fuch 
 things as Plato has contrived in his Qomr 
 mon- Wealth, or as the Utopians praftiftj 
 in theirs, the they might ft^em better, as 
 certainly they are, yet theyr are Co quite 
 different from our Eftabliilimciir, whidi 
 is founded on Property, there beicig no 
 fuch thing among thera, that I could no^ 
 expeiS that it (hould have any eiFed oa 
 them : But fuch Di(cour(es as, mine, that 
 only call paft. Evils to mind, and give 
 warning of v^hat may ibilovv, have Ba- 
 thing in them that is fb abfurd, that they 
 may not be u(ld at any time ^ for tlsej 
 can only be unpleafant to tho(e who are 
 rcfolved to run head I oag the contrary 
 way : jind if we muft kt alone every 
 thing as abfurd or extravagant, which bij 
 :reafon of the wicked Lives of many maj 
 ftera uncouth, we muft, even among Chri- 
 ftians, give over preffing the greatefl part 
 of thofe things that Chrift hath taught issj 
 the he has commanded us not to conceal 
 them, but to proclaita on the Houfe-topi 
 that which he taught in ftcret. The 
 greatefl: parts of his Precepts aiie fnore 
 difagreeing to the Lives of the Meo of 
 thii.' Age, than any part of iiiy Difcourfe 
 has been : But the Preachers, ftem to have 
 
 kara'd 
 
5 6 Sir Thomas More*^ 
 
 \ learn d that craft to which you advifeme^ 
 I for they obferving that the World would 
 I not willingly fute their Lives to the Rules 
 I tbatGhrift has given, have fitted his Do- 
 drine, "as if it had been a leaden Rule, 
 to their Lives ^ that fo fome way or other 
 they might agree with one another. But 
 I fee no other effeft of this compliance, 
 except it be that Men become more ft- 
 cure in their wickednefi by it. And this is 
 all the fiiccefs that I can have in a Court 5 
 for I muft always differ from the reft, and 
 then I will fignify nothing 5 or if I a- 
 gree with them, then I will only help 
 forward their madnefi. I do not compre- 
 hend what you mean by your cafting 
 about, or by the bending and handling 
 things fo dextroufly, that if they go not 
 well, they may go as little ill as may be : 
 for in Courts they will not bear with a 
 Man's holding his peace, or conniving at 
 them : a Man muft bare-facedly approve 
 of the worft Councils, and con&nt to the 
 blackeft Defigns : So that one would pa(s 
 for a Spy, or poffibly for a Traitor, that 
 did but coldly approve of fuch wic- 
 ked Praftices : And when a Man is en- 
 gaged in fuch a Society, he will be fo for 
 from being able to mend Matters by his 
 
 cafting 
 
UTOPIA. 57 
 
 calling about, as you call it, that he will 
 find no occafions of doing any good : 
 the ill Qjrnpany will fooner corrupt him, 
 than be the better for him : or if not- 
 withftanding all their ill Company, he 
 remains ftill entire and innocent, yet their 
 Follies and Knavery will be imputed to 
 him 5 and by mixing Councils with them, 
 he niuft bear his (hare of all the blame 
 that belongs wholly to others. 
 
 It was no ill Simily, by which Plato 
 fet forth the unreafonablenefe of a Philo- 
 fbpher s medliag with Government ; If 
 one, lays he, (hall fee a great company 
 run out into the Rain every day, and de^ 
 light to be wet in it 5 and if he knows 
 that it will be to no purpofe for him to 
 go and perfwade them to come into their 
 Houfcs, and avoid the Rain 5 fo that all 
 that can be expefted from his going to 
 ipeak to them, will be, that he fhall be 
 wet with them 3 when it is fb, he does beft 
 tokeep within Doors, and preferve bim- 
 CJf,fince he cannot prevail enough to cor- 
 reft other Peoples Folly. 
 
 Tho to fpeak plainly what is my Heart, 
 I muft freely own to you, that as long as 
 there is any Property, and while Mony is 
 the Standard of all other thipgSj I cannot 
 
 F think 
 
5 8 Sir Thomas More'i 
 
 think that a Nation can be governed 
 either Juftly or Happily : Not Juftly, be- 
 caule the beft things will fall to the (hare 
 ot the worft of Men : Nor Happily, be- 
 caufe all things will be divided among a 
 few, (and even thefe are not in all re- 
 fpefts happy) the reft being left to be 
 abfolutely liiiferable. Therefore when I 
 refleft on the wife and good Conftituti- ' 
 ons of the Utopians^ among whom all 
 things are fo well governed, and with io 
 few Laws 5 and among whom as Vertue 
 hath its due reward, yet there is (uch an 
 equality, that every Man lives in plenty 3 
 2nd when I compare with them fo many 
 other Nations that are ftill making new 
 Laws, and yet can never bring their Con- 
 ftiiution to a right Regulation, among 
 whom tho every one has his Property 5 yet 
 all the Laws that they can invent, canriot 
 prevail fo far, that Men can either obtain 
 or preferve it, or be certainly able to di-' 
 flinguith what is their own, from what is 
 another Man's 3 of which the many Law 
 Suits that every 'day break out, and de- 
 pend without any end, give too plain a 
 demonftration : When, I (ay, I ballance 
 all thefe things in my thoughts, I grow 
 more fevourabk to l^lato^ ^nd do not 
 
 wonder* 
 
UTOPIA. 59 
 
 wonder that he relblved, not to make any 
 Laws for fuch as would not fubmit to a 
 community of all things : For fo wile a- 
 Man as he was, could not but forefee that' 
 the letting all upon the Level, was the 
 only way to make a Nation happy 3 Vv'hich 
 cannot be obtained fo long as there is Pro- 
 perty ; for when every Man drav7s to him- 
 felf all that he can compafs, by one Title 
 or another, it raufl: needs follow, that 
 how plentiful foevef a Nation may be, yet 
 a kw dividing the Wealth of it among 
 themfelves, the reft muft fall under Po- 
 verty. So that there will be two forts 
 of People am.ong them, that deferve that 
 their Fortunes (hould be interchanged 5; 
 the former being ufelefs, but wicked and 
 ravenous 5 and the latter, who by their 
 donftant induftry (erve the Publick more 
 than themfelves, being fincere and modeft; 
 Men. From whence I am perfvvaded, that 
 till Property is taken away, there can be' 
 lio equitable or juft diftributiori made of 
 things, nor can the World be happily go- 
 ^rned : for as long as that is laaintained, 
 the greateft and the far beft part of Man- 
 kind, will be ftill oppf eflied with^ a load 
 of Cares and Anxieties, rcohfefi^ with- 
 imt the taking of it quite away^ tho(e' 
 
 F 2 Preffur^a 
 
6o Sir Thomas More'i 
 
 Preffures that lie on a great part of Man- 
 kind, may be made lighter ^ but they 
 can never be quite removed. For if Laws 
 were made, determining at how great an 
 extent in Soil, and at how much Mony 
 every Man muft ftop, and limiting the 
 Prmce that he may not grow too great^ 
 and reftraining the People that they may 
 not become too infblent, and that none 
 might faftioufly afpire to publick Employ- 
 ments 5 and that they might neither be 
 fold, nor made burdenfome by a great 
 CKpence^ fince otherwife thofe that ferve 
 in them, will be tempted to reimburfe 
 themfelves by Cheats and Violence, and 
 it will become neceffary to find out rich 
 Men for undergoing thofe Employments 
 for which wife Men ought rather to be 
 fought out 5 tbefe Laws, I fay, may have 
 fuch EfFefts, as good Diet and Care may 
 have on a Sick Man, whofe recovery is 
 defperate : they may allay and mitigate 
 the Difeafe, but it can never be quite 
 healed, nor the Body Politick be brought 
 again to a good Habit, as long as Proper- 
 ty remains 3 and it will fall out as in a 
 complication of Difeafts, that by apply- 
 ing a Remedy to one Sore, you will pro- 
 voke another 5 and that which removes 
 
 the 
 
UTOPIA. 6i 
 
 one ill Symptom, produces others, while 
 the ftrengthning of one part of the Body 
 weakens the reft. On the contrary, an- 
 fwered I, it ferns to me that Men cannot 
 live conveniently, where all things are 
 common : How can there be any Plenty, 
 where every Man will cxcule himfelf from 
 Labour ? For as the hope of Gain doth 
 not excite him., fo the confidence that he 
 has in other Mens Induftry, may make 
 him flothful : And if People come to be 
 pinched vmh Want, and yet cannot dif- 
 po(e of any thing as their own 5 what can 
 follow upon this, but perpetual Sedition 
 and Bloodfhed, cfpecially when the Reve- 
 rence and Authority due to Magiftrate^ 
 falls to the Ground ? For I cannot ima- 
 gine how that can be kept up among thofe 
 that are in all things equal to one another, 
 I do not wonder, faid he, that it appears 
 (b to you, fince you have no Notion, or 
 at lead no right one, of fuch a ConftitU" 
 tion : But if you had been in ZJtopia with 
 me, and had feen their Laws and Rules 
 as I did, for the fpace of five Years, in 
 which I lived among them 5 and during 
 which time I was fo delighted with them, 
 that indeed I would never have left them, 
 if it had not been to make the difcovery 
 
 F 3 of 
 
6 z Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 of that new World to the Europeans 3 you 
 would then confefs that you had never 
 |een a People Co well conftituted as they 
 iire. You will not eafily perfwade me, 
 (aid Peter^ that any Nation in that, New 
 World, is better governed than thofe 
 among; us are. For as our Underftand- 
 ings are not worfe than theirs, fo our Go- 
 vernment, if I miftake not, being ancien- 
 ter, a long praftice has helped us to find 
 out many Conveniences of Life : And 
 fbme happy Chances have difcovered 
 other things to us, which no Man's Lfnder- 
 jflanding could ever have invented. As 
 for the Antiquity, either of their Govern- 
 ^ menr, or of our?, (aid he, you cannot 
 pafs a true Judgment of it, unlefs you had 
 read their Hiflories 5 for if they are to be 
 believed, they had Towns among them, 
 before the(e parrs were (b much as inha- 
 bited : And as for the(e Difcoveries, that 
 have been either hit on by chance, or 
 made by ingenious Men, the(e might 
 have hapned there as well as here. I do 
 not deny but we are more ingenious than 
 they are, but they exceed us much in In- 
 duftry and Application : They knew little 
 concerning us, before our arrival among 
 them 5 they call us all by a general Name 
 t. of 
 
UTOPIA. 65 
 
 of the Nations that lie beyond the Equi- 
 noiSial Line 3 for their Chronicle mentions 
 a ShipH acK that was made on their Coaft 
 1200 V ears ago 5 and that (bme Romans 
 and Eg)pjims that were in the Ship, get- 
 ting (afe a Shore, fpent the reft of their 
 daysamongft them 3 and fuch was their 
 Ingenuity, that from this fingle Opportu- 
 nity, they drew the advantage of Learn- 
 ing from thofe unlook'd for Guefts, all the 
 ufeful Arts that were then among the Ro- 
 mans , which thole Shipwrack'd Men 
 knew : And by the Hints that they gave 
 them, they them(elve« found out even 
 fome of thofe Arts which they could not 
 fully explain to them 5 (b happily did they 
 improve that Accident, of having fome of 
 our People caft upon their fhore ; But if 
 any fuch Accident have at any time 
 brought any from thence into Europe^ we 
 have been lb far from impressing it, that 
 we do not fo much as remember it 5 as in 
 after Times perhaps it will be forgot by 
 our People that I was ever there. For 
 tho they from one fuch Accident, made 
 themfelves Mafters of all the good Inven- 
 tions that were among us 5 yet I believe 
 it would be long before we would learH 
 Qr put in praftice any of the good Infti- 
 
 F 4 tution^ 
 
<54 Sir Thomas Mcre'5 
 
 tutions that are among them : And this is 
 the true Caufe of their being better go- 
 verned, and living happier than we do, 
 tho we come not (hort of them in point 
 of Underftanding, or outward Advanta* 
 ges. Upon this I faid to him, I do ear- 
 neftly beg of you, that you would d€- 
 fcribe that Ifland very particularly to us. 
 Be not too (hort in it, but fet out in or- 
 der all things relating to their Soil, their 
 Rivers, their Towns, their People, their 
 Manners, Conftitution, Laws, and in a 
 word, all that you imagine we defire to 
 know : and you may well imagine that 
 we defire to know every thing concerning 
 them, of which we are hitherto ignorant. 
 I will do it very willingly, (aid he, for I 
 have digefted the whole Matter carefully 5 
 but it will take up fome time. Let us go 
 then, faid I, firft and dine, and then we 
 fhall have lei>fure enough. Be it (b, (aid 
 he. So we went in and dined, and after 
 Dinner we came back, and fat down in 
 the fame place. I ordered my Servants to 
 take care that none might come and in- 
 terrupt us : and both Peter and I de(ired 
 Raphael to be as good as Ws word : So 
 when he faw that we were very intent up- 
 on 
 
UTOPIA. 65 
 
 on it, he paufed a little to recollefl: himfel^ 
 and began in this manner. 
 
 The Second BooJ^ 
 
 THE Ifland of Vtopia, in the middle 
 of it, where it is broadeft, is 200 
 miles broad, and holds almoft at the fame 
 breadth over a great part of it , but it 
 grows. narrower towards both ends. Its 
 Figure is not unlike a Crelcent : between 
 its Horns, the Sea comes in eleven miles 
 broad, and fpreads it ftlf into a great Bay, 
 which is environed with Land to the com- 
 pafi of about 500 miles, and is well (ecu- 
 red from Winds : There is no great Cur- 
 rent in the Bay, and the whole Coaft 
 is, as it were, one continued Harbour, 
 which gives all that live in the Ifland great 
 convenience for mutual Commerce : but 
 the entry into the Bay, what by Rocks on 
 one hand,and Shallows on the Gther,is very 
 dangerous. In the middle of it there is 
 one fingle Rock which appears above 
 Water, and fo is not dangerous 5 on the 
 top of it there is a Tower built, in which 
 a GarrifoQ is kept. The other Rocks lie 
 
 under 
 
6,6, iS/V Thomas M or e'^ 
 
 under Water, and are very dangerous* 
 The Channel is known only to theNatives, 
 fo that if any Stranger (hould enter into 
 the Bay, without one of their Pilates, 
 he would run a great danger of Ship- 
 WTack : for even they themfelves could 
 not pafi it (life, if fome marks that are on 
 their Coafi: did not dired their way 5 and 
 if thefe (hould be but a little fhifted, any 
 Fleet that might come cjgauift them, how 
 great (beyer it were, would be certainly loft. 
 On the other fide of the Ifland, there are 
 likewife many Harbours 5 and the Coaft 
 is fo fortiiied,both by Nature and Art, that 
 a feiall number of Men can hinder the def- 
 cent of a great Army. But they report 
 (and there remains good marks of it to 
 make it credible) that this was no Ifland at 
 firft, but a part of the Continent. ZJtopus 
 that conquered it ( whole Nameit ftill car- 
 ries, for Abraxa was its firft Name) and 
 brought the rude and uncivilized Inhabi- 
 tants into fuch a good Government, and 
 to that meafure of Politenefs,that they do 
 now fir excel all the reft of mankind ^ 
 having foon fubdued them, he defigned 
 to ieparate them from the Continent, and 
 and to bring the Sea quite about them, 
 viid in order to that he made a deep 
 
 Channel 
 
UTOPIA. 67 
 
 Channel to be digged fifteen miles long : 
 He not only forced the Inhabitants to 
 work at it, but likewife his own Souldiers, 
 that the Natives might not think he treated 
 them like Slaves ^and having fet vaft num- 
 bers of Men to v^ork, he brought it to 
 a fpeedy conclufion beyond all Mens ex- 
 peftations : By this theit Neighbours, who 
 laughed at the folly of the Undertaking 
 at firft, were (truck with admiration and 
 terror, when they faw it brought to per- 
 fection. There are 54 Cities in the Ifland, 
 all large and well built : the Manners, 
 Cuftoms, and Laws of all their Cities are 
 the fame, and they are all contrived as 
 near in the (ame manner, as the Ground 
 on which they ftand will allow: The 
 neareft lie at leaft 24 miles diftant from 
 one another, and the moft remote are not 
 fb far diftant, but that a Man can go on 
 foot in one day from it, to that which lies 
 next it. Every City fends three of their 
 wifeft Senators once a Year to Amaurot^ 
 for confulting about their common Con- 
 cerns 5 for that is the cheifTown of the 
 Ifland, being fituated near the Center of 
 it,(b that it is the moft convenient place for 
 their Affemblies. Every City has fo much 
 Ground fct off for its Jurisdiftion, that 
 
 there 
 
68 S/> Thomas More'^ 
 
 there is twenty miles of Soil round it, af- 
 figned to it : and where the Towns lie 
 wider, they have much more Ground : 
 no Town defires to enlarge their Bounds, 
 for they confider themfelves rather is Te- 
 nants than Landlords of their Soil. They 
 have built over all the Country, Farm- 
 houfes for Hufbandmen, which are vi^ell 
 contrived, and arc furnilhed with all 
 things neceflary for Countey-labour. In- 
 habitants are (ent by turns from the Cities 
 to dwell in them 5 no Country-iamily 
 has fewer than fourty Men and Women in 
 it, befides two Slaves. There is a Mafter 
 and a Miftrefi fet over every Family 5 and 
 over thirty Families there is a Magi- 
 ftrate fetled. Every Year twenty of this 
 Family come back to the Town, after 
 they have ftayed out two Years in the 
 Country : and in their room there are 
 other twenty fent from the Town, that 
 they may learn Country-work, from 
 thofe that have been already one Year 
 in the Country, which they muft teach 
 thole that come to them the next Year 
 from the Town. By this means fuch as 
 dwell in thofe Country-Farms, are never 
 ignorant of Agriculture, and fo commit 
 no Errors in it, which might otherwife be 
 
 fatal 
 
UTOPIA. 65? 
 
 fatal to them, arid bring them under a 
 fcarcity of Corn. But tho there is every 
 Year fiich a {hifting of the Hufbandmen^ 
 that none may be forced againft his mind 
 to follow that hard courfe of life too long 3 
 yet many among them take fuch pleafure 
 in it, that they defire leave to continue 
 many Years in it. Thefe Hufbandmen 
 labour the Ground, breed Cattel, hew 
 Woodland convey it to the Towns, either 
 by Land or Water, as is moft conveni- 
 ent. They breed an infinite multitude of 
 Chickens in a very curious manner: for 
 the Hens do not fit and hatch them, but 
 they lay vaft numbers of Eggs in a gentle 
 and equal heat,in which they are hatched ^ 
 and they are no (boner out of the Shell, 
 and able to ftir about, but they feem to 
 confider thofe that feed them as their Mo- 
 thers, and follow them as other Chickens 
 do the Hen that hatched them. They 
 breed very few Horfes, but thpfe they 
 have, are full of Mettle, and are kept on- 
 ly for exercifing their Youth in the Art of 
 fitting and riding of them 5 for they do 
 not put them to any Work, either of 
 Plowing or Carriage, in which they im- 
 ploy Oxen 5 for tho Horfes are ftronger, 
 yet they find Oxen can hold out longer ^ 
 
 and 
 
70 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 and as they are not fubjeft to (b many 
 Difeafts, fo they are kept upon a lefs 
 charge, and with left trouble : And when 
 they are fo worn out, that they are no 
 more fit for labour, they are gbod Meat 
 at laft. They fow no Corn, but that 
 which is to be their Bread 3 for they 
 drink either Wine, Cider, or Perry, and 
 often Water, fometimes pure, and fome- 
 timcs boiled with Hony or Liquorilh, 
 with which they abound : and tho they 
 know exaftly well how much Corn will 
 ferve every Town, and all that traft of 
 Country which belongs to it, yet they 
 fow much more, and breed more Cattel 
 than are necefl'ary for their confumption : 
 and they give that overplus of which 
 they make no ufe to their Neighbours. 
 When they want any thing in the Coun- 
 try which it does not produce, they fetch 
 that from the Town, without carrying 
 any thing in exchange for it: and the 
 Magiftrates of the Town take cafe to fee 
 it given them ; for they meet generally in 
 the Town once a month, upon a Feftival- 
 Day. When the time of Harveft comes, 
 the Magiftrates in the Country fend to 
 thofe in the Towns, and let them know 
 how many hands they will need for reapr 
 
UTOPIA. 7i 
 
 ing the Harveft 5 and the ilumber they ~^ 
 call for being fent to them, they common- 
 ly difpatch it all in one day. 
 
 Of their Towns^ farikularlj ^/ Amaurot. 
 
 HE that knows one of their Towas^ 
 knows them all, they are (b like 
 one another, except where the fcituation 
 makes fbme difference. I (hall therefore 
 defcribe one of them, and it is no matter 
 which 5 but none is fo proper as Amaurot: 
 for as none is more eminent, all the reft 
 yielding in precedence to this, becaufe it 
 is the ^at of their Supream Council 5 fo 
 there was none of them better known to 
 me, I having lived five Years altogether 
 in it. 
 
 It lies upon the fide of a Hill, or rather 
 a rifing Ground: its Figure is almoft 
 (quare, for from the one fide of it, which 
 (hoots up almoft to the top of the Hill, it 
 runs down in a defcent for two miles to 
 the River Amder 3 but it is a little broader 
 the other way that runs along by the 
 Bank of that River. The Anider rife? 
 about 80 miles above Amaurot^ m a froaU 
 Springatfirft, but other Brooks falling 
 into it, of which two are more confide?- 
 
 rable : 
 
7x Sir Thomas More'x 
 
 rable, as it runs by Amanrot^ it is grown 
 half a mile broad, but it (till grows larger 
 and larger, till after fixty miles courfc be- 
 low it, it is buried in the Ocean. Be- 
 tween the Town and the Sea, and for 
 (bme miles above the Town, it ebbs and 
 flows every fix hours, with a ftrong Cur- 
 rent. The Tide comes up for about 
 thirty miles fo full, that there is nothing 
 but Salt-water in the River, the freft) 
 Water being driven back with its force j 
 and above that, for fome miles, the Wa- 
 ter is brackifli, but a little higher, as it 
 runs by the Town, it is quite frelh 5 and 
 when the Tide ebbs, it continues fre(h all 
 along to the Sea. There is a Bridg caft 
 over the River, not of Timber, but of 
 fair Stone, confifting of many ftately 
 Arches 5 it lies at that part of the Town 
 which is fartheft from the Sea, fo that 
 Ships without any hindrance lie all along 
 the fide of the Town. There is liJiewife 
 another River that runs by it, which tho 
 it is not great, yet it runs pkafantly, for it 
 rifes out of the (ame Hill on which the 
 Town {lands, and fo runs down throw it, 
 and falls into the Amder. The Inhabi- 
 tants have fortified the Fountain-head of 
 this River, which fprings a little without 
 
 the 
 
UTOPIA. 75 
 
 the Towns 5 that fo if they Ihould hap* 
 pen to be befieged, the Enemy might not 
 be able to ftop or divert the courfe of 
 the Water, nor poifon it 3 from thence 
 It IS carried in earthen Pipes to the lower 
 Streets : and for thofe places of the Town 
 to which the Water of that fmall River 
 cannot be conveyed, they have greac Ci- 
 fterns for receiving the Rain-water, which 
 iupplies the want of the other. The 
 Town is compaflbd with a high and thick 
 Wall, in which there are many Towers 
 and Forts 5 there is alfo a broad and deep 
 dry Ditch, (et thick with Thorns, caft 
 round three fides of the Town, and the 
 River is inftead of a Ditch on the fourth 
 fide. The Streets are made very conve- 
 nient for all Carriage, and are well (hel- 
 tred from the Winds. Their Buildings 
 are good, and are fo uniform, that a 
 whole fide of a Street looks like one 
 Houfe. The Streets are twenty foot 
 broad 5 there lie Gardens behind all their 
 Houfes 3 thefe are large^but enclofed with 
 Buildings, that on all Hands face the 
 Streets, fo that every Houfe has both a 
 Door to the Street, and a back Door to 
 the Garden : their Doors have all two 
 Leavesj which as they are eafily opened, 
 
 G fo 
 
<mm^^^ " — 
 
 74 Sir Thomas \Aoxts 
 
 fo they (hut of their own accord 5 and 
 there being no Property among them, 
 every Man may freely enter into any 
 Houfe whatfoever. At every ten Years 
 ends, they ftiift their Houfes by Lots. 
 They cultivate their Gardens with great 
 care, fo that they have both Vines, Fruits, 
 Herbs, and Flowers in them 5 and all is 
 fo well ordered, and fo finely kept, that 
 I never faw Gardens any where that were 
 both fo fruitful and fo beautiful as theirs 
 are. And this humor of ordering their 
 Gardens fo well, is not only kept up by 
 the pleafure they find in it, but alfo by 
 an emulation between the Inhabitants of 
 the feveral Streets, who vie with one 
 another in this Matter , and there is in- 
 deed nothing belonging to the whole 
 Town, that is both more ufeful, and more 
 plealant. So that he who founded the 
 Town, feems to have taken care of no- 
 thing more than of their Gardens 3 for 
 . they lay, the whole Scheme of the Town 
 was defigned at firft by ZJtopi^j^ but he 
 left all that belonged to the Ornament 
 and Improvement of it, to be added by 
 thofe that (hould come after him, that be- 
 ing too much for one Man to bring to 
 perfeftion. Their Records, that contain 
 
 the 
 
UTOPIA. 75 
 
 the Hiftory of their Town and State, are 
 
 preferved with an exaft care, and run 
 
 backwards 1760 Years. From the(e it 
 
 appears, that their Houfes were at firft 
 
 low and mean, like Cottages made of 
 
 any (brt of Timber, and were built with 
 
 mud Walls, and thatch'd with Straw .* 
 
 but now their Houles are three Stories^ 
 
 high, the Fronts of them are faced either 
 
 with Stone, Plaiftering, or Brick 3 and 
 
 between the facings of their Walls, they 
 
 throw in their Rubbifti ^ their Roofs are 
 
 flat, and on them they lay a (brt of Plai- 
 
 fter which cofts very little, and yet is fo 
 
 tempered, that as it is not apt to take 
 
 Fire, fo it refifts the Weather more than 
 
 Lead does. They have abundance of 
 
 Glals among them, with which they glaze 
 
 their Windows: they ufe alfo in their 
 
 Windows, a thin linnen Cloth, that is fo 
 
 oiled or gummed, that by that means it 
 
 both lets in the Light more f i eely to them, 
 
 and keeps out the Wind the better. 
 
 G 2 Of 
 
y6 Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 ' Of their ^agrjirates^ 
 
 THirty Families chufe every Year a Ma- 
 giftrate, who was called anciently 
 the Syfbogrant^ but is now called the Fhi- 
 larch : and over every ten Sjphogrants^ 
 with the Families fubjeft to them, there is 
 another Magiftrate, who was anciently 
 called the Tranibore^ but of late the Arch- 
 philarch, AD the Syphogrants, who are 
 in ni!*" ber 200, chu(e the Prince out of a 
 L:(l of four, whom the People of the 
 four Divifions of the City name to them 5 
 but they take an Oath before they pro- 
 ceed to an Election, that they will chu(e 
 him whom they think meeteft for the 
 Office : They give their Voices ftcretly, 
 fo that it is not known for whom every 
 one gives his Suffrage. The Prince is for 
 Life, unlefs he is removed upon fufpicion 
 of fome defign to enflave the People. 
 The Tran:hors are new chofen every Year, 
 but yet they are for the mod part ftill 
 continued : All their other Magiftrates 
 are only Annual. The Trarjihors meet 
 every third day, and oftner if need be, 
 and confiilt with the Prince, either con- 
 cerning the Affairs of the State in general, 
 
 or 
 
UTOPIA. 76 
 
 or fuch private Differences as may arife 
 fometimes among the People 5 tho that 
 falls out but feldom. There are always 
 rwo Syphogrants called into the Council- 
 Chamber, and theft are changed every 
 day. It is a fundamental Rule of their 
 Government, that no Conclufion can be 
 made in any thing that relates to the Pub- 
 lick, till it has been firft debated three fe- 
 veral days in their Council. It is Death 
 for any to meet and confult concerning 
 the State, unlefs it be either in their ordi- 
 nary Council, or in the Aflfembly of the 
 whole Body of the People. 
 
 Thefe things have been fo provided a- 
 mong them, that the Prince and the Tra- 
 nihors may not confpire together to 
 change the Government, and enflave the 
 People 5 and therefore when any thing 
 of great importance is (et on foot, it is 
 lent to the Syphogrants 3 who after they 
 have communicated it with the Families 
 that belong to their Divifions, and have 
 confidered it among themlelves, make re- 
 port to the Senate 5 and upon great Oc- 
 cafions, the Matter is referred to the 
 Council of the whole Ifland. One Rule 
 obferved in their Council^ is, never to 
 (Jebate a thing on the fame day in which 
 
 G 3 i% 
 
7 8 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 is firft propoled 5 for that is always re- 
 ferred to the next meeting, that fo Men 
 niay not raftily, and in the heat of DiP- 
 courfe, engage themfelves too foon, which 
 may biafs them fo much, that inftead of 
 confidering the Good of the Publick^ 
 ihey will rather ftudy to maintain their 
 own Notions -^ and by a perverfe and 
 prcpofterous fort of (hame^ hazard their 
 Country, rather than endanger their own 
 Reputation, or venture the being fufpe- 
 ftcd to have wanted forefight in the Ex- 
 pedients that they propoled at firft. And 
 therefore to prevent this, they take care 
 that they may rather be deliberate, than 
 fuddcn in their Motions. 
 
 Of ihcir Trades^ and manner of Life, 
 
 AGriculture is that which is fo uni-^ 
 verfally underftood among them all, 
 that no Perfon, either Man or Woman, is 
 ignorant of it 5 from their Childhood 
 they are inftrufted in it, partly by what 
 they learn at School, and partly by pra- 
 ftice, they being led out often into the 
 Fields, about the Town, where they not 
 only lee others at work, but are likewife 
 cxercifed in U themfelves. Befides Agri- 
 culture, 
 
UTOPIA. 79 
 
 culture, which is fo common to them all, 
 every Man has fome peculiar Trade to 
 which he applies himfelf, fuch as the Ma- 
 nufafture of Wool, or Flax, Mafonry, 
 Smiths Work, or Carpenters Work 5 for 
 there is no other fort of Trade that is in 
 great efteem among them. All the llland 
 over, they wear the fame fort of Clothes 
 without any other diftinftion, except - 
 that which is neceflary for marking the 
 difference between the two Sexes, and 
 the married and unmarried. The fafliioa 
 never alters 5 and as it is not ungrateful 
 nor uneafy, ^o it is fitted for their Cli- 
 mate, and calculated both for their Sun> 
 mers and Winters. Every Family makes 
 their own Clothes 5 but all among them, 
 Women as well as Men, learn one or 
 other of the Trades formerly mentioned. 
 Women, for the moft part, deal in Wool 
 and Flax, which fute better with their 
 feeblenefi, leaving the other ruder Trades 
 to the Men. Generally the fame Trade 
 paQes down from Father to Son, Inclina- 
 tion often following Defeent : but if any 
 Man s Genius lies another way, he is by 
 Adoption trandated into a Family that 
 deals in the Trade to which he is inclin- 
 ed : And when that is to be done, care 
 
 04 'v^ 
 
8o Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 is taken, not only by his Father, but by 
 the Magiftrate, that he may be put to a 
 difcreet and good Man. And if after a 
 Man has learn'd one Trade, he defires to 
 acquire another, that is alfo allowed, and 
 is managed in the fame manner as the for- 
 mer. When he has learn'd both, he fol- 
 lows that which he likes beft, unlefi the 
 Publick has more occafion for the o- 
 ther. 
 
 The chief, and almoft the only Bufinefi 
 of the Syphogranis^ is to take care that no 
 Man may live idle, but that every one 
 may follow his Trade diligently : yet they 
 do not wear themfelves out with perpe- 
 tual Toil, from Morning to Night, as if 
 they were Beafts of Burden 5 which as it 
 is indeed a heavy flavery, fo it is the com- 
 mon courfe of Life of all Tradefmen eve- 
 ry where, except among the Utopians : 
 But they dividing the Day and Night in- 
 to twenty four hours, appoint fix of thefe 
 for Work, three of ihem are before Din- 
 ner 5 and after that they dine, and inter- 
 rupt their Labour for two hours, and then 
 they go to work again for other three 
 hours 5 and after that they fup, and at 
 eight a Clock, counting from Noon, they 
 go to bed and fleep eight hours : and for 
 
 their 
 
UTOPIA. 8i 
 
 their other hours, befides thofe of Work, 
 and thofe that go for eating and fleeping, 
 they are left to every Man s difcretion 5 
 yet they are not to abufe that Interval to 
 Luxury and Idlenefs^but muft imploy it in 
 feme proper Exercife according to their 
 various InclinationSj which is for the 
 mofl: part Reading. It is ordinary to have 
 Publick Ledures every Morning before 
 day-break 5 to which none are obliged to 
 go, but thofe that are mark'd out for Li- 
 terature 5 yet a great many, both Men 
 and Women of all Ranks, go to hear Le- 
 ftures of one fort or another, according 
 to the variety of their Inclinations. But 
 if others, that are not made for Contem- 
 plation, chufc rather to imploy themfelves 
 at that time in their Trade, as many of 
 them do, they are not hindred, but are 
 commended rather, as Men that take care 
 to ferve their Country. After Supper, 
 they fpend an hour in fome Diverfion : In 
 Summer it is in their Gardens, and in 
 Winter it is in the Halls where they eat ^ 
 and they entertain themfelves in them, 
 either with Mufick or Difeourfe. They 
 do not fo much as know Dice, or fuch- 
 like foolifti and mifchievous Games : They 
 have tv^'o forts of Games not unlike our 
 
 Che(s5 
 
8 z Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 Chefs J the one is between feveral Num- 
 bers, by which one number, as it were, 
 confumes another : the other refembles a 
 Battel between the Vices and the Vertues, 
 in which the Enmity in the Vices among 
 ihemfelves, and their agreement againit 
 Venue is not unpleafantly reprefented 5 
 together with the fpecial oppofitions be- 
 tween the particular Vertues and Vices 5 
 as alio the Methods by which Vice does 
 either openly aflauk, or fecretly under- 
 mine Vertue 5 and Vertue on the other 
 hand refifts it 5 and the means by which 
 cither fide obtains the Viftory. But this 
 matter of the time fet off for Labour, is 
 to be narrowly examined, otherwife you 
 may perhaps imagine, that fince there are 
 only fix hours appointed for Work, they 
 may fall under a Scarcity of NeceiTary 
 Provifions. But it is fo far from being 
 true, that this time is not fufEcient for ap- 
 plying them with a plenty of all things, 
 that are either neceffary or convenient , 
 that it is rather too much ^ and this you 
 will eafily apprehend, if you confider 
 how great a part of all other Nations is 
 quite idle. Firft, Women generally do 
 little, who are the half of Mankind 5 
 2nd if fome few Women are diligent, 
 
 their 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 their HuCbands are idle : Then confider 
 the great company of idle Priefts, and of 
 thole that are called Religious Men 5 add 
 to thefe all rich Men, chiefly thofe that 
 have Eftates in Lands, who are called No- 
 ble-men and Gentlemen, together with 
 their Families, made up of idle Perfons, 
 that do nothing but go (waggering about : 
 Reckon in with the(e, all thofe ftrong and 
 lufty Beggars, that go about pretending 
 fome Difeafe, in excufe for their begging 5 
 and upon the whole Account you will 
 find, that the number of thofe by whole 
 Labours Mankind is fupplied, is much lefi 
 than you did perhaps imagine : Then con- 
 fider how few of thofe that work, are 
 imployed in Labours that Men do really 
 need : for we who meafiire all things by 
 Mony, give occafions to many Trades 
 that are both vain and fuperfluous, and 
 that ferve only to fupport Riot and Luxu- 
 ry. Forjf thofe who are at Work, were 
 imploy'd only in fuch things as the conve- 
 niences of Life require, there would be 
 fuch an abundance of them, and by that 
 means the prices of them would fo fink, 
 that Tradefmen could not be maintained 
 by their Gains , if all thofe who labour 
 about ufelefs Things, were fet to more 
 
 pro- 
 
84 Sir Thomas M ore'i 
 
 profitable Trades 3 and if all that number 
 that languifhes out their Life in floth and 
 idlenefi, of whom every one confumes a.s 
 much as any two of the Men that are at 
 work do, were forced to labour, you 
 may eafily imagine that a fmall proporti- 
 on of time would ferve for doing all that 
 is either neceffary, profitable, or pleafant 
 to Mankind, pleafure being ftill kept 
 within its due bounds : Which appears 
 very plainly in Utopia^ for there, in a 
 great City, and in all the Territory that 
 lies round it, you can fcarce find five 
 hundred, either Men or Women, that by 
 their Age and Strength, are capable of 
 Labour , that are not engaged in it 5 
 even the Syphogrants themfelves, tho the 
 Law excufes them, yet do not excufe 
 themftlves, that (b by their Examples they 
 may excite the induftry of the reft of the 
 People 5 the like exemption is allowed to 
 thofe, who being recommended to the 
 People by the Priefts, are by the fecret 
 Suffrages of the Sjfhogratits^ priviledged 
 from Labour, that they may apply them- 
 felves wholly to ftudy 5 and if any of 
 theft falls (hort of thofe Hopes that he 
 feemed- to give at firft, he is obliged to go 
 to work. And foraetimes a Mechanick, 
 
 (hat 
 
■-^ ~T • 
 
 UTOPIA. 85 
 
 that does fo imploy his leafure hours, that 
 he makes a confiderable advancement in 
 Learning, is eafed from being a Tradef- 
 man, and ranked among their Learned 
 Men, Out of thefe they chufe their Am- 
 bafladors, their Priefts, their Tranibors^ 
 and the Prince himfelf 5 who was ancient- 
 ly called their Barzems^ but is called of 
 late their Ademus. 
 
 And thus from the great numbers a- 
 mong them, that are neither fufFered to 
 be idle, nor to be imployed in any fruit- 
 lefs Labour 5 you may eafily make the 
 eftimate, how much good Work may be 
 done in thofe few hours in which they are 
 obliged to labour. But befides all that 
 has been already faid, this is to be confix 
 dered, that thofe needful Arts which are 
 among them, are managed with lefs 
 labour than any where elfe. The build- 
 ing, or the repairing of Houfes among 
 us, employs many hands, becaufe often a 
 thriftle(s Heir fuffers a Houle that his Fa- 
 ther built, to fall into decay, fo that his 
 Succeffor muft, at a great coft, repair 
 that which he might have kept up with a 
 fmall charge: and often it fells out, that 
 the feme Houfe which one built at a vaft 
 expence, is negleded by another, that 
 
 thinks 
 
8 6 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 thinks he has a more delicate fenfe of fuch 
 things 5 and he fuffering it to fall to ruin, 
 builds another at no lefi charge. But 
 amongxhc Z}topians^ all things are (b re- 
 gulated, that Men do very feldom build 
 upon any new piece of Ground, and 
 they are not only very quick in repairing 
 their Houfes, but (hew their forefight in 
 preventing their decay : So that their 
 Buildings are preferved very long, with 
 very little labour : And thus the Crafts- 
 men to whom that care belongs, are often 
 without any Imploiment, except it be the 
 hewing of Timber, and the (quaring of 
 Stones, that fo the Materials may be in 
 readinefi for raifing a Building very fud- 
 denl}^, when there is any occafion for it. 
 As for their Clothes, obferve how little 
 work goes for them : While they are at 
 labour, they are cloathed with Leather 
 and Skins, caft carelefly about them,which 
 will laft feven Years ^ and when they ap- 
 pear in publick, they put on an upper 
 GarmentjWhich hides the other : and thefe 
 are all of one colour, and that is the na- 
 tural colour of the Wool : and as they 
 need lefs Woollen Cloth than is ufed any 
 where elfe, fo that which they do need, 
 is much left coftly. They u(e Linnen 
 
 Cloth 
 
UTOPIA. 87 
 
 Cloth more 5 but that is prepared with 
 lefs labour, and they value Gloth only by 
 the whitenefs of the LinneHjOr the cleao- 
 nefi of the Wool, without much regard 
 to the finenefs of the Thread 5 and where- 
 as in other places, four or five upper Gar- 
 ments of Woollen Cloth, and'of diffe- 
 rent Colours, and as many Vefts of Silk 
 will fcarce ferve one Man 5 and thofe that 
 are nicer, think ten too few 3 every Man 
 .there is contented with one which very 
 oft (erves him two Years. Nor is there 
 any thing that can tempt a Man to de- 
 lire more 5 for if he had them, he woald 
 neither be the warmer, nor would he 
 make one jot the better appearance for it. 
 And thus fince they are all imploied m 
 fome ufefa! Labour ^ and fince they con- 
 tent themielves with fewer things, it &}Is 
 cut that there is a great abundance of all 
 things among them: So that often, for 
 want of other Work, if there is any 
 need of mending their High Ways at any 
 time, you will (ee marvellous numbers of 
 people brought out to work at them 5 
 and wheQ there is no occafion of any p^b- 
 lick work, the hours cf working are 
 leffened by publick Proclamation 3 for the 
 Magiftf ates do not engage the people 
 
 into 
 
$ 8 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 into any needlefs Labour, fince by their 
 conftitution they aim chiefly at this, that 
 except in fo far as pubhck ntceffity re- 
 quires it, all the people may have as much 
 free time for themfelves as may be neceflfa- 
 ry for the improvement of their minds, 
 for in this they think the happinelsof Life 
 confift^ 
 
 Of their Traffick, 
 
 BUT it is now time to explain to you 
 the mutual Intercourfe of this Peo- 
 ple, their Commerce, and the Rules by 
 which all things are diftributed among 
 them. As thefr Cities are com poled of 
 Families, ^o their Families are made up of 
 thofe that are nearly related to one ano- 
 ther. Their Women, when they grow 
 up, are married out 5 but all the Males, 
 both Children and Grandchildren, live 
 ftill in the fame Hou(e, in great obedience 
 to their common Parent, unlefs Age has 
 weakned his Underftanding 5 and in that 
 cafe he that is next to him in Age, comes 
 in his room. But left any City (hould 
 become either out of meafure great, or 
 fall under a difpeopling by any accident, 
 provifion is made that none of their Ci- 
 ties 
 
U T O P I A, 8 $^ 
 
 ties may have above fix thoufand Families 
 in it, befides thofe of the Country round 
 it 5 and that no Family may have lefs than 
 ten, and more than fixteen Perlbns in it 5 
 but there can be no determined number 
 for the Children under Age : And this 
 Rule is eafily obferved, by removing (bme 
 of the Children of a more fruitful Cou- 
 ple, to any other Family that does not 
 abound fo much in them. By the fame 
 Rule, they fupply Cities that do not en- 
 creafe fo faft, by others that breed fafter : 
 And if there is any encreafe over the 
 whole Ifland, then they draw out a num- 
 ber of their Citizens out of the (everal 
 Towns,and (end them over to the Neigh- 
 bouring Continent ^ where, if they find 
 that the Inhabitants have more Soil than 
 they can well cultivate, they fix a Colony, 
 taking in the Inhabitants to their Society, 
 if they will live with theiiHand where they 
 do that of their own accord^ they quick- 
 ly go into their method of Life, and to 
 their Rules, and this proves a happineis 
 to both the Nations : for according to 
 their conftitution, fuch care is taken of 
 the Soil, that it becomes fruitful enough 
 for both, tho it might be otherwife too 
 narrow and barren for any one of then:'. 
 
 H Bat 
 
5>o Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 But if the Natives refufe to conform 
 themfelves to their Laws, they drive them 
 out of thofe Bounds which they mark out 
 for themfelves, and ufe force if they re- 
 fift. For they account it a very juft caufe 
 of War, if any Nation will hinder others 
 to come and poffefi a part of their Soil, 
 of which they make no ufe, but let it lie 
 idle and uncultivated 5 fince every Man 
 has by the Law of Nature a right to fuch 
 a wafte Portion of the Earth, as is necef- 
 fary for his fubfiftence. If any Accident 
 has fo leffened the number of the Inhabi- 
 tants of any of their Towns, that it can- 
 not be made up from the other Towns of 
 the Ifland, without diminilhing them too 
 much, which is faid to have fallen out 
 but twice, fince they were firft a People, 
 by two Plagues that were among them , 
 then the number is filled up, by recalling 
 fo many out of their Colonies : for they 
 will abandon their Colonies, rather than 
 (uflfer any of their Towns to fink too 
 low. 
 
 But to return to the manner of their 
 living together 5 the Ancienteft of every 
 Family governs it, as has been (aid. Wives 
 ferve their Hufbands, and Children their 
 Parents, and always the Younger ferves 
 
 the 
 
UTOPI A. 91 
 
 the Elder. Every City is divided into 
 four equal Parts, and in the middle of 
 every part there is a Market-place : that 
 which is brought thither manufaftured by 
 the (everal Families, is carried from thence 
 to Houfes appointed for that purpofe, in 
 which all things of a fort are laid by them- 
 felves5 and every Father of a Family 
 goes thither, and takes whatfoever he or 
 his Family ftand in need of, without ei- 
 ther paying for it, or laying in any thing 
 in pawn or exchange for it. There is no 
 reafon for denying any thing to any Per- 
 fon, fince there is fuch plenty of every 
 thing among them : and there is no 
 danger of any Man*s asking more than he 
 needs 5 for what (hould make any do 
 that, fince they are all fure that they will 
 be always fupplied ? It is the fear of want 
 that makes any of the whole Race of A- 
 nimals, either greedy or ravenous 5 but 
 befides Fear, there is in Man a vaft Pride, 
 that makes him fancy it a particular Glory 
 for him to excel others in Pomp and Ex- 
 cefe. But by the Laws of the Dtofians^ 
 there is no room for thefe things among 
 them. Near thefe Markets there are alfo 
 others for all forts of Viftuals, where 
 there are not only Herbs, Fruits, and 
 
 H 2 Bread, 
 
91 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 Bread, but alfo Fifti, Fowl, and Cattel. 
 There are alfo without their Towns, pla- 
 ces appointed near (bme running Water, 
 for killing their Beafts, and for wafhing 
 away their filth 5 which is done by their 
 Slaves, for they fufFer none of their Ci- 
 tizens to kill their Cattel, becaufe they 
 think, that Pity and good Nature, which 
 are among the beft of thofe Affeftions 
 that are born with U5, are much impaired 
 by the butchering of Animals : Nor do 
 they fufFer any thing that is foul or un- 
 clean to be brought within their Towns, 
 left the Air fhould be infeded by ill (mells 
 which might prejudice their Health. la 
 every Street there arc great Halls that lie 
 at an equal diftance from one another, 
 which are marked by particular Names. 
 Tht S^phogrant J dwell in thefe, that are 
 fet over thirty Families, fifteen lying on 
 one fide of it, and as many on the other. 
 In thefe they do all meet and eat. The 
 Stewards of every one of them come to 
 the Market-place at an appointed hour ^ 
 and according to the number of thole 
 that belong to their Hall, they carry 
 home Provifions. But they take more 
 care of their Sick, than of any others, 
 who are looked after and lodged in public 
 
 Hofpitals : 
 
UTOPIA. 95 
 
 Hofpitals : They have belonging to every 
 Town four Hofpitals, that are built with- 
 out their Walls, and are fo large, that 
 they may pafi for little Towns : By this 
 means, if they had ever ftch a number 
 of fick Perfons, they could lodg them 
 conveniently, and at fuch a diftance, that 
 fuch of them as are lick of infeftious Dif- 
 €afo, may be kept (b far from the reft, 
 that there can be no danger of Contagi- 
 on. The Hofpitals are fo furnifhed and 
 ftored with all things that are convenient 
 for the eafc and recovery of their Sick 5 
 and thofe that are put in them, are all 
 looked after with fo tender and watchful 
 a care, and are fo conftantly treated by 
 their skilful Phyficians^ that as none is fent 
 to them againft their will,fo there is Icarce 
 one in a whole Town, that if he (hould 
 fill ill, would not chufe rather to go thi- 
 thither, than lie fick at home. 
 
 After the Steward of the Hofpitals has 
 taken for them whatfoever the Phyfician 
 does prcfcribe at the Market-place, then 
 the beft things that remain, are diftributed 
 equally among the Halls, in proportion 
 to their numbers, only, in the firft place, 
 they ferve the Prince, the chief Pritft, 
 the Tranibors and Ambaffadors, and Stran- 
 
 H 3 mh 
 
94 ^i^ Thomas More'^ 
 
 gers, ( if there are any, which indeed falls 
 out but feldom , and for whom there are 
 Houfes well furniftied, particularly ap- 
 pointed when they come among them ). 
 At the hours of Dinner and Supper, the 
 whole Syphogranty being called together 
 by (bund of Trumpet, meets and eats to- 
 gether, except only (uch as are in the Ho- 
 fpitals, or lie fick at home. Yet after the 
 Halls are (erved, no Man is hindred to 
 carry Provifions home from the Market- 
 place ^ for they know that none does that 
 but for (bme good reafon 3 for tho any 
 that will may eat at home, yet none does 
 it willingly, fince it is both an indecent 
 and foolifti thing, for any to give them- 
 fclves the trouble to make ready an ill 
 Dinner at home, when there is a much 
 more plentiful one made ready for him (b 
 near hand. All the uneafy and fordid Ser- 
 vices about thefe Halls, are performed by 
 their Slaves 5 but the dreffing and cook- 
 ing their Meat, and the ordering their 
 Tables, belongs only to the Women 5 
 which goes round all the Women of every 
 Family bv turns. They fit at three or 
 more Tables, according to their numbers 5 
 the Men fit towards the Wall, and the 
 Women fit on the other fide, ^hat if any 
 
 of 
 
UTOPIA. 9 J 
 
 of them (hould fall fuddenly ill, which is 
 ordinary to Women with Child, (he may, 
 without difturbing the reft, rife and go 
 to the Nurfes Room, who are there with 
 the fuckling Children 5 where there is al- 
 ways Fire, and clean Water at hand, and 
 fome Cradles in which they may lay the 
 young Children, if there is occafion for 
 it, and that they may fhift and drefi them 
 before the Fire, Every Child is nurfed 
 by its own ly^ther, if Death or Sicknefi 
 does not intWiene ^ and in that cafe the 
 Syphograf7ts Wives find out a Nurfe quick- 
 ly, which is no hard matter to do 3 for 
 any one that can do it,ofFers her felf chear- 
 fully : for as they are much inclined to 
 that piece of Mercy, (b the Child whom 
 they nurfe, confiders the Nurfe as its 
 Mother. All the Children under five Years 
 old, fit among the Nurfes, the reft of the 
 younger fort of both Sexes, till they are 
 fit for Marriage, do either ferve thofe that 
 fit at Table 5 or if they are not ftrong e- 
 nough for that, they ftand by them in 
 great iilence, and eat that which is given 
 them, by thofe that fit at Tables nor 
 have they any other formality of dining. 
 In the middle of the firft Table, which 
 ftands iq the upper end of the Hall, a- 
 
 H 4 crofs 
 
9 ^ Sir Thomas More'i 
 
 crofs it fits the Syphogrant and his Wife, 
 for that is the chief and mod confpicuous 
 place : Next to him fit two of the moft 
 ancient, for there go always four to a 
 Mefi. If there is a Temple within that 
 Syphogranty, the Prieft and his Wife fit 
 with the Syphograttt above all the reft ; 
 Next them there is a mixture of Old and 
 Young, who are fo placed, that as the 
 Young are fet near others, fo they are 
 mixed with the more Ancient^ which they 
 f^y was appointed on this fpbount, that 
 the gravity of the old People, and the 
 reverence that is due to them, might re- 
 llrain the Younger from all indecent 
 Words and Geftures. Difhes are not fer- 
 vcd up to the whole Table at firft, but 
 the beft are firft fet before the Ancienter, 
 whofe Seats are diftinguiftied from the 
 Younger, and after them all the reft are 
 fcrvcd alike. The old Men diftribute to 
 the younger any curious Meats that hap- 
 pen to be fet before them, if there is not 
 fuch an abundance of them that the whole 
 Company may be ferved by them. 
 
 Thus old Men are honoured with a 
 particular refpcft 5 yet all the reft fare a^ 
 well as they do. They brgin both Din- 
 ner and Supper with fume Lefture of 
 
 Mora- 
 
UTOPIA. fr 
 
 Morality that is read to them 5 but it is (b 
 (hort, that it is not tedious nor uneafy to 
 them to hear it : Upon that the old Men 
 take occafion to entertain thofe about 
 them, with fome ufeful and pleafant En- 
 largements ^ but they do not engrofs the 
 whole Dilcourfe (b to themfelves, during 
 their Meals, that the younger may not 
 put in for a (hare : On the contrary, they 
 engage them to talk, that fo they may in 
 that free way of Converfation, find out 
 the force of every one's Spirit, and ob- 
 (erve their Temper. They difpatch their 
 Dinners quickly, but fit long at Supper 5 
 becaufe they go to work after the one, 
 and are to fleep after the other, during 
 which they think the Stomach carries on 
 the Concodion more vigoroufly. They 
 never Sup without Mufick 5 and there is 
 always Fruit ferved up after Meat ^ while 
 they fit at Meat, fome burn Perfumes, and 
 fprinkle about fweet Ointments,and fweet 
 Waters : And they are wanting in nothing 
 that may chear up their Spirits, for they 
 give themfelves a large allowance that 
 way, and indulge themfelves in all fuch 
 Pleafures as are attended with no Inconve- 
 nience. Thus do thofe that are in the 
 Towns live together 3 but in the Coun- 
 
 trey 
 
9 8 Sir Thomas M ore'5 
 
 trey, where they live at^a greater diftance, 
 everyone eats at home, and no Family 
 wants any neceffary fort of Provifion, 
 for it is from them that Provifions are 
 ' fcnt unto thofe that live in the Towns. 
 
 Of the Travelliffg of the Utopians, 
 
 IF any of them has a mind to vifit his 
 Friends that live in fome other Town, 
 or defires to travel and fee the reft of the 
 Country, he obtains leave very cafily from 
 the Sjphegrant and Tranihors to do it, when 
 there is no particular occafion for him at 
 home : fuch as travel, carry with them a 
 Paffport from th^ Prince, which both 
 certifies the Licence that is granted for tra- 
 velling, and limits the Time of their return. 
 They are furniQied with a Wagon and a 
 Slave, who drives the Oxen, and looks 
 after them : but unlefs there are Women 
 in the G)mpany, the Wagon is fent back 
 at the end of the Journey as a needlefi 
 trouble; While they are on the Road, 
 they carry no Provifions with them , yet 
 they want nothing, but are every way 
 treated as if they were at home. If they 
 flay in any place longer then a Night, 
 every one follows his proper Occupation, 
 
 and 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 99 
 
 and is very well ufed by thofe of his 
 own Trade : but if any Man goes out 
 of the City to which he belongs, with- 
 out leave, and is found going about with- 
 out a Pafsport, he is roughly handled, and 
 is puniftied as a Fugitive, and lent home 
 difgracefully ^ and if he fills again into the 
 like Fault, he is condemned to flavery. 
 If any Man has a mind to travel only over 
 the Precind of his own City, he may free- 
 ly do it, obtaining his Father's Pcrmiffi- 
 on, and his Wives Content 5 but when 
 he comes into any of the Countrey- 
 houfes, he muft labour with them accord- 
 ing to their Rules, if he expefts to be 
 entertaind by them : and if he does this, 
 he may freely go over the whole Precinft, 
 being thus as ufeful to the City to which 
 he belongs, as if he were ftill within it. 
 Thus you fee that there are no idle Per- 
 fons among them, nor pretences of excu- 
 fing any from Labour. There are no 
 Taverns, no Alehoufes, nor Stews among 
 them 5 nor any other occafions of corrup- 
 ting themftlves, or of getting into Cor- 
 ners, or forming themfelves into Parties : 
 All Men live in full view, fo that all are 
 obliged, both to perform their ordinary 
 Task, and to employ themfelves well in 
 
 their 
 
I oo Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 their fpare hours. And it is certain, that 
 a People thus ordered, muft live in great 
 abundance of all things 5 and thefe being 
 equally diftributed among them, no Man 
 can want any thing, or be put to beg. 
 
 In their great Council at J/^aurot^ to 
 which there are three fent from every 
 Town once every Year, they examine 
 what Towns abound in Provifions, and 
 what are under any Scarcity, that fo the 
 one may be furnilhed from the other 5 
 and this is done freely, without any fort 
 of exchange ^ for according to their Plen- 
 ty or Scarcity, they fupply, or are fup- 
 plied from one another , fo that indeed 
 the whole Ifland is, as it were, one 
 Family. When they have thus taken 
 care of their whole Country, and laid up 
 {lores for two Years, which they do in 
 cafe that an ill Year ftiould happen to 
 come, then they order an Exportation of 
 the Overplus, both of Corn , Honey, 
 Wool, Flax, Wood, Scarlet, and Purple 5 
 Wax, Tallow, Leather, and Cattel, which 
 they fend out commonly in great quanti- 
 ties to other Countries. They order a 
 feventh partof alhhefe Goods to be freely 
 given to the Poor of the Countries to 
 which they feqd them, and they (ell the 
 
UTOPIA. 101 
 
 reft at moderate Rates. And by this 
 exchange, they not only bring back tbo(e 
 few things that they need at home, for 
 indeed they (carce need any thing but Iron, 
 but likewife a great deal of Gold and 
 Silver, and by their driving this trade fo 
 long, it is not to be imagined how vaft 
 a Treafure* they have got among them : 
 fo that now they do not much care whetJier 
 they fell off their Merchandize for Mony 
 in hand, or upon truft. A great part of 
 their Treafure is now in Bonds , but in 
 all their Contradis no private Man ftands 
 bound, but the Writing runs in Name 
 of the Town , and the Towns that owe 
 them Mony, raife it from thofe private 
 hands that owe it to them, and lay it up in 
 their publick Chamber, or enjoy the pro- 
 fit of it till the Dtopians call for it 5 and 
 they chufe rather to let the greateft part of 
 it lie in their hands, who make advantage 
 by it, then to call for it themfelves : but 
 if they fee that any of their other Neigh- 
 bours ftand more in need of it, then they 
 raife it, and lend it to them 5 or ufe it 
 themfelves, if they are engaged in a War^ 
 which is the only occafion that they can 
 have for all that Treafure that they have 
 laid up 5 that (b either in great Extre- 
 mities, 
 
1 01 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 mities, or fiidden Accidents, they may 
 ferve themfelves by it 5 cheifly for hiring 
 Foreign Souldiers, whom they more wil- 
 lingly expofe to danger than their own 
 People: They give them great Pay, 
 knowing well that this will work even 
 on their Enemies, and engage them either 
 to betray their own fide, or at leaft to 
 defert it, or will fet them on to mutual 
 Fadions among themfelves : for this end 
 they have an incredible Treafure^ but 
 they do not keep it as a Treafure, but in 
 fuch a manner as I am almoft afFraid to tell 
 it, left you think it (b extravagant, that 
 you can hardly believe it 5 which I 
 have the more reafon to apprehend from 
 others, becaufe if I had not fcen it my 
 felf, I could not have been eafily per- 
 fwaded to have beleived it upon any Man s 
 Report. 
 
 It is certain, that all things appear Co 
 far incredible to us, as they differ from 
 our own Cuftoms: but one who can judg 
 aright, will not wonder to find, that 
 fince their other Conftitutions differ fo 
 much from ours, their value of Gold and 
 Silver ftiould be meafured, not by our 
 Standard, but by one that is very dif- 
 ferent from it s for fince they have no ufe 
 
 of 
 
UTOPIA. 10} 
 
 of Mony among themfelves, but keep it 
 for an accident 5 that tho^as it may poffi- 
 biy fell out, it may have great intervals $ 
 they value it no further than it deferves, 
 or may be ufeful to them. So that it is 
 plain, that they muft prefer Iron either 
 to Gold or Silver : for Men can no more 
 live without Iron, than without Fire or 
 Water 5 but Nature has markt out no u(e 
 for the other Metals, with which we may;/ 
 not very well difpence. The folly of 
 Man has enhanfed the value of Gold 
 and Silver, becaufe of their fcarcity : 
 whereas on the contrary they reafon, that 
 Nature, as an indulgent Parent, has 
 given us all the beft things very freely, 
 and in great abundance, fuch as arc 
 Water and Earth, but has laid up and 
 hid from us the things that are vain and 
 ufelefs. 
 
 If thofe Metals were laid up in any 
 Tower among them, it would give jea- 
 loufy of the Prince and Senate, according 
 to that foolifli miftruft into which the 
 Rabble is apt to fall,as if they intended to 
 cheat the People, and make advantages to 
 themfelves by it 3 orif theytfliould work it 
 into Veflels, or any fort of Plate, they 
 fear that the People might grow too fond 
 
 of 
 
1 04 Sir Thomas Motes 
 
 of it, and (b be unwilling to let the Plate 
 be run down, if a War made it neceffary 
 to pay their Souldiers with it : Therefore 
 to prevent all the(^ inconveniences, they 
 have fallen upon an expedient, which as 
 it agrees with their other Policy, fo is 
 very different from ours, and will fcarce 
 gain belief among us, who value Gold (b 
 much, and lay it up fo carefully; for 
 whereas they eat and drink out of Veffels 
 of Earth, or Glafe, that tho they look 
 very prety, yet are of very flight Ma- 
 terials 5 they make their Chamber-pots 
 and Clofe-ftools of Gold and Silver 3 and 
 that not only in their publick Halls, but 
 in their private Houfcs : Of the fime Met- 
 tals they likewife make Chains and Fetters 
 for their Slaves $ and as a Badge of Infa- 
 my, they hang an Ear-ring of Gold to 
 fome, and make others wear a Chain or a' 
 Coronet of Gold 5 and thus they take care, 
 by all manner of ways, that Gold and 
 Silver may be of no efteem among them 5 
 And from hence it ij, that whereas other 
 Nations part with their Gold and their Sil- 
 ver, as unwillingly as if one tore out 
 their Bowels, thofe of Dtopia would look 
 on their giving in all their Gold or Silver, 
 whca there were any ufe for it, but as 
 
 the 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 tJife parting with a Trifle, or as we would 
 dlimate the lofi of a Penny. They find 
 Pearls on their Coaft^ and Diamonds, 
 and Carbuncles on their Rocks : they do 
 not look after them, but if they find them 
 by chance, they polifti them, and with 
 them they adorn their Children, who 
 are delighted with them, and glory in 
 them during their Childhood 5 but when 
 they grow to Years, and (ee that none 
 but Children ufc luch Baubles, they of 
 their own accord, without being bid by 
 their Parents, lay them afide ^ and would 
 be as much a(hamed to ufe them after- 
 wards, as Children among us, when they 
 eome to Years, are of their Nuts, Pup- 
 pets, and other Toies. 
 *<^> I never (aw a clearer Inftance of the 
 different imprcffions that different Cu- 
 ftoms make on People, than I obferved in 
 the Ambafiadors of the Ammolians who 
 came to Amaurot when I was there : and 
 becaufe they came to treat of Affairs of 
 great Confequence, the Deputies from the 
 feveral Towns had met to wait for their 
 coming. The Ambaffadours of the Nati- 
 ons that lie near Utopia^ knowing their 
 Cuftoms, and that fine Cloaths are in no 
 efteem among them 3 that Silk is defpifed, 
 
 I and 
 
o6 Sir Thomas More'i 
 
 and Gold is a Badg of Infamy, ufe to come 
 very modeftly cloathcd 5 but the Anemoli- 
 ans that lay more remote, and fo had little 
 commerce with them, when they under- 
 ftood that they were courfly cloathed,and 
 all in the fame manner, they took it for 
 granted that they had none of thole fine 
 Things among them of which they made 
 CO ufe 5 and they being a vain-glorious, 
 rather than a wife People, relblved to fet 
 themfelves out with fo much pomp, that 
 they (hould look like Gods, and lb ftrike 
 the Eyes of the poor Utopans with their 
 fplendor. Thus three AmbafTadors made 
 their entry with an hundred Attendants, 
 that were all clad in Garments of different 
 colours, and the greater part in Silk 5 
 the Ambafladors themlelves, who were of 
 the Nobility of their Country, were in 
 Cloth of Gold, and adorned with mafly 
 Chains, Ear-rings and Rings of Gold : 
 Their Caps were covered with Bracelets 
 Icrt full of Pearls and other Gems : In a 
 word, they were fet out with all thole 
 things,that among the Utopans were either 
 the Badges of Slavery, the Marks of In- 
 famy, orChildrens Rattels. It was not 
 unplealant to fee on the one fide how 
 they lookt big, when they compared their 
 
 rich 
 
UTOPIA. 1 107 
 
 rich Habits with the plain Cloaths of the 
 Z)topians^ who were come out in great 
 numbers to fee them make their Entry t 
 And on the other fide, to obferve ho»,? 
 much they were miflaken in the Impreffi- 
 on which they hoped this Pomp would 
 have made on them : It appeared fo ridi- 
 culous a {hew to all that had never ftirred 
 out of their Country, and fo had not feen 
 the Cuftoms of other Nations 5 that tho 
 they paid fome reverence to tho(e thac 
 were the mofc meanly clad, as if they had 
 been the AmbafTadors, yet when they fiw 
 the Ambaffadors themlclves, (o full of 
 Gold Chains, they looking upon them as 
 Slaves, made them no reverence at alL 
 You might have feen their Children, who 
 were grown up to that bigneS, that they 
 had thrown away their Jewels, call to 
 their Mothers, and pu(h them gently, and 
 cry our. See that great Fool that wears 
 Pearls and Gems, as if he were yet a 
 Child. And their Mothers anfwered them 
 in good earneft. Hold your Peace, this is^ 
 I believe, one of the Ambaffador's Fool^. 
 Others cenfuted the faChion of their. 
 Chains, and obferved that they were of 
 noufe, for they were too flight to bind 
 their Slaves^ who could eafily brieak thern| 
 
io8 Sir Thomas More*^ 
 
 and they faw them hang fo loofe about 
 them, that they reckoned they could eafi- 
 ly throw them away,and fo get from them. 
 But after the Ambaffadors had ftaid a day 
 among them, and faw fo vaft a quantity 
 of Gold in their Houles, which was as 
 much defpifed by them, as it was efteemed 
 in other Nations, and that there was more 
 Gold and Silver in the Chains and Fetters 
 of one Slave, than all their Ornaments 
 amounted to, their Plumes fell, and they 
 were afliamed of all that Glory for which 
 they had formerly valued themfelves, and 
 fo laid it afide : to which they were the 
 more determined, when upon their en- 
 gaging into fome free Difcourfe with the 
 Tjtofiafjs^ they difcovered their (en(e of 
 fuch things, and their other Cuftoms. 
 The ZJtofianj wonder how any Man 
 Ihould befo much taken with the glaring 
 doubtful luftre of a Jewel or Stone, that 
 can look up to a Star, or to the Sun him- 
 fclf 5 or how any (hould value himfelf, 
 becaufe his Cloth is made of a finer 
 Thread : for how fine foever that Thread 
 may be, it was once no better than the 
 Fleece of a Sheep, and that Sheep was a 
 Sheep ftill for all its wearing it. They 
 wonder much to hear, that Gold which 
 
 in 
 
UTOPIA. 109 
 
 it felf is fo ufelefi a thing, (hould be eve- 
 ry where (b much efteemed, that even 
 Men for whom it was made, and by whom 
 it has its value, (hould yet be thought of 
 lefi value than it is : So that a Man of 
 Lead, who has no more fence than a Log 
 of Wood, and is as bad as he is foolifb, 
 Ihould have many wife and good Men 
 ferving him, only becaufe he has a great 
 heap of that Metal ^ and if it (hould fo 
 happen, that by fome Accident, or Trick 
 of Law, ( which does (bmetimes produce 
 as great Changes as Chance it felf) all 
 this Wealth (hould pais from the Mafter 
 to the meaneft Varlet of his whole Fami- 
 ly, he himfelf would very Coon become 
 one of his Servants, as if he were a thing 
 that belonged to his Wealth, and fo were 
 bound to follow its Fortune. But they 
 do much more admire and deteft their 
 folly, who when they fee a rich Man, tho 
 they neither owe him any thing, nor are 
 in any fort obnoxious to him, yet meerly 
 becaufe he is rich, they give him little le(s 
 than Divine Honours 3 even tho they 
 know him to be (b covetous and ba(e 
 minded, that notwithftanding all his 
 Wealth, he will not part with one Far- 
 thing of it to them as long as he lives. 
 
 13 Thefe 
 
1 10 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 Thefe and fuch like Notions has that 
 People drunk in, partly from their Edu- 
 cation, being bred in a Country, whofe 
 Cufioms and ConCntutions are very oppo- 
 fite to all fiich foolifli Maxims: and partly 
 from their Learning and Studies 3 for the 
 there are but few in any Town that are 
 exxufed from Labour, (o that they may 
 give themfelves wholly to their Studies, 
 rhe(c being only fuch Perfbns as difcover 
 from their Childhood an extraordinary 
 capacity and difpofition for Letters, yet 
 I heir Children, and a great part of the 
 Nation, both Men and Women,are taught 
 to fpend thofe hours in which they are 
 not obliged to work, in Reading: and 
 xhis they do their whole Life long. They 
 have all their Learning in their own 
 Toncfue 5 which is both a copious and 
 pleafmt Language, and in which a Man. 
 can fully exprefs his Mind ; It runs over a 
 great Trad of many Countries, but it is 
 not equally pure in all places : They had 
 never fo much as heard of the Names of 
 any of tho(e Philofophers that are Co fa- 
 mous in thefe parts of fhe World, be- 
 fore we went among them : and yet 
 rhcy had made the fame Difcoveries that 
 the Greeks had done, both in Mufick, Lo- 
 
 gick, 
 
UTOPIA. 5,1 
 
 gick, Arithmetick, and Geometry. But 
 as they are equal to the Ancient Philofo- 
 phers almofl: in all things, fb they far ex- 
 ceed our Modern Logicians, for they 
 have never yet fallen upon the barbarous 
 Nicities that our Youth are forced to leara 
 in thofe trifling Logical Schools that are 
 among us 5 and they are (b far from 
 minding Chimera's, and Fantaftical Ima- 
 ges made in the Mind, that none of them 
 could comprehend what we meant, wheq 
 we talked to them of a Man in the Ab- 
 ftraft^ as common to all Men in particu- 
 lar, ((bthat tho we (poke of him as a 
 thing that we could point at with our 
 Fingers, yet none of them could perceive 
 him ) and yet diftinft from every one, as 
 if he were fome raonftrous Coloffus or 
 Giant. Yet for all this ignorance of 
 thefe empty Notions, they knew Aftro- 
 nomy, and all the Motions of the Orbs 
 exaftly 5 and they have many Inftru- 
 ments, well contrived and divided, by 
 which they do very accurately compute 
 the Courfe and Pofitions of the Sun, 
 Moon, and Stars. But for the Cheat, of 
 divining by the Stars, and by their Oppo- 
 (itions or Conjundions, it has not fo 
 much as entred into their Thoughts. They 
 
1 1 1 Sir Thomas }Ames 
 
 have a particular fagacity, founded on 
 much Obfervation, of fudging of the 
 Weather, by which they know when they 
 may look for Rain, Wind, or other Alte- 
 rations in the Air : But as to the Philofp- 
 phy of thofe things, and the caufts of the 
 faltnefi of the Sea, and of its Ebbing and 
 Flowing, and of the Original and Na- 
 ture both of the Heavens and the Earth 5 
 they difpute of them, partly, as our An- 
 cient Philofophers have done 5 and, part- 
 ly, upon fome new Hypothefis, in which, 
 as they differ from them, fo they do not 
 in all things agree among themfelves. 
 
 As for moral Philofophy, they have 
 the lame Difputes among them, that we 
 have here : They examine what things are 
 properly good, both for the Body, and 
 the Mind ; And whether any outward 
 thing can be called truly good^ or if that 
 term belongs only to the Endowments of 
 the Mind. They enquire likewi(e into the 
 Nature of Vertue and Plealure 3 but their 
 chief difpute is, concerning the happinefs 
 of a Man, and wherein it confifts? whe- 
 ther in fome one thing, or in a great ma- 
 ny ? They feem indeed more inclineable 
 to that Opinion that places, if not the 
 whole, yet the chief part of a Man's 
 
 Happi- 
 
UTOPIA. 115 
 
 Happinefi, inPleafure, and which may 
 fceiD more ftrange, they make ufe of Ar- 
 guments even from Religion, notwith- 
 ftanding its feverity and roughneG, for the 
 fupport of that Opinion, that is fo in- 
 dulgent to Pleafure : for they never di- 
 spute concerning happinefs, without fetch- 
 ing (bme Arguments from the pfeiciples 
 ef Religion, as well as from natural Rea- 
 fon 5 fince without the former, they 
 reckon that all our enquiries after Hap- 
 pinefs, muft be but conjeftural and defe- 
 ftive. 
 
 Thofe Principles of their Religion, 
 are, that the Soul of Man is immortal, 
 and that God of his Goodnefs has dc- 
 figned that it (hould be happy 5 and that 
 he has therefore appointed Rewards for • 
 good and vertuous Aftions, and punilh- 
 ments for Vice, to be diftributed after 
 this Life; And tho thefe Principles of 
 Religion are conveyed down among them 
 by Tradition, they think, that even Rea- 
 fon it (elf determines a Man to believe 
 and acknowledg them : and they freely 
 confefi, that if thefe were taken away, 
 no Man would be fo infenfible, as not to 
 feek after Pleafure by all manner of 
 ways, lawful or unlawful $ ufing only 
 
 this 
 
1 1 J Sir Thomas Morc'^ 
 
 this caution, that a leffer Pleafiire might 
 not ftand in the way of a greater, and 
 that no pleafure ought to be purfued, that 
 Ihould draw a great deal of pain after it : 
 for they think it the maddeft thing in the 
 World to purfue Vertue, that is a four 
 and di&uk thing 5 and not only to re- 
 nounceVf^.e pleafures of Life, but willing- 
 ly to undergo much pain and trouble, if 
 a Man has no profpeft of a Reward. And 
 what Reward can there be, for one that 
 has pafled his whole Life, not only with- 
 out pleafure, but in pain, if there is no- 
 thing to be expedted after death? Yet they 
 do not place Happinefs in all forts of Plea- 
 fures, but only in thofe that in themfelves 
 are good and honeft : for whereas there 
 is a Party among them that places Happi- 
 nefi in bare Vertue, others think that our 
 Natures are conduced by Vertue to Hap- 
 pinefi, as that which is the chief Good of 
 Man. They define Vertue thus, that it is 
 a living according to Nature 5 and think 
 that we are made by God for that end : 
 They do believe that a Man does then 
 follow the Diftates of Nature, when he 
 purfaes or avoids things according to the 
 direaion of Reafon : they fay, that the 
 firft diftate of Reafon is, the kindling in 
 
 us 
 
UTOPIA. ,14 
 
 us a love and reverence for the Divine 
 Majefty, to whom we owe both all that 
 we have, and all that we can ever hope 
 for. In the next place, Reafon direfts 
 us, to keep our Minds as free of Paffion, 
 and as chearful as we can 3 and that we 
 fhould confider our felves as bound by the 
 ties of good Nature -and Humanity, to 
 ufe our utmoft endeavours to help forward 
 the Happinefs of all other Perfons 5 for 
 there was never any Man that was fuch a 
 morofe and fevere purfiier of Venue, and 
 fuch an Enemy to Pleafure, that thohe fee 
 hard Rules to Men to undergo,much pain, 
 many watchings, and other rigors, yet 
 did not at the fame time advife them to 
 do all they could in order to the relieving 
 and eafing fuch People as were miferable 5 
 and did not reprefent it as a mark of a 
 laudable temper, that it was gentle and 
 good natured: And they infer from 
 thence, that if a Man ought to advance 
 the welfare and comfort of the reft of 
 Mankind, there being no Vertue more 
 proper and peculiar to our Nature, than 
 to eafe the miferies of others, to free them 
 from trouble & anxiety,in furniftiing them 
 with the Comforts of Life, that confift in 
 Pleafure 5 Nature does much more vigo- 
 
 rouily 
 
1 1 6 Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 roufly lead him to do all this for himfelH 
 A Life of Pleafure, is either a real Evil , 
 and in that cafe we ought not only, not 
 to affift others in their purfuit of it, but 
 on the contrary, to keep them from it all 
 we can, as from that which is hurtful and 
 deadly to them 5 or if it is a good thing, 
 (b that we not only may, but ought to 
 help others to it, Why then ought not a 
 Man to begin with himfelf ? fince no Man 
 can be more bound to look after the good 
 of another, than after his own : for Na- 
 ture cannot direft us to be good and kind 
 to others, and yet at the fame time to be 
 unmerciful and cruel to our felves. Thus 
 as they define Vertue to be a living ac^ 
 cording to Nature, fo they reckon that 
 Nature fets all People on to ftek after 
 Plcafure, as the end of all they do. They 
 do alfo obferve, that in order to the fup- 
 porting the Pleafures of Life, Nature in- 
 clines us to enter into Society ^ for there 
 is no Man fo much raifed above the reft of 
 m3nkind,that he ftiould be the only Favorite 
 of Nature, which on the contrary feems 
 to have levelled all thofe together that be- 
 long to the fame Species. Upon this they 
 infer, that no Man ought to feek his own 
 Conveniences fo eagerly, that thereby he 
 
 (hould 
 
UTOPIA. 117 
 
 (hould prejudice others 3 and therefore 
 they think, that not only all Agreements 
 between private Perfbns ought to be ob- 
 ferved 5 but likewife, that all thofe Laws 
 ought to be kept, which either a good 
 Prince has publiQied in due form, or to 
 which a People, that is neither oppreffed 
 with Tyranny, nor circumvented by 
 Fraud, has confentcd, for diftributing 
 thofe Conveniences of Life which afford 
 us all our Pleafures. 
 
 They think it is an evidence of true 
 Wifdom, for a Man to purfue his own 
 Advantages, as far as the Laws allow it. 
 They account it 'Pkty^ to prefer the Pub- 
 iick Good to one's Private Concerns 5 
 but they think it unjuft, for a Man to 
 feek for his own Pleafure, by fnatching 
 another Man's Pleafures from him. And 
 on the contrary, they think it a (ign of a 
 gentle and good Soul, for a Man to di- 
 fpence with his own Advantage for the 
 good of others 5 and that by fo doing, a 
 good Man finds as much pleafiire one way, 
 as he parts with another 5 for as he may 
 expeft the like from others when he may 
 come to need it, foif that (hould fail him, 
 yet the Senfe of a good Aftion, and the 
 Reflexions that one makes on the Love 
 
 and 
 
1 1 9 Sir Thomas More'x 
 
 and Gratitude of thofe whom he has (b 
 obliged, gives the Mind more Pleafare^ 
 than the Body could have found in that 
 from which it had reftrained it felf : they 
 are al(b perflvaded that God will make up 
 the lofi of thofe fmall Pleafiires, with a 
 vaft and endlefs Joy, of which Religion 
 does eafily convince a good Soul. 
 
 Thus upon an enquiry into the whole 
 Matter, they reckon that all our Aftions, 
 and even all our Vertues terminate in 
 Pleafure, as in our chief End and greateft 
 Happinefi ; and they call every Motion 
 or State, either of Body or Mind, in 
 which Nature teaches us to delight, a 
 Pleafure. And thus they cautioufly limit 
 Pleafure, only to thofe Appetites to which 
 Nature leads us^ for they reckon that 
 Nature leads us only to thofe Delights to 
 which Reafon as well as Senfe carries us, 
 and by which we neither injure any other- 
 Perfon, nor let go greater Pleafures for 
 it 5 and which do not draw troubles on 
 us after them : but they look upon thofe 
 Delights which Men, by a foolilh tho 
 common Miftake, call Pkajkre, as if 
 they could change the Nature of Things, 
 as well as the u(e of Words, as things that 
 Bot only do not advance our Happtnefi^ 
 
 but 
 
UTOPIA. ,ii8 
 
 but do rather obftruft it very much, be- 
 caufe they do fo entirely poffels the Minds 
 of thofe that once go into them, with a 
 falfe Notion of Pleafure, that there is no 
 room left for truer and purer Plea- 
 lures. 
 
 There are many things that in thenr- 
 felves have nothing that is truly delight- 
 ing : On the contrary, they have a good 
 deal of bitternefs in them 5 and yet by 
 our perverfe Appetites after forbidden 
 Objefts, are not only ranked among the 
 Pleafiires, but are made even the greateft 
 Defigns of Life. Among thofe who pur- 
 fue thefe fophifticated Pleafures, they 
 reckon thofe whom I mentioned before, 
 who think themftlves really the bet- 
 ter for having fine Clothes , in which 
 they think they are doubly miftaken, 
 both in the Opinion that they have of 
 their Clothes , and in the Opinion 
 that they have of themfelves 3 for if 
 you confider the ule of Clothes, why 
 Ihould a fine Thread be thought better 
 than a courfe one ? And yet that fort of 
 Men, as if they had fome real Advantages 
 beyond others, and did not oWe it wholly 
 to their Miftakes, look big, and feera to 
 fancy themfelves to be the more valuable 
 
 on 
 
120 Sir Thomas Mores 
 
 on that account, and imagine that a re- 
 fpeft is due to them for the fake of a rich 
 Garment, to which they would not have 
 pretended, if they had been more mean- 
 ly cloathed 5 and they refent it as m Af- 
 front, if that refpeft is not paid them. It 
 is alfo a great foUy to be taken with thefe 
 outward Marks of Refpea, which fig- 
 nify nothing : For what true or real Plea- 
 (iire can one find in this, that another 
 Man ftands bare, or makes Legs to 
 him ? Will the bending another Man's 
 Thighs give yours an eafe ? And will 
 his Head's being bare, cure the mad- 
 nefs of yours ? And yet it is wonderful to 
 fee how this falfe Notion of Pleafure be- 
 witches many, who delight themfclves 
 with the fancy of their Nobility, and are 
 pleafed with this Conceit, that they are 
 defcended from Anceftors, who have been 
 held for fome Succdiions rich, and that 
 they have had great Poflfeffions 5 for this 
 is all that makes Nobility at prefent 5 yet 
 they do not think themfelves a whit the 
 le(s noble, tho their immediate Parents 
 have left none of this Wealth to them 5 
 or tho they themfelves have Iquandred it 
 all away. The Viopans have no better 
 Opinion of thofe, who are much taken 
 
 with 
 
UTOPIA. Ml 
 
 with Gems and Ptecious Stones, and who 
 account it a degree of Happinefi, next to 
 a Divine one, if they can purchaie one 
 that is very extraordinary ^ efpecially if 
 it be of that fort of Stones^ that is then 
 in greateft requeft 5 for the fame fort is 
 not at all times of the fame value with all 
 Ibrts of People ^ nor will Men buy it^' 
 unlefs it be difmounted and taken out of 
 the Gold : And then the Jeweller is made 
 to give good Securityjand required (blemn- 
 ly to fwear that the Stone is true, that by 
 fuch an exaft Caution, a falfe one may not 
 be bought inftead of a true: Whereas if 
 you were to examine it, your Eye could 
 find no difFetence between that which is 
 counterfeit, and that whkh is true 3 Co 
 that they are all one to you ns much as if 
 you were blind : And can it be thought 
 that they who' heap up an ufelefs Mais of 
 Wealth, not for any ufe that it is to bring 
 them, but meerly to pleafe themfelves 
 with the contemplation of ir, enjoy any 
 true Pleafure in it ? The Delight they 
 find, is only a falfe (hadow of Joy : thofe 
 are no better, whofe Error is (bmewhat x 
 different from the fcVmer, and who hide it, 
 out of their liar oF lofing- it 3 for what 
 fether Name can fit .the hidingit in the 
 
I Z X Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 Earth, or rather the reftoring it to it 
 again, it being thus cut off from being 
 ufeful, either to its Owner, or to the reft 
 of Mankind } and yet the Owner having 
 hid it carefully, is glad, becaufe he thinks 
 he is now fure of it. And in cafe one 
 (hould come to fteal it, the Owner, tho 
 he might live perhaps ten Years after that, 
 would all that while after the Theft, of 
 which he knew nothing, find no diffe- 
 rence between his having it,or lofing it,for 
 both ways it was equally ufelefs to him. 
 
 Among thofe fooliOi purfuers of Plea- 
 fure, they reckon all thofe that delight in 
 Hunting, or Birding, or Gaming: Of 
 whole madnefi they have only heard, for 
 they have no fuch things among them : 
 but they have asked us 5 What fort of 
 Pleafure is it that Men can find in throw- 
 ing the Dice ? for if there were any plea-* 
 fure in it, they think the doing it fo often 
 (hould give one a Surfeit of it : And what 
 pleafure can one find in hearing the bark- 
 ing and howling of Dogs, which feem 
 rather odious than pleafant founds? Nor 
 can they comprehend the pleafure of fee- 
 ing Dogs run after a Hare, more than of 
 feeing one Dog run after another 5 for you 
 have the fame entertainment to the Eye 
 
 OQ 
 
UTOPIA. Hi 
 
 on both thefe Occafions$ if the feeing 
 them run is that which gives the pleafure, 
 fince that is the fame in both cafes : but if 
 the Pleafure Hes in (eeing the Hare killed 
 and torn by the Dogs, this ought rather 
 toftirpity, when a weak, harmlefs, and 
 ftarful Hup, is devoured by a ftrong^ 
 fierce, ana cruel Dog. Therefore all this 
 bttfitiefs of hunting, is among the ZJtopi- 
 'ans turned over to their Butchers 5 and 
 thofe are all Slaves, as was formerly faid s 
 3tnd they look on Hunting, as one of the 
 ba:feft parts of a Butcher's work: for they 
 Account it both tnore profitable, and 
 iiiore decent to killthofe Beaftsthat arfe 
 ^ihote neceflary and ufeful to Mankind $ 
 whereas the killing and tejiring of fo 
 fmall and miferablean Animal, which a 
 Huiltfinan propofes tohimfelf, can only 
 attnad him with the falfe (hew of Plea- 
 (iire5 for it is of little ufe to him: they 
 Idok on the defire of the Bloodfhed^even 
 of Beafts, as a mark of a Mind that is al^ 
 teady Corrupted with cruelty^ or that at 
 leaft by the frequent returns of fo brutal 
 a pleafure, muft degenerate into it. 
 
 Thus tho the Rabble of Mankind looks 
 tiponthele^ and all other things of this 
 kindj which are indeed innumerable, 
 
 K a as 
 
1 24 Sir Thomas M ore 5 
 
 as Pleafures 5 the TJtofians on the contrary 
 obferving, that there is nothing in the 
 nature of them that is truly pleafint, 
 conclude that they are not to be reckoned 
 among Pleafures : for tho thefe things 
 may create fome tickling in the Senfes, 
 ( which feems to be a true. Notion of 
 Pleafure) yet they reckon ^tliat this does 
 . not arife from the thing it (elf, but from a 
 •depraved Cuftom, which may fo vitiate a 
 Man's tafte, that bitter things may pafi 
 .forfweet^ as Women with Child think 
 Pitch or Tallow tafte fweeter than Honys 
 ;but as a Man s Senfe when corrupted, ei- 
 ther by a Difeafe, or fome ill Habit, does 
 not change the nature of other things, (b 
 neither can it change the nature of Plea- 
 lure. ; : ; 
 
 They reckon up (everal (brts of thefe 
 Pleafures, which they call true Ones : 
 Some belong to the Body, and others to 
 the Mind. The Pleafures of the Mind lie 
 in Knowledg, and in that delight which 
 the contemplation of Truth carries with 
 it ^ to which they add the joyful Re- 
 fleftions on a well-fpent Life, and the; 
 aff red hopes of a future Happinefi. They 
 divide the Pleafures of the Body into two 
 forts 3 the one is that which gives our 
 
 ^ Senfet 
 
UTOPIA. 115 
 
 Senfes (bme real delight, and is performed, 
 either by the recruiting of Nature, and 
 (upplying thofe parts on which the inter- 
 nal heat of Life feeds 5 and that is done 
 by eating or drinking : Or when Nature 
 is ealed of any furcharge that oppreffes it, 
 as when we empty our Guts, beget Chil- 
 dren, or free any of the parts of our Bo- 
 dy from Aches or Heats by friftion. 
 There is another kind of this fort of 
 Pleafure, that neither gives us any thing 
 that our Bodies require, nor frees us from 
 any thing with which we are overchar- 
 ged 5 and yet it excites our Senfes by a 
 (ecret unfeen Vertue, and by a generous 
 Imprellion, .it (b tickles and afFefts them, 
 that it turns them inwardly upon ihem- 
 felves s and this is the Pleafure begot by 
 Mufick. Another fort of bodily Pleafure 
 is, that which confifts in a quiet and good 
 conftitution of Body, by which there is 
 an entire healthinefs fpread over all the 
 parts of the Body, not allayed with any 
 Difeafe. This, when it is free from all 
 mixture of pain, gives an inward pleafure 
 of it felf, even tho it fhould not be ex° 
 cited by any external and delighting Ob- 
 jeft, and althothis Pleafure does not fq 
 V^oroufjy afFefl: the Senfe, nor aft fo 
 f K 3 ftrongly 
 
1 6 Sir Thomas More's 
 
 ftrpngly upon it 5 yet as it is the greateft 
 of all Pleafures, fo almoft all the ZJiopi- 
 ans reckon it the Foundation and BaGs of 
 all the other Joys of Life 5 fince this a- 
 lone makes one's ftate of Life to be eafy 
 and defirable ^ and when this is warning, 
 a Man is really capable of no other Plea- 
 fure. They look upon indolence and free- 
 dom from Pain, if it does not rife from a 
 perfed: Health, to be a ftate of Stupidity 
 rather than of Pleafure. There has been 
 a Controverfy in this Matter very narrow- 
 ly canvaffed among them 5 Whether a 
 firm and entire Health could be called ^ 
 Pleafure, or not? Some have thought 
 that there was no Pleafure, but that which 
 was excited by fome fenfible Motion in the 
 Body. But this Opinion has been long 
 ago run down among them, fo that now 
 they do almoft all agree in this, That 
 Health is the greateft of all bodily Plca- 
 fures 3 and that as there is a Pain in Sick- 
 nefs, which is as oppofite in its nature to 
 Pleafure, as Sicknefi it felf is to Health, 
 (b they hold that Health carries a Pleafure 
 along with it : And if any ftiould fiy, 
 that Sickne(s is not really a Pain, but that 
 it only carries a Pain along with it, they 
 look upon that 33 a fetch of fubtihy, that 
 
 does 
 
UTOPIA. 1X7 
 
 does not much alter the Matter. So they ^ 
 think it is all one, whether it be (aid, that 
 Health is in it felf a Pleafure, or that it 
 begets a Pleafure, as Fire gives Heat $ fo 
 it be granted, that all thole whofe Health 
 is entire, have a true pleafure in it : And 
 they reafon thus, What is the Pleafure of 
 eating, but that a Man s Health which had 
 been weakned, does, with the affiftance 
 of Food, drive away Hunger, and fo re- 
 cruiting it felf] recovers its former Vigour ? 
 And being thus refrefh'd, it finds a plea- 
 fure in that Conflift : and if the Conflid: 
 is Pleafure, the Viftory muft yet breed a 
 greater Pleafure, except we will fancy 
 that it becomes ftupid as (bon as it hats 
 obtained that which it purfued, and fo 
 does neither know nor rejoice in its own 
 welfare. If it is (aid, that Health cannot 
 be felt, they abfolutely deny that, for 
 what Man is in Health, that does not per- 
 ceive it when he is awake ? Is there any 
 Man that is fo dull and (tupid, as not to 
 acknowledg that he feels a delight in 
 Health } And what is Delight, but ano- 
 ther name for Pleafure ? 
 
 But of all Pleafures, theyefte^m tho(e 
 to be the moft valuable that lie in the 
 Mind. 5 and the chief of ihefe, are thofe 
 
 K 4 th^t 
 
1 1 8 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 » f r,. 
 .1 ■- ■*, 
 
 that arife out of true Vertue, and the 
 witncfs of a good Confcience ; They ac- 
 count Health the chief PIea(ur€ that bjp- 
 Iqrrj^ to the Body , for they think thlat the 
 pkafure of eating and drinking, and all 
 the other delights of the Body, are only 
 fo f^v defirable, as they give or maintain 
 I health : but they are not pleafant in them- 
 selves, othervv^ife than as they refift thof^ 
 trnpreffions tfiat our natural Infirmity is 
 i\\\\ making upon us : And as a wife Man 
 dclires rather to avoid Dife^(es, than to 
 rake Phyfick 3 and to be freed from pain, 
 rather than to find eafe by Remedies : fo| 
 it were a mofe dtfirable ftate, not to need 
 this ibrt of Pleafure, than to be 'obliged 
 toindulge it : And if any Man imagines 
 that there is a' real Happinefi in this Plea- 
 tiire, he muft then confcfs that he u'ould 
 be the happieft of a!l Men, if he v^ere to 
 lead his life in a perpetual hunger, thirft, 
 and itching, and by confequehce in per- 
 petual eating, drinking, and fcratching 
 himftrlf," which any one may eafily fee 
 would be not only a bafc, but a miferable 
 ft.we of Life. Thcfe are indeed the low- 
 tit of Pleafures, and the leaft pure : for 
 we can never rehfh them, but when they 
 arc mixed with the contrary pains. The 
 ' pairi 
 
UTOPIA. j2^ 
 
 pain of Hunger, muft give us the pleafure 
 of Eating 5 and here the Pain outballan- 
 ces the Pleafure : and as the Pain is more 
 vehement,(b it lafts much longer 5 for as it 
 is upon us before the Pleafure comes, fo it 
 does not ceafe, but with the Pleafure that 
 extinguifties it, and that goes off with it; 
 So that they think none of thofe PJea- 
 fures are to be valued, but as they are ne- 
 ceflary. Yet they rejoice in them, and 
 with due gratitude acknowledg the ten- 
 dernefs of the great Author of Nature, 
 who has planted in us Appetites, by which 
 thofe things th^t are neceffary for our pre- 
 fervation,are likewife made pleafant to us. 
 For how miferable a thing would Life be, 
 if thofe daily Difeafes of Hunger and 
 Thirft, were to be carried off by fuch 
 bitter Drugs, as we muft ufe for thofe 
 Ptleafes that return feldomer upon us> 
 ?nd thus thefe pleafant, as well as proper 
 Gifts of Nature, do maintain the ftrength 
 and the fprightlinefs of our Bodies. 
 
 They do alfo entertain themfelves with 
 the other Delights that they let in at their 
 Eyes, their Ears, and their Noftrils as the 
 plcalant idiihcs and fcafonings of Life 
 which Nature feeras to have marked out 
 
 pecu- 
 
I ^ o Sir Thomas M ovts 
 
 peculiarly for Man : fince no other fort 
 of Animals contemplates the Figure and 
 Beauty of the Univerfe 5 nor is delighted 
 with fmells, but as they diftinguifti Meats 
 by them 5 nor do they apprehend the 
 Concords or Difcords of Sounds 5 yet in 
 all Plea(ures whatfoever, they obferve this 
 temper, that a leffer Joy may not hinder 
 a greater, and that Pleafure may never 
 breed Pain, which they think does al- 
 ways follow difhoneft Pleafures. But they 
 think it a madnefs for a Man to wear out 
 the Beauty of his Face, or the force of his 
 nararal Strength, and to corrupt the 
 fprightlinefs of his Body by floth and 
 hzinefs, or to waft his Body by fafting, 
 and fo to weaken the ftrength of his Con- 
 iVitution, and reject the other delights of 
 Life ^ unlefs by renouncing his own fatif- 
 fiSion, he can either ferve the Publick, or 
 promote the happinefs of others, for 
 which he expefts a greater Recompence 
 from God. So that they look on fuch a 
 courft of Life, as a mark of a Mind, that 
 is both cruel to it felf, and ingrateful to 
 the Author of Nature, as if we would not 
 be beholden to him for his Favors, and 
 therefore would reject all his Bleffings and 
 
 (hould 
 
UTOPIA. iji 
 
 fbould affliS himlelf for the empty (hadow 
 of Vertue 5 or for no better end, than to 
 render himfelf capable to bear thofc MiC- 
 fortunes which poffibly will never hap- 
 pen. 
 
 This is their Notion of Vertue and of 
 Pleafure 5 they think that no Man's Rea- 
 fon can carry him to a truer Idea of them, 
 unlels fome difcovery from Heaven ftiould 
 infpire one with fublimer Notions. I 
 have not now the leafure to examine all 
 this, whither they think right or wrong in 
 this Matter : nor do I judg it neceflary, 
 for I have only undertaken to give you 
 an account of their Conftitution, but not 
 to defend every thing that is among them. 
 I am lure, that whatfoever may be (aid 
 of their Notions, there is not in the whole 
 World, either a better People, or a hap- 
 pier Government : Their Bodies are vi- 
 gorous and lively ^ and tho they are but 
 of a middle ftature, and tho they have 
 neither the fruitfulkft Soil, nor the pureft 
 Air in the World : yet they do fo fortify 
 themfelves by their temperate courfe of 
 Life, againft the unhealthinefi of their 
 Air 5 and by their induftry they do fo 
 fiultivate their Soil, that there is no where 
 
 to 
 
\l% Sir Thomas More'J^ 
 
 to be feen a greater encreafe, both of 
 Corn and Cattel, nor are there any 
 where healthier Men to be found, and 
 freer from Difeafes than among them ; for 
 one may fee therejnot only fuch things put 
 in praftice, that Hufbandmen do com- 
 monly for manuring and improving an ill 
 Soil, but in fome places a whole Wood is 
 plucked up by the Roots, as well as whole 
 ones planted in other places, where there 
 were formerly none : In doing of this the 
 cheif confideration they have is of carri- 
 age, that their Timber may be either 
 near their Towns, or lie upon the Sea, or 
 fonae Rivers, fo that it may be floated to 
 them 3 for it is a harder work to carry 
 Wood at any diftance over Land, then 
 Corn. The Peole are indultrious, apt to 
 learn, as well as chearful and piealant 5 
 and none can endure more labour, when 
 it is neceffary, than they 5 but except in 
 that cafe they love their eafc. They are 
 unwearied purfuers of knowledg 5 for 
 when we had given them fome hints of the 
 Learning and Difcipline of the Greeks^ 
 concerning whom we only inftrufted 
 thetn, (for we know that there was no- 
 thing among the Romans^ except their 
 
 Hiftorians 
 
UTOPIA. ij5 
 
 Hiftorians and their Poets, that they would 
 value much ) it was ftrange to fee how ea- 
 gerly they were fet on learning that Lad« 
 guage : We began to read a little of it to 
 them, rather in compliance with their 
 importunity,than out of any hopes of their 
 profic|pg much by it; But after a -very 
 fliort trial, we found they made fuch a 
 progrefs in it, that we faW our labodr 
 was like to be more fuccelsful than we 
 could have expeded. They learned to 
 write their Charafters, and to prononnde 
 their Language fo right, and took up all 
 To quick, they remembered it fo faitlt- 
 fully, and became fo ready and correct in 
 •the ufe of itjthat it would have look 'd like 
 a Miracle, if the greater part of thofe 
 whom we taught had not been Men, both 
 of extraordinay Capacity, and of a fit Age 
 for it: They were for the greateft pak 
 chofen out among their learned Men, by 
 their cheif Council^ tho fome learn'd it of 
 their own accord. In three Years time 
 they became Mailers of the whole Lan- 
 guage, fo that they read the bell: of the 
 .Gree/{^ Authors very exaftly. I am in- 
 deed apt to think, that they leariled 
 .that Language the more eafily, becaufe it 
 
 feems 
 
1 54 5^^ Thomas More'i 
 
 feems to be of kin to their own : I believe 
 that they were a Colony of the Greeks 5 
 for tho their Language comes nearer the 
 Ferjian^ yet they retain many Names, both 
 for their Towns and Magi ftrates, that are 
 of Greek Origination. I had happened to 
 carry a great many Books with me^ftead 
 of Merchandift, when I failed my fourth 
 Voyage 5 for I was lb far from thinking of 
 coming back foon, that I rather thought 
 never to have returned at all, and I gave 
 them all my Books, among which many of 
 Plato s and fome of ArJjlotJes works were. 
 I had alfo Theophrajius of the Plants, which 
 to my great regret, was imperfeft 5 for 
 having laid it carelefsly by, while we 
 were at Sea, a Monkey had fallen upon it 
 and had torn out leaves in many placed* 
 They have no Books of Grammar, but 
 La/cares^ for I did not carry TheodorUi 
 with me 5 nor have they any Diftionaries 
 but Heftchiuf and Diofcorides. They e- 
 fteem Plutarch highly, and were much 
 taken with Lncians Wit, and with his 
 plealant way of writing. As for the Po- 
 ets, they have ^rifiofhanes^ Horner^ Eh' 
 ripides^ and Sophocles of Nidus's Edition ^ 
 and for Hiftoriaas, they have Tkucidydes^ 
 
 Herodotus 
 
UTOPIA. 135 
 
 Herodottfs and Herodian, One of my 
 Companions, Thrkius ^/^/^^^^Kf, happened 
 to carry with him (bme of Hipfocrates^ 
 .Works, and Galen s Mkrotechne^ which 
 they hold in great eftimation 5 for tho 
 there is no Nation in the World, that 
 needs Phyfick fo little as they do, yet 
 there is not any that honours it fo much 2 
 They reckon the knowledg of it to be one 
 of the plealanteft and profitableft parts of 
 Philofophy, by which, as they fearch 
 into the Secrets of Nature, fo they x\o% 
 only find marvellous pleafure in it, but 
 think that in making fuch enquiries, they 
 do a moft acceptable thing to the Author 
 of Nature ^ and imagine that he, as all 
 Inventera of curious Engines, has expofed 
 to our view this great Machine of the Uni- 
 ver(e, we being the only Creatures capa- 
 ble of cgntemplating it : and that there* 
 fore an exaft and curious Obferver and 
 Admirer of his WorkmanQiip, is much 
 more acceptable to him, than one of the 
 Herd 5 who as if he were a Beaft, and 
 not capable of Reafon, looks on ^1 this 
 glc^ious Scene, only as a dull and uncon- 
 cerned Speftsitor. 
 
 The 
 
1 3 <5 Sir Thomas Moire'j 
 
 The Minds of the Utopians^ when they 
 are once excited by Learning, are very 
 ingenious in finding out all fuch Arts as 
 tend to the conveniences of Life. Two 
 things they owe to us, which are the Art 
 of Printing,and the Manufafture of Pa- 
 per : yet they do not owe thefc fo en-^ 
 tirely to us, but that a great part of the 
 invention was their own v for after vve 
 had (hewed them fome Paper-books of 
 iiWiKf's Impreffion, and began to explain 
 to thi!m the way of making Paper, and 
 of printing, tho we fpake but very crude- 
 ly of both the(e, not being prafti(ed in 
 either of them, they prefently took up 
 the whole matter from the hints that we 
 gave them : and whereas before they only 
 writ on Parchment, or on the Bafksof 
 Trees, or Reeds 3 they have now fet u JT 
 the Manufafture of Paper, and Pririting- 
 preffes: and tho at firft they could no^ 
 arrive at a perfeftion in them, yet by 
 making many effays, they at taft found 
 out, and correfted all their Errors, and 
 brought the whole thing to perfediion 5 
 fo that if they had but a good number of 
 Greek Authors,, they would be quickly 
 fapplied with many Copies of them : at 
 
 prefent 
 
UTOPIA. 137 
 
 prefent $ tho they have no more than thofe 
 I. have mentioned, yet by fevcral Impref- 
 fions, they have multiplied them into ma- 
 ny thoufands. If any Man fliould go 
 among them, that had (bme extraordinary 
 Talent, or that by much travelling had 
 obfervedthe Cuftoms of many Nations, 
 (which made us to be fo well received) 
 he would be very welcome to them 5 for 
 they are very defirous to know the ftate 
 of the whole World. Very few go 
 among them on the account of Traffick, 
 for what can a Man carry to them but 
 Iron, or Gold, or Silver, which Mer- 
 chants defire rather to export, than im- 
 port to any ftrange Country : and as for 
 their Exportation, they think it better to 
 manage that themielves, than to let For- 
 raigners come and deal in it, for by this 
 means, as they underftand the ftate of the 
 neighbouring Countries better, fo they 
 keep up the Art of Navigation, which 
 cannot be maintained but by much pra- 
 dife in it. 
 
 t C^ 
 
1 J 8 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 Of their Slaves^ and of their ^Marriages, 
 
 TH E Y do not make Slaves of Pri- 
 foners of War, except thofe that 
 are taken fighting againft them 5 nor 
 of the Sons of their Slaves, nor of the 
 Slaves of other Nations : the Slaves a- 
 mong them, are only fuch as are con- 
 demned to that ftate of Life for fome 
 Crime that they had committed, or which 
 is more common, (uch as their Merchants 
 find condemned to die in thofe parts to 
 which they trade, whom they redeem 
 fometimes at low rates 5 and in other 
 places they have them for nothing , and 
 fo they fetch them away. All their Slaves 
 are kept at perpetual labour, and are 
 always chained,but with this difFerence,that 
 they treat their own Natives much worfe, 
 looking on them as a more profligate fort 
 of People 5 who not being reftrained 
 from Crimes, by the advantages of fo ex- 
 cellent an Education, are judged worthy 
 of harder ulage than others. Another 
 fort of Slaves, is, when fome of the 
 poorer fort in the neighbouring Coun- 
 tries, offer of their own accord to come 
 and fervethems they treat thefe better, 
 
 and 
 
UTOPIA. 439 
 
 and u(e them in all other refptfts, as^ well 
 as their own Country Men, except that 
 they impofe more labour upon therHj . 
 which is no hard task to them that have 
 been accuftomed to it 5 and if any of 
 thefe have a mind to go back to their 
 own Country, which indeed falls out but 
 feldom, as they do not force them to ftay, 
 fo they do not fend them away empty 
 handed. 
 
 I have already told you with what care 
 they look after their Sick, fo that nothing 
 is left undone that can contribute eiiheje 
 to their Eafe or Health : and for thofe who 
 are taken with fixed and incurable Dif^ 
 eafes, they ufe all poffible ways to cherilh 
 them, and to make their Lives as comfor- 
 table as may be : they vifit ihem often, 
 and take great pains to make their time 
 pals oflF eafily : but when any is taken 
 with a torturing and lingering pain, Co 
 that there is no hope, either of recovery 
 or eafe, the Priefts and Magiftrates come 
 and exhort them, that fince they are now 
 unable to go on with the bufinels of Life, 
 and are become a burden to themfelves, 
 and to all about them, fo that they have 
 really out-lived themfelves, they would 
 no longer nourilh fach a rooted Diftcm- 
 
140 Sir Thomas Mote'x 
 
 per, but would chufe rather to die, fince 
 they cannot live, but in much mife- 
 ry : being affured, that if they either 
 deliver themlelves from their Prifon 
 and Torture, or are willing that others 
 Ihould do it, they (hall be happy after 
 their Deaths : And fince by their dying 
 thus, they lofe none of the Pleafures, 
 but only the Troubles of Life 5 they 
 think they aft, not only reafonably in fo 
 doing, but religioufly and piouUy^ be- 
 caufe they follow the Advices that are gi- 
 ven them by the Priefts, who are the Ex- 
 pounders of the Will of God to them. 
 Such as are wrought on by thefe Perfwa- 
 fions, do either ftarve themfelves of their 
 own accord,or they take OpiHrn^zviA fo they 
 die without pain. But no Man is forced on 
 this way of ending his Life 5 and if they 
 cannot be perfwaded to it, they do not 
 for that fail in their attendance and care 
 of them : But a^ they believe that a vo- 
 luntary Death, when it is chofen upon 
 fuch an Authority, is very honourable 5 fo 
 if any Man takes away his own Life, with- 
 out the approbation of the Priefls and 
 the Senate, they give him none of the 
 Honours of a decent Funeral, but throve 
 bis Body into fom^ Ditch. 
 
 Their 
 
UTOPIA. 141 
 
 Their Women are not married before 
 eighteen, nor their Men before two and 
 twenty 5 and if any of them run into for- 
 bidden Embraces befojre their Marriage, 
 they are feverely puniQied, and the privi- 
 lege of Marriage is denied them, unlefi 
 there is a fpccial Warrant obtained for it 
 afterward from the Prince. Such Di(br- 
 ders caft a great reproach upon the Mafter 
 and Miftrefs of the Family in which they 
 fall out 5 for it is fuppofed, that they have 
 been wanting to their Duty. The reafon 
 of puniftiing this fo feverely, is, becaufe 
 they think that if they were not fo ftrift- 
 ly reftrained from all vagrant Appetites, 
 very few would engage in a married ftate, 
 in which Men venture the quiet of their 
 whole Life, being reftrifted to one Per- 
 fon 5 befides many other Inconveniences 
 that do accompany it. In the way of 
 chufing of their Wives, they ufe a method 
 that would appear to us very abfurd and 
 ridiculous, but is conftantly obferved a- 
 mong them, ^nd accounted a wife and 
 good Rule. Before Marriage, fome grave 
 Matron prefents the Bride naked, whether 
 fhe is a Virgin or a Widow, to the Bride- 
 groom 5 and after that, fome grave Man 
 prefents the Bridegroom naked to the 
 
 L 3 
 
14^ 'Si^ Thomas More'f 
 
 Bride. We indeed both laughtd at this, 
 and condemned it as a very indecent 
 thing. But they, on the other hand, 
 'Wondered at the folly of the Men of all 
 other Nations ^ v ho if they are but to 
 buy a Horfc of a fmall value, are fo cau- 
 tious, that they will fee every part of him, 
 and take ofF both his Sadie, and all his 
 other Tackle, that there may be no fecret 
 Ulcer hid under under any of them $ and 
 that yet in the choice of a Wife, on which 
 depends the happinefs or unhappinefs of 
 the reft of his Life, a Man (hould ven- 
 ture upon truff, and only fee about an 
 handbreadthof the Face,all the reft of the 
 Body being covered 5 under which there 
 pay He hid that which may be contagious, 
 as well as loathfome. All Men are not fo 
 wife, that they chuft a Woman only for 
 her good Qualities, and even wife Men 
 confider the Body, as that which adds not 
 a little to the Mind : And ir is certain, 
 there may be (bme fuch deformity covered 
 with ones Clothes, as may totally alienate 
 a Man from his Wife, when it is too late 
 t^o part with her : for if fuch a thing is 
 difcovered after Marriage, a Man has no 
 remedy but patience ; So they think it is 
 reafonable, that there ftould be a good 
 
 provifion 
 
UTOPIA. 145 
 
 provifion made againft fuch milchievous 
 Frauds. 
 
 There was Co much the more reafon in 
 making a regulation in this Matter, be- 
 caufe they are the only People of thole 
 parts that do neither allow of Polygamy, 
 nor of Divorces, except in the cafes of 
 Adultery, or infufFerable Perverfiiefi: 
 for in thefe Cafes the Senate diffolves the 
 Marriage, and grants the injured Perfbn 
 leave to marry again 5 but the Guilty are 
 made infamous, ;and are never allowed 
 the privilege of a fecond Marriage. 
 None are fufFered to put away their 
 Wives againft their Wills, becaufe of any 
 great Calamity that may have fallen on 
 their Perfon 5 for they look on it as the 
 height of Cruelty and Treachery to a- 
 bandon either of the married Perfons, 
 when they need moft the tender care of 
 their Confort^ and that chiefly in the 
 cafe of old Age, which as it carries many 
 Difeafes along with it, fb it is a Difeafe of 
 it felf But it falls often out, that when 
 a married Couple do not agree well toge- 
 ther, they by mutual confent feparate , 
 and find out other Perfons with whom 
 they hope they may live more happily : 
 yet this is not done, without obtaining 
 
 i- 4 Icayp 
 
f 44 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 leave of the Senate 3 which never admits 
 of a Divorce, but upon a Rtidi enquiry 
 made, both by the Senators and their 
 Wives, into the Grounds upon which it 
 proceeds ; and even when they are fa- 
 tisfied concerning the Reafons of it, they 
 go on but (lowly, for they reckon that 
 too great eafinefs, in granting leave for 
 new Marriages, would very much (hake 
 the kindnefs of married Perfons. They pu- 
 nifh feverely thofe that defile the Marriage- 
 Bed : If both Parties are married,they are 
 divorced, and the injured Perfons may 
 marry one another, or whom they pleafe s 
 but the Adulterer, and the Adulterefs are 
 condemned to (lavery. Yet if either of 
 the injured Perfons cannot (hake off the 
 Love of the married Perfon, they may 
 live with them (till in that (tate 5 but they 
 inu(t follow them to that Labour to 
 which the Slaves are condemned 5 and 
 fometimes the Repentance of the con- 
 demned Perfon, together with the un- 
 ihaken kindnefs of the innocent and in- 
 jured Perfon, has prevailed fo far with 
 the Prince, that he has taken off the Sen- 
 tence : But thofe that relapfe, after they 
 are once pardoned, are puni{hed with 
 Death. 
 
 Their 
 
UTOPIA. 145 
 
 Their Law does not determine the Pu- 
 niflament for other Crimes 5 but that is 
 left to the Senate, to temper it according 
 to the Circumftances of the Faft. Huf- 
 bands have power to correfl: their Wives, 
 and Parents to correft their Children, un- 
 lefi the Fault is fo great, that a publick 
 Punilhpent is thought neceflary for the 
 ftriking terror into others. For the moft 
 part, Slavery is the puniQiment even of 
 the greateft Crimes , for as that is no lefs 
 terrible to the Criminals themfelves than 
 Death 5 fo they think the preserving them 
 in a ftate of fervitude, is more for the In* 
 tereft of the Common- Wealth, than the 
 killing them outright 5 fince as their La- 
 bour is a greater benefit to the Publick, 
 than their Death could be 5 fo the fight of 
 their Mifery is a more lafting terror to 
 other Men, than that which would be 
 given by their Death. If their Slaves re- 
 bel, and will not bear their Yoke, and 
 fubmit to the Labour that is enjoined 
 them, they are treated as wild Beafts that 
 cannot be kept in order, neither by a 
 Prifon, nor by their Chains ^ 2fnd are at 
 laft put to death. But thole who bear 
 their Punilhment patiently, and are Co 
 much wrought on by that preffure, that 
 
 lies 
 
1 46 Sir Thomas More'y 
 
 lies (b hard on them, that it appears they 
 are really more troubled for the Crimes 
 they have committed, than for the Mife- 
 ries they fafier, are not out of hope, but 
 that at lafl: either the Prince will, by his 
 Prerogative, or the People will by their 
 interceffion reftore them again to their 
 liberty, or at leaft very much mitigate 
 their flavery. He that tempts a married 
 Woman to Adultery, is no lefi (everely 
 puniQied, than he that commits it ^ for 
 they reckon that a laid and ftudied Defign 
 of committing any Crime, is equal to the 
 Faft it felf 5 fince its not taking efFed: does 
 not make the Perfon that did all that in 
 him lay in order to it, a whit the lefi 
 guilty. 
 
 They take great pleafure in Fools, and 
 as it is thought a bafe and unbecoming 
 thing to ufe them ill, fo they do not 
 think it amifi for People to divert them- 
 lelvcs with their Folly : and they think 
 this is a great advantage to the Fools 
 them(elves : For if Men were fo fullen 
 and fevere, as not at all to pleafe them- 
 fclves with their ridiculous behaviour, 
 and foolifh (ayings, which is all that they 
 can do to recommend themfelves to o- 
 thers, it could not be expedcd that they 
 
 would 
 
UTOPIA. 147 
 
 would be fo well look*d to, nor (b ten- 
 derly ufed as they muft otherwife be. If 
 any Man ftiould reproach another for his 
 being miftiaped or imperfeft in any part ^ 
 of his Body^it would not at all be thought 
 a refleftion on the Perfon that were fo 
 treated, but it would be accounted a very 
 unworthy thing for him that had upbraid- 
 ed another with that which he could not 
 help. It is thought a fign of a fluggifh 
 and fordid Mind, not to preferve careful- 
 ly one's natural Beauty 3 but it is like- 
 wife an infamous thing among them to 
 ufe Paint or Fard. And they all (ee that 
 no Beauty recommends a Wife fo much to 
 her Hufband, as the probity of her Life, 
 and her Obedience : for as fome few are 
 catched and held only by Beauty, fo all 
 People are held by the other Excellencies 
 which charm all the World. 
 
 As they fright Men from committing 
 Crimes by Puniftiments, fo they invite 
 them to the love of Vertue, by publick 
 Honours : therefore they ered Statues in 
 honour to the memories of fuch worthy 
 Men as have deferved well of their Coun- 
 try, andfetthefein their Market-places, 
 both to perpetuate the remembrance of 
 their Actions, and to be an incitement 
 
 to 
 
148 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 to their Pofterity to follow their ex- 
 ample. 
 
 If any Man aipires to any Office, he is 
 fure never to corapafs it : They live all 
 eafily together, for none of the Magi- 
 ftrates are either infolent or cruel to the 
 People^ but they affeft rather to be cal- 
 led Fathers^ and by being really fo, they 
 well deferve that Name --, and the People 
 pay them all the marks of Honour the 
 more freely, becaufe none are exafted of 
 them. The Prince himfelf has no di- 
 ftinftion, either of Garments, or of a 
 Crown 3 but is only known by a Sheaf 
 of Corn that is carried before him, as the 
 High Prieft is alfo known by a Wax Light 
 that is carried before him. 
 
 They have but few Laws, and fuch is 
 their Conftitution, that they need not 
 many. They do very much condemn 
 other Nations, whofe Laws, together 
 with the Commentaries on them, fwell 
 up to fo many Volumes 5 for they think 
 it an unreafonable thing to oblige Men to 
 obey a Body of Laws, that are both of 
 fach a bulk, and fo dark, that they can- 
 not be read or underftood by every one 
 of the Subjeds. 
 
 They 
 
UTOPIA. i49f 
 
 They have no Lawyers among them, 
 for they confider them as a fort of Peo- g|~|^ 
 pie, whofe Profeffion it is to di%uife Mat- ^^ 
 ters, as well as to wreft Laws 5 and there- 
 fore they ^hink it is much better that eve- 
 ry Man flidBld plead his own Caufe, and 
 truft it to the Judg, as well as in other 
 places the Client does it to a Counfellor. 
 By this means they both cut off many de- 
 lays, and find out Truth more certainly : 
 for after the Parties have laid open the 
 Merits of their Caufe, without thofe Ar- 
 tifices which Lawyers are apt to fuggeft, 
 the Judg examines the whole Matter, and 
 fiipportsthe fimplicity of fiich well mean- 
 ing Perfons, whom otherwife crafty Men 
 would be (ure to run down : And thus 
 they avoid thofe Evils, which appear very 
 remarkably among all thofe Nations that 
 labour under a vaft load of Laws. Eve- 
 ry one of them is skilled in their Law, for 
 as it is a very thort ftudy, fo the plain- 
 neft meaning of which words are capa- 
 ble, is always the fenfe of their Laws. 
 j\nd they argue thus 5 All Law s a re pro- 
 mufgate d for thls~end , t1 iat~every Man 
 may know his L)uty ^j[n5jtherefore the 
 "platnett and mou obvious fenfe oTlEe 
 words^is thai w hich m ult be put on them's 
 
 fince 
 
tyo S^V Thomas More '5 
 
 fince a more refined Expofition cannot be 
 eafily comprehended, and Laws become 
 thereby ufelefs to the greater part of Man- 
 kind, who need moft the direftion of 
 them : for to them it is all one, not to 
 make a Law at all, and to couch it in 
 fuch tearms, that without a quick appre- 
 henfion, and much ftudy, a Man cannot 
 find out the true meaning of it 3 and the 
 generality of Mankind are both fo dull, 
 and fo much imployed in their feveral 
 Trades, that they have neither the lei- 
 fure nor the capacity requifite for fuch an 
 enquiry. 
 
 Some of their Neighbours, who' are 
 Mafters of their own Liberties, having 
 long ago, by the afliftance of the Utopi- 
 ans^ (haken off the Yoke of Tyranny 5 
 and being much taken with thole Vertues 
 that they obferve among them, have come 
 to them, and defired that they would (end 
 Magiftrates among them to govern them 3 
 fome changing them every Year, and o- 
 thers every five Years. At the end of 
 their Government, they bring them back 
 to Utopia^ with great expreffions of ho- 
 nour and efteem, and carry away others 
 to govern in their (lead. In this they 
 fcem to have fallen upon a very good Ex- 
 pedient 
 
UTOPIA. 151 
 
 pedient for their own happinels and (afe- 
 ty : For fince the good or ill Condition 
 of a Nation depends (b much upon their 
 Magiftrates, they could not have made a 
 better choice, than by pitching on Men 
 whom no Advantages can biafi 5 for 
 Wealth is of no ufc to them, fince they 
 muft go (b foon back to their own Coun- 
 try J and they being ftrangers among 
 them, are not engaged in any of their 
 Heats or Animofities : And it is certain, 
 that when Publick Judicatories are fway- 
 ed, either by partial AfFcftions, or by 
 Avarice, there muft follow upon it a diP 
 folution of all Juftice, which is the chief 
 Sinew of Society. 
 
 The Utopians call thofe Nations that 
 come and ask Magiftrates from them. 
 Neighbours 5 but they call thoie to whom 
 they have been more particularly affifting. 
 Friends, And whereas all other Nations 
 are perpetually either making Leagues, or 
 breaking them, they never enter into any 
 Alliance with any other State. They think 
 Leagues are ufelefs things, and reckon, 
 that if the common Ties of Humane Na- 
 ture do not knit Men together, the Faith 
 of Promifes will have no great effeft on 
 them : And they are the more confirmed 
 
 in 
 
152 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 in this, by that which they fee among the 
 Nations round about them, who are no 
 ftrict obfervcrs of Leagues and Treaties. 
 We know how religioufly they are ob- 
 ferved in Efirope-^ move particularly where 
 the Chriftian Doftrine is received, among 
 whom they are facred and inviolable. 
 Which is partly owing to the Juftice and 
 Goodntfi of the Princes themlelves, anrf 
 partly to their Reverence that they pay 
 to the Popes : who as they are moft reli- 
 gious obfervers of their own Promifes, (b 
 they exhort all other Princes to perform 
 theirs ^ and when fainter Methods do not 
 prevail, they compel them to it by the 
 fevcrity of the Paftoral Cenfure 5 and 
 think that it would be the mofk indecent 
 thing pollible, if Men who are particu- 
 larly defigned by the title of the Faithful, 
 fhould not religioufly keep the Faith of 
 their Treaties. But in that new found 
 World, which is not more diftant from 
 us in Scituation,than it is difagreeing from 
 us in their Manners, and courfe of Life, 
 there is no trufting to Leagues, even tho 
 they were made with all the pomp of the 
 moft Sacred Ceremonies that is poffible : 
 On the contrary, they are the fooner bro- 
 ken for that, fome flight Pretence being 
 
 found 
 
UTOPIA. 155 
 
 found in the words of the Treatie?, which 
 are contrived in fuch ambiguous Terais, 
 and that on defign, that they can never. 
 be fo ftriftly bound, but they will always 
 find (bme Loop-hole to efcape at 5 and fa 
 they break both their Leagues and their 
 Faith; And this is done with that impu-" 
 dence, that thofe very Men who value 
 themfelves on having fuggefted thefe Ad- 
 vices tp their Princes, would yet, with a 
 haughty (corn , declainf againft fach' 
 Craft, or to fpeak plainer, fuch Fraud 
 and Deceit, if they found private Mert^ 
 make ufe of it in their Bargains 3 and' 
 would readily fay, that they delerved to' 
 be hanged for it. . ^ 
 
 ; By this means it is, that all fort of Ju- 
 flice paiTes in the World, but for a low-, 
 fpirited and vulgar Vertue, which is faif 
 below the dignity of Royal GreatneGv 
 Or at leaft, there are two forts of Jufticc^ 
 ftt up : the one is mean,and creeps on the 
 (ground, ^nd therefore becomes none but 
 tjie bafer fort of Men, and fo muft be 
 kept in feverely by many reftraints^ that 
 k may not break out beyond the Bounds' 
 that are (et to it. The other is, the peculi- 
 aiC Vertue of Princes, Avhich'as it ia mord 
 itfajeftkk thati that which beeonies thd 
 
154 Sir Thomas More'i" 
 
 Rabble, fo takes a freer compafs 5 and 
 lawful or unlawful, are only m^afured by 
 Pleafure and Intereft. Theie pradices a- 
 mong the Princes that lie about TJtofia^ 
 who make fo little account of their Faith, 
 feem to be the Reafons that determine 
 them to engage in no Confederacies : per- 
 haps they would change their mind if they 
 lived among us: but yet tho Treaties 
 were more religioufly oblerved, they 
 would ftill diflike the cuftom of making 
 them 5 fince the World has taken up a 
 falfe Maxim upon it, as if there were no 
 tie of Nature knitting one Nation to 
 another5that areonly feparated perhaps by 
 a Mountain, or a River, and that all were 
 born in a ftate of Hoftility, and fo might 
 lawfully do all that mifchief to their 
 Neighbours, againft which there is no 
 provifion made by Treaties: And that 
 when Treaties are made, they do not cut 
 off the Enmity, or reftrain the Licenfe 
 of preying upon one another, if by the 
 unskilfulnefs of wording them, there are 
 not effeftual Provijoj made againft them. 
 They on the other hand judg, that no 
 Man is to be efteemed our Enemy that has 
 never injured us 5 and that the Partner- 
 Ihip of the Humane Nature, that is 
 
 among 
 
UTOPIA> 155 
 
 among all Men, is inftead of a League. 
 And that kindnefi and good Nature unite 
 Men more effeftually, and more forcibly 
 than any Agreements whatfoever, fince 
 thereby the Engagements of Mens Hearts 
 become ftronger, than any thing can 
 be to which a few words can bind them. 
 
 Of their ^Military Difdpline, 
 
 THey deteft War as a very brutal 
 thing 3 and which, to the reproach 
 of Humane Nature, is more praftifed by 
 Men, than by any fort of Beafts ; and 
 they, againft the cuftom of almoft all 
 other Nations, think that there is nothing 
 more ir^lorious than that Glory that is 
 gained by War : And therefore tho they 
 accuftom themfelves daily to Military Ex- 
 ercifes, and the Difcipline of War, in 
 Which not only their Men, but their Wo- 
 men likewife, are trained up, that fo in 
 cafes of Neceffity, they may not be quite 
 ufelels : Yet they do not rafhly engage in 
 War, unlefs it be either to defend them- 
 felves, or their Friends, from any unjuft 
 Aggreffors 5 or out of good Nature,or in 
 compaffion to an oppreffed Nation, that 
 they affift them to the (baking off theYoke 
 
 Ma "of 
 
5 6 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 Tyranny. They indeed help their Friends, 
 not only in Defenfive, but alfo in OfFen- 
 five Wars : but they never do that, unlefi 
 they had been confulted with while the 
 Matter was yet entire 5 and that being (a- 
 tisfied with the Grounds on which they 
 went, they had found that all Demands 
 of Reparation were rejefted, fo that a 
 War was ncceflary : which they do not 
 think to be only juft,when one Neighbour 
 makes an inrode on another, by publick 
 Order, and carries away their Spoils 3 but 
 when the Merchants of one Country are 
 oppreffed in another, either under the 
 pretence of fome un)uft Laws, or by the 
 perverfe wrefting of good ones : this they 
 count a jufter caufe of War than the 
 other, becaufe thofe Injuries are done un- 
 der fome colour of Laws. This was the 
 only Ground of that War, in which they 
 engaged with the ^7s(jphelogetes againft the 
 ^teopoljtams^ a little before our time : for 
 the Merchants of the former, having, as 
 they thought, met with great injuftice 
 among the latter, that, whether it was in 
 it felf right or wrong, did draw on a 
 terrible War, many of their Neighbours 
 being engaged in it 5 and their keennefi in 
 earryingit on, being fupported by their 
 
 ftrerigth 
 
UTOPIA. 157 
 
 ftrength in maintaining it ^ it not only 
 (hook (bme very flourifning States, and 
 very much afflifted others 5 but after a 
 feries of much Mifchief^ it ended in the 
 entire conqnelt and flavery of the Aleopo- 
 litanes^ who tho before the War, they 
 were in all relpefts much fuperior to the 
 Nephelogetes^ yet by it they fell under their 
 Empire 5 But the Utopians^ tho they had 
 aflifted them in the Warjyet pretended to 
 no (hare of the (poil. 
 
 But tho they affift their Friends fo vi^ 
 goroufly, in taking reparation for Inju- 
 ries that are done them in fuch Matters 5 
 yet if they themlelves (hould meet with 
 any (uch fraud, provided there were no 
 violence done to their Perfons, they 
 would only carry it fo far, that unlefs fa- 
 tisfaftion were made, they would give 
 over trading with fuch a People. This is 
 not done, becaufe they confider their 
 Neighbours more than their own Citi- 
 zens 5 but fince their Neighbours trade 
 every one upon his own Stock, Fraud is 
 a more fenfible injury to them, than it is 
 to the Z)topia»Sj among whom the Pub- 
 lick only fufFers in fuch a cafe : And lince 
 they expeft nothing in return for the Mer- 
 chandize thai they export , but ^bat in 
 
 M, 3 which 
 
Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 which they abound fo much) and is of lit- 
 tle u(e to them, the lofi does not much 
 affeft them ^ therefore they think it would 
 be too fevere a thing to revenge a Lofs 
 that brings fo little inconvenience with it, 
 either to their Life, or their livelihood, 
 with the death of many People : but if 
 any of their People is either killed or 
 wounded wrongfully, whether that be 
 done by Publick Authority, or only by 
 private Men, as foon as they hear of it, 
 they fend Ambaffadors, and demand, that 
 the Guilty Perlbns may be delivered up 
 to them 5 and if that is denied, they de- 
 clare War '-, but if that is done,they con- 
 demn thofe either to Death or Sla- 
 very. 
 
 , They would be both troubled and aflia- 
 med of a bloodji Vi&ory over their Enemies 5 
 and think it would be as foolifh a Pur-* 
 chafe, as to buy the mod valuable Goods 
 at too high a Rate. And in no Victory 
 do they glory fo much, as in that which is 
 gained by dexterity and good conduft, 
 without Bloodftied. They appoint pub- 
 lick Triumphs in fuch Cafes, and ereft 
 Trophies to the honour of thofe who 
 have fucceeded well in them ; for then 
 do they reckon that a Man afts futably to 
 
 his 
 
UTOPIA. 159 
 
 his Nature, when he conquers his Enemy 
 in fuch a way, that no other Creature but 
 a Man could be capable of it, and that is, 
 by the ftrength of his Underftanding. 
 Bears, Lions, Boars, Wolves, and Dogs, 
 and other Animals, imploy their bodily 
 Force one againft another, in which as 
 many of them are fuperior to Man, both 
 in ftrength and fiercenefs, fo they are all 
 fubdued by the reafon and underftanding 
 that is in him. 
 
 The only Defign of the TJtoph^s in 
 War, is to obtain that by Force, which if 
 it had been granted them in time, would 
 have prevented the War 3 or if that can- 
 not be done, to take (b (evere a Revenge 
 of thofe that have injured them, that they 
 may be terrified from doing the like in 
 all time conning. By thefe Ends they 
 meafure all their Defigns, and manage 
 them fb, that it is vifible that the Apper . 
 tite of Fame or Vain-glory, does not 
 work fo much on them, as a juft care of 
 their own Security. 
 
 As foon as they declare War, they take 
 care to have a great many Schedules, that 
 are (ealed with their Common Seal, affixed 
 in the moft conlpicuous places of their 
 Enemies Country. This is carried fecretly, 
 
 M 4 and 
 
1 60 Sir Thomas More'5 
 
 ■'' and done in many places all at once, in 
 thcfe they promife great Rewards to fuch 
 ns (hall kill the.Prince, and leffer in pro- 
 portion to fuch as (hall kill any other Per- 
 ibns, who are thofe on whom, next to the 
 Prince himfelfj they caft the chief blame 
 of the War. And they double the Sum 
 to hiT), that infteadoF killing the Perfon 
 fp rnarked out, (hall take him alive, and 
 fmi: him in their hands. They offer not 
 only Indemnity, but Rewards, to fuch of 
 the Perfcns themfelves that are Co marked, 
 ^r tiiey will aft againft their Country- 
 men : By this means thofe th^t are naped 
 in their Schedules, become not only di- 
 ilruftful of their Fellow-Citizens, but are 
 jealous of one another : and are much 
 diftrafted by Fear and Danger 5 for it has 
 ^ften fallen otit^ that many of them, ancj 
 even the Prince himfelf, have been be- 
 traved by thbfe'in whom they have trufted 
 moft : for the Rewards that the Utopians 
 bffc^r, af-e fo unmeafurably great,that there 
 is no fort of Crime to which Men cannot 
 be drawn by them. They confider the 
 llifque that thoft run, who undertake fuch 
 Services, and offer a R.ecom pence propor- 
 tioned to the danger 3 not only a vaft dea^ 
 of Gold, but great Revenues in Land:^, 
 • ^ ' \, ■ - "" ' that 
 
UTOPIA. i6i 
 
 that lie among other Nations that are their 
 Friends, where they may go and enjoy 
 them very fecurely 5 and they obferve the 
 Promifes they make of this kind moft re- 
 ligioufly. They do very much approve 
 of this way of corrupting their Enemies, 
 tho it appears to others to be a bale and 
 cruel thing 5 but they look on it as a 
 wife courfe, to make an end of that which 
 would be otherwife a great War, without 
 fo much as hazarding one Battel to decide 
 it. They think it likewife an Aft of Mer- 
 cy and Love to Mankind, to prevent the 
 great ilaughter of thofe that muft other- 
 wife be killed in the progrefs of the War, 
 both of their own fide, and of their Ene- 
 mies, by the death of a few that are moft 
 guilty 5 and that in fo doing, they are 
 kind even to their Enemies, and pity 
 1:hen) no le(s than their own People, as 
 knowing that the greater part of them do 
 not engage in the War of their own ac- 
 cord, but are driven into it by the Paffi- 
 ons of their Prince. 
 
 If this Method does not fuccecd with 
 therp, then they fow Seeds of Contention 
 among their Enemies, and animate the 
 Prince's Brother, or fome of the Nobility, 
 tp afjpire to the Crowa. If they cannot 
 
 difunite 
 
1 6 1 Sir TKomas M ore'x 
 
 «- ' — -^ — I » * 
 
 difunite them by Domeftick Broils, then 
 they engage their Neighbours againft 
 them, and make them fet on foot Ibme 
 old Pretenfions, which are never wanting 
 to Princes, when they have occafion fop 
 them. And they fupply them plentifully 
 with Mony, tho but very fparingly with 
 any Auxiliary Troops : for they are (b 
 tender of their own People, that they 
 would not willingly exchange one of 
 them, even with the Prince of their Ene- 
 mies Country. 
 
 But as they keep their Gold and Silver 
 only for fuch an occafion, fo when that 
 offers it felf, they eafily part with it, fince 
 it would be no inconvenience to them, 
 tho they fbould reftrve nothing of it to 
 themlelves. For befides the Wealth that 
 th^y have among them at home, they have 
 a vaft Treafure abroad ^ Many Nations 
 i^^und about, them, being deep in their 
 Debt : fo that they hire Souldiers from all 
 Places for carrying on their Wars ^ bur 
 chiefly from the Zapolets^ who lie five 
 hundred miles from Utopia eaftward. 
 They are a rude, wild, and fierce Nati- 
 on, who delight in the Woods and 
 Rocks, among which they were born and 
 bred up. They are hardned both 
 
 a9;ainft 
 
UTOPfA. 165 
 
 againft Heat, Cold, and Labour, and 
 know nothing of the delicacies of Life. 
 They do not apply themfelves to Agri- 
 culture, nor do they care either for their 
 Houfes or their Clothes. Cattel is all 
 that they look after 5 and for the greateft 
 part, they live either by their Hunting, or 
 upon Rapine :5 and are made, as it were, 
 only for War. They watch all opportu- 
 nities of engaging in it, and very readily 
 embrace fuch as are offered them. Great 
 numbers of them will often go out, and 
 offer therafelves upon a very low Pay, to 
 (erve any that will employ them : they 
 know none of the Arts of Life, but thofe 
 that lead to. the taking it away 5 they 
 ferve thofe that hire them, both with 
 much courage and great Fidelity 5 but 
 will not engage to ierve for any deter- 
 mind time, and agree upon fuch Terms, 
 that the next day they may go over to 
 the Enemies of thofe whom they ferve, 
 if they offer them a greater pay : and 
 they will perhaps return to them the day 
 after that, upon a higher advance of their 
 Pay. There are few Wars in which they 
 make not a confiderable part of the Ar- 
 mies of both fides : (6 it falls often out, 
 that they that are of kin to one another, 
 
 and 
 
1 64 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 and were hired in the fime Country, and 
 (6 have lived long and familiarly together 5 
 yet they forgetting both their Relation 
 and forcner FrieildQiip, kill one another 
 Vipon no other confideration, but becaufe 
 they are hired to it for a little Mony, by 
 Princes of different Interefts : and lb 
 great regard have they to Mony, that they 
 are e^fily wrought on by the difference of 
 one Penny a Day, to change fides. So 
 entirely does their Avarice turn them, 
 and yet this Mony on which they are fo 
 much fet, is of little ufe to them 5 for 
 what they pu.rchafe thus with their Blood, 
 they quickly wafte it on Luxury, which 
 among them is but of a poor and mifera- 
 ble form. 
 
 This Nation ferves the Utopiam againft 
 all People whatfoever, for they pay high- 
 er than any other. The Utopians hold 
 this for a Maxim, that as they feek out the 
 bed (brt of Men for their own u(e at 
 home, fo they make ufe of this worft fort 
 of Men for the Confumption of War, and 
 therefore they hire them with the offers 
 of vaft Rewards, to expofe themfclves to 
 all forts of hazards, out of which the 
 greater part never returns to claim their 
 l^rpmifes. Yet they make them good 
 
 raoft 
 
-^ 
 
 UTOPIA. i6f 
 
 moft religioufly to fuch as efcape. And 
 this animates them to adventure again, 
 when there is occafion for it 3 for the 
 Utopians are not at all troubled hOw ma- 
 ny of them foever happen to be killed 5 
 and reckon it a fervice done to Mankind, 
 if they could be a mean to deliver the 
 World from fuch a lend and vicfous fort 
 of People, that feera to have run toge- 
 ther, as to the Drain of Humane Nature. 
 Next to thefe they are ferved in their 
 Wars, with thofe upon whofe account 
 they undertake them, and with the Auxi- 
 liary Troops of theiE other Friends, to 
 whom they join fome few of their owiTi 
 People, and fend fome Man of eminent 
 and approved Vertue to command in 
 chief There are two fent with him, who 
 during his Command, are but private 
 Men, but the firft is to fucceed him if he 
 (hould happen to be either killed or taf- 
 ken 3 and in cafe of the like misfortune 
 to him, the third comes in his place 5 and 
 thus they provide againft ill Events, that 
 jRich Accidents as may befal their Generals, 
 may not endanger their Armies. When 
 they draw out Troops of their own Peo- 
 ple, they take foch out of every City as 
 freely offer them (elves, for none are fo^r- 
 
 ced' 
 
,t 6 6 Sir T homas MoreV 
 
 ced to go againft their Wills, fince they 
 think that if any Man is preffed that 
 wants.courage, he will not only a(3: faint- 
 ly, but by his cowardife he will di(heart€n 
 others. But if any InvaQon is made of 
 their Country, they make ufe of fuch 
 Men, if they have good Bodies, tho they 
 are not brave 5 and either put them a- 
 board their Ships, or place them on the 
 Walls of their Towns, that being fo po- 
 rted, they may not find occafions of fly- 
 ing away^ and thus either fhame, the 
 heat of aftion, or the impoffibility of fly- 
 ing, bears down their Cowardife 3 and 
 fo they make often a Vertue of Neceflity, 
 and behave themfelves well, becaufe no- 
 thing elfe is left them. But as they force no 
 Man to go into any Forreign War againft 
 his will, fo they do not hinder fuch Wo- 
 men as are willing to go along with their 
 Hufl^ands : On the contrary, they encou- 
 rage and praife them much for doing it 5 
 they ftand often next their Hulbands, in 
 the front of the Army, They alfo place 
 thofe that are related together, and Pa- 
 rents, and Children, Kindred, and thofe 
 that are mutually allied,near one another 5 
 that thoft whom Nature has infpired with 
 the greateft zeal of ailifting one another, 
 
 may 
 
UTOPIA. 167 
 
 may be the neareft and readied: to do it ; 
 and it is matter of great reproach, if Hus- 
 band or Wife furvive one anothei;, or if 
 a Child furvives his Parent, and therefore 
 when they come to be engaged in a&ion, 
 they continue to fight to the lafl: Man, if 
 their Enemies (land before them : And as 
 they ufe; all prudent Methods to avoid the 
 endangering their own Men 3 and if it is 
 poffible, let all the Aftion and Danger 
 fall upon the Troops that they hire 5 fo if 
 it comes to that, that they muft engage, 
 they charge then with as much courage, as 
 they avoided it before with prudence : nor 
 is it a fierce Charge at firft,but it encreafes 
 by degrees 3 and as they continue in Afti- 
 on, they grow more obftinate, and prels 
 harder upon the Enemy, infomuch that 
 they will much fooner die than give 
 ground 3 for the certainty in which they 
 are, that their Children will be well look- 
 ed after, when they are dead, frees them 
 from all anxiety concerning them, which 
 does often mafter Men of great courage 5 
 and thus they are animated by a noble 
 and invincible refolution. Their skill in 
 Military Matters encreafes their Courage, 
 and the good Opinions which are infufed 
 in them during their Education^ accord- 
 ing 
 
i 6 8 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 ing to the Laws of the Country, and 
 their Learning, add more vigor to their 
 Minds : for as they do not undervalue 
 Life to the degree of throwing it away 
 too prodigally 5 fo they are not (b inde- 
 cently fond of it, that when they fee 
 they muft facrifice it honourably, they 
 will preferve it by bafe and unbecoming 
 Methods. . In the greateft heat of Aftion, 
 the braveft of their Youth, that have 
 jointly devoted themfelves for that piece 
 of Service, fingle out the General of their 
 Enemies, and fet on him either openly, or 
 lay an Ambufcade for him : if any of 
 them are fpent and wearied in the At- 
 tempt, others come in their ftead, fo that 
 they never give over purfuing him, either 
 by clofe Weapons, when they can get near 
 him, or thofe that wound at a diftanceV 
 when others get in between : thus they, 
 feldom fail to kill or take him at laft, if 
 he does not fecure himfelf by flight. When 
 they gain the Day in any Battel, they kill 
 as few as poffibly they can 5 and are much 
 more fet on taking many Prifoners, than 
 on killing thofe that fly before them : nor 
 do they ever let their Men fo loofe in the 
 flurfuit of their Enemies, that they do 
 not retain an entire Body ftiU in orders 
 
 fo 
 
UTOPIA. 169 
 
 fo that if they have been forced to en- 
 gage the laft of their Battalions,before they 
 could gain the day, they will rather let 
 their Enemies all efcape than purfue them^ 
 when their own Army is in diforder^ re- 
 membring well what has often fallen out to 
 thetnfelves 3 that when the main Body of 
 their Army has been quite defeated and 
 broken, fo that their Enemies reckoning 
 the Vidory was fare and in their hands, 
 have let themfelves loofe into an irregular 
 purfuit, a few of them that lay for a re* 
 ferve, waiting a fit opportunity, have fal- 
 len on them while they were in this chafe, 
 ftragiing and in diforder, apprehenfive of 
 no danger, but counting the Day their 
 own 5 and have turned the whole Afti* 
 on, and fo wrefting out of their hands a 
 Vidory that feemed certain and undoub- 
 ted, the vanquiftied have of a fudden be- 
 <:ome viftorious. 
 
 It is hard to tell whether they are more 
 dextrous in laying or avoiding Ambuthes : 
 they fometimes (eem to fly when it is far 
 from their thoughts 5 and when they in- 
 tend to give Ground, they do it (b, that 
 It is very hard to find out their Defign. 
 If they fee they are ill pofted, or are like 
 to be overpawred by numbers^ then they 
 
 N eithef 
 
1 JO Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 either march off in the Night with great 
 filence, or by fome Stratagem they delude 
 their Enemies : if they retire in the day- 
 time, they do it in fuch order, that it is 
 no kfi dangerous to fall upon them in a 
 Retreat, than in a March. They fortify 
 their Camps well, with a deep and large 
 Trench 5 and throw up the Earth that i« 
 dug out of it for a Wall 5 nor do they 
 employ only their Slaves in this, but the 
 ^'hole Army works at it, Except thofe that 
 are then upon the Guard , fo that when 
 (b many hands are at work, a great Line 
 and a ftrong Fortification is finiOied in (b 
 (hort a time,that it is (carce credible. Their 
 Armour is very ftrong for defence, and yet 
 is not fo heavy as to make them uneafy in 
 their Marches 5 they can even fwim with 
 it. All that are trained up to War, pra- 
 ctile fwimming much : both Horfe and 
 Foot, make great ufe of Arrows, and are 
 very expert at it : they have no Swords, 
 but fight with a Poll-ax that is both (harp 
 and. heavy, by which they thruft or ftrike 
 down an Enemy 5 they are very good at 
 finding out warlike Machines, and di(guife 
 them fo well, that the Enemy does not per- 
 ceive them, till he feels the ufe of them 3 fo 
 that he cannot prepare fuch a Defence a- 
 
 gainft 
 
UTOPIA. 171 
 
 gainfl: them, by which they might be made 
 ridiculous, as well as uftlefs 5 the chief 
 confideration had in the making of them^, 
 is, that they may be eafily carried and ma-' 
 naged. 
 
 If they agree to a Truce, -they obfervej 
 it fo religioufly, that no provocations \Viir 
 make them break it. They never lay their 
 Enemies Country wafte, nor burn their 
 Corn, and even in their Marches they take 
 all poffible care, that neither Horfe nor 
 Foot may tread it down, for they do not 
 know but that they may have ufe for it 
 themfelves. They hurt no Man that they 
 find difarmed, unlef^ he is a Spy. When a 
 Town is furrendred to them, they take it 
 into their Prote^ion : and when they car- 
 ry a place by ftorm, they never plunder it, 
 but put thofe only to the Sword that op- 
 pofed the rendring ol it, and make the 
 reft of the Garifon Slaves: but for the 
 Other Inhabitants, they do them no hurt ^ 
 and if any of them had advifed a furren- 
 derofit, iheygive them good Rewards 
 out of the Eftates of thofe that they con- 
 demn, and diftribute the reft among their 
 Auxiliary Troops, but they themkives 
 lake no (hare of the Spoil. 
 
 When a War is ended, they do not ob-- 
 
171 Sir Thomas Motes 
 
 lige their Friends to reimburfe them of 
 their expence in it ^ but they take that 
 from the conquered, either in Mony which 
 they keep for the next occa(ion,or in Lands, 
 out of which a conftant Revenue is to be 
 pid them 5 by many increafes, the Reve- 
 nue which they draw out from fcveral 
 Countries on fuch Occafions, is now rifen 
 to above 700000 Ducats a Year. They 
 fend fome of their own People to receive 
 thefe Revenues, who have orders to live 
 magnificently, and like Princes, and jfo 
 ^ they confume much of it upon the place 5 
 and either bring over the reft to t)topia^ 
 or lend it to that Nation in which it lies. 
 This they moft commonly do, unlels (bme 
 great occafion which falls out, but very 
 feldom,fhould oblige them to call for it all. 
 It is out of thefe Lands that they affign 
 thofe Rewords to fuch as they encourage 
 to adventure on defpcrate Attempts, 
 which was snentioned formerly. If any 
 Prince that engages in War with them, is 
 making preparations for invading their 
 Country, they prevent hina, and make his 
 Country the Seat of the War ^ for they 
 do not willingly i&ffer any War to break 
 in upon their Ifland 5 and if that (hould 
 happen, they woukl only defend them- 
 
 ielves 
 
UTOPIA. i7j 
 
 fclves by their own People 5 but would 
 hot at all call for Auxiliary Troops to 
 their affiftance. 
 
 Of the Religions of the Utopians. 
 
 THere are (everal (brts of Religiom, 
 not only in different parts of the 
 Idand, but even in every Town 5 fome 
 worfhipping the Sun, otl^rs the Moon, or 
 one of the Planets: fome wor(hip luch 
 Men as have been eminent in former 
 times for Vertue, or Glory, not only as 
 ordinary Deities, but as the fupream 
 God : yet the greater and wifer fort of 
 them worfhip none of thefe, but adore one 
 Eternal, Invifible, Infinite, and Incom- 
 prehenfible Deity 3 as a Beings that is far 
 above all our Apprehenfions, that is fpread 
 over the whole Univerfe, not by its Bulk, 
 but by its Power and Vertue 5 him they ^ 
 call the Father of all^ and acknowledg 
 that the beginnings, the encreafe, the pro- 
 gpcfi, the viciffitudes, and the end of all 
 things come only from him 5 nor do they 
 ^bflfer divine honouts to any but to hin^ 
 alone. And indeed, tho they differ con- 
 cerning other things, yet all agree in this 5 
 fhat they think there is one fupream Being 
 
1 74 Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 that made and governs the World, whom 
 ^hey call in the Language of their Coun- 
 try, t^Wthras. They differ in this, that 
 one thinks the God whom he worfhips is 
 this Supream Being, and another thinks 
 that his Idol is that God 5 but they all 
 agr^e in one principle,that whatever \s this 
 Supream Being, is alfo that Great Eflence, 
 tp wliofe Glory and Majefty all honours 
 are afcribed by the confent of all Nations. 
 
 By degrees, they all fall off from the 
 various Superftitions that are among them, 
 and grow up to that one Religion that is 
 jnoft in requeft, and is much the beft : 
 and there is no doubt tq be made, but 
 that all the others had vaniflied long ago, 
 ifithad not happned that fome unlucky 
 Accidents, falling on thofe who were 
 advifing the change of tho(e fuperftitious 
 ways of Worlhip 5 theft have been a(cri- 
 bcd npt to Chance, but to fomevy'hat from 
 Heaven ^ and fo have railed in them a fear, 
 that the God,whofe Worfliip was like to be 
 abandoned, has interpofed and revenged 
 himfelf on tho(e that defigned it. 
 
 After they had heard from us, an ac- 
 ipouiu of the Doftrine, the courfe of 
 Life, and the Miracles of Chrift, and of 
 the wonderful conftancy of fo many M^r- 
 .^ " •• ■ • • ^ ^yr5^ 
 
UTOPIA. ,7j 
 
 tyrs, who(e Blood, that was Co willingly 
 offered up by them, was the chief oc- 
 cafion of (preading their Religion over a 
 vaft number of Nations^ it is pot to be 
 imagined how inclined they were to re- 
 ceive it. ' I (faall not determine whether 
 this proceeded from any feerct in(piration 
 of God, or whether it was becaufe it 
 (eemed fo favorable to that community of 
 Goods, which is an opinion (b particular, 
 as well as (b dear to them 5 fince they 
 perceived that Chrift and his Followers 
 lived by that Rule 5 and that it was ftill 
 kept up in (bme Communities among the 
 fincereft (brt of Chriftians. From which 
 fbever of thefe Motives it might be, true ic 
 is, that many of them came over to our 
 Religion, and were initiated into it by 
 Baptifm. But as two of our number were 
 dead, (b none of the four that (iirvived^ , 
 were in Priefts Orders 5 therefore v^;g 
 could do no more but baptize them 5 Co 
 that to our great regret, they could not 
 partake of the other Sacraments, that 
 can only be adminiftred by Priefts : but 
 they are inftrufted concerning them, and 
 long moft vehemently for them 3 and 
 they were difputing very much among 
 themftlves, Whether one that were chofcri 
 
 N 4 ^y 
 
tyS Str Thomas Mote'^ 
 
 by them to be a Preift, would not be ■ 
 thereby qualified to do alttbc things that 
 belong to that Charafter, even tho he bad^.^ 
 no Authority derived from the Pope 5k 
 and they feemed to be refoljved to cbufe 
 Ibme for that Imployment, but they had 
 not done it when I left them. " 
 
 Thole among them that have not re- 
 ceived our Religion, yet do not fright 
 any from it, and ufe none ill that goes 
 over to it 5 fo that all the while I wa* 
 there, one Man was only puniQied on tbis^ 
 occafion. lie being newly baptized, did, 
 notwithftanding all that we could fay 
 to the contrary, difpute publickly con- 
 cerning the Chriftian Keligion, with more * 
 zeal than di(cretion ^ and with ib much 
 heat, that be not only preferred our Wor- 
 (hip to theirs, but condemned all their 
 Rites as profane 5 and cried out againft all 
 that adhered to them, as impious and 
 facrilegious Perfbns, that were to be dam- 
 ned to everlafting Burnings. Upon this 
 he, having preached thefe things often,, 
 was (eized on, and after a Trial, he wa^ 
 condemned to banithment, not for having ; 
 difparaged their Pieligion, but fpr his, 
 inflaming the People to Sedition : for this 
 is one of their ancientefl: Laws, that no 
 
 Man 
 
Tf^ffmr^-mmmm 
 
 UTOJ?lA- 177 
 
 Man ought to be puniQied for his Religi- 
 on. At the firft conftitution of their Go- 
 vement, Vtopus having undcrftood, that 
 before his coming among them,the old In- 
 habitatis had been engaged in grtat mtaneh 
 eoiicerning Religion, by which they were 
 fo broken amoi^ thcmfelves, that he 
 found It an eafy thing to conquer them, 
 Finee they did not unite their Forces 
 againfthim, but every different Party m 
 Rehgion foi^ht by themfelves : upon that, 
 aiecr he had fubdued them, he made a 
 Law that every Man might be of what 
 Religion he pleafed, and might endeavor 
 to draw others to it by the force of Ar- 
 gument, and by amicable and modeft 
 ways, but without bitternefs againft 
 thofe of other Opinions 5 but that he 
 ought to ufe no other Force but that of 
 Perfuafions and was neither to mixt Re- 
 proaches nor Violence with it 5 and fuch 
 as did othcrwift, were to be condemned 
 to Baniftiment or Sbvery. 
 
 This Law was made by Vteptts^ not 
 only for preferving the Publick Peace 
 which he few fuffered much by daily Con- 
 tentions and Irreconcilable Heats in thefc 
 Matters, but becaufe he thought the In- 
 tereft of Religion it felf required it; 
 
 He 
 
1 7 8 Sir Thomas M ores 
 
 He judged it was not fit to determine any 
 thing ra(hly in that Mattery and feemed' 
 to doubt whether thofe different Forms 
 of Rehgton might not all come from God,- 
 who might infpire Men differently, he be-^ 
 ing poffibly pleafed with a variety in it r 
 and fo he thought it was a very indecent 
 and foolifh thing for any Man to frightenv 
 and threaten other Men to believe any^ 
 thing becaufe it feemed true to him, and- 
 in cafe th^t one Religion were certainly- 
 uue, and all the reft falfe, he reckoned 
 that the native Force of Truth would 
 break forth at laft, and (hine bright, if it^ 
 were managed only by the ftrength of 
 Argument, and with a winning gentle- 
 nefs 5 whereas if fuch Matters were car- 
 ried on by Violence and Tumults, then,* 
 as the wickedeft fort of Men is always 
 the moft obftinate, fo the holieft and beft 
 Religion in the World might be overlaid 
 with fo much fooli(h fuperftition, that it 
 would be quite cboaked with it, as Corn- 
 is with Briars and Thorns s therefore he 
 left Men wholly to their liberty in this 
 ipauer, that they might be free to beleive 
 as they (hould fee caufe , only he made 
 afolemnand fevereLaw againft fuch as 
 (hould fo far degenerate from the dig^nity 
 
 of 
 
UTOPIA. 179 
 
 of humane Nature^ as to think that our 
 Souls died with our Bodies, or that the 
 World was governed by Chance, with- 
 out a wife over-ruling Providence : for 
 they did all formerly believe that there 
 was a ftate of Rewards and Puni(hments 
 to the Good and Bad after this Life 5 and 
 they look on thofe that think otherwife, 
 as fcarce fit to be counted Men, fince 
 they degrade fo noble a Being as our 
 Soul is, and reckon it to be no better 
 than a Beaft s 5 fo far are they from 
 looking on fuch Men as fit for humane 
 fociety, or to be Citizens of a well- 
 ordered Common- Wealth 5 fince a Man 
 of fuch Principles muft needs, as oft as 
 he dares do it, defpife all their Laws and 
 Cuftoms: for there is no doubt to be 
 made, that a Man who is afFraid of no- 
 thing but the Law, and apprehends no- 
 thing after death, will not ftand to break 
 through all the Laws of his Country, 
 either by fraud or force, that fo he may 
 fatisfy his Appetites. They never railc 
 any that hold thefe Maxims, either to Ho» 
 Hours or Offices, nor imploy them in a- 
 ny publick Truft, but defpife them, as 
 Men of ba(e and (brdid Minds ; yet they 
 do not punifti them, becaufe they lay this 
 
 down 
 
1 8o Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 doun for a ground, that a Man cannot 
 make himfelf beleive any thinghe pleafes 5 
 nor do they drive any to diflcmble tfeeir 
 thoughts b^ threatnings, fothat Men are 
 not tempted to lie or difguife their Opi- 
 nions among them ^ which being a fort of 
 Fraud, is abhorred by the Vtcptdfti : they 
 take indeed care that they may not argue 
 for thefe Opinions, efpecially before the 
 common People : But they do fuflfer, and 
 even encourage them to difpute concern* 
 ing them in private with their Priefts, and 
 and other grave Men, being confident 
 that they will be cured of thofe mad 
 Opinions, by having reafon laid before 
 them. There are many among them that 
 run far to the other extream, tho it is 
 neither thought an ill nor unreafonablc 
 Opinion, and therfore is not at all diP 
 couraged. They think that the Souls of 
 Beafts are immortal, tho far inferior to 
 the dignity of the humane Soul, and not 
 capable of fo great a happine(s. They 
 are almoft all of them very firmly per- 
 fwaded, that good Men will be infinitely 
 happy in another ftate 5 fo that tho they 
 are compaffionate to all that are fick, yet 
 they lament no Man s Death, except they 
 fee him part with Life uneafy, and as if he 
 , wer^ 
 
UTOPIA. ,8i 
 
 were forced to it ; For they look on this 
 as a vtry Ul perfage, as if the Soul being 
 confcious to it felf of Guilt, and quiti 
 hopelefe, were afifraid to die, from fome 
 lecret hints of approaching mifery. They 
 think that fuch a Man's appearance before 
 Opd, cannot be acceptable to him, who 
 being called on, does not go out chear- 
 Mly, but IS backward and unwilling, 
 and IS, as it were, dragged to it. They 
 are (truck with horror, when they fee 
 any die in this manner, and carry them 
 out in filence, and with forrow, and 
 praying God that he would be merciful 
 to the Errors of the departed Sou), 
 they lay the Body in the Ground : but 
 when any die chearfuUy, and full of 
 hope, they do not mourn for them, but 
 hng Hymns when they carry out their 
 Bodies, and commending their Souls very 
 earneftly to God, in fuch a manner, that 
 their whole behaviour is rather grave 
 then fad, they burn their Body, and 
 fet up a Pillar where the Pile was made, 
 with an Infcription to the honour of fuch 
 Mens memory 5 And when they come 
 trom the Funeral, they difcourfe of their 
 good Life, and worthy Anions, but 
 ipeak of nothing oftner and with more 
 
 plealure, 
 
1 8 1 Sir T homas MoreV 
 
 pleafure, than of their ferenity at their 
 Death. They think fuch refpeft paid to 
 ih^ memory of good Men, is both the 
 greateft Incitement to engage others to 
 follow their Example, an4 themoft accep- 
 table Worfhip that can be offered them 5 
 for they believe that tho by the imper- 
 feftion of humane fight, they are invi- 
 fible to us, yet they are prefent among us, 
 and hear thofe Difcourfes that pafs con- 
 cerning themfelves. And they think that 
 it does not agree to the happinefs of de- 
 parted Souls, not to be at liberty to be 
 where they will: nor do they imagine 
 them capable of the ingratitude of not 
 defiring to fee thofe Friends, with whom 
 they lived on Earth in the ftrifteft Bonds 
 of Love and Kindnefs rand they judg,that 
 fach good Principles, as all other good 
 Things, are rather encreafed than leffened 
 in good Men after their death : fo that 
 they conclude they are ftill among the 
 living, and do obferve all that is faid or 
 done by them. And they engage in all Af^ 
 fairs that they fet about, with fo much the 
 more affarance, trufting to their pro- 
 tection 5 and the opinion that they have 
 oi their Anccftors being ftill prefent, is a 
 
 great 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 ^ 
 
 great reftraint on them from ailill De- 
 £gns. 
 
 :- They defpife and laugh at all forts of 
 Auguries, and the other vain and fuper- 
 ftitious ways of Divination, that are Co 
 much obferved among other Nations 5 
 but they have great reverence for fuch 
 Miracles as cannot flow from any of the 
 iTl^' ^f Nature, and look on them as 
 i^tiefts and Indications of the prefcnce of 
 the Supream Being, of which they fay 
 inany Inftances have occurred among 
 them, and that fometimes their publick 
 Prayers, which upon great and dangerous 
 Occafions they have folemoly put up to 
 God, with affured confidence of being 
 heard, have been anfwered in a miraculous 
 manner. 
 
 They think the contemplating God in 
 his Works, and the adoring him for them, 
 is a very acceptable piece of VVorftiip to 
 him. ^ 
 
 -There are many among them, that up- 
 f on a motive of Religion, negledi Lear- 
 ning, and apply themfelves to no fort of 
 ftudy 5 nor do they allow themfelves any 
 |eafure-time,but are perpetually imployed 
 m domg fomewhat, believing that by the 
 good things that a Man docs he fecures to 
 
 himfelf 
 
1 84 S'** Thomas Uote's 
 
 himfelf that happinefs that comes after 
 Death. Some of thefe vifit the Sick ^ 
 others mend High-ways, cleaofe Ditches, 
 or repair Bridges, and dig Turf, Gravel, 
 or Stones. Others fell and cleave Timber, 
 and bring Wood, Corn, and other 
 Neceflaries, on Carts, into their Towns. 
 Nor do thefe only fervethe PublKk,but 
 they ferve even Private Men, more than 
 the Slaves themfdves do: for ^ tbf'e.'j 
 any where a rough, hard, and fordid 
 piece of work to be done, from which 
 l^any are frightned by the labour and 
 loathfomencfs of it, if not thedefpair of ac- 
 compliftiing it, they do chearfully, and of 
 their own accord, take that to their (hare 5 
 and by that meam,as they eafe others very 
 much, fo they arBift themfelves, and fpcnd 
 their whole life in hard Laborand yet they 
 do not value themfdves upon that, nor 
 leflen other peoples credit, that by fo 
 doing they may raife their own 5 but by 
 their^ {topping to f«:h fervile Employ- 
 ments, th^ are fo fat from bang de^ 
 fpifed, that they are fo much the more 
 efteemed by the whole Nation. 
 
 Of thefe there are two for" : Some 
 live unmarried and chaft,and abftam from • 
 eating any fort of Flefli j and thus wean- 
 
UTOPIA. i8j 
 
 ing them(elves from all the pieafures of 
 the prefent Life, which they account 
 hurtful, they purfue, even by the har- 
 defl: and painfuUeft methods poflible, that 
 blejQTednefs which they hope for hereafter 5 
 and the nearer they approach to it, they 
 are the more chearful and earneft in their 
 endeavours after it. Another fort of them 
 is lels willing to put themlelves to much 
 toil, and fo they prefer a married ftate to 
 a lingle one 5 and as they do not deny 
 themftlves the pleafiire of it, fo they 
 think the begetting of Children is a debt 
 which they owe to Humane Nature, and 
 to their Country : nor do they avoid any 
 Pleafure that does not hinder Labour 5 
 and therefore they eat FleCh fo much the 
 more willingly, becaufe they find them- 
 felves fo much the more able for work by 
 it : The Vtofians look upon thefe as the 
 wifer Sed^ but they efteem the others as 
 the holier. They would indeed laugh at 
 any Man, that upon the Principles of Rea* 
 fon, would prefer an unmarried ftate to a 
 married, or a Life of Labour to an cafy 
 Life ; but they reverence and admire fuch 
 as do it upon a Motive of Religion. 
 There is nothing in which they are more 
 cautious, than in giving their Opinion po* 
 
 O fitively 
 
86 Sir Thomas MoreV 
 
 ^^^^^^^.^^^^^^^^^■■■^■■■■■■■■■■■■■■"•••^•^•'^■^•'^••••^•'^■•^^■^^'•■••■•■■^■'•^■^■■■"■■^» 
 
 fitively concerning any fort of Religion, 
 The Men that lead thofe fevere Lives, are 
 called in the Language of their Country 
 nBruthesko'S^ which anfwers to thofe we call 
 Religious Orders. 
 
 Their Priefts are Men of eminent Pie- 
 ty, and therefore they are but few, for 
 there are only thirteen in every Town, 
 one for every Temple in it 5 but when 
 they go to War, feven of the(e go out 
 with their Forces, and feven others are 
 chofen to fupply their room in their ab- 
 fence ^ but thele enter again upon their 
 Employment wlien they return 5 and 
 thofe who ferved in their ablence, attend 
 upon the High Prieft, till Vacancies fall 
 by Death 5 for there is one that is fet over 
 all the reft. They are chofen by the Peo- 
 ple, as the other Magiftrates are, by Suf- 
 frages given in fecret, for preventing of 
 Faftions : and when they are chofen, they 
 are confecrated by the College of Priefts. 
 The care of all Sacred Things, and the 
 VVorfliip of God, and an infpeftion into 
 the Manners of the People, is committed 
 to them. It is a reproach to a Man to be 
 fent for by any of them, or to be even 
 fpoke to in fecret by them, for that always 
 gives fome fufpicions ; all that is incum- 
 bent 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 bent on them, is only to exhort and ad- 
 monifti People 5 for the power of correct- 
 ing and puniftiing ill Men, belongs wholly 
 to the Prince, and to the other Magi- 
 ftrates ; The fevereft thing that tlie Prieft 
 does, is the excluding of Men that are de- 
 fperately wicked from joining in their 
 WorQiip :Tbere*s not any fort of Punifh- 
 ment that is more dreaded by them than 
 this, for as it loads them with Infamy, ib it 
 fills them with fecret Horrors, fuch is their 
 reverence to their Religion 5 nor will 
 their Bodies be long exempted from their 
 Ihare of trouble 5 for if they do not very 
 quickly fatisfy the Priefts of the truth of 
 their Repentance, they are feized on by 
 the Senate, and punifhed for their Impie-^ 
 ty. The breeding of the Youth belongs* 
 to the Priefts, yet they do not take fa 
 much care of initrufting them in Letters, 
 as of forming their Minds and Manners 
 aright 5 and they ufe all poffible Methods 
 to infufe very early in the tender and 
 flexible Minds of Children, futh Opinio 
 ons as are both good in themfelves, and 
 will be ufeful to their Country : for 
 when deep impreffions of thefe things 
 are made at that Age, they follow Men 
 through the whole co^urfe of their Lives^ 
 
i88 Sir Thomas Motes 
 
 and conduce much for the preferving the 
 Peace of the Government, which fuffers 
 by nothing more than by Vices that rife 
 out of ill Opinions. The Wives of their 
 Priefts are the moft extraordinary Women 
 of the whole Country 5 fometimes the 
 Women themfelves are made Priefts, tho 
 that falls out but feldom, nor are any but 
 ancient Widows choien into that Order. 
 
 None of the Magiftrates have greater 
 honour paid them, than is paid the 
 Priefts 5 and if they ftiould happen to 
 commit any Crime,they would not be quc- 
 ftioned for it : their Punifhment is left to 
 God, and to their own Confciences : for 
 they do not think it lawful to lay hands 
 on any Man, how wicked foever he is, 
 that has been in a peculiar manner dedi- 
 cated to God 5 nor do they find any great 
 inconvenience in this, both becaufe they 
 have fo few Priefts, and becaufe thefe are 
 chofen with much caution, (b that it muft 
 be a very unufual thing to find one who 
 was meerly out of regard to his Vertue, 
 and for his being efteemed a fingularly 
 good Man, raiied up to fo great a digni- 
 ty, degenerate into fuch Corruption and 
 Vice : and if (uch a thing ftiould fall 
 out, for Man is a changeable Creature 5 
 
 yet 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 yet there being a few Priefts, and thefe 
 having no Authority, but* that which 
 rifes out of the refpe(9: that is paid them, 
 nothing that is of great Confequence to 
 the Publick, can come from the indemnity 
 that the Priefts enjoy. 
 
 They have indeed very few of them, 
 left greater Numbers ftiaring in the feme 
 honour, might make the dignity of that 
 Order which they efteem fo highly, to 
 fink in its Reputation : they alfo think it 
 is hard to find out many that are of fuch a 
 pitch of Goodnefs, as to be equal to that 
 dignity for which they judg that ordinary 
 Vertues do not qualify a Man fuflici* 
 ently : nor are the Priefts in greater ve- 
 neration among them, than they are a- 
 mong their Neighbouring Nations, as you 
 may imagine by that which I think gives 
 occafion for it. 
 
 When the Utopians engage in a Bat- 
 tel, the Priefts that accompany them to 
 the War, kneel down during the Aftion, 
 in a place not far from the Field, appa- 
 ralled in their Sacred Veftments ; and 
 lifting up their Hands to Heaven, they 
 pray, firft for Peace, and then for Vifto- 
 ry to their own fide, and particularly 
 that it may be gained without the effufion 
 ' O 3 of 
 
Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 of much Blood on either fide ^ and when 
 the Vidiory turns to their fide, they run in 
 among their own Men to refl:rain their 
 Fury 5 and if any of their Enemies fee 
 them, or call to them, they are preferved 
 by that means : and fuch as can come fo 
 near them as to touch their Garments, 
 have not only their Lives, but their For- 
 tunes fecured to them : It is upon this ac- 
 count, that all the Nations round about 
 coiifidcr them fo much, and pay them fo 
 great reverence, that they have been of- 
 ten no left able to preferve their own 
 People from the fury of their Enemies, 
 than to (ave their Enemies from their 
 rage : for it has fometimes fallen out, that 
 when their Armies have been in difbrder, 
 and forced to fly, fo that their Enemies 
 were running upon the flaughter and 
 fpoil, the Priefts by interpofing, have 
 iiop'd the fnedding of more Blood, and 
 have (eparated them from one another ^ 
 fo that by their Mediation, a Peace has 
 been concluded on very reafonable 
 ITerms 5 nor is there any Nation about 
 them fo fierce, cruel, or barbarous, as not 
 to look upon their Perfons as Sacred and 
 Inviolable. 
 
 The 
 
UTOPIA. ,91 
 
 The firft and the laft day of the Moniji, 
 and of the Year, is a Feftival ; they mea- 
 fure their Months by the courfe of the 
 Moon 5 and their Years by the courfe of 
 the Sun ; The firft days are called in 
 their Language the Cymmernes^ and the 
 laft the Trapemernes^ which anfwers in 
 our Language to the Feftival that begins, 
 or ends the Seifon. 
 
 They have magnificent Temples, that 
 are not only nobly built, but are like- 
 wife of great Reception ; which is necef- 
 (ary, fince they have fo few of them : 
 They are a little dark within, which flows 
 hot from any Error in their Architedure, 
 but is done on defign 5 for their Priefts 
 think that too much light diffipates the 
 thoughts, and that a more moderate de- 
 gree of it, both recollefts the Mind, and 
 raifes Devotion. Tho there are many 
 different Forms of Religion among them, 
 yet all thefe, how various fqever, agree 
 in the main Point, which is the worlliip- 
 ping the Divine Effence 5 and therefore 
 there is nothing to be feen or heard in 
 their Temples, in which the feveral Per- 
 fwafions among them may not agree s for 
 every Seft performs thofe Rites that are 
 peculiar to it, in their private Houfes^nor 
 
 Q 4 is 
 
'^ _ : — TTT^ — '. — . - y-'-j, _- ' ■-■■ . "I" 
 
 I p X Sir Thomas More'f 
 
 is there any thing in the Publick Wor- 
 (hip, that contradifts the particular ways 
 of thofe different Sefts. There are no 
 Images for God in their Temples, lb that 
 every one may reprefent him to his 
 thoughts, according to the way of his 
 Religion 5 nor do they call this one God 
 by any other Name, but that of Mithras^ 
 which is the common Nam^ by which 
 they all exprefs the Divine Effence, 
 whatfoever otherwife they think it to be ^ 
 nor are there any Prayers among them, 
 but fuch as every one of them may ufe 
 without prejudice to his own Opinion. 
 
 They meet in their Temples on the 
 Evening of the Feftival that concludes 
 a Seafon : and not having yet broke 
 their Faft, they thank God- for their 
 good fuccefi during that Year or Month, 
 which is then at an end : and the next day, 
 being that which begins the new Seafon, 
 they meet early in their Temples, to pray 
 for the happy Progrels of all their Affair^ 
 during that Period, upon which they 
 then enter. In the Feftival which con- 
 cludes the Period, before they go to the 
 Temple, both Wives and Children fall 
 on their Knees before their Hulbands or 
 Parents, and confefi every thing in which 
 
 they 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 «?) 
 
 they have either erred or failed in thei? 
 Duty, and beg pardon for it : Thus all 
 little Difcontents in Families are remo- 
 ved, that fo they may offer up their De- 
 votions with a pure and ferene mind 5 
 for they hold it a great impiety to enter 
 upon them with difturbed thoughts 5 or 
 when they are confcious to themfelves 
 that they bear Hatred or Anger in their 
 Hearts to any Perfon 5 and think that 
 they (hould become liable to fevere Pu- 
 nifbments, if they prefumed to offer Sa- 
 crifices without cleanfing their HeartSj 
 and reconciling all their Differences. In 
 the Temples, the two Sexes are (eparated, 
 the Men go to the right hand, and the 
 Women to the left ; and the Males and 
 Females do all place themfelves before the 
 Head, and Mafter or Miftrefs of that Fa- 
 mily to which they belong 5 fb that 
 thofe who have the Government of them 
 at home, may (ee their deportment in 
 publick : and they intermingle them fb, 
 that the younger and the older may be 
 fet by one another 5 for if the younger 
 fort were ad fet together, they would 
 perhaps trifle away that time too much, 
 in which they ought to beget in them- 
 felves a rnoft religious dread of the Su- 
 
 pream 
 
1 94 Sir Thomas More'j 
 
 pream Being, which is thegreateft, and 
 almoft the only incitement to Vertue. 
 
 They offer up no living Creature in 
 Sacrifice, nor do they think it fuitable to 
 the Divine Being, from vi^hofe Bounty it 
 is that thefe Creatures have derived their 
 Lives, to take pleafure in their Death, or 
 the offering up their Blood. They burn 
 Incenfe, and other fweet Odours, and 
 have a great number of Wax Lights du- 
 ring their Worftiip ^ not out of any Ima- 
 gination that fuch Oblations can add any 
 thing to the Divine Nature , for even 
 Prayers do not that 5 but as it is a harm- 
 lefi and pure way of worfliipping God, 
 Co they think thofe fweet Savors and 
 Lights, together with (bme other Cere- 
 monies, do, by a fecret and unaccounta- 
 ble Vertue, elevate Mens Souls, and" in- 
 flame them with more force and chearful- 
 jiefi during the Divine Worlhip. 
 
 The People appear all ia the Temples 
 in white Garments 5 but the PrieftsVeft- 
 nients are particoloured 5 both the Work 
 and Colours are wonderful : they are 
 made of no rich Materials, ^r they are 
 neither embroidered, nor (et with preci- 
 ous Stones, but are compofed of the 
 Plumes of feveral Birds, laid together 
 
 witl^ 
 
UTOPIA. 195 
 
 with Co much Art, and fo neatly, that the 
 true value of them is far beyond the coft- 
 Heft Materials. They fay, that in the or- 
 dering and placing thole Plumes, Ibme 
 dark Myfteries are reprefented, which 
 pa(s down among their Priefts in a fecret 
 Tradition concerning them $ and that they 
 are as Hieroglyphicks, putting them in 
 mind of the Bleflings that they have re- 
 ceived from God, and of their Duties, 
 both to him and to their Neighbours. As 
 foon as the Prieft appears in thofe Orna- 
 ments, they all fall proftrate on the 
 Ground, with (b much reverence and fo 
 deep a filence, that fuch as look on, can- 
 not but be ftruck with it, as if it were 
 the efFeft of the appearance of a Deity. 
 After they have been for fome time in 
 this pofture, they all ftand up, upon a 
 (ign given by the Prieft, and fing (bme 
 Hymns to the Honour of God, (bme mu- 
 fical Inftruments playing all the while. 
 Thefe are quite of another form than 
 thofe that are ufed among us : but, as 
 many of them are much fweeter than ours, 
 fo others are not to be compared to thofe 
 that we have. Yet in one thing they ex- 
 ceed us much, which is, that all their Mu- 
 fickj both Vocal and Inftrumental, does 
 
 to 
 
1^6 S/> Thomas More'x 
 
 fo imitate and exprefi the Paffions, and is fo 
 fitted to the prefent occafion, whether the 
 fubjeiS matter of the Hymn is chearful, 
 or made to appeafe, or troubled, doleful, 
 or angry 5 that the Mufick makes an 
 impreflion of that which is repre(ented, 
 by which it enters deep into the Hearer^, 
 and does very much afFeft and kindle 
 them. When this is done, both Priefts 
 and People offer up very folemn Pray- 
 ers to God in a fet Form of Words 5 and 
 thefe are (b compofed, that whatfoever 
 is pronounced by the whole Affembly, 
 may be likewife applied by every Man 
 in particular to his own condition $ in 
 thefe they acknowledg God to be the 
 Author and Governor of the World, 
 and the Fountain of all the Good that 
 they receive ^ for which they offer up 
 their Thankfgivings to him 3 and ip par- 
 ticular, they ble(s him for his Goodnefi 
 in ordering it fo, that they arc born 
 under a Government that is the happieft 
 in the World, and are of a Religion 
 ;hat they hope is the trueft of all others ; 
 but if they are miftaken, and if there is 
 either a better Government, or a Relir 
 gion more acceptable to God, they im* 
 plore his Goodnels to let them know it, 
 o: vowing 
 
UTOPIA. 
 
 vowing, that they refblve to follow him 
 whitherlbever he leads them : but if their 
 Government is the beft, and their Reli- 
 gion the trueft, then they pray that he 
 may fortify them in it, and bring all the 
 World, both to the fame Rules of Life, 
 and to the feme Opinions concerning 
 himlelf 5 unlets, according to the un- 
 fearchablenefs of his Mind, he is pleafed 
 with a variety of Religions. Then they 
 pray that God may give them an eafy 
 pafl'age at laft to himfelf 3 not prefiiming 
 to (et limits to him, how early or late it 
 fliould be 5 but if it may be wiQi'd for, 
 without derogating from his Supream Au- 
 thority, they defire rather to be quickly 
 delivered, and to go to God, tho by the 
 terribleft fort of Death, than to be de- 
 tained long from feeing him, in the molt 
 profperous courfe of Life pofiible. When 
 this Prayer is ended, they all fall down 
 again upon the Ground, and after a little 
 while they rife up, and go home to 
 Dinner 3 and fpend the reft of the day 
 in diverfion or Military Exercifes. 
 
 Thus have I defcribed to you^ as parti- 
 cularly as I could, the Conftitution of 
 that Common-Wealth, which I do not 
 only think to be the beft in the World, 
 
 but 
 
1 9 8 Sir Thomas MoteV 
 
 but to be indeed the only Common-Wealth 
 that truly deferves that name. In all 
 other places, it is vifible, that whereas 
 People talk of a Common-Wealthy every 
 Man only feeks his own Wealth 5 but there 
 where no Man has any Property, all Men 
 do zealoufly purfue the good of the Pub- 
 lick : and indeed, it is no wonder to fee 
 Men aft fo differently, for in other 
 Common-Wealths, every Man knows, 
 that unlets he provides for himfelf, how 
 flouriftiing foever the Common-Wealth 
 may be, he mult die of Hunger 3 fo that 
 he (ees the neceffity of preferring his own 
 Concerns to the Publick^ but in ZJtopia^ 
 where every Man has a right to every thing, 
 they do all know, that if care is taken to 
 keep the Publick Stores full, no private 
 Man can want any thing 3 for among 
 them there is no unequal diftribution, fo 
 • that no Man is poor, nor in any neceffity 5 
 and tho no Man has any thing, yet they 
 are all rich , for what can make a Man fo 
 rich, as to lead a ferene and chearful Life, 
 free from anxieties 5 neither apprehending 
 want himfelf^ nor vexed with the end- 
 lefi complaints of his Wife ? he is not 
 afFraid of the mifery of his Children, nor 
 is he contriving how to raife a Portion for 
 
 his 
 
UTOPIA. 199 
 
 his Daughters, but is fecure in this, that 
 both he and his Wife, his Children and 
 Grand- Children, to as many Generations 
 as he can fancy, will all live, both plen- 
 tifully and happily, fince among them 
 there is no Itfs care taken of thofe who 
 were once engaged in Labour, but grow 
 afterwards unable to follow it, than there 
 is elfewhere for thefe that continue (till at 
 it. I would gladly hear any Man com- 
 pare the Juftice that is among them, with 
 that which is among all other Nations 3 
 among whom, maylperilh, if I fee any 
 thing that looks either like Juftice, or 
 Equity 3 for what Juftice is there in this, 
 that a Noble-man, a Goldfinith, or a 
 Banquer, or any other Man, that either 
 does nothing at all, or at beft is imployed 
 in things that are of no ufe to the Publick, 
 ftiould live in great luxury and Iplendor, 
 upon that which is fo ill acquired 5 and a 
 mean Man, a Carter, a Smith, or a Plough- 
 man, that works harder, even than the 
 Beafts themfelves, and is imployed in La- 
 bours that are fo neceffary, that no Com- 
 mon-Wealth could holdout an Year to 
 an end without them, can yet be able to 
 earn fo poor a livelihood out of it, and 
 muft lead fo miierable a Life in it, that 
 
 the 
 
too Sir Thomas More'^ 
 
 the Beads condition is much better than 
 theirs ? for as the Beafts do not work fo 
 conftantly, fo they feed almoft as well, 
 and more pleafantly 5 and have no anx* 
 iety about that which is to come, where- 
 as thefe Men are depreffed by a barren 
 and fruitlefs Imployment, and are tormen- 
 ted with the apprehenfions of Want in 
 their old Age 5 fince that which they get 
 by their daily Labour, does but maintain 
 them at prefent, and is confumed as faft as 
 it comes in 5 fo that there is no overplus 
 left them which they can lay up for old 
 Age. 
 
 Is not that Government both unjuft 
 and ungrateful, that is fo prodigal of its 
 Favors, 'to thole that are called Gentle- 
 men, or Goldfmiths, or fuch others that 
 are idle, or live, either by flattery, or by 
 contriving the arts of vain Pleafure 5 and 
 on the other hand, takes no care of thofe 
 of a meaner fort, fuch as Ploughmen, 
 Colliers, and Smiths, without whom it 
 could not fubfift : but. after the Publick 
 has been ferved by them, and that they 
 come to be oppreft with Age, Sicknefi, 
 and Want, all their Labours and the good 
 that they have done is forgotten 5 and all 
 the Recompence given them, is, that they 
 
 are 
 
UTOPIA. loi 
 
 are left to die in great mifery s And the- 
 richer fort are often endeavorirug to brings 
 the hire of Labourers lower, not only by 
 their fraudulent Praftices, but by the 
 Laws which they procure to be made to 
 that efied: : fo that tho it is a thing mofl: 
 injuft in it felf, to give fuch foiall Rewards 
 to thofe who deferve fo well of the Pub- 
 lick) yet they have given thefe hardftiips 
 the name and colour of Juftice , by 
 procuring Laws to be made for regula- 
 ting it. 
 
 Therefore I muft fay, that as I hope 
 for Mercy, I can have no other Notion of 
 all the other Governments that I fee or 
 know, than that they are a ConKpiracy of 
 the richer fort, who on pretence of ma* 
 naging the Publick, do only purfue their 
 private Ends, and devife all the ways and 
 arts that they can find out 5 firft,that they 
 may, without danger, prefcrve all that 
 they have fo ill acquired^ and then^ that 
 they may engage the poorer fort to toil 
 and labour for them, at as low rates as is 
 poffiblC) and opptefs them as much as 
 they pleafe : and if they can but prevail 
 togetthefo Contrivances eftabliflied, by 
 the (bow of Publick Authority^ which h 
 coniidered as the repreientative of the 
 
2ot Sir Thomas Morc'i 
 
 im ' I II II I I 11 
 
 whole People, then they are accounted 
 Laws : land yet thefe wicked Men after 
 they have, byamoft inlatiable covetouC- 
 ne(s, divided that among themfelves, with 
 which all the reft might have been well 
 lupplied, are far from that happinefi, 
 that is enjoyed among the Utopians : for 
 the u(e as well as the defire of Mony 
 being extinguifhed, there is much anxiety 
 and great occafions of Mifchief cut off 
 with it : and who does not fee that Frauds, 
 Thefts, Robberies, Quarrels, Tumults, 
 Contentions, Seditions, Murders, Trea- 
 cheries, and Witchcrafts, that are indeed 
 rather punifhed than reftrained by the 
 (everities of Law, would all fall ofi^ if 
 Mony were not any more valued by 
 the World? Mens Fears, Solicitude?, 
 Cares, Labours, and Watchings, would 
 all peri(h in the fime moment, that the 
 value of Mony did fink : even Poverty 
 it ikltf for the relief of which Mony 
 feems moft neceffary, would fall, if there 
 were no Mony in the World. And in 
 order to the apprehending this aright, take 
 one inftance. 
 
 Confider any Year that has been Co un- 
 fruitful, that many thoufands have died of 
 Hungerjand yet if at the end of that Year a 
 
 furvey 
 
UTOPIA. xoi 
 
 , — ;^ = — = ~ 1 
 
 fiirvey were made of theGranaries of all the 
 rich Men, that have hoarded up the Corn, 
 it would be found that there was enough 
 among them, to have prevented all that 
 confiimption of Men that pcriftied in that 
 Mifery : and that if it had been diftributed 
 among them, none would have felt the 
 terrible efFefts of that fcarcity 5, fo eafy a 
 thing would it be to fupply all the necef- 
 fitiesof Life, if that bleffed thing called 
 i^ony^ that is pretended to be invented 
 for procuring it, were not really the only 
 thing that obftrufted it. 
 
 I do not dpubt but rich Men are (en- 
 fible of this, and tliat they know well 
 how much a greater happinefi it were to />-~-^ 
 want nothing that were neceffary, than to \J^>3^ 
 ^ibound in many fuperfluities 3 and to be 
 refcued out of fo much Mifery, than to 
 abound with fo much Wealth : and I can- 
 not think but the fenfe of every Mans 
 Intereft, and the Authority of Chirft's 
 Commands, who as he was infinitely wife, 
 and fo knew what was beft, fo was no 
 kH good in difcovering it to us, would 
 have drawn all the World over to the 
 Laws of the Utopians^ if Pride^ that 
 plague of Humane Nature, that is the 
 fource of fo much mifery, did not hinder 
 
 P 2 it I 
 
^ Q4 Sir Thomas Merely 
 
 it ; which does not mqafure happinefs (b 
 much by its own conveniences, as by the 
 mifcfies of others 5 and would not be fa- 
 tisfied with being thought a Goddefs^ if 
 none were left that w^ere miferable, over 
 vvhom (he flight infult 5 and thinks its 
 own happinels fhines the brighter, by 
 comparing it v/ith the misfortunes of 
 other Perfons^ that fo by difplaying its 
 own Wealth, they may feel their Poverty 
 the more fenfibly. This is that infernal 
 Serpent that creeps into the Breads of 
 Mortals, and poflelfes them too much to 
 be eafily drawn out : and therefore I am 
 glad that the 'Utopians have fallen upon 
 |his Form of Government, in which I 
 wilh that all the World could be fo wife as 
 to iaVitate them : for they have indeed laid 
 ^.lown luch a Scheme and Foundation of 
 Poiicy, that as Men live happy under it, 
 16 it is like to be of great continuance : 
 for they having rooted out of the Minds 
 of their People, all the Seeds, both of 
 Ambition and Faxltion, there is no danger 
 of any Commotions at Home : v/hich 
 alone has been the ruin of many States, 
 that fcemed otherwife to be well (ecured , 
 but as long as they live in peace at home, 
 and are governed by fuch gnod Laws, 
 
 the 
 
UTOPIA. 205 
 
 the envy of all their Neighboring Princes^ 
 who have often aitemped their Ruin, but 
 in vain, will never be able to put their 
 ftate into any Commotion or Difordcir. 
 
 When Raphael had thus made an end of 
 fpeaking, tho many things occurred to 
 Hie, both concerning the Manners and 
 Laws of that People, that feemed very 
 abfurd, as well in their way of making 
 of War, as in their Notions of Religion^ 
 and Divine Matters 5 together with (everal 
 other Particulars, but chiefly that which 
 feemed the Foundation of all the reft, 
 their living in common, without any ufe 
 of Mony, by which all Nobility, Magni- 
 ficence, Splendour, and Majefty 3 whichi 
 according to the common Opinion, are 
 • the true Ornaments of a Nation, would 
 be quite taken away 5 Yet fince I fcrcd- 
 V€dth2it1^i0pbael was weary, and Iwa? 
 not fure whether he could eafily bear con- 
 tradiftion in thefe Matters, remembring 
 that he had taken notice of fome, who 
 feemed to think that theyVwere bound in 
 honour for fupporting the credit of their 
 own Wifdom, to find out fome matter of 
 cenfure in all other Mens Inventions, 
 befides their own 5 therefore I only com- 
 mended their Conftitution, and the ac- 
 
 P 3 count 
 
to6 Sir Thomas MoreV, Sec. 
 
 count Che had given of it in general 5 and 
 £>;taki0g him by the hand, I carried him to 
 (apper,and told him I would find out (bme 
 other time for examining that matter more 
 particularly, and for difcourfing more 
 copioufly concerning it 5 for which I wi(h 
 I may find a good opportunity. In the 
 raean while, tho I cannot perfeftly agree 
 to every thing that was related by Ku" 
 phael, yet there are many things in the 
 O)mmon- Wealth of Vtopia , that I ra- 
 ther wi(h than hope to fee followed in 
 our Governments ^ tho it muft be con* 
 fefled, that he is both a very learned Man, 
 and has had a great pradice in the 
 World. 
 
 J 
 
 FINIS, 
 
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