good Prince hath justly published or else the people neither oppressed with tyrannie neither deceived by fraud and guile hath by their common consent constituted and ratified concerning the petition of the commodity of life that is to say the matter of pleasure These lawes not offended it is wisdome that thou looke to thine owne wealth And doe the same for the common wealth is no lesse then thy duty â—f thou bearest any reverent love or any naturall zeale and affection to thy natiue Country But to goe about to let another man of his pleasure whiles thou procurest thine owne that is open wrong Contrariwise to with-draw something from thy selfe to giue to other that is a point of humanity and gentlenesse which never taketh away so much commodity as it bringeth againe For it is recompenced with the returne of benefits and the conscience of the good deed with the remembrance of the thankfull love and benevolence of them to whom thou hast done it doth bring more pleasure to thy mind then that which thou hast with-holden from thy selfe could have brought to thy body Finally which to a godly disposed and a religious mind is easie to be perswaded God recompenseth the gift of a short and small pleasure with great and everlasting joy Therefore the matter diligently weighed and considered thus they thinke that all our actions and in them the vertues themselves be referred at the last to pleâ—sure as their end and felicity Pleasure they call every motion and state of the body or mind wherein man hath naturally delectation Appetite thâ—y joyne to nature and that â—ot without a good cause For like as not onely the senses but also â—ight reason coveteth whatsoever is naturally pleasant so that it may be gotten without wrong or injury not letting or debarring a greater pleasure nor causing painfull labour even so those things that men by vaine imagination doe faine against nature to be pleasant as though it lay in their power to change the things as they doe the names of things all such pleasures they beleeve to be of so small helpe and furtherance to felicity that they count them a great let and hinderance Because that in whom they have once taken place all his mind they possesse with a false opinion of pleasure So that there is no place left for true and naturall delectations For there be many things which of their owne nature containe no pleasantnesse yea the most part of them much griefe and sorrow And yet through the perverse and malicious flickering inticements of lewd and honest desires be taken not onely for speciall and soveraigne pleasures but also be counted among the chiefe causes of life In this counterfeit kind of pleasure they put them that I spâ—ke of before Which the better gownes they have on the better men they thinke themselves In the which thing they doe twise erâ—e â—â—â— they be no lesse deceived iâ— that they thinke their gowne the better then they be in that they thinke themselves the better For if you consider the profiâ—â—ble use of the garment why should wooll of a fiâ—er spunne â—…eed be thought better then the wooll of a course spunne â—â—â—eed Yet they as though the one did passe the other by nature and not by their mistaking advance themselves and thinke the price of their owne persons therby greatly mereased And therefore the honor which in a course gowne they durst not have loâ—ked for they require as it were of duty for their finer gownes sake And if they be passed without reverence they take it displeasantly and disdainfully And againe is it not alike madnesse to take a pride in vaine and unprofitable honours For what naturall or true pleasure doest thou take of another mans bare head or bowed knees Will this case the paine of thy knees or remedy the phrensie of thy head In this image of counterfeit pleasure they be of marvailous madnesse which for the opinion of Nobility rejoyce much in their owne conceit Because was their fortune to come of such ancestors whose stocke of long time had beene counted rich for now nobility is nothing else specially rich in lands And though their Ancestors left them not one foot of land or else they themselves have pissed it against the walls yet they thinke themselve nor the lesse noble therefore of one haire In this number also they count them that take pleasure and delight as I said in gemmes and precious stones and thinke themselues almost gods if they chance to get an excellent one specially of that kind which in that time of their own Countreymen is had in highest estimation For one kind of stone keepeth not his price still in all countries and at all times Nor they buy them not but taken out of the gold and bare no nor so neither untill they haue made the seller to sweare that hee will warrant and assure it to be a true stone and no counterfeit gemme Such care they take least a counterfeit stone should deceiue their eyes in stead of a right stone But why shouldest thou not take even as much pleasure in beholding a counterfeit stone which thine eye cannot discerne from a right stone They should both be of like value to thee even as to the blind man What shall I say of them that keepe superfluous riches to take delectation onely in the beholding and not in the vse or occupying thereof Dâ—e they take true pleasure or else be they deceived with false pleasure Or of them that be in a contrary vice hiding the gold which they shall neither occuupy nor peradventure never see him more And whiles they take care least they shall leese doe leese it indeede For what is it else when they hide it in the ground taking it both from their owne vse and perchance from all other mens also And yet thou when thou hast hid thy treasure as one out of all care hopest for joy The which treasure if it should chance to bee stollen and thou ignorant of the theft shouldest dye tenne yeares after all that ten yeares thoâ— liuedst after thy money was stollen what matter was it to thee whether it had beene taken away or else safe as thou leftest it Truly both wayes like profit came to thee To these so foolish pleasures they joyne Dicers whose madnesse they know by heare-say and not by use Hunters also Hawkers For what pleasure is there say they in casting the Dice upon a table Which thou hast done so often that if there were any pleasure in it yet the oft use might make thee weary thereof Or what delight can there be and not rather displeasure in hearing the barking howling of dogs Or what greater pleasure is there to be felt when a Dog followeth an Hare then when a Dog followeth a dogge For one thing is done in both that is to say running if thou hast pleasure therein But if the hope of
then why may not this extreame and rigorous justice well be called plaine injury For so cruell governance so straight rules and unmercifull lawes be not allowable that if a small offence be committed by and by the sword should be drawne Nor so stoicall ordinances are to be borne withall as to count all offences of such equality that the killing of a man or the taking of his money from him were both a matter and the one no more heinous offence then the other betweene the which two if we haue any respect to equity no similitude or equality consisteth God commandeth vs that we shall not kill And be we then so hasty to kill a man for taking a little money And if a man would understand killing by this commandement of God to be forbidden after no larger wise then mans constitutions define killing to be lawfull then why may it not likewise by mans constitutions be determined after what sort whoredome fornication and perjury may be lawfull For whereas by the permission of God no man neither hath power to kill neither himselfe noâ— yet any other man then if a law made by the consent of men concerning slaughter of men ought to be of such strength force and vertue that they which contrary to the commandement of God haue killed those whom this constitution of man commanded to be killed be cleane quit exempt out of the bonds danger of Gods coÌ„mandement shall it not then by this reason follow that the power of Gods commandement shall extend no further then mans law doth define and permit And so shall it come to passe that in like manner mans constitutions in all things shall determine how farre the observation of all Gods commandements shall extend To be short Moses Law though it were ungentle and sharpe as a law that was given to bondmen yea and them very obstinate stubborne and stiffe-necked yet it punished theft by the purse and not with death And let vs not thinke that God in the new law of clemency and mercy under the which he ruleth vs with fatherly gentlenesse as his deare children hath given vs greater scope and licence to the execution of cruelty one vpon another Now you haue heard the reasons whereby I am perswaded that this punishment is unlawfull Furthermore I thinke that there is no body that knoweth not how unreasonable yea how pernitious a thing it is to the Weale publike that a theefe and an homicide or murtherer should suffer equall and like punishment For the theefe seeing that man that is condemned for theft in no lesse â—eopardy nor judged to no lesse punishment then him that is convict of manslaughter through this cogitation onely he is strongly and forcibly provoked and in a manner constrained to kill him whom else he would haue but robbed For the murder being once done he is in leâ—â—â—â—eare and in more hope that the â—â—â—â— shall not be bewrayed or knowne seeing the party is now dead and â—id out of the way which onely might haue vttâ—â—â—â— and disclosed it But if he 〈…〉 and dâ—sâ—â—iâ—◠〈…〉 more danger and jeopardie then if he had committed but single fellony Therefore while we goe about with such cruelty to make theeues afraid we provoke them to kill good men Now as touching this question what punishment were more commodious and better that truly in my judgement is easier to be found then what punishment might be worse For why should we doubt that to be a good and a profitable way for the punishment of offendors which we know did in times past so long please the Romanes men in the administration of a Weale publike most expert politique and cunning Such as among them were convict of great and heynous trespasses them they condemne into stone quarries and into mines to digge mettall there to be kept in chaines all the daye of their life But as concerning this matter I allow the ordinance of nation so well as that which I saw whiles I travelled abroad about the world vsed in Persia among the people that commonly be called the Polylerites whose land is both large and ample and also well and wittily governed and the people in all conditions free and ruled by their owne lawes saving that they pay a yearely tribute to the great King of Persia But because they be farre from the Sea compassed and inclosed almost round about with high mountaines and doe content themselues with the fruits of their owne land which is of it selfe very fertill and fruitfull for this cause neither they goe to other Countries nor other come to them And according to the old custome of the Land they desire not to enlarge the bounds of their Dominions and those that they haue by reason of the high hills be easily defended and the tribute which they pay to their chiefe Lord and King setteth them quit and free from warfare Thus their life is commodious rather then gallant and may better be called happy or wealthy then notable and famous For they be not knowne as much as by name I suppose saving onely to their next neighbour and borders They that in this Land be attained and convict of Fellony make restitution of that which they stole to the right owner and not as they doe in other lands to the King whom they thinke to haue no more right to the theefe-stollen thing then the theefe himselfe hath But if the thing be lost or made away then the value of it is paid of the goods of such offenders which else remaineth all whole to their wiues and children And they themselues be coÌ„demned to be coÌ„mon labourers and unlesse the theft be very hainous they be neither locked in prison nor fettered in gyues but be vnited and goe at large labouring in the common workes They that refuse labour or goe slowly or slacke to their worke be not only tyed in chaines but also pricked forward with stripes But being diligent about their worke they liue without checke or rebuke Every night they be called in by name and be locked in their chambers Beside their daily labour their life is nothing hard or incommodious their fare is indifferent good borne at the charges of the Weale publike because they be common servants to the Common-wealth But their charges in all places of the land is not borne alike For in some parts that which is bestowed vpon them is gathered of almes And though that way be vncertaine yet the people be so full of mercy and pitty that none is found more profitable or plentifull In some places certaine Ladies be appointed hereunto of the revenues whereof they be maintained And in some places every man giveth a certaine tribute for the same vse and purpose Againe in some part of the land these Servingmen for so be these damned persons called doe not common worke but as every private man needeth labours so he commeth into the market-place and there
hireth some of them for meat and drinke and a certaine limited wages by the day somewhat cheaper then he should hire a free-man It is also lawfull for them to chastice the slouth of these servingmen with stripes By this meanes they never lacke worke and besides the gaining of their meat and drink every one of them bringeth daily something into the common Treasury All and every one of them be apparelled in one colour Their heads be not poled or shaven but rounded a little aboue the eares And the tip of the one eare is cut off Every one of them may take meate and drinke of their friends and also a coat of their owne colour but to receiue money is death aswell to the giver as to the receiver And no lesse jeopardy it is for a freeman to receiue money of a servingman for any manner of cause and likewise for serving-men to touch weapons The servingmen of every severall shiere be distinct and knowne from other by their severall and distinct badges which to cast away is death as it is also to be seene out of the precinct of their owne shiere or to talke with a servingman of another shiere And it is no lesse danger to them for to intend to runne away then to doe it indeed Yea and to conceale such an enterprise in a servingman it is death in a free man seruitude Of the contrary part to him that openeth and vttereth such counsels be decreed large gifts to a Freeman a great summe of money to a Serving-man freedome and to them both forgivenesse and pardon of that they were of counsell in that pretence So that it can never be so good for them to goe forward in their evill purpose as by repentance to turne backe This is the Law and order in this behalfe as I haue shewed you Wherein what humanity is vsed how farre it is from cruelty and how commodious it is you doe plainly perceiue For as much as the end of their wrath and punishment intendeth nothing else but the destruction of vices and saving of men with so vsing and ordering them that they cannot chuse but be good and what harme soever they did before in the residue of their life to make amends for the same Moreover it is so little feared that they should turne againe to their vicious conditions that way-faring men will for their safeguard choose them to their guides before any other in every shiere changing and taking new For if they would commit robbery they haue nothing about them meete for that purpose They may touch no weapons money found about them should betray the robbery They should be no sooner taken with the manner but forthwith they should be punished Neither can they haue any hope at all to scape away by flying For how should a man that in no part of his apparell is like other men flye privily and vnknowne vnlesse he would runne away naked Howbeit so also flying he should be descriâ—d by the rounding of his head and his câ—re-marke But it is a thing to be doubted that they will lay their heads together and conspire against the Weale publike No no I warrant you For the Servingmen of one shiere alone could never hope to bring to passe such an enterprise without solyciting entising and alluring the Servingmen of many other shâ—eres to take their parts Which thing is to them so impossible that they may not as much as speake or talke together or salute one another No it â—â— not to be thought that they would make their owne Countrymen and companions of their counsell in such a matter which they know well should be jeopardy to the concealor thereof and great commodity and goodnesse to the opener and detector of the same Whereas on the other part there is none of them all hopelesse or in despaire to recover againe his former estate of freedome by humble obedience by patient suffering and by giving good tokens and likelihood of himselfe that he will ever after that liue like a true and an honest man For every yeare divers of them be restored to their freedome through the commendation of patience When I had thus spoken saying moreover that I could see no cause why this order might not be had in England with much more profit then the Iustice with the Lawyer so highly praised Nay quoth the Lawyer this could never be â—o stablished in England but that it must needs bring the Weale publike into great jeopardy and hazard And as he was thus saying he shaked his head and made a wry mouth and so he held his peace And all that were present with one assent agreed to his saying Well quoth the Cardinall yet it were hard to judge with out a proofe whether this order would doe well here or no. But when the sentence of death is given if then the King should command execution to be referred and spared and would prove this order and fashion taking away the priviledge of Sanctuaries if then the proofe should declare the thing to be good and profitable then it were well done that it were stablished Else then condemned and reprived persons may as well be put to death after this proofe as when they were first cast Neither any jeopardy can in the meane space grow hereof Yea and me thinketh that these Vagabonds may very well be ordered after the same fashion against whom we have hitherto made so many lawes and so little prevailed When the Cardinall had thus said then every man gaue great praise to my sayings which a little before they had disallowed But most of all was esteemed that which was spoken of Vagabonds because it was the Cardinals addition I cannot tell whether it were best to rehearse the communication that followed for it was not very sad But yet you shall heare it for there was no evill in it and partly it pertained to the matter before-said There chanced to stand by a certaine jeasting Parasite or scoffer which would seeme to resemble and counterfeit the foole But he did in such wise counterfet that he was almost the very same indeed that he laboured to present he so studied with words and sayings brought forth so out of time and place to make sport and more laughter that he himselfe was oftner laughed at then his jeasts were Yet the foolish fellow brought out now and then such indifferent and reasonable stuffeâ— that he made the Proverbe true which saith He that shooteth oft at the last shall hâ—â— the marke So that when one of the company said that through my communication a good order was found for Theeues and that the Cardinall also had well provided for Vagabonds so that onely remained some good provision to be made for them that through sicknesse and age were fallen into poverty and were become so impotent and vnweldy that they were not able to worke for their living Tush quoth he let me alone with them you shall see me doe
whom the things is given but those Cities that have given of their store to any other City that lacketh requiring nothing againe of the same City doe take such things as they lack of another City to the which they gaue nothing So the whole Iland is as it were one family or houshold But when they have made sufficient provision of store for themselves which they thinke not done vntill they haue provided for two yeares following because of the vncertainty of the next years proofe then of those things whereof they have abundance they carry forth into other Countries great plenty as Grayne honey wool flaxe wood maddâ—â— purple died felles waxe tallow leather and living Beasts And the seaventh part of all these things they giue franckly and freely to the poore of that Country The residue they sell at a reasonable and meane price By this meanes of traâ—â—â—que or marchandise they bring into their owne countrey nor onely great plenty of gold and silver but also all such things as they lacke at home which is almost nothing but Iron And by reason they haue long vsed this trade now they haue more abundance of these things then any man will beleeue Now therefore they care not whether they sell for ready money or else upon trust to be paid at a day and to have the most part in debts But in so doing they never follow the credence of private men but the assurance or warrantise of the whole City by instruments and writings made in that behalfe accordingly When the day of payment is come and expired the City gathereth up the debt of the private debtors and putteth it into the common boxe and so long hath the use and profit of it untill the Vtopians their creditors demand it The most part of it they never aske For that thing which is to them is no profit to take it from other to whom it is profitable they think it no right nor conscience But if the case so stand that they must lend part of that money to another people then they require their debt or when they have warre For the which purpose onely they keepe at home all the â—â—eaâ—â—re which they have to be holpen and succoured by it either in extreame jeopardies or in suddaine dangers But especially and chiefly to hire therewith and that for unreasonable great wages strange Soldiers For they had rather put Strangers in jeopardy then their owne Country-men knowing that for money enough their enemies themselves maâ—y times may be bought and sold or else through treason be set together by the eares among themselves For this cause they keepe an inestimable treasure But yet not as a treasure But so they haue it and vse it as in good faith I am ashamed to shew fearing that mywordes shall not bee beleeved And this I haue more cause to feare for that I know how difficulty and hardly I my selfe would haue beleeved another man telling the same if I had not presently seene it with mine eyes For it must needes be that how far a thing is dissonant and disagreeing from the guise trade of the hearers so farre shall it be out of their beleefe Howbeit a wise and indifferent esteemer of things will not greatly meruaile perchance seeing all their other lawes and customes doe so much differ from ours if the vse also of gold and silver among them be applied rather to their owne fashions then to ours I meane in that they occupy-not money themselves but keepe it for that chance which as it may happen so it may be that it shall never come to passe In the mean time gold and silver whereof money is made they doe so vse as none of them doth more esteeme it then the very nature of the thing deserveth And then who doth not plainly see how farre it is vnder Iron as without the which men can no better liue then without fire and water Whereas to gold and silver nature hath given no vse that we may not well lacke if that the folly of men had not set it in higher estimation for the rarenesse sake But of the contrary part nature as a most tender and louing mother hath placed the best and necessary things open abroad as the ayre the water and the earth it selfe And hath remooved and hid farthest from vs vaine and vnprofitable things Therefore if these mettals among them should be fast locked vp in some Tower it might be suspected that the Prince and the Counsell as the people is ever foolishly imagining intended by some subtilty to deceiue the Commons and to take some profit of it to themselves Furthermore if they should make thereof plate and such other finely cunningly wrought stuffe if at any time they should have occasion to breake it and melt it againe therewith to pay their souldiours wages they see and perceive very well that men would be loth to part from those things that they once began to have pleasure and delight in To remedy all this they have found out a means well as it is agreable to all their other lawes and customes so it is from ours where gold is so much set by and so diligently kept very farre discripant and repugâ—â—â—t and therefore uncredible but only to them that be wise For whereas they eate and drinke in earthen and glasse veslels which indeed be curiously and properly made and yet be of very small value of gold and silver they make chamber-pots and other veslels that serve for most vile vseâ— not only in their common halâ— but â—â— every mans private house I â—…more or the same 〈…〉 they make great chaine sâ—â—â—â— and gyues wherein they â—â—â— their bond-men Finally whosoever for a â—â—â—â—â—sence be â—â—â—â—med by their 〈…〉 â—ang â—â—â—g or gold vpon their fâ—â—gers they weare rings of gold and about their necke 〈…〉 of â—…d in conclusion then 〈…〉 tied with gold Thus by â—â—â—â—eanes pâ—â—â—â—ble they pâ—oâ—ure to have gold and 〈…〉 among them 〈…〉 and 〈…〉 And these mettals which other Nations doe as grievously and sorrowfully soregoe as in a manner their owne lives if they should altogether at once be taken from the 〈◊〉 no man there would thinke that he had lost the worth of one fâ—rthing They gather also pearles by the sea sidâ— and Dâ—â—â—onds and Carbunâ—lâ—â— upon certaine Rocke and yet they sâ—â—ke â—â—â— for them but by chance finding them they â—ut and polish them And therewith they deck their young Infants Which like as in the first yeares of their childe hood they make much and 〈…〉 and proud of such 〈◊〉 so when they be a little â—ore growne in yeareâ— and disâ—retioâ— perceiue that â—oâ—e but children doe weare such tâ—ye and trifles they â—â—â— them away even of theâ—… shame astnesse without 〈◊〉 â—â—dding of their 〈…〉 our children when they waxe bigge doe cast away nuttes brouches and puppets Therefore these lawes and custome which be so far different from all
equall to our old and ancient Clarkes so our â—ew 〈…〉 in subtill inventioâ—… have farre passed and gone beyond them For they have not devised one of all those rules of restrictions amplifications very wittily invented in the small Logicals which heere our Children in every place doe learne Furthermore they were never yet able to finde out the second inventions Insomuch thaâ— none of them could ever see man himselfe in common as they call him though he be as you know bigger then ever was any Giant yeâ— and pointed to of us even with our finger But they be in the course of the Starres and the movingâ— of the heavenly â—pâ—â—ares very expert and â—…ng They have also 〈◊〉 exâ—ogitated and devised Instruments of divers 〈…〉 wherein is exactly comprehended and contaâ—â—ed the movingâ— and 〈…〉 or the Sunne the Moone and of all the other Starres which appeare in 〈…〉 Horizon But 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 and dâ—… of 〈…〉 Planets and all that deceitfull divination of the Starres they never as much as dreamed thereof Raines windes and other courses of tempests they know before by certaine tokens which they have learned by long use and observation But of the causes of all these things and of the â—â—bbing and flowing and saltâ—â—â—â—ie of the Sea and finally of the originall beginning and naâ—â—â—e oâ— heaven and of the world they â—â—lâ— parâ—ly the sâ—me opinious that our old Philosophers hold and partly as our Philosophers vary among themselves so they also whâ—les they bring new reasons of things doe disagree from all them and yet among themselves in all points they doe not accord In that Philosophy which which intreateth of manners and vertue theâ—â— reasons and opinions â—gree with our They dispure of the good qualities of the Soule of the body and of fortune And whether the name of goodnesse may be â—pplied to all these or onely to the endowments and guirt of the soule They reason of vertue and pleasure But the chiefe and principall question is iâ— what thing be it one or more the felicity oâ— man consisteth But in this point they seeme almost too much given and inclined to 〈…〉 opinion of them which deâ—end pleasure wherein they determine either all or the chiefest part of mans felicity to reâ—t And which is mâ—â—â— to be â—â—â—vâ—â—â—ed at the defence of this so dâ—…y and 〈…〉 an opinion they fetch even from their graâ—e sharpe bitter and â—â—gorous religion For they never dispute of felicity or blessednesse but they joyne unto the reasons of Philosophy certaine principles taken out of religion without the which to the investigation of true fâ—… thâ—y thinke reason of it selfe weake and unperfect Those principles be these and such like That the soule is immortall and by the bountifull goodnesse of GOD ordained to felicity That to our vertues and good deeds rewards be appointed after this life and to our evill deeds punishments Though these be pertaining to religion yet they thinke it meet that they should be beleeved and granted by proves of reason But â—â— these principles were condemned and disanulled then without any delay they pronounce no man to be so foolish which would not doe â—ll his diligence and endevor to obtaine pleasure be it right or wrong only avoiding this inconvenience that the lesse pleasure should not be a let or hinderance to the bigger or that he laboured not for that pleasure which would bring after it displeasure griefe and sorrow For they judge it extreame madnesse to follow sharpe and painfull vertue and not onely to banish the pleasure of life but also willingly to suffer griefe without any hope of profit thereof ensuing For what profit can there be if a man when he hath paâ—â—ed over all his life unpleasantly that is to say miserably shall have no reward after his death But â—ow sir they thinke not felicity to rest in all pleasure but onely in that pleasure that is good and honest and that hereto as to perfect blessednesse our nature is allured and drawne even of vertue whereto onely they that be of the contrary opinion doe attribute felicity For they deâ—â—ne vertue to be life ordered according to Nature and that we be hereunto ordained of God And that he dâ—th follow the couâ—â—e of nature which in desiâ—ing and refusing thingâ— is ruled by reason Furthermore the reason 〈…〉 and prinâ—… the loâ—â— â—â—d veneration of the divine Mâ—â—â—ty Or whose goodnesse it is â—â—at we be and that wee be â—n possibility to attaine felicity And that secondaâ—â—ly it both stirâ—â—th and provoketh us to lead â—ur life out of câ—re in joy and â—…h and also moveth us to 〈…〉 and further all other in reâ—pâ—â—â— of the society of nature to 〈…〉 and eâ—joy the same For 〈…〉 â—ever man so earnest 〈…〉 â—â—lloâ—er of veâ—…e 〈…〉 pleasuâ—â— that would sâ— enjoyne your labours watchings and fastings but hee would also exhort you to â—aâ—e â—gâ—…n reâ—â—eve to your power the lâ—â—ke and misery of others prâ—isâ—â—g the same aâ—â— deed of humanity and pitty Then iâ— it be a point of humanity for man to â—â—ing health and comfort to man and specially which is a vertue most peculiarly belonging to man to â—â—itigâ—te and assâ—â—ge the griefe of others and by taking from them the sorrow and heavinesse of life to restore them to joy that is to say to pleasure which may it not then be said that nature doth provoke every man to doe the same to himselfe For a joyfull life that is to say a pleasant life is either evill and if it be so then thou shouldest not onely helpe no man thereto but rather as much as in thee lyeth withdraw all men from it as noysome and hurtfull or else if thou not onely must but also of duty art bound to procure it to others why not chiefly to thy selfe To whom thou art bound to shew as much favour and gentlenesse as to other For when nature biddeth thee to be good and gentle to other she commandeth thee not to be cruell and ungentle to thy selfe Therefore even very nature say they prescribeth vs to a joyfull life that is to say pleasure as the end of all our operations And they define vertue to be life ordered according to the prescript of nature But in that that nature doth all are and provoke men one to helpe another to live merrily which surely she doth not without a good cause for no man is farre above the lot of mans state or condition that nature doth carke and care for him onely which equally favoureth all that he comprehended vnder the communion of one shape forme and fashion verily she commandeth them to vse diligent circumspection that thou doe not seeke for thine owne commodities that thou procure others incommodities Wherefore their opinion is that not onely covenants and bargaines made among private men ought to be well and faithfully followed observed and kept but also common lawes which either a
bound downe on every side with many bands because it shall not run at rovers The other a princely vertue which like as it is of much higher Majesty then the other poore justice so also it is of much more liberty as to the which nothing is unlawfull that it hâ—steth after These manners of Princes as I said which be there so evill keepers of leagues cause the Vtopians as I suppose to make no leagues at all which perchance would change their mind if they lived here Howbeit they thinke that though leagues be never so faithfully observed and kept yet the custome or making leagues was very evill begun For this causeth men as though nations which be separate a sunder by the space of a little hill or River were coupled together by no society or bond of nature to thinke themselves borne adversaries and enemies one to another and that it were lawfull for the one to seeke the death and destruction of the other if leagues were not yea and that after the leagues be accorded friendship doth not grow and increase But the licence of robbing and stealing doth still remaine as faire forth as for lacke of fore-sight and advisement in writing the words of the league any sentence or clause to the contrary is not therein sufficiently comprehended But they be of a contrary opinion That is that no man ought to be counted an enemy which hath done no injury And that the fellowship of nature is a strong league and that men be better and more surely knit together by love and benevolence then by covenants of leagues by hearty affection of mind then by words Of War-fare VVArre or Battaile as a thing very beastly and yet no kind of beasts in so much vse as to man they doe detest and abhorre And contrary to the custome almost of all other nations they count nothing so much against glory as glory gotten in warre And therefore though they doe daily practice and exercise themselves in the discipline of warre not only the men but also the women vpon certaine appointed dayes least they should be to seek in the feat of armes if need should require yet they never goe to battaile but either in the defence of their owne Country or to drive out of their friends Land the enemies that have invaded it or by the power to deliver from the yoake and bondage of Tyrannie some people that be therewith oppressed Which thing they doe of meere pitty and compassion Howbeit they send helpe to their friends not ever in their defence but sometimes also to requite and revenge injuries before to them done But this they doe not vnlesse their counsell and advise in the matter be asked whiles it is yet new and fresh For if they find the cause probable and if the contrary part will not restoreagaine such things as be of them justly demanded then they be the chiefe authors and makers of the warre Which they doe not onely as oft as by â—â—rodes and invosions of souldiers preyes and booties be driven but then also much more mortally when their friends marchants in any land either vnder the pretence of vnjust lawes or else by the wresting and wrong vnderstanding of good lawes doe sustaine an vnjust accusation vnder the colour of justice Neither the battaile which the Vtopians fought for the Nephelogetes against the Alaopolitanes a little before our time was made for any other cause but that the Nephelogete marchant men as the Vtopians thought suffered wrong of the Alaopolitans vnder the pretence of right But whether it were right or wrong it was with so cruell and mortall warre revenged the Countries round about joyning their helpe and power to the puissance and malice of both parties that most flourishing and wealthy peoples being some of them shrewdly shaken and some of them sharply beaten the mischiefes were not finished nor ended vntill the Alaopolitans at the last were yeelded vp as bondmen into the jurisdiction of the Nephelogetes For the Vtopians fought not this warre for themselves And yet the Nephelogetes before the warre when the Alaopolitanes flourished in wealth were nothing to be compared with them So eagerly the Vtopians prosecute the injuries done to their friends yea in money matters and not their owne likewise For if they by covine or gâ—â—le be wiped beside their goods so that no violence be done to their bodies they ease their anger by abstaining from occupying with that nation untill they have made satisfaction Not for because they set lesse store by their owne Citizens then by their friends but that they take the losse of their friends money more heavily then the losse of their owne Because that their friends Merchant men for as much as that the losse is their owne private goods sustaine great damage by the losse But their own Citizens lose nothing but of the common goods and of that which was at home plentifull and almost superfluous else had it not beene sent forth Therefore no man feeleth the losse And for this cause they thinke it too cruell an act to revenge the losse with the death of man the incommodity of the which losse no man feeleth neither in his life nor yet in his living But if it chance that any of their men be in any other Country be maimed or killed whether it be done by a common or a private Councell knowing and trying out the truth of the matter by their Ambassadours unlesse the offendors be rendered unto them in recompence of the injury they will not be appeased but incontinent they proclaime Warre against them The offendors yeelded they punish either with death or with bondage They be not onely sory but also ashamed to atchieve the victory with bloodshed counting it great folly to buy precious wares too deare They rejoyce and avant themselves if they vanquish and oppresse their enemy by craft and deceit And for that act they make a generall triumph and as if the matter were manfully handled they set vp a pillar of stone in the place where they so vanquished their enemies in token of their victory For then they glory then they boast and crack that they haue plaied the men indeed when they haue so overcome as no other living creature but only man could that is to say by the might and puissance of wit For with bodily strength say they Beares Lions Boares wolfes dogs and other wild beasts doe fight And as the most paâ—t of them doe passe vs in strength and fierce courage so in wit reason we be much stronger then they all Their chiefe principall purpose in war is to obtaine that thing which if they had before obtained they would not haue mooved battaile But if that be not possible they take such cruell vengeance of them which be in the fault that ever after they be affraid to doe the like This is their chiefe and principall intent which they immediatly and first of all prosecute and set forward But yet so
of men But this unhurtfull and harmelesse kind of worship pleaseth them And by these sweet savours and lights and other such ceremonies men feele themselves secretly lifted vp and incouraged to devotion with more willing and fervent hearts The people weareth in the Church white apparell The Priest is cloathed in changeable colours which in workmanship be excellent but in stuffe not very precious For their vestments be neither imbrodered with gold nor set with precious stones But they be wrought so finely and cunningly with divers feathers of fowles that the estimation of no earthly stuffe is able to countervaile the price of the work Furthermore in these birds feathers and in the due order of them which is observed in their setting they say is contained certaine divine mysteries The interpretation whereof knowne which is diligently taught by the Priests they be out in remembrance of the bountifull benefits of God toward them and of the loue and honour which of their behalfe is due to God and also of their duties one toward another When the Priest first commeth out of the Vestry thus apparelled they fall downe incontinent every one reverently to the ground with so still silence that the very fashioÌ„ of the thing striketh into them a certaine feare of God as though he were there personally present When they haue lâ—en a little space on the ground the Priest giveth them a signe to rise Then they sing praises vnto God which they intermixe with instruments of musicke for the most part of other fashions then-these that we vse in this part of the world And like as some of ours be much sweeter then theirs so some of theirs doe far passe ours But in one thing doubtlesse they goe exceeding farre beyond vs. For all their musicke both that they play vpon instruments and that they sing with mans voice doth so resemble and expresse naturall affections the sound and tune is so applied and made agreeable to the thing that whether it be a prayer or else a duty of gladnesse of patience of trouble of mourning or of anger the fashion of the melody doth so represent the meaning of the thing that it doth wonderfully move stirre pierce and enflame the hearers minds At the last the people and the Priest together rehearse solemne prayers in words expressely pronounced so made that every man may privately apply to himselfe that which is commonly spoken of all In these prayers every man recogniseth and knowledgeth God to be his maker his governor and the principall cause of all other goodnesse thanking him for so many benefits received at his hand But namely that through the favour of God he hath chanced into that publike weale which is most happy and wealthy and hath chosen that religion which he hopeth to be most true In the which thing if he doe any thing erre or if there be any other better then either of them is being more acceptable to God he desireth him that he will of his goodnes let him have knowledge thereof as one that is ready to follow what way soever he will lead him But if this forme and fashion of a Common-wealth be best and his owne religion most true and pefect then he desireth GOD to give him a constant stedfastnesse in the same and to bring all other people to the same order of living and to the same opinion of God unlesse there be any thing that in this diversity of Religions doth delight his unsearchable pleasure To be short he prayeth him that after his death he may come to him But how soone or late that he dare not assigne nor determine How beit if it might stand with his Majesties pleasure he would be much gladder to die a painfull death and so to goe to GOD then by long living in worldly prosperity to be away from him When this prayer is said they fall down to the ground againe and a little after they rise vp and goe to dinner And the residue of the day they passe over in playes and exercise of chiualry Now I haue declared and prescribed unto you as truely as I could the forme and order of that Common-wealth which verily in my judgement is not onely the best but also that which alone of good right may claime and take vpon it the name of a Common-welth or publike weal. For in other places they speake still of the Common wealth But every man procureth his owne private gaine Here where nothing is private the common affaires be earnestly looked vpon And truly on both parts they have good cause so to doe as they doe For in other Countries who knoweth not that he shall starve for hunger unlesse he make some severall provision for himselfe though the Common wealth flourish never so much in riches And therefore he is compelled even of very necessity to haue regard to himselfe rather then to the people that is to say to others Contrariwise there where all things be common to every man it is not to be doubted that any man shall lacke any thing necessary for his private vses so that the common store houses and barnes be sufficiently stored For there nothing is destributed after a niggish sort neither there is any poore man or begger And though no man have any thing yet every man is rich For what can be more rich then to live joyfull and merrily without all griefe and pensivenesse Not caring for his owne living nor vexed or troubled with his wifes importunate complaints nor dreading poverty to his sonne nor sorrowfull for his daughters dowry Yea they take no care at all for the living and wealth of themselves and all theirs and their wives their children their nephewes their childrens children and all the succession that ever shall follow in their posterity And yet besides this there is no lesse provision for them that were once labourers and be now weake and impotent then for them that doe now labour and take paine Here now would I see If any man dare be so bold as to compare with the equity the justice of other Nations Among whom I forsake GOD if I can find any signe or token of equity and justice For what justice is this that a rich Gold-smith or an Vsurer or to be short any of them which either doe nothing at all or else that which they do is such that it is not very necessary to the Common-wealth should have a pleasant and a wealthy living either by idlenesse or by unnecessary businesse When in the meane time poore labourers Carters yron smiths Carpenters and ploughmen by so great and continuall toyle as drawing and bearing beasts be scant able to sustaine and again so necessary toyle that without it no Common-wealth were able to continue and endure one yeare should yet get so hard and poore a living and live so wretched and miserable a life that the state and condition of the labouring beast may seeme much better and wealthier For they be not put