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
that tarried behind in Gulicke began by little and little through farre and gentle speech to winne the love and favour of the people of that Country insomuch that within short space they did dwell among them not onely harmelesse but also occupying with them familiarly He told vs also that they were in high reputation and favour with a certaine great man whose name and Countrey is now quite out of my remembrance which of his meere liberality did beare the costs and charges of him and his fiue companions And besides that gaue them a trusty guide to conduct them in their journey which by water was in Boats and by land in Wagons and to bring them to other Princes with very friendly commendations Thus after many dayes journies he said they found Townes and Cities and Weale publiques full of people governed by good and wholsome Lawes for under the line Equinoctiall and on both sides of the same as farre as the Sunne doth extend his course lyeth quoth he great and wide Desarts and Wildernesses parched burned and dried vp with continuall and intollerable heate All things be hideous terrible loathsome and unpleasant to behold All things out of fashion and comelinesse inhabited with wilde Beasts and Serpents or at the least-wise with people that be no lesse savage wild and noysome then the very Beasts themselues be But a little farther beyond that all things begin by little and little to waxe pleasant The Ayre soft temperate and gentle the ground covered with greene grasâ—â— lesse wildnesse in the Beasts At the last shall yee come to people Cities and Townes wherein is continuall entercourse and occupying of merchandize and chaffare not onely among themselues and with their Borderers but also with Merchant of farre Countryes both by land and water There I had occasion said he to goe to many Countries on euery side For there was no ship ready to any voyage or journey but I and my fellowes were into it very gladly received The ships that they found first were made plain flat and broad in the bottome trough-wise The sayles were made of great rushes or of wickers and in some places of leather Afterward they found Ships with ridged kyles and sayles of Canvasse yea and shortly after having all things like ours The ship-men also were expert and cunning both in the Sea and in the weather But he said that he found great favour and friendship among them for teaching them the feate and use of the Loadstone Which to them before that time was vnknowne And therefore they were wont to be very timerous and fearefull vpon the Sea Nor to venture vpon it but onely in the Summer time But now they haue such a confidence in that Stone that they feare not stormy Winter in so doing farther from care then danger In so much that it is greatly to be doubted least that thing through their owne foolish hardinesse shall turne them to evill and harme which at the first was supposed should be to them good and commodious But what he told vs that he saw in every Country where he came it were very long to declare Neither is it my purpose at this time to make rehearsall thereof But per adventure in another place will I speak of it chiefly such things as shall be profitable to be knowne as in speciall be those decrees and ordinances that he marked to be well and wittily provided and enacted among such peoples as doe liue together in a civill policie and good order For of such things did we busily enquire and demand of him and he likewise very willingly told vs of the same But as for Monsters because they be no newes of them we were nothing inquisitiue For nothing is more easie to be found then be barking Scillaes ravening Câ—lâ—â—es and Lestrigones devourers of people and such like great and incredible monsters But to find Citizens ruled by good and wholsome Lawes that is an exceeding rare hard thing But as he marked many fond and foolish Lawes in those new-found Lands so he rehearsed divers acts and constitutions wherby these our Cities Nations Countries and Kingdomes may take example to amend their faults enormities and errours Whereof in another place as I said I will intreat Now at this time I am determined to rehearse onely that he told vs of the Manners Customes Lawes and Ordinances of the Utopians But first I will respect our former communication by the occasion and as I might say the drift whereof he was brought into the mention of the Weale Publique For when Raphael had very prudently touched divers things that be amisse some here and some there Yea very many on both parts and againe had spoken of such wise Lawes and prudent Decrees as be established and used both here among vs and also among them as a man so perfect and expert in the Lawes and Customes of every severall Country as though into what place soever he came ghestwise there he had led all his life then PETER much marvailing at the man Surely Master Raphael quoth he I wonder greatly why you get you not into some Kings Court For I am sure there is no Prince living that would not be very glad of you as a man not only able highly to delight him with your profound learning and this your knowledge of Countries and peoples but also meet to instruct him with examples and helpe him with counsell And thus doing you shall bring your selfe in a very good case and also be of ability to helpe all your friends and kinsfolke As concerning my friends and kinsfolke quoth he I passe not greatly for them For I thinke I haue sufficiently done my part towards them already For these things that other men doe not depart from vntill they be old and sicke yea which they be then very loath to leaue when they can no longer keepe those very same things did I being not onely lusty and in good health but also in the flowre of my youth devide among my friends and kinsfolkes Which I thinke with this my liberality ought to hold them contented and not to require not to looke that besides this I should for their sakes giue my selfe in bondage unto Kings Nay God forbid that quoth Peter it is not my mind that you should be in bondage to Kings but as a retainer to them at your pleasure Which surely I thinke is the nighest way that you can devise how to bestow your time fruitfully not onely for the private commodity of your friends and for the generall profite of all sorts of people but also for the advancement of your selfe to a much wealthier state and condition then you be now in To a wealthier condition quoth Raphael by that meanes that my mind standeth cleane against Now I liue at liberty after mine owne mind and pleasure which I thinke very few of these great States and Peeres of Realmes can say Yea and there be enough of them that sue for
abroad till that be spent what can they then doe but steale and then justly pardy be hanged or elâ—e goe about a begging And yet then also they be cast into Prison as Vagabonds because they goe about and worke not whom no man will set a worke though they never so willingly proffer themselues thereto For one Shepheard or Heardman is enough to eat vp that ground with cattell to the occupying whereof about husbandry many hands were requisite And this is also the cause why victuals be now in many places dearer Yea besides this the price of wooll is so risen that poore folkes which were wont to worke it and make cloath thereof be now able to buy none at all And by this meanes very many be forced to forsake worke and to giue themselues to idlenesse For after that so much ground was inclosed for pasture an infinite multitude of sheepe died of the rot such vengeance God tooke of their inordinate and unsatiable covetousnesse sending among the sheepe that pestiferous murrein which much more justly should haue fallen on the sheep-masters owne heads And though the number of sheepe increase never so fast yet the price falleth not one mite because there be so few sellers For they be almost all come into a few rich mens hands whom no need forceth to sell before they lust and they lust not before they may sell as deare they lust Now the same cause bringeth in like dearth of the dearth of the other kinds of Cattell yea and that so much the more because that after Farmes plucked downe and husbandry decayed there is no man that passeth for the breeding of young store for these rich men bring not vp the young ones of great cattell as they doe lambes But first they buy them abroad very cheape and afterward when they be fatted in their pastures they sell them againe exceeding deare And therefore as I suppose the whole incommodity hereof is not yet felt for yet they make dearth onely in those places where they sell But when they shall fetch them away from thence where they be bred faster then they can be bought vp then shall there also be felt great dearth store beginning there to faile where the ware is bought Thus the unreasonable covetousnesse of a few hath turned that thing to the vtter undoing of your Hand in the which thing the chiefefelicity of your Realme did consist For this great dearth of victuals causeth men to keepe as little houses and as small hospitality as they possible may and to put away their servants whither I pray you but a begging or else which these gentle blouds and stout stomacks will sooner set their minds unto stealing Now to amend the matter to this wretched beggery and miserable poverty is joyned great wantonnesse importunate superfluity and excessiue riot For not onely gentlemens servants but also handy craft men yea and almost the Ploughmen of the Country with all other sorts of people vse much strange and proud new-faâ—â—gles in their apparell and too much prodigall riot and sumptuous fare at their table Now Baudes queanes whores harlots strumpets brothel-houses stewes and yet another stewes wine-tauerns ale-houses and tipling houses with so many naughty lewd and unlawfull games as dice Cardes tables tennis boules coytes doe not all these send the haunters of them straight a stealing when their money i gone Cast ouâ— these pernicious abhominations make a law that they which plucked downe fâ—rmes and townes of husbandry shall reedifie them or else yeeld and vprender the possession thereof to such as will goe to the cost of building them anew Suffer not these rich men to buy vp all to ingroâ—â—e and forestall and with their monopoly to keepe the market alone as please them Let not so many be brought vp in idlenesse let husbandry and tillage be restored let Cloth-working be renued that there may be honest labours for this idle sort to passe their time in profitably which hitherto either poverty hath caused to be theeues or else now be either vagabonds or idle Servingmen and shortly will be theeues Doubtlesse unlesse you find a remedy for these enormities you shall in vaine advance your selues of executing justice vpon fellons For this justice is more beautifull in appearance and more flourishing to the shew then either just or profitable For by suffering your youth wantonly and viciously to be brought vp and to be infected even from their tender age by little and little with vice then a Gods name to be punished when they commit the same faults after being come to mans state which from their youth they were ever like to doe In this point I pray you what other thing doe you then make theeues and then punish them Now as I was thus speaking the Lawyer began to make himselfe ready to answer and was determined with himselfe to vse the common fashion and trade of disputers which be more diligent in rehearsing then answering as thinking the memory worthy of the chiefe praise Indeed Sir quoth he you haue said well being but a stranger and one that might rather heare something of these matters then haue any exact or perfect knowledge of the same as I will incontinent by open proofe make manifest and plaine For first I will rehearse in order all that you haue said then I will declare wherein you be deceived through lacke of knowledge in all our fashions manners and customes and last of all I will answer your arguments and coâ—â—â—te them every one First therefore I will begin where I promised Foure things you seemed to me Hold your peace quoth tâ—e Cardinall for it appeareth that you will make no short answer which make such a beginning Wherefore at this time you shall not take the paines to make your answer but keepe it to your next meeting which I would be right glad that it might be to morrow next unlesse either you or Master Raphael haue earnest let But now Master Raphael I would very gladly heare of you why you thinke theft not worthy to be punished with death or what other punishment you can devise more expâ—dient to the Weale publike for I am sure that you are not of that mind that you would haue theft escape unpunished For if now the extreame punishment of death cannot cause them to leaue stealing then if ruffians and robbers should be sure of their liues what violence what feare were able to hold their hands from robbing which would take the mittigation of the punishment as a very provocation to the mischiefe Surely my Lord I thinke it not right nor justice that the losse of money should cause the losse of mans life For mine opinion is that all the goods in the world are not able to countervaâ—le mans life But if they would thus say that the breaking of Iustice and the transgression of lawes is recompenced with this punishmeÌ„t and not the losse of the money
well enough with them For I had rather then any good that this kind of people were driven somewhere out of my sight they haue so sore troubled me many times and oft when they haue with their lamentable reares begged money of me and yet they could never to my mind so tune their song that thereby they ever got of me one farthing For evermore the one of these chanced either that I would not or else that I could not because I had it not Therfore now they be waxed wife For wheÌ„ they see me goe by because they will not leese their labour they let me passe and say not one word to me So they looke for nothing of me no in good sooth no more then if I were a Priest or a Monk But I will make a Law that all these beggers shall be distributed and bestowed into houses of religion The men shall be made Lay brethren as they call them and the women Nunnes Hereat the Cardinall smiled and allowed it in jeast yea and all the residue in good earnest But a certaine Fryar graduate in divinity tooke such pleasure and delight in this jeasts of Priests and Monkes that he also being else a man of grâ—sly and sterne gravity began merily and wantonly to jest and taunt Nay quoth he you shall not be so rid and dispatched of beggers unlesse you make some provision also for vs Fryars Why quoth the â—easter that is done already for my Lord himselfe set a very good order for you when he decreed that Vagabonds should be kept straight and set to worke for you be the greatest and veriest Vagabonds that be This jeast also when they saw the Cardinall not disproue it every man tooke it gladly saving onely the Fryar For he and that no mervaile being thus touched on the quicke and hit on the gaule so fretted so fumed and chaâ—ed at it and was in such a rage that he could not refraine himselfe from châ—ding scolding raising and reviling He called the fellow Ribbald villaine javell backbiter slaunderer and the child of perdiâ—ion citing therewith terrible threarnings out of holy Scripture Then the jeasting scoâ—â—er began to play the scoâ—â—er indeed and verily he was good at that for he could play a part in that play no man better Patient your selfe good Master Fryar quoth he and be not angry for Scripture saith In your patience you shall saue your soules Then the Fryar for I will rehearse his owne very words No gallowes wretch I am not angry quoth he or at the least-wise I doe not sinne for the Psalmist saith Be you angry and sinne not Then the Cardinall spake gently to the Fryar and desired him to quiet himselfe No my Lord quoth he I speak not but of a good zeale as I ought for holy men had a good zeale Wherefore it is said The zeale of thy house hath eaten me And it is sung in yâ— Church The scorners of Helâ—zâ—us whiles he went vp into the house of God felt the zeale of the bald as peradventure this scorning villaine Râ—bbauld shall feele You doe it quoth the Cardinall perchance of a good minde and affection but me thinketh you should doe I cannot and esteeme me and my sayings I ensure you Master Raphael quoth I I tooke great delectation in hearing you all things that you said were spoken so wittily and so pleasantly And me thought me selfe to be in the meane time not onely at home in my Country but also through the pleasant remembrance of the Cardinall in whose house I was brought up of a Child to wax a child againe And friend Raphael though I did beare very great love towards you before yet seeing you doe so earnestly favour this man you will not beleeve how much my love towards you is now increased But yet all this notwithstanding I can by no meanes change my mind but that I must needs beleeve that you if you be disposed and can find in your heart to follow some Princes Court shall with your good counsels greatly helpe and further the Common-wealth Wherefore there is nothing more appertaining to your duty that is to say to the duty of a good man For whereas your Plato judgeth that weale-publikes shall by this meanes attaine perfect felicity either if Philosophers be Kings or â—lse if Kings give themselves to the study of Philosophy how farre I pray you shall Common-wealths then be from this felicitie if Philosophers will vouchsafe to instruct Kings with their good counsell They be not so unkind quoth he but they would gladly doe it yea many have done it already in books that they have put forth if Kings and Princes would be willing and ready to follow good counsell But Plato doubtlesse did well fore-see unlesse Kings themselves would apply their mindes to the study of Philosophy that else they would never thorowly allow the counsell of Philosophers being themselves before euen from their tender age infected and corrupt with peruerse and euill opinions Which thing Plato himselfe prooued true in king Dyonise If I should propose to any King wholsome decrees doing my endevour to pluck out of his mind the pernicious originall causes of vice and naughtinesse thinke you not that I should forthwith either be driven away or else made a laughing stocke Well suppose I were with the French King and there sitting in his Counsell whiles in that most secret consultation the King himselfe there being present in hiâ— owne person they beat their braines and search the very bottomes of their wits to discusse by what craft and meanes the King may still keepe Millaine and draw to him againe fugitiue Naples and then how to conquer the Venetians and how to bring vnder his jurisdiction all Italie then how to winne the Dominion of Flanders Brabant and all Burgundy with divers other Lands whose Kingdomes hee hath long agoe in mind and purpose invaded Heere whiles one counsaileth to conclude a League of Peace with the Venetians so long to endure as shall be thought meete and expedient for their purpose and to make them also of their Councell yea and besides that to give them part of the prey Which afterward when they have brought their purpose about after their owne mindes they may require and claime again Another thinketh best to hyre the Germans Another would have the favour of the Switzers wonne with money Anothers advice is to appease the puissant power of the Emperors Majestie with Gold as with a most pleasant and acceptable sacrifice Whiles another giveth counsell to make peace with the King of Arragon to restore unto him his owne Kingdome of Navarre as a full assurance of of peace Another commeth in with his five egges and adviseth to hooke in the King of Castile with some hope of affinitie or allyance and to bring to their part certaine Peeres of his Court for great Pensions Whiles they all stay at the chiefest doubt of all what to doe in the
youth in riding and feates of Armes For Oxen be put to all the labor of ploughing and drawing which they grant not to be so good as horses at a sudden brunt and as we say at a dead lift but yet they hold an opinion that Oxen will abide and suffer much more labour paine and hardinesse then Horses will And they thinke that Oxen be not in danger and subject unto so many diseases and that they be kept and maintained with much lesse cost and charge and finally that they be good for meat when they be past labour They sow corne only for bread For their drinke is either Wine made of grapes or else of apples or Peares or else it is cleare water and many times Meath made of honey or Licouresse sodde in water for thereof they haue great store And though they know certainly for they know it perfectly indeed how much victuals the City with the whole Country or Shire round about it doth spend yet they sow much more corne and breed vp much more cattell then serveth for their owne vse parting the overplus among their borderers Whatsoever necessary things be lacking in the Countrey all such stuffe they fetch oaâ— of the City where without â—ay exchange they easily obtaine it of the Magistrates of the City For every moneth many of them goe into the City on the Holiday When their harvest day draweth neare and is at hand then the Philarches which be the head Officers and Bâ—iliffes of husbandry send word to the Magistrates of the City what number of harvest men is needfull to be sent to them out of the City The which company of harvest men being ready at the day appointed almost in one faire day dispatcheth all the harvest worke Of the Cities and namely Amaurote AS for the Cities who so knoweth one of them knoweth them all they be all so like one to another as farre forth as the nature of the place permitteth I will describe to you one or other of them for it skilleth not greatly which but which rather then Amaurote Of them all this is the worthiest and of most digâ—iâ—y another River which indeed is not very great But it runneth gently and pleasantly For it riseth even out of the same hill that the City standeth vpon and runneth downe a slope through the middest of the City into Aâ—yder And because it riseth a little without the City the Amauritians have inclosed the head spring of it with strong fences and Bulwarkes and so have joyned it to the City This is done to the intent that the water should not be stopped noâ— turned away or poysoned if their enemies should chance to come vpon them From thence the water is derived and conveyed downe in channels of bricke divers wayes into the lower part of the Citie Where that cannot be done by reason that the place will not suffer it there they gather the raine water in great â—â— sternes which doth them as good service The City is compassed about with a high and thicke stone wall full of tuâ—â—ets and bulwarkes A dry ditch but deep and bâ—oâ—d and over-grown with busâ—â—â— bâ—â—ers and thornes goeth about three sides or quarters of the City To the fourth side the riuer it selfe serveth as a ditch The streets be appointed and set forth very commodious and handsome both for cariage and also against the windes The houses be of faire and gorgious building and on the 〈…〉 side they stand joyâ—â—d together in a long row through the whole streete without any partition 〈…〉 seperation The streetes be â—â—vâ—â—â—y â—â—â—â—â— broad Oâ— the baâ—… of the house â—…gh the 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 Eveâ—… on the backside into the Garden These doores be made with two leaves never locked nor bolted so easie to be opened that they will follow the least drawing of a finger and shut againe alone Who so will may goe in for there is nothing within the houses that is private or any mans owne And every tenth yeare they change their Houses by lot They set great store by their Gardens In them they have Vine-yards all manner of Fruit Hearbes and Flowers so pleasant so well furnished and so finely kept that I never saw thing more fruitfull nor better trimmed in any place Their study and diligence herein commeth not onely of pleasure but also of a certaine strife and contention that is betweene street and street concerning the trimming husbanding and furnishing of their Gardens every man for his owne part Aâ—d verily you shall not lightly find in all the Citty any thing that is more commodious either for the profit of the Citizens or for pleasure And therefore it may seeme that the first founder of the City minded nothing so much as these Gardens For they say that King Vtopus himselfe even at the first beginning appointed and drew forth the plat-forme of the City into this fashion and figure that it hath now but the gallant garnishing and the beautifull setting forth of it whereunto he saw that one mans age would not suffice that he left to his posterity For their Chronicles which they keepe written with all diligent circumspection containing the History of 1760 yeares even from the first conquest of the Iland record and witnesse that the house in the beginning were very low and like homely cottage or poore shepheard houses made at all adventures of every rude peece of timber that came first to hand with mud walls ridged roofes thatched over with straw But new the houses be curiously builded after a gorgious and gâ—llant â—ort with â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—es one over another The out-sides of yâ— wallâ— be made either of hand fiâ—â—t or of Plaister or else of brick and the inner-sides be well strengthened with timber work The roofes be plain and â—â—â—t covered with a certaine kind of Plaster that is of â—o cost and yet so tempered that â—o fire can hurt or perish it withstandeth the violence of the weather better then any lead They keepe the wind out of their windowes with glâ—ste for it is there much vsed and some here also with fine linnen cloath dipped in oyle or amber and that for two commodities For by this means more light commeth in and the wind iâ— better kept out Of the Magistrates EVery thirty Faâ—â—es oâ— Fâ—rme choose them yearely an Officer which in their old language is called the Syphogrant and by a newer name the Philarch. Every tenne Siphogrants with all their thirty families be vnde an Officer which was once câ—lled the Tranibore now the chiefe Philarch. Moreover as concerning the election of the Prince all â—he Siphogrants which be in number two hundred first be sworne to choose him whom they thinke most meete and expedient Then by a secret election they name Prince one of those foure whom the people before named vnto them For out of the foure quarters of the City there be foure chosen out of every quarter â— to stand
for the election which be put vp to the Counsell The Princes Office continueth all his life time vnlesse he be deposed or put downe for suspition of tyranny They choose the Tranibores yearely but lightly they change them not All the other Officer be but for one yeare The Tranibores every third day and sometimes if need be oftner come into the Counsell house with the Prince Their counsell is concerning the Common-wealth If there be any controversies among the commoners which be very few they dispatch and end them by and by They take ever two Siphogrants to them in counsell and every day a new couple And it is provided that nothing touching the common-wealth shall be confirmed and ratified vnlesse it haue beene â—easoned of and debated three dayes in the counsell before it be decreed It is death to haue any consultation for the common-wealth out of the counsell or the place of the common election This statute they say was made to the intent that the Prince and Tranibores might not easily conspire together to oppresle the people by tyranny and to change the state of the Weale-publike Therefore matters of great weight and importance be brought to the election house of the Siphogrants which open the matter to their families And afterward when they haue consulted among themselues they shew their devise of the counsell Sometime the matter is brought before the counsell of the whole Iland Furthermore this custome also the counsell vseth to dispute or reason of no matter the same day that it is first proposed or put forth but to deferre it to the next sitting of the counsell Because that no mâ—n when he hath rashly there none other occupation that any number to speake of doth vse there For their garments which throughout all the Iland be of one fashion saving that there is a difference betweene the mans garment and the womans betweene the married and the vnmarried and this one continueth for evermore vnchanged seemely and comely to the eye no let to the moving and welding of the body also fit-both for winter and summer as for these garments I say every family maketh their owne But of the other foresaid crafts every man learneth one And not onely the men but also the women But the women as the weaker sort be put to the easier crafts as to worke wooll and flaxe The more laborsome sciences be committed to the men For the most part every man is brought vp in his fathers craft For most commonly they be naturally thereto bent and inclined But if a mans mind stand to any other he is by adoption put into a family of that occupation which he doth most fantasie Whom not onely his father but also the Magistrate doe diligently looke to that he be put to a discreet and an honest housholder Yea and if any person when he hath learned one craft be desirous to learne also another he is likewise suffered and permitted When he hath learned both he occupieth whether he will vnlesse the City hath more need of the one then the other The chiefe and almost the onely office of the Syphogrants is to see and take heed that no man sit idle but that every one apply his owne craft with earnest diligence And yet for all that not to be wearied from earely in the morning too late in the evening with continuall worke like labouring and toyling Beasts For this is worse then the miserable and wretched condition of bondmen Which neverthelesse is almost every where the life of workmen and artificers saving in Vtopia For they dividing the day and the night into twenty foure just houres appoint and assigne only 6 of those hours to worke before noone vpon the which they goe strait to dinner and after dinner when they have rested 2 houres then they worke three houres and vpon that they goe to supper About eight of the clocke in the evening counting one of the clocke the first houre After noone they goe to bed eight houres they give to sleepe All the voide time that is betweene the houres of worke sleepe and meate that they be suffered to bestow every man aâ— he liketh best himselfe Not to the into it that they should mispend this time in riot or sloathfulnesse but being then licensed from the labour of their owne occupations to bestow the time well thriftily vpon some other Science as shall please them For it is a solemne custome there to have Lectures daily early in the morning whereto be present they only be constrained that be namely chosen and appointed to learning Howbeit a great multitude of every sort of people both men and women goe to heare Lectures some one and some another as every mans nature is inclined Yet this notwithstanding if any man had rather bestow this time vpon his owne occupation as it chanceth in many whose minds rise not in the contemplation of any Science liberall he is not letted nor prohibited but is also praised and commended as profitable to the Common-wealth After Supper they bestow one houre in play in Summer in their Gardens in Winter in their common Halls where they dine and sup There they exercise themselves in Musicke or else in honest and wholsome communication Dice-play and such other foolish and pernicious games they know not But they vse two games not much vnlike the Chesse The one is the battaile of numbers wherein one number stealeth away another The other is where vices fight with vertues as it were in battaile array or a set Field In the which game is very properly shewed both the strife and discord that the vices have among themselves and againe their vnity and concord against vertues And also what vices be repugnant to what vertues with what power and strength they assaile them openly by what wiles and subtilty they assault them secretly with what helpe and ayd the vertue reâ—iâ—t and overcome the the puissance of the vices by what craft they frustrate their purposes and finally by what â—eight or meanes the one getteth the victory But here least you be deceived one thing you must looke more narrowly vpon For seeing they bestow but sixe houres in worke perchance you may thinke that the lacke of some necessary things hereof may ensue But this is nothing so For that small time is not onely enough but also too much for the store and abundance of all things that be requisite either for the necessity or commodity of life The which thing you also shall perceiue if you weigh and consider with your selves how great a part of the people in other Countries liveth idle First almost all women which be the halfe of the whole number or else if the women be somewhere occupyed there most commonly in their stead the men be idle Besides this how great and how idle a company is there of Priests and religious men is they
Every mother is nurse to her owne child vnlesse either death or sicknesse be the let When that chanceth the wiues of the Siphogrants quickly provide a Nurse And that is not hard to be done For they that can doe it proffer themselves to no service so gladly as to that Because that there this kind of peece is much praised and the child that is nourished ever after taketh his nurse for his owne naturall mother Also among the nurses sit all the children that be under the age of siue yeares All the other children of both kinds as well boyes as girles that be under the age of marriage doe either serve at the tables or else if they be too young thereto yet they stand by with marvailous silence That which is given to them from the table they eate and other severall dinner time they have none The Syphogrant and his wife sit in the midst of the high Table for as much as that is counted the honourablest place and because from thence all the whole company iâ— in their sight For that table standeth over thwart the over end of the Hall To them be joyned two of the ancientest and eldest For at every table they sit foure at a messe But if there be a Church standing in that Syphogranty or Ward then the Priest and his wife sitteth with the Syphogrant as chiefe in the company On both sides of them sit young men and next unto them againe old men And thus throughout all the house equall of age be set together and yet be mixt and matched with unequall ages This they say was ordeined to the intent that the sage gravity and reverence of the elders should keepe the youngers from wanton licence of words and behaviour For as much as nothing can be so secretly spoken or done at the table but either they that sit on the one side or on the other must needs perceive it The dishes be not set downe in order from the first place but all the old men whose places be marked with some speciall token to be knowne be first served of their meate and then the residue equally The old men divide their dainties as they thinke best to the younger on each side of them Thus the elders be not defrauded of their due honour and neverthelesse equall commodity commeth to every one They begin every dinner and supper of reading somthing that pertaineth to good manners and vertue But it is short because no man shall be grieved therewith Hereof the elders take occasion of honest communication but neither sad nor unpleasant Howbeit they doe not spend all the whole dinner time themselves with long and tedious talke but they gladly heare also the young men yea and purposely provoke them to talke to the intent that they may have a proofe of every mans wit and towardnesse or disposition to vertue which commonly in the liberty of feasting doth shew and vtter it selfe Their dinuers be very short but their suppers be somewhat longer because that after dinner followeth labour after supper sleepe and naturall rest which they thinke to be of more strength and efficacy to wholsome and healthfull digestion No supper is passed without Musicke Nor their banquets want no conceits nor junkets They burne sweet gummes and spices or perfumes and pleasant smels and sprinckle about sweet ointments and waters yea they have nothing undone that maketh for the cherishing of the company For they be much enclined to this opinion to thinke no kind of pleasure forbidden whereof commeth no harme Thus therefore and after this sort they live together in the City but in the Countrey they that dwell alone farre from any neighbours doe dine at home in their owne houses For no family there lacketh any victuals as from whom commeth all that the Citizens eat and liue by Of their journying or travelling abroad with divers other matters cunningly reasoned and wittily discussed BVt if any be desirous to visite either their friends dwelling in another City or to see the place it selfe they easily obtaine licence-of the Syphogrants and Tranibores vnlesse there be some profitable let No man goeth out alone but a company is sent forth togither with their Princes letters who doe testifie that they have licence to go that journey and prescribeth also the day of their returne They haue a Waine given them with a common bondman which driveth the oxen and taketh charge of them But vnlesse they haue Women in their Company they send home the waine againe as an impediment and let And though they carry nothing forth with them yet in all their journey they lacke nothing For wheresoever they come they be at home If they tary in a place longer then one day then there every one of them falleth to his owne occupation and be very gently entertained of the workemen and companies of the same crafts If any man of his owne head and without leaue walke out of his precinct and bounds takeÌ„ without the Princes letters he is brought againe for a fugitive or a run-away with great shame and rebuke and is sharply punished If he be taken in that fault againe he is punished with bondage If any be desirous to walke abroad into the fields or into the Countrey that belongeth to the same City that hee dwelleth in obtaining the good will of his Father and the consent of his Wife he is not prohibited But into what part of the Countrey soever he commeth he hath no meat given him untill he have wrought out his forenoones task or dispatched so much worke as there is wont to be wrought before supper Observing this law and condition he may goe whither he will within the bounds of his owne City For hee shall be no lesse profitable to the City then if he were within it Now you see how little liberty they have to loyter how they can haue no cloake or pretence to Idlenesse There be neither wine tauerns nor alchouses nor stewes nor any occasion of vice or wickednesse no lurking corners no places of wicked counsailes an vnlawfull assemblies but they be in the present sighâ— and vnder the eyes of every man So that of necessity they must either apply their accustomed labours or else recreate themselves with honest and laudable pastâ—â—es This fashion and trade of liâ—e being vsed among the people it cannot be chosen but that they must of necessity have store and plenty of all things And seeing they be all thereof partners equally therefore can no man therâ— be poore or needy In the counsell of Amaurâ—â—â— whether as I said every City seâ—â—eth three men a peece yearely assoon as it is perfectly knowne of what things there is in every place plenty and againe what things be scant in any place incontinent the lacke of the one is performed and filled vp with the abundance of the other And this they doe freely without any benefit talking nothing againe of them to
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
other nations how divers fantasies also and minds they doe cause did I never so plainly perceiue in the Ambassadours or the Inemolians These Ambassadours came to Amauroâ—e whâ—les I was there And because they came to â—â—treate of great 〈◊〉 weighty matters those three Citizens a piece out of every City were come thither before them But all the Ambassadours of the next Countries which had beene there before and knâ—w the fâ—shions and manners of the Vtâ—pians among whâ—â— they perceived no 〈◊〉 given to sumptuouâ— Appâ—râ—l◠〈◊〉 to be contemned gold alâ—o to be â—â—â—â—nied and reproachfâ—ll wâ—re woâ—t to come thither in very hoâ—ely and simple array But the Inemolians because they dwell farre thence and had very little acquaiâ—â—â—nce with them hearing that they were all apparelled alike and that very rudely and homely thinking them not to have the things which they did not weare being therefore more proud then wise determined in the gorgâ—ousnesle of their apparell to present very Gods and with the bright shining and glistering of their gay cloathing to dazell the eyes of the silly poore Vâ—â—pâ—ans So there came in foure Ambassadours with one hundred sâ—rvant all apparelled in changeable colourâ— the moâ—t of them in â—â—â—kes the Ambassadours themselves for â—t home â—â— their owne Country they were noble meâ— â—◠〈◊〉 of gold with great 〈◊〉 â—â— gold with gold hanging â—â— then 〈…〉 gold 〈◊〉 vpon their fingers 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 of gold vpâ— thâ—… which glistered full of pearles and precious stoâ—ies to be short trimmied and adorned with all those things which among the Vtopians were either the punishment of bondmen or the reproach of infamed persons or else trifies for young children to play withall Therefore it would have done a man good at his heart to have seene how proudly they displayed their Peacocks feathers how much they made of their painted sheathes and how lottily they set forth and advanced themselves when they compared their gallant apparell with the poore râ—iment of the Vtâ—pians For all the people were sâ—â—rmed forth into the streets And on the other side it was no lesse pleasure to consider how much they were deceived and how farre they mâ—led of then purpose being contrary wayes taken then they thought they should have beene For so the eyes of all the Vtopians except very few which had beene in other Countries for some reasonable cause all that gorgiousnesse of apparell seemed shamefull and reproachfull Insomuch that they most reverently saluted the vâ—lest and most abject of them for Lords judged them by then weâ—â—ing of Golden châ—â—nes to be Bondmen Yea you should have â—â—â—e Children also that had cast away their Pearles and precious storâ—es when they saw the like sticking upon the Ambassadors caps digge and push their mothers under the sides saying thus to them Looke mother how great a lubber doth yet weare pearles and precious â—â—â—nes as though he were a little child againe But the Mother yea and that also in good earnest Peace sonne saith shee I thinke he be some of the Ambassadours fooles Some found fault at their Golden chaynes as to no use nor purpose being so small and weake that a bondman might eaâ—ily breake them and againe so wide and large that when it pleased him he might cast them off and runne away at liberty whether he would But when the Ambassadours had been thâ—re a day or two and saw so great abundance of Gold so lightâ—y â—…d 〈…〉 lesse reproach 〈…〉 them 〈…〉 that more gold in the 〈◊〉 and gyve or one â—â—gitive bondman then all the â—â—â—tly ornaments of them three 〈◊〉 worth they began to abate their courage and for very shâ—â—e â—ud away all that gorgious array whereof they were so proud And specially when they â—â—d â—â—lked familiarly with the 〈◊〉 and had learned all their â—â—â—hions and opinions For they 〈◊〉 that any men be â—o foolish as to have delight and pleasure in the doubtfull glistering of a little â—â—â—â—â—ing 〈◊〉 which may behold aâ—y of the 〈◊〉 or else the 〈◊〉 it selfe Or that any 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 the â—… the 〈…〉 three 〈…〉 which 〈…〉 〈…〉 â—ever â—… 〈…〉 â—…et 〈…〉 Thâ—◠〈…〉 thâ—t gold which of the owne 〈◊〉 â—â—… so â—â—profitable â—â— now among all people in â—â— high estimation â—… himselfe by whom yea and â—oâ— the vse of whom it is so much set by is in much lesse estimation then the gold it selfe Insomuch that a â—â—mpish block-head churle and which hath no more wit then an Aâ—â—e yea and as full of â—â—ughtinesse as of folly shall have neverthelesse many wise and good men in subjection and bondage onely for this because he hâ—th a great heape of gold Which iâ— it should be taken from him by any fortune or by some subtill wile and cautle of the Law which no lesâ—e then fortune doth both raise vp the low and plucke down the high and be given to the most vile slave and abject drivell of all his houshold then shortly after he shall goe into the service of his servant as an augmentation or overâ—… money But they much more mervaile at and deâ—â—st the madnesse of them which to those rich men in whose debâ— and danger they be not doe give almost divine honours for none other consideration but because they be rich and yet knowing them to be such â—iggish penny-fathers that they be sure as long as they live not the worth of one farthing of that heape of Gold shall come to them These and such like opinions have they conceived partly by education being brought vp in that Common-wealth whose lawes and customes be farre different from those kinds of folly and partly by good literature and learning For though there be not many in every City which be exempt and discharged of all other labours and appointed onely to learning that is to say such in whom even from their very child-hood they have perceived a singuler towardnesse a fine wit and amind apt to good learning yet all in their child-hood be instructed in learning And the better part of the people both men and women throughout all their whole life doe bestow in learning those spare houres which we said they have vacant from bodily labours They be taught learning in their own natiue tongue For it is both copious in words and also pleasant to the eare and for the vtterance of a mans mind very perfect and sure The most part of all that side of the world vseth the same language saving that among the Vtopians it is finest and puâ—â—â—â— and according to the diversity of the Countries it is diversly altered Of all these Phylosophers whose names be here famous in this part of the world to vs knowne before our comming thither not as much as the â—â—me of any of them was come among them And yet in Musique Logique Arythmetique and Geometrie they have found out in a manner all that our ancient Philosopher have â—aâ—glâ—â— But as they in all thingâ— be almost
is lead in continuall hunger thirst itching eating drinking scratching and rubbing The which life how not onely foule and unhonest but also how miserable and wretched it is who perceiveth not These doubtlesse be the basest pleasures of all as unpure and unperfect For they never come but accompanied with their contrary griefes As with the pleasure of eating iâ— joyned hunger and that after no very equall sort For of these two the griefe is both the more vehement and also of longer continuance For it beginneth before the pleasure and endeth not untill the pleasure die with it Wherefore such pleasures they thinke not greatly to be set by but in that they be necessary Howbeit they have delight also in these and thankfully knowledge the tender love of mother Nature which with most pleasant delectation allureth her children to that to the necessary vse whereof they must from time to time continually be forced and driven For how wretched and miserable should our life be if these daily griefes of hunger and thirst could not be driven away but with bitter potions and sowre medicines as the other diseases be wherewith we be seldomer troubled But beauty strength nimblenesse these as peculiar and pleasant gifts of nature they make much off But those pleasures that be receiued by the eares the eyes and the nose which nature willeth to be proper and peculiar to man for no other living creature doth behold the fairenesse the beauty of the world or is moved with any respect of savors but only for diversity of meats neither perceveth the concordant discordant distances of sounds and tunes these pleasures I say they accept and allow as certaine pleasant rejoycings of life But in all things this cautell they vse that a lesse pleasure hinder not a bigger and that the pleasure be no cause of displeasure which they thinke to follow of necessity if the pleasure be unhonest But yet to despise the comelinesse of beauty to wast the bodily strength to turne nimblenesse unto â—loathishnesse to consume and make feeble the body with fasting to doe injury to health and to reject the pleasant motions of nature unlesse a man neglect these commodities whiles he doth with a fervent zeale procure the wealth of others or the common profit for the which pleasure forborne he is in hope of a greater pleasure at Gods hand else for a vaine shadow of vertue for the wealth and profit of no man to punish himselfe or to the intent he may be able couragiously to suffer adversity which perchance shall never come to him this to doe they thinke it a point of extreame madnesse and a token of a man cruelly minded towards himselfe and unkind towards nature as one so disdaining to be in her danger that he renounceth and refuseth all her benefits This is their sentence and opinion of vertue and pleasure And they beleeve that by mans reason none can be found truer then this unlesse any godlier be inspired into man from heaven Wherein whether they beleeve well or no neither the time doth suffer us to discusse neither it is now necessary For we have taken vpon vs to shew and declare their lores and ordinancies and not to defend them But this thing I beleeve verily howsoever these decrees be that there is in no place of the world neither a more excellent people neither a more flourishing Common-wealth They be light and quicke of body full of activity and nimblenesse and of more strength then a man would judge them by their stature which for al that is not too low And though their soyle be not very fruitfull nor their ayre very wholesome yet against the ayre they so defend them with temperate diet and so order and husband their ground with diligent travaile thâ—â—â—â— no Countrey is greater increase and plenty of Corne and Cattle nor mens bodies of longer life and subject or apt to fewer diseases There therefore a man may see well and diligently exploited and furnished not onely those things which husbandmen doe commonly in other Countries as by craft and cunning to remedy the barrennesse of the ground but also a whole Wood by the hands of the people plucked vp by the rootes in one place and set againe in another place Wherein was had regard and consideration not of plenty but of commodious carriage that wood and timber might be nigher to the Sea or the Rivers or the Cities For it is lesse labour and businesse to carry graine farre by land then wood The people be gentle merry quicke and fine witteâ— delighting in quietnesse and when need requireth able to abide and suffer much bodily labour Else they be not greatly desirous and fond of itâ— but in the exercise and study of the mind they be never weary When they had heard me speake of the Greeke literature or learning for in Latine there was nothing that I thought they would greatly allow besides Histories and Poets they made wonderfull earnest and importunate sute unto me that I would reach and instruct them in that tongue and learning I began therefore to read unto them at the first truly more because I would not seeme to refuse the labour then that I hoped that they would any thing profit therein But when I had gone forward a little I perceived incontinent by their diligence that my labour should not be bestowed in vaine For they began so easily to fashion their letters so plainly to pronounce the words so quickly to learne by heart and so surely to rehearse the â—ame that I mervâ—â—le at it saving that the most part of them were fine aâ—d choâ—… wits and of ripe age picked out of the company of the learned men which not onely of their owne free and voluntary will but also by the commandement of the Councell undertooke to learne this language Therefore in lesse then three yeares space there was nothing in the Greeke tongue that they lacked They were able to read good Authors without any stay if the booke were not false This kind of learning as I suppose they tooke so much the sooner because it is somewhat alliant to them For I thinke that this Nation tooke their beginning of the Greekes because their speech which in all other points is not much unlike the Per sian tongue keeping divers sigâ—es and token of the Greeke language in the names of their Cities and of their Magistrates They have of me for when I was determined to enter into my fourth voyage I cast into â—he Ship in the stead of merchandise a prety farâ—le of bookes because I intended to come againe rather never then shortly they have I say of me the most part of Platoes workes more of Aristotles also Theophrastus of plants but in divers places which I am sory for vnperfect For whiles they were a Ship-boord a Marmoset chanced vpon the booke as it was negligently laid by which wantonly playing therewith plucked out certaine leaves and tore
them in peeces Of them that have written the Grammer they have only Lasâ—aris For Theodorus I carried not with me nor never a Dictionarie but Hesâ—chius and Dioscorides They set great store by Plutarches bookes Aud they be delighted with Lucianes merry conceits and jeasts Of the Poets they have Aristophanes Homer Euripides and Sophocles in Aldâ—s small print Of the Historians they have Thucidides Herodotus and Herodian Also my companion Tricius Apinatus carried with him Physicke bookes certaine small workes of Hippocrates and Galens Microtechne The which booke they have in great estimation For though there be almost no natioÌ„ under heaven that hath lesse need of Physicke then they yet this notwith standing Physicke is no where in greater honour Because they count the knowledge of it among the godliest and most profitable parts of Philosophie For whiles they by the helpe of this Philosophy search out the secret my steries of nature they thinke themselves to recciue thereby not onely wonderfull great pleasure but also to obtaine great thanks and favour of the Author and maker thereof Whom they thinke according to the fashion of other Artificers to have set forth the marvailous and gorgious frame of the world for man with great affection incentiuely to behold Whom onely he hath made of wit and capacity to consider and understand the excellency of so great a worke And therefore he beareth say they more good will and love to the curious and diligent beholder and viewer of his worke and marveilour at the same then he doth to him which like a very bruit Beast without wit and reason or as one without sense or mooving hath no regard to so great and so wonderfull a spectacle The wits therefore of the Vtopians inured and exercised in learning be marvailous quicke in the invention of feats helping any thing to the advantage and wealth of life Howbeit two feats they may thanke vs for That is the science of Imprinting and the craft of making Paper And yet not onely vs but chiefly and principally themselves For when we shewed to them Aldus his print in bookes of paper told them of the stuffe whereof paper is made and of the feat of graving letters speaking somewhat more then we could plainely declare for there was none of vs that knew perfectly eyther the one or the other they forth with very wittily conjectured the thing And whereas before they wrote onely in skins in barkes of Trees and in reedes now they have attempted to make Paper and to imprint Letters And though at the first it proved not all of the best yet by often assaying the same they shortly got the feare of both And have so brought the matter about that if they had copies of Greeke authors they could lack no Bookes But now they have no more then I rehearsed before saving that by printing of bookes they have multiplied and increased the same into many thousands of Copies Whosoever commeth thither to see the Land being excellent in any gift of wit or through much and long journeying well experienced and seene in the knowledge of many Countries for the which cause wee were very welcome to them him they receive and entertaine wondrous gently and lovingly For they have delight to heare what is done in every Land howbeit very few Marchant men come thither For what should they bring thither vnlesse it were yron or else Gold and silver which they had rather carry home againe Also such things as are to be carried out of their land they thinke it more wisedome to carry that geere forth themselues then that other should come thither to fetch it to the intent they may the better know the out lands on every side of them and keepe in ure the feate and knowledge of failing Of Bond-men Sicke Persons Wedlocke and divers other matters THey neither make Bondmen of prisoners taken in Battaile unlesse it be in baâ—â—â—ile that they fought themselves â—or of bondmens children nor to be short of any such as they can get out of forraigne Countries though he were yet there a bondman But eyther such as among themselves for heynous offences be punished bondage or else such as in the Cities of other Lands for great trespasses be coÌ„demned to death And of this sort of bondmen they have most store For many of them they bring home sometimes paying very little for them yea most commonly getting them for gramercy These sorts of bondmen they keep not only in continuall work and labour but also in bands But their owne men they handle hardest whom they judge more desperate and to haue deserved greater punishment because they being so godly brought vp to vertue in so excellent a common wealth could not for all that be refrained from misdoing Another kind of bondmen they haue when a vile drudge being a poore laborer in another Countrey doth choose of his owne free will to be a bondman among them These they intreat and oâ—der honestly and entertaine almost as gently as their owne free citizens saving that they put them to a little more labour as thereto accustomed If any such bee disposed to depart thence which seldome is seene they neither hold him against his will neither send him a way with empty hands The sicke as I said they see to with great affection and let nothing at all passe câ—cerning either Phisicke or good diet whereby they may be restored againe to their health Such as be sicke or incureable diseases they comfort with sitting by them and to be short withall manner of helpes that may be But if the disease bee not onely vncureable but also full of continuall paine and anguish theÌ„ the Priests and the Magistrates exhort the man seeing hee is not able to doe any duty of life and by overliving his owne death is noysome and irkesome to other and grieuous to himselfe that he will determine with himselfe no longer to cherish that pestilent and painfull disease And seeing his life is to him but a torment that he will not be vnwilling to dy but rather take a good hope to him and either dispatch himselfe out of that painefull life as out of a prison or a racke of torment or else suffer himselfe willingly to be ridde out of it by other And in so doing they tell him he shall doe wisely seeing by his death he shall loose no commodity but end his paine And because in that act he shall follow the counsel of the Priests that is to say of the Interpreters of Gods will and pleasure they shew him that he shall doe like a godly and a vertuous man They that be thus perswaded finish their lives willingly either with hunger or else dye in their sleepe without any feeling of death But they cause none such to dye against his will nor they vse no lesse â—iligence and attendance about him beleeuing this to be an honourable death Else he that killeth himselfe before that the
sword but Pollaxes which be mortall as well in sharpenesse as in weight both for foynes and downe stroakes Engines for war they devise and invent wondrous wittily Which when they be made they keepe very secret least if they should be knowne before neede require they should be but laughed at and serue to no purpose But in making them hereunto they haue chiefe respect that they be both easie to be carried aâ—d handsome to be moved and turned about Truce taken with their enemies for a short time they doe so firinely and faithfully keepe that they will not breake it no not though they be thereunto provoked They doe not waste nor destroy their enemies land with forragings nor they burne not vp their Corne. Yea they saue it as mnch as may be from being overrunne and trodden downe either with men or horses thinking that it groweth for their owne vse profit They hurt no man that is vnarmed vnlesâ—e he be an Espyall All Cities that be yeelded unto them they defend And such as they winne by force of assault they neither dispoyle nor sacke but them that withstood and disswaded the yeelding vp of the same they put to death the other souldiers they punish with bondage All the weake multitude they leave untouched If they know that any Citizens counselled to yeeld and render vp the City to them they give part of the condemned mens goods The residue they distribute and give freely among them whose helpe they had in the same warre For none of themselves taketh any portion of the prey But when the battaile is finished and ended they put their friends to never a penny cost of all the charge that they were at but lay it vpon their neckes that be conquered Them they burthen with the whole charge of their expenses which they demand of them partly in money to be kept for like vse of battaile and partly in lands of great evenewes to be paid unto them yearely for ever Such revenewes they have now in many Countries Which by little and little rising of â—â—vers and sundry causes be increased aboue seven hundred thousand ducates by the yeare Thither they send forth some of their Citizens as Lieft enants to live there sumptuously like men of honour and renowne And yet this notwithstanding much money is saved which commeth to the common treasury unlesse it so chanâ—e that they had rather trust the Country with the money Which many times they doe so long untill they have need to occupy it And it seldome happeneth that they demand all Of these lands they assigne part unto them which at their rebuest and exhortation put themselves in such jeopardies as I spake of before If any Prince stirre up warre against them intending to invade their land they meeâ— him incontinent out of their owne borderers with great power and strength For they never lightly make warre in their owne Country Nor they be never brought into so extreame necessity as to take helpe out of forraine lands into their owne Iland Of the Religions in Vtopia THere be divers kinds of Religion not onely in sundry parts of the Iland but also in divers places of every City Some worship for God the Sun some the Moone some other of the Planets There be that give worship to a man that was once of excellentâ— vertue or of famous glory not only as GOD but also as the chiefest and highest GOD. But the most and the wisest part rejecting all these beleeve that there is a certaine godly power unknowne everlasting incomprehensible inexplicable farre above the capacity reach of mans wit dispersed throughout all the whole world not in bignesse but in vertue and power Him they call the father of all To him alone they attribute the beginnings the increasings the proceedings the changes and the ends of all things Neither they give any divine honours to any other then to him Yea all the other also though they be in divers opinions yet in this point they agree all together with the wisest sort in beleeving that there is one principall GOD the maker and ruler of the whole world whom they all commonly in their Country language call Mythra But in this they disagree that among some he is counted one and among some another For every one of them whatsoever that is which he taketh for the chiefe God thinketh it to be the very same nature to whose only divine might and majesty the summe and soveraignty of all things by the consent of all people is attributed and given Howbeit they all begin by little and little to forsake and fall from this variety of superstitions and to agree together in that religion which seemeth by reason to passe and excell the residue And it is not to be doubted but all the other would long agoe have been abolished but that whatsoever unprosperous thing happened to any of them as he was minded to change his religion the fearefulnesse of people did take it not as a thing comming by chance but as sent from GOD out of Heaven As though the the God whose honour he was forsaking would haue revenged that wicked purpose against him But after they heard vs speake of the name of Christ of his doctrin lawes myracles and of the no lesse wonderfull constancy of so many martyrs whose blood willingly shead brought a great number of nations throughout all parts of the world into their sect you will not beleeue with how glad minds they agreed vnto the same whether it were by the secret inspiration of God or else for that they thought it nighest vnto that opinion which among them is counted the chiefest Howbeit I thinke this was no small helpe and furtherance in the matter that they heard vs say that Christ instituted among his all things common and that the same coÌ„munity doth yet remaine amongst yâ— rightest Christian coÌ„panies Verily howsoever it came to passe many of them consented together in our religion and were washed in the holy water of Baptisine But because among vs foure for no moe of vs was left aliue two of our company being dead there was no Priest which I am right sory for they being entred and instructed in all other points of our religion lacke onely those sacraments which none but Priests doe minister Howbeit they vnderstand percciue them and be very desirous of the same Yea they reason and dispute the matter earnestly among themselves whither without the sending of a Christian Bishop one chosen out of their owne people may receiue the order of Priesthood And truely they were minded to choose one But at my departure thence they had chosen none They also which doe not agree to Christs religion ferre no man from it nor speake against any man that hath received it Saving that one of our company in my presence was sharpely punished He as soone as he was baptised began against our wils with more earnest affection then wisedome to reason of Christs