a description of the famous kingdome of macaria, shewing its excellent government wherein the inhabitants live in great prosperity, health, and happiness : the king obeyed, the nobles honoured, and all good men respected, vice punished, and vertue rewarded : an example to other nations between a schollar and a traveller. hartlib, samuel, d. 1662. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a45750 of text r16655 in the english short title catalog (wing h983). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 24 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 10 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a45750 wing h983 estc r16655 12859992 ocm 12859992 94674 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45750) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 94674) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 255:e173, no 28) a description of the famous kingdome of macaria, shewing its excellent government wherein the inhabitants live in great prosperity, health, and happiness : the king obeyed, the nobles honoured, and all good men respected, vice punished, and vertue rewarded : an example to other nations between a schollar and a traveller. hartlib, samuel, d. 1662. [4], 15 p. printed for francis constable, london : 1641. ascribed to samuel hartlif. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.) reproduction of original in thomason collection, british library. eng utopias -early works to 1800. a45750 r16655 (wing h983). civilwar no a description of the famous. kingdome of macaria; shewing its excellent government: wherein the inhabitants live in great prosperity, health hartlib, samuel 1641 4019 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2005-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-12 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-01 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2006-01 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a description of the famous . kingdome of macaria ; shewing its excellent government : wherein the inhabitants live in great prosperity , health , and happinesse ; the king obeyed , the nobles honoured ; and all good men respected , vice punished , and vertue rewarded . an example to other nations . in a dialogue between a schollar and a traveller . london , printed for francis constable , anno 1641. to the high and honourable court of parliament . whereas i am confident , that this honorable court will lay the corner stone of the worlds happinesse before the final recesse thereof , i have adventured to cast in my widowes mite into the treasurie ; not as an instructer , or counsellour , to this honourable assembly , but have delivered my conceptions in a fiction , as a more mannerly way , having for my pattern sir thomas moore , and sir francis bacon once lord chancellour of england ; and humbly desire that this honourable assembly will be pleased to make use of any thing therein contained , if it may stand with their pleasures , and to laugh at the rest , as a solace to my minde , being enclined to doe good to the publick . so humbly craving leave , that i may take my leave , i rest this 25. of october 1641. a description of the famous kingdome of macaria . shewing its excellent government . traveller . well met sir , your habit professes scholarship , are you a graduate ? schollar . yes sir , i am a master of arts . trav. but what doe you heare in the exchange ; i conceive you trade in knowledge , and here is no place to traffick for it ; neither in the book of rates is there any imposition upon such commodities : so that you have no great businesse either here or at the custome-house . come let us goe into the fields , i am a traveller , and can tell you strange newes , and much knowledge , and i have brought it over the sea without paying any custome , though it bee worth all the merchandize in the kingdome . schol. we scholars love to heare newes , and to learne knowledge , i will wait upon you , goe whither you will . trav. well , we will goe into moore fields , and take a turne or two , there we shall be out of this noise , and throng of people . sch. agreed ; but as we goe , what good newes doe you heare of the parliament ? trav. i heare that they are generally bent to make a good reformation , but that they have some stops and hinderances , so that they cannot make such quick dispatch as they would ; and if any experience which i have learned in my long travels , may stand them in stead , i would willingly impart it for the publick good . sch. i like that well , i pray you declare some good experience , that i may say that i have gained some thing by the company of travellers . trav. in a kingdome called macatia , the king and the governours doe live in great honour and riches , and the people doe live in great plenty , prosperitie , health , peace , and happinesse , and have not halfe so much trouble as they have in these european countreyes . sch. that seemeth to me impossible : you travellers must take heed of two things principally in your relations ; first , that you say nothing that is generally deemed impossible . secondly , that your relation hath no contradiction in it , or else all men will think that you make use of the travellers priviledge , to wit , to lie by authority . trav. if i could change all the minds in england as easily as i suppose i shall change yours , this kingdome would be presently like to it : when you heare the manner of their government , you will deeme it to be very possible , and withall very easie . sch. i pray you sir declare the manner of their government , for i think long till i heare it . trav. as for brevitie in discourse , i shall answer your desire . they have a great councell like to the parliament in england , but it sitteth once a yeer for a short space , and they heare no complaints against any but ministers of state , judges , and officers ; those they trounce soundly , if there because : besides , they have five under councels ; to wit , a councell of husbandry . a councell of fishing . a councell of trade by land . a councell of trade by sea . a councell for new plantations . these sit once a yeere for a very short space , and have power to heare and determine , and to punish malefactors severely , and to reward benefactors honourable , and to make new lawes , not repugnant to the lawes of the great councell , for the whole kingdome , like as court leets , and corporations have within their owne precincts and liberties in england . sch. i pray you sir declare some of the principall lawes made by those under councels . trav. the councell of husbandry hath ordered , that the twentieth part of every mans goods that dieth shall be employed about the improving of lands , and making of high-wayes faire , and bridges over rivers ; by which meanes the whole kingdome is become like to a fruitfull garden , the high-wayes are paved , and are as faire as the streets of a citie ; and as for bridges over rivers , they are so high , that none are ever drowned in their travels . also they have established a law , that if any man holdeth more land than he is able to improve to the utmost , he shall be admonished , first , of the great hinderance which it doth to the common-wealth . secondly , of the prejudice to himselfe ; and if hee doe not amend his husbandry within a yeares space , there is a penalty set upon him , which is yeerely doubled , till his lands be forfeited , and he banished out of the kingdome , as an enemy to the common-wealth . in the councell of fishing there are lawes established , whereby immense riches are yeerly drawne out of the ocean . in the councell of trade by land there are established lawes , so that there are not too many tradesmen , nor too few , by enjoyning longer or shorter times of apprentiships . in the councell of trade by sea there is established a law , that all traffick is lawfull which may enrich the kingdome . in the councell for new plantations there is established a law , that every yeere a certaine number shall be sent our , strongly fortified , and provided for at the publike charge , till such times as they may subsist by their owne endevours : and this number is set downe by the said councell , wherein they take diligent notice of the surplusage of people that may be spared . sch. but you spoke of peace to be permanent in that kingdome , how can that be ? trav. very easily ; for they have a law , that if any prince shall attempt any invasion , his kingdome shall be lawfull prize : and the inhabitants of this happy countrey are so numerous , strong , and rich , that they have destroyed some without any considerable resistance ; and the rest take warning . sch. but you spoke of health , how can that be procured by a better way than wee have here in england ? trav. yes very easily ; for they have an house , or colledge of experience , where they deliver out yeerly such medicines as they find out by experience ; and all such as shall be able to demonstrate any experiment for the health or wealth of men , are honourably rewarded at the publike charge , by which their skill in husbandry , physick , and surgerie , is most excellent . sch. but this is against physicians . trav. in macaria the parson of every parish is a good physician , and doth execute both functions , to wit , cura animarum , & cura corporum ; and they think it as absurd for a divine to be without the skill of physick , as it is to put new wine into old bottles ; and the physicians being true naturalists , may as well become good divines , as the divines doe become good physicians . sch. but you spoke of grat facilitie that these men have in their functions , how can that be ? trav. very easily : for the divines , by reason that the societie of experimenters is liable to an action , if they shall deliver out any false receit , are not troubled to trie conclusions , or experiments , but onely to consider of the diversitie of natures , complexions , and constitutions , which they are to know , for the cure of soules , as well as of bodies . sch. i know divers divines in england that are physicians , and therefore i hold well with this report , and i would that all were such , for they have great estimation with the people , and can rule them at their pleasure ? sch. but how cometh the facilitie of becoming good divines ? trav. they are all of approved abilitie in humane learning , before they take in hand that function , and then they have such rules , that they need no considerable studie to accomplish all knowledge fit for divines , by reason that there are no diversitie of opinions amongst them . sch. how can that be ? trav. very easily : for they have a law , that if any divine shall publish a new opinion to the common people , he shall be accounted a disturber of the publick peace , and shall suffer death for it . sch. but that is the way to keep them in errour perpetually , if they be once in it . trav. you are deceived ; for if any one hath conceived a new opinion , he is allowed everie yeere freely to dispute it before the great councell ; if he overcome his adversaries , or such as are appointed to be opponents , then it is generally received for truth ; if he be overcome , then it is declared to be false . sch. it seemeth that they are ghristians by your relation of the parochiall ministers , but whether are they protestants or papists ? trav. their religion consists not in taking notice of severall opinions and sects , but is made up of infallible tenets , which may be proved by invincible arguments , and such as will abide the grand test of extreme dispute ; by which meanes none have power to stirre up schismes and heresies ; neither are any of their opinions ridiculous to those who are of contrarie minds . schol. but you spoke of great honour which the governours have in the kingdome of macaria . trav. they must needs receive great honour of the people , by reason that there is no injustice done , or very seldome , perhaps once in an age . sch. but how come they by their great riches which you speak of ? trav. it is holden a principall policie in state to allow to the ministers of state , judges , and chiefe officers , great revenues ; for that , in case they doe not their dutie , in looking to the kingdomes safety , for conscience sake , yet they may doe it for feare of loosing their owne great estates . sch. but how can the king of macaria be so rich as you speak of ? trav. he taketh a strict course that all his crown lands be improved to the utmost , as forrests , parkes , chases , &c. by which meanes his revenues are so great , that hee seldome needeth to put impositions upon his subjects , by reason hee hath seldome any warres ; and if there bee cause , the subjects are as ready to give , as hee to demand : for they hold it to bee a principall policie in state , to keep the kings cofers full , and so full , that it is an astonishment to all invaders . sch. but how cometh the kings great honour which you speak of ? trav. who can but love and honour such a prince , which in his tender and parentall care of the publick good of his loving subjects , useth no pretences for realities , like to some princes , in their acts of state , edicts , and proclamations ? sch. but you travellers must take heed of contradictions in your relations ; you have affirmed , that the governours in macaria have not halfe so much trouble , as they have in these european kingdomes , and yet by your report they have a great councell , like to our parliament in england , which sit once a yeare : besides that , they have five under councels , which sit once a yeare , then how commeth this facility in government ? trav. the great councell heareth no complaints , but against ministers of state , judges , and chiefe officers ; these , being sure to bee trounsed once a yeare , doe never , or very seldome offend : so that their meeting is rather a festivity , than a trouble . and as for the judges and chiefe officers , there is no hope that any man can prevaile in his suit by bribery , favour , or corrupt dealing ; so that they have few causes to be troubled withall . sch. i have read over sr. thomas mores vtopia , and my lord bacons new atlantis , which hee called so in imitation of plato's old one , but none of them giveth mee satisfaction , how the kingdome of england may be happy , so much as this discourse , which is briefe and pithy , and easie to be effected , if all men be willing . trav. you divines have the sway of mens minds , you may as easily perswade them to good as to bad , to truth as well as to falshood . sch. well , in my next sermon i will make it manifest , that those that are against this honourable designe , are first , enimies to god and goodnesse ; secondly , enimies to the common-wealth ; thirdly , enimies to themselves , and their posterity . trav. and you may put in , that they are enimies to the king , and to his posterity , and so consequently , traitors : for hee that would not have the kings honour , and riches to be advanced , and his kingdome to bee permanent to him , and to his heires , is a traitor , or else i know not what treason meaneth . sch. well , i see that the cause is not in god , but in mens fooleries , that the people live in misery in this world , when they may so easily bee relieved : i will joyne my forces with you , and wee will try a conclusion , to make our selves and posterity to bee happy . trav. well , what will you doe towards the worke ? sch. i have told you before , i will publish it in my next sermon , and i will use meanes that in all visitations and meetings of divines , they may bee exhorted to doe the like . trav. this would doe the feat , but that the divines in england , having not the skill of physick , are not so highly esteemed , nor beare so great a sway as they doe in macaria . sch. well , what will you doe toward the worke ? trav. i will propound a book of husbandry to the high court of parliament , whereby the kingdome may maintaine double the number of people , which it doth now , and in more plenty and prosperity , than now they enjoy . sch. that is excellent : i cannot conceive , but that if a kingdome may be improved to maintaine twice as many people as it did before , it is as good as the conquest of another kingdome , as great , if not better . trav. nay , it is certainly better ; for when the townes are thin , and farre distant , and the people scarce and poore , the king cannot raise men and money upon any sudden occasion , without great difficulty . sch. have you a coppy of that booke of husbandry about you , which is to bee propounded to the parliament ? trav. yes , here is a coppy , peruse it , whilest i goe about a little businesse , and i will presently returne to you . well , have you perused my book ? sch. yes sir : and finde that you shew the transmutation of sublunary bodies , in such manner , that any man may be rich that will be industrious ; you shew also , how great cities , which formerly devoured the fatnesse of the kingdome , may yearely make a considerable retribution without any mans prejudice , and your demonstrations are infallible ; this booke will certainly be highly accepted by the high court of parliament . trav. yes , i doubt it not ; for i have shewed it to divers parliament men , who have all promised mee faire , so soone as a seasonable time commeth for such occasions . sch. were i a parliament man , i would labour to have this book to bee dispatched , the next thing that is done ; for with all my seven liberall arts i cannot discover , how any businesse can bee of more weight than this , wherein the publike good is so greatly furthered ; which to further , we are all bound by the law of god , and nature . trav. if this conference bee seriously considered of , it is no laughing matter ; for you heare of the combustions in france , spaine , germanie , and other christian countreys ; you know that a house divided against it selfe cannot stand : this may give the turke an advantage , so that england may feare to have him a neerer neighbour than they desire . why should not all the inhabitants of england joyne with one consent , to make this countrey to bee like to macaria , that is numerous in people , rich in treasure and munition , that so they may bee invincible ? sch. none but fooles or mad men will be against it : you have changed my minde , according to your former prediction , and i will change as many minds as i can , by the waies formerly mentioned , and i pray you , that for a further means , this conference may be printed . trav. well , it shall be done forthwith . sch. but one thing troubleth me , that many divines are of opinion , that no such reformation as we would have , shall come before the day of judgement . trav. indeed there are many divines of that opinion , but i can shew an hundred texts of scripture , which doe plainly prove , that such a reformation shall come before the day of judgement . sch. yea , i have read many plaine texts of scripture to that purpose , but when i searched the expositors , i found that they did generally expound them mystically . trav. that is true ; but worthy st. hierome , considering that those places of scripture would not beare an allegoricall exposition , said thus , possumus ficut & multi alii omnia haec spiritualiter exponere , sed vereor , ne hujusmodi expositionem , prudentes lectores nequaquam recipiant . sch. i am of st. hierom's minde , and therefore with clacrity let us pursue our good intentions , and bee good instruments in this worke of reformation . trav. there be naturall causes also to further it ; for the art of printing will so spread knowledge , that the common people , knowing their own rights and liberties , will not be governed by way of oppression ; and so , by little and little , all kingdomes will be like to macaria . sch. that will bee a good change , when as well superiors as inferiors shall bee more happy : well , i am imparadised in my minde , in thinking that england may bee made happy , with such expedition and facility . trav. well , doe you know any man that hath any secrets , or good experiments ? i will give him gold for them , or others as good in exchange ; that is all the trade i have driven a long time , those riches are free from customes and impositions , and i have travelled through many kingdomes , and paid neither fraight nor custome for my wares , though i valued them above all the riches in the kingdome . sch. i know a gentleman that is greatly addicted to try experiments , but how hee hath prospered i am not certaine ; i will bring you acquainted with him , perhaps you may doe one another good . trav. well , i have appointed a meeting at two of the clocke this day , i love to discourse with scholars , yet wee must part ; if you meet mee here the next munday at the exchange , i will declare to you some more of the lawes , customes , and manners of the inhabitants of macaria . sch. i will not faile to meet you for any worldly respect ; and if i should bee sicke , i would come in a sedan : i never received such satisfaction and contentment by any discourse in my life : i doubt not but wee shall obtaine our desires , to make england to bee like to macaria ; for which our posterity which are yet unborne , will fare the better : and though our neighbour countreys are pleased to call the english a dull nation , yet the major part are sensible of their owne good , and the good of their posterity , and those will sway the rest ; so wee and our posterity shall bee all happie . finis . new atlantis a work unfinished / written by the right honourable francis, lord verulam, viscount st. alban. bacon, francis, 1561-1626. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a28291 of text r21978 in the english short title catalog (wing b307). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 99 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 21 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a28291 wing b307 estc r21978 12619150 ocm 12619150 64462 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a28291) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 64462) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 342:5) new atlantis a work unfinished / written by the right honourable francis, lord verulam, viscount st. alban. bacon, francis, 1561-1626. [4], 36 p. s.n., [london : 1658?] "magnalia naturæ, præcipue quoad usus humanos": p. 21 [i.e. 35]-36. imprint from nuc pre-1956 imprints. reproduction of original in library of congress. eng utopias. a28291 r21978 (wing b307). civilwar no new atlantis. a vvork unfinished. vvritten by the right honourable, francis, lord uerulam, viscount st. alban. bacon, francis 1658 18580 198 0 0 0 0 0 107 f the rate of 107 defects per 10,000 words puts this text in the f category of texts with 100 or more defects per 10,000 words. 2002-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-05 tcp staff (oxford) sampled and proofread 2002-05 judith siefring text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-06 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion new atlantis . a vvork unfinished , written by the right honourable , francis , lord verulam , viscount st. alban . to the reader . this fable my lord devised , to the end that he might exhibit therein , a modell or description of a college , instituted for the interp●eting of nature , and the producing of great and marvellous works , for the benefit of men ; vnder the name of salomons house , or the college of the six dayes works . and even so farre his lor●ship hath proceeded , as to finish that part. certainly the modell is more vast , and high , than can possibly be imitated in all things ; notwithstanding most things therein are within mens power to effect . his lordship thought also in this present fable , to have composed a frame of lawes , or of the best state or mould of a common-wealth ; but foreseeing it would be a long work , his desire of collecting the natural history diverted him , which he preferred many degrees before it . this work of the new atlantis ( as much as concerneth the english edition ) his lordship designed for this place ; in regard it hath so near affinity ( in one part of it ) with the preceding natural history . vv. rawley . new atlantis . we sailed from peru , ( where we had continued by the space of one whole year ) for china and iapan , by the south sea ; taking with us victuals for twelve months ; and had good winds from the east , though soft and weak , for five mo●ths space and more . but then the wind came about , and setled in the west for many daies , so as we could make little or no way , and were sometimes in purpose to turn back . but then again there arose strong and great vvinds from the south , with a point east ; which carried us up , ( for all that we could do ) towards the north : by which time our victuals failed us , though we had made good spare of them . so that finding our selves , in the midst of the greatest vvilderness of waters in the world , without victuall , we gave our selves for lost men , and prepared for death . yet we did lift up our hearts and voices to god above , who sheweth his wonders in the deep ; beseeching him of his mercy , that as in the beginning he discovered the face of the deep , and brought forth drie-land : so he would now discover land to us , that we might not perish . and it came to pass , that the next day about evening , we saw within a kenning before us , towards the north , as it were thicker clouds , which did put us in some hope of land : knowing how that part of the south-sea was utterly unknown : and might have ●slands or continents , that hitherto were not come to light . vvherefore we bent our course thither , where we saw the appearance of land , all that night . and in the dawning of the next day , we might plainly discern that it was a land flat to our sight , and full of boscage : which made it shew the more da●k . and after an hour and a halfes sayling , we entred into a good haven , being the port of a fair city . not great indeed , but well built , and that gave a pleasant view from the sea . and we thinking every minute long , till we were on land , came close to the shore , and offered to land . but straight waies we saw divers of the people , with bastons in their hands , ( as it were ) forbidding us to land : yet without any cries or fiercenesse , but only as warning us off , by signes that they made . whereupon being not a little discomforted , we were advising with our selves , what we should do . during which time , there made forth to us a small boat , with about eight persons in it , whereof one of them had in his hand a tip-staffe of a yellow cane , tipped at both ends with blew , who made aboard our ship , without any shew of distrust at all● and when he saw one of our number , present himself somewhat afore the rest , he drew forth a little scroul of parchment ( somewhat yellower than our parchment , and shining like the leaves of vvriting tables , but otherwise soft and flexible , ) and delivered it to our formost man . in which scroul were written in antient hebre● , and in antient greek , and in good latine of the school , and in spanish , these words ; land ye not , none of you ; and provide to be gone from this coast , within sixteen daies , except you have further time given you : mean while , if you want fresh water , or victual , or help for your sick , or that your ship needeth repair , write down your wants , and you shall have that which b●longeth to mercy . this scroul was signed with a stamp of cherubims wings , not spread but hanging downwards ; and by them a crosse . this being delivered , the officer returned , and left only a servant with us to receive our answer . consulting ●●reupon amongst our selves , we were much perplexed . the deniall of landing , and hasty vvarning us away , troubled us much : on the other side , to find that the people had languages , and were so full of humanity , did comfort us not a little . and above all , the sign of the crosse to that instrument , was to us a great rejoycing , and as it were a certain presage of good . our answer was in the spanish tongue ; that for our ship , it was well ; for we had rather met with calmes and contrary winds , than any tempests . for our sick , they were many , and in very ill case ; so that if they were not permitted to land , they ran in danger of their lives . our other vvants wee let down in particular , adding ; that we had some little store of merchandize , which if it pleased them to deal for , it might supply our wants , without being chargeable unto them . vve offered some reward in pistolets unto the servant , and a piece of crimson velvet to be presented to the officer : but the servant took them not , nor would scarce look upon them ; and so left us , and went back in another little boat which was sent for him . about three hours after we had dispatched our answer , there came toward us , a person ( as it seemed , ) of place . he had on him a gown with wide sleeves , of a kind of vvater chamolet , of an excellent azure colour , far more glossy than ours : his under apparell was green , and so was his hat , being in the form of a turban , daintily made , and not so huge as the turkish turbans ; and the locks of his hair came down below the brims of it . a reverend man was he to behold . he came in a boat , gilt in some part of it , with four persons more onely in that boat ; and was followed by another boat , wherein were some twenty . vvhen he was come within a flight-shot of our ship , signes were made to us , that we should send forth some to meet him upon the water , which we presently did in our ship-boat , sending the principal man amongst us save one , and four of our number with him . vvhen we were come within six yards of their boat , they called to us to stay , and not to approach further , which we did . and thereupon the man , whom i before described , stood up , and with a loud voyce in spanish , asked , are ye christians ? vve answered , we were ; fearing the lesse , because of the crosse we had seen in the subscription . at which answer the said person lift up his right hand towards heaven , and drew it softly to his mouth ( which is the gesture they use , when they thank god ; ) and then said : if you will swear , ( all of you ) by the merits of the saviour , that ye are no pirates ; nor have shed bloud , lawfully , nor unlawfully , within forty daies past ; you may have license to come on land . we said , we were all ready to take that oath . vvhereupon one of those that were with him , being ( as it seemed ) a notary , made an entry of this act. which done , another of the attendants of the great person , which was with him in the same boat , after his lord had spoken a little to him , said aloud : my lord would have you know , that it is not of pride , or greatnesse , that he commeth not aboard your ship : but for that , in your answer , you declare , that you have many sick amongst you , he was warned by the conservatour of health , of the city , that he should keep a distance . vve bowed our selves towards him , and answered : we were his humble servants ; and accounted for great honour , and singular humanity toward us , that which was already done● but hoped well , that the nature of the sicknesse , of our men , was not infectious . so he returned ; and a while after came the notary to us aboard our ship ; holding in his hand a fruit of that country , like an orenge , but of colour between orenge-tawny and scarlet : which cast a most excellent odour . he used it ( as i● seemeth ) for a preservative against infection . he gave us our oath ; by the name of iesus and his merits ; and after told us , that the next day by six of the clock in the morning , we should be sent to , and brought to the strangers house , ( so he called it ) where we should be accommodated of things , both for our vvhole , and for our sick . so he left us ; and when we offered him some pistolets , he smiling , said : he must not be twice paid for one labour : meaning ( as i take it ) that he had salary sufficient of the state for his service . for ( as i after learned ) they call an officer that taketh rewards , twice paid . the next morning early , there came to us the same officer , that came to us at first with his cane , and told us : he came to conduct us to the strangers house : and that he had prevented the hour , because we might have the whole day before us , for our businesse . for ( said he ) if you will follow my advice , there shall first go with me some few of you , and see the place , and how it may be made convenient for you : and then you may send for your sick , and the rest of your number , which ye will bring on land . vve thanked him , and said : that this care , which he took of desolate strangers , god would reward . and so six of us went on land with him : and when we were on land , he went before us , and turned to us , and said ; he was but our servant , and our guide● he led us through three fair streets ; and all the vvay we went , there were gathered some people on both sides , standing in a row : but in so civil a fashion , as if it had been , not to wonder at us , but to wel●om us ; and divers of them , as we passed by them , put their armes a little abroad , which is their gesture , when they bid any welcom . the strangers house is a fair and spacious house , built of brick , of somewhat a blewer colour than our brick : and with handsome vvindows , some of glasse , ●ome of a kind of cambrick oyled . he brought us first into a fair parlour above stairs , and then asked us : what number of persons we were ? and how many sick ? we answered , we were in all ( sick and whole ) one and fifty persons , whereof our sick were seventeen . he desired us to have patience a little , and to stay till he came back to us ; which was about an hour● after ; and then he led us to see the chambers , which were provided for us , being in number nineteen . they having cast it ( as it seemeth ) that four of those chambers , which were better than the rest , might receive fo● of the principal men of our company● and lodge them alone by themselves ; and the other fifteen chambers were to lodge us , two and two together . the chambers were handsome and chearfull chambers , and furnished civilly . then he led us to a long gallery , like a dorture , where he shewed us all along the one side ( for the other side was but wall and window ) seventeen cells , very neat ones , having partitions of cedar wood . vvhich gallery , and cells , being in all 40● ( many more than we needed , ) were instituted as an infirmary for sick persons . and he told us withall , that as any of our sick waxed well , he might be removed from his cell , to a chamber : for which purpose there were set forth ten spare chambers , besides the number we spake of before . this done , he brought us back to the parlour , and lifting up his cane a littl● ( as they do when they give any charge or command ) said to us ; yee are to know that the custome of the land requireth , that after this day , and to morrow , ( which we give you for removing your people from your ship , ) you are to keep within doores for three daies . but let it not trouble you , nor do not think your selves restrained , but rather le●t to your rest and ease . you shall want nothing ; and there are six of our people appointed to attend you , for any businesse you may have abroad . we gave him thanks with all affection and respect , and said ; god surely is manifested in this land . vve offered him also twenty pistolets ; but he smiled , and only said ; what ? twice paid ! and so he left us . soon after our dinner was served in ; vvhich was right good viands , both for bread and meat : better than any collegiate diet , that i have known in europe . vve had also drink of three sorts , all wholsome and good ; wine of the grape ; a drink of grain , such as is w●th us our ale , but more clear : and a kind o● sider made of a fruit of that countrey ; a wonderfull pleasing and refreshing drink . besides , there were brought in to us , great store of those scarlet orenges , for our sick ; which ( they said ) were an assured remedy for sicknesse taken at sea . there was given us also , a box of small gray , or whitish pills , which they wished our sick should take , one of the pills every nigh● before sleep ; which ( they said ) would hasten their recovery . the next day , after that our trouble of carriage , and removing of our men , and goods out of our shipp , was som●what setled and quiet , i thought good to call our company together ; and when they were assembled , said unto them ; my dear friends , let us know our 〈◊〉 , and how it standeth with us . we are men cast on land , as jonas was , out of the whales belly , when we were as buried in the deep : and now we are on land , we are but between death and life ; for we are beyond , both the old world and the new ; and whether ever we shall see europe , god only knoweth . it is a kind of miracle hath brought us hither : and it must be little lesse that shall bring us hence . therefore in regard of our deliverance past , and our danger present , and to come , let us look up to god , and every man reform his own waies . besides , we are come here amongst a christian people , full of pietie and humanity : let us not bring that confusion of ●ace upon our selves , as to shew our vices , or unworthinesse before them . yet there is more : for they have by commandement , ( though in form of courtesie ) cloystred us within these walls for three daies : who knoweth , whether it be not , to take some taste of our manners and conditions ? and if they find them b●d , to banish us straightwaies ; if good , to give us further time . for these men , that they have given us for attendance , may withall have an eye upon us . therefore for gods love , and as wee love the weal of our soules and bodies , let us so behave our selves , as we may be at peace with god , and may find grace in the eyes of this people . our company with one voyce thanked me for my good admonition , and promised me to live soberly and civilly , and without giving any the least occasion of offence . so we spent our three daies joyfully , and without care , in expectation what would be done with us , when they were expired . during which time , we had every hour joy of the amendment of our sick ; who thought themselves cast into some divine pool of healing ; they mended so kindly , and so fast . the morrow after our three daies were past , there came to us a new man , that we had not seen before , clothed in blew as the former was , save that his turban was white with a small red crosse on the top. he had also a tippet of fine linnen . at his comming in , he did bend to us a little , and put his a●ms abroad . we of our parts saluted him in a very lowly and submissive manner ; as looking that from him we should receive sentence of li●e , or death . he desired to speak with some few of us ; vvhereupon six of us only stayed , and the rest avoided the room . he said ; i am by office governour of this house of strangers , and by vocation i am a christian priest ; and therefore am come to you , to offer you my service , both as strangers , and chiefly as christians . some things i may tell you , which i think you will not be unwilling to hear . the state hath given you licence to stay on land for the space of six weeks : and let it not trouble you , if your occasions ask further time , for the law in this point is not precise ; and i do not doubt , but my self shall be able to obtain for you such further time as shall be convenient . ye shall also understand , that the strangers house , is at this time rich , and much aforehand ; for it hath laid up revenew these 37 yea●● : for so long it is since any stranger arived in this part : and therefore take ye no care● the state will defray you all the time you stay : neither shall you stay one day lesse for that . as for any merchandize you have brought , ye shall be well used , and have your return , either in merchandize , or in gold and silver : for to ●s it is all one . and if you have any other request to make , hide it not . for ye shall find , we will not make your countenance to fall , by the answer ye shall receive . only this i must tell you , that none of you must go above a karan , ( that is with them a mile and an half ) from the wa●ls of the city , without special leave . vve answered , after we had looked a while upon one another , admiring this gracious and parent-like usage ; that we could not tell what to say : for we wanted words to expresse our thanks ; and his noble free offers left us nothing to ask . it seemed to us , that we had before us a picture of our salvation in heaven : for we that were a while since in the iaws of death , were now brought into a place , where we found nothing but consolations . for the command●ment laid upon us , we would not fail to obey it , though it was impossible but our hearts should be enflamed to tread further upon this happy and holy ground . vve added ; that our tongues should first cleave to the roofes of our mouths , ere we should forget , either this reverend person , or this whole nation , in our prayers . vve also most humbly besought him to accept of us as his true servants , by as just a right , as ever men on earth were bounden ; laying and presenting , both our persons , and all we had at his feet . he said ; he was a priest , and looked for a priests reward ; which was our brotherly love , and the good of our souls and bodies . so he went from us , not without tears of tendernesse in his eyes ; and left us also confused with joy and kindnesse , saying amongst our selves ; that we were come into a land of angels● which did appear to us daily , and prevent us with comforts , which we thought not of , much less expected . the next day about ten of the clock , the governour came to us again , and after salutations said familiarly ; that he was come to visit us ; and called for a chair , and sate him down : and we being some ten of us ( the rest were of the meaner sort , or else gone abroad , ) sate down with him : and when we were set , he began thus . we of this island of bensalem ( for so they call it in their language ) have this : that by means of our solitary situation , and of the laws of secrecy , which we have for our travellers , and our rare admission of strangers ; we know well most part of the ●●bitable world , and are our selves unknown . therefore because he that knoweth least is fittest to ask questions , it is more reason , for the entertainment of the time , that ye ask me questions , than that i ask you . vve answered , that we humbly thanked him , that he would give us leave so to do : and that we conceived by the taste we had already , that there w●s no worldly thing on earth , more worthy to be known , than the state of that happy land . but above all ( we said ) since that we were met from the several ends of the world , and hoped assuredly , that we should meet one day in the kingdom of heaven ( for that we were both parts christians ) we desired to know ( in respect that land was so remote , and so divided by vast and unknown seas from the land where our saviour walked on earth ) who was the apostle of that nation , and how it was converted to the faith ? it appeared in his face , that he took great contentment in this our question : he said , ye knit my heart to you , by asking this question in the first place : for it sheweth , that you first seek the kingdom of heaven : and i shall gladly , and briefly , satisfie your demand . about twenty years after the ascension of our saviour , it came to pass , that there was seen by the people of renfusa , ( a city upon the eastern coast of our island , ( within night , ) the night was cloudy and calm , ) as it might be some mile in the sea , a great pillar of light ; not sharp , but in form of a column , or cylinder , rising from the sea , a great way up towards heaven : and on the top of it was seen a large crosse of light , more bright and resplendent than the body of the pillar . upon which so strange a spectacle , the people of the city gathered apace together upon the sands , to wonder ; and so after put themselves into a number of small boats to go nearer to this marvellous sight . but when the boats were come within ( about ) sixty yards of the pillar , they found themselves all bound , and could go no further , yet so as they might move to go about , but might not approach nearer : so as the boats stood all as in a theater , beholding this light , as an heavenly sign . it so fell out , that there was in one of the boats , one of the wise men , of the society of salomons house : which house or college ( my good brethren ) is the very eye of this kingdome ; who having a while attentively and devoutly viewed , and contemplated this pillar and crosse , fell down upon his face : and then raised himself upon his knees , and lifting up his hands to heaven , made his prayers in this manner . lord god of heaven and earth , thou hast vouchsafed of thy grace , to those of our order , to know thy works of creation , and true secrets of them ; and to discern ( as far as appertaineth to the generations of men ) between divine miracles , works of nature , works of art , and impostures , and illu●ions of all sorts . i do here acknowledge and testifie before this people , that the thing we now see before our eyes , is thy finger , and a true miracle●and for as-much , as we learn in our books , that thou never workest miracles , but to a diviue and excellent end , ( for the laws of nature are thine own laws , and thou exceedest them not but upon good cause ) we most humbly beseech thee , to prosper this great sign , and to give us the interpretation and use of it in mercy ; vvhich thou dost in some part secretly promise , by sending it unto us . when he had made his prayer , he presently found the boat he was in , moveable and unbound ; whereas all the rest remained still fast ; and taking that for an assurance of leave to approach , he caused the boat to be softly , and with silence rowed towards the pillar . but ere he came near it , the pillar and crosse of light brake up ; and cast it self abroad , as it were into a firmament of many starres ; which also vanished soon after , and there was nothing left to be seen , but a small ark , or chest of cedar , dry , and not wet at all with water , though it swam . and in the fore-end of it , which was towards him , grew a small green branch of palm ; and when the wise man had taken it with all reverence into his boat , it opened of it self , and there was found in it a book , and a letter ; both written in fine parchment , and wrapped in sindons of linnen . the book contained all the canonical books of the old and new testament , according as you have them ; ( for we know well what the churches with you receive ; ) and the apocalypse it self ; and some other books of the new testament , which were not at that time written , were neverthelesse in the book . and for the letter , it was in these words . i bartholomew , a servant of the highest , and apostle of iesvs christ , was warned by an angel that appeared to me , in a vision of glory , that i should commit this ark to the flouds of the sea . therefore i do testifie and declare , unto that people , where god shall ordain this ark to come to land , that in the same day is come unto them salvation , and peace , and good vvill from the father , and from the lord iesvs . there was also in both these writings , as well the book , as the letter , wrought a great miracle , conform to that of the apostles , in the original gift o● tongues . for there being at that time , in thi● land , hebrews , persians , and indians , besides the natives , every one read upon the book , and letter , as if they had been written in his own language . and thus was this land saved from infidelity ; ( as the remain of the old world was from water ) by an ark , through the apostolical and miraculous evangelisme of s. bartholomew . and here he paused , and a messenger came , and called him forth from us . so this was all that passed in that conference . the next day , the same governor came again to us , immediately after dinner , and excused himself , saying ; that the day before be was called from us somewhat abruptly , but now he would make us amends , and spend time with us , if we held his company and conference agreeable ; vve answered ; that we held it so agreeable and pleasing to us , as we forgot both dangers past , and fears to come , for the time we heard him speak ; and that we thought a hour spent with him , was worth years of our former life . he bowed himself a little to us , and after we were set again , he said ; well , the questions are on your part . one of our number said , after a little pause ; that there was a matter , we were no lesse desirous to know , than fearfull to ask , lest we might presume too far . but incouraged by his rare humanity toward us , ( that could scarce think our selves strangers , being his vowed and professed servants , ) we would take the hardnesse to propound it : humbly beseeching him , if he thought it not fit to be answered , that he would pardon it , though he rejected it . vve said ; we well observed those his words , which he formerly spake , that this happy island , where we now stood , was known to few , and yet knew most of the nations of the world ; which we fou●d to be true , considering they had the languages of europe , and knew much of our state and businesse : and yet we in europe ( notwithstanding all the remote discoveries , and navigations of this last age ) never heard any of the least inkling or glimpse of this island . this we found wonderfull strange ; for that all nations have enterknowledge one of another , either by voyage into forein parts , or by strangers that come to them : and though the traveller into a forein country , doth commonly know more by the eye , than he that stayed at home can by relation of the traveller ; yet both waies suffice to make a mutual knowledge , in some degree , on both parts . but for this island , we never heard tell of any ship of theirs , that had been seen to a●ive upon any shore of europe ; no , nor of either the east , or vvest indies , nor yet of any ship of any other part of the world , that had made return for them . and yet the marvell rested not in this . for the situation of it ( as his lordship said ) in the secret conclave of such a vast sea mought cause it . but then , that they should have knowledge of the languages , books , affairs , of those that lye such a distance from them , it was a thing we could not tell what to make of ; for that it seemed to us a condition and propriety of divine powers and beings , to be hidden and unseen to others , and yet to have others open , and as in a light to them . at this speech the governour gave a gracious smile , and said ; that we did well to ask pardon for this questi●n we now asked ; for that it imported , as if we thought this land a land of magicians , that sent forth spirits of the ayr into all parts , to bring them news , and intelligence of other countries . it was answered by us all , in all possible humblenesse , but yet with a countenance taking knowledge , that we knew that he spake it but merrily . that we were apt enough to think , there was somewhat supernatural in t●is island , but yet rather as angelical , than magical . but to let his lordship know truly , what it was that made us tender and doubtfull to ask this question , it was not any such conceit , but because we remembred , hee had given a touch in his former speech , that this land had laws of secrecy touching strangers : to this he said ; you remember it aright : and therefore in that i shall say to you , i must reserve some particulars , which it is not lawful● for me to reveal ; but there will be enough left to give you satisfaction . you shall understand ( that which perhaps you will scarce think credible ) that about three thousand years ago , or somewhat more , the navigation of the world ( specially for remote voyages ) was greater than at this day . do not think with your se●ves , that i know not how much it is increased with you , within these threescore years : i know it well● and yet i say , greater then , than no● : whether it was , that the example of the ark , that saved the remnant of men , from the universal deluge , gave men confidence to adventure upon the waters ; or what it was ; but such is the truth . the phoeniceans , and specially the tyrians , ●ad great fleets . so had the carthaginians their colony , which is yet further west . toward the east the shipping of egypt , and of palestina , was likewise great . china also , and the great atlantis , ( that you call america ) which have now but iunks , and canoas , abounded then in tall ships . this island , ( as appeareth by faithfull registers of those times ) had then fifteen hundred strong ships● of great content . of all this , there is with you sparing memory , or none ; but we have large knowledge thereof . at that time , this land was known and frequented by the ships and v●ss●●s of all the nations beforenamed . and ( as it commeth to passe ) they had many times men of other countries , that were no saylers , that came with them ; as persians , chaldeans , arabians ; so as almost all nations of might and fame r●sorted hither ; of whom , we have some stirps , and little tribes with us , at this day . and for our own ships , they went sundry voyages , as well to your streights , which you call the pillars of hercules , as to other parts in the atlantique and mediterrane seas ; as to paguin , ( which is the same with cambalaine ) and quinzy , upon the oriental seas , as far as to the borders of the east tartary . at the same time , and an age a●ter , or more , the inhabitants of the great atlantis did flourish . for though the narration and description which is made by a great man with you , that the descendents ●f neptune planted there ; and of the magnificent temple , palace , city , and hill ; and the manifold streams of goodly navigable rivers , which ( as so many chains ) invironed the same site , and temple ; and the several degrees of ascent , whereby men did climbe up to the same , as i● it had been a scala coeli ; be all poeticall and fabulous : yet so much is true , that the said country of atlantis ; as well that of peru then called coya , as that of mexico , then named tyrambel , were mighty and proud kingdomes , in arms , shipping , and riches : so mighty , as at one time ; ( or at least within the space of ten years , ) they both made two great expeditions ; they of tyrambel through the atlantique to the mediterrane sea ; and they of coya , through the south sea upon this our island : and for the former of these , which was into europe , the same author amongst you ( as as it seemeth ) had some relation from the aegyptian priest , whom he citeth . for assuredly , such a thing there was . but whether it were the antient athenians , that had the glory of the repulse , and resistance of those forces , i can say nothing : but certain it is , there never came back either ship , or man from that voyage . neither had the other voyage of those of coya upon us , had better fortune , if they had not met with enemies of greater clemency . for the king of this island , ( by name altabin ) a wise man , and a great warrier ; knowing well ●oth his own strength , and that of his enemies ; handled the matter so , as he cut off their land-forces , from their ships , and entoyled both their navy , and their camp , with a greater power than theirs , both by sea and land : and compelled them to render themselves without striking stroke : and after they were at his mercy , contenting himself only with their oath , that they should no more bear arms against him , dismissed them all in safety . but the divine revenge overtook not long after those proud enterprises . for within lesse than the space of one hundred years , the great atlantis was utterly lost and destroyed : not by a great earthquake , as your man saith ; ( for that whole trac● is little subject to earth-quakes ; ) but by a particular deluge , or inundation ; those countries having , at this day , farre greater rivers , and farre higher mountains , to pour down waters , than any part of the old world . but it is true , that the same inundation was not deep ; not past forty foot , in most places , from the ground ; so that although it destroyed man and beast generally , yet some few wild inhabitants of the wood escaped . birds also were saved by flying to the high trees and woods . f●r as for men , although they had buildings in many places , higher than the depth of the water ; y●● that inundation , though it were shallow , had a long continuance ; whereby they of the vale , that were not drowned , perished for want of food , and other things necessary . so as marvell you not at the thin population of america , nor at the rudenesse and ignorance of the people ; for you must account your i●habitants of america as a young people ; younger a thousa●d years , at the least , than the rest of the world : for that there was so much time , between the universal flood ; and their particular inundation . for the poor r●mnant of humane seed , which remained in their mountains , pe●pled the countrie again slo●ly , by little and little ; and being simple and a savage people ( not like noah and his sons , which was the chief family of the earth ) they were not able to leave letters , arts , and civility to their posterity ; and having likewise in their mountainous habitations been used , ( in respect of the extreme cold of those regions ) to cloath themselves with the skinnes of tygers , beares , and great hairy goats , that they have in those parts ; when afer they came down into the valley , and fo●nd the intolerable heats which are there , and knew no means of lighter apparell ; they were forced to begin the custo●e of going naked , which continueth at this day . only they take great pride and delight , in the feathers of birds ; and this al●o they took from those their ancestors of the mountains , who wer● invited unto it , by the infinite flight of birds , that came up to the high grounds , while the waters stood below . so you see , by this main . accident of time , we lost our traffique with the amercians , with whom , of all others , in regard , they lay nearest to us , we had most commerce . as for the other parts of the world , it is most manifest , that in the ages following , ( whether , it were in respect of warres , or by a natural revolution of time , ) navigation did eve●y where greatly decay ; and specially , farre voyages , ( the rather by the use of gallies , and such vessels as could hardly brook the ocean ) were altogether left and omitted . so then , that part o● entercourse , which could be from other nations , to sayl to us ; you see how it hath long since ceased ; except it were by some rare accident , as this of yours . but now of the cessation of that other part of entercourse , which mought be by our sayling to other nations , i must yield you some other cause . for i cannot say , ( if i should say truly , ) but our shipping , for number , strength , mariners , pylots , and all things that appertain to navigation , is as great as ever ; and therefore why we should sit at home , i shall now give you an account by it self ; and it ●ill draw nearer , to give you satisfaction , to your principal question . there reigned in this island , about 1900 years ago , a king , whose memory of all others we most adore ; not superstitiously , but as a divine instrument , though a mortal man : his name was salomona : and we esteem him as the law-giver of our nation . this king had a large heart , inscrutable ●or good ; and was wholly bent to make his kingdome and people happy . he therefore taking into consideration , how sufficient and substantive this land was , to maintain it self without any ayd ( at all ) of the foreiner ; being 5600 mile in circuit , and of rare fertility of soyl , in the greatest part thereof ; and finding also the shipping of this country mo●ght be plentifully set on work , both by fishing , and by transportations from port to port , and likewise by sayling unto some small islands that are not farre from us , and are under the crown and laws of this state ; and recalling into his memory , the happy and flourishing estate , wherein this land then was ; so as it mought be a thousand waies alte●e● to the worse , but scarce any one way to the better ; thought nothing wanted to his noble and heroical intentions , but only ( as farre as humane foresight mought reach ) to give perpetuity to that , which was in his time so happily established● therefore amongst his other fundamental laws of this kingdome , he did ordain , the interdicts and prohibitions , which we have touching entrance of strangers ; which at that time ( though it was after the calamity of america ) was frequent ; doubting novelties and commixture of manners . it is true , the like law , against the admission of strangers without licence , is an antient law , in the kingdome of china , and yet continued in use . but there it is a poor thing ; and hath made them a curious , ignora●t , fearf●ll foolish nation . but our law-giver made his law of an●ther temper . for fi●st , he hath preserved all points of humanity , in taking order , and making provision for the relie● of strangers distressed ; whereof you have t●sted . at which speech ( as reason was ) we all rose up● and bowed our selves . he went on . that king also still desiring to joyn humanity and policy together ; and thinking it against humanity , to detein strangers here against their wills ; and against policy , that they should return , and discover their knowledge of this estate , hee took this course : h● did ordain , that of the strangers , that should be permitted to land● as many ( at a●l times ) might depart as would ; but as man● as would stay , should have very good conditions , and means to live , from the state . wherein he saw so farre , that now in so many ages since the prohibition , we , have memory , not of one ship that ever returned , and but of thirteen persons only , at several times , that chose to return in our bottomes . what those few that returned , may have reported abroad , i know not . but you must think , whatsoever they have said , could be taken where they came , but for a dream . now for our travelling from hence into parts abroad , our law-giver thought fit , altogether to restrein it . so is it not in china . for the chineses sail where they will , or can ; which sheweth , that their law of keeping out strangers , is a law of pusillanimity and fear . but this restraint of ours , hath one only excep●ion , which is admirable ; preserving the good which commeth by communicating with strangers , and avoiding the hurt : and i will now open it to you . and here i shall seem a little to digresse , but you will by and by find it pertinent . ye shall understand , ( my dear friends , ) that amongst the excellent acts of that king , one above all hath the preheminen●e . it was the erection , and institution of an order , or society , which we call salomons house ; the noblest foundation , ( as we think , ) that ever was upon the earth : and the lanthor●e of this kingdome . it is dedicated to the study of the vvorks and creatures of god . some think it beareth the founders name a little corrupted , as if it should be solamon's house . but the records write it , as it is spoken . so as i take it to be denominate of the king of the hebrews , which is famous with you , and no stranger to us ; for we have some parts of his works , which with you are lost ; namely that natural history , which he wrote of all plants , from the cedar of libanus , to the mosse that groweth out of the vvall . and of all things that have life and motion . this maketh me think that our king finding himself to symbolize , in many things , with that king of the hebrewes ( which lived many years before him ) honoured him with the title of this foundation . and i am the rather induced to be of this opinion , for that i find in antient records , this order or society is sometimes called salomons house ; and sometimes the college of the six daies vvorks ; whereby i am satisfied , that our excellent king had learned from the hebrews , that god had created the world , and all that therein is , within six daies ; and therefore he instituted that house , for the finding out of the true nature of all things ( whereby god mought ●ave the more glory in the workmanship of them , and men the more fruit in their use of them , ) did give it also that second name . but now to come to our present purpose . when the king had forbidden , to all his people , navigation in any part , that was not under his crown , he made neverthelesse this ordinance ; that every twelve years there should be set forth , out of this kingdom , two ships , appointed to several voyages ; that in either of these ships , there should be a mission of three of the fellows , or brethren of salomons house , whose errand was only to give us knowledge of the affairs and state of those countries , to which they were designed ; and especially of the sciences , arts , manufactures , and inventions of all the world ; and withall to ●ring unto us , books , instruments , and paterns , in every kind : that the ships , after they had landed the brethren , should return ; and that the brethren should stay abroad till the new mission . the ships are not otherwise fraught than with store of victuals , and good quantity of treasure to remain with the brethren , for the buying of such things , and rewarding of such persons , as they should think fit . now for me to tell you , how the vulgar sort of mariners are contained from being discovered at land ; and how they that must be put on shore for any time , colour themselves under the names of other nations ; and to what places these voyages have been designed ; and what places of rendezvous are appointed for the new missions ; and the like circumstances of the practique ; i may not do it ; neither is it much to your desire . but thus you see we maintain a trade , not for gold , silver , or iewels , nor for silks , nor for spices ; nor any other commodity of matter ; but only for gods first creature , which was light : to have light ( i say ) of the growth of all parts of the world . and when he had said this , he was silent ; and so were we all . for indeed we were all astonished , to hear so strange things so probably told . and he perceiving that we were willing to say somewhat , but had it not ready , in great courtesie took us off , and descended to ask us questions of our voyage and fortunes , and in the end concluded that we mought do well , to think with our selves , what time of stay we would demand of the state ; and bad us not to scant our selves : for he would procure such time as we desired . vvhereupon we all rose up and presented our selves to kisse the skirt of his tippet , but he would not suffer us ; and so took his leave . but when it came once amongst our people , that the state used to offer conditions to strangers , that would stay , we had work enough to get any of our men to look to our ship ; and to keep them from going presently to the governor , to crave conditions . but with much ado we refrained them , till we mought agree what course to take . we took our selves now for freemen , seeing there was no danger of our utter perdition ; and lived most joyfully , going abroad , and seeing what was to be seen , in the city and places adjacent● within our tedder ; and obtaining acquaintance with many of the city , not of the meanest quality ; at whose hands we found such humanity , and such a freedome and desire to take strangers , as it were , into their bosome , as was enough to make us forget all that was dear to us , in our own countries : and continually we met with many things , right worthy of observation , and relation : as indeed , if there be a mi●our in the world , worthy to hold mens eyes , it is that country . one day there were two of our company bidden to a feast , of the family , as they call it . a most natural , pious , and reverend custom it is , shewing that nation to be compounded of all goodnesse . this is the manner of it . it is granted to any man , that shall live to see thirty persons , descended of his body , alive together , and all above three years old , to make this feast , which is done at the cost of the state . the father of the family , whom they call the tirsan , two daies before the ●east , taketh to him three of such friends as he liketh to chuse ; and is assisted also by the governour of the city , or place , where the feast is celebrated ; and all the persons of the family , of both sexes , are summoned to attend him . these two daies the tirsan sitteth in consultation , concerning the good estate of the family . there , if there be any discord or sutes between any of the family , they are compounded and appeased . there , if any of the family be distressed or decayed , order is taken for their relief , and competent means to live . there , if any be subject to vice , or take ill courses , they are reproved , and censured . so likewise , direction is given touching mariages , and the courses of life , which any of them should ●ake , with divers ot●er the like orders and advices . the governour assisteth to the end , to put in execution , by his publike authority , the decrees and orders of the tirsan , if they should be disobeyed , though that se●dome needeth ; such reverence and obedience they give , to the order of nature . the tirsan doth also then ever chuse one man from amongst his sons , to live in house with him : who is called , ever after , the son of the vine . the reason will hereafter app●●● . on the feast day , the father , or tirsan , commeth forth 〈◊〉 divine service into a large room where the feast is celebrated ; which room hath an half-pace at the upper ●nd . against the wall , in the middle of the half-pace , is a chair placed for him , with a table and carpet before it . over the chair is a state , made round or ovall , and it is of ivy ; an ivy somewhat whiter than ours , like the leaf of a silver aspe , but more shining ; for it is green all winter . and the state is curiously wrought with silver and silk of divers colours , broiding or binding in the ivy ; and is ever of the work , of some of the daughters of the family ; and veiled over at the top , with a fine net of silk and silver . but the substance of it is true ivy ; whereof , after it is taken down , the friends of the family are desirous to have some leaf or sprig to keep . the tirsan commeth forth with all his generation or linage , the males before him , and the females following him ; and if there be a mother , from whose body the whole linage is descended , there is a traverse placed in a loft above on the right hand of the chair , with a privy dore , and a carved vvindow of glasse , leaded with gold and blew ; where she sitteth , but is not seen . vvhen the tirsan is come forth , he sitteth down in t●e chair ; and all the linage place themselves against the vvall , both at his back , and upon the return of the half-pace , in order of their years , without difference of sex , and stand upon their feet . vvhen he is set , the room being alwaies full of company ; but well kept , and without disorder ; after some pause there commeth in from the lower end of the room , a taratan , ( which is much as an herald ) ●●d on either side of him two young lads ; whereof one carr●●●h a scrowl of their shining yellow parchment ; and the other a cluster of grapes of gold , with a long foot or stalk . the herald , and children , are chothed with mantles of sea-water green sattin ; but the heralds mantle is streame● with gold , and hath a train . then the herald with three courtesies , or rather inclinations , commeth up as far as the half-pace ; and there first taketh into his hand the scrowl . this scrowl is the kings charter , containing gift of revenew , and many privileges , exemptions and points of honour , granted to the father of the family ; and it is ever stiled and directed , to such an one , our well-beloved friend and creditour : which is a title proper only to this case . for they say , the king is debter to no man , but for propagation of his subjects ; the seal set to the kings charter , is the kings image , imbossed or moulded in gold ; and though such charters be expedited of course , and as of right , yet they are varied by discretion , according to the number and dignity of the family . this charter the herald readeth aloud ; and while it is read , the father or tirsan , standeth up , supported by two of his sons● such as he chooseth . then the herald mou●teth the half-pace , and delivereth the charter into his hand : and with that there is an acclamation , by all that are present , in their language , which is thus much ; happy are the people of bensalem . then the herald taketh into his hand from the other child , the cluster of grapes , which is of gold ; both the stalk , and the grapes . but the grapes are daintily enamelled ; and if the males of the family be the greater number , the grapes are enamelled purple , with a little sun set on the top ; if the females , then they are enamelled into a greenish yellow , with a cressant on the top . the grapes are in number as many as there are descendants of the family . this golden clusture , the herald delivereth also to the tirsan ; who presently delivereth it over to that son , that he had formerly chosen , to be in house with him : vvho beareth it before his father , as an ensign of honour , when he goeth in publike ever after ; and is thereupon called the son of the vine . after this ceremony ended , the father or tirsan retireth● and after some time commeth forth again to dinner , where he sitteth alone under the state , as before ; and none of his descendants sit with him , of what degree or dignity so ever , except he hap to b●●f salomons house . he is served only by his own children , 〈◊〉 as are male ; who perform unto him all service of the table upon the knee ; and the vvomen only stand about him , leaning against the vvall . the room below his half-pace , hath tables on the sides for the guests that are bidden ; who are served with great and comely order ; and toward the end of dinner ( which in the greatest feasts with them , lasteth never above an hour and an half ) there is an hymn sung , varied according to the invention of him that composed it ; ( for they have excellent poesie , ) but the subject of it is ( alwaies ) the praises of adam , and noah , and abraham ; vvhereof the former two peopled the vvorld , and the last was the father of the faithfull . concluding ever with a thanksgiving for the nativity of our saviour , in whose birth , the births of all are only blessed . dinner being done , the tirsan retireth again ; and having withdrawn himself alone into a place , where he maketh some private prayers , he commeth forth the third time , to give the blessing ; with all his descendants , who stand about him as at the first . then he calleth them forth by one and by one , by name , as he pleaseth , though seldome the order of age be inverted . the person th●t is called , ( the table being before removed , ) kneeleth down before the chair , and the father layeth his hand upon his head , or her head , and giveth the blessing in these words ; son of bensalem , ( or daughter of bensalem , ) thy father saith it ; the man by whom thou hast breath and life speaketh the word ; the blessing of the everlasting father , the prince of peace , and t●e holy dove be upon thee , and make the daies of thy pilgrimage good and many . this he saith to every of them ; and that done , if there be any of his sons of eminent merit and vertue , ( so they be not above two , ) he calleth for them again ; and saith , laying his arm over their shoulders , they s●anding ; sonnes , it is well you are born , give god the pra●se , and persevere to the end . and withall delivereth to either of them a jewell , made in the figure of an ear of vvheat , which they ever after wear in the front of their turban , or hat . this done , they fall to musick and dances , and other recreations , after their manner , for the rest of the day● this is the full order of that feast . by that time , six or seven daies were spent , i was fallen in●to straight acquaintance , with a merchant of that city , whose name was ioabin . he was a iew and circumcised : for they have some few stirps of iews , yet remaining among them , whom they leave to their own religion . vvhich they may the better do , because they are of a farre differing disposition from the iews in other parts . for whereas they hate the name of christ ; and have a secret inbred rancour against the people among whom they live ; these ( contrariwise ) give unto our saviour many high attributes , and love the nation of bensalem , extremely . surely this man , of whom i speak , would ever acknowledge , that christ was born of a virgin , and that he was more than a man ; and he would tell how god made him ruler of the seraphims , which guard his throne ; and they call him also the milken way , and the eliah of the messiah ; and many other high names ; which though they be inferiour to his divine majesty , yet they are far from the language of other iews . and for the country of bensalem , ●hi● man would make no end of commending it , being desirous by tradition among the iews there , to have it beleeved , that the people thereof were of the generations of abraham , by another son , whom they call nachoran ; and that moses by a secret cabala ordained the laws of bensalem which they now use ; and that when the messia should come , and sit in his throne at hierusalem , the king of bensalem should sit at his feet , whereas other kings should keep a great distance . but yet setting aside these iewish dreams , the man was a wise man , and learned , and of great policy , and excellently seen in the laws and customes of that nation . amongst other discourses , one day i told him , i was much affected with the relation i had , from some of the company , of their custome● in holding the feast of the family ; for that ( me thought ) i had never heard of a solemnity , wherein nature did so much preside . and because propagation of families , proceedeth from the nuptial copulation , i desired to know of him , what laws and customes they had concerning mariage ; and whether they kept mariage well ; and whether they were tyed to one wife ? for that where population is so much affected , and such as with them it seemed to be , there is commonly permission of plurality of wives . to this he said ; you have reason for to commend that excellent institution of the feast of the family ; and indeed we have experience , that those families that are partakers of the blessings of that feast , do flourish and prosper ever after , in an extraordinary manner . but hear me now , and i will tell you what i know . you shall understand , that there is not under the heavens so chaste a nation , as this of bensalem ; nor so free from all pollution or foulness● . it is the virgin of the world . i remember , i have read in one of your europaean books , of an holy hermit amongst you , that d●sired to see the spirit of fornication , and there appeared to him , a little foule ugly aethiope : but if he had desi●ed to see the spirit of chastity of bensalem , it would have appeared to him , in the likenesse of a fair beautifull cherubine . for there is nothing , amongst mortall men , more fair and admirable , than the chaste minds of this people . know therefore , that with them there are no stewes , no dissolute houses , no curtisans , nor any thing of that kind . nay they wonder ( with detestation ) at you in europe , which permit such things . they say you have put mariage out of office : for mariage is ordained a remedy for unlawfull concupiscence ; and natural concupiscence seemeth as a spurre to mariage . eut when men have at hand a remedy , more agreeable to their corrupt will , mariage is almost expulsed . and therefore there are with you seen infinite men , that mary not , but chuse rather a libertine and impu●e single life , than to be yoaked in mariage ; and many that do mary , mary late , when the prime and strength of their years is past . and when they do mary , what is mariage to them , but a very bargain ; wherein is sought alliance , or portion , or reputation , with s●me desire ( almost indifferent ) of issue ; and not the faithfull nuptial union of man and wife , that was first instituted . neither is it possible , that those that have cast away so basely , so much of their strength , should greatly esteem children ( being of the same matter ) as chaste men do . so likewise during mariage is the case much amended , as it ought to be if those things were tolerated only for necessity ; no , but they remain still as a very affront to mariage : the haunting of those dissolute places , or resort to courtezans , are no more punished in maried men , than in batchelers . and the depraved custome of change , and the delight in meretricious embracements , ( where sinne is turned into art , ) maketh mariage a dull thing , and a kind of imposition , or tax . they hear you defend these things ; as do●e to avoid greater evils ; as advoutries , deflouring of virgins , unnatural lust , and the like . but they say , this is a preposterous wisdome ; and they call it lots offer , who to save his guests from abusing , offered his daughters : nay they say further , that there is little gained in this ; for that the same vices and appetites , do still remain and abound , unlawfull lust being like a furnace , that if you stop the flames altogether , it will quench , but if you give it any vent , it will rage ; as for masculine love , they have no touch of it ; and yet there are not , so faithfull and inviolate friendships , in the world again , as are there ; and to speak generally , ( as i said before , ) i have not read of any such chastity , in any people , as theirs . and their usual saying is● that whosoever is unchaste cannot reverence himself : and they say , that the reverence of a mans self , is , next religion , the chiefest bridle of all vices . and when he had said this , the good iew paused a little ; whereupon i far more willing to hear him speak on , than to speak my self ; yet thinking it decent , that upon his pawse of speech , i should not be altogether silent , said only this ; that i would say to him , as the widow of sarepta said to elias ; that he was come to bring to memory our sinnes ; and that i confess the righteousnesse of bensalem , was greater than the righteousnesse of europe . at which speech he bowed his head , and went on this manner . they have also many wise and excellent laws touching mariage , they a●low no poligamie . they have ordained that none do intermary or contract , untill a month be past from their first intervie● . mariage without consent of parents they do not make void , but they mu●ct it in the inheritors : for the children of such mariages , are not admitted to inherit , above a third part of their parents inheritance : i have read in a book of one of your men , of a feigned common-wealth , where the maried couple are permitted , before they contract , to see one another naked . this they dislike : for they think it a scorn , to give a refusal after so fam●liar knowledge● but because of many hidden defects in men and womens bodies , they have a more civil way : for they have near every town , a couple of pools , ( which they call adam and eves pools ) where it is permit●ed to one of the friends of the man , and another of the friends of the woman , to see them severally bath naked . and as we were thus in conference , there came one that seemed to be a messenger , in a rich huke , that spake with the iew : whereupon he turned to me and said ; you will pardon me , for i am commanded away in hast . the next morning he came to me again , joy●ull , as it seemed , and said ; there is word come to the governor of the city , that one of the fathers of salomons house , will be here this day seven●night : we have seen none of them this dozen years : his comming is in state ; but the cause of his comming is secret . i will provide you , and your fellows of a good standing to see his entry . i thanked him and told him : i was most glad ●f the news . the day being come he made his entry . he was a man of middle stature , and age , comely of person , and had an aspect as if he pitied men . he was cloathed in a robe of fine black cloath , with wide sleeves , and a cape . his under garment was of excellent whi●e linnen down to the foot , girt with a girdle of the same ; and a sindon or tippet of the same about his neck . he had gloves , that were curious , and set with stone ; and shoes of peach-coloured velvet . his neck was bare to the shoulders . his hat was like a helmet , or spanish montera ; and his locks curled below it decently : they were of colour brown . his beard was cut round , and of the same colour with his hair , somewhat ligher . he was carried in a rich chariot , without wheeles , litter-wise , with two horses at either end , richly trapped in blew velvet embroydered ; and two footmen on each side in the like attire . the chariot was all of cedar , gilt and adorned with christal ; save that the fore-end had pannels of sapphires , set in borders of gold , and the hinderend the like of emarauds of the pe●u colour . there was also a sun of gold , radiant upon the top , in the midst ; and on the top before , a small cherub of gold , with vvings displayed . the chariot was covered with cloth of gold ●issued upon blew . he had before him fifty attendants , young men all , in white satten loose coats up to the mid leg , and stockings of white silk ; and shoes of blew velvet ; and hats of blew velvet ; with fine plums of divers colours , set round like hatbands . next before the chariot , went two men , bare headed , in linnen garments down to thefoot , girt , and shoes of blew velvet , who carried the one a crosier , the other a pastoral staff like a sheep-hook ; neither of them of metal , but the crosier of balm-wood , the pastoral staff of cedar . horsemen he had none , neither before nor behind his chariot : as it seemeth , to avoid all tumult and trouble . behind his chariot , went all the officers and principals of the companies of the city . he sate alone upon cushions , of a kind of excellent plush , blew ; and under his foot curious carpets of silk of divers colours , like the persian , but far finer . he held up his bare hand as he went , as blessing the people , but in silence . the street was wonderfully well kept ; so that there was never any army had their men stand in better battel-array , than the people stood . the vvindows likewise was not crouded , but every one stood in them , as if they had been placed . vvhen the shew was past , the iew said to me ; i shall not be able to attend you as i would , in regard of some charge the city hath laid upon me for the entertaining of this great person . three daies after the iew came to me again and said ; ye are happy men ; for the father of salomons house taketh knowledge of your being here , and commanded me to tell you , that he will admit all your company to his presence , and have private conference with one of you , that yee shall choose : and for this hath appointed the next day after to morrow . and because he meaneth to give you his blessing , he hath appointed it in the fore-noon . vve came at our day and hour , and i was chosen by my fellows for the private accesse . vve found him in a fair chamber , richly hanged , and carpetted under foot , without any degrees to the state , he was set upon a low throne richly adorned , and a rich cloth of state over his head of blew sattin embroidered . he was alone , save that he had two pages of honor , on either hand one , finely attired in vvhite . his under-garments were the like that we saw him wear in the chariot ; but insteed of his gown , he had on him a mantle with a cape , of the same fine black , fastened about him . vvhen we came in , as we were taught , we bowed low at our first entrance ; and when we were come near his chair , he stood up , holding forth his hand ungloved , and in posture of blessing ; and we every one of us stooped down , and kissed the hem of his tippet . that done , the rest departed , and i remained . then he warned the pages forth of the room , and caused me to sit down beside him , and spake to me thus in the spanish tongue . god blesse thee , my son ; i will give thee the greatest iewel i have . for i will impart unto thee , for the love of god and men , a relation of the true state of salomons house . son , to make you know the true state of salomons house , i will keep this order . first , i will set forth unto you the end of our foundation . secondly , the preparations and instruments we have for our works . thirdly , the ●●veral employments and functious whereto our fellows are assigned . and fourthly the ordinances and rites which we observe . the end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes , and secret motions of things ; and the enlarging of the bounds of humane empire , to the effecting of all things possible . the preparations and instruments are these . we have large and deep caves of several depths : the deepest are sunk 600 fathome : and s●me of them are digged and made under great hills and mountains : so that if you reckon together the depth of the hill , and the depth of the cave , they are ( some of them ) above three miles deep . for we find , that the depth of an hill , and the depth of a cave from the flat , is the same thing ; both remote alike , from the sun , and heavens beams , and from the open air● these caves we call the lower region . and we use them for all coagulations , indurations , refrigerations , and conservations of bodies . we use them likewise for the imitation of natural mines ; and the producing , also of new artificial metals , by compositions and materials which we use and lay there for many years . we use them also sometimes , ( which may seem strange ) for curing of some diseases , and for prolongation of life , in some hermits that choose to live there , well accomodated of all things necessary , and indeed live very long ; by whom also we learn many things . we have burials in several earths , where we put divers cements , as the chineses , do their porcellane . but we have t●em in greater variety , and some of them more fine . we also have great variety of composts , and soils , for the making of the earth fruit●full . we have high towers ; the highest about half a mile in height and some of them ●ikewise set upon high mountains : so that the vantage of the hill with the tower , is in the highest of them thr●e miles at least . and these places we call the upper region ; accounting the air between the high places , and the low , as a middle region . we use these towers , according to their several heights , and situations , for insolation , refrigeration , conse●vation , and for the view of divers meteors ; as winds , rain , snow , ha●l ; and some of the fiery meteors also . and upon them , in some places , are dwellings of hermits , whom we visit sometimes , and instruct what to observe . we have great lakes , both salt , and fresh , whereof we have use for the fish , and fowl . vve use them also for burials , of some natural bodies : for we find a difference in things buried in earth , or in air bel●w the earth ; and things buried in vvater . vve have also pools , of which some do strain fresh vvater out of salt ; and others by art do turn fresh vvater into salt . we have also some rocks in the midst of the sea ; and some bayes upon the shore for some vvorks , wherein is required the air and vapour of the sea . we have likewise violent streams and cataracts ; which serve us for many motions : and likewise engines for multiplying and enforcing of vvinds , to set also on going divers motions . we have also a number of artificial vvells and fountains , made in imitation of the natural sources and bathes ; as tincted upon vitrioll , sulphur , steel , brasse , lead , nitre , and other minerals : and again , we have little wells for infusions of many things , where the waters take the vertue quicker and better , than in vessels or basins . and amongst them we have a vvater , which we call water of paradise , being , by that we do it ; made very soveraign for health and prolongation of life . vve have also great and spacious houses , where we imitate and demonstrate meteors ; as snow , hail , rain , some artificial rains of bodies , and not of vvater , thunders , lightnings ; also generations of bodies , in air ; as frogs , flies , and divers others . we have also certain chambers , which we call chambers of health , where we qualifie the air as we think good and proper for the cure of divers diseases , and preservation of health . we have also ●air and large baths , of several mixtures , for the cure of d●seases●and the restoring of mans body from arefaction : and other for the confiming of it in strength of sinews , vital parts , and the very juyce and substance of the body . we have also large and various orchards , and gardens ; wherein we do not so much respect beauty , as variety of ground and soil , proper for divers trees and herbs : and some very spacious , wh●re trees and berries are set , whereof we make divers kinds of drinks , besides the vine-yards . in these we practise likewise all conclusions of graf●ing , and inoculating , as well of wild-trees , as fruit-trees , which produceth many effects : and we make ( by a●t ) in the same orchards , and gardens , trees , and flowers , to come earlier or later than their seasons ; and to come up and bear more speedily than by their natural course they do . we make them also by art greater much than their nature ; and their fruit greater , and sweeter , and of differings taste , smell , colour , and figure , from their nature . and many of them we so order , that they become of medicinal use . we have also means to make divers plants rise , by mixtures of earths without seeds ; and likewise to make divers new plants , differing from the vulgar ; and to make one tree or plant turn into another . we have also parks , and enclosures of all sorts of beasts , and birds●which we use not only for view or rarenesse , but likewise for dissections and trials●that thereby we may take light , what may be wrought upon the body of man . wherein we find many strange effects ; as continuing life in them , though divers parts , which you account vital , be perished , and taken forth ; resuscitating of some that seem dead in appearance ; and the like . we try also all poysons , and other medicines upon them , as well of chirurgery , as physick . by art likewise we make them greater or taller , than their kind is ; and contrariwise dwarf them and stay their growth : vve make them more fruitfull and bearing than their kind is ; and contrary wise barren and not generative . also we make them differ in colour , shape , activity many waies . vve find means to make commixtures and copulations of diverse kinds ; which have produced many new kinds , and them not barren , as the general opinion is . vve make a number of kinds of serpents , worms , flies , fishes , of putrefaction ; whereof some are advanced ( in effect ) to be perfect creatures , like beasts , or birds ; and have sexes , and do propagate . neither do we this by chance , but we know before hand , of what matter and commixture , what kind of those creature will arise . we have also particular pools , where we make trials upon fishes , as we have said before of beasts and birds . we have also places for breed and generation of those kinds of worms , and flies , which are of speciall use ; such as are with you your silkworms and bees . i will not hold you long with recounting of our brew-houses bake-houses , and kitchins , where are made divers drinks , breads , and meats , rare and of special effects . wines we have of grapes ; and drinks of other juyce , of fruits , of grains , and of roots ; and of mixtures with honey , sugar , manna , and fruits dryed and decocted : also of the tears or woundings of trees ; and of the pulp of canes . and these drinks are of severall ages , some to the age or last o● forty years . we have drinks also brewed with severall herbs , and roots , and spices ; yea , with several fleshes , and vvhite-meats ; whereof some of the drinks are such as they are in effect meat and drink both : so that divers , especially in age , doe desire to live with them , with little or no meat , or bread . and above all we strive to have drinks of extreme thin parts ; to insinuate into the body , and yet without all biting , sharpnesse , or fretting●insomuch as some of them put upon the back of your hand , will , with a little stay passe thorow to the palme , and yet tast mild to the mouth . we have also vvaters , which we ripen in that fashion , as they become nourishing ; so that they are indeed excellent drink ; and many will use no other . breads we have of several grains , roots , and kernels ; yea , and some of flesh , and fish , dried ; with divers kinds of leavings , and seasonings : so that some doe extremely move appetites ; some doe nourish so , as divers doe live of them , without any other meat ; who live very long . so for meats , we have some of them so beaten , and made tender , and mortified , yet without al● corrupting , as a vveak heat of the stomack will turn them into good chilus ; as well as a strong heat would meat otherwise prepared . vve have some meats also , and breads , and drinks , which taken by men , enable them to fast long after● and some other , that used make the very flesh o● mens bodies , sensibly more hard and tough ; and their strength far● greater , than otherwise it would be . vve have dispensatories , or shops of medicines . vvherein you may easily think , if we have such varietie of plants , and diving creatures , more than you have in europe , ( for we know what you have , ) the simples , druggs , and ingredients of medicines , must likewise be in so much the greater variety . vve have them likewise of divers ages , and long fermentations . and for their preparations , we have not only all manner of exquisite distilla●ions , and separations , and especially by gentle heats , and percolations through divers strainers , yea , and substances ; but also exact forms of composition , whereby they incorp●rate almost as they were natural simples . we have also divers mechanical arts , which you have not ; and stuffs made by them ; as papers , linnen , silks , tissues , dainty works of feathers of wonderfull lustre ; excellent dies , and manie others : and shops likewise as well for such as are not●●rought into vulgar use amongst us ; as for those that are . for you must know , that of the things before recited , many of them are grown into use throughout the kingdome ; but yet , if they did flow from our invention , we have of them also for patterns , and principals . we have also furnaces of great diversities , and that keep great diversitie of heats : fierce and quick● strong and constant ; so●●and mild● blown , quiet drie , mo●st ; and the like . but above all we have heats , in imitation of the sunns and heavenly bodies heats , that passe divers inequalities , and ( as it were ) orbs , progresses , and returns , wher●by we may produce admirable effects . besides , we have heats of dungs ; and of bellies and mawes of living creatures and of their bloods , and bodies ; and of hayes and herbs laid up moist ; of lime unquenched ; and such like . instruments also which generate heat only by motion . and further , places for strong insolations ; and ●gain , places under the earth , which by natu●e , or art yeeld heat . t●ese d●vers heats we use , as the natu●e of the operation which we intend● requireth . we have a●so perspective-houses , where we make demonstration of all lights , and radiations : and of all colours : and out of things uncoloured and transparent , we can represent unto you all seve●all colours ; not in rain-bows , ( as it is in gemms , and prisms , ) but of themselves single . we represent also all multiplications o● light , which we carry to great distance : and make so sharp , as to discern small points and lines . also all colourations of light . all delusions and deceits of the sight , in figures , magnitudes , motions , colours : all demonstrations of shadows . wee find also divers means yet unknown to you , of producing of light , originally , from divers bodies . we procure means of seeing objects a-farr off ; as in the heaven , and remote places : and represent things near as a-farr off ; and things a-farr off as near ; making●e●igned distances . we have also helps so the sight far above spectacles and glasses in use ; we have also glasses and means to see small and minute bodies , perfectly and distinctly ; as the shapes and colours of small flies and vvorms , grains , and flaws , in gemmes , which cannot otherwise he seen , observations in urine and bloud not otherwise to be seen . we make artificial rain-bows , helo's , and circles ab●ut light . we represent also all manner of reflexions , refractions , and multiplication of visual beams o● objects . we have also pretious stones , of all kinds , many of them of great beauty and to you unknown : chrystals likewise ; and glasses of divers kinds ; and amongst them some of metals vitrificated , and other materials , beside those of which you make g●asse . also a number of fossiles , and imperfect minerals which you have not . likewise loadstones of prodigious vertue : and other rare stones , both natural and artificial . we have also sound houses , where we practise and demonstrate all sounds , and their generation . we have harmonies which you have not , of quarter-sounds , and lesser slides of sounds●diverse instruments of musick likewise to y●u unknown , some sweeter than any you have● with bells and rings that are dainty and sweet . we represent small sounds as great and deep ; likewise great sounds , ●xtenuate and sharp ; we make diverse tremblings and vvarblings of sounds , which in their original are entire . we represent and imitate all articulate sounds and letters , and the voices and notes of beasts and birds . we have certain helps , which set to the eare do further the hearing greatly . we have also diverse strange and artificial ecchoes reflecting the voice many times , and as it were tossing it : and some that give back the voice lowder than it came , some shriller , and some deeper , yea some rendring the voice , differing in the letters or articulate sound , from that they receive . vve have all means to convey sounds in trunks and pipes , in strange lines and distan●es . vve have also perfume-houses ; wherewith we joyn a●so practices of taste . vve multiply smells , which may seem strange . vve imitate smells , making all smells to breath out of other mixtures than those that give them . vve make diverse imitations of taste likewise , so that they will deceive any mans taste . and in this house we contain also a confi●ure house ; where we make all sweet-meats drie and moist ; and divers pleasant wines , milks , broaths , an● sallets , far in greater variety than you have . vve have also engine-houses , where are prepared engines and instruments for all sorts of motions . there we imitate and practise to make swifter motions , than any you have , either out of your muskets , or any engine that you have : and to make them , and multiply them more easily , and with small force , by vvheeles and other means : and to make them stronger and more violent , than yours are ; exceeding your greatest cannons and basilisks . vve represent also ordinance and instruments of war , and engines of all kinds and likewise new mixtures and compositions of gun-powder , wild-fires burning in water , and unquenchable : also fire-works of all variety , both for pleasure , and use . vve imitate also flights of birds ; vve have some degrees of flying in the ayr . we have ships and boats for going under vvater , and brooking of seas ; also swimming-girdles , and supporters . we have divers curious clocks ; and other like motions of return : and some perpetual motions . we imitate also motions of living creatures , by images of men , beasts , birds , fishes , and serpents ; we have also a great number of other various motions , strange for equality , finenesse●and subtility , we have also a mathematical-house , where are represented all instruments , as well of geometry , as astronomy , exquisitely made . vve have also houses of deceits of the senses ; where we represent all manner of feats of jugling , false apparitions , impostures , and illusions ; and their fallacies . and surely you will easily beleeve that we that have so many things truly natural , which induce admiration , could in a world of particulars deceive the senses , if we would disguise those things , and labour to make them more miraculous . but we do hate all impostures , and lies : insomuch as we have severely forbidden it to all our fellows , under pain of ignominy and fines , that they do not shew any natural vvork or thing , adorned or swelling ; but only pure as it is , and without all affectation of strangenesse . these are ( my son ) the riches of salomons house . for the several employments and offices of our fellows , vve have twelve that sayl into forein countries under the names of other nations ( for our own we conceal ; ) vvho bring us the books , and abstracts , and patterns of experiments of all other parts . these we cal● merchants of light . vve have three that collect the experiments which are in all books , these we call deprepators . vve have three that collect the experiments of all mechanical arts●and a●so of liberal sciences ; and also of practices which are not brought into arts . these we call mystery-men . we have three that trie new experiments . such as themselves think good . these we call pioneers or miners . we have three that draw the experiments of the former four into titles and tables , to give the better light for the drawing of observations and axiomes out of them . these we call compilers● we have three that bend themselves , looking into the experiments of their fellows , and cast about how to draw out of them things of use , and practice for mans life , and knowledge , as well for works as for plain demonstration of causes , means of natural divinations , and the easie and clear discovery of the vertues and parts of bodies . these we call dowry-men or bene●actors . then after diverse meetings and consults of our whole number , to consider of the former labours and collections , we have three that take care , out of them , to direct new experiments , of a higher light , more penetrating into nature than the former . these we call lamps . we have three othe●s t●at do execute the experiment , so directed , and report them . these we call inoculators . lastly , we have three that raise the former discoveries by experiments , into greater observations , axiomes , and aporismes . these we call interpreters of nature . we have also , as you must think , novices and apprentices , that the succession of the former employed men do not fail ; besides a great number of servants and attendants , men , and vvomen . and this we do also : we have consultations , which of the inventions and experiences , which we have discovered shall be published , and which not : and take all an oath of secrecy , for the concealing of those which we think meet to keep secret : though some of those we do reveal sometime to the state , and some not . for our ordinances and rites●we have two very long , and fair galleries : in o●e of these we place patterns and samples of all manner of the more rare and excellent inventions : in the other we place the statuaes of all principal inventours . there we have the statua of your columbus , that discovered the vvest-indies : also the inventour of ships : your monk that was the inventour of ordinance , and of gunpowder : the inventour of musick : the inventour of letters : the inventour of printing : the inventour of observations of astronomy : the inventour o● vvorks in metall : the inventour of glasse : the inventour of silk of the vvorm : the inventour of vvine : the inventour of corn and bread : the inventour of sugars : and all these , by more certain tradition , than you have . then we have divers inventours of our own , of excellent vvorks ; which since you have not seen , it were too long to make descriptions of them ; and besides , in the right understanding of those descriptions , you might easily erre . for upon every invention of value , we erect a statua to the inventour , and give him a liberal and honourable reward . these statuaes are , some of brass ; some of marble and touchstone ; some of cedar and other special vvoods gilt and adorned ; some of iron ; some of silver ; some of gold . we have certain hymns and services , which we say daily , of laud and thanks to god for his marvellous vvorks : and forms of prayers , imploring his aide and blessing for the illumination of our labours ; the end turning them into good and holy uses . lastly , we have circuits or visits , of divers principal cities of the kingdome ; where as it commeth to passe , we do publish such new profitable inventions , as we think good . and we do also declare natural divinations of diseases , plagues , swarms of hurtfull creatures , scarcity , tempest , earthquakes , great inundations , comets , temperature of the year , and divers other things ; and we give counsel thereupon , what the people shall do , for the prevention and remedy of them . and when he had said this , he stood up : and i , as i had been taught , kneeled down : and he laid his right hand upon my head , and said ; god blesse thee my son , and god bless this relation , which i have made . i give thee leave to publish it , for the good of other nations ; for we hear are in gods bosome , a land unknown . and so he left me ; having assigned a value of about two thousand duckets , for a bounty to me and my fellows . for they give great largesses , where they come , upon all occasions . the rest was not perfected . magnalia natvrae praecipve qvoad vsvs humanos . the prologation of life . the restitution of youth in some degree . the retardation of age . the curing of diseases counted incurable . the mitigation of pain . more easie and less loathsome purgings . the encreasing of strength and activity . the encreasing of ability to suffer torture or pain . the altering of complexions : and fatness , and leanesse . the altering of statures . the altering of features . the encreasing and exalting of the intellectual parts . version of bodies into other bodies . making of new species . transplanting of one species into another . instruments of destruction , as of warre and poyson . exhilaration of the spirits , and putting them in good disposition . force of the imagination , either upon another body , or upon the body it self . acceleration of time in maturations . acceleration of time in clarifications . acceleration of p●trefaction . acceleration of decoction . acceleration of germination . making rich composts for the earth . impressions of the air , and raising of tempests . great alteration ; as in induration , emollition , &c. turning crude and watry substances , into oyly and vnctuous substances . drawing of new foods out of substances not now in vse . making new threds for apparell ; and new stuffs , such as are paper , glass , &c. natural divinations . deceptions of the senses . greater pleasures of the senses . artificial minerals and cements . finis . utopia written in latin by sir thomas more, chancellor of england ; translated into english. utopia. english more, thomas, sir, saint, 1478-1535. 1684 approx. 235 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 104 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a51327 wing m2691 estc r7176 12089518 ocm 12089518 53806 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a51327) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53806) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 75:10) utopia written in latin by sir thomas more, chancellor of england ; translated into english. utopia. english more, thomas, sir, saint, 1478-1535. burnet, gilbert, 1643-1715. [22], 206 p. printed for richard chiswell ..., london : 1684. translation of: utopia. first ed. of burnet's translation. cf. bm. reproduction of original in huntington library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng utopias. 2003-10 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2003-10 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2003-11 rina kor sampled and proofread 2006-02 aptara rekeyed and resubmitted 2006-04 andrew kuster sampled and proofread 2006-04 andrew kuster text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion utopia : written in latin by sir thomas more , chancellor of england : translated into english. london ; printed for richard chiswell at the rose and crown in st. paul's church-yard . mdclxxxiv . the preface . there is no way of writing so proper , for the refining and polishing a language , as the translating of books into it , if he that undertakes it , has a competent skill of the one tongue , and is a master of the other . when a man writes his own thoughts , the heat of his fancy , and the quickness of his mind , carry him so much after the notions themselves , that for the most part he is too warm to judg of the aptness of words , and the justness of figures ; so that he either neglects these too much , or overdoes them : but when a man translates , he has none of these heats about him : and therefore the french took no ill method , when they intended to reform and beautify their language , in setting their best writers on work to translate the greek and latin authors into it . there is so little praise got by translations , that a man cannot be engaged to it out of vanity , for it has past for a sign of a slow mind , that can amuse it self with so mean an entertainment ; but we begin to grow wiser , and tho ordinary translators must succeed ill in the esteem of the world , yet some have appeared of late that will , i hope , bring that way of writing in credit . the english language has wrought it self out , both of the fulsome pedantry under which it laboured long ago , and the trifling way of dark and unintelligible wit that came after that , and out of the course extravagance of canting that succeeded this : but as one extream commonly produces another , so we were beginning to fly into a sublime pitch , of a strong but false rhetorick , which had much corrupted , not only the stage , but even the pulpit ; two places , that tho they ought not to be named together , much less to resemble one another ; yet it cannot be denied , but the rule and measure of speech is generally taken from them : but that florid strain is almost quite worn out , and is become now as ridiculous as it was once admired . so that without either the expence or labour that the french have undergone , our language has , like a rich wine , wrought out its tartar , and is i●…insensibly brought to a purity that could not have been compassed without much labour , had it not been for the great advantage that we have of a prince , who is so great a judg , that his single approbation or dislike has almost as great an authority over our language , as his prerogative gives him over our coin. we are now so much refined , that how defective soever our imaginations or reasonings may be , yet our language has fewer faults , and is more natural and proper , than it was ever at any time before . when one compares the best writers of the last age , with these that excel in this , the difference is very discernable : even the great sir francis bacon , that was the first that writ our language correctly ; as he is still our best author , yet in some places has figures so strong , that they could not pass now before a severe judg. i will not provoke the present masters of the stage , by preferring the authors of the last age to them : for tho they all acknowledg that they come far short of b. iohnson , beamont and fletcher , yet i believe they are better pleased to say this themselves , than to have it observed by others . their language is now certainly properer , and more natural than it was formerly , chiefly since the correction that was given by the rehearsal ; and it is to be hoped , that the essay on poetry , which may be well matched with the best pieces of its kind that even augustus's age produced , will have a more powerful operation , if clear sense , joined with home but gentle reproofs , can work more on our writers , than that unmerciful exposing of them has done . i have now much leisure , and want diversion , so i have bestowed some of my hours upon translations , in which i have proposed no ill patterns to my self : but the reader will be best able to judg whether i have copied skilfully after such originals . this small volume which i now publish , being writ by one of the greatest men that this island has produced , seemed to me to contain so many fine and well-digested notions , that i thought it might be no unkind nor ill entertainment to the nation , to put a book in their hands , to which they have so good a title , and which has a very common fate upon it , to be more known and admired all the world over , than here at home . it was once translated into english not long after it was written ; and i was once apt to think it might have been done by sir thomas more himself : for as it is in the english of his age , and not unlike his stile ; so the translator has taken a liberty that seems too great for any but the author himself , who is master of his own book , and so may leave out or alter his original as he pleases : which is more than a translator ought to do , i am sure it is more than i have presumed to do . it was writ in the year 1516 , as appears by the date of the letter of peter giles's , in which he says , that it was sent him but a few days before from the author , and that bears date the first of november that year ; but i cannot imagine how he comes to be called sheriff of london in the title of the book , for in all our printed catalogues of sheriffs , his name is not to be found . i do not think my self concerned in the matter of his book , no more than any other translator is in his author : nor do i think more himself went in heartily to that which is the chief basis of his utopia , the taking away of all property , and the levelling the world ; but that he only intended to set many notions in his reader 's way ; and that he might not seem too much in earnest , he went so far out of all roads to do it the less suspected : the earnestness with which he recommends the precaution used in marriages among the utopians , makes one think that he had a misfortune in his own choice , and that therefore he was so cautious on that head ; for the strictness of his life covers him from severe censures : his setting out so barbarous a practice , as the hiring of assassinates to take off enemies , is so wild and so immoral both , that it does not admit of any thing to soften or excuse it , much less to justify it ; and the advising men in some cases to put an end to their lives , notwithstanding all the caution with which he guards it , is a piece of rough and fierce philosophy . the tenderest part of the whole work , was the representation he gives of henry the seventh's court ; and his discourses upon it , towards the end of the first book , in which his disguise is so thin , that the matter would not have been much plainer if he had named him : but when he ventured to write so freely of the father in the son's reign , and to give such an idea of government under the haughtiest prince , and the most impatient of uneasy restraints that ever reigned in england , who yet was so far from being displeased with him for it , that as he made him long his particular friend , so he employed him in all his affairs afterwards , and raised him to be l. chancellor , i thought i might venture to put it in more modern english : for as the translators of plutarch's hero's , or of tullies offices , are not concerned , either in the maxims , or in the actions that they relate ; so i , who only tell , in the best english i can , what sir thomas more writ in very elegant latin , must leave his thoughts and notions to the reader 's censure , and do think my self liable for nothing but the fidelity of the translation , and the correctness of the english ; and for that i can only say , that i have writ as carefully , and as well as i can . the author's epistle to peter giles . i am almost ashamed , my dearest peter giles , to send you this book of the utopian common-wealth , after almost a years delay ; whereas no doubt you look'd for it within six weeks : for as you know i had no occasion for using my invention , or for taking pains to put things into any method , because i had nothing to do , but to repeat exactly those things that i heard raphael relate in your presence ; so neither was there any occasion given for a studied eloquence : since as he delivered things to us of the sudden , and in a careless stile ; so he being , as you know , a greater master of the greek , than of the latin ; the plainer my words are , they will resemble his simplicity the more : and will be by consequence the nearer to the truth , and that is all that i think lies on me : and it is indeed the only thing in which i thought my self concerned . i confess , i had very little left on me in this matter , for otherwise the inventing and ordering of such a scheme , would have put a man of an ordinary pitch , either of capacity , or of learning , to some pains , and have cost him some time ; but if it had been necessary that this relation should have been made , not only truly , but eloquently , it could never have been performed by me , even after all the pains and time that i could have bestowed upon it . my part in it was so very small , that it could not give me much trouble , all that belonged to me being only to give a true and full account of the things that i had heard : but although this required so very little of my time ; yet even that little was long denied me by my other affairs , which press much upon me : for while in pleading , and hearing , and in judging or composing of causes , in waiting on some men upon business , and on others out of respect , the greatest part of the day is spent on other mens affairs , the remainder of it must be given to my family at home : so that i can reserve no part of it to my self , that is , to my study : i must talk with my wife , and chat with my children , and i have somewhat to say to my servants ; for all these things i reckon as a part of business , except a man will resolve to be a stranger at home : and with whomsoever either nature , chance , or choice has engaged a man , in any commerce , he must endeavour to make himself as acceptable to these about him , as he possibly can ; using still such a temper in it , that he may not spoil them by an excessive gentleness , so that his servants may not become his masters . in such things as i have named to you , do days , months , and years slip away ; what is then left for writing ? and yet i have said nothing of that time that must go for sleep , or for meat : in which many do waste almost as much of their time , as in sleep , which consumes very near the half of our life ; and indeed all the time which i can gain to my self , is that which i steal from my sleep and my meals ; and because that is not much , i have made but a slow progress ; yet because it is somewhat , i have at last got to an end of my utopia , which i now send to you , and expect that after you have read it , you will let me know if you can put me in mind of any thing that has escaped me ; for tho i would think my self very happy , if i had but as much invention and learning as i know i have memory , which makes me generally depend much upon it , yet i do not relie so entirely on it , as to think i can forget nothing . my servant john clement has started some things that shake me : you know he was present with us , as i think he ought to be at every conversation that may be of use to him , for i promise my self great matters from the progress he has so early made in the greek and roman learning . as far as my memory serves me , the bridg over anider at amaurot , was 500 paces broad , according to raphael's account ; but john assures me , he spoke only of 300 paces ; therefore i pray you recollect what you can remember of this , for if you agree with him , i will believe that i have been mistaken ; but if you remember nothing of it , i will not alter what i have written , because it is according to the best of my remembrance : for as i will take care that there may be nothing falsly set down ; so if there is any thing doubtful , tho i may perhaps tell a lie , yet i am sure i will not make one ; for i would rather pass for a good man , than for a wise man : but it will be easy to correct this mistake , if you can either meet with raphael himself , or know how to write to him . i have another difficulty that presses me more , and makes your writing to him the more necessary : i know not whom i ought to blame for it , whether raphael , you , or my self ; for as we did not think of asking it , so neither did he of telling us , in what part of the new-found world utopia is situated ; this was such an omission that i would gladly redeem it at any rate : i am ashamed , that after i have told so many things concerning this island , i cannot let my readers know in what sea it lies . there are some among us that have a mighty desire to go thither , and in particular , one pious divine is very earnest on it , not so much out of a vain curiosity of seeing unknown countries , as that he may advance our religion , which is so happily begun to be planted there ; and that he may do this regularly , he intends to procure a mission from the pope , and to be sent thither as their bishop . in such a case as this , he makes no scruple of aspiring to that character , and thinks it is rather meritorious to be ambitious of it , when one desires it only for advancing the christian religion , and not for any honour or advantage that may be had by it , but is acted meerly by a pious zeal . therefore i earnestly beg it of you , if you can possibly meet with raphael , or if you know how to write to him , that you will be pleased to inform your self of these things , that there may be no falshood left in my book , nor any important truth wanting . and ▪ perhaps it will not be unfit to let him see the book it self : for as no man can correct any errors that may be in it , so well as he ; so by reading it , he will be able to give a more perfect judgment of it than he can do upon any discourse concerning it : and you will be likewise able to discover whether this vndertaking of mine is acceptable to him or not ; for if he intends to write a relation of his travels , perhaps he will not be pleased that i should prevent him , in that part that belongs to the utopian common-wealth ; since if i should do so , his book will not surprize the world with the pleasure which this new discovery will give the age. and i am so little fond of appearing in print upon this occasion , that if he dislikes it , i will lay it aside ; and even though he should approve of it , i am not positively determined as to the publishing of it . mens tastes differ much ; some are of so morose a temper , so sour a disposition , and make such absurd iudgments of things , that men of chearful and lively tempers , who indulge their genius , seem much more happy , than those who waste their time and strength in order to the publishing some book , that tho of it self it might be useful or pleasant , yet instead of being well received , will be sure to be either loathed at , or censured . many know nothing of learning , and others despise it : a man that is accustomed to a course and harsh sile , thinks every thing is rough that is not barbarous . our trifling pretenders to learning , think all is slight that is not drest up in words that are worn out of use ; some love only old things , and many like nothing but what is their own . some are so sour , that they can allow no iests , and others are so dull that they can endure nothing that is sharp ; and some are as much afraid of any thing that is quick or lively , as a man bit with a mad dog is of water ; others are so light and unsetled , that their thoughts change as quick as they do their postures : and some , when they meet in taverns , take upon them among their cups to pass censures very freely on all writers ; and with a supercilious liberty to condemn every thing that they do not like : in which they have the advantage that a bald man has , who can catch hold of another by the hair , while the other cannot return the like upon him . they are safe as it were of gun-shot , since there is nothing in them considerable enough to be taken hold of . and some are so unthankful , that even when they are well-pleased with a book , yet they think they owe nothing to the author ; and are like those rude guests , who after they have been well entertained at a good dinner , go away when they have glutted their appetites , without so much as thanking him that treated them . but who would put himself to the charge of making a feast for men of such nice palats , and so different tastes ; who are so forgetful of the civilities that are done them ? but do you once clear those points with raphael , and then it will be time enough to consider whether it be fit to publish it or not ; for since i have been at the pains to write it , if he consents to the publishing it , i will follow my friend's advice , and chiefly yours . farewel my dear peter , commend me kindly to your good wise , and love me still as you use to do , for i assure you i love you daily more and more . the discourses of raphael hythloday , of the best state of a common-wealth . written by sir thomas more , citizen and sheriff of london . henry the 8th , the unconquered king of england , a prince adorned with all the vertues that become a great monarch ; having some differences of no small consequence with charles the most serene prince of castile , sent me into flanders as his ambassador , for treating and composing matters between them . i was collegue and companion to that incomparable man cuthbert tonstal , whom the king made lately master of the rolls , with such an universal applause ; of whom i will say nothing , not because i fear that the testimony of a friend will be suspected , but rather because his learning and vertues are greater than that they can be set forth with advantage by me , and they are so well known , that they need not my commendations , unless i would , according to the proverb , shew the sun with a lanthorn . those that were appointed by the prince to treat with us , met us at bruges , according to agreement : they were all worthy men. the markgrave of bruges was their head , and the chief man among them ; but he that was esteemed the wisest , and that spoke for the rest , was george temse the provost of casselsee ; both art and nature had concurred to make him eloquent : he was very learned in the law ; and as he had a great capacity , so by a long practice in affairs , he was very dextrous at them . after we had met once and again , and could not come to an agreement , they went to brussels for some days to receive the prince's pleasure . and since our business did admit of it , i went to antwerp : while i was there , among many that visited me , there was one that was more acceptable to me than any other ; peter giles born at antwerp , who is a man of great honour , and of a good rank in his town ; yet it is not such as he deserves : for i do not know if there be any where to be found a learneder and a better bred young man : for as he is both a very worthy person , and a very knowing man ; so he is so civil to all men , and yet so particularly kind to his friends , and is so full of candor and affection , that there is not perhaps above one or two to be found any where , that is in all respects so perfect a friend as he is : he is extraordinarily modest , there is no artifice in him ; and yet no man has more of a prudent simplicity than he has : his conversation was so pleasant and so innocently chearful , that his company did in a great measure lessen any longings to go back to my country , and to my wife and children , which an absence of four months had quickned very much . one day as i was returning home from mass at st. maries , which is the chief church , and the most frequented of any in antwerp , i saw him by accident talking with a stranger , that seemed past the flower of his age ; his face was tanned , he had a long beard , and his cloak was hanging carelesly about him , so that by his looks and habit , i concluded he was a seaman . as soon as peter saw me , he came and saluted me ; and as i was returning his civility , he took me aside , and pointing to him with whom he had been discoursing , he said , do you see that man ? i was just thinking to bring him to you . i answered , he should have been very welcome on your account : and on his own too , replied he , if you knew the man ; for there is none alive that can give you so copious an account of unknown nations and countries as he can do ; which i know you very much desire . then said i , i did not guess amiss , for at first sight i took him for a seaman : but you are much mistaken , said he , for he has not sailed as a seaman , but as a traveller , or rather as a philosopher ; for this raphael , who from his family carries the name of hythloday , as he is not ignorant of the latine tongue , so he is eminently learned in the greek , having applied himself more particularly to that than to the former , because he had given himself much to philosophy , in which he knew that the romans have left us nothing that is valuable , except what is to be found in seneca and cicero . he is a portuguese by birth , and was so desirous of seeing the world , that he divided his estate among his brothers , and run fortunes with americus vesputius , and bore a share in three of his four voyages , that are now published : only he did not return with him in his last , but obtained leave of him almost by force , that he might be one of those four and twenty who were left at the farthest place at which they touched , in their last voyage to new castile . the leaving him thus , did not a little gratify one that was more fond of travelling than of returning home , to be buried in his own country : for he used often to say , that the way to heaven was the same from all places ; and he that had no grave , had the heavens still over him . yet this disposition of mind had cost him dear , if god had not been very gracious to him ; for after he , with five castilians , had travelled over many countries , at last , by a strange good fortune , he got to ceylon , and from thence to calicut , and there he very happily found some portuguese ships ; and so , beyond all mens expectations , he came back to his own country . when peter had said this to me , i thanked him for his kindness , in intending to give me the acquaintance of a man , whose conversation he knew would be so acceptable to me ; and upon that raphael and i embraced one another : and after those civilities were past , which are ordinary for strangers upon their first meeting , we went all to my house , and entring into the garden , sat down on a green bank , and entertained one another in discourse . he told us , that when vesputius had sailed away , he and his companions that staid behind in new-castile , did by degrees insinuate themselves into the people of the country , meeting often with them , and treating them gently : and at last they grew not only to live among them without danger , but to converse familiarly with them ; and got so far into the heart of a prince , whose name and country i have forgot , that he both furnished them plentifully with all things necessary , and also with the conveniences of travelling ; both boats when they went by water , and wagons when they travelled over land ; and he sent with them a very faithful guide , who was to introduce and recommend them to such other princes as they had a mind to see : and after many days journey , they came to towns , and cities , and to common-wealths , that were both happily governed , and well-peopled . under the aequator , and as far on both sides of it as the sun moves , there lay vast deserts that were parched with the perpetual heat of the sun ; the soil was withered , all things look'd dismally , and all places were either quite uninhabited , or abounded with wild beasts and serpents , and some few men , that were neither less wild , nor less cruel than the beasts themselves . but as they went farther , a new scene opened , all things grew milder , the air less burning , the soil more verdant , and even the beasts were less wild : and at last there are nations , towns , and cities , that have not only mutual commerce among themselves , and with their neighbours , but trade both by sea and land , to very remote countries . there they found the conveniencies of seeing many countries on all hands , for no ship went any voyage into which he and his companions were not very welcome . the first vessels that they saw were flat-bottomed , their sails were made of reeds and wicker woven close together , only some were made of leather ; but afterwards they found ships made with round keels , and canvass sails , and in all things like our ships : and the seamen understood both astronomy and navigation . he got wonderfully into their favour , by shewing them the use of the needle , of which till then they were utterly ignorant ; and whereas they sailed before with great caution , and only in summer-time , now they count all seasons alike , trusting wholly to the loadstone , in which they are perhaps more secure than safe ; so that there is reason to fear , that this discovery which was thought would prove so much to their advantage , may by their imprudence become an occasion of much mischief to them . but it were too long to dwell on all that he told us he had observed in every place , it would be too great a digression from our present purpose : and what-ever is necessary to be told , chiefly concerning the wise and prudent institutions that he observed among civilized nations , may perhaps be related by us on a more proper occasion . we ask'd him many questions concerning all these things , to which he answered very willingly ; only we made no enquiries after monsters , than which nothing is more common ; for every where one may hear of ravenous dogs and wolves , and cruel men-eaters ; but it is not so easy to find states that are well and wisely governed . but as he told us of many things that were amiss in those new-found nations , so he reckoned up not a few things , from which patterns might be taken for correcting the errors of these nations among whom we live ; of which an account may be given , as i have already promised , at some other time ; for at present i intend only to relate these particulars that he told us of the manners and laws of the vtopians : but i will begin with the occasion that led us to speak of that common-wealth . after raphael had discoursed with great judgment of the errors that were both among us and these nations , of which there was no small number , and had treated of the wise institutions both here and there , and had spoken as distinctly of the customs and government of every nation through which he had past , as if he had spent his whole life in it ; peter being struck with admiration , said , i wonder , raphael , how it comes that you enter into no king's service , for i am sure there are none to whom you would not be very acceptable : for your learning and knowledg , both of men and things , is such , that you would not only entertain them very pleasantly , but be of good use to them , by the examples that you could set before them , and the advices that you could give them ; and by this means you would both serve your own interest , and be of great use to all your friends . as for my friends , answered he , i need not be much concerned , having already done all that was incumbent on me toward them ; for when i was not only in good health , but fresh and young , i distributed that among my kindred and friends , which other people do not part with till they are old and sick ; and then they unwillingly give among them , that which they can enjoy no longer themselves . i think my friends ought to rest contented with this , and not to expect that for their sakes i should enslave my self to any king whatsoever . soft and fair , said peter , i do not mean that you should be a slave to any king , but only that you should assist them , and be useful to them . the change of the word , said he , does not alter the matter . but term it as you will , replied peter , i do not see any other way in which you can be so useful , both in private to your friends , and to the publick , and by which you can make your own condition happier . happier ! answered raphael , is that to be compassed in a way so abhorrent to my genius ? now i live as i will , to which i believe few courtiers can pretend : and there are so very many that court the favour of great men , that there will be no great loss , if they are not troubled either with me , or with others of my temper . upon this , i said , i perceive raphael that you neither desire wealth nor greatness ; and indeed i value and admire such a man much more than i do any of the great men in the world. yet i think you would do a thing well-becoming so generous and so philosophical a soul as yours is , if you would apply your time and thoughts to publick affairs , even though you may happen to find that a little uneasy to your self ; and this you can never do with so much advantage , as by being taken into the council of some great prince , and by setting him on to noble and worthy things , which i know you would do if you were in such a post ; for the springs , both of good and evil , flow over a whole nation , from the prince , as from a lasting fountain . so much learning as you have , even without practice in affairs ; or so great a practice as you have had , without any other learning , would render you a very fit counsellor to any king whatsoever , you are doubly mistaken , said he , mr. more , both in your opinion of me , and in the judgment that you make of things : for as i have not that capacity that you fancy to be in me ; so if i had it , the publick would not be one jot the better , when i had sacrificed my quiet to it . for most princes apply themselves more to warlike matters , than to the useful arts of peace ; and in these i neither have any knowledg , nor do i much desire it : they are generally more set on acquiring new kingdoms , right or wrong , than on governing those well that they have : and among the ministers of princes , there are none that either are not so wise as not to need any assistance , or at least that do not think themselves so wise , that they imagine they need none ; and if they do court any , it is only those for whom the prince has much personal favour , whom by their faunings and flatteries they endeavour to fix to their own interests : and indeed nature has so made us , that we all love to be flattered , and to please our selves with our own notions . the old crow loves his young , and the ape his cubs . now if in such a court , made up of persons that envy all others , and do only admire themselves , one should but propose any thing that he had either read in history , or observed in his travels , the rest would think that the reputation of their wisdom would sink , and that their interests would be much depressed , if they could not run it down : and if all other things failed , then they would fly to this , that such or such things pleased our ancestors , and it were well for us if we could but match them . they would set up their rest on such an answer , as a sufficient confutation of all that could be said ; as if this were a great mischief , that any should be found wiser than his ancestors : but tho they willingly let go all the good things that were among those of former ages ; yet if better things are proposed , they cover themselves obstinately with this excuse , of reverence to past times . i have met with these proud , morose , and absurd judgments of things in many places , particularly once in england . was you ever there , said i ? yes , i was , answered he , and staid some months there , not long after the rebellion in the west was suppressed , with a great slaughter of the poor people that were engaged in it . i was then much obliged to that reverend prelate iohn morton archbishop of canterbury , cardinal , and chancellor of england ; a man , said he , peter ( for mr. more knows well what he was ) that was not less venerable for his wisdom and vertues , than for the high character he bore : he was of a middle stature , not broken with age ; his looks begot reverence rather than fear ; his conversation was easy , but serious and grave ; he took pleasure sometimes to try the force of those that came as suiters to him upon business , by speaking sharply , tho decently to them , and by that he discovered their spirit and presence of mind ; with which he was much delighted , when it did not grow up to an impudence , as bearing a great resemblance to his own temper ; and he look'd on such persons as the fittest men for affairs . he spoke both gracefully and weightily ; he was eminently skilled in the law , and had a vast understanding , and a prodigious memory : and those excellent talents with which nature had furnished him , were improved by study and experience . when i was in england , the king depended much on his councils , and the government seemed to be chiefly supported by him ; for from his youth up , he had been all along practised in affairs ; and having passed through many traverses of fortune , he had acquired to his great cost , a vast stock of wisdom : which is not soon lost , when it is purchased so dear . one day when i was dining with him , there hapned to be at table one of the english lawyers , who took occasion to run out in a high commendation of the severe execution of justice upon thieves , who , as he said , were then hanged so fast , that there were sometimes 20 on one gibbet ; and upon that he said , he could not wonder enough how it came to pass , that since so few escaped , there were yet so many thieves left who were still robbing in all places . upon this , i who took the boldness to speak freely before the cardinal , said , there was no reason to wonder at the matter , since this way of punishing thieves , was neither just in it self , nor good for the publick ; for as the severity was too great , so the remedy was not effectual ; simple theft not being so great a crime , that it ought to cost a man his life ; and no punishment how severe soever , being able to restrain those from robbing , who can find out no other way of livelihood ; and in this , said i , not only you in england , but a great part of the world , imitate some ill masters , that are readier to chastise their scholars , than to teach them . there are dreadful punishments enacted against thieves , but it were much better to make such good provisions , by which every man might be put in a method how to live , and so be preserved from the fatal necessity of stealing , and of dying for it . there has been care enough taken for that , said he , there are many handycrafts , and there is husbandry , by which they may make a shift to live , unless they have a greater mind to follow ill courses . that will not serve your turn , said i , for many lose their limbs in civil or forreign wars , as lately in the cornish rebellion , and some time ago in your wars with france , who being thus mutilated in the service of their king and country , can no more follow their old trades , and are too old to learn new ones : but since wars are only accidental things , and have intervals , let us consider those things that fall out every day . there is a great number of noble men among you , that live not only idle themselves as drones , subsisting by other mens labours , who are their tenants , and whom they pare to the quick , and thereby raise their revenues ; this being the only instance of their frugality , for in all other things they are prodigal , even to the beggering of themselves : but besides this , they carry about with them a huge number of idle fellows , who never learn'd any art by which they may gain their living ; and these , as soon as either their lord dies , or they themselves fall sick , are turned out of doors ; for your lords are readier to feed idle people , than to take care of the sick ; and often the heir is not able to keep together so great a family as his predecessor did : now when the stomachs of those that are thus turned out of doors , grow keen , they rob no less keenly ; and what else can they do ? for after that , by wandring about , they have worn out both their health and their cloaths , and are tattered , and look ghastly , men of quality will not entertain them , and poor men dare not do it ; knowing that one who has been bred up in idleness and pleasure , and who was used to walk about with his sword and buckler , despising all the neighbourhood with an insolent scorn , as far below him , is not fit for the spade and mattock : nor will he serve a poor man for so small a hire , and in so low a diet as he can afford . to this he answered , this sort of men ought to be particularly cherished among us , for in them consists the force of the armies for which we may have occasion ; since their birth inspires them with a nobler sence of honour , than is to be found among tradesmen or ploughmen . you may as well say , replied i , that you must cherish thieves on the account of wars , for you will never want the one , as long as you have the other ; and as robbers prove sometimes gallant souldiers , so souldiers prove often brave robbers ; so near an alliance there is between those two sorts of life . but this bad custom of keeping many servants , that is so common among you , is not peculiar to this nation . in france there is yet a more pestiferous sort of people , for the whole country is full of souldiers , that are still kept up in time of peace ; if such a state of a nation can be called a peace : and these are kept in pay upon the same account that you plead for those idle retainers about noble men : this being a maxim of those pretended statesmen , that it is necessary for the publick safety , to have a good body of veteran souldiers ever in readiness . they think raw men are not to be depended on , and they sometimes seek occasions for making war , that they may train up their souldiers in the art of cutting throats , or as salust observed , for keeping their hands in use , that they may not grow dull by too long an intermission . but france has learn'd , to its cost , how dangerous it is to feed such beasts . the fate of the romans , carthaginians , and syrians , and many other nations , and cities , which were both overturned , and quite ruined by those standing armies , should make others wiser : and the folly of this maxim of the french , appears plainly even from this , that their trained souldiers find your raw men prove often too hard for them ; of which i will not say much , lest you may think i flatter the english nation . every day's experience shews , that the mechanicks in the towns , or the clowns in the country , are not afraid of fighting with those idle gentlemen , if they are not disabled by some misfortune in their body , or dispirited by extream want. so that you need not fear , that those well-shaped and strong men , ( for it is only such that noblemen love to keep about them , till they spoil them ) who now grow feeble with ease , and are softned with their effeminate manner of life , would be less fit for action if they were well bred and well employed . and it seems very unreasonable , that for the prospect of a war , which you need never have but when you please , you should maintain so many idle men , as will always disturb you in time of peace , which is ever to be more considered than war. but i do not think that this necessity of stealing , arises only from hence , there is another cause of it that is more peculiar to england . what is that ? said the cardinal : the encrease of pasture , said i , by which your sheep , that are naturally mild , and easily kept in order , may be said now to devour men , and unpeople , not only villages , but towns : for where-ever it is found , that the sheep of any soil yield a softer and richer wool than ordinary , there the nobility and gentry , and even those holy men the abbots , not contented with the old rents which their farms yielded , nor thinking it enough that they living at their ease , do no good to the publick , resolve to do it hurt instead of good. they stop the course of agriculture , inclose grounds , and destroy houses and towns , reserving only the churches , that they may lodg their sheep in them : and as if forrests and parks had swallowed up too little soil , those worthy country-men turn the best inhabited places into solitudes ; for when any unsatiable wretch , who is a plague to this country , resolves to inclose many thousand acres of ground , the owners , as well as tenants , are turned out of their possessions , by tricks , or by main force , or being wearied out with ill usage , they are forced to sell them . so those miserable people , both men and women , married , unmarried , old and young , with their poor , but numerous families , ( since country-business requires many hands ) are all forced to change their seats , not knowing whither to go ; and they must sell for almost nothing , their houshold-stuff , which could not bring them much mony , even tho they might stay for a buyer : when that little mony is at an end , for it will be soon spent ; what is left for them to do , but either to steal , and so to be hanged , ( god knows how justly ) or to go about and beg ? and if they do this , they are put in prison as idle vagabonds ; whereas they would willingly work , but can find none that will hire them ; for there is no more occasion for country labour , to which they have been bred , when there is no arable ground left . one shepherd can look after a flock , which will stock an extent of ground that would require many hands , if it were to be ploughed and reaped . this likewise raises the price of corn in many places . the price of wool is also so risen , that the poor people who were wont to make cloth , are no more able to buy it ; and this likewise makes many of them idle : for since the increase of pasture , god has punished the avarice of the owners , by a rot among the sheep , which has destroyed vast numbers of them , but had been more justly laid upon the owners themselves . but suppose the sheep should encrease ever so much , their price is not like to fall ; since tho they cannot be called a monopoly , because they are not engrossed by one person , yet they are in so few hands , and these are so rich , that as they are not prest to sell them sooner than they have a mind to it , so they never do it till they have raised the price as high as is possible . and on the same account it is , that the other kinds of cattel are so dear , and so much the more , because that many villages being pulled down , and all country-labour being much neglected , there are none that look after the breeding of them . the rich do not breed cattel as they do sheep , but buy them lean , and at low prices ; and after they have fatned them on their grounds , they sell them again at high rates . and i do not think that all the inconveniences that this will produce , are yet observed ; for as they sell the cattle dear , so if they are consumed faster then the breeding countries from which they are brought , can afford them ; then the stock most decrease , and this must needs end in a great scarcity ; and by these means this your island , that seemed as to this particular , the happiest in the world , will suffer much by the cursed avarice of a few persons ; besides that , the rising of corn makes all people lessen their families as much as they can ; and what can those who are dismissed by them do , but either beg or rob ? and to this last , a man of a great mind is much sooner drawn than to the former . luxury likewise breaks in apace upon you , to set forward your poverty and misery ; there is an excessive vanity in apparel , and great cost in diet ; and that not only in noblemens families , but even among tradesmen , and among the farmers themselves , and among all ranks of persons . you have also many infamous houses , and besides those that are known , the taverns and alehouses are no better ; add to these , dice , cards , tables , football , tennis , and coits , in which mony runs fast away ; and those that are initiated into them , must in conclusion betake themselves to robbing for a supply . banish those plagues , and give order that these who have dispeopled so much soil , may either rebuild the villages that they have pulled down , or let out their grounds to such as will do it : restrain those engrossings of the rich , that are as bad almost as monopolies ; leave fewer occasions to idleness ; let agriculture be set up again , and the manufacture of the wooll be regulated , that so there may be work found for these companies of idle people , whom want forces to be thieves , or who now being idle vagabonds , or useless servants , will certainly grow thieves at last . if you do not find a remedy to these evils , it is a vain thing to boast of your severity of punishing theft ; which tho it may have the appearance of justice , yet in it self it is neither just nor convenient : for if you suffer your people to be ill educated , and their manners to be corrupted from their infancy , and then punish them for those crimes to which their first education disposed them , what else is to be concluded from this , but that you first make thieves , and then punish them ? allow of it ; upon the same grounds , laws may be made to allow of adultery and perjury in some cases : for god having taken from us the right of disposing , either of our own , or of other peoples lives , if it is pretended that the mutual consent of men in making laws , allowing of manslaughter in cases in which god has given us no example , frees people from the obligation of the divine law , and so makes murder a lawful action ; what is this , but to give a preference to humane laws before the divine ? and if this is once admitted , by the same rule men may in all other things put what restrictions they please upon the laws of god. if by the mosaical law , tho it was rough and severe , as being a yoke laid on an obstinate and servile nation , men were only fined , and not put to death for theft ; we cannot imagine that in this new law of mercy , in which god treats us with the tenderness of a father , he has given us a greater license to cruelty , than he did to the iews . upon these reasons it is , that i think the putting thieves to death is not lawful ; and it is plain and obvious that it is absurd , and of ill consequence to the common-wealth , that a thief and a murderer should be equally punished : for if a robber sees that his danger is the same , if he is convicted of theft , as if he were guilty of murder , this will naturally set him on to kill the person whom otherwise he would only have robbed , since if the punishment is the same , there is more security , and less danger of discovery , when he that can best make it is put out of the way ; so that the terrifying thieves too much , provokes them to cruelty . but as to the question , what more convenient way of punishment can be found ? i think it is much easier to find out that , than to invent any thing that is worse ; why should we doubt but the way that was so long in use among the old romans , who understood so well the arts of government , was very proper for their punishment ? they condemned such as they found guilty of great crimes , to work their whole lives in quarries , or to dig in mines with chains about them . but the method that i liked best , was that which i observed in my travels in persia , among the polylerits , who are a considerable and well-governed people . they pay a yearly tribute to the king of persia ; but in all other respects they are a free nation , and governed by their own laws . they lie far from the sea , and are environed with hills ; and being contented with the productions of their own country , which is very fruitful , they have little commerce with any other nation ; and as they , according to the genius of their country , have no appetite of inlarging their borders ; so their mountains , and the pension that they pay to the persian , secure them from all invasions . thus they have no wars among them ; they live rather conveniently than splendidly , and may be rather called a happy nation , than either eminent or famous ; for i do not think that they are known so much as by name to any but their next neighbours . those that are found guilty of theft among them , are bound to make restitution to the owner , and not as it is in other places , to the prince , for they reckon that the prince has no more right to the stollen goods than the thief ; but if that which was stollen is no more in being , then the goods of the thieves are estimated , and restitution being made out of them , the remainder is given to their wives , and children : and they themselves are condemned to serve in the publick works , but are neither imprisoned , nor chained , unless there hapned to be some extraordinary circumstances in their crimes . they go about loose and free , working for the publick : if they are idle or backward to work , they are whipp'd ; but if they work hard , they are well used and treated without any mark of reproach , only the lists of them are called always at night , and then they are shut up , and they suffer no other uneasiness , but this of constant labour ; for as they work for the publick , so they are well entertained out of the publick stock , which is done differently in different places : in some places , that which is bestowed on them , is raised by a charitable contribution ; and tho this way may seem uncertain , yet so merciful are the inclinations of that people , that they are plentifully supplied by it ; but in other places publick revenues are set aside for them ; or there is a constant tax of a poll-mony raised for their maintenance . in some places they are set to no publick work , but every privat man that has occasion to hire workmen , goes to the market-places and hires them of the publick , a little lower than he would do a free-man : if they go lazily about their task , he may quicken them with the whip . by this means there is always some piece of work or other to be done by them ; and beside their livelyhood , they earn somewhat still to the publick . they wear all a peculiar habit , of one certain colour , and their hair is cropt a little above their ears , and a little of one of their ears is cut off . their friends are allowed to give them either meat , drink , or clothes , so they are of their proper colour ; but it is death , both to the giver and taker , if they give them mony ; nor is it less penal for any free-man to take mony from them , upon any account whatsoever : and it is also death for any of these slaves ( so they are called ) to handle arms. those of every division of the country , are distinguished by a peculiar mark : and it is capital to lay that aside , and so it is also to go out of their bounds , or to talk with a slave of another jurisdiction ; and the very attempt of an escape , is no less penal than an escape it self ; it is death for any other slave to be accessary to it : if a free-man engages in it , he is condemned to slavery : those that discover it are rewarded ; if free-men , in mony ; and if slaves , with liberty , together with a pardon for being accessary to it ; that so they may find their account , rather in repenting of their accession to such a design , than in persisting in it . these are their laws and rules in this matter ; in which both the gentleness and the advantages of them are very obvious ; since by these means , as vices are destroyed , so men are preserved ; but are so treated , that they see the necessity of being good : and by the rest of their life they make reparation for the mischief they had formerly done . nor is there any hazard of their falling back to their old customs : and so little do travellers apprehend mischief from them , that they generally make use of them for guides , from one jurisdiction to another ; for there is nothing left them by which they can rob , or be the better for it , since as they are disarmed , so the very having of mony is a sufficient conviction : and as they are certainly punished if discovered , so they cannot hope to escape : for their habit being in all the parts of it different from what is commonly worn , they cannot fly away , unless they should go naked , and even then their crop'd ear would betray them . the only danger to be feared from them , is their conspiring against the government : but those of one division and neighbourhood can do nothing to any purpose , unless a general conspiracy were laid amongst all the slaves of the several jurisdictions , which cannot be done , since they cannot meet or talk together ; nor will any venture on a design where the concealment would be so dangerous , and the discovery so profitable : and none of them is quite hopeless of recovering his freedom , since by their obedience and patience , and by giving grounds to believe that they will change their manner of life for the future , they may expect at last to obtain their liberty : and some are every year restored to it , upon the good character that is given of them . when i had related all this , i added , that i did not see why such a method might not be followed with more advantage , than could ever be expected from that severe justice which the counsellor magnified so much . to all this he answered , that it could never be so setled in england , without endangering the whole nation by it ; and as he said that , he shook his head , and made some grimaces , and so held his peace ; and all the company seemed to be of his mind : only the cardinal said , it is not easy to guess whether it would succeed well or ill , since no trial has been made of it : but if when the sentence of death were past upon a thief , the prince would reprieve him for a while , and make the experiment upon him , denying him the privilege of a sanctuary ; then if it had a good effect upon him , it might take place ; and if it succeeded not , the worst would be , to execute the sentence on the condemned persons at last . and i do not see , said he , why it would be either injust or inconvenient , or at all dangerous , to admit of such a delay : and i think the vagabonds ought to be treated in the same manner , against whom tho we have made many laws , yet we have not been able to gain our end by them all . when the cardinal had said this , then they all fell to commend the motion , tho they had despised it when it came from me ; but they did more particularly commend that concerning the vagabonds , because it had been added by him . i do not know whether it be worth the while to tell what followed , for it was very ridiculous ; but i shall venture at it , for as it is not forreign to this matter , so some good use may be made of it . there was a jester standing by , that counterfeited the fool so naturally , that he seemed to be really one . the jests at which he offered were so cold and dull , that we laughed more at him than at them ; yet sometimes he said , as it were by chance , things that were not unpleasant ; so as to justify the old proverb , that he who throws the dice often , will sometimes have a lucky hit . when one of the company had said , that i had taken care of the thieves , and the cardinal had taken care of the vagabonds , so that there remained nothing but that some publick provision might be made for the poor , whom sickness or old age had disabled from labour : leave that to me , said the fool , and i shall take care of them ; for there is no sort of people whose sight i abhor more , having been so often vexed with them , and with their sad complaints ; but as dolefully soeveras they have told their tale to me , they could never prevail so far as to draw one penny of mony from me : for either i had no mind to give them any thing , or when i had a mind to it , i had nothing to give them : and they now know me so well , that they will not lose their labour on me , but let me pass without giving me any trouble , because they hope for nothing from me , no more in faith than if i were a priest : but i would have a law made , for sending all these beggars to monasteries , the men to the benedictines to be lay-brothers , and the women to be nuns . the cardinal smiled , and approved of it in jest ; but the rest liked it in earnest . there was a divine present , who tho he was a grave morose man , yet he was so pleased with this reflection that was made on the priests and the monks , that he began to play with the fool , and said to him , this will not deliver you from all beggers , except you take care of us friars . that is done already , answered the fool , for the cardinal has provided for you , by what he proposed for the restraining vagabonds , and setting them to work , for i know no vagabonds like you . this was well entertained by the whole company , who looking at the cardinal , perceived that he was not ill pleased at it ; only the friar himself was so bit , as may be easily imagined , and fell out into such a passion , that he could not forbear railing at the fool , and called him knave , slanderer , backbiter , and son of perdition , and cited some dreadful threatnings out of the scriptures against him . now the jester thought he was in his element , and laid about him freely : he said , good friar be not angry , for it is written , in patience possess your soul. the friar answered , ( for i shall give you his own words ) i am not angry , you hangman ; at least i do not sin in it , for the psalmist says , be ye angry , and sin not . upon this the cardinal admonished him gently , and wished him to govern his passions . no , my lord , said he , i speak not but from a good zeal , which i ought to have ; for holy men have had a good zeal , as it is said , the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up ; and we sing in our church , that those who mock'd elisha as he went up to the house of god , felt the effects of his zeal ; which that mocker , that rogue , that scoundrel , will perhaps feel . you do this perhaps with a goodintention , said the cardinal ; but in my opinion , it were wiser in you , not to say better for you , not to engage in so ridiculous a contest with a fool. no , my lord , answered he , that were not wisely done ; for solomon , the wisest of men , said , answer a fool according to his folly ; which i now do , and shew him the ditch into which he will fall , if he is not aware of it ; for if the many mockers of elisha , who was but one bald man , felt the effect of his zeal , what will become of one mocker of so many friars , among whom there are so many bald men ? we have likewise a bull , by which all that jeer us are excommunicated . when the cardinal saw that there was no end of this matter , he made a sign to the fool to withdraw , and turned the discourse another way ; and soon after he rose from the table , and dismissing us , he went to hear causes . thus , mr. more , i have run out into a tedious story , of the length of which i had been ashamed , if , as you earnestly begged it of me , i had not observed you to hearken to it , as if you had no mind to lose any part of it : i might have contracted it , but i resolved to give it you at large , that you might observe how those that had despised what i had proposed , no sooner perceived that the cardinal did not dislike it , but they presently approved of it , and fawned so on him , and flattered him to such a degree , that they in good earnest applauded those things that he only liked in jest . and from hence you may gather , how little courtiers would value either me or my counsels . to this i answered , you have done me a great kindness in this relation ; for as every thing has been related by you , both wisely and pleasantly , so you have made me imagine , that i was in my own country , and grown young again , by recalling that good cardinal into my thoughts , in whose family i was bred from my childhood : and tho you are upon other accounts very dear to me , yet you are the dearer , because you honour his memory so much : but after all this i cannot change my opinion , for i still think that if you could overcome that aversion which you have to the courts of princes , you might do a great deal of good to mankind , by the advices that you would give ; and this is the chief design that every good man ought to propose to himself in living : for whereas your friend plato thinks that then nations will be happy , when either philosophers become kings , or kings become philosophers . no wonder if we are so far from that happiness , if philosophers will not think it fit for them to assist kings with their councels . they are not so base minded , said he , but that they would willingly do it : many of them have already done it by their books , if these that are in power would hearken to their good advices . but plato judged right , that except kings themselves became philosophers , it could never be brought about , that they who from their childhood are corrupted with false notions , should fall in intirely with the counsels of philosophers , which he himself found to be true in the person of dionysius . do not you think , that if i were about any king , and were proposing good laws to him , and endeavouring to root out of him all the cursed seeds of evil that i found in him , i should either be turned out of his court , or at least be laughed at for my pains ? for instance , what could i signify if i were about the king of france , and were called into his cabinet-council , where several wise men do in his hearing propose many expedients ; as by what arts and practices milan may be kept ; and naples , that has so oft slip'd out of their hands , recovered ; and how the venetians , and after them the rest of italy may be subdued ; and then how flanders , brabant , and all burgundy , and some other kingdoms which he has swallowed already in his designs , may be added to his empire . one proposes a league with the venetians , to be kept as long as he finds his account in it , and that he ought to communicate councils with them , and give them some share of the spoil , till his success makes him need or fear them less , and then it will be easily taken out of their hands . another proposes the hireing the germans , and the securing the switzers by pensions . another proposes the gaining the emperor by mony , which is omnipotent with him . another proposes a peace with the king of arragon , and in order to the cementing it , the yielding up the king of navar 's pretensions . another thinks the prince of castile is to be wrought on , by the hope of an alliance ; and that some of his courtiers are to be gained to the french faction by pensions . the hardest point of all is , what to do with england : a treaty of peace is to be set on foot , and if their alliance is not to be depended on , yet it is to be made as firm as can be ; and they are to be called friends , but suspected as enemies : therefore the scots are to be kept in readiness , to be let loose upon england on every occasion ; and some banished nobleman is to be supported underhand , ( for by the league it cannot be done avowedly ) who has a pretension to the crown , by which means that suspected prince may be kept in awe . now when things are in so great a fermentation , and so many gallant men are joining councils , how to carry on the war , if so mean a man as i am should stand up , and wish them to change all their councils , to let italy alone , and stay at home , since the kingdom of france was indeed greater than that it could be well governed by one man ; so that he ought not to think of adding others to it : and if after this , i should propose to them the resolutions of the achorians , a people that lie over against the isle of vtopia to the south-east , who having long ago engaged in a war , that they might gain another kingdom to their king , who had a pretension to it by an old alliance , by which it had descended to him ; and having conquered it , when they found that the trouble of keeping it , was equal to that of gaining it ; for the conquered people would be still apt to rebel , or be exposed to forreign invasions , so that they must always be in war , either for them , or against them ; and that therefore they could never disband their army : that in the mean time taxes lay heavy on them , that mony went out of the kingdom ; that their blood was sacrificed to their king's glory , and that they were nothing the better by it , even in time of peace ; their manners being corrupted by a long war ; robbing and murders abounding every where , and their laws falling under contempt , because their king being distracted with the cares of the kingdom , was less able to apply his mind to any one of them ; when they saw there would be no end of those evils , they by joint councils made an humble address to their king , desiring him to chuse which of the two kingdoms he had the greatest mind to keep , since he could not hold both ; for they were too great a people to be governed by a divided king , since no man would willingly have a groom that should be in common between him and another . upon which the good prince was forced to quit his new kingdom to one of his friends , ( who was not long after dethroned ) and to be contented with his old one. to all this i would add , that after all those warlike attempts , and the vast confusions , with the consumptions both of treasure and of people , that must follow them ; perhaps upon some misfortune , they might be forced to throw up all at last ; therefore it seemed much more eligible that the king should improve his ancient kingdom all he could , and make it flourish as much as was possible ; that he should love his people , and be beloved of them ; that he should live among them , and govern them gently ; and that he should let other kingdoms alone , since that which had fallen to his share was big enough , if not too big for him . pray how do you think would such a speech as this be heard ? i confess , said i , i think not very well . but what said he , if i should sort with another kind of ministers , whose chief contrivances and consultations were , by what art treasure might be heaped up ? where one proposes , the crying up of mony , when the king had a great debt on him , and the crying it down as much when his revenues were to come in , that so he might both pay much with a little , and in a little receive a great deal : another proposes a pretence of a war , that so money might be raised in order to the carrying it on , and that a peace might be concluded as soon as that was done ; and this was to be made up with such appearances of religion as might work on the people , and make them impute it to the piety of their prince , and to his tenderness of the lives of his subjects . a third offers some old musty laws , that have been antiquated by a long disuse ; and which , as they had been forgotten by all the subjects , so they had been also broken by them ; and that the levying of the penalties of these laws , as it would bring in a vast treasure , so there might be a very good pretence for it , since it would look like the executing of law , and the doing of justice . a fourth proposes the prohibiting of many things under severe penalties , especially such things as were against the interest of the people , and then the dispensing with these prohibitions upon great compositions , to those who might make advantages by breaking them . this would serve two ends , both of them acceptable to many ; for as those whose avarice led them to transgress , would be severely fined ; so the selling licences dear , would look as if a prince were tender of his people , and would not easily , or at low rates , dispense with any thing that might be against the publick good. another proposes , that the judges must be made sure , that they may declare always in favor of the prerogative , that they must be often sent for to court , that the king may hear them argue those points in which he is concerned ; since that how unjust soever any of his pretensions may be , yet still some one or other of them , either out of contradiction to others , or the pride of singularity , or that they may make their court , would find out some pretence or other to give the king a fair colour to carry the point : for if the judges but differ in opinion , the clearest thing in the world is made by that means disputable , and truth being once brought in question , the king upon that may take advantage to expound the law for his own profit : the judges that stand out will be brought over , either out of fear or modesty ; and they being thus gained , all of them may be sent to the bench to give sentence boldly , as the king would have it : for fair pretences will never be wanting when sentence is to be given in the prince's favor : it will either be said , that equity lies of his side , or some words in the law will be found sounding that way , or some forced sence will be put on them ; and when all other things fail , the king 's undoubted prerogative will be pretended , as that which is above all law ; and to which a religious judg ought to have a special regard . thus all consent to that maxim of grassus , that a prince cannot have treasure enough , since he must maintain his armies out of it : that a king , even tho he would , can do nothing unjustly ; that all property is in him , not excepting the very persons of his subjects : and that no man has any other property , but that which the king out of his goodness thinks fit to leave him : and they think it is the prince's interest , that there be as little of this left as may be , as if it were his advantage that his people should have neither riches nor liberty ; since these things make them less easy and tame to a cruel and injust government ; whereas necessity and poverty blunts them , makes them patient , and bears them down , and breaks that height of spirit , that might otherwise dispose them to rebel . now what if after all these propositions were made , i should rise up and assert , that such councels were both unbecoming a king , and mischievous to him : and that not only his honor but his safety consisted more in his peoples wealth , than in his own ; if i should shew , that they choose a king for their own sake , and not for his ; that by his care and endeavors they may be both easy and safe : and that therefore a prince ought to take more care of his peoples happiness , than of his own , as a shepherd is to take more care of his flock than of himself . it is also certain , that they are much mistaken , that think the poverty of a nation is a means of the publick safety : who quarrel more than beggers do ? who does more earnestly long for a change , than he that is uneasy in his present circumstances ? and who run in to create confusions with so desperate a boldness , as those who having nothing to lose , hope to gain by them ? if a king should fall under so much contempt or envy , that he could not keep his subjects in their duty , but by oppression and ill usage , and by impoverishing them , it were certainly better for him to quit his kingdom , than to retain it by such methods , by which tho he keeps the name of authority , yet he loses the majesty due to it . nor is it so becoming the dignity of a king to reign over beggars , as to reign over rich and happy subjects . and therefore fabritius , that was a man of a noble and exalted temper , said , he would rather govern rich men , than be rich himself ; and for one man to abound in wealth and pleasure , when all about him are mourning and groaning , is to be a goaler and not a king. he is an unskilful physician , that cannot cure a disease , but by casting his patient into another : so he that can find no other way for correcting the errors of his people , but by taking from them the conveniences of life , shews that he knows not what it is to govern a free nation . he himself ought rather to shake off his sloth , or to lay down his pride ; for the contempt or hatred that his people have for him , takes its rise from the vices in himself . let him live upon what belongs to himself , without wronging others , and accommodate his expence to his revenue . let him punish crimes , and by his wise conduct let him endeavour to prevent them , rather than be severe when he has suffered them to be too common : let him not rashly revive laws that are abbrogated by disuse , especially if they have been long forgotten , and never wanted . and let him never take any penalty for the breach of them , to which a judg would not give way in a private man , but would look on him as a crafty and unjust person for pretending to it . to these things i would add , that law among the macarians , that lie not far from vtopia , by which their king , in the day on which he begins to reign , is tied by an oath confirmed by solemn sacrifices , never to have at once above a thousand pounds of gold in his treasures , or so much silver as is equal to that in value . this law , as they say , was made by an excellent king , who had more regard to the riches of his country , than to his own wealth ; and so provided against the heaping up of so much treasure , as might impoverish the people : he thought that moderate sum might be sufficient for any accident ; if either the king had occasion for it against rebels , or the kingdom against the invasion of an enemy , but that it was not enough to encourage a prince to invade other mens rights , which was the chief cause of his making that law. he also thought , that it was a good provision for a free circulation of mony , that is necessary for the course of commerce and exchange : and when a king must distribute all these extraordinary accessions that encrease treasure beyond the due pitch , it makes him less disposed to oppress his subjects . such a king as this is , will be the terror of ill men , and will be beloved of all good men. if , i say , i should talk of these or such like things , to men that had taken their biass another way , how deaf would they be to it all ? no doubt , very deaf , answered i ; and no wonder , for one is never to offer at propositions or advices , that he is certain will not be entertained . discourses so much out of the road could not avail any thing , nor have any effect on men , whose minds were prepossessed with different sentiments . this philosophical way of speculation , is not unpleasant among friends in a free converrsation ; but there is no room for it in the courts of princes , where great affairs are carried on by authority . that is what i was saying , replied he , that there is no room for philosophy in the courts of princes . yes , there is , said i , but not for this speculative philosophy , that makes every thing to be alike fitting at all times : but there is another philosophy that is more pliable , that knows its proper scene , and accommodates it self to it ; and that teaches a man to act that part which has fallen to his share , fitly and decently . if when one of plautus's comedies is upon the stage , and a company of servants are acting their parts , you should come out in the garb of a philosopher , and repeat out of octavia , a discourse of seneca's to nero , had it not been better for you to have said nothing , than by mixing things of such different natures , to have made such an impertinent tragi-comedy ? for you spoil and corrupt the play that is in hand , when you mix with it things disagreeing to it , even tho they were better than it is : therefore go through with the play that is acting , the best you can ; and do not confound it , because another that is pleasanter comes into your thoughts . it is even so in a common-wealth , and in the councils of princes ; if ill opinions cannot be quite rooted out ; and if you cannot cure some received vices according to your wishes , you must not therefore abandon the common-wealth ; or forsake the ship in a storm , because you cannot command the winds ; nor ought you to assault people with discourses that are out of their road , when you see their notions are such that you can make no impression on them : but you ought to cast about , and as far as you can to manage things dextrously , that so if you cannot make matters go well , they may be as little ill as is possible ; for except all men were good , all things cannot go well ; which i do not hope to see in a great while . by this , answered he , all that i shall do shall be to preserve my self from being mad , while i endeavour to cure the madness of other people : for if i will speak truth , i must say such things as i was formerly saying ; and for lying , whether a philosopher can do it or not , i cannot tell ; i am sure i cannot do it . but tho these discourses may be uneasy and ungrateful to them , i do not see why they should seem foolish or extravagant : indeed if i should either propose such things as plato has contrived in his common-wealth , or as the vtopians practise in theirs , tho they might seem better , as certainly they are , yet they are so quite different from our establishment , which is founded on property , there being no such thing among them , that i could not expect that it should have any effect on them : but such discourses as mine , that only call past evils to mind , and give warning of what may follow , have nothing in them that is so absurd , that they may not be used at any time ; for they can only be unpleasant to those who are resolved to run headlong the contrary way : and if we must let alone every thing as absurd or extravagant , which by reason of the wicked lives of many may seem uncouth , we must , even among christians , give over pressing the greatest part of those things that christ hath taught us : tho he has commanded us not to conceal them , but to proclaim on the house-tops that which he taught in secret . the greatest parts of his precepts are more disagreeing to the lives of the men of this age , than any part of my discourse has been : but the preachers seem to have learn'd that craft to which you advise me ; for they observing that the world would not willingly sute their lives to the rules that christ has given , have fitted his doctrine , as if it had been a leaden rule , to their lives ; that so some way or other they might agree with one another . but i see no other effect of this compliance , except it be that men become more secure in their wickedness by it . and this is all the success that i can have in a court ; for i must always differ from the rest , and then i will signify nothing ; or if i agree with them , then i will only help forward their madness . i do not comprehend what you mean by your casting about , or by the bending and handling things so dextrously , that if they go not well , they may go as little ill as may be : for in courts they will not bear with a man's holding his peace , or conniving at them : a man must bare-facedly approve of the worst councils , and consent to the blackest designs : so that one would pass for a spy , or possibly for a traitor , that did but coldly approve of such wicked practices : and when a man is engaged in such a society , he will be so far from being able to mend matters by his casting about , as you call it , that he will find no occasions of doing any good : the ill company will sooner corrupt him , than be the better for him : or if notwithstanding all their ill company , he remains still entire and innocent , yet their follies and knavery will be imputed to him ; and by mixing councils with them , he must bear his share of all the blame that belongs wholly to others . it was no ill simily , by which plato set forth the unreasonableness of a philosopher's medling with government : if one , says he , shall see a great company run out into the rain every day , and delight to be wet in it ; and if he knows that it will be to no purpose for him to go and perswade them to come into their houses , and avoid the rain ; so that all that can be expected from his going to speak to them , will be , that he shall be wet with them ; when it is so , he does best to keep within doors , and preserve himself , since he cannot prevail enough to correct other peoples folly. tho to speak plainly what is my heart , i must freely own to you , that as long as there is any property , and while mony is the standard of all other things , i cannot think that a nation can be governed either justly or happily : not justly , because the best things will fall to the share of the worst of men : nor happily , because all things will be divided among a few , ( and even these are not in all respects happy ) the rest being left to be absolutely miserable . therefore when i reflect on the wise and good constitutions of the vtopians , among whom all things are so well governed , and with so few laws ; and among whom as vertue hath its due reward , yet there is such an equality , that every man lives in plenty ; and when i compare with them so many other nations that are still making new laws , and yet can never bring their constitution to a right regulation , among whom tho every one has his property ; yet all the laws that they can invent , cannot prevail so far , that men can either obtain or preserve it , or be certainly able to distinguish what is their own , from what is another man's ; of which the many law suits that every day break out , and depend without any end , give too plain a demonstration : when , i say , i ballance all these things in my thoughts , i grow more favourable to plato , and do not wonder that he resolved , not to make any laws for such as would not submit to a community of all things : for so wise a man as he was , could not but foresee that the setting all upon the level , was the only way to make a nation happy ; which cannot be obtained so long as there is property : for when every man draws to himself all that he can compass , by one title or another , it must needs follow , that how plentiful soever a nation may be , yet a few dividing the wealth of it among themselves , the rest must fall under poverty . so that there will be two sorts of people among them , that deserve that their fortunes should be interchanged ; the former being useless , but wicked and ravenous ; and the latter , who by their constant industry serve the publick more than themselves , being sincere and modest men. from whence i am perswaded , that till property is taken away , there can be no equitable or just distribution made of things , nor can the world be happily governed : for as long as that is maintained , the greatest and the far best part of mankind , will be still oppressed with a load of cares and anxieties . i confess , without the taking of it quite away , those pressures that lie on a great part of mankind , may be made lighter ; but they can never be quite removed . for if laws were made , determining at how great an extent in soil , and at how much mony every man must stop , and limiting the prince that he may not grow too great , and restraining the people that they may not become too insolent , and that none might factiously aspire to publick employments ; and that they might neither be sold , nor made burdensome by a great expence ; since otherwise those that serve in them , will be tempted to reimburse themselves by cheats and violence , and it will become necessary to find out rich men for undergoing those employments for which wise men ought rather to be sought out ; these laws , i say , may have such effects , as good diet and care may have on a sick man , whose recovery is desperate : they may allay and mitigate the disease , but it can never be quite healed , nor the body politick be brought again to a good habit , as long as property remains ; and it will fall out as in a complication of diseases , that by applying a remedy to one sore , you will provoke another ; and that which removes one ill symptom , produces others , while the strengthning of one part of the body weakens the rest . on the contrary , answered i , it seems to me that men cannot live conveniently , where all things are common : how can there be any plenty , where every man will excuse himself from labour ? for as the hope of gain doth not excite him , so the confidence that he has in other mens industry , may make him slothful : and if people come to be pinched with want , and yet cannot dispose of any thing as their own ; what can follow upon this , but perpetual sedition and bloodshed , especially when the reverence and authority due to magistrates falls to the ground ? for i cannot imagine how that can be kept up among those that are in all things equal to one another . i do not wonder , said he , that it appears so to you , since you have no notion , or at least no right one , of such a constitution : but if you had been in vtopia with me , and had seen their laws and rules as i did , for the space of five years , in which i lived among them ; and during which time i was so delighted with them , that indeed i would never have left them , if it had not been to make the discovery of that new world to the europeans ; you would then confess that you had never seen a people so well constituted as they are . you will not easily perswade me , said peter , that any nation in that new world , is better governed than those among us are . for as our understandings are not worse than theirs , so our government , if i mistake not , being ancienter , a long practice has helped us to find out many conveniences of life : and some happy chances have discovered other things to us , which no man's understanding could ever have invented . as for the antiquity , either of their government , or of ours , said he , you cannot pass a true judgment of it , unless you had read their histories ; for if they are to be believed , they had towns among them , before these parts were so much as inhabited : and as for these discoveries , that have been either hit on by chance , or made by ingenious men , these might have hapned there as well as here . i do not deny but we are more ingenious than they are , but they exceed us much in industry and application : they knew little concerning us , before our arrival among them ; they call us all by a general name of the nations that lie beyond the equinoctial line ; for their chronicle mentions a shipwrack that was made on their coast 1200 years ago ; and that some romans and egyptians that were in the ship , getting safe a shore , spent the rest of their days amongst them ; and such was their ingenuity , that from this single opportunity , they drew the advantage of learning from those unlook'd for guests , all the useful arts that were then among the romans , which those shipwrack'd men knew : and by the hints that they gave them , they themselves found out even some of those arts which they could not fully explain to them ; so happily did they improve that accident , of having some of our people cast upon their shore : but if any such accident have at any time brought any from thence into europe , we have been so far from improving it , that we do not so much as remember it ; as in after times perhaps it will be forgot by our people that i was ever there . for tho they from one such accident , made themselves masters of all the good inventions that were among us ; yet i believe it would be long before we would learn or put in practice any of the good institutions that are among them : and this is the true cause of their being better governed , and living happier than we do , tho we come not short of them in point of understanding , or outward advantages . upon this i said to him , i do earnestly beg of you , that you would describe that island very particularly to us . be not too short in it , but set out in order all things relating to their soil , their rivers , their towns , their people , their manners , constitution , laws , and in a word , all that you imagine we desire to know : and you may well imagine that we desire to know every thing concerning them , of which we are hitherto ignorant . i will do it very willingly , said he , for i have digested the whole matter carefully ; but it will take up some time . let us go then , said i , first and dine , and then we shall have leasure enough . be it so , said he . so we went in and dined , and after dinner we came back , and sat down in the same place . i ordered my servants to take care that none might come and interrupt us : and both peter and i desired raphael to be as good as his word : so when he saw that we were very intent upon it , he paused a little to recollect himself , and began in this manner . the second book . the island of vtopia , in the middle of it , where it is broadest , is 200 miles broad , and holds almost at the same breadth over a great part of it ; but it grows narrower towards both ends . it s figure is not unlike a crescent : between its horns , the sea comes in eleven miles broad , and spreads it self into a great bay , which is environed with land to the compass of about 500 miles , and is well secured from winds : there is no great current in the bay , and the whole coast is , as it were , one continued harbour , which gives all that live in the island great convenience for mutual commerce : but the entry into the bay , what by rocks on one hand , and shallows on the other , is very dangerous . in the middle of it there is one single rock which appears above water , and so is not dangerous ; on the top of it there is a tower built , in which a garrison is kept . the other rocks lie under water , and are very dangerous ▪ the channel is known only to the natives , so that if any stranger should enter into the bay , without one of their pilates , he would run a great danger of shipwrack : for even they themselves could not pass it safe , if some marks that are on their coast did not direct their way ; and if these should be but a little shifted , any fleet that might come against them , how great soever it were , would be certainly lost . on the other side of the island , there are likewise many harbours ; and the coast is so fortified , both by nature and art , that a small number of men can hinder the descent of a great army . but they report ( and there remains good marks of it to make it credible ) that this was no island at first , but a part of the continent . vtopus that conquered it ( whose name it still carries , for abraxa was its first name ) and brought the rude and uncivilized inhabitants into such a good government , and to that measure of politeness , that they do now far excel all the rest of mankind ; having soon subdued them , he designed to separate them from the continent , and and to bring the sea quite about them , and in order to that he made a deep channel to be digged fifteen miles long : he not only forced the inhabitants to work at it , but likewise his own souldiers , that the natives might not think he treated them like slaves ; and having set vast numbers of men to work , he brought it to a speedy conclusion beyond all mens expectations : by this their neighbours , who laughed at the folly of the undertaking at first , were struck with admiration and terror , when they saw it brought to perfection . there are 54 cities in the island , all large and well built : the manners , customs , and laws of all their cities are the same , and they are all contrived as near in the same manner , as the ground on which they stand will allow : the nearest lie at least 24 miles distant from one another , and the most remote are not so far distant , but that a man can go on foot in one day from it , to that which lies next it . every city sends three of their wisest senators once a year to amaurot , for consulting about their common concerns ; for that is the cheif town of the island , being situated near the center of it , so that it is the most convenient place for their assemblies . every city has so much ground set off for its jurisdiction , that there is twenty miles of soil round it , assigned to it : and where the towns lie wider , they have much more ground : no town desires to enlarge their bounds , for they consider themselves rather as tenants than landlords of their soil . they have built over all the country , farm-houses for husbandmen , which are well contrived , and are furnished with all things necessary for countey-labour . inhabitants are sent by turns from the cities to dwell in them ; no country-family has fewer than fourty men and women in it , besides two slaves . there is a master and a mistress set over every family ; and over thirty families there is a magistrate setled . every year twenty of this family come back to the town , after they have stayed out two years in the country : and in their room there are other twenty sent from the town , that they may learn country-work , from those that have been already one year in the country , which they must teach those that come to them the next year from the town . by this means such as dwell in those country-farms , are never ignorant of agriculture , and so commit no errors in it , which might otherwise be fatal to them , and bring them under a scarcity of corn. but tho there is every year such a shifting of the husbandmen , that none may be forced against his mind to follow that hard course of life too long ; yet many among them take such pleasure in it , that they desire leave to continue many years in it . these husbandmen labour the ground , breed cattel , hew wood , and convey it to the towns , either by land or water , as is most convenient . they breed an infinite multitude of chickens in a very curious manner : for the hens do not sit and hatch them , but they lay vast numbers of eggs in a gentle and equal heat , in which they are hatched ; and they are no sooner out of the shell , and able to stir about , but they seem to consider those that feed them as their mothers , and follow them as other chickens do the hen that hatched them . they breed very few horses , but those they have , are full of mettle , and are kept only for exercising their youth in the art of sitting and riding of them ; for they do not put them to any work , either of plowing or carriage , in which they imploy oxen ; for tho horses are stronger , yet they find oxen can hold out longer ; and as they are not subject to so many diseases , so they are kept upon a less charge , and with less trouble : and when they are so worn out , that they are no more fit for labour , they are good meat at last . they sow no corn , but that which is to be their bread ; for they drink either wine , cider , or perry , and often water , sometimes pure , and sometimes boiled with hony or liquorish , with which they abound : and tho they know exactly well how much corn will serve every town , and all that tract of country which belongs to it , yet they sow much more , and breed more cattel than are necessary for their consumption : and they give that overplus of which they make no use to their neighbours . when they want any thing in the country which it does not produce , they fetch that from the town , without carrying any thing in exchange for it : and the magistrates of the town take care to see it given them : for they meet generally in the town once a month , upon a festival-day . when the time of harvest comes , the magistrates in the country send to those in the towns , and let them know how many hands they will need for reaping the harvest ; and the number they call for being sent to them , they commonly dispatch it all in one day . of their towns , particularly of amaurot . he that knows one of their towns , knows them all , they are so like one another , except where the scituation makes some difference . i shall therefore describe one of them , and it is no matter which ; but none is so proper as amaurot : for as none is more eminent , all the rest yielding in precedence to this , because it is the seat of their supream council ; so there was none of them better known to me , i having lived five years altogether in it . it lies upon the side of a hill , or rather a rising ground : its figure is almost square , for from the one side of it , which shoots up almost to the top of the hill , it runs down in a descent for two miles to the river anider ; but it is a little broader the other way that runs along by the bank of that river . the anider rises about 80 miles above amaurot , in a small spring at first ; but other brooks falling into it , of which two are more considerable , as it runs by amaurot , it is grown half a mile broad , but it still grows larger and larger , till after sixty miles course below 〈◊〉 , it is buried in the ocean . between the town and the sea , and for some miles above the town , it ebbs and flows every six hours , with a strong current . the tide comes up for about thirty miles so full , that there is nothing but salt-water in the river , the fresh water being driven back with its force ; and above that , for some miles , the water is brackish , but a little higher , as it runs by the town , it is quite fresh ; and when the tide ebbs , it continues fresh all along to the sea. there is a bridg cast over the river , not of timber , but of fair stone , consisting of many stately arches ; it lies at that part of the town which is farthest from the sea , so that ships without any hindrance lie all along the side of the town . there is likewise another river that runs by it , which tho it is not great , yet it runs pleasantly , for it rises out of the same hill on which the town stands , and so runs down throw it , and falls into the anider . the inhabitants have fortified the fountain-head of this river , which springs a little without the towns ; that so if they should happen to be besieged , the enemy might not be able to stop or divert the course of the water , nor poison it ; from thence it is carried in earthen pipes to the lower streets : and for those places of the town to which the water of that small river cannot be conveyed , they have great cisterns for receiving the rain-water , which supplies the want of the other . the town is compassed with a high and thick wall , in which there are many towers and forts ; there is also a broad and deep dry ditch , set thick with thorns , cast round three sides of the town , and the river is instead of a ditch on the fourth side . the streets are made very convenient for all carriage , and are well sheltred from the winds . their buildings are good , and are so uniform , that a whole side of a street looks like one house . the streets are twenty foot broad ; there lie gardens behind all their houses ; these are large , but enclosed with buildings , that on all hands face the streets ; so that every house has both a door to the street , and a back door to the garden : their doors have all two leaves , which as they are easily opened , so they shut of their own accord ; and there being no property among them , every man may freely enter into any house whatsoever . at every ten years ends , they shift their houses by lots . they cultivate their gardens with great care , so that they have both vines , fruits , herbs , and flowers in them ; and all is so well ordered , and so finely kept , that i never saw gardens any where that were both so fruitful and so beautiful as theirs are . and this humor of ordering their gardens so well , is not only kept up by the pleasure they find in it , but also by an emulation between the inhabitants of the several streets , who vie with one another in this matter ; and there is indeed nothing belonging to the whole town , that is both more useful , and more pleasant . so that he who founded the town , seems to have taken care of nothing more than of their gardens ; for they say , the whole scheme of the town was designed at first by vtopus , but he left all that belonged to the ornament and improvement of it , to be added by those that should come after him , that being too much for one man to bring to perfection . their records , that contain the history of their town and state , are preserved with an exact care , and run backwards 1760 years . from these it appears , that their houses were at first low and mean , like cottages made of any sort of timber , and were built with mud walls , and thatch'd with straw : but now their houses are three stories high , the fronts of them are faced either with stone , plaistering , or brick ; and between the facings of their walls , they throw in their rubbish ; their roofs are flat , and on them they lay a sort of plaister which costs very little , and yet is so tempered , that as it is not apt to take fire , so it resists the weather more than lead does . they have abundance of glass among them , with which they glaze their windows : they use also in their windows , a thin linnen cloth , that is so oiled or gummed , that by that means it both lets in the light more freely to them , and keeps out the wind the better . of their magistrates . thirty families chuse every year a magistrate , who was called anciently the syphogrant , but is now called the philarch : and over every ten syphogrants , with the families subject to them , there is another magistrate , who was anciently called the tranibore , but of late the archphilarch . all the syphogrants , who are in number 200 , chuse the prince out of a list of four , whom the people of the four divisions of the city name to them ; but they take an oath before they proceed to an election , that they will chuse him whom they think meetest for the office : they give their voices secretly , so that it is not known for whom every one gives his suffrage . the prince is for life , unless he is removed upon suspicion of some design to enslave the people . the tranibors are new chosen every year , but yet they are for the most part still continued : all their other magistrates are only annual . the tranibors meet every third day , and oftner if need be , and consult with the prince , either concerning the affairs of the state in general , or such private differences as may arise sometimes among the people ; tho that falls out but seldom . there are always two syphogrants called into the council-chamber , and these are changed every day . it is a fundamental rule of their government , that no conclusion can be made in any thing that relates to the publick , till it has been first debated three several days in their council . it is death for any to meet and consult concerning the state , unless it be either in their ordinary council , or in the assembly of the whole body of the people . these things have been so provided among them , that the prince and the tranibors may not conspire together to change the government , and enslave the people ; and therefore when any thing of great importance is set on foot , it is sent to the syphogrants ; who after they have communicated it with the families that belong to their divisions , and have considered it among themselves , make report to the senate ; and upon great occasions , the matter is referred to the council of the whole island . one rule observed in their council , is , never to debate a thing on the same day in which is first proposed ; for that is always referred to the next meeting , that so men may not rashly , and in the heat of discourse , engage themselves too soon , which may biass them so much , that instead of considering the good of the publick , they will rather study to maintain their own notions ; and by a perverse and preposterous sort of shame , hazard their country , rather than endanger their own reputation , or venture the being suspected to have wanted foresight in the expedients that they proposed at first . and therefore to prevent this , they take care that they may rather be deliberate , than sudden in their motions . of their trades , and manner of life . agriculture is that which is so universally understood among them all , that no person , either man or woman , is ignorant of it ; from their childhood they are instructed in it , partly by what they learn at school , and partly by practice , they being led out often into the fields , about the town , where they not only see others at work , but are likewise exercised in it themselves . besides agriculture , which is so common to them all , every man has some peculiar trade to which he applies himself , such as the manufacture of wool , or flax , masonry , smiths work , or carpenters work ; for there is no other sort of trade that is in great esteem among them . all the island over , they wear the same sort of clothes without any other distinction , except that which is necessary for marking the difference between the two sexes , and the married and unmarried . the fashion never alters ; and as it is not ungrateful nor uneasy , so it is fitted for their climate , and calculated both for their summers and winters . every family makes their own clothes ; but all among them , women as well as men , learn one or other of the trades formerly mentioned . women , for the most part , deal in wool and flax , which sute better with their feebleness , leaving the other ruder trades to the men. generally the same trade passes down from father to son , inclination often following descent : but if any man's genius lies another way , he is by adoption translated into a family that deals in the trade to which he is inclined : and when that is to be done , care is taken , not only by his father , but by the magistrate , that he may be put to a discreet and good man. and if after a man has learn'd one trade , he desires to acquire another , that is also allowed , and is managed in the same manner as the former . when he has learn'd both , he follows that which he likes best , unless the publick has more occasion for the other . the chief , and almost the only business of the syphogrants , is to take care that no man may live idle , but that every one may follow his trade diligently : yet they do not wear themselves out with perpetual toil , from morning to night , as if they were beasts of burden ; which as it is indeed a heavy slavery , so it is the common course of life of all tradesmen every where , except among the vtopians : but they dividing the day and night into twenty four hours , appoint six of these for work , three of them are before dinner ; and after that they dine , and interrupt their labour for two hours , and then they go to work again for other three hours ; and after that they sup , and at eight a clock , counting from noon , they go to bed and sleep eight hours : and for their other hours , besides those of work , and those that go for eating and sleeping , they are left to every man's discretion ; yet they are not to abuse that interval to luxury and idleness , but must imploy it in some proper exercise according to their various inclinations , which is for the most part reading . it is ordinary to have publick lectures every morning before day-break ; to which none are obliged to go , but those that are mark'd out for literature ; yet a great many , both men and women of all ranks , go to hear lectures of one sort or another , according to the variety of their inclinations . but if others , that are not made for contemplation , chuse rather to imploy themselves at that time in their trade , as many of them do , they are not hindred , but are commended rather , as men that take care to serve their country . after supper , they spend an hour in some diversion : in summer it is in their gardens , and in winter it is in the halls where they eat ; and thy entertain themselves in them , either with musick or discourse . they do not so much as know dice , or such-like foolish and mischievous games : they have two sorts of games not unlike our profitable trades ; and if all that number that languishes out their life in sloth and idleness , of whom every one consumes as much as any two of the men that are at work do , were forced to labour , you may easily imagine that a small proportion of time would serve for doing all that is either necessary , profitable , or pleasant to mankind , pleasure being still kept within its due bounds : which appears very plainly in vtopia , for there , in a great city , and in all the territory that lies round it , you can scarce find five hundred , either men or women , that by their age and strength , are capable of labour , that are not engaged in it ; even the syphogrants themselves , tho the law excuses them , yet do not excuse themselves , that so by their examples they may excite the industry of the rest of the people ; the like exemption is allowed to those , who being recommended to the people by the priests , are by the secret suffrages of the syphogrants , priviledged from labour , that they may apply themselves wholly to study ; and if any of these falls short of those hopes that he seemed to give at first , he is obliged to go to work . and sometimes a mechanick , that does so imploy his leasure hours , that he makes a considerable advancement in learning , is eased from being a tradesman , and ranked among their learned men. out of these they chuse their ambassadors , their priests , their tranibors , and the prince himself ; who was anciently called their barzenes , but is called of late their ademus . and thus from the great numbers among them , that are neither suffered to be idle , nor to be imployed in any fruitless labour ; you may easly make the estimate , how much good work may be done in those few hours in which they are obliged to labour . but besides all that has been already said , this is to be considered , that those needful arts which are among them , are managed with less labour than any where else . the building , or the repairing of houses among us , employs many hands , because often a thriftless heir suffers a house that his father built , to fall into decay , so that his successor must , at a great cost , repair that which he might have kept up with a small charge : and often it falls out , that the same house which one built at a vast expence , is neglected by another , that thinks he has a more delicate sense of such things ; and he suffering it to fall to ruin , builds another at no less charge . but among the vtopians , all things are so regulated , that men do very seldom build upon any new piece of ground ; and they are not only very quick in repairing their houses , but shew their foresight in preventing their decay : so that their buildings are preserved very long , with very little labour : and thus the craftsmen to whom that care belongs , are often without any imploiment , except it be the hewing of timber , and the squaring of stones , that so the materials may be in readiness for raising a building very suddenly , when there is any occasion for it . as for their clothes , observe how little work goes for them : while they are at labour , they are cloathed with leather and skins , cast carelesly about them , which will last seven years ; and when they appear in publick , they put on an upper garment , which hides the other : and these are all of one colour , and that is the natural colour of the wool : and as they need less woollen cloth than is used any where else , so that which they do need , is much less costly . they use linnen cloth more ; but that is prepared with less labour , and they value cloth only by the whiteness of the linnen , or the cleanness of the wool , without much regard to the fineness of the thread ; and whereas in other places , four or five upper garments of woollen cloth , and of different colours , and as many vests of silk will scarce serve one man ; and those that are nicer , think ten too few ; every man there is contented with one which very oft serves him two years . nor is there any thing that can tempt a man to desire more ; for if he had them , he would neither be the warmer , nor would he make one jot the better appearance for it . and thus since they are all imploied in some useful labour ; and since they content themselves with fewer things , it falls out that there is a great abundance of all things among them : so that often , for want of other work , if there is any need of mending their high ways at any time , you will see marvellous numbers of people brought out to work at them ; and when there is no occasion of any publick work , the hours of working are lessened by publick proclamation ; for the magistrates do not engage the people into any needless labour , since by their constitution they aim chiefly at this , that except in so far as publick necessity requires it , all the people may have as much free time for themselves as may be necessary for the improvement of their minds , for in this they think the happiness of life consists . of their traffick . but it is now time to explain to you the mutual intercourse of this people , their commerce , and the rules by which all things are distributed among them . as their cities are composed of families , so their families are made up of those that are nearly related to one another . their women , when they grow up , are married out ; but all the males , both children and grandchildren , live still in the same house , in great obedience to their common parent , unless age has weakned his understanding ; and in that case he that is next to him in age , comes in his room . but lest any city should become either out of measure great , or fall under a dispeopling by any accident , provision is made that none of their cities may have above six thousand families in it , besides those of the country round it ; and that no family may have less than ten , and more than sixteen persons in it ; but there can be no determined number for the children under age : and this rule is easily observed , by removing some of the children of a more fruitful couple , to any other family that does not abound so much in them . by the same rule , they supply cities that do not encrease so fast , by others that breed faster : and if there is any encrease over the whole island , then they draw out a number of their citizens out of the several towns , and send them over to the neighbouring continent ; where , if they find that the inhabitants have more soil than they can well cultivate , they fix a colony , taking in the inhabitants to their society , if they will live with them ; and where they do that of their own accord , they quickly go into their method of life , and to their rules , and this proves a happiness to both the nations : for according to their constitution , such care is taken of the soil , that it becomes fruitful enogh for both , tho it might be otherwise too narrow and barren for any one of them . but if the natives refuse to conform themselves to their laws , they drive them out of those bounds which they mark out for themselves , and use force if they resist . for they account it a very just cause of war , if any nation will hinder others to come and possess a part of their soil , of which they make no use , but let it lie idle and uncultivated ; since every man has by the law of nature a right to such a waste portion of the earth , as is necessary for his subsistence . if any accident has so lessened the number of the inhabitants of any of their towns , that it cannot be made up from the other towns of the island , without diminishing them too much , which is said to have fallen out but twice , since they were first a people , by two plagues that were among them ; then the number is filled up , by recalling so many out of their colonies , for they will abandon their colonies , rather than suffer any of their towns to sink too low . but to return to the manner of their living together ; the ancientest of every family governs it , as has been said . wives serve their husbands , and children their parents , and always the younger serves the elder . every city is divided into four equal parts , and in the middle of every part there is a market-place : that which is brought thither manufactured by the several families , is carried from thence to houses appointed for that purpose , in which all things of a sort are laid by themselves ; and every father of a family goes thither , and takes whatsoever he or his family stand in need of , without either paying for it , or laying in any thing in pawn or exchange for it . there is no reason for denying any thing to any person , since there is such plenty of every thing among them : and there is no danger of any man 's asking more than he needs ; for what should make any do that , since they are all sure that they will be always supplied ? it is the fear of want that makes any of the whole race of animals , either greedy or ravenous ; but besides fear , there is in man a vast pride , that makes him fancy it a particular glory for him to excel other in pomp and excess . but by the laws of the vtopians , there is no room for these things among them . near these markets there are also others for all sorts of victuals , where there are not only herbs , fruits , and bread , but also fish , fowl , and cattel . there are also without their towns , places appointed near some running water , for killing their beasts , and for washing away their filth ; which is done by their slaves , for they suffer none of their citizens to kill their cattel , becaues they think , that pity and good nature , which are among the best of those affections that are born with us , are much impaired by the butchering of animals : nor do they suffer any thing that is foul or unclean to be brought within their towns , lest the air should be infected by ill smells which might prejudice their health . in every street there are great halls that lie at an equal distance from one another , which are marked by particular names . the syphogrants dwell in these , that are set over thirty families , fifteen lying on one side of it , and as many on the other . in these they do all meet and eat . the stewards of every one of them come to the market-place at an appointed hour ; and according to the number of those that belong to their hall , they carry home provisions . but they take more care of their sick , than of any others , who are looked after and lodged in public hospitals : they have belonging to every town four hospitals , that are built without their walls , and are so large , that they may pass for little towns : by this means , if they had ever such a number of sick persons , they could lodg them conveniently , and at such a distance , that such of them as are sick of infectious diseases , may be kept so far from the rest , that there can be no danger of contagion . the hospitals are so furnished and stored with all things that are convenient for the ease and recovery of their sick ; and those that are put in them , are all looked after with so tender and watchful a care , and are so constantly treated by their skilful physicians ; that as none is sent to them against their will , so there is scarce one in a whole town , that if he should fall ill , would not chuse rather to go thithither , than lie sick at home . after the steward of the hospitals has taken for them whatsoever the physician does prescribe at the market-place , then the best things that remain , are distributed equally among the halls , in proportion to their numbers , only , in the first place , they serve the prince , the chief priest , the tranibors and ambassadors , and strangers , ( if there are any , which indeed falls out but seldom , and for whom there are houses well furnished , particularly appointed when they come among them ) . at the hours of dinner and supper , the whole syphogranty being called together by sound of trumpet , meets and eats together , except only such as are in the hospitals , or lie sick at home . yet after the halls are served , no man is hindred to carry provisions home from the market-place ; for they know that none does that but for some good reason ▪ for tho any that will may eat at home , yet none does it willingly , since it is both an indecent and foolish thing , for any to give themselves the trouble to make ready an ill dinner at home , when there is a much more plentiful one made ready for him so near hand . all the uneasy and sordid services about these halls , are performed by their slaves ; but the dressing and cooking their meat , and the ordering their tables , belongs only to the women ; which goes round all the women of every family by turns . they sit at three or more tables , according to their numbers ; the men sit towards the wall , and the women sit on the other side , that if any of them should fall suddenly ill , which is ordinary to women with child , she may , without disturbing the rest , rise and go to the nurses room , who are there with the suckling children ; where there is always fire , and clean water at hand , and some cradles in which they may lay the young children , if there is occasion for it , and that they may shift and dress them before the fire . every child is nursed by its own mother , if death or sickness does not intervene ; and in that case the syphogrants wives find out a nurse quickly , which is no hard matter to do ; for any one that can do it , offers her self chearfully : for as they are much inclined to that piece of mercy , so the child whom they nurse , considers the nurse as its mother . all the children under five years old , sit among the nurses , the rest of the younger sort of both sexes , till they are fit for marriage , do either serve those that sit at table ; or if they are not strong enough for that , they stand by them in great silence , and eat that which is given them , by those that sit at table ; nor have they any other formality of dining . in the middle of the first table , which stands in the upper end of the hall , a trey , where they live at a greater distance , every one eats at home , and no family wants any necessary sort of provision , for it is from them that provisions are sent unto those that live in the towns. of the travelling of the utopians . if any of them has a mind to visit his friends that live in some other town , or desires to travel and see the rest of the country , he obtains leave very easily from the syphogrant and tranibors to do it , when there is no particular occasion for him at home : such as travel , carry with them a passport from the prince , which both certifies the licence that is granted for travelling , and limits the time of their return . they are furnished with a wagon and a slave , who drives the oxen , and looks after them : but unless there are women in the company , the wagon is sent back at the end of the journey as a needless trouble : while they are on the road , they carry no provisions with them ; yet they want nothing , but are every way treated as if they were at home . if they stay in any place longer then a night , every one follows his proper occupation , and is very well used by those of his own trade : but if any man goes out of the city to which he belongs , without leave , and is found going about without a passport , he is roughly handled , and is punished as a fugitive , and sent home disgracefully ; and if he falls again into the like fault , he is condemned to slavery . if any man has a mind to travel only over the precinct of his own city , he may freely do it , obtaining his father's permission , and his wives consent ; but when he comes into any of the countrey-houses , he must labour with them according to their rules , if he expects to be entertaind by them : and if he does this , he may freely go over the whole precinct , being thus as useful to the city to which he belongs , as if he were still within it . thus you see that there are no idle persons among them , nor pretences of excusing any from labour . there are no taverns , no alehouses , nor stews among them ; nor any other occasions of corrupting themselves , or of getting into corners , or forming themselves into parties : all men live in full view , so that all are obliged , both to perform their ordinary task , and to employ themselves well in their spare hours . and it is certain , that a people thus ordered , must live in great abundance of all things ; and these being equally distributed among them , no man can want any thing , or be put to beg . in their great council at amaurot , to which there are three sent from every town once every year , they examine what towns abound in provisions , and what are under any scarcity , that so the one may be furnished from the other ; and this is done freely , without any sort of exchange ; for according to their plenty or scarcity , they supply , or are supplied from one another ; so that indeed the whole island is , as it were , one family . when they have thus taken care of their whole country , and laid up stores for two years , which they do in case that an ill year should happen to come , then they order an exportation of the overplus , both of corn , honey , wool , flax , wood , scarlet , and purple ; wax , tallow , leather , and cattel , which they send out commonly in great quantities to other countries . they order a seventh part of all these goods to be freely given to the poor of the countries to which they send them , and they sell the rest at moderate rates . and by this exchange , they not only bring back those few things that they need at home , for indeed they scarce need any thing but iron , but likewise a great deal of gold and silver ; and by their driving this trade so long , it is not to be imagined how vast a treasure ▪ they have got among them : so that now they do not much care whether they sell off their merchandize for mony in hand , or upon trust . a great part of their treasure is now in bonds ; but in all their contracts no private man stands bound , but the writing runs in name of the town ; and the towns that owe them mony , raise it from those private hands that owe it to them , and lay it up in their publick chamber , or enjoy the profit of it till the vtopians call for it ; and they chuse rather to let the greatest part of it lie in their hands , who make advantage by it , then to call for it themselves : but if they see that any of their other neighbours stand more in need of it , then they raise it , and lend it to them ; or use it themselves , if they are engaged in a war , which is the only occasion that they can have for all that treasure that they have laid up ; that so either in great extremities , or sudden accidents , they may serve themselves by it ; cheifly for hiring foreign souldiers , whom they more willingly expose to danger than their own people : they give them great pay , knowing well that this will work even on their enemies , and engage them either to betray their own side , or at least to desert it , or will set them on to mutual factions among themselves : for this end they have an incredible treasure ; but they do not keep it as a treasure , but in such a manner as i am almost affraid to tell it , lest you think it so extravagant , that you can hardly believe it ; which i have the more reason to apprehend from others , because if i had not seen it my self , i could not have been easily perswaded to have beleived it upon any man's report . it is certain , that all things appear so far incredible to us , as they differ from our own customs : but one who can judg aright , will not wonder to find , that since their other constitutions differ so much from ours , their value of gold and silver should be measured , not by our standard , but by one that is very different from it ; for since they have no use of mony among themselves , but keep it for an accident ; that tho , as it may possibly fall out , it may have great intervals ; they value it no further than it deserves , or may be useful to them . so that it is plain , that they must prefer iron either to gold or silver : for men can no more live without iron , than without fire or water ; but nature has markt out no use for the other metals , with which we may not very well dispence . the folly of man has enhansed the value of gold and silver , because of their scarcity : whereas on the contrary they reason , that nature , as an indulgent parent , has given us all the best things very freely , and in great abundance , such as are water and earth , but has laid up and hid from us the things that are vain and useless . if those metals were laid up in any tower among them , it would give jealousy of the prince and senate , according to that foolish mistrust into which the rabble is apt to fall , as if they intended to cheat the people , and make advantages to themselves by it ; or if they should work it into vessels , or any sort of plate , they fear that the people might grow too fond of it , and so be unwilling to let the plate be run down , if a war made it necessary to pay their souldiers with it : therefore to prevent all these inconveniences , they have fallen upon an expedient , which as it agrees with their other policy , so is very different from ours , and will scarce gain belief among us , who value gold so much , and lay it up so carefully : for whereas they eat and drink out of vessels of earth , or glass , that tho they look very prety , yet are of very slight materials ; they make their chamber-pots and close-stools of gold and silver ; and that not only in their publick halls , but in their private houses : of the same mettals they likewise make chains and fetters for their slaves ; and as a badge of infamy , they hang an ear-ring of gold to some , and make others wear a chain or a coronet of gold ; and thus they take care , by all manner of ways , that gold and silver may be of no esteem among them ; and from hence it is , that whereas other nations part with their gold and their silver , as unwillingly as if one tore out their bowels , those of vtopia would look on their giving in all their gold or silver , when there were any use for it , but as the parting with a trifle , or as we would estimate the loss of a penny. they find pearls on their coast ; and diamonds , and carbuncles on their rocks : they do not look after them , but if they find them by chance , they polish them , and with them they adorn their children , who are delighted with them , and glory in them during their childhood ; but when they grow to years , and see that none but children use such baubles , they of their own accord , without being bid by their parents , lay them aside ; and would be as much ashamed to use them afterwards , as children among us , when they come to years , are of their nuts , puppets , and other toies . i never saw a clearer instance of the different impressions that different customs make on people , than i observed in the ambassadors of the anemolians who came to amaurot when i was there : and because they came to treat of affairs of great consequence , the deputies from the several towns had met to wait for their coming . the ambassadours of the nations that lie near vtopia , knowing their customs , and that fine cloaths are in no esteem among them ; that silk is despised , and gold is a badg of infamy , use to come very modestly cloathed ; but the anemolians that lay more remote , and so had little commerce with them , when they understood that they were coursly cloathed , and all in the same manner , they took it for granted that they had none of those fine things among them of which they made no use ; and they being a vain-glorious , rather than a wise people , resolved to set themselves out with so much pomp , that they should look like gods , and so strike the eyes of the poor vtopians with their splendor . thus three ambassadors made their entry with an hundred attendants , that were all clad in garments of different colours , and the greater part in silk ; the ambassadors themselves , who were of the nobility of their country , were in cloth of gold , and adorned with massy chains , ear-rings and rings of gold : their caps were covered with bracelets set full of pearls and other gems : in a word , they were set out with all those things , that among the vtopians were either the badges of slavery , the marks of infamy , or childrens rattels . it was not unpleasant to see on the one side how they lookt big , when they compared their rich habits with the plain cloaths of the vtopians , who were come out in great numbers to see them make their entry : and on the other side , to observe how much they were mistaken in the impression which they hoped this pomp would have made on them : it appeared so ridiculous a shew to all that had never stirred out of their country , and so had not seen the customs of other nations ; that tho they paid some reverence to those that were the most meanly clad , as if they had been the ambassadors , yet when they saw the ambassadors themselves , so full of gold chains , they looking upon them as slaves , made them no reverence at all . you might have seen their children , who were grown up to that bigness , that they had thrown away their jewels , call to their mothers , and push them gently , and cry out , see that great fool that wears pearls and gems , as if he were yet a child . and their mothers answered them in good earnest , hold your peace , this is , i believe , one of the ambassador's fools . others censured the fashion of their chains , and observed that they were of no use , for they were too slight to bind their slaves , who could easily break them ; and they saw them hang so loose about them , that they reckoned they could easily throw them away , and so get from them . but after the ambassadors had staid a day among them , and saw so vast a quantity of gold in their houses , which was as much despised by them , as it was esteemed in other nations , and that there was more gold and silver in the chains and fetters of one slave , than all their ornaments amounted to , their plumes fell , and they were ashamed of all that glory for which they had formerly valued themselves , and so laid it aside : to which they were the more determined , when upon their engaging into some free discourse with the vtopians , they discovered their sense of such things , and their other customs . the vtopians wonder how any man should be so much taken with the glaring doubtful lustre of a jewel or stone , that can look up to a star , or to the sun himself ; or how any should value himself , because his cloth is made of a finer thread : for how fine soever that thread may be , it was once no better than the fleece of a sheep , and that sheep was a sheep still for all its wearing it . they wonder much to hear , that gold which it self is so useless a thing , should be every where so much esteemed , that even men for whom it was made , and by whom it has its value , should yet be thought of less value than it is : so that a man of lead , who has no more sence than a log of wood , and is as bad as he is foolish , should have many wise and good men serving him , only because he has a great heap of that metal ; and if it should so happen , that by some accident , or trick of law , ( which does sometimes produce as great changes as chance it self ) all this wealth should pass from the master to the meanest varlet of his whole family , he himself would very soon become one of his servants , as if he were a thing that belonged to his wealth , and so were bound to follow its fortune . but they do much more admire and detest their folly , who when they see a rich man , tho they neither owe him any thing , nor are in any sort obnoxious to him , yet meerly because he is rich , they give him little less than divine honours ; even tho they know him to be so covetous and base minded , that notwithstanding all his wealth , he will not part with one farthing of it to them as long as he lives . these and such like notions has that people drunk in , partly from their education , being bred in a country , whose customs and constitutions are very opposite to all such foolish maxims : and partly from their learning and studies ; for tho there are but few in any town that are excused from labour , so that they may give themselves wholly to their studies , these being only such persons as discover from their childhood an extraordinary capacity and disposition for letters , yet their children , and a great part of the nation , both men and women , are taught to spend those hours in which they are not obliged to work , in reading : and this they do their whole life long . they have all their learning in their own tongue ; which is both a copious and pleasant language , and in which a man can fully express his mind : it runs over a great tract of many countries , but it is not equally pure in all places : they had never so much as heard of the names of any of those philosophers that are so famous in these parts of the world , before we went among them : and yet they had made the same discoveries that the greeks had done , both in musick , logick , arithmetick , and geometry . but as they are equal to the ancient philosophers almost in all things , so they far exceed our modern logicians , for they have never yet fallen upon the barbarous nicities that our youth are forced to learn in those trifling logical schools that are among us ; and they are so far from minding chimera's , and fantastical images made in the mind , that none of them could comprehend what we meant , when we talked to them of a man in the abstract , as common to all men in particular , ( so that tho we spoke of him as a thing that we could point at with our fingers , yet none of them could perceive him ) and yet distinct from every one , as if he were some monstrous colossus or giant . yet for all this ignorance of these empty notions , they knew astronomy , and all the motions of the orbs exactly ; and they have many instruments , well contrived and divided , by which they do very accurately compute the course and positions of the sun , moon , and stars . but for the cheat , of divining by the stars , and by their oppositions or conjunctions , it has not so much as entred into their thoughts . they this caution , that a lesser pleasure might not stand in the way of a greater , and that no pleasure ought to be pursued , that should draw a great deal of pain after it : for they think it the maddest thing in the world to pursue vertue , that is a sour and difficult thing ; and not only to renounce the pleasures of life , but willingly to undergo much pain and trouble , if a man has no prospect of a reward . and what reward can there be , for one that has passed his whole life , not only without pleasure , but in pain , if there is nothing to be expected after death ? yet they do not place happiness in all sorts of pleasures , but only in those that in themselves are good and honest : for whereas there is a party among them that places happiness in bare vertue , others think that our natures are conducted by vertue to happiness , as that which is the chief good of man. they define vertue thus , that it is a living according to nature ; and think that we are made by god for that end : they do believe that a man does then follow the dictates of nature , when he pursues or avoids things according to the direction of reason : they say , that the first dictate of reason is , the kindling in us a love and reverence for the divine majesty , to whom we owe both all that we have , and all that we can ever hope for . in the next place , reason directs us , to keep our minds as free of passion , and as chearful as we can ; and that we should consider our selves as bound by the ties of good nature and humanity , to use our utmost endeavours to help forward the happiness of all other persons ; for there was never any man that was such a morose and severe pursuer of vertue , and such an enemy to pleasure , that tho he set hard rules to men to undergo , much pain , many watchings , and other rigors , yet did not at the same time advise them to do all they could in order to the relieving and easing such people as were miserable ; and did not represent it as a mark of a laudable temper , that it was gentle and good natured : and they infer from thence , that if a man ought to advance the welfare and comfort of the rest of mankind , there being no vertue more proper and peculiar to our nature , than to ease the miseries of others , to free them from trouble & anxiety , in furnishing them with the comforts of life , that consist in pleasure ; nature does much more vigorously lead him to do all this for himself . a life of pleasure , is either a real evil ; and in that case we ought not only , not to assist others in their pursuit of it , but on the contrary , to keep them from it all we can , as from that which is hurtful and deadly to them ; or if it is a good thing , so that we not only may , but ought to help others to it , why then ought not a man to begin with himself ? since no man can be more bound to look after the good of another , than after his own : for nature cannot direct us to be good and kind to others , and yet at the same time to be unmerciful and cruel to our selves . thus as they define vertue to be a living according to nature , so they reckon that nature sets all people on to seek after pleasure , as the end of all they do . they do also observe , that in order to the supporting the pleasures of life , nature inclines us to enter into society ; for there is no man so much raised above the rest of mankind , that he should be the only favorite of nature , which on the contrary seems to have levelled all those together that belong to the same species . upon this they infer , that no man ought to seek his own conveniences so eagerly , that thereby he should prejudice others ; and therefore they think , that not only all agreements between private persons ought to be observed ; but likewise , that all those laws ought to be kept , which either a good prince has published in due form , or to which a people , that is neither oppressed with tyranny , nor circumvented by fraud , has consented , for distributing those conveniences of life which afford us all our pleasures . they think it is an evidence of true wisdom , for a man to pursue his own advantages , as far as the laws allow it . they account it piety , to prefer the publick good to one's private concerns ; but they think it unjust , for a man to seek for his own pleasure , by snatching another man's pleasures from him . and on the contrary , they think it a sign of a gentle and good soul , for a man to dispence with his own advantage for the good of others ; and that by so doing , a good man finds as much pleasure one way , as he parts with another ; for as he may expect the like from others when he may come to need it , so if that should fail him , yet the sense of a good action , and the reflections that one makes on the love and gratitude of those whom he has so obliged , gives the mind more pleasure , than the body could have found in that from which it had restrained it self : they are also perswaded that god will make up the loss of those small pleasures , with a vast and endless joy , of which religion does easily convince a good soul. thus upon an enquiry into the whole matter , they reckon that all our actions , and even all our vertues terminate in pleasure , as in our chief end and greatest happiness ; and they call every motion or state , either of body or mind , in which nature teaches us to delight , a pleasure . and thus they cautiously limit pleasure , only to those appetites to which nature leads us ; for they reckon that nature leads us only to those delights to which reason as well as sense carries us , and by which we neither injure any other person , nor let go greater pleasures for it ; and which do not draw troubles on us after them : but they look upon those delights which men , by a foolish tho common mistake , call pleasure , as if they could change the nature of things , as well as the use of words , as things that not only do not advance our happiness , but do rather obstruct it very much , because they do so entirely possess the minds of those that once go into them , with a false notion of pleasure , that there is no room left for truer and purer pleasures . there are many things that in themselves have nothing that is truly delighting : on the contrary , they have a good deal of bitterness in them ; and yet by our perverse appetites after forbidden objects , are not only ranked among the pleasures , but are made even the greatest designs of life . among those who pursue these sophisticated pleasures , they reckon those whom i mentioned before , who think themselves really the better for having fine clothes ; in which they think they are doubly mistaken , both in the opinion that they have of their clothes , and in the opinion that they have of themselves ; for if you consider the use of clothes , why should a fine thread be thought better than a course one ? and yet that sort of men , as if they had some real advantages beyond others , and did not owe it wholly to their mistakes , look big , and seem to fancy themselves to be the more valuable on that account , and imagine that a respect is due to them for the sake of a rich garment , to which they would not have pretended , if they had been more meanly cloathed ; and they resent it as an affront , if that respect is not paid them . it is also a great folly to be taken with these outward marks of respect , which signify nothing : for what true or real pleasure can one find in this , that another man stands bare , or makes legs to him ? will the bending another man's thighs give yours an ease ? and will his head 's being bare , cure the madness of yours ? and yet it is wonderful to see how this false notion of pleasure bewitches many , who delight themselves with the fancy of their nobility , and are pleased with this conceit , that they are descended from ancestors , who have been held for some successions rich , and that they have had great possessions ; for this is all that makes nobility at present ; yet they do not think themselves a whit the less noble , tho their immediate parents have left none of this wealth to them ; or tho they themselves have squandred it all away . the vtopians have no better opinion of those , who are much taken with gems and precious stones , and who account it a degree of happiness , next to a divine one , if they can purchase one that is very extraordinary ; especially if it be of that sort of stones , that is then in greatest request ; for the same sort is not at all times of the same value with all sorts of people ; nor will men buy it , unless it be dismounted and taken out of the gold : and then the jeweller is made to give good security , and required solemnly to swear that the stone is true , that by such an exact caution , a false one may not be bought instead of a true : whereas if you were to examine it , your eye could find no difference between that which is counterfeit , and that which is true ; so that they are all one to you as much as if you were blind : and can it be thought that they who heap up an useless mass of wealth , not for any use that it is to bring them , but meerly to please themselves with the contemplation of it , enjoy any true pleasure in it ? the delight they find , is only a false shadow of joy : those are no better , whose error is somewhat different from the former , and who hide it , out of their fear of losing it ; for what other name can fit the hiding it in the earth , or rather the restoring it to it again , it being thus cut off from being useful , either to its owner , or to the rest of mankind ? and yet the owner having hid it carefully , is glad , because he thinks he is now sure of it . and in case one should come to steal it , the owner , tho he might live perhaps ten years after that , would all that while after the theft , of which he knew nothing , find no difference between his having it , or losing it , for both ways it was equally useless to him . among those foolish pursuers of pleasure , they reckon all those that delight in hunting , or birding , or gaming : of whose madness they have only heard , for they have no such things among them : but they have asked us ; what sort of pleasure is it that men can find in throwing the dice ? for if there were any pleasure in it , they think the doing it so often should give one a surfeit of it : and what pleasure can one find in hearing the barking and howling of dogs , which seem rather odious than pleasant sounds ? nor can they comprehend the pleasure of seeing dogs run after a hare , more than of seeing one dog run after another ; for you have the same entertainment to the eye on both these occasions ; if the seeing them run is that which gives the pleasure , since that is the same in both cases : but if the pleasure lies in seeing the hare killed and torn by the dogs , this ought rather to stir pity , when a weak , harmless , and fearful hare , is devoured by a strong , fierce , and cruel dog. therefore all this business of hunting , is among the vtopians turned over to their butchers ; and those are all slaves , as was formerly said : and they look on hunting , as one of the basest parts of a butcher's work : for they account it both more profitable , and more decent to kill those beasts that are more necessary and useful to mankind ; whereas the killing and tearing of so small and miserable an animal , which a huntsman proposes to himself , can only attract him with the false shew of pleasure ; for it is of little use to him : they look on the desire of the bloodshed , even of beasts , as a mark of a mind that is already corrupted with cruelty , or that at least by the frequent returns of so brutal a pleasure , must degenerate into it . thus tho the rabble of mankind looks upon these , and all other things of this kind , which are indeed innumerable , as pleasures ; the vtopians on the contrary observing , that there is nothing in the nature of them that is truly pleasant , conclude that they are not to be reckoned among pleasures : for tho these things may create some tickling in the senses , ( which seems to be a true notion of pleasure ) yet they reckon that this does not arise from the thing it self , but from a depraved custom , which may so vitiate a man's taste , that bitter things may pass for sweet ; as women with child think pitch or tallow taste sweeter than hony ; but as a man's sense when corrupted , either by a disease , or some ill habit , does not change the nature of other things , so neither can it change the nature of pleasure . they reckon up several sorts of these pleasures , which they call true ones : some belong to the body , and others to the mind . the pleasures of the mind lie in knowledg , and in that delight which the contemplation of truth carries with it ; to which they add the joyful reflections on a well-spent life , and the assured hopes of a future happiness . they divide the pleasures of the body into two sorts ; the one is that which gives our senses some real delight , and is performed , either by the recruiting of nature , and supplying those parts on which the internal heat of life feeds ; and that is done by eating or drinking : or when nature is eased of any surcharge that oppresses it , as when we empty our guts , beget children , or free any of the parts of our body from aches or heats by friction . there is another kind of this sort of pleasure , that neither gives us any thing that our bodies require , nor frees us from any thing with which we are overcharged ; and yet it excites our senses by a secret unseen vertue , and by a generous impression , it so tickles and affects them , that it turns them inwardly upon themselves ; and this is the pleasure begot by musick . another sort of bodily pleasure is , that which consists in a quiet and good constitution of body , by which there is an entire healthiness spread over all the parts of the body , not allayed with any disease . this , when it is free from all mixture of pain , gives an inward pleasure of it self , even tho it should not be excited by any external and delighting object ; and altho this pleasure does not so vigorously affect the sense , nor act so strongly upon it ; yet as it is the greatest of all pleasures , so almost all the vtopians reckon it the foundation and basis of all the other joys of life ; since this alone makes one's state of life to be easy and desirable ; and when this is wanting , a man is really capable of no other pleasure . they look upon indolence and freedom from pain , if it does not rise from a perfect health , to be a state of stupidity rather than of pleasure . there has been a controversy in this matter very narrowly canvassed among them ; whether a firm and entire health could be called a pleasure , or not ? some have thought that there was no pleasure , but that which was excited by some sensible motion in the body . but this opinion has been long ago run down among them , so that now they do almost all agree in this , that health is the greatest of all bodily pleasures ; and that as there is a pain in sickness , which is as opposite in its nature to pleasure , as sickness it self is to health , so they hold that health carries a pleasure along with it : and if any should say , that sickness is not really a pain , but that it only carries a pain along with it , they look upon that as a fetch of subtilty , that does not much alter the matter . so they think it is all one , whether it be said , that health is in it self a pleasure , or that it begets a pleasure , as fire gives heat ; so it be granted , that all those whose health is entire , have a true pleasure in it : and they reason thus , what is the pleasure of eating , but that a man's health which had been weakned , does , with the assistance of food , drive away hunger , and so recruiting it self , recovers its former vigour ? and being thus refresh'd , it finds a pleasure in that conflict : and if the conflict is pleasure , the victory must yet breed a greater pleasure , except we will fancy that it becomes stupid as soon as it has obtained that which it pursued , and so does neither know nor rejoice in its own welfare . if it is said , that health cannot be felt , they absolutely deny that , for what man is in health , that does not perceive it when he is awake ? is there any man that is so dull and stupid , as not to acknowledg that he feels a delight in health ? and what is delight , but another name for pleasure ? but of all pleasures , they esteem those to be the most valuable that lie in the mind ; and the chief of these , are those that arise out of true vertue , and the witness of a good conscience : they account health the chief pleasure that belongs to the body ; for they think that the pleasure of eating and drinking , and all the other delights of the body , are only so far desirable , as they give or maintain health : but they are not pleasant in themselves , otherwise than as they resist those impressions that our natural infirmity is still making upon us : and as a wise man desires rather to avoid diseases , than to take physick ; and to be freed from pain , rather than to find ease by remedies : so it were a more desirable state , not to need this sort of pleasure , than to be obliged to indulge it : and if any man imagines that there is a real happiness in this pleasure , he must then confess that he would be the happiest of all men , if he were to lead his life in a perpetual hunger , thirst , and itching , and by consequence in perpetual eating , drinking , and scratching himself , which any one may easily see would be not only a base , but a miserable state of life . these are indeed the lowest of pleasures , and the least pure : for we can never relish them , but when they are mixed with the contrary pains . the pain of hunger , must give us the pleasure of eating ; and here the pain outballances the pleasure : and as the pain is more vehement , so it lasts much longer ; for as it is upon us before the pleasure comes , so it does not cease , but with the pleasure that extinguishes it , and that goes off with it : so that they think none of those pleasures are to be valued , but as they are necessary . yet they rejoice in them , and with due gratitude acknowledg the tenderness of the great author of nature , who has planted in us appetites , by which those things that are necessary for our preservation , are likewise made pleasant to us . for how miserable a thing would life be , if those daily diseases of hunger and thirst , were to be carried off by such bitter drugs , as we must use for those diseases that return seldomer upon us ? and thus these pleasant , as well as proper gifts of nature , do maintain the strength and the sprightliness of our bodies . they do also entertain themselves with the other delights that they let in at their eyes , their ears , and their nostrils , as the pleasant relishes and seasonings of life , which nature seems to have marked out to be seen a greater encrease , both of corn and cattel , nor are there any where healthier men to be found , and freer from diseases than among them : for one may see there , not only such things put in practice , that husbandmen do commonly for manuring and improving an ill soil , but in some places a whole wood is plucked up by the roots , as well as whole ones planted in other places , where there were formerly none : in doing of this the cheif consideration they have is of carriage , that their timber may be either near their towns , or lie upon the sea , or some rivers , so that it may be floated to them ; for it is a harder work to carry wood at any distance over land , then corn. the peole are industrious , apt to learn , as well as chearful and pleasant ; and none can endure more labour , when it is necessary , than they ; but except in that case they love their ease . they are unwearied pursuers of knowledg ; for when we had given them some hints of the learning and discipline of the greeks , concerning whom we only instructed them , ( for we know that there was nothing among the romans , except their , historians and their poets , that they would value much ) it was strange to see how eagerly they were set on learning that language : we began to read a little of it to them , rather in compliance with their importunity , than out of any hopes of their profiting much by it : but after a very short trial , we found they made such a progress in it , that we saw our labour was like to be more successful than we could have expected . they learned to write their characters , and to pronounce their language so right , and took up all so quick , they remembered it so faithfully , and became so ready and correct in the use of it , that it would have look'd like a miracle , if the greater part of those whom we taught had not been men , both of extraordinay capacity , and of a fit age for it : they were for the greatest part chosen out among their learned men , by their cheif council , tho some learn'd it of their own accord . in three years time they became masters of the whole language , so that they read the best of the greek authors very exactly . i am indeed apt to think , that they learned that language the more easily , because it seems to be of kin to their own : i believe that they were a colony of the greeks ; for tho their language comes nearer the persian , yet they retain many names , both for their towns and magistrates , that are of greek origination . i had happened to carry a great many books with me , instead of merchandise , when i failed my fourth voyage ; for i was so far from thinking of coming back soon , that i rather thought never to have returned at all , and i gave them all my books , among which many of plato's and some of aristotle's works were . i had also theophrastus of the plants , which to my great regret , was imperfect ; for having laid it carelessly by , while we were at sea , a monkey had fallen upon it and had torn out leaves in many places . they have no books of grammar , but lascares , for i did not carry theodorus with me ; nor have they any dictionaries but hesichius and dioscorides . they esteem plutarch highly , and were much taken with lucian's wit , and with his pleasant way of writing . as for the poets , they have aristophanes , homer , euripides , and sophocles of aldus's edition ; and for historians , they have thucidydes , herodotus and herodian . one of my companions , thricius apinatus , happened to carry with him some of hippocrates's works , and galen's microtechne , which they hold in great estimation ; for tho there is no nation in the world , that needs physick so little as they do , yet there is not any that honours it so much : they reckon the knowledg of it to be one of the pleasantest and profitablest parts of philosophy , by which , as they search into the secrets of nature , so they not only find marvellous pleasure in it , but think that in making such enquiries , they do a most acceptable thing to the author of nature ; and imagine that he , as all inventers of curious engines , has exposed to our view this great machine of the universe , we being the only creatures capable of contemplating it : and that therefore an exact and curious observer and admirer of his workmanship , is much more acceptable to him , than one of the herd ; who as if he were a beast , and not capable of reason , looks on all this glorious scene , only as a dull and unconcerned spectator . the minds of the vtopians , when they are once excited by learning , are very ingenious in finding out all such arts as tend to the conveniences of life . two things they owe to us , which are the art of printing , and the manufacture of paper : yet they do not owe these so entirely to us , but that a great part of the invention was their own ; for after we had shewed them some paper-books of aldus's impression , and began to explain to them the way of making paper , and of printing , tho we spake but very crudely of both these , not being practised in either of them , they presently took up the whole matter from the hints that we gave them : and whereas before they only writ on parchment , or on the barks of trees , or reeds ; they have now set up the manufacture of paper , and printing-presses : and tho at first they could not arrive at a perfection in them , yet by making many essays , they at last found out , and corrected all their errors , and brought the whole thing to perfection ; so that if they had but a good number of greek authors , they would be quickly supplied with many copies of them : at present ; tho they have no more than those i have mentioned , yet by several impressions , they have multiplied them into many thousands . if any man should go among them , that had some extraordinary talent , or that by much travelling had observed the customs of many nations , ( which made us to be so well received ) he would be very welcome to them ; for they are very desirous to know the state of the whole world. very few go among them on the account of traffick , for what can a man carry to them but iron , or gold , or silver , which merchants desire rather to export , than import to any strange country : and as for their exportation , they think it better to manage that themselves , than to let forraigners come and deal in it , for by this means , as they understand the state of the neighbouring countries better , so they keep up the art of navigation , which cannot be maintained but by much practise in it . of their slaves , and of their marriages . they do not make slaves of prisoners of war , except those that are taken fighting against them ; nor of the sons of their slaves , nor of the slaves of other nations : the slaves among them , are only such as are condemned to that state of life for some crime that they had committed , or which is more common , such as their merchants find condemned to die in those parts to which they trade , whom they redeem sometimes at low rates ; and in other places they have them for nothing ; and so they fetch them away . all their slaves are kept at perpetual labour , and are always chained , but with this difference , that they treat their own natives much worse , looking on them as a more profligate sort of people ; who not being restrained from crimes , by the advantages of so excellent an education , are judged worthy of harder usage than others . another sort of slaves , is , when some of the poorer sort in the neighbouring countries , offer of their own accord to come and serve them ; they treat these better , and use them in all other respects , as well as their own country men , except that they impose more labour upon them , which is no hard task to them that have been accustomed to it ; and if any of these have a mind to go back to their own country , which indeed falls out but seldom , as they do not force them to stay ▪ so they do not send them away empty handed . i have already told you with what care they look after their sick , so that nothing is left undone that can contribute either to their ease or health : and for those who are taken with fixed and incurable diseases , they use all possible ways to cherish them , and to make their lives as comfortable as may be : they visit them often , and take great pains to make their time pass off easily : but when any is taken with a torturing and lingering pain , so that there is no hope , either of recovery or ease , the priests and magistrates come and exhort them , that since they are now unable to go on with the business of life , and are become a burden to themselves , and to all about them , so that they have really out-lived themselves , they would no longer nourish such a rooted distemper , but would chuse rather to die , since they cannot live , but in much misery : being assured , that if they either deliver themselves from their prison and torture , or are willing that others should do it , they shall be happy after their deaths : and since by their dying thus , they lose none of the pleasures , but only the troubles of life ; they think they act , not only reasonably in so doing , but religiously and piously ; because they follow the advices that are given them by the priests , who are the expounders of the will of god to them . such as are wrought on by these perswasions , do either starve themselves of their own accord , or they take opium , and so they die without pain . but no man is forced on this way of ending his life ; and if they cannot be perswaded to it , they do not for that fail in their attendance and care of them : but as they believe that a voluntary death , when it is chosen upon such an authority , is very honourable ; so if any man takes away his own life , without the approbation of the priests and the senate , they give him none of the honours of a decent funeral , but throw his body into some ditch . their women are not married before eighteen , nor their men before two and twenty ; and if any of them run into forbidden embraces before their marriage , they are severely punished , and the privilege of marriage is denied them , unless there is a special warrant obtained for it afterward from the prince . such disorders cast a great reproach upon the master and mistress of the family in which they fall out ; for it is supposed , that they have been wanting to their duty . the reason of punishing this so severely , is , because they think that if they were not so strictly restrained from all vagrant appetites , very few would engage in a married state , in which men venture the quiet of their whole life , being restricted to one person ; besides many other inconveniences that do accompany it . in the way of chusing of their wives , they use a method that would appear to us very absurd and ridiculous , but is constantly observed among them , and accounted a wise and good rule . before marriage , some grave matron presents the bride naked , whether she is a virgin or a widow , to the bridegroom ; and after that , some grave man presents the bridegroom naked to the bride . we indeed both laughed at this , and condemned it as a very indecent thing . but they , on the other hand , wondered at the folly of the men of all other nations ; who if they are but to buy a horse of a small value , are so cautious , that they will see every part of him , and take off both his sadle , and all his other tackle , that there may be no secret ulcer hid under under any of them ; and that yet in the choice of a wife , on which depends the happiness or unhappiness of the rest of his life , a man should venture upon trust , and only see about an handbreadth of the face , all the rest of the body being covered ; under which there may lie hid that which may be contagious , as well as loathsome . all men are not so wise , that they chuse a woman only for her good qualities ; and even wise men consider the body , as that which adds not a little to the mind : and it is certain , there may be some such deformity covered with ones clothes , as may totally alienate a man from his wife , when it is too late to part with her : for if such a thing is discovered after marriage , a man has no remedy but patience : so they think it is reasonable , that there should be a good provision made against such mischievous frauds . there was so much the more reason in making a regulation in this matter , because they are the only people of those parts that do neither allow of polygamy , nor of divorces , except in the cases of adultery , or insufferable perversness : for in these cases the senate dissolves the marriage , and grants the injured person leave to marry again ; but the guilty are made infamous , and are never allowed the privilege of a second marriage . none are suffered to put away their wives against their wills , because of any great calamity that may have fallen on their person ; for they look on it as the height of cruelty and treachery to abandon either of the married persons , when they need most the tender care of their consort ; and that chiefly in the case of old age , which as it carries many diseases along with it , so it is a disease of it self . but it falls often out , that when a married couple do not agree well together , they by mutual consent separate , and find out other persons with whom they hope they may live more happily : yet this is not done , without obtaining leave of the senate ; which never admits of a divorce , but upon a strict enquiry made , both by the senators and their wives , into the grounds upon which it proceeds : and even when they are satisfied concerning the reasons of it , they go on but slowly , for they reckon that too great easiness , in granting leave for new marriages , would very much shake the kindness of married persons . they punish severely those that defile the marriage-bed : if both parties are married , they are divorced , and the injured persons may marry one another , or whom they please ; but the adulterer , and the adulteress are condemned to slavery . yet if either of the injured persons cannot shake off the love of the married person , they may live with them still in that state ; but they must follow them to that labour to which the slaves are condemned ; and sometimes the repentance of the condemned person , together with the unshaken kindness of the innocent and injured person , has prevailed so far with the prince , that he has taken off the sentence . but those that relapse , after they are once pardoned , are punished with death . their law does not determine the punishment for other crimes ; but that is left to the senate , to temper it according to the circumstances of the fact. husbands have power to correct their wives , and parents to correct their children , unless the fault is so great , that a publick punishment is thought necessary for the striking terror into others . for the most part , slavery is the punishment even of the greatest crimes ; for as that is no less terrible to the criminals themselves than death ; so they think the preserving them in a state of servitude , is more for the interest of the common-wealth , than the killing them outright ; since as their labour is a greater benefit to the publick , than their death could be ; so the sight of their misery is a more lasting terror to other men , than that which would be given by their death . if their slaves rebel , and will not bear their yoke , and submit to the labour that is enjoined them , they are treated as wild beasts that cannot be kept in order , neither by a prison , nor by their chains ; and are at last put to death . but those who bear their punishment patiently , and are so much wrought on by that pressure , that lies so hard on them , that it appears they are really more troubled for the crimes they have committed , than for the miseries they suffer , are not out of hope , but that at last either the prince will , by his prerogative , or the people will by their intercession restore them again to their liberty , or at least very much mitigate their slavery . he that tempts a married woman to adultery , is no less severely punished , than he that commits it ; for they reckon that a laid and studied design of committing any crime , is equal to the fact it self ; since it s not taking effect does not make the person that did all that in him lay in order to it , a whit the less guilty . they take great pleasure in fools , and as it is thought a base and unbecoming thing to use them ill , so they do not think it amiss for people to divert themselves with their folly : and they think this is a great advantage to the fools themselves : for if men were so sullen and severe , as not at all to please themselves with their ridiculous behaviour , and foolish sayings , which is all that they can do to recommend themselves to others , it could not be expected that they would be so well look'd to , nor so tenderly used as they must otherwise be . if any man should reproach another for his being mishaped or imperfect in any part of his body , it would not at all be thought a reflection on the person that were so treated , but it would be accounted a very unworthy thing for him that had upbraided another with that which he could not help . it is thought a sign of a sluggish and sordid mind , not to preserve carefully one 's natural beauty ; but it is likewise an infamous thing among them to use paint or fard . and they all see that no beauty recommends a wife so much to her husband , as the probity of her life , and her obedience : for as some few are catched and held only by beauty , so all people are held by the other excellencies which charm all the world. as they fright men from committing crimes by punishments , so they invite them to the love of vertue , by publick honours : therefore they erect statues in honour to the memories of such worthy men as have deserved well of their country , and set these in their market-places , both to perpetuate the remembrance of their actions , and to be an incitement to their posterity to follow their example . if any man aspires to any office , he is sure never to compass it : they live all easily together , for none of the magistrates are either insolent or cruel to the people ; but they affect rather to be called fathers , and by being really so , they well deserve that name ; and the people pay them all the marks of honour the more freely , because none are exacted of them . the prince himself has no distinction , either of garments , or of a crown ; but is only known by a sheaf of corn that is carried before him , as the high priest is also known by a wax light that is carried before him . they have but few laws , and such is their constitution , that they need not many . they do very much condemn other nations , whose laws , together with the commentaries on them , swell up to so many volumes ; for they think it an unreasonable thing to oblige men to obey a body of laws , that are both of such a bulk , and so dark , that they cannot be read or understood by every one of the subjects . they have no lawyers among them , for they consider them as a sort of people , whose profession it is to disguise matters , as well as to wrest laws ; and therefore they think it is much better that every man should plead his own cause , and trust it to the judg , as well as in other places the client does it to a counsellor . by this means they both cut off many delays , and find out truth more certainly : for after the parties have laid open the merits of their cause , without those artifices which lawyers are apt to suggest , the judg examines the whole matter , and supports the simplicity of such well-meaning persons , whom otherwise crafty men would be sure to run down : and thus they avoid those evils , which appear very remarkably among all those nations that labour under a vast load of laws . every one of them is skilled in their law , for as it is a very short study , so the plainnest meaning of which words are capable , is always the sense of their laws . and they argue thus ; all laws are promulgated for this end , that every man may know his duty ; and therefore the plainest and most obvious sense of the words , is that which must be put on them ; since a more refined exposition cannot be easily comprehended , and laws become thereby useless to the greater part of mankind , who need most the direction of them : for to them it is all one , not to make a law at all , and to couch it in such tearms , that without a quick apprehension , and much study , a man cannot find out the true meaning of it ; and the generality of mankind are both so dull , and so much imployed in their several trades , that they have neither the leisure nor the capacity requisite for such an enquiry . some of their neighbours , who are masters of their own liberties , having long ago , by the assistance of the vtopians , shaken off the yoke of tyranny ; and being much taken with those vertues that they observe among them , have come to them , and desired that they would send magistrates among them to govern them ; some changing them every year , and others every five years . at the end of their government , they bring them back to vtopia , with great expressions of honour and esteem , and carry away others to govern in their stead . in this they seem to have fallen upon a very good expedient for their own happiness and safety : for since the good or ill condition of a nation depends so much upon their magistrates , they could not have made a better choice , than by pitching on men whom no advantages can biass ; for wealth is of no use to them , since they must go so soon back to their own country ; and they being strangers among them , are not engaged in any of their heats or animosities : and it is certain , that when publick judicatories are swayed , either by partial affections , or by avarice , there must follow upon it a dissolution of all justice , which is the chief sinew of society . the vtopians call those nations that come and ask magistrates from them , neighbours ; but they call those to whom they have been more particularly assisting , friends . and whereas all other nations are perpetually either making leagues , or breaking them , they never enter into any alliance with any other state. they think leagues are useless things , and reckon , that if the common ties of humane nature do not knit men together , the faith of promises will have no great effect on them : and they are the more confirmed in this , by that which they see among the nations round about them , who are no strict observers of leagues and treaties . we know how religiously they are observed in europe ; more particularly where the christian doctrine is received , among whom they are sacred and inviolable . which is partly owing to the justice and goodness of the princes themselves , and partly to their reverence that they pay to the popes : who as they are most religious observers of their own promises , so they exhort all other princes to perform theirs ; and when fainter methods do not prevail , they compel them to it by the severity of the pastoral censure ; and think that it would be the most indecent thing possible , if men who are particularly designed by the title of the faithful , should not religiously keep the faith of their treaties . but in that new found world , which is not more distant from us in scituation , than it is disagreeing from us in their manners , and course of life , there is no trusting to leagues , even tho they were made with all the pomp of the most sacred ceremonies that is possible : on the contrary , they are the sooner broken for that , some slight pretence being found in the words of the treaties , which are contrived in such ambiguous terms , and that on design , that they can never be so strictly bound , but they will always find some loop-hole to escape at ; and so they break both their leagues and their faith. and this is done with that impudence , that those very men who value themselves on having suggested these advices to their princes , would yet , with a haughty scorn , declaim against such craft , or to speak plainer , such fraud and deceit , if they found private men make use of it in their bargains ; and would readily say , that they deserved to be hanged for it . by this means it is , that all sort of justice passes in the world , but for a low-spirited and vulgar vertue , which is far below the dignity of royal greatness ▪ or at least , there are two sorts of justice set up : the one is mean , and creeps on the ground , and therefore becomes none but the baser sort of men , and so must be kept in severely by many restraints , that it may not break out beyond the bounds that are set to it . the other is , the peculiar vertue of princes , which as it is more majestick than that which becomes the , rabble , so takes a freer compass ; and lawful or unlawful , are only measured by pleasure and interest . these practices among the princes that lie about vtopia , who make so little account of their faith , seem to be the reasons that determine them to engage in no confederacies : perhaps they would change their mind if they lived among us : but yet tho treaties were more religiously observed , they would still dislike the custom of making them ; since the world has taken up a false maxim upon it , as if there were no tie of nature knitting one nation to another , that are only separated perhaps by a mountain , or a river , and that all were born in a state of hostility , and so might lawfully do all that mischief to their neighbours , against which there is no provision made by treaties : and that when treaties are made , they do not cut off the enmity , or restrain the license of preying upon one another , if by the unskilfulness of wording them , there are not effectual proviso's made against them . they on the other hand judg , that no man is to be esteemed our enemy that has never injured us ; and that the partnership of the humane nature , that is among all men , is instead of a league . and that kindness and good nature unite men more effectually , and more forcibly than any agreements whatsoever ; since thereby the engagements of mens hearts become stronger , than any thing can be to which a few words can bind them . of their military discipline . they detest war as a very brutal thing ; and which , to the reproach of humane nature , is more practised by men , than by any sort of beasts : and they , against the custom of almost all other nations , think that there is nothing more inglorious than that glory that is gained by war : and therefore tho they accustom themselves daily to military exercises , and the discipline of war , in which not only their men , but their women likewise , are trained up , that so in cases of necessity , they may not be quite useless : yet they do not rashly engage in war , unless it be either to defend themselves , or their friends , from any unjust aggressors ; or out of good nature , or in compassion to an oppressed nation , that they assist them to the shaking off the yoke tyranny . they indeed help their friends , not only in defensive , but also in offensive wars : but they never do that , unless they had been consulted with while the matter was yet entire ; and that being satisfied with the grounds on which they went , they had found that all demands of reparation were rejected , so that a war was necessary : which they do not think to be only just , when one neighbour makes an inrode on another , by publick order , and carries away their spoils ; but when the merchants of one country are oppressed in another , either under the pretence of some unjust laws , or by the perverse wresting of good ones : this they count a juster cause of war than the other , because those injuries are done under some colour of laws . this was the only ground of that war , in which they engaged with the nephelogetes against the aleopolitanes , a little before our time : for the merchants of the former , having , as they thought , met with great injustice among the latter , that , whether it was in it self right or wrong , did draw on a terrible war , many of their neighbours being engaged in it ; and their keenness in carrying it on , being supported by their strength in maintaining it ; it not only shook some very flourishing states , and very much afflicted others ; but after a series of much mischief , it ended in the entire conquest and slavery of the aleopolitanes , who tho before the war , they were in all respects much superior to the nephelogetes , yet by it they fell under their empire ; but the vtopians , tho they had assisted them in the war , yet pretended to no share of the spoil . but tho they assist their friends so vigorously , in taking reparation for injuries that are done them in such matters ; yet if they themselves should meet with any such fraud , provided there were no violence done to their persons , they would only carry it so far , that unless satisfaction were made , they would give over trading with such a people . this is not done , because they consider their neighbours more than their own citizens ; but since their neighbours trade every one upon his own stock , fraud is a more sensible injury to them , than it is to the vtopians , among whom the publick only suffers in such a case : and since they expect nothing in return for the merchandize that they export ; but that in which they abound so much , and is of little use to them , the loss does not much affect them ; therefore they think it would be too severe a thing to revenge a loss that brings so little inconvenience with it , either to their life , or their livelihood , with the death of many people : but if any of their people is either killed or wounded wrongfully , whether that be done by publick authority , or only by private men , as soon as they hear of it , they send ambassadors , and demand , that the guilty persons may be delivered up to them ; and if that is denied , they declare war ; but if that is done , they condemn those either to death or slavery . they would be both troubled and ashamed of a bloody victory over their enemies ; and think it would be as foolish a purchase , as to buy the most valuable goods at too high a rate . and in no victory do they glory so much , as in that which is gained by dexterity and good conduct , without bloodshed . they appoint publick triumphs in such cases , and erect trophies to the honour of those who have succeeded well in them ; for then do they reckon that a man acts sutably to his nature , when he conquers his enemy in such a way , that no other creature but a man could be capable of it , and that is , by the strength of his understanding . bears , lions , boars , wolves , and dogs , and other animals , imploy their bodily force one against another , in which as many of them are superior to man , both in strength and fierceness , so they are all subdued by the reason and understanding that is in him . the only design of the vtopians in war , is to obtain that by force , which if it had been granted them in time , would have prevented the war ; or if that cannot be done , to take so severe a revenge of those that have injured them , that they may be terrified from doing the like in all time coming . by these ends they measure all their designs , and manage them so , that it is visible that the appetite of fame or vain-glory , does not work so much on them , as a just care of their own security . as soon as they declare war , they take care to have a great many schedules , that are sealed with their common seal , affixed in the most conspicuous places of their enemies country . this is carried secretly , and done in many places all at once . in those they promise great rewards to such as shall kill the prince , and lesser in proportion to such as shall kill any other persons , who are those on whom , next to the prince himself , they cast the chief blame of the war. and they double the sum to him , that instead of killing the person so marked out , shall take him alive , and put him in their hands . they offer not only indemnity , but rewards , to such of the persons themselves that are so marked , if they will act against their country-men : by this means those that are named in their schedules , become not only distrustful of their fellow-citizens , but are jealous of one another : and are much distracted by fear and danger ; for it has often fallen out , that many of them , and even the prince himself , have been betrayed by those in whom they have trusted most : for the rewards that the vtopians offer , are so unmeasurably great , that there is no sort of crime to which men cannot be drawn by them . they consider the risque that those run , who undertake such services , and offer a recompence proportioned to the danger ; not only a vast deal of gold , but great revenues in lands ▪ that lie among other nations that are their friends , where they may go and enjoy them very securely ; and they observe the promises they make of this kind most religiously . they do very much approve of this way of corrupting their enemies , tho it appears to others to be a base and cruel thing ; but they look on it as a wise course , to make an end of that which would be otherwise a great war , without so much as hazarding one battel to decide it . they think it likewise an act of mercy and love to mankind , to prevent the great slaughter of those that must otherwise be killed in the progress of the war , both of their own side , and of their enemies , by the death of a few that are most guilty ; and that in so doing , they are kind even to their enemies , and pity them no less than their own people , as knowing that the greater part of them do not engage in the war of their own accord , but are driven into it by the passions of their prince . if this method does not succeed with them , then they sow seeds of contention among their enemies , and animate the prince's brother , or some of the nobility , to aspire to the crown . if they cannot disunite them by domestick broils , then they engage their neighbours against them , and make them set on foot some old pretensions , which are never wanting to princes , when they have occasion for them . and they supply them plentifully with mony , tho but very sparingly with any auxiliary troops : for they are so render of their own people , that they would not willingly exchange one of them , even with the prince of their enemies country . but as they keep their gold and silver only for such an occasion , so when that offers it self , they easily part with it , since it would be no inconvenience to them , tho they should reserve nothing of it to themselves . for besides the wealth that they have among them at home , they have a vast treasure abroad ; many nations round about them , being deep in their debt : so that they hire souldiers from all places for carrying on their wars ; but chiefly from the zapolets , who lie five hundred miles from vtopia eastward . they are a rude , wild , and fierce nation , who delight in the woods and rocks , among which they were born and bred up . they are hardned both against heat , cold , and labour , and know nothing of the delicacies of life . they do not apply themselves to agriculture , nor do they care either for their houses or their clothes . cattel is all that they look after ; and for the greatest part , they live either by their hunting , or upon rapine ; and are made , as it were , only for war. they watch all opportunities of engaging in it , and very readily embrace such as are offered them . great numbers of them will often go out , and offer themselves upon a very low pay , to serve any that will employ them : they know none of the arts of life , but those that lead to the taking it away ; they serve those that hire them , both with much courage and great fidelity ; but will not engage to serve for any determin'd time , and agree upon such terms , that the next day they may go over to the enemies of those whom they serve , if they offer them a greater pay : and they will perhaps return to them the day after that , upon a higher advance of their pay. there are few wars in which they make not a considerable part of the armies of both sides : so it falls often out , that they that are of kin to one another , and were hired in the same country , and so have lived long and familiarly together ; yet they forgetting both their relation and former friendship , kill one another upon no other consideration , but because they are hired to it for a little mony , by princes of different interests : and so great regard have they to mony , that they are easily wrought on by the difference of one penny a day , to change sides . so entirely does their avarice turn them , and yet this mony on which they are so much set , is of little use to them ; for what they purchase thus with their blood , they quickly waste it on luxury , which among them is but of a poor and miserable form . this nation serves the vtopians against all people whatsoever , for they pay higher than any other . the vtopians hold this for a maxim , that as they seek out the best sort of men for their own use at home , so they make use of this worst sort of men for the consumption of war , and therefore they hire them with the offers of vast rewards , to expose themselves to all sorts of hazards , out of which the greater part never returns to claim their promises . yet they make them good most religiously to such as escape . and this animates them to adventure again , when there is occasion for it ; for the vtopians are not at all troubled how many of them soever happen to be killed ; and reckon it a service done to mankind , if they could be a mean to deliver the world from such a leud and vicious sort of people , that seem to have run together , as to the drain of humane nature . next to these they are served in their wars , with those upon whose account they undertake them , and with the auxiliary troops of their other friends , to whom they join some few of their own people , and send some man of eminent and approved vertue to command in chief . there are two sent with him , who during his command , are but private men , but the first is to succeed him if he should happen to be either killed or taken ; and in case of the like misfortune to him , the third comes in his place ; and thus they provide against ill events , that such accidents as may befal their generals , may not endanger their armies . when they draw out troops of their own people , they take such out of every city as freely offer themselves , for none are forced to the laws of the country , and their learning , add more vigor to their minds : for as they do not undervalue life to the degree of throwing it away too prodigally ; so they are not so indecently fond of it , that when they see they must sacrifice it honourably , they will preserve it by base and unbecoming methods . in the greatest heat of action , the bravest of their youth , that have jointly devoted themselves for that piece of service , single out the general of their enemies , and set on him either openly , or lay an ambuscade for him : if any of them are spent and wearied in the attempt , others come in their stead , so that they never give over pursuing him , either by close weapons , when they can get near him , or those that wound at a distance , when others get in between : thus they seldom fail to kill or take him at last , if he does not secure himself by flight . when they gain the day in any battel , they kill as few as possibly they can ; and are much more set on taking many prisoners , than on killing those that fly before them : nor do they ever let their men so loose in the pursuit of their enemies , that they do not retain an entire body still in order ; so that if they have been forced to engage the last of their battalions , before they could gain the day , they will rather let their enemies all escape than pursue them , when their own army is in disorder ; remembring well what has often fallen out to themselves ; that when the main body of their army has been quite defeated and broken , so that their enemies reckoning the victory was sure and in their hands , have let themselves loose into an irregular pursuit , a few of them that lay for a reserve , waiting a fit opportunity , have fallen on them while they were in this chase , stragling and in disorder , apprehensive of no danger , but counting the day their own ; and have turned the whole action , and so wresting out of their hands a victory that seemed certain and undoubted , the vanquished have of a sudden become victorious . it is hard to tell whether they are more dextrous in laying or avoiding ambushes : they sometimes seem to fly when it is far from their thoughts ; and when they intend to give ground , they do it so , that it is very hard to find out their design . if they see they are ill posted , or are like to be overpowred by numbers , then they their friends to reimburse them of their expence in it ; but they take that from the conquered , either in mony which they keep for the next occasion , or in lands , out of which a constant revenue is to be paid them ; by many increases , the revenue which they draw out from several countries on such occasions , is now risen to above 700000 ducats a year . they send some of their own people to receive these revenues , who have orders to live magnificently , and like princes , and so they consume much of it upon the place ; and either bring over the rest to vtopia , or lend it to that nation in which it lies . this they most commonly do , unless some great occasion which falls out , but very seldom , should oblige them to call for it all . it is out of these lands that they assign those rewards to such as they encourage to adventure on desperate attempts , which was mentioned formerly . if any prince that engages in war with them , is making preparations for invading their country , they prevent him , and make his country the seat of the war ; for they do not willingly suffer any war to break in upon their island ; and if that should happen , they would only defend themselves by their own people ; but would not at all call for auxiliary troops to their assistance . of the religions of the utopians . there are several sorts of religions , not only in different parts of the island , but even in every town ; some worshipping the sun , others the moon , or one of the planets : some worship such men as have been eminent in former times for vertue , or glory , not only as ordinary deities , but as the supream god : yet the greater and wiser sort of them worship none of these , but adore one eternal , invisible , infinite , and incomprehensible deity ; as a being that is far above all our apprehensions , that is spread over the whole universe , not by its bulk , but by its power and vertue ; him they call the father of all , and acknowledg that the beginnings , the encrease , the progress , the vicissitudes , and the end of all things come only from him ; nor do they offer divine honouts to any but to him alone . and indeed , tho they differ concerning other things , yet all agree in this ; that they think there is one supream being that made and governs the world , whom they call in the language of their country , mithras . they differ in this , that one thinks the god whom he worships is this supream being , and another thinks that his idol is that god ; but they all agree in one principle , that whatever is this supream being , is also that great essence , to whose glory and majesty all honours are ascribed by the consent of all nations . by degrees , they all fall off from the various superstitions that are among them , and grow up to that one religion that is most in request , and is much the best : and there is no doubt to be made , but that all the others had vanished long ago , if it had not happned that some unlucky accidents , falling on those who were advising the change of those superstitious ways of worship ; these have been ascribed not to chance , but to somewhat from heaven ; and so have raised in them a fear , that the god , whose worship was like to be abandoned , has interposed and revenged himself on those that designed it . after they had heard from us , an account of the doctrine , the course of life , and the miracles of christ , and of the wonderful constancy of so many martyrs , whose blood , that was so willingly offered up by them , was the chief occasion of spreading their religion over a vast number of nations ; it is not to be imagined how inclined they were to receive it . i shall not determine whether this proceeded from any secret inspiration of god , or whether it was because it seemed so favorable to that community of goods , which is an opinion so particular , as well as so dear to them ; since they perceived that christ and his followers lived by that rule ; and that it was still kept up in some communities among the sincerest sort of christians , from which soever of these motives it might be true it is , that many of them came over to our religion , and were initiated into it by baptism . but as two of our number were dead , so none of the four that survived , were in priests orders ; therefore we could do no more but baptize them ; so that to our great regret , they could not partake of the other sacraments , that can only be administred by priests : but they are instructed concerning them , and long most vehemently for them ; and they were disputing very much among themselves , whether one that were chosen by them to be a preist , would not be thereby qualified to do all the things that belong to that character , even tho he had no authority derived from the pope ; and they seemed to be resolved to chuse some for that imployment , but they had not done it when i left them those among them that have not received our religion , yet do not fright any from it , and use none ill that goes over to it ; so that all the while i was there , one man was only punished on this occasion . he being newly baptized , did , notwithstanding all that we could say to the contrary , dispute publickly concerning the christian religion , with more zeal than discretion ; and with so much heat , that he not only preferred our worship to theirs , but condemned all their rites as profane ; and cried out against all that adhered to them , as impious and sacrilegious persons , that were to be damned to everlasting burnings . upon this he , having preached these things often , was seized on , and after a trial , he was condemned to banishment , not for having disparaged their religion , but for his inflaming the people to sedition : for this is one of their ancientest laws , that no man ought to be punished for his religion . at the first constitution of their goverment , vtopus having understood , that before his coming among them , the old inhabitans had been engaged in grtat quarrels concerning religion , by which they were so broken among themselves , that he found it an easy thing to conquer them , since they did not unite their forces against him , but every different party in religion fought by themselves : upon that , after he had subdued them , he made a law that every man might be of what religion he pleased , and might endeavor to draw others to it by the force of argument , and by amicable and modest ways , but without bitterness against those of other opinions ; but that he ought to use no other force but that of persuasion ; and was neither to mixt reproaches nor violence with it ; and such as did otherwise , were to be condemned to banishment or slavery . this law was made by vtopus , not only for preserving the publick peace , which he saw suffered much by daily contentions and irreconcilable heats in these matters , but because he thought the interest of religion it self required it . he judged it was not fit to determine any thing rashly in that matter ; and seemed to doubt whether those different forms of religion might not all come from god , who might inspire men differently , he being possibly pleased with a variety in it : and so he thought it was a very indecent and foolish thing for any man to frighten and threaten other men to believe any thing because it seemed true to him ; and in case that one religion were certainly true , and all the rest false , he reckoned that the native force of truth would break forth at last , and shine bright , if it were managed only by the strength of argument , and with a winning gentleness ; whereas if such matters were carried on by violence and tumults , then , as the wickedest sort of men is always the most obstinate , so the holiest and best religion in the world might be overlaid with so much foolish superstition , that it would be quite choaked with it , as corn is with briars and thorns ; therefore he left men wholly to their liberty in this matter , that they might be free to beleive as they should see cause ; only he made a solemn and severe law against such as should so far degenerate from the dignity of humane nature , as to think that our souls died with our bodies , or that the world was governed by chance , without a wise over-ruling providence : for they did all formerly believe that there was a state of rewards and punishments to the good and bad after this life ; and they look on those that think otherwise , as scarce fit to be counted men , since they degrade so noble a being as our soul is , and reckon it to be no better than a beast's ; so far are they from looking on such men as fit for humane society , or to be citizens of a well-ordered common-wealth ; since a man of such principles must needs , as oft as he dares do it , despise all their laws and customs : for there is no doubt to be made , that a man who is affraid of nothing but the law , and apprehends nothing after death , will not stand to break through all the laws of his country , either by fraud or force , that so he may satisfy his appetites . they never raise any that hold these maxims , either to honours or offices , nor imploy them in any publick trust , but despise them , as men of base and sordid minds : yet they do not punish them , because they lay this doun for a ground , that a man cannot make himself beleive any thing he pleases ; nor do they drive any to dissemble their thoughts by threatnings , so that men are not tempted to lie or disguise their opinions among them ; which being a sort of fraud , is abhorred by the vtopians : they take indeed care that they may not argue for these opinions , especially before the common people : but they do suffer , and even encourage them to dispute concerning them in private with their priests , and and other grave men , being confident that they will be cured of those mad opinions , by having reason laid before them . there are many among them that run far to the other extream , tho it is neither thought an ill nor unreasonable opinion , and therfore is not at all discouraged . they think that the souls of beasts are immortal , tho far inferior to the dignity of the humane soul , and not capable of so great a happiness . they are almost all of them very firmly perswaded , that good men will be infinitely happy in another state ; so that tho they are compassionate to all that are sick , yet they lament no man's death , except they see him part with life uneasy , and as if he were forced to it ; for they look on this as a very ill persage , as if the soul being conscious to it self of guilt , and quite hopeless , were affraid to die , from some secret hints of approaching misery . they think that such a man's appearance before god , cannot be acceptable to him , who being called on , does not go out chearfully , but is backward and unwilling , and is , as it were , dragged to it . they are struck with horror , when they see any die in this manner , and carry them out in silence , and with sorrow , and praying god that he would be merciful to the errors of the departed soul , they lay the body in the ground : but when any die chearfully , and full of hope , they do not mourn for them , but sing hymns when they carry out their bodies , and commending their souls very earnestly to god , in such a manner , that their whole behaviour is rather grave then sad , they burn their body , and set up a pillar where the pile was made , with an inscription to the honour of such mens memory ; and when they come from the funeral , they discourse of their good life , and worthy actions , but speak of nothing oftner and with more himself that happiness that comes after death . some of these visit the sick ; others mend high-ways , cleanse ditches , or repair bridges , and dig turf , gravel , or stones . others fell and cleave timber , and bring wood , corn , and other necessaries , on carts , into their towns. nor do these only serve the publick , but they serve even private men , more than the slaves themselves do : for if there is any where a rough , hard , and sordid piece of work to be done , from which many are frightned by the labour and loathsomeness of it , if not the despair of accomplishing it , they do chearfully , and of their own accord , take that to their share ; and by that means , as they ease others very much , so they afflict themselves , and spend their whole life in hard labor : and yet they do not value themselves upon that , nor lessen other peoples credit , that by so doing they may raise their own ; but by their stooping to such sevile employments , they are so far from being despised , that they are so much the more esteemed by the whole nation . of these there are two sorts : some live unmarried and chast , and abstain from eating any sort of flesh ; and thus weaning themselves from all the pleasures of the present life , which they account hurtful , they pursue , even by the hardest and painfullest methods possible , that blessedness which they hope for hereafter ; and the nearer they approach to it , they are the more chearful and earnest in their endeavours after it . another sort of them is less willing to put themselves to much toil , and so they prefer a married state to a single one ; and as they do not deny themselves the pleasure of it , so they think the begetting of children is a debt which they owe to humane nature , and to their country : nor do they avoid any pleasure that does not hinder labour ; and therefore they eat flesh so much the more willingly , because they find themselves so much the more able for work by it : the vtopians look upon these as the wiser sect , but they esteem the others as the holier . they would indeed laugh at any man , that upon the principles of reason , would prefer an unmarried state to a married , or a life of labour to an easy life : but they reverence and admire such as do it upon a motive of religion . there is nothing in which they are more cautious , than in giving their opinion positively concerning any sort of religion . the men that lead those severe lives , are called in the language of their country brutheskas , which answers to those we call religious orders . their priests are men of eminent piety , and therefore they are but few , for there are only thirteen in every town , one for every temple in it ; but when they go to war , seven of these go out with their forces , and seven others are chosen to supply their room in their absence ; but these enter again upon their employment when they return ; and those who served in their absence , attend upon the high priest , till vacancies fall by death ; for there is one that is set over all the rest . they are chosen by the people , as the other magistrates are , by suffrages given in secret , for preventing of factions : and when they are chosen , they are consecrated by the college of priests . the care of all sacred things , and the worship of god , and an inspection into the manners of the people , is committed to them . it is a reproach to a man to be sent for by any of them , or to be even spoke to in secret by them , for that always gives some suspicions : all that is incumbent on them , is only to exhort and admonish people ; for the power of correcting and punishing ill men , belongs wholly to the prince , and to the other magistrates : the severest thing that the priest does , is the excluding of men that are desperately wicked from joining in their worship : there 's not any sort of punishment that is more dreaded by them than this , for as it loads them with infamy , so it fills them with secret horrors , such is their reverence to their religion ; nor will their bodies be long exempted from their share of trouble ; for if they do not very quickly satisfy the priests of the truth of their repentance , they are seized on by the senate , and punished for their impiety . the breeding of the youth belongs to the priests , yet they do not take so much care of instructing them in letters , as of forming their minds and manners aright ; and they use all possible methods to infuse very early in the tender and flexible minds of children , such opinions as are both good in themselves , and will be useful to their country : for when deep impressions of these things are made at that age , they follow men through the whole course of their lives , of much blood on either side ; and when the victory turns to their side , they run in among their own men to restrain their fury ; and if any of their enemies see them , or call to them , they are preserved by that means : and such as can come so near them as to touch their garments , have not only their lives , but their fortunes secured to them : it is upon this account , that all the nations round about consider them so much , and pay them so great reverence , that they have been often no less able to preserve their own people from the fury of their enemies , than to save their enemies from their rage : for it has sometimes fallen out , that when their armies have been in disorder , and forced to fly , so that their enemies were running upon the slaughter and spoil , the priests by interposing , have stop'd the shedding of more blood , and have separated them from one another ; so that by their mediation , a peace has been concluded on very reasonable terms ; nor is there any nation about them so fierce , cruel , or barbarous , as not to look upon their persons as sacred and inviolable . the first and the last day of the month , and of the year , is a festival : they measure their months by the course of the moon ; and their years by the course of the sun : the first days are called in their language the cynemernes , and the last the trapemernes , which answers in our language to the festival that begins , or ends the season . they have magnificent temples , that are not only nobly built , but are likewise of great reception : which is necessary , since they have so few of them : they are a little dark within , which flows not from any error in their architecture , but is done on design ; for their priests think that too much light dissipates the thoughts , and that a more moderate degree of it , both recollects the mind , and raises devotion . tho there are many different forms of religion among them , yet all these , how various soever , agree in the main point , which is the worshipping the divine essence ; and therefore there is nothing to be seen or heard in their temples , in which the several perswasions among them may not agree ; for every sect performs those rites that are peculiar to it , in their private houses , nor is there any thing in the publick worship , that contradicts the particular ways of those different sects . there are no images for god in their temples , so that every one may represent him to his thoughts , according to the way of his religion ; nor do they call this one god by any other name , but that of mithras , which is the common name by which they all express the divine essence , whatsoever otherwise they think it to be ; nor are there any prayers among them , but such as every one of them may use without prejudice to his own opinion . they meet in their temples on the evening of the festival that concludes a season : and not having yet broke their fast , they thank god for their good success during that year or month , which is then at an end : and the next day , being that which begins the new season , they meet early in their temples , to pray for the happy progress of all their affairs during that period , upon which they then enter . in the festival which concludes the period , before they go to the temple , both wives and children fall on their knees before their husbands or parents , and confess every thing in which they have either erred or failed in their duty , and beg pardon for it : thus all little discontents in families are removed , that so they may offer up their devotions with a pure and serene mind ; for they hold it a great impiety to enter upon them with disturbed thoughts ; or when they are conscious to themselves that they bear hatred or anger in their hearts to any person ; and think that they should become liable to severe punishments , if they presumed to offer sacrifices without cleansing their hearts , and reconciling all their differences . in the temples , the two sexes are separated , the men go to the right hand , and the women to the left : and the males and females do all place themselves before the head , and master or mistress of that family to which they belong ; so that those who have the government of them at home , may see their deportment in publick : and they intermingle them so , that the younger and the older may be set by one another ; for if the younger sort were all set together , they would perhaps trifle away that time too much , in which they ought to beget in themselves a most religious dread of the supream being , which is the greatest , and almost the only incitement to vertue . they offer up no living creature in sacrifice , nor do they think it suitable to the divine being , from whose bounty it is that these creatures have derived their lives , to take pleasure in their death , or the offering up their blood. they burn incense , and other sweet odours , and have a great number of wax lights during their worship ; not out of any imagination that such oblations can add any thing to the divine nature , for even prayers do not that ; but as it is a harmless and pure way of worshipping god , so they think those sweet savors and lights , together with some other ceremonies , do , by a secret and unaccountable vertue , elevate mens souls , and inflame them with more force and chearfulness during the divine worship . the people appear all in the temples in white garments ; but the priest's vestments are particoloured ; both the work and colours are wonderful : they are made of no rich materials , for they are neither embroidered , nor set with precious stones , but are composed of the plumes of several birds , laid together with so much art , and so neatly , that the true value of them is far beyond the costliest materials . they say , that in the ordering and placing those plumes , some dark mysteries are represented , which pass down among their priests in a secret tradition concerning them ; and that they are as hieroglyphicks , putting them in mind of the blessings that they have received from god , and of their duties , both to him and to their neighbours . as soon as the priest appears in those ornaments , they all fall prostrate on the ground , with so much reverence and so deep a silence , that such as look on , cannot but be struck with it , as if it were the effect of the appearance of a deity . after they have been for some time in this posture , they all stand up , upon a sign given by the priest , and sing some hymns to the honour of god , some musical instruments playing all the while . these are quite of another form than those that are used among us : but , as many of them are much sweeter than ours , so others are not to be compared to those that we have . yet in one thing they exceed us much , which is , that all their musick , both vocal and instrumental , does so imitate and express the passions , and is so fitted to the present occasion , whether the subject matter of the hymn is chearful , or made to appease , or troubled , doleful , or angry ; that the musick makes an impression of that which is represented , by which it enters deep into the hearers , and does very much affect and kindle them . when this is done , both priests and people offer up very solemn prayers to god in a set form of words ; and these are so composed , that whatsoever is pronounced by the whole assembly , may be likewise applied by every man in particular to his own condition ; in these they acknowledg god to be the author and governor of the world , and the fountain of all the good that they receive ; for which they offer up their thanksgivings to him ; and in particular , they bless him for his goodness in ordering it so , that they are born under a government that is the happiest in the world , and are of a religion that they hope is the truest of all others : but if they are mistaken , and if there is either a better government , or a religion more acceptable to god , they implore his goodness to let them know it , vowing , that they resolve to follow him whithersoever he leads them : but if their government is the best , and their religion the truest , then they pray that he may fortify them in it , and bring all the world , both to the same rules of life , and to the same opinions concerning himself ; unless , according to the unsearchableness of his mind , he is pleased with a variety of religions . then they pray that god may give them an easy passage at last to himself ; not presuming to set limits to him , how early or late it should be ; but if it may be wish'd for , without derogating from his supream authority , they desire rather to be quickly delivered , and to go to god , tho by the terriblest sort of death , than to be detained long from seeing him , in the most prosperous course of life possible . when this prayer is ended , they all fall down again upon the ground , and after a little while they rise up , and go home to dinner ; and spend the rest of the day in diversion or military exercises . thus have i described to you , as particularly as i could , the constitution of that common-wealth , which i do not only think to be the best in the world , but to be indeed the only common-wealth that truly deserves that name . in all other places , it is visible , that whereas people talk of a common-wealth , every man only seeks his own wealth ; but there where no man has any property , all men do zealously pursue the good of the publick : and indeed , it is no wonder to see men act so differently , for in other common-wealths , every man knows , that unless he provides for himself , how flourishing soever the common-wealth may be , he must die of hunger ; so that he sees the necessity of preferring his own concerns to the publick ; but in vtopia , where every man has a right to every thing , they do all know , that if care is taken to keep the publick stores full , no private man can want any thing ; for among them there is no unequal distribution , so that no man is poor , nor in any necessity ; and tho no man has any thing , yet they are all rich ; for what can make a man so rich , as to lead a serene and chearful life , free from anxieties ; neither apprehending want himself , nor vexed with the endless complaints of his wife ? he is not affraid of the misery of his children , nor is he contriving how to raise a portion for his daughters , but is secure in this , that both he and his wife , his children and grand-children , to as many generations as he can fancy , will all live , both plentifully and happily , since among them there is no less care taken of those who were once engaged in labour , but grow afterwards unable to follow it , than there is elsewhere for these that continue still at it . i would gladly hear any man compare the justice that is among them , with that which is among all other nations ; among whom , may i perish , if i see any thing that looks either like justice , or equity ; for what justice is there in this , that a noble-man , a goldsmith , or a banquer , or any other man , that either does nothing at all , or at best is imployed in things that are of no use to the publick , should live in great luxury and splendor , upon that which is so ill acquired ; and a mean man , a carter , a smith , or a ploughman , that works harder , even than the beasts themselves , and is imployed in labours that are so necessary , that no common-wealth could hold out an year to an end without them , can yet be able to earn so poor a livelihood out of it , and must lead so miserable a life in it , that whole people , then they are accounted laws : and yet these wicked men after they have , by a most insatiable covetousness , divided that among themselves , with which all the rest might have been well supplied , are far from that happiness , that is enjoyed among the vtopians : for the use as well as the desire of mony being extinguished , there is much anxiety and great occasions of mischief cut off with it : and who does not see that frauds , thefts , robberies , quarrels , tumults , contentions , seditions , murders , treacheries , and witchrafts , that are indeed rather punished than restrained by the severities of law , would all fall off , if mony were not any more valued by the world ? mens fears , solicitudes , cares , labours , and watchings , would all perish in the same moment , that the value of mony did sink : even poverty it self , for the relief of which mony seems most necessary , would fall , if there were no mony in the world. and in order to the apprehending this aright , take one instance . consider any year that has been so unfruitful , that many thousands have died of hunger ; and yet if at the end of that year a survey were made of the granaries of all the rich men , that have hoarded up the corn , it would be found that there was enough among them , to have prevented all that consumption of men that perished in that misery : and that if it had been distributed among them , none would have felt the terrible effects of that scarcity ; so easy a thing would it be to supply all the necessities of life , if that blessed thing called mony , that is pretended to be invented for procuring it , were not really the only thing that obstructed it . i do not doubt but rich men are sensible of this , and that they know well how much a greater happiness it were to want nothing that were necessary , than to abound in many superfluities ; and to be rescued out of so much misery , than to abound with so much wealth : and i cannot think but the sense of every man's interest , and the authority of chirst's commands , who as he was infinitely wise , and so knew what was best , so was no less good in discovering it to us , would have drawn all the world over to the laws of the vtopians , if pride , that plague of humane nature , that is the source of so much misery , did not hinder count the had given of it in general ; and so taking him by the hand , i carried him to supper , and told him i would find out some other time for examining that matter more particularly , and for discoursing more copiously concerning it ; for which i wish i may find a good opportunity . in the mean while , tho i cannot perfectly agree to every thing that was related by raphael , yet there are many things in the common-wealth of vtopia , that i rather wish than hope to see followed in our governments ; tho it must be confessed , that he is both a very learned man , and has had a great practice in the world. finis . the common-vvealth of vtopia containing a learned and pleasant discourse of the best state of a publike weale, as it is found in the government of the new ile called vtopia. written by the right honourable, sir thomas moore, lord chancellour of england. utopia. english more, thomas, sir, saint, 1478-1535. 1639 approx. 283 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 152 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2006-06 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a07711 stc 18098 estc s112890 99848131 99848131 13209 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a07711) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 13209) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 1249:1) the common-vvealth of vtopia containing a learned and pleasant discourse of the best state of a publike weale, as it is found in the government of the new ile called vtopia. written by the right honourable, sir thomas moore, lord chancellour of england. utopia. english more, thomas, sir, saint, 1478-1535. robinson, ralph, b. 1521. marshall, william, fl. 1617-1650, engraver. [6], 288, 279-298, 285-288, 303-305, [1] p. printed by b. alsop & t. fawcet, and are to be sold by wil: sheares, at his shop in bedford-street in coven-garden neere the new exchange, london : 1639. a translation by ralph robinson of: utopia. with an additional title page, engraved and signed: w. marshall sculpsit. reproduction of the original in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database 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illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng utopias -early works to 1800. 2005-11 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-01 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2006-03 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2006-03 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2006-04 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the common-vvealth of vtopia : containing a learned and pleasant discourse of the best state of a publike weale , as it is found in the government of the new i le called vtopia . written by the right honourable , sir thomas moore , lord chancellour of england . london , printed by b. alsop & t. fawcet , and are to be sold by wil : sheares , at his shop in bedford-street in coven-garden neere the new exchange . 1639. to the hon ble . descended gentleman , cresacre moore , of more place in north-mi●es , in the county of hertford●sq●●●● ●sq●●●● ▪ next in bloud to s. thomas moore , l. chancellor of england , and heire to the ancient family of th● cresacres , sometime lord of he mannor of b●●borough , in the county of yorke , in the time of edward the first . sir , _● have found you so noble in the first dedication , that i should much derogate from your true worth , and wrong my selfe to make choise of a new patron for the second ( exactly done with applause ) wherein though i presume , yet persume , t' will bee no sinne to multiply my obligation . your name , and nature , claimes , and deserves it , 't is your due and my duty , and were i able to expresse more moore should have it , for i must alwayes acknowledge your goodnesse in whatsoever quality for tune shall bestow me . sir , i know you are wise . in a word i am , really what i am . your worships ever to be commanded . ber. alsop . the first booke of the communication of raphael hythloday , concerning the best state of a common-wealth . the most victorious king of england , henry the eight of that name , in all royall vertues , a prince most peerelesse , had of late in controversie with charles , the right high and mighty king of castile , weightie matters , and of great importance . for the debatement and finall determination whereof , the kings maiestie sent me ambassadour into flanders , ioyned in commission with cvthbert tvnstall , a man doubtlesse out of comparison , and whom the kings maiestie of late , to the great reioycing of all men , did preferre to the office of master of the rolles . but of this mans praises i will say nothing , not because i doe feare that small credence shall be given to the testimony that commeth out of a friends mouth : but because his vertue and learning be greater , and of more excellencie , then that i am able to praise them : and also in all places so famous and so perfectly well knowne , that they need not , nor ought not of me to be praised , unlesse i would seem to shew and set forth the brightnesse of the sunne with a candle , as the proverb saith . there met us at bruges ( for thus it was before agreed ) they whom their prince had for that matter appointed commissioners : excellent men all . the chiefe and head of them was the margrave ( as they call him ) of bruges , a right honourable man : but the wisest and the best spoken of them was george temsise , provost of casselses , a man , not only by learning , but also by nature of singuler eloquence , and in the lawes profoundly learned : but in reasoning and debating of matters , what by his naturall wit , and what by daily exercise , surely he had few fellowes . after that we had once or twise met , and vpon certaine points or articles could not fully and throughly agree , they for a certaine space tooke their leaue of vs , and departed to bruxells , there to know their princes pleasure . i in the meane time ( for so my businesse lay ) went straight thence to antwerpe . while i was there abiding , oftentimes among other , but which i judged to be a marriner . but the said peter seeing me , came unto me and saluted me . and as i was about to answer him : see you this man , saith he ( and therewith he pointed to the man , that i saw him talking with before ) i was minded ( quoth he ) to bring him straight home to you . he should haue beene very welcome to me , said i , for your sake . nay ( quoth he ) for his owne sake , if you knew him : for there is no man this day living , that can tell you of so many strange and vnknowne peoples , and countries , as this man can . and i know well that you be very desirous to heare of such newes . then i conjectured not farre amisse ( quoth i ) for even at the first sight , i judged him to be a marriner . nay ( quoth he ) there ye were greatly deceived : he hath sayled indeed , not as the mariner palinure , but as the expert & prudent prince vlysses : yea , rather as the ancient and sage philosopher plato . for this same raphael hythloday ( for this is his name ) he is very well learned in the latine tongue : but profound and excellent in the greeke language . wherein he ever bestowed more study then in the latine , because he had given himselfe wholly to the study of philosophy . whereof he knew that there is nothing certaine in latine , that is to any purpose , saving a few of senecaes , and ciceroes doings . his patrimonie that he was borne unto , he left to his brethren ( for he is a portugall borne ) and for the desire he had to see ▪ and know the farre countries of the world , he joy ned himselfe in company with americke vespuce ; and in the three last voyages of those foure that be now in prinr , and abroad in every mans hands , he continued still in his company , saving that in the last voyage he came not home againe with him . for he made such meanes and shift , what by intreatance , and what by importune suite , that he got licence of master americke ( though it were sore against his will ) to be one of the twenty foure , which in the end of the last voyage were left in the country of gulicke . he was therefore left behind for his mind-sake , as one that tooke more thought and care for travelling , then dying ; having customably in his mouth these sayings : he that bath no grave , is covered with the skie ; and , the way to heaven , out of all places , is of like length and distance . which fantasie of his , ( if god had not beene his better friend ) he had surely bought full deere . but after the departure of master vespuce , when he had travelled through and about many countries with fiue of his companions gulikians ; at the last by mervailous chance he arrived in taprobane , from whence he went to c●liquit , where he chanced to finde certaine of his country ships , wherein he returned againe into his country , nothing lesse then looked for . all this when peter had told me , i thanked him for his gentle kindnesse : that he had vouchsafed to bring me to the speech of that man , whose communication , he thought should be to me pleasant , and acceptable . and therewith i turned me to raphael : and when we had halsed each other , and had spoke these commune words , that he customably spoke at the first meeting , and acquaintance of strangers , we went thence to my house , and there in my garden , vpon a bench covered with greene turves , we sate downe talking together . there he told us , how that after the departing of vespuce , he and his fellowes 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 gras●● : 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 c●l●●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 great mens friendships : and therefore thinke it no great hurt , if they haue not me , nor third or fourth such other as i am . well , i perceiue plainly friend raphael ( quoth i ) that you be desirous neither of riches , nor of power . and truly i haue in no lesse reverence and estimation a man of your mind , then any of them all that be so high in power and authority : but you shall doe as it becommeth you ; yea , and according to this wisedome , to this high and free courage of yours , if you can find in your heart , so to appoint and dispose your selfe , that you may apply your wit and diligence to the profite of the weale publique , though it be somewhat to your owne paine and hinderance . and this shall you never so well doe , nor with so great profit performe , as if you be of some great princes counsell , and put into his head ( as i doubt not but you will ) honest opinions , and vertuous perswasions : for from the prince , as from a perpetuall well-spring , commeth among the people the floud of all that is good or evill . but in you is so perfect learning , that without any experience , and againe , so great experience that without any learning you may well be any kings counsellour . you be twise deceived master more ( quoth he ) first in mee , and againe in the thing it selfe : for neither is in me the ability that you force vpon me , and if it were never so much , yet in disquieting mine owne quietnesse i should nothing further the weale publike . for first of all , the most part of all princes haue more delight in warlike matters , and feates of chivalry ( the knowledge whereof i neither haue nor desire ) then in the good feates of peace : and imploy much more study , how by right or by wrong to enlarge their dominions , then how well and peaceable to rule , and governe that they haue already . moreover , they that be counsellours to kings , every one of them either is of himselfe so wise indeed that he needeth not , or else he thinketh himselfe so wise , that he will not alow another mans counsell , saving that they doe shamefully , and flatteringly , giue assent to the fond and foolish sayings of certaine great men : whose favours , because they be in high authority with their prince , by assentation and flattery they labour to obtaine . and verily it is naturally given to all men to esteeme their owne inventions best : so both the raven and the ape thinke their owne young ones fairest . then if a man in such a company , where some disdaine and haue despight at other mens invētions , and some count their owne best , if among such men ( i say ) a man should bring forth any thing , that he hath reade done in times past , or that he hath seene done in other places ; there the hearers , fare as though the whole existimation of their wisedome were in jeopardy to be overthrowne , and that ever after they should be counted for very desarts , unlesse they could in other mens inventions picke out matter to reprehend , and find a fault at . if all other poore helpes faile : then this is their extreame refuge . these things ( say they ) pleased our forefathers and ancestors : would god we could be so wise as they were : and as though they had wittily concluded the matter , and with this answere stopped every mans mouth , they sit downe againe . as who should say , it were a very dangerous matter , if a man in any point should bee found wiser then his fore-fathers were . and yet be we content to suffer the best and wittiest of their decrees to lye unexecuted : but if in any thing a better order might haue beene taken , then by them was , there we take fast hold , finding there many faults . many times haue i chanced vpon such proud , lewd , over-thwart , and way-ward judgements ; yea ( and once in england : i pray you sir ( quoth i ) haue you beene in our country ? yea forsooth ( quoth he ) and there i tarried for the space of foure or fiue moneths together , not long after the insurrection , the westerne english men made against their king , which by their owne miserable and pitifull saughter , was suppressed and ended . in the meane season , i was much bound and beholding to the right reverend father , iohn morton , arch-bishop and cardinall of canterburie , and at that time also lord chancellour of england ; a man , master peter ( for master moore knoweth already that i will say ) not more honourable for his authority , then for his prudence and vertue . he was of a meane stature , and though stricken in age , yet bare he his body upright . in his face did shine such an amiable reverence , as was pleasant to behold . gentle in communication , yet earnest , and sage . he had great delight many times with rough speech to his suiters , to proue , but without harme , what prompt wit , and what bold spirit were in every man. in the which as in a vertue much agreeing with his nature , so that therewith were not joyned impudency , he tooke great delectation . and the same person as apt and meet to haue an administration in the weale publike , he did lovingly imbrace . in his speech he was fine , eloquent and pithie . in the law , he had profound knowledge ; in wit , he was incomparable ; and in memory , wonderfull excellent . these qualities , which in him were by nature singular , he by learning and use 〈…〉 perfect . the king 〈…〉 hi● counsell , 〈…〉 in a manner learned 〈…〉 , when i was there ● fo● even in the chiefe of his youth hee was taken from schoole into the court , and there passed all his time in much trouble and businesse , being continually tumbled and tossed in the waves of divers misfortunes and adversities . and so by many and great dangers , he learned the experience of the world , which so being learned , cannot easily be forgotten . it chanced on a certaine day , when i sate at his table , there was also a certaine lay man , cunning in the lawes of your realme : who , i cannot tell , whereof taking occasion , began diligently and earnestly to praise that strait and rigorous justice , which at that time was there executed upon felonies ; who as he said , were for the most part twenty hanged together upon one gallowes . and , seeing so few escaped punishment , he said he could not choose , but greatly wonder and marvaile , how and by what evill luck it should so come to passe , that theeves neverthelesse were in every place so rife and so ranck . nay , ●ir quoth ● ( for i durst boldly speake my mind , before the cardinall ) mervaile nothing hereat : for this punishment of theeves passeth the limits of iustice , and is also very hurtfull to the weale publike : for it is too extreame and cruell a punishment for theft , and yet not sufficient to refraine and with-hold men from theft : for simple theft is not so great an offence , that it ought to be punished with death ; neither there is any punishment so horrible , that it can keepe them from stealing , which have none other craft , whereby to get their living . therefore in this point , not you only , but also the most part of the world be like evill schoolemasters , which bee readier to beat , then to teach their schollers . for great and horrible punishments be appointed for theeves , whereas much rather , provision should have bin made , that there were some meanes , wherby they might get their living , so that no man should be driven to this extreame necessitie ; first to steale , and then to dye . yes ( quoth he ) this matter is well enough provided for already . there be handy-crafts , there is husbandry to get their living , if they would not willingly be naught . nay , quoth i , you shall not scape so : for first of all , i will speake nothing of them , that come home out of the warres maimed and lame , as not long agoe out of black ●eath field , and a little before that , out of the warres in france : such i say , as put their lives in jeopardy for the weale publiques , or the kings sake , and by reason of weaknesse and lamenesse bee not able to occupie their old crafts , and be too aged to learne new : of them i will speake nothing , for asmuch as warres have their ordinary recourse . but let us consider those things that chance daily before our eyes . first , there is a great number of gentlemen , which cannot bee content to live idle themselves , like dorrers , of that which other have laboured for : their tenants i meane , whom they poll and shave to the quicke , by raising their rents ( for this onely point of frugalitie doe they use , men else through their lavish and prodigall spending , able to bring themselves to very beggery ) these gentlemen , i say , doe not onely live in idlenesse themselves , but also carry about with them at their tailes , a great flock or traine of idle and loytering serving-men , which never learned any craft , wherby to get their livings . these men as soone as their master is dead , or be sick themselves , be incontinent thrust out of doores : for gentlemen had rather keepe idle persons , then sick men , and many times the dead mans he●re is not able to maintaine so great a ho●se , and keepe so many serving-men is his father did . th●● in the meane season , they that be th●● destitute of service , eyther starve for hunger , or manfully play the theeves : for what would you have them to doe ? when they have wandred abroad so long , untill they have worne threed-bare their apparell , and also appaired their health ; then gentlemen , because of their pale and sickly faces , and patched coates , will not take them into service . and husbandmen dare not set them a work : knowing well enough , that hee is nothing meet to doe true and faithfull service to a poore man with a spade and mattocke for small wages and hard fare , which being dain●ily and tenderly pampered up in idlenesse and pleasure , was wont with a sword and a buckler by his side , to jet through the street with a bragging looke , and to thinke himselfe too good to bee any mans mate . nay by saint mary sir ( quoth the lawyer ) not so : for this kinde of men must we make most of ; for in them as men of stouter stomacks , bolder spirits , and manlier courages , then handicrafts-men and plough-men be , doth consist the whole power , strength , and puissance of our army , when wee must fight in battaile . forsooth sir , as well yo might say ( quoth i ) that for warres sake you must cherish theeves : for surely you shall never lacke theeves , whiles you have them . no nor theeves be not the most false and faint-hearted souldiers , nor souldiers bee not the cowardliest theeves : so well these two crafts agree together . but this fault , though it be much vsed among you , yet is it not peculiar to you onely , but cōmon also almost to all nations . yet france besides this is troubled and infected with a much sorer plague . the whole realme is filled and besieged with hi●ed soldiers in peace time ( if that be peace ) which be brought in under the same colour and pretence , that hath perswaded you to keepe these idle serving men . for these wise-fooles , and very arch-dolts , thought the wealth of the whole countrey herein to consist , if there were ever in a readinesse a strong and a sure garrison , specially of old practised soldiers ; for they put no trust at all in men unexercised . and therefore they must be forced to seeke for warre , to the end they may ever have practised soldiers , and cunning man-slayers , least that ( as it is pretily said of salust ) their hands and their minds through idlenesse or lacke of exercise , should waxe dull . but how pernitious and pestilent a thing it is , to maintaine such beast● , the frenchmen , by their owne harmes haue learned , and the examples of the romanes , carth●ginians , syrians , and of many other countries doe manifestly declare : for not onely the empire , but also the field , and cities of all these , by divers occasions haue beene o●●r●u●ned and destroyed of their ow●e armies , beforehand had in a readinesse . now how unnecessary a thing this is , hereby it may appeare : that the french souldiours , which from their youth haue beene practised and inured in feates of armes , doe not cracke or advance themselues to haue very often got the vpper hand and mastry of your new-made and unpractised souldiours . but in this point i will not vse many words , least perchance i may seeme grow the finest , and therefore dearest wooll , there noble men , and gentlemen , yea , and certaine abbots , holy men no doubt , not contenting themselues with the yearely revenues , and profits , that were wont to grow to their fore-fathers and predecessours of their lands , nor being content that they liue in rest and pleasure , nothing profiting ; yea , much noying the weale publike , leaue no ground for tillage : they inclose all into pastures ; they throw downe houses ; they plucke downe townes , and leaue nothing standing , but onely the church to be madea sheephouse . and as though you lost no small quantity of ground by forrests , chases , lands , and parkes , those good holy men turne all dwelling places and all glebe land into desolation , and wildernesse . therefore , that one covetous and unsatiable cormorant , and very plague of his natiue country , may compasse about and inclose many thousands akers of ground together within one pale or hedge , the husbandmen be thrust out of their owne , or else either by covine and fraud , or violent oppression they be put besides it , or by wrongs and injuries they be so wearied , that they be compelled to sell all : by one meanes therefore or by other either by hooke or by crooke they must needs depart away , poore , sillie , wretched soules , men , women , husbands , wiues , fatherlesse children , widdowes , wofull mothers with their young babes , and the whole houshold small in substance , and much in number , as husbandry requireth many hands . away they trudge , i say , out of their knowne and accustomed houses , finding no place to rest in . all their houshold-stuffe , which is very little worth , though it might well abide the sale : yet being suddainly thrust out , they be constrained to sell it for a thing of naught . and when they haue wandered abroad till that be spent , what can they then doe but steale , and then justly pardy be hanged , or el●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-fa●●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 ou● these pernicious abhominations ; make a law , that they which , plucked downe f●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 ingro●●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 co●●●te them every one . first therefore , i will begin where i promised . foure things you seemed to me . hold your peace , quoth t●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 exp●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 counterva●le mans life . but if they would thus say ; that the breaking of iustice , and the transgression of lawes is recompenced with this punishmēt , and not the losse of the money , 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 , no● 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 cōmandement ? 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 ●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 le●●●●eare , and in more hope that the ●●●● shall not be bewrayed or knowne , seeing the party is now dead , and ●id out of the way , which onely might haue vtt●●●● ▪ and disclosed it . but if he 〈…〉 and d●s●●i●● 〈…〉 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 cōdemned to be cōmon 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 descri●d by the rounding of his head , and his c●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 sh●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 ●● 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 ●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 stuffe● , that he made the proverbe true , which saith : he that shooteth oft , at the last shall h●● 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 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 whē 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 gr●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 ●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 cha●ed at it , and was in such a rage , that he could not refraine himselfe from ch●ding , scolding , raising , and reviling . he called the fellow ribbald , villaine , javell , backbiter , slaunderer , and the child of perdi●ion : citing therewith terrible threarnings out of holy scripture . then the jeasting sco●●er began to play the sco●●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 y● church : the scorners of hel●z●us , whiles he went vp into the house of god , felt the zeale of the bald , as peradventure this scorning villaine r●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 ●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 hi● 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 meane time with england ; and yet agree all in this , to make with the english-men , and with most sure and strong bonds to binde that weake and feeble friendship , so that they must be called friends , and had in suspition as enemies . and that therefore the scots must be had in a readinesse , as it were in a standing , ready at all occasions ( in case the english-men should stir never so little ) incontinent to set upon them . and moreover , privily and secretly ( for openly it may not be done , by the truce that is taken ; ) privily therefore , i say , to make much of some peere of england , that is banished his countrey , which must clayme title to the crowne of the realme , and affirme himselfe just inheritor thereof : that by this subtile meanes they may hold to them the king , in whom else they have but small trust and affiance . here , i say , where so great and high matters be in consultation ▪ where so many noble and wise men counsaile their king onely to warre : here if i , silly man , should rise up , and will them to turne over the lea●e , and learne a new lesson , saying ; that my counsaile is not to meddle with italie , but to tarry still at home ; and that the kingdome of france alone is almost greater , then that it may well begoverned of one man ; so that the king should not need to study how to get more : and then should propose unto them the decrees of the people that be called the ach●riens , which be scituate over-against the iland of vtopia , on the south-east side . these ach●riens once made warre , in their kings quarrell , for to get him another kingdome which hee laid clayme unto , and advanced himselfe right inheritor to the crowne thereof , by the title of an old alliance . at the last , when they had gotten it , and saw that they had even as much vexation and trouble in keeping it , as they had in getting it ; and that either thei● new conquered subjects by sundry occasions were making daily insurrections to rebell against them , or else that other countries were continually with divers in●odes and forraines invading them ; so that they were ever fighting , either for them , or against them , and never could breake up the● campes : seeing themselues in the meane season , pilled and impoverished , their money carryed out of the realme ; their owne men killed , to maintaine the glory of another nation : when they had no warre , peace nothing better then warre , by reason that their people in warre had so injured themselues to corrupt and wicked manners , that they had taken a delight and pleasure in robbing and stealing ; that through man●aughter , they had gathered boldnesse to mischiefe ; that their lawes were had in contempt , and nothing set by or regarded ; that their king being troubled with the charge and governance of two kingdomes , could not , nor was ●ot able perfectly to discharge his office towards them both : seeing againe , that all these evils and troubles were endlesse , at the last laid their heads together , and like faithfull and loving subjects gaue to their king free choise and liberty to keepe still the one of these two kingdomes , whether he would ; alledging , that he was not able to keepe both , and that they were more then might well be governed of halfe a king , for as much as no man would be content to take him for his mulettor , that keepeth another mans mules besides his . so this good prince was constrained to be content with his old kingdome , and to giue over the new to one of his friends , who shortly after was violently driven out . furthermore , if i should declare vnto them , that all this busie preparance to warre , whereby so many nations for his sake should be brought into a troublesome hurly-burly , when all his coffers were emptied , his treasures wasted , and his people destroyed , should at the length through some mischance , be in vaine , and to none effect : and that therefore it were best for him to content himselfe with his owne kingdome of france , as his fore-fathers and predecessors did before him ; to make much of it , to enrich it , and to make it as flourishing as he could ; to endevour himselfe to loue his subjects , and againe to be beloved of them ; willingly to liue with them , peaceably to governe them , and with other kingdomes not to meddle , seeing that which he hath already is even enough for him , yea , and more then he can well turne him to . this mine advice , master moore , how thinke you , would it not be hardly taken ? so god helpe me , not very thankfully ▪ ( quoth i. ) well let vs proceed then ( quoth he . ) suppose that some king and his councell were together , whetting their wlts , and devising what subtile craft they might invent , to enrich the king with great treasures of money . first , one coun saileth to raise and enhance the valuation of money , when the king must pay any ; and againe , to call downe the value of coyne to lesle then it is worth , when he must receiue or gather any : for thus , great summes shall be paid with a little money ; and where little is due , much shall be received . another counsaileth to faine warre : that when under this colour and pretence the king hath gathered great abundance of money , he may , when it shall please him , make peace with great solemnity , and holy ceremonies , to blind the eyes of the poore communalty , as taking pitty and compassion forsooth vpon mans bloud , like a loving and a mercifull prince . another putteth the king in remembrance of certaine old and mouth-eaten lawes , that of lo●g ti●e have not beene put in execution , which because no man can remember that they ▪ were made , every man hath transgressed . the fines of these lawes he counsaileth the king to require : for there is no way so profitable , nor more honourable , as that which hath a shew and colour of iustice . another adviseth him to forbid many things vnder great penalties and fines , specially such things as is for the peoples profit not to be vsed ; & afterward , to dispence for money with them which by this prohibition sustain losse and dammage : for by this means , the favor of the people is won , & profit riseth two wayes : first , by taking forfeits of them , whom covetousnesse of gaynes hath brought in danger of this statute ; and also by selling priviledges and licences : which the better that the prince is ▪ forsooth , the dearer he selleth them , as one that is loath to grant to any private person any thing that is against the profit of his people ; and therefore may set none , but at an exceeding deare price . another giveth the king counsel to endanger vnto ●ns grace the iudges of the realme , that he may have them ever on his side , and that they may in every matter dispute and reason for the kings right . yea , and further to call them into his pallace , and to require them , there to argue and discusse his matters in his owne presence : so there shall be no matter of his so openly wrong and unjust , wherein one or other of them , either because he will have something to alledge and object ; or that he is ashamed to say that which is said already ; or else to picke a thanke with his prince , will not finde some hole open to set a snare in , wherewith to take the contrary part in a trip . thus whiles the iudges cannot agree amongst themselves , reasoning and arguing of that which is plaine enough , & bringing the manifest truth in doubt : in the meane season , the king may take a fit occasion to understand the law as shall most make for his advantage , whereunto all other for shame , or for feare will agree . then the iudges may bee bold to pronounce on the kings side : for hee that giveth sentence for the king , cannot be without a good excuse : for it shall be sufficient for him to have equity on his part , or the bare words of the law , a wrythen and wrested understanding of the same ( or else , which with good and just iudges is of greater force then all lawes be ) the kings indisputable prerogative . to conclude , all the counsellers agree and consent together with the rich crassus , that no abundance of gold can be sufficient for a prince , which must keepe and maintaine an army : further more that a king , though he would , can doe nothing vnjustly . for all that men have , yea , also the men themselves be all his . and that every man hath so much of his owne , as the kings gentlenesse hath not taken from him . and that it shall be most for the kings advantage , that his subjects have very little or nothing in their possession , as whose safeguard doth herein consist , that his people doe not waxe wanton and wealthy through riches and liberty , because where these things be , there men be not wont patiently to obey hard , vnjust , and vnlawfull commandements . whereas on the other part , need and poverty doth hold downe and keepe vnder stout courages , and maketh them patient perforce , taking from them bold and rebelling stomackes . here againe if i should rise vp , and boldly affirme , that all these counsels be to the king dishonour and reproach , whose honour and safety is more and rather supported and vpholden by the wealth and riches of his people , then by his owne treasures ? and if i should declare that the communalty chooseth their king for their owne sake , and not for his sake : to the intent , that through his labour and study they might all live wealthy , safe from wrongs and injuries : and that therefore the king ought to take more care for the wealth of his people , then for his owne wealth , even as the office and duty of a shepheard is in that he is a shepheard , to feed his sheepe rather then himselfe . for as touching this , that they thinke the defence and maintenance of peace to consist in poverty of the people , the thing it self sheweth that they be farre out of the way : for where shall a man find more wrangling , quarrelling , brawling and chiding , then among beggers ? who bee more desirous of new mutations and alterations , then they that be not content with the present state of that life ? or finally , who be bolder stomacked to bring all in a burly-burly ( thereby trusting to get some wind-fall ) then they that have now nothing to leese ? and if any king were so smally regarded , & so lightly esteemed ; yea , so be-hated of his subjects , that other wayes hee could not keepe them in awe , but onely by open wrongs , by polling and shaving , and by bringing them to beggerie ; surely , it were better for him to forsake his kingdome then to hold it by that meanes : whereby though the name of a king be kept , yet the majesty is lost : for it is against the dignity of a king to have rule over beggers , but rather over rich and wealthy men . of this mind was the hardy and couragious fabrice , when he said ; that he had rather be a ruler of rich men , then be rich himselfe . and verily , one man to live in pleasure and wealth , whiles all all other weepe and smart for it , that is the part , not of a king , but a jaylour . to be short , as he is a foolish physitian , that cannot cure his patients disease , vnlesse he cast him in another sicknesse ; so he that cannot amend the liues of his subjects , but by taking from them the wealth and commodity of life : he must needs grant , that he knoweth not the wealth and commodity of life ; he must needs grant , that he knoweth not the feate how to gouerne men , but let him rather amend his owne life , renounce vnhonest pleasures , and forsake pride : for these be the chiefe vices that cause him to runne in the contempt or hatred of his people . let him liue of his owne , ●urting no man : lee him do cost not aboue his power : let him restraine wickednesse : let him prevent vices , and take away the occasions of offences by well-ordering his subjects , and not by suffering wickednes to encrease , afterward to be punished : let him not be too hastie in calling againe lawes which a custome hath abrogated ; especially such as have been ●ong forgotten , and never lacked nor needed . and let him neuer under the cloake and ●●●tence of transgression , take such fines and forfeits , as no iudge will suffer a private person to take , as unjust and full of guile . here if i should bring forth before them the law of the macarie●s , which be not farre distant from vtop●a , whose king , the day of his coronatio● is bound ( by a solemne oath , that he shall never at any time have in his treasure above a thousand pound of gold or silver . they say , that a very good king , which tooke farre more care for the wealth and commodity of his countrie , then for the enriching of himselfe , made this law to be a stop and barre to kings from heaping and whording vp so much money as might impoverish their people : for he fore-saw that this sum of treasure would suffice to support the king in battaile against his owne people , if they should chance to rebell : & also to maintaine his warres against the invasions of his forraine enemies . againe , he perceived the same stocke of money to be too little and vnsufficient to encourage and enable him wrongfully to take away other mens goods : which was the chiefe cause why y● law was made . another cause was this . he thought y● by this provision his people should not lack mony , wherewith to maintaine their daily occupying & chaffer . and seeing the king could not choose but lay out and bestow all that came in at oue the prescript summe of his stocke , he thought he would seeke no occasions to doe his subjects injury . such a king shall be feared of evill men and loved of good men . these , and such other informations , it i should vse among men wholly inclined and given to the contrary part , how deafe eares thinke you shall i haue ? deafe hearers doubtlesse ( quoth i. ) and in good faith no mervaile . and to be plaine with you , truly i cannot allow that such communication shall be vsed , or such counsell given , as you be sure shall never be regarded nor received : for how can so strange informations be profitable , or how can they be beaten into their heads , whose minds be already prevented , with cleane contrary perswasions ? this schoole philosophy is not unpleasant among friends in familiar communication , but in the counsels of kings , where great matters be debated and reasoned with great authority , these things haue no place . that is it which i meant ( quoth he ) when i said philosophy had no place among kings . indeed ( quoth i ) this schoole philosophy hath not : which thinketh all things meet for every place . but there is another philosophy more civill , which knoweth , as ye would say , her owne stage , and thereafter ordering and behaving her selfe in the play that she hath in hand , playeth her part accordingly with comelinesse , vttering nothing out of due order and fashion . and this is the philosophy that you must vse . or else whiles a comody of plautus is playing , and the vild bond-men scoffing and trifling among themselues , if you should suddenly come vpon the stage in a philosophers apparell , and rehearse out of octavia the place wherein seneca disputeth with nero : had it not beene better for you to haue played the dumme person , then by rehearsing that , which served neither for the time nor place to have made such a tragicall comedy or gallimalfry : for by bringing in other stuffe that nothing appertaineth to the matter , you must needs marre & prevent the play that is in hand , though the stuffe that you bring be much better . what part soever you have taken vpon you , play that as well as you can and make the best of it : and doe not therefore disturbe and bring out of order the whole matter , because that another , which is merrier and better commeth to your remembrance . so the case standeth in a common-wealth : and so it is in the consultations of kings and princes . if evill opinions and naughty perswasion , cannot be vtterly & quite plucked out of their hearts , if you cannot even as you would remedy vices , which vse and custome hath cōfirmed : yet for this cause you must not leaue and forsake the common-wealth : you must not forsake the ship in a tempest , because you cannot rule and keepe downe the winds . no nor you must not labour to driue into their heads new and strange informations , which you know well shall be nothing regarded with them that be of cleane contrary minds . but you must with a crafty wile & subtile train study and endevour your selfe , as much as in you lieth , to handle the matter wittily and handsomly for the purpose , and that which you cannot turne to good , so to order it that it be not very bad : for it is not possible for all things to be well , vnlesse all men were good : which i think will not be yet these good many yeares . by this meanes ( quoth he ) nothing else will be brought to passe ; but but whiles i goe about to remedy the madnesse of others , i should be even as mad as they : for if i should speake things that be true , i must needs speake such things : but as for to speake false things , whether that be a philosophers part or no i cannot tell , truly it is not my part . how beit this communication of mine though per adventure it may seeme vnpleasant to them , yet cannot i see why it should seeme strange , or foolishly newfangled . if so be that i should speake those things that plato faineth in his weale publike , or that the vtopians doe in theirs , these things though they were ( as they be indeed ) better , yet they might seeme spoken out of place . for as much as here amongst vs , every man hath his possessions severall to himselfe , and there all things be in commen . but what was in my communication contained , that might not , and ought not in any place to be spoken ? saving that to them which haue throughly decreed and determined with themselves to runne headlong on the contrary way , it cannot be acceptable and pleasant , because it calleth them backe , and sheweth them the jeopardies : verily if all things that evill and vitious manners have caused to seeme vnconvenient & naught should be refused , as things vnmeet and reproachfull , then we must among christian people winke at the most part of all those things which christ taught vs , and so straightly forbad them to be wincked at , that those things also which he whispered in the eares of his disciples , he commanded to be proclaimed in open houses . and yet the most part of them is more dissident from the manners of the world now a dayes , then my communication was . but preachers silly and wily men following swarme into the streetes , and daily wet to the skin with raine , and yet cannot perswade them to goe out of the raine , and to take their house , knowing well , that if they should goe out to them , they should nothing prevaile , nor winne ought by it , but with them be wet also in the raine , they doe keepe themselves within their houses , being content that they be safe themselves , seeing they cannot remedy the folly of the people . how be it doubtlesse master moore ( to speake truly as my mind giveth me ) where possessions be private , where money beareth all the stroake , it is hard and almost impossible that there the weale publike may justly be governed , and prosperously flourish ; vnlesse you thinke thus : that iustice is there executed , where all things come into the hands of evill men ; or that prosperity there flourisheth , where all is divided among a few : which few neverthelesse doe not leade their liues very wealthily , and the residue live miserably , wretchedly , and beggerly . wherefore , when i consider with my selfe , and weigh in my mind , the wise and godly ordinances of the vtopians ; among whom , with very few lawes all things be so well and wealthy ordered , that vertue is had in a price and estimation , and yet all things being there common , every man hath abundance of every thing . ag●●●●e , on the other part , when i compare with them so many nations ever making new lawes , yet none of them all well and sufficiently furnished with lawes : where every man calleth that he hath gotten , his owne proper and private goods , where so many new lawes daily made , be not sufficient for every man to enjoy , defend , and know from another mans that which he calleth his owne : which thing the infinite controversies in the law , daily rising , never to be ended , painly declare to be true . these things ( i say ) when i consider with my selfe , i hold well with plat● , and doe nothing mervaile that he would make no lawes for them , that refused those lawes , whereby all men should have and enjoy equall portions of wealths and commodities . for the wise man did easily fore-see , this to be the one and onely way to the wealth of a communalty , it equality of all things should be brought in and stablished . which i thinke is not possible to be observed , where every mans goods be proper and peculiar to himselfe : for where every man under certaine titles and pretences draweth , and plucketh to himselfe as much as he can ; so that a few divide among themselves all the whole riches , be there never so much abundance and store , there to the residue is left lacke and poverty . and for the most part it chanceth , that this latter sort is more worthy to enjoy that sta●e of wealth , then the other be : because the rich men be covetous crafty , and vnprofitable . on the other part , the poore be lowly , simple , and by their daily labour , more profitable to the common-wealth , then to themselues . thus i do fully perswade my selfe , that no equall and just distribution of things can be made , nor that perfect-wealth shall ever be among men , vnle●le this propriety be exiled and banished . but so long as it shall continue , so long shall remaine among the most and best part of men , the heauy and inevitable burthen of poverty and wretchednesle . which , as i grant that it may be somewhat cased , so i vtterly deny that it can wholly to be taken away : for if there were a statute made , that no man should haue in his stocke aboue a prescript and appointed summe of money : if it were by certaine lawes decreed , that neither the king should bee of too great power , neither the people too haughty and wealthy ; and that offices should not by inordinate sute , or by bribes and guifts : that they should neither bee bought nor sold ; nor that it should be needfull for the officers , to be at any cost or charge in their offices : for so occasion ●● given to them by fraud and ravine to gather up their money againe ; and by reason of guifts and bribes , the offices be given to rich men , which should r●ther have beene executed of wise men : by such lawes i say , like as sicke bodies that be desperate and past cure , be wont with continuall good cherishing to be kept and botched up for a time : so these evils also may be lightned and mitigated . but that they may be perfectly cured , brought to a good and upright state , it is not to be hoped for , whiles every man is master of his owne to himselfe . yea , and whiles you goe about to doe your cure of one part , you shall make bigger the sore of another part , so the helpe of one causeth anothers harme : for asmuch , as nothing can be given to any one unlesse it be taken from another . but i am of a contrary opinion ( quoth i ) for me thinketh that men shall never there live wealthy , where all things bee common : for how can there be abundance of goods , or of any thing , where every man withdraweth his hand from labour ? whom the regard of his owne gaines driveth not to worke , but the hope that he hath in other mens travailes maketh him sloathfull . then when they be pricked with poverty , and yet no man can by any law or right defend that for his owne , which he hath gotten with the labor of his own hands , shall not there of necessity be continuall sedition and bloodshed ? specially the authority and reverence of magistrates , being taken away , which , what place it may have with such men among whom is no difference , i cannot devise . i marvaile not ( quoth he ) that you be of this opinion . for you conceiue in your mind either none at all , or else a very false image and similitude of this thing . but if you had beene with me in vtopia , and had presently seene their fashions and lawes , as i did , which lived there fiue yeares , and more , & wold never haue come thence , but onely to make that new land knowne heere : then doubtlesse you would grant , that you never saw people well ordered , but onely there . surely ( quorh master peter ) it shall be hard for you to make me beleeve , that there is better order in that new land , then is here in the countries that we know . for good wits be as well here as there : and i thinke our common-wealths be ancienter then theirs ; wherein long vse and experience hath found out many things commodious for mans life ; besides that many things here among vs have beene found by chance , which no wit could ever have devised . as touching the ancientnesse ( quoth he ) of common-wealths , then , you might better judge if you had read the histories , and chronicles of that land , which , if we may beleeue , cities were there , before men were heere . now what thing soever hitherto by wit hath beene devised , or found by chance , that might be as well there as heere . but i thinke verily , though it were so that we did passe them in wit : yet in study , in trauell , and in laboursome endevour , they farre passe vs : for ( as their chronicles testifie ) before our arrivall there they never heard any thing of vs , whom they call the vltraequinoctialles : saving that once about 1200 yeares agoe , a certaine ship was lost by the i●● of vtopia , which was driven thither by tempest . certaine romans and egyptians were cast on land. which after that never went thence . marke now what profit they tooke of this one occasion through diligence and earnest trauaile . there was no craft nor science within the empire of rome whereof any profit could rise , but they either learned it of these strangers , or else of them , taking occasion to search for it , found it out . so great profit was it to them that ever any went thither , from hence . but if any like chance before this hath brought any man from thence hither , that is as quite out of remembrance , as this also perchance in time to come shall be forgotten , that ever i was there . and like as they quickly almost at the first meeting , made their owne , whatsoever is among us wealthily devised : so i suppose it would be long before we should receive any thing , that among them is better instituted then among us . and this i suppose is the chiefe cause why their common-wealths be wiselyer governed , and doe flourish in more wealth then ours , though wee neither in wit nor riches be their inferiours . therefore gentle master raphael ( quoth i ) i pray you and beseech you describe vnto us the iland . and study not to bee short : but declare largely in order their grounds , their rivers , their cities , their people , their manners , their ordinances , their lawes , and to bee short , all things that you shall thinke us desirous to know . and you sha●l thinke us desirous to know whatsoever we know not yet . there is nothing ( quoth hee ) that i will doe gl●dlier . for all these things i have fresh in minde : but the matter requireth leisure . let us goe in therefore ( quoth i ) to dinner , and afterward wee will bestow the time at our pleasure . content ( quoth hee ) be it . so wee went in and dined . when dinner was done , we came into the same place againe , and sate us downe upon the same bench , commanding our servants that no man should trouble us . then i and master peter giles , desired master raphael to performe his promise . hee therefore seeing us desirous and willing to hearken to him , when he had sate still and paused a little while , musing and bethinking himselfe , thus he began to speake . the end of the first booke . the second booke of the communication of raphael hythloday , concerning the best state of a common-wealth . containing the description of vtopia , with a large declaration of the politike government , and of all the good lawes and orders of the same iland . the iland of vtopia , containeth in bredth in the middle part of it ( for there it is broadest ) 200 miles . which bredth continueth through the most part of the land , saving that by little it cōmeth in , and waxeth narrower towards both the ends : which fetching about a circuit or compasse of 500 miles , doe fashion y● who le iland like to the new moone . between these two corners the sea rūneth in , dividing them a funder by the distance of 11 miles or there abouts , & there surmounteth into a large sea , which by reason that the land on every side of passeth it about , and sheltreth it from the winds , is not rough , nor mounteth not with great waves , but almost floweth quietly not much vnlike a great standing poole : and maketh well-nigh all the space within the belly of the land in māner of a haven : and to the great cōmodity of the inhabitants , receiveth in ships towards every part of the land . the forefront , or frontiers of the two corners , what with bords and shelves and what with rocke , be jeopardous and dangerous . in the middle distance between them both , standeth up above the water a great rock , which therefore it is is nothing perilous because it is in sight . vpon the top of this rock is a faire and strong tower builded , which they hold with a garrison of men . other rockes there be lying hid under the water , which therfore be dangerous . the channels be knowne onely to themselves . and therefore it seldome chanceth that any stranger unlesse he be guided by an vtopian , can come into this haven . insomuch that they themselves could scarcely enter without jeopardy , but that their way is directed and ruled by certaine land-markes standing on the shore . by turning translating , and removing the markes into other places , they may destroy their enemies navies , be they never so many . the outside or utter circuit of the land , is also full of havens , but the landing is so surely fenced , what by nature , & what by workmanship of mens hands , that a few defenders may drive back many armies howbeit as they say , and as the fashion of the place it selfe doth partly shew , it was not ever compassed about with the sea. but king vtopvs , whose name , as conquerour , the iland beareth : for before this time it was called abrax● ) which also brought the rude and wild people to that excellent perfection in all good fashions , humanity , and civill gentlenesse , wherein they now goe beyond all the people in the world : even at his arriving and entering vpon the land , forthwith obtaining the victory , caused fifteene miles space of vplandish ground , where the sea had no passage , to be cut and digged vp . and so wrought the sea round about the land. he set to this worke : not onely the inhabitants of this iland ( because they should not thinke it done in contumely and despight ) but also all his owne souldiours . thus the worke being divided into so great a number of workemen , was with exceeding marvailous speed dispatched . insomuch that the borderers which at the first began to mocke , and to jest as the vaine enterprise , then turned their derision to mervaile at the successe , and to feare . there be in the iland fifty foure large and faire cities , or shiere towns , agreeing altogether in one tongue , in like manners , institutions , and lawes , they be all set and situate alike , and in all points fashioned alike , as farre forth as the place or plot suffereth . of these cities , they that be nighest together be twenty foure miles asunder . againe , there is none of them distant from the next , aboue one dayes journey a foot . there come yearely to amaurote , out of every city , three old men wise and well experienced , there to intreate and debate , of the common matters of the land. for this city ( because it standeth just in the midst of the iland , and is therefore most meet for the ambassadours of all parts of the realme ) is taken for the chiefe and head citty . the precincts and bounds of the shieres , be so commodiously appointed out , and set forth for the cities , that none of them all hath of any side les●e then twenty miles of ground , and of some side also much more , as of that part where the cities be of further distance a sunder . none of the cities desire to enlarge the bounds and limits of thei●●●ir●s . for they count themselves rather the good husbands , then the owners of their lands . they have in the countrey in all parts of the shiere , houses or f●rmes builded , well appointed and furnished with all sorts of instruments and tooles belonging to husbandry . these houses be inhib●●●d of the citizens , which co●…ithe●●o dwell by course . no houshold or farme in the countrey hath fewer then fifty persons men and women , besides two bondmen , which be all vnder the rule and order of the good man , and the good wife of the house , being both very sage , discreet ; and ancient persons . and every thirty farmes or families have one head ruler , which is called a philarch , being as it were a head bayli●●e , out of every one of these families or farmes , commeth every yeare into the city twenty persons , which have continued two yeares before in the countrey . in their place so many fresh be sent thither out of the city , who , of them that have beene there a yeare already , and be therefore expert and cunning in husbandry , shall be instructed and taught . and they the next yeare shall teach other . this order is vsed for feare that either scarcenesse of victuals , or some other like incommodity should chance , through lacke of knowledge : if they should be altogether new , and fresh , and vnexpert in husbandry . this manner and fashion , of yearely changing and renewing the occupiers of husbandry , though it be solemne and customably vsed , to thinke that no man shall be constrained against his will to continue long in that hard and sharp kind of life ; yet many of them have such a pleasure and delight in husbandry , that they obtaine a longer space of yeares . th●se husbandmen , plough and till the ground , and breed vp cattell , ●nd provide and make ready wood , which they carry to the city either by land or water , as they most conveniently . they bring vp a g●… of 〈…〉 and that ●y 〈…〉 poll● ▪ cie : for ▪ the 〈…〉 vpon the egges ; but by 〈…〉 in a certaine equ●… they bring life into them , and hatch them . the chickens , as soone as they be come out of the shell , follow men and women in stead of the hennes . they bring vp very few horses : nor none , but very fierce ones : and that for none other vse or purpose , but onely to exercise their 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 oa● of the city : where without ●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 b●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 dig●i●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 a●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 , no● 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 ●● sternes , which doth them as good service . the city is compassed about with a high and thicke stone wall full of tu●●ets and bulwarkes . a dry ditch , but deep and b●o●d , and over-grown with bus●●● , b●●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 joy●●d together in a long row through the whole streete , without any partition 〈…〉 seperation . the streetes be ●●v●●●y ●●●●● broad . o● the ba●… of the house ▪ ●…gh the 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 . eve●… 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 . a●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 g●llant ●ort , with ●●●●●●●●●es one over another . the out-sides of y● wall● be made either of hand fi●●t , or of plaister , or else of brick , and the inner-sides be well strengthened with timber work . the roofes be plain and ●●●t , covered with a certaine kind of plaster , that is of ●o cost , and yet so tempered that ●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 gl●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 i● better kept out . of the magistrates . every thirty fa●●es o● f●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 c●lled the tranibore , now the chiefe philarch. moreover as concerning the election of the prince , all ●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 ● , 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 ●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 m●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 a● 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 , re●i●t , and overcome the the puissance of the vices : by what craft they frustrate their purposes : and finally by what ●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 call thein ? put thereto all rich men , specially all landed men , which commonly be called gentlemen , and noblemen . take into this number also their servants : i meane all that flocke of stout bragging rushbucklers . ●oyne to them also sturdy and valiant beggers , cloaking their idle life vnder the colour of some disease or sicknesse . and truly you shall find them much fewer then you thought , by whose labour all these things are wrought , that in mens affaires are now daily vsed and frequented . now consider with your selfe , of these few that doe worke , how few be occupyed , in necessary workes : for where money beareth all the swing , there many vaine and superfluous occupations must needs be vsed to serve onely for riotous superfluity , and vnhonest pleasure : for the same multitude that now is occupyed in worke , if they were divided into so few occupation , as the necessary vse of nature requireth , in so great plenty of things a● then of necessity would e●due , doubtlesse the prices would be too little for the artificers to maintaine their living . but if all these , that be now busied about unprofitable occupations , with all the whole fo●ke of thē that live idlely & sloathfully , which consume and wast every one of them more of these things that come by other mens labour , then two of the workmen themselves doe : if all these ( i say ) were set to profitable occupations : you easily perceive how little time would be enough , yea , and too much to store vs with all things that may be requisite either for necessity or commodity , yea or for pleasure , so that the same pleasure be true and naturall . and this in viopia the thing it selfe maketh manifest and plaine . for there in all the city with the whole country , or shire adjoyning to it , scarcely fiue hundred persons of all the whole number of men and women , that be neither too old nor too weake to worke , be licensed and discharged from labour . among them be the syphogrants ( who though they be by the lawes exempt and privileged from labour ) yet they exempt not themselves : to the intent they may the rather by their example to provoke others to worke . the fame vocation from labour doe they also enjoy , to whom the people perswaded by the commendation of the priests , and secret election of the syphogrant● , have given a perpetuall licence , from labour to learning . but if any one of them prove not according to the expectation and hope of him conceived , he is forthwith plucked backe to the company of artificers . and contrariwise , and often it chanceth that a handicrafts man doth so earnestly bestow his vacant and spare houres in learning , and through diligence so profiteth therein , that he is taken from his handy occupation , and promoted to the company of the learned . out of this order of the learned be chosen ambassadours , priests , tranibores , and finally the prince himselfe . whom they in their old tongue call barzanes , and by a newer name , adamus . the residue of the people being neither idle , nor yet occupyed about vnprofitable exercises , it may be easily judged in how few houres how much good worke by them may be done and dispatched , towards those things that i have spoken off . this commodity they have also above other , that in the most part of necessary occupations they need not so much worke , as other nations doe . for first of all the building or repairing of houses asketh every where so many mens co●…ll labour , because that the vnth●…y h●●re s●lfereth the houses that his father b●●lded , in continuance of time , to fall in decay . so that which he might haue vpholden with little cost , h●● successor is constrained to build it againe a new , to his great charge . yea many 〈…〉 also the house that stood one m●n in much money : and another is of so nice and so delicate a mind , that he setteth nothing by it . and it being neglected , & therefore shortly falling into ruine , he buildeth vp another in another place with no lesse cost and charge . but among the vtopians , where all thing be set in good order , and the common-wealth in a good stay , it seldome chanceth , that they choose a new plot to build an house ●pon . and they doe not onely find speedy 〈…〉 quicke remedies for present 〈…〉 but also prevent them th●● be like to fall . and by 〈…〉 their houses con●… l●st very long with little labour and sm●ll reparations , ●●omuch that these kind of workemen sometimes have almost ●…hing to doe . but that ●●●y ●e commanded to hew tim●er at home , and to square and 〈…〉 vp stones , to the intent that if any worke chance , it may the speed●●●r ●…se . now sir , in their apparell , ●●●k● ( i pray you ) how 〈…〉 they need . first ●…ll , while ▪ they be at worke , they be covered homely ●…ther , or ●ki● , that will ●●st s●…v●●re● ▪ when they go 〈…〉 , they c●st vpo● them 〈…〉 hideth the other ●…pp●rell . these 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 i 〈…〉 all of o●… and that is the naturall colour of the wooll . they therefore doe not onely spend much wollen cloth , then is spent in other countries , but also the same standeth them in much lesse cost . but linnen cloath is made with lesse labour , and is therefore had more in vse . but in linnen cloath only whitenesse ; in wollen , onely clenlinesse is regarded . as for the smalnesse or finenesse of the thred , that is nothing passed for . and this is the cause wherefore in other places foure or fiue cloath gownes of divers colours , and as many silke coates b● not enough for one man. yea , and if he be of the dilicate and nice sort , tenne be too few : where as there one garment will serve a man most commonly two years : for why should he desire more ? seeing if he had them , he should not be the better hapt or covered from cold , neither in his apparell any whit the comlier . wherefore , seeing they be all exercised in profitable occupations , and that few artificiers in the same crafts be sufficient : this is the cause that plenty of all things being among them , they doe sometimes bring forth an innumerable company of people to amend the high-wayes , if any be broken . many times also , when they have no such worke to be occupyed about , an open proclamation is made , that they shall bestow fewer houres in worke : for the magistrates doe not exercise their citizens against their will● in vnneedfull labours . for why , in the institution of the wea●● publike , this end is onely and chiefly pretended and minded , that what t●… may possibly be spared from the necessary occupation● and affaires of the common-wealth , all that the citizens should withdraw from the ●…ily service to the free liberty of the mi●d and gar●●shing of the same . for herein they suppose the felicity of this life to consist . of their living and mutuall conversation together . but now will i declare how the citizens vse themselves one to another : what familiar occupying and entertainment , there i● among the people , and what fashion they vse in the distribution of every thing . first , the city consisteth of ●●●●lie , the f●●●lies most co●●o●ly be made of ki●●●d . for the women when they be married ●● a l●●full ●ge , they goe into their husb●●ds house . but the male children , with all the whole 〈…〉 off-spring 〈…〉 still in their 〈…〉 fi●●●● 〈…〉 be governed of the 〈…〉 he dote for age : for then the next to him in age , is placed in his roome . but to the intent the prescript number of the citizens should neither decrease ; nor aboue measure increase , it is ordained that no family , which in every city be sixe thousand in the whole , besides them of the countrey , shall at once haue ●ewer children of the age of fourteene yeares or thereabout , then ten , or more then sixteene ; for of children under this age , no number can be prescribed or appointed . this measure or number is easily observed and kept , by putting them that in fuller families be above the number into families of smaller increase . but if chance be that in the whole citty , the store increase above the just number , wherewith they fill vp the lacke of other cities . but if so be that the multitude throughout the whole iland , passe and exceed the due number , then they choose out of every city certaine citizens , and build up a towne under their owne lawes in the next land where the inhabitauts have much waste and unoccupied ground , receiving also of the same countrey people to them , if they will joyne and dwell with them . they thus joyning and dwelling together doe easily agree in one fashion of living , and that to the great wealth of both the peoples : for they so bring the matter about by their lawes , that the ground which before was neither good nor profitable for the one nor for the other , is now sufficient and fruitfull enough for them both . but if the inhabitants of the land , will not dwell with them to be ordered by their lawes , then they drive them out of those bounds which they have limited and appointed out for themselves . and if they resist and rebell , then they make warre against them . for they count this the most just cause of warre , when any people holdeth a piece of ground voyd and vacant to no good nor profitable use , keeping other from the use and possession of it , which notwithstanding by the law of nature ought thereof to be nourished and relieved . if any chance doe so much diminish the number of any of their cities , that it cannot bee filled up againe , without the diminishing of the just number of the other cities ( which they say chanced but twice since the beginning of the land , through a great pestilent plague ) then they fulfill and make up the number with citizen , fet●hed out of their owne forraigne townes , for they had rather suffer their forraigne townes to decay and perish , then any city of their owne i●and to be diminished . but now againe to the conversation of the citizens among themselves . hands of their bondmen : for they permit not their free citizens to accustome themselves to the killing of beasts , through the use whereof they thinke , clemencie the gentlest affection of our nature by little and little , to decay and perish . neither they suffer any thing that is filthy , loathsome , or uncleanly , to be brought into the city , left the ayre by stench thereof infected and corrupt , should cause pestilent disease● . moreover , every street hath certaine great large hals set in equall distance one from another , every one knowne by a ●●verall name . in these hals dwell the syphogrants . and to every one of the same halles , be appointed thirty families , on either side fifteene . the stewards of every hall , at a certaine houre come into the meat markets , where they receiue meate according to the number of their hals . but first and chiefely of all , respect is had to the sicke , that be cured in the hospitals . for in the circuit of the city , a little without the walls , they have foure hospitals , so big , so wide , so ample , and so large , that they may seeme foure little townes , which were devised of that bignesse , partly to the intent the sick be they never so many in number , should not lye too throng or strait , and therefore uneasily , and incommodiously : and partly that they which were taken and holden with contagious diseases , such as be wont by infection to creepe from one to another , might be laid a farre from the company of the residue . these hospitals be so well appointed , and with all things necessary to health so furnished , and moreover so diligent attendance through the continuall presence of cunning physitians is given , that though no man be sent t●●ther against his will , yet notwithstanding there is no sicke person in all the city , that had not rather lye there then at home at his owne house . when the steward of the sicke hath received such meates as the physitians haue prescribed , then the best is equally divided among the halls according to the company of every one , saving there is had a respect to the prince , the bishop , the tranibores , and to ambassadours and all strangers , if there be any , which be very few and seldome . but they also when they be there , have certaine severall houses appointed and prepared for them . to these halls at the set houres of dinner and supper , commeth all the whole syphograntie or ward , warned by the noise of a brazen trumpet : except such as be sicke in the hospitals , or else in their owne houses . howbeit , no man is prohibited or forbid , or after the halls be served to fetch home meate out of the market to his owne house ; for they know that no man will doe it without a cause reasonable . for though no man be prohibited to dine at home , yet no man doth it willingly : because it is counted a point of small honesty . and also it were a folly to take the paine to dresse a bad dinner at home , when they may be welcome to good and fine fare so nigh hand at the hall . in this hall , all vile service , and all slavery , with all laboursome toyle , and drudgery , and base businesse , is done by bondmen . but the women of every family by course have the office and charge of cookery for seething and dressing the meate , and ordering all things thereto belonging . they sit at three tables or more , according to the number of their company . the men sit vpon the beuch next the wall , and the women against them on the other side of the table , and if any sudden evill should chance to them , as many times happeneth to women with child , they may rise without trouble or disturbance of any body , and goe thence into the nursery . the nurses sit seyerall alone with their young sucklings , in a certaine parlour appointed and deputed to the same purpose , never without fire and cleane water , nor yet without cradles , that when they will they may lay downe the young infants , and at their pleasure take them out of their swathing cloathes , and hold them to the fire , and refresh them with play . 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 i● 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 , takē 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 sigh● , 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 past●●es . this fashion and trade of li●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 ther● be poore or needy . in the counsell of amaur●●● , whether as i said , every city se●●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 , madd●● , 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 tra●●●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 ●●ea●●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 ma●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 repug●●●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 vse● , not only in their common hal● , but ●● every mans private house . i ●…more or the same 〈…〉 they make great chaine , s●●●● , and gyues , wherein they ●●● their bond-men . finally , whosoever for a ●●●●●sence be ●●●●med , by their 〈…〉 , ●ang ●●●g , or gold : vpon their f●●gers they weare rings of gold : and about their necke 〈…〉 of ●…d : & in conclusion then 〈…〉 tied with gold . thus by ●●●●eanes p●●●●ble they p●o●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 f●rthing . they gather also pearles by the sea sid● , and d●●●onds and carbun●l●● upon certaine rocke , and yet they s●●ke ●●● for them : but by chance finding them , they ●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 ●ore growne in yeare● and dis●retio● , perceiue that ●o●e but children doe weare such t●ye and trifles : they ●●● them away even of the●… shame astnesse , without 〈◊〉 ●●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 amauro●e , wh●les i was there . and because they came to ●●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 kn●w the f●shions and manners of the vt●pians , among wh●● they perceived no 〈◊〉 given to sumptuou● app●r●l● , 〈◊〉 to be contemned , gold al●o to be ●●●●nied and reproachf●ll , w●re wo●t to come thither in very ho●ely and simple array . but the inemolians because they dwell farre thence , and had very little acquai●●●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 gorg●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 v●●p●ans . so there came in foure ambassadours with one hundred s●rvant , all apparelled in changeable colour● : the mo●t of them in ●●●kes : the ambassadours themselves ( for ●t home ●● their owne country they were noble me● ) ●● 〈◊〉 of gold , with great 〈◊〉 ●● gold , with gold hanging ●● then 〈…〉 gold 〈◊〉 vpon their fingers , 〈…〉 and 〈◊〉 of gold vp● th●… , which glistered full of pearles and precious sto●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 r●iment of the vt●pians . for all the people were s●●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 m●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 v●lest and most abject of them for lords : judged them by then we●●ing of golden ch●●nes to be bondmen . yea you should have ●●●e children also , that had cast away their pearles and precious stor●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 ●●●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 ea●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 th●re a day or two , and saw so great abundance of gold so light●y ●…d , 〈…〉 lesse reproach , 〈…〉 them 〈…〉 that , more gold in the 〈◊〉 and gyve ▪ or one ●●gitive bondman , then all the ●●●tly ornaments of them three 〈◊〉 worth : they began to abate their courage , and for very sh●●e ●ud away all that gorgious array , whereof they were so proud . and specially when they ●●d ●●lked familiarly with the 〈◊〉 , and had learned all their ●●●hions and opinions . for they 〈◊〉 that any men be ●o foolish , as to have delight and pleasure in the doubtfull glistering of a little ●●●●●ing 〈◊〉 , which may behold a●y of the 〈◊〉 , or else the 〈◊〉 it selfe . or that any 〈…〉 to 〈…〉 the ●… ▪ the 〈…〉 three 〈…〉 , which 〈…〉 ( 〈…〉 ●ever ●… ) 〈…〉 ●…et 〈…〉 . th●● 〈…〉 th●t gold , which of the owne 〈◊〉 , ●●… so ●●profitable , ●● now among all people in ●● high estimation ▪ ●… ▪ himselfe , by whom yea and ●o● the vse of whom it is so much set by , is in much lesse estimation , then the gold it selfe . insomuch that a ●●mpish block-head churle , and which hath no more wit then an a●●e , yea and as full of ●●ughtinesse , as of folly , shall have neverthelesse many wise and good men in subjection and bondage , onely for this , because he h●th a great heape of gold . which i● it should be taken from him by any fortune , or by some subtill wile and cautle of the law , ( which no les●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 over●… money . but they much more mervaile at and de●●st the madnesse of them , which to those rich men , in whose deb● 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 ●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 pu●●●● , 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 ●●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 ●a●gl●● . but as they in all thing● be almost equall to our old and ancient clarkes ; so our ●ew 〈…〉 in subtill inventio●… 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 tha● 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 , ye● , and pointed to of us even with our finger . but they be in the course of the starres , and the moving● of the heavenly ●p●●ares very expert and ●…ng . they have also 〈◊〉 ex●ogitated and devised instruments of divers 〈…〉 wherein is exactly comprehended and conta●●ed the moving● and 〈…〉 or the sunne , the moone , and of all the other starres , which appeare in 〈…〉 horizon . but 〈…〉 the 〈…〉 and d●… 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 ●●bbing and flowing , and salt●●●●ie of the sea , and finally of the originall beginning , and na●●●e o● heaven and of the world , they ●●l● . par●ly the s●me opinious that our old philosophers hold , and partly as our philosophers vary among themselves , so they also , wh●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 the●● reasons and opinions ●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 ●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 i● what thing be it one or more the felicity o● man consisteth . but in this point they seeme almost too much given and inclined to 〈…〉 opinion of them , which de●end pleasure , wherein they determine either all or the chiefest part of mans felicity to re●t . and ( which is m●●● to be ●●●v●●●ed at ) the defence of this so d●…y and 〈…〉 an opinion they fetch even from their gra●e , sharpe , bitter , and ●●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 f●… , th●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 ●● these principles were condemned and disanulled , then without any delay , they pronounce no man to be so foolish , which would not doe ●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 pa●●ed over all his life unpleasantly , that is to say , miserably , shall have no reward after his death ? but ●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 de●●ne vertue to be life ordered according to nature , and that we be hereunto ordained of god. and that he d●th follow the cou●●e of nature , which in desi●ing and refusing thing● is ruled by reason . furthermore ▪ the reason 〈…〉 and prin●… the lo●● ●●d veneration of the divine m●●●ty . or whose goodnesse it is ●●at we be , and that wee be ●n possibility to attaine felicity . and that seconda●●ly it both stir●●th and provoketh us to lead ●ur life out of c●re in joy and ●…h ; and also moveth us to 〈…〉 and further all other in re●p●●● of the society of nature to 〈…〉 and e●joy the same . for 〈…〉 ●ever man so earnest 〈…〉 ●●llo●er of ve●…e 〈…〉 pleasu●● ▪ that would s● enjoyne your labours , watchings , and fastings , but hee would also exhort you to ●a●e , ●g●…n , re●●eve to your power , the l●●ke and misery of others , pr●is●●g the same a●● deed of humanity and pitty . then i● it be a point of humanity , for man to ●●ing health and comfort to man , and specially ( which is a vertue most peculiarly belonging to man ) to ●●itig●te and ass●●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 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 , ●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 ple●sure , as their end and felicity . pleasure they call every motion , and state of the body or mind , wherein man hath naturally delectation . appetite th●y joyne to nature , and that ●ot without a good cause . for like as , not onely the senses , but also ●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 sp●ke of before . which the better gownes they have on , the better men they thinke themselves . in the which thing , they doe twise er●e . ●●● they be no lesse deceived , i● that they thinke their gowne the better then they be , in that they thinke themselves the better . for if you consider the profi●●ble use of the garment , why should wooll of a fi●er spunne ●…eed , be thought better , then the wooll of a course spunne ●●●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 lo●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 ? d●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 tho● 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 slaughter , and the expectation of tearing in peeces the beast doth please thee : thou shouldest rather be moved with pitty to see a silly innocent hare murdered of a dogge : the weake of the stronger , the fearefull of the fierce , the innocent of the cruell and unmercifull . therefore all this exercise of hunting , as a thing unworthy to be vsed of freemen , the vtopians have rejected to their butchers , to the which craft ( as we said before ) they appoint their bondmen . for they count hunting the lowest , the vilest , and most abject part of butchery , and the other parts of it , more profitable , and more honest , as bringing much more commodity , in that they kill beasts onely for necessity . whereas the hunter secketh nothing but pleasure of the silly and wofull beasts slaughter and murder . the which pleasure in beholding death , they thinke doth rise in the very beasts , either of a cruell affection or mind , or else to be changed in continuance of time into cruelty , by long vse of so cruell a pleasure . these therefore and all such like , which be innumerable , though the common sort of people doth take them for pleasures , yet they seeing there is no naturall pleasantnesse in them , doe plainly determine them to haue no affinity with true and right pleasure . for as touching that they doe commonly moue the sence with delectation ( which seemeth to be a worke of pleasure ) this doth nothing diminish their opinion . for not the nature of the thing but their perverse and lewd custome is the cause hereof . which causeth them to accept bitter or sower things for sweet things . even as women with child in their vicia● and corrupt tast , thinke pitch and ●allow sweeter then honey . howbeit no mans judgement depraved and corrupt , eyther by sicknesse , or by custome , can change the nature of pleasure , more then it can doe the nature of other things . they make divers k●nds of pleasures . for some they attribute to the soule , and some to the body . to the soule they give intelligence , and that delication , that commeth of the contemplation of truth . here●nto is joyned the pleasant remembrance of the good life past . the pleasure of the body they divide into two parts . the first is , when delectation is sensible felt and perceived , which many times chanceth by the renuing and refreshing of those parts , which our naturall heate dryeth up . this commeth by meate and drinke . and sometimes whiles those things be expulsed , and voyded , whereof is in the body over great abundance . this pleasure is felt , when we doe our naturall ●asement , or when we be doing the act of generation , or when the itching of any part is eased with rubbing or scratching . sometimes pleasure riseth exhibiting to any member nothing that it desireth , nor taking from it any paine that it feeleth , which neverthelesse tickleth and moveth our sences with a certaine secret efficacie , but with a manifest motion turneth them to it . as is that which commeth of musicke . the second part of bodily pleasure they say , is that which consisteth and resteth in the quiet and upright state of the body . and that truly is every mans owne proper health , intermingled and disturbed with no griefe . for this , if they be not letted nor assaulted with no griefe , is delectable of it selfe , though it be moved with no externall or outward pleasure . for though it be not so plaine and manifest to the sence , as the greedy lust of eating & drinking yet neverthelesse , many take it for the chiefest pleasure . all the vtopians grant it to be a right soveraigne pleasure , and as you would say the foundation and ground of all pleasures , as which even alone is able to make the state and condition of life delectable and pleasant . and it being once taken away , there is no place left for any pleasure . for to be without griefe not having health , that they call unsensibility , and not pleasure . the vtopians have long ago● rejected and condemned ●he opinion of them , which said , that stedfast and quiet health , ( for this question also hath beene diligently debated among them ) ought not therefore to be counted a pleasure , because they say it cannot be presently and sensibly perceived and felt by some outward motion . but of the contrary part , now they agree almost all in this , that health is a most soveraigne pleasure . for seeing that in sicknesse ( say they ) is griefe , which is a mortall enemy to pleasure , even as sicknesse is to health , why should not then pleasure be in the quietnes of health ? for they say it maketh nothing to this matter , whether you say that sicknesse is a griefe , or that in sicknesse is griefe for all commeth to one purpose . for whether health be a pleasure it selfe , or a necessary cause of pleasure , as fire is of heat , truly both wayes it followeth , that they cannot be without pleasure , that be in perfect health . furthermore whiles we eate ( say they ) then health , which began to be appaired , fighteth by the helpe of food against hunger . in the which fight , whiles health by little and little getteth the vpper hand , that same proceeding , and ( as we would say ) that onwardnesse to the wonted strength , ministreth that pleasure , whereby we be so refreshed . health therefore , which in the conflict is joyfull , shall it not be merry , when it hath gotten the victory ? but as soone as it hath recovered the pristinate strength , which thing only in all the sight it coveted , shall it incontinent be astonied ? nor shall it not know nor imbrace the owne wealth and goodnesse ? for where it is said , health cannot be felt , this they thinke is nothing true . for what man walking , say they , feeleth not himselfe in health , but he that is not ? is there any man so possessed with stonish ●nsensibility , or with lethargie , that is to say , the sleeping sicknesse , that he will not grant health to be acceptable to him , and delectable ? but what other things is delectation , then that which by another name is called pleasure a they imbrace chiefly the pleasures of the mind . for them they count the chiefest and most principall of all . the chiefe part of them they thinke doth come of the exercise of vertue , and conscience of good life . of these pleasures that the body ministreth , they give the preheminence to health . for the delight of eating and drinking , and whatsoever hath any like pleasantnesse , they determine to be pleasures much to be desired , but no otherwayes then for healths sake . for such things of their owne proper nature be not so pleasant , but in that they resist sicknesse privily stealing on : therefore , like as it is a wisemans part , rather to avoid sicknesse , then to wish for medicines , and rather to drive away and put to flight carefull griefes , then to call for comfort : so it is much better not to need this kind of pleasure , then thereby to be eased of the contrary griefe . the which kind of pleasure , if any man take for his felicity , that man must needs grant , that then he shall be in most felicity , if he live that life , which 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 , i● 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 ●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 , th●●●● 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 witte● , delighting in quietnesse , and when need requireth , able to abide and suffer much bodily labour . else they be not greatly desirous and fond of it● : 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 ●ame , that i merv●●le at it , saving that the most part of them were fine , a●d cho●… 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 sig●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 ●he ship in the stead of merchandise a prety far●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 las●aris . for theodorus i carried not with me , nor never a dictionarie , but hes●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 ald●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 natiō 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 ba●●●ile that they fought themselves , ●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 cōdemned 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 o●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 , c●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 thē 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 ●iligence and attendance about him : beleeuing this to be an honourable death . else he that killeth himselfe before that the priests & the counsell haue allowed the cause of his death , him as vnworthy either to be buried , or with fire to be consumed , they cast v●buried into some stinking marrish . the woman is not married before she be eighteene yeares old . the man is foure yeares elder before he marry . if eyther the man or the woman be proued to haue actually offended before their mariage , with another , the party that so hath trespassed , is sharpely punished . and both the offenders , be forbidden ever after in all their life to marry : vnlesse the fault be forgiven by the princes pardon . both the good man and good wife of the house , where that offence was committed , as being slacke and negligent in looking to their charge , be in danger of great reproach , and infamy . that offence is so sharpely punished , because they perceiue that vnlesse they be diligently kept from the liberty of this vice , few will joyne together in the loue of marriage , wherein all the life must be led with one , and also all the griefes and displeasures cōming therewith patiently be taken and born . furthermore in choosing wiues and husbands , they obserue earnestly and straightly a custome , which seemed to us very fond and foolish . for a sad and honest patron sheweth the woman be she maid or widdow , naked to the wooer . and likewise a sage and discreet man , exhibiteth the wooer naked to the woman . at this custome we laughed , and disallowed it as foolish . but they on the other part doe greatly wonder at the folly of all other nations , which in buying a colt , whereas a little money is in hazard , be so chary and circumspect , that though he be almost all bare , yet they will not buy him , unlesse the saddle and all the harnesse be taken off , least under those coverings be hid some gall or sore . and yet in chusing a wife , which shall be either pleasure or displeasure to them all their life after , they be so rechlesse , that all the residue of the womans body being eovered with cloathes , they esteeme her scarcely by one hand breadth ( for they can see no more but her face ) and so to joyne her to them not without great jeopardy of evill agreeing together , if any thing in her body after ward should chance to offend , and mislike them . for all men be not so wise , as to have respect to the vertuous condition of the party . and the endowments of the body , cause the vertues of the mind more to be esteemed and regarded : yea , even the marriages of wise men . verily so foule deformity may be hid under those coverings , that it may quite alienate and take away the mans mind from his wife , when it shall not be lawfull for their bodies to be separate againe . if such deformity happen by any chance after the marriage is consummate and finished , well , therein no remedy but patience . every man must take his fortune well in worth . but it were well done that a law were made wherby all such deceits might be eschewed , and avoided before hand . and this were they constrained more earnestly to looke vpon , because they onely of the nations in that part of the world be content every man with one wife a piece . and matrimony is there never broken , but by death : except adultery breake the bond , or else the intollerable wayward manners of either party . for if eyther of them find themselves for any such cause grieved , they may by the licence of the counsell , change and take another . but the other party liveth ever after in infamy , and out of wedlocke . howbeit the husband to put away his wife for no other fault , but for that some mishap is fallen to her body , this by no meanes they will suffer ? for they judge it a great point of cruelty , that any body in their most need of helpe and comfort , should be cast off and forsaken , and that old age , which both bringeth sicknesse with it , and is a sicknesse it selfe , should unkindly , and unfaithfully be delt withall . but now and then it chanceth , wheras the man and woman cannot well agree betweene themselves both of them finding other , with whom they hope to live more quietly and merrily , that they by the full consent of them both , be divorsed asunder and married againe to other . but that not without the authority of the councell . which agreeth to no divorses , before they and their wives have diligently tryed and examined the matter . yea , and then also they be loath to consent to it , because they know this to be the next way to breake love betweene man and wife , to be in easie hope of a new marriage . breakers of wedlocke be punished with most grievous bondage . and if both the offendors were married , then the parties which in that behalfe have suffered wrong , being divorced from the adulterers , be married together , if they will , or else to whom they lust . but if either of them both doe still continue in love toward so unkind a bed-fellow , the vse of wedlock is not to them forbidden , if the party faultlesse be disposed to follow in toyling and drudgery , ●he person , which for that offence is condemned to bondage . and very oft it chanceth , that the repentance of the one , and the earnest diligence of the other , doth so moue the prince with pitty and compassion , that he restoreth the bond person from seruitude , to liberty and freedome againe . but if the same party be taken e●●soones in that fault , there is no other way but death . to other trespasses no prescript punishment is appointed by any law . but according to the hainousnesse of the offence , or contrary , so the punishment is moderated by the discretion of the councell . the husbands chastice their wives , and the parents their children , unlesse they have done any so horrible an offence , that the open punishment thereof maketh much for the advancement of honest manners . but most commonly the most hainous faults be punished with the incommodity of bondage . for that they suppose to be to the offendors no le●se griefe , and to the common-wealth more profit , then if they should hastily put them to death , and so make them quite out of the way . for their commeth more profit of their labour , thē of their death , and by their example they feare other the longer from like offences . but if they being thus vsed , do● rebell and kicke againe , then forsooth they be ●laine as desperate and wild beasts , whom neither prison nor chaine could restraine and keepe vnder . but they , which take their bondage patiently , be not left al hopelesse . for after they haue beene broken and tamed with long miseries , if then they shew such repentance , as thereby it may be perceived that they be ●orier for their offence then for their punishment : sometimes by the princes prerogatiue , and sometimes by the voice or else consent of the people , their bondage either is m●ttigated , or cleane released and forgiven . he that mooveth to adultery is in no lesse danger and jeopardy , then if he had committed adultery in deed . for in all offences they count the intent and pretensed prpose as evill , as the act or deed it selfe , thanking that no let ought to excuse him , that did his best to haue no let . they haue singuler delight and pleasure in fooles . and as it is a great reproach to doe to any of them hurt or injury , so they prohibite not to take pleasure of foolishnesse . for that they think , doth much good to the fooles . and if any man be so sad and sterne , that he cannot laugh neither at their words , nor at their deeds , none of them be committed to his tuition : for feare least he would not intreat them gently and favourably enough : to whom they should bring no delectation ( for other good ●esse in them is none ) much les●e any profit should they yeeld him . to ●ocke a man for his deformity , or that he lacketh one part or limme of his body , is counted great dishonesty and reproach , not to him that is mocked , but to him that mocketh . which vnwisely doth imbraid any man of that as a vice , that was not in his power to eschew , also as they count and reckon very little wit to be in him , that regardeth not naturall beauty and comelinesse ; so to helpe the same with paintings , is taken for a vaine and a wanton pride , not without great infamy . for they know even by very experience , that no comelinesse of beauty doth so highly commend and advance the wiues in the conceits of their husbands , as honest conditions and lowlinesse : for as love is oftentimes wonne with beauty , so it is not kept , preserved and continued , but by vertue and obedience . they doe not onely feare their people from doing evill , by punishments , but also allure them to vertue with rewards of honour . therefore they set vp in the market place the images of notable men , and of such as have beene bountifull benefactors to the common-wealth , for the perpetuall memory of their good acts : and also that the glory and renowne of the ancestors may stirre and provoke their posterity to vertue . he that inordinatly and ambitiously desireth promotions , is left all hopelesse for ever attaining any promotion as long as he liveth . they live together lovingly : for no magistrate is either haughty or fearefull . fathers they be called , and like fathers they use themselves . the citizens ( as it is their duty ) willingly exhibit unto them due honour without any compulsion . nor the prince himselfe is not knowne from the other by princely apparell , or a robe of state , nor by a crowne or diade me royall , or cap of maintenance , but by a little sheafe of corne carried before him . and so a taper of waxe is borne before the bishop , whereby onely he is knowne . they have but few lawes . for to people to instruct and institute , very few doe suffice . yea , this thing they chiefly reproue among other actions , that inumerable books of laws & expositions vpon the same be not sufficient . but they think it against all right and justice , that men should be bound to those laws , which either be in number moe then be able to be read , or else blinder and darker , then that any man can well vnderstand them . furthermore they vtterly exclude and banish all atturnies , proctors , and sergeants at the law , which craftily handle matters , and subtilly dispute of the lawes . for they thinke it most meet , that every man should plead his owne matter , and tell the same tale to the iudge , that he would tell to his man of law . so shall there be lesse circumstance of words , & the truth shall sooner come to light , whiles the iudge with a discreet judgement doth away the words of him , whō no lawyer hath instruct with deceit , and whiles he beareth out simple wits against the false and malicious circumventions of crafty children . this is hard to be observed in other countries , in so infinit a number of blind and intricate lawes . but in vtopia every man is a cunning lawyer . for as ( i said ) they have very few lawes : and the plainer and grosser that any interpretation is : that they allow as most just . for all lawes ( say they ) be made and published only to the intent , that by them every man shall be put in remembrance of his duty . but the crafty and subtill interpretation of them ( forasmuch as few can attaine thereto ) can put very few in that remembrance , whereas the simple , the plaine , and grosse meaning of the lawes is open to every man. else as touching the vulgar sort of the people , which be both most in number , and ▪ have most need to know their duties , were it not as good for then that no law were made at all , as when it is made to bring so blind an interpretation vpon it , that without great wit and long arguing no man can discusse it ? to the finding out whereof , neither the grosse judgement of the people can attaine , neither the whole life of them that be occupyed in working for their livings , can suffice thereto . these verrues of the vtopians have caused their next neighbours and borderers , which live free and under no subjection ( for the vtopians long agoe , have delivered many of them from tyrannie ) to make magistrates of them , some for a yeare , and some for fiue yeares space . which when the time of their office is expired , they bring home againe with honour and praise , and take new againe with them into their country . these nations haue undoubtedly very well and holsomly provided for their common-wealths . for seeing that both the making and the marring of the weale publique , doth depend and hang vpon the manners of the rulers and magistrates , what officers could they more wisely have chosen , then those which cannot be lead from honesty by bribes ( for to thē that shortly after shall depart thence into their owne country , money should be unprofitable ) nor yet be moved either with favour , or malice towards any man , as being strangers , and unacquainted with the people ? the which two vices of affection and avarice , where they take place in judgements , incontinent they breake justice , the strongest and surest bond of a common-wealth . these people which fetch their officers and rulers from them , the vtopians call their fellowes . and other to whom they have beene beneficiall , they call their friends . as and to breake both league and truth . the which crafty dealing , yea the which fraud and deceit , if they should know it to be practised among private men in their bargaines and contracts , they would incontinent cry out a●●● with an open mouth , and a sowre countenance , as an offence most detestable , and worthy to be punished with a s●●●me● all death : yea even very they that advance themselves authors of like counsaile , is given to princes . wherefore it may well be thought , either that all justice is but a base and a low vertue , and which availeth it selfe farre under the high dignity of kings : or , at the least-wise , that there be two lustices , the one meet for the inferiour sort of the people , going a foot and creeping low by the ground , and 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 h●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 ●●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 g●●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 pa●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 , that they be more circumspect in auoyding and eschewing jeopardies , then they be desirous of praise and renowne . therefore immediatly after that warre is once solemnly denounced , they procure many proclamations signed with their owne common seale , to be set vp privily at one time in their enemes land , in places most frequented . in these proclamations they promise great rewards to him that will kill their enemies prince , and somewhat lesse gifts , but them very great also , for every head of thē , whose names be in the said proclamations contained . they be those whom they count their chiefe adversaries , next unto the prince whom there is prescribed , unto him that killeth any of the proclaimed persons , that is doubled to him that bri●geth any of the s●me to them alive : yea , and to the procla●●ed persons themselves , if they will change their minds , and come into them , taking their parts , they proffer the same great rewards with pardon and surety of their lives . therefore it quickly commeth to passe , that their enemies have all other men in suspition , and be unthankfull , and mistrusting among themselves one to another living in great feare , and in no l●s●e jeopardy . for it is well knowne , that divers times the most part of them ( and specially the prince himselfe ) hath beene betrayed of them , in whom they put their most hope and trust . so there is no manner of act nor deed that gifts and rewards doe not inforce men unto . and in rewards they keepe no measure . but remembring and considering into how great hazard and jeopardy they call them , endevour themselves to recompence the greatnesse of the danger with like great benefits . and therefore they promise not onely wonderfull great abundance of gold , but also lands of great revenues lying in most safe places among their friends . and their promises they performe faithfully without any fraud or covine . this custome of buying and selling adversaries , among other people is disallowed , as a cru●l act of a base and a cowardish mind . but they in this behalfe thinke themselves much praise worthy , as who likewise , men by this meanes dispatch great warres without batta●●e o● skirmish . yea , they count it also a deed of pitty and mercy , because that by the death of a few offenders , the lives of a great number of innocents , as well of their owne men , as also of their enemies , be ransomed and saved , which in fighting should have beene slaine . for they doe no lesse pitty the base and common sort of their enemies people , then they doe their owne : knowing that they be driven and forced to warre against their wills , by the furious in●dnesse of their princes and heads . if by none of these meanes the matter goe forward , as they would have it , then they procure occasions of debate , and dissention to be spread among their enemies . as by bringing the princes brother , o● some of the noble men in hope to obtaine the kingdome . if this way prevaile not , then they raise vp the people that be next neighbours and borde●e●s to their enemies , and them they set in their necks under the colour of some old title of right , such as kings doe never lacke . to them they promise their helpe and ayd in their warre . and as for money they giue them abundance . but of their owne citizens they send to them few or none : whom they make so much of ▪ and love so ●●tirely , that they would not be willing to change any of them for their adversaries prince . but them gold and silver , because they keepe it all for this onely purpose , they lay it out ●ranckly and ●●●ly : as who should live even a , wealthily , if they had ●●stowed it every penny . yea and besides their riches , which they keepe at home , they have also an infinite treasure abroad , by reason that ( as i said before ) many nations be in their debt . there●ore they hire souldiours out of all countries and send them to battaile , but chiefly of the zapolets . this people , is five hundred miles from vtopia eastward . they be hidious , savage , and fierce , dwelling in wild woods , and high mountaines , where they were bred and brought vp . they be of an hard nature , able to abide and sustaine heate , cold , and labour , abhorring from all dilicate dainties , occupying no husbandry no● tillage of the ground , homely and rude both in building of their houses , and in their apparell , given unto no goodnesse , but onely to the breeding and bringing vp of cat●le . the most part of their living is by hunting and stealing . they be borne onely to warre , which they diligently and earnestly seek for . and when they have gotten it , they be wondrous glad thereof . they goe forth of their co●●●●y in great companies together and w●●os●ever lacketh souldio●rs , there they proffer their service for smal wages . this is onely the craft that they have to get their living by . they maintaine their lives , by seeking their death . for them with whom they be in wages , they fight hardly , fiercely , and faithfully . but they bind themselves for no certaine time . but vpon this condition they enter into bonds , that the next day they will take part with the other side for greater wages , and the next day after that , they will be ready to come back againe for a little more money . there be few warrs there away , wherein is not a great number of them in both parties . therefore it daily chanceth , that nigh kinsfolke which were hired together on one part , and there very friendly and familiarly vsed themselves one with another , shortly after being separate into contrary parts , run one against another enviously and fiercely : and forgetting both kindred and friendship thrust their swords one in another . and that for none other cause , but that they be hired for contrary princes for a little money . which they doe so highly regard and esteeme , that they will easily be provoked to change parts for a halfe-penny more wages by the day . so quickly they have taken a smacke in covetousnesse . which for all that , is to them no profit . for that they get by fighting , immediately they spend need●esse , unthri●●ily and wretchedly in ry●● . this people sighteth for the vtopians against all natio●s , because they give them greater wages , then any other nation will. for the vtopians like as they seeke good men to vse well , so they seeke these evill and vicious men to abuse . whom , when need requireth , with promises of great rewards , they put forth into great jeopardies . from whence the most part of them never commeth againe to aske their rewards . but to them that remaine alive , they pay that which they promised faithfully , that they may be the more willing to put themselves in like danger another time . nor the vtopians passe not how many of them they bring to destruction . for they beleeve that they should doe a very good deed for all mankind , if they could rid out of that world all that foule stincking denne of that most wicked and cursed people . next unto these , they vse the souldiours of them for whom they fight : and then the helpe of their other friends . and last of all , they joyne to their owne citizens . among whom they give to one of tried vertue ▪ and powers , the rule , governance and conduction of the whole army . vnder him they appoint two other , which whiles he is safe , be both private and out of office . but if he be taken or slaine the one of the other succedeth him , as it were by inheritance . and if the second miscarry , then the third taketh his roome , least that ( as the chance of battaile is uncertaine and doubtfull ) the jeopardy of death of the captaine should bring the whole army in hazard . they choose souldiours out of every city , those , which put forth themselves willingly . for they thrust no man forth into warre against his will : because they beleeve , if any man be fearefull and faint-hearted of nature , he will not onely doe no manfull and hardy act himselfe , but also be occasion of cowardnesse to his fellowes . but if any battaile be made against their owne country , then they put these cowards ( so that they be strong bodied ) in ships among other bold harted men . or else they dispose them vpon the w●ls , frō whence they may n●● flie . thus what for shame that their enemies be at hand , and what for because they be without hope of running away , they forget all feare . and many times extreame necessity turneth cowardnesse into prowesse and manlinesse . but as none o● them is thrust forth of his country into warre against his will , so women that be willing to accompany their husbands in time of warre , be not prohibited o● letted . yea they provoke and exhort them to it with praises . and in set field the wives doe stand every one by their owne husbands side . also every man is compassed next about with his owne children , kinsfolkes , and alliance , that they whom nature chiefly mooveth to mutuall succour , thus standeth together , may helpe one another . it is a great reproach and dishonesty for the husband ●●●ome home without his wife , or the wife without her husband , or the sonne without his father . and therefore if the other part sticke so hard by it , that the battaile come to their hands , it is fought with great slaughter and blood-shed , even to the utter destruction of both parties . for as they make all the meanes and shifts that may be , to keepe themselves from the necessity of fighting , or that they may dispatch the battaile by their hired souldiors , so when there is no remedy , but that they must needs fight themselves ▪ then they doe as couragiously fall to it , as before , whiles they might , they did wisely avoid and refuse it . nor they be not most fierce at the first brunt . but in continuance by little and little their fierce courage encreaseth , with so stubborne and obstinate minds , that they will rather die then give backe an ●nch . for that surety of living , which every man hath at home , being joyned with no carefull anxiety or remembrance how their posterity shall live after them ( for this pensivenesse oftentimes breaketh and abateth couragious stomackes ) making them stout and hardy , and disdainfull to be conquered . moreover , their knowledge in chiualry and feates of armes , putteth them in a good hope . finally the wholesome and vertuous opinions wherein they were brought vp even from their childhood , partly through learning , and partly through the good ordinance and lawes of their weale publique , augment and encrease their manfull courage . by reason whereof , they neither set so little store by their lives , that they will rashly and vnadvisedly cast them away : nor they be not so farre in lewd and fond love therewith , that they will shamefully covet to keepe them , when honesty biddeth leave them . when the battaile is hottest , and in all places most fierce and fervent , a band of chosen and picked yong men , which be sworne to liue and dye together , take vpon them to destroy their adversaries captaine . whom they invade now with privy wiles , now by open strength . at him they strike both neare and farre off . he is assailed with a long and a continuall assault , fresh men still comming in the wearied mens places . and seldome it chanceth ( vnlesse he saue himselfe by fiying ) that he is not either slain or else taken prisoner , and yeelded to his enemies aliue . if they win the field , they persecute not their enemies with the violent rage of slaughter . for they had rather take them aliue , then kill them . neither doe they follow the chase and pursuit of their enemies , but they leaue behinde them one part of their hoast in battaile aray , vnder their standards . insomuch , that if all their whole army be discomfited and over-come , saving the reward , and that they therewith atchieue the victory , then they had rather let all their enemies scape , then to follow them out of array . for they remember it hath chanced vnto themselves more then once : the whole power and strength of their hoast being vanquished and put to flight , whiles their enemies rejoycing in the victory haue persecuted them , flying some one away and some another , a small company of their men lying in ambush , there ready at all occasions , haue suddainely risen vpon them thus dispersed and scattered out of array , and through presumption of safety vnadvisedly pursuing the chase and haue incontinent changed the fortune of the whole battaile , and spite of their teethes wresting out of their hands the sure and vndoubted victory , being a little before conquered , have for their part conquered the conquerers . it is hard to say whether they be craftier in laying an ambush , or wittier in avoiding the same . you would thinke they ●●tend to file , when they meane nothing lesse . and contrariwise , when they goe about that purpose , you would beleeve it were the least part of their thought . for if they perceive themselves overmatched in number , or closed in too narrow a place , then they remove their campe either in the night season with silence , or by some policy they deceive their enemies , or in the day time they retire backe so softly , that it is no lesse jeopardy to meddle with them when they give backe , then when they presse on . they fence and fortifie their campe surely with a deepe and a broad trench . the earth thereof is cast inward . nor they doe not set drudges and slaves a worke about it . it is done by the hands of the souldiours themselves . all the whole army worketh upon it , except them that keepe watch and ward in armor before the trench for suddaine adventures . therefore by the labour of so many , a large trench closing in a great compasse of ground , is made in lesse time then any man would beleeve . their armour or hardnesse which they weare , is sure and strong to receive stroakes , and handsome for all moovings and gestures of the body , insomuch that it is not unweldy to swimme in . for in the discipline of their war-fare , among other feats they learne to swimme in harnesse . their weapons be arrowes aloofe , which they shoot both strongly and surely , not only footmen , but also horsemen . at hand stroakes they vsed not 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 , a●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 , vnles●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 ●●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 chan●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 mee● 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 excellent● 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 cōmunity doth yet remaine amongst y● rightest christian cōpanies . 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 religion : and began to waxe so hot in this matter , that he did not onely preferre our religion before all other , but also did vtterly despise and condemne all other , calling them prophane , and the followers of them wicked and devilish , and the children of everlasting damnation . when he had thus long reasoned the matter , they laid hold on him , accused him , and condemned him into exile , not as a dispiser of religion , but as a sedicious person , and a rayser vp of dissention among the people . for this is one of the ancientest lawes among them : that no man shall be blamed for reasoning in the maintenance of his owne religion . for king vtopus , even at the first beginning , hearing that the inhabitants of the land were before his comming thither , at continuall dissention and strife among them selves for their religions : perceiving also that this common dissention ( whiles every severall sect tooke severall parts in fighting for their country ) was the onely occasion of his conquest over them all , as soone as he had gotten the victory . first of all , he made a decree , that it should be lawfull for every man to favour and follow what religion he would , and that he might doe the best he could to bring other to his opinion , so that he did it peaceably , gently , quietly , and soberly , without hasty and contentious rebuking and inveying against other . if he could not by faire and gentle speech induce them vnto his opinion , yet he should vse no kind of violence , and refraine from displeasant and sedicious words . to him that would vehemently and fervently in this cause strife and contend , was decreed , banishment , or bondage . this law did king vtopus make not onely for the maintenance of peace , which hee saw through continual contentation and mortall hatred vtterly extinguished : but also because he thought this decree should make for the furtherance of religion . whereof he durst define and determine nothing vnadvisedly , as doubting whither god desiring manifold and divers sorts of honour , would inspire sundry men with sundry kinds of religion . and this surely he thought a very vnmeet and foolish thing , & a point of arrogant presumption , to compell all other by violence and threatnings to agree to the same , that thou beleevest to be true . furthermore , though there be one religion , which a lone is true , and all other vaine and superstitions , yet did he well foresee ( so that the matter were handdled with reason and sober modesty ) that the truth of the owne power would at the last issue out and come to light . but if contention and debate in that behalfe should continually be vsed , as the worst men be most obstinate and stubborne , and in their evill opinion most constant : he perceived that the● the best and honest religion would be ●roden vnder foote and destroyed by most vaine superstitions , even as good corne is by thornes and weeds over grown and choaked . therefore all this matter he left vndiscussed , and gaue to every man free liberty and choice to beleeue what he would . saving that he earnestly and straitly charged them , that no man should conceiue so vile and base an 〈◊〉 ●● 〈◊〉 of mans nature , as to thinke that the soules doe die and perish with the body : or that the world runneth at all adventures , governed by no divine providence . and therefore they beleeue that after this life vices be extreamely punished , and vertues bountifully rewarded . he that is of a contrary opinion , they count not in the number of men , as one that hath availed the high nature of his soule , to the vilenesse of brute beasts bodies : much lesse in the number of the citizens . whose lawes and ordinances , if it were not for feare , he would nothing at all esteeme . for you may ▪ be sure that he will study either with craft privily to mocke , or else violently to breake the common lawes of his countrey , in whom remaineth no further feare then of the lawes , nor no further hope then of the body . wherefore he that is thus minded is deprived of all honors , excluded from all offices , and reject from all common administrations in the weale-publique . and thus he is of all sorts despised , as of an vnprofitable , and of a base and vile nature . howbeit , they put him to no punishment , because they be perswaded , that it is in no mans power to beleeue what he list . no , nor they constraine him not with threatnings to dissemble his mind , and shew countenance contrary to his thought . for deceit and falshood , and all manner of lies , as next vnto fraud , they doe marveilously deject and abhorre . but they suffer him not to dispute in his opinion , and that onely among the common people . for else apart among the priests and men of grauity ▪ they doe not onely suffer , but also exhort him to dispute and argue hoping that , at the last , that mid●e●se will giue place to reason . there bee also other , and of them no small number , which be not bidden to speake their minds , as grounding their opinion vpon some reason , being in their living neither evill nor vicious . their here●ie is much contrary to the other . for they beleeue that the soules of the brute beasts be immorall and everlasting . but nothing to be compared with others in dignity , neither ordained and predestinate to like felicity . for all they beleeue certainly and surely that mans blisse shall be so great , that they doe mourne and lament euery mans sicknesse , but no mans death , vnlesse it be on whom they see depart from his life carefully , and against his will. for this they take for a very evill token , as though the soule being in dispaire , and vexed in conscience , through some privy and secret forefeeling of the punishment now at hand , were affraid to depart . and the● they thinke he shall not be welcome to god , which when he is called , runneth not to him gladly , but is drawne by force , and sore against his will. they therefore that see this kind of death , doc abhorre it , and them that so die , they bury with sorrow and silence . and when they haue prayed to god to be mercifull to the soule , and mercifull to pardon the infirmities thereof , they cover the dead corse with earth . contrariwise , all that depart merily and full of good hope , for then no man mourneth , but followeth the hearse with joyfull singing , commending the soules to god with great affection . and at the last , not with mourning sorrow , but with a great reverence they burne the bodies . and in the same place they set vp a pillar of stone , with the dead mens titles therein graved . when they be come home , they rehearse his vertuous manners and his good deeds . but no part of his life is so oft or gladly talked of , as his mery death . they thinke that this remembrance of the vertue and goodnesse of the dead , doth vehemently provoke and enforce the liuing to vertue . and that nothing can be more pleasant and acceptable to the dead . whom they suppose to bee present among them , when they talke of them , though to the dull and feeble eye-sight of mortall men they be invisible . for it were an inconvenient thing , that the blessed should not be at liberty to goe whither they would . and it were a point of great vnkindnesse in them , to haue vtterly cast away the desire of visiting & seeing their friends , to whom they were in their life time joyned by mutuall loue and amity . which in good men after their death , they count to be rather increased the● diminished . they beleeue therefore that the dead be presently conversant among the quicke , as beholders and witnesses of all their words and deeds . therefore they goe more couragiously to their businesse , as hauing a trust and a fiance in such overseers . and this beleefe of the present conversation of their forefathers and ancestors among them , feareth them from all secret dishonesty . they vtterly dispise and mocke southsayings and divinations of things to come , by the flight and voyces of birds , and all other diuination of vaine superstition , which in other countries be in great observation . but they highly esteeme and worship miracles that come by no helpe of nature , as workes and witnesses of the present power of god. and such they say doe chance there very often . and sometimes in great and doubtfull matters , by common intercession and prayers , they procure and obtaine them with a sure hope and confidence , and a stedfast beleefe . they thinke that the contemplation of nature , and the praise thereof comming , is to god a very acceptable honour , yet there be many so earnestly bent and affected to religion , that they passe nothing for learning , nor give their minds to any knowledge of things . but idlenesse they utterly forsake and ●schew , thinking felicity after this life to be gotten and obtained by busie labour and good exercises . some therefore of thē attend vpon the sicke , some amen● high-wayes , cleanse ditches , repaire bridges , digge turfes , gravell , and stone , fell and cleaue wood , bring wood corne , and other things , into the cities in carts , and serve not onely in common workes , but also in private labours , as servants : yea , more then bondmen . for whatsoever unpleasant , hard and vile worke is any where , from the which labour , loathsomnesse , and desperation doth fray other , all that they take upon thē willingly and gladly , procuring rest and quiet to other , remaining in continuall worke and labour themselves , not embraiding others there with . they neither reprove other mens lives , nor glory in their owne . these men the more serviceable they behave themselves , the more they be honored of all men . yet they be divided into two sects . the one of them ●hat live single and chast , abstaining not only from the company of women , but also from eating of flesh , and some of them from all manner of beasts . which vtterly rejecting the pleasures of this present life as hur●full , be all wholly set vpon the desire of the life to come , by watching , waiting , and sweating , hoping shortly to obtaine it , being in the meane season merry and lu●ty . the other sect is no lesse desirous of labour , but they imbrace matrimony , not despising the solace thereof , thinking that they cannot be discharged of their bounden duties toward nature , without labour and toyle , nor towards their native country , without procreation of children . they abstaine from no pleasure that doth nothing hinder them from labour . they love the flesh of foure-footed beasts , because they beleeve that by the meat they be made hardy and stronger to worke . the vtopians count this sect the wiser , but the other the holyer . which in that they preferre single life before matrimony , and that sharpe life before the easier life , if herein they grounded upon reason , they would mocke them . but now forasmuch as they say they be lead to it by religion , they honour and worship them . and these be they whom in their language by a peculiar name , they call bruthe scas , the which word by interpretation , signifieth to vs , men of religion , or religious men . they have priests of exceeding holinesse , and therefore very few . for there be but thirteen in every city according to the number of their churches , saving when they goe forth to battaile . for then seaven of them goe forth with the army : in whose steads so many n●w be made at home . but the other at their returne home againe , reenter every one in his owne place : they that be above the number , untill such time as they succeed into the places of the other at their dying , be in the meane season continually in company with the bishop . for he is the chiefe head of them all . they be chosen of the people , as the other magistrates be by secret voices , for the avoiding of strife . after their election , they be consecrate of their own cōpany . they be overseers of all divine matters , orderers of religions , and as it were ●udges and masters of manners . and it is a great dishonesty and shame to be rebuk●● or spoken to by any of them , for dissolute and incontinent living . but as it is their office to give good exhortations and counsell , so it is the duty of the prince and the other magistrates , to correct and punish offenders , saving that the priests , whom they find exceeding vicious livers , them they excommunicate from having any interest in divine matters . and there is almost no punishment among them more feared . for they run in very great infamy , and be inwardly tormented with a secret feare of religion , and shall not long escape free with their bodies . for unlesse they by quicke repentance approve the amendment of their lives to the priests , they be taken and punished of the councell , as wicked and irreligious . both child-hood and youth is instructed and taught of them . nor they be not more diligent to instruct them in learning , then in vertue and good manners . for they vse with very great endevour and diligence to put into the heads of their children , whiles they be yet tender , and plyant , good opinions and profitable for the conservation of the weale publike . which when they be once rooted in children doe remaine with them all their life after , and be wondrous profitable for their defence and maintenance of the state of the common-wealth : which never decayeth but through vices rising of evill opinions . the priests , unlesse they be women ( for that kind is not excluded from priest-hood , how beit few be chosen and none but v●ddowes and old women ) the men priests , i say , take to their wiues the chiefest women in all their countrey . for to no office among the vtopians is there more honour and preheminence giuen . insomuch that if they commit any offence , they be vnder no common judgement , but be left onely to god and themselves . for they thinke it not lawfull to touch him with mans hand , be he neuer so vicious , which after so singuler a sort was dedicate and consecrate to god , as a holy offering . this manner may they easily obserue , because they haue so few priests , and doe choose them with such circumspection . for it scarcely euer chanceth , that the most vertuous among vertuous , which in respect only of his vertue is advanced to so high a dignity , can fall to vice & wickednesse . and if it should chance indeed ( as mans nature is mutable and fraile ) yet by reason they be so few , and promoted to no might nor power , but onely to honour , it were not to be feared that any great dammage by them should happen & ensue to the common-wealth . they haue so rare and few priests , least if the honour were communicated to many , the dignity of the order , which among them now is so highly estetmed , should run in contempt . specially because they thinke it hard to find many so good , as to be meete for that dignity , to the execution and discharge wherof , it is not sufficient to be indued with meane vertues . furthermore , these priests be not more esteemed of their owne countrey men , then they be of forreigne and strange countries . which thing may hereby plainly appeare . and i thinke also that this is the cause of it . for whiles the armies be fighting together in open field , they a little beside not farre off kneele vpon their knees in their hallowed vestments , holding vp their hands to heaven : praying first of all for peace , next for victory of their owne part , but to neither part a bloudy victory . if their host get the vpper hand , they runne into the maine battaile , and restraine their owne men from slaying and cruelly pursuing their vanquished enemies . which enemies , if they doe but see them and speake to them , it is enough for the safeguard of their lives . and the touching of their cloathes defendeth and saveth all their goods from ravine and spoile . this thing hath advanced them to so great worship and true majesty among all nations , that many times they have as well preserved their owne citizens from the cruell force of their enemies , as they have their enemies from the furious rage of their owne men . for it is well knowne , that when their owne army hath recoiled and in despaire turned backe , and runne away , their enemies fiercely pursuing with slaughter and spoile , then the priests comming betweene have stayed the murder , and parted both the hoasts . so that peace hath beene made and concluded betweene both parts vpon equall and indifferent conditions . for there was never any nation , so fierce , so cruell , and rude , but they had them in such reverence , that they counted their bodies hallowed and sanctified , and therefore not to be violently and unreverently touched . they keepe holy the first and last day of every moneth and yeare , dividing the yeare into moneths , which they measure by the course of the moone , as they doe the yeare by the course of the sunne . the first dayes they call in their language cinimernes , and the last tapermernes , the which words may be interpreted , primifest and finifest , or else in our speech , first feast and last feast . their churches be very gorgious , not onely of fine and curious workmanship , but also ( which in the fewnesse of them was necessary ) very wide and large , and able to receiue a great company of people . but they be all somewhat darke . howbeit that was not done through ignorance in building , but as they say , by the counsell of the priests . because they thought that overmuch light doth disperse mens cogitations , whereas in dimme and doubtfull light they be gathered together , and more earnestly fixed vpon religion and devotion : which because it is not there of one sort among all men , and yet all the kinds and fashions of it , though they be sundry and manifold , agree together in the honor of divine nature , as going divers wayes to one end : therefore nothing is seene or heard in the churches , but that seemeth to agree indifferently with them all . if there be a distinct kind of sacrifice peculiar to any severall sect , that they execute at home in their owne houses . the common sacrifices be so ordered , that they be no derogation nor prejudice to any of the private sacrifices and religions . therefore no image of any god is seene in the church , to the intent it may be free for every man to conceiue god by their religion after what likenesse and similitude they will. they call vpon no peculiar name of god but onely mythra . in the which word they all agree together in one nature of the divine majesty whatsoever it be . no prayers be vsed such as every man may boldly pronounce without the offending of any sect. they come therefore to the church , the last day of every moneth and yeare in the evening yet fasting , there to give thankes to god for that they have prosperously passed over the yeare or moneth , whereof that holiday is the last day . the next day they come to the church earely in the morning to pray to god that they may have good fortune and successe all the new yeare or moneth , which they doe vse to begin of that same holy day . but in the holy dayes that be the last dayes of the moneths and yeares , before they come to the church , the wives fall downe prostrate before their husbands feet at home , and the children before the feet of their parents , confessing and acknowledging themselves offenders either by some actuall deed , or by omission of their duty , and desire pardon for their offence . thus if any cloud of priuy displeasure was risen at home , by this satisfaction it is over-blowne , that they may be present at the sacrifices with pure and charitable minds . for they be afraid to come there with troubled consciences . therefore if they know themselves to beare any hatred or grudge towards any man , they presume not to come to the sacrifices , before they have reconciled themselves and purged their consciences , for feare of great vengeance and punishment for their offence . when they be come thither , the men goe into the right side of the church , and the women into the left side . there they place themselves in such order , that all they which be of the male-kind in every houshold , sit before the good man of the house ; and they of the female kind before the good wife . thus it is fore-seene , that all their gestures and behaviours be marked and observed abroad of them , by whose authority and discipline they be governed at home . this also they diligently see unto , that the younger evermore be coupled with his elder , least children being joyned together , they should passe over the time in childish wantonnesse , wherein they ought principally ●o conceive a religious & devout feare towards god : which is the chiefe and almost the only incitation to vertue . they kill no living beast in sacrifice , nor they thinke not that the mercifull clemencie of god doth dwell in bloud and slaughter , which hath given life to beasts to the intent they should live . they burne frankensence , and other sweet savors , and light also a great number of waxe candles and tapers , not supposing this geere to be any thing availeable to the divine nature , as neither the prayers 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 fashiō of the thing striketh into them a certaine feare of god , as though he were there personally present . when they haue l●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 to so continuall labour , nor their living is not much worse : yea , to them much pleasanter , taking no thought in the meane season for the time to come . but these silly poore wretches be presently tormented with barraine and unfruitfull labour . and the remembrance of their poore indigent and beggerly old age kille●● them vp . for their daily wages is so little , that it will not suffice for the same day , much lesse it yeeldeth any over-plus , that may daily be laid vp for the reliefe of old age . is not this an unjust , and an unkind publique weale , which giveth great fees and rewards to gentlemen , as they call them , and to goldsmiths , and to such other , which be either idle persons , or else onely flatterers , and devisers of vaine pleasures : and of the contrary part , maketh no gentle provision for poore plowmen , colliers , labourers , yron-smiths , and carpenters , without whom no common-wealth can continue ? but after it hath abused the labourers of their lusty and flowring age , at the last when they be oppressed with old age and sicknesse being needy , poore , and indigent of all things , then so getting their so many painfull watchings , not remembring their so many and so great benefits , recompenceth and acquainteth them most unkindly , with miserable death . and yet besides this , the rich men not onely by private fraud , but also by common lawes , doe every day plucke and snatch away from the poore , some part of their daily living . so whereas it seemed before unjust to repentance with unkindnesse their paines , that they have beene beneficiall to the common-weale , now they have to their wrong and unjust dealing ( which is yet a much worse point ) given the name of justice , yea , and that by force of a law. therefore when i consider and weigh in my mind all these common-wealths , which now a dayes any where do flourish , so god helpe me , i can perceive nothing but a certaine conspiracy of rich men procuring their owne commodities , under the name and title of the common-wealth . they invent and devise all meanes and crafts , first how to keepe safely without feare of loosing , that they have unjustly gathered together : and next how to hire and abuse the worke and labour of the poore for as little money as may be . these devises when the rich men have decreed to be kept and observed under colour of the communalty , that is to say , also of the poore people , then they be made lawes . but these most vicious and wicked men , when they have by their unsatiable covetousnesse , devided among themselves all those things which would have sufficed all men , yet how farre be they from the wealth and felicity of the vtopian common-wealth ? out of the which , in that all the desire of money with the vse thereof is vtterly secluded and banished , how great a heape of cares is cut away ? how great an occasion of wickednesse and mischiefe is pulled vp by the root ? for who knoweth not that fraud , theft , ravine , brawling , quarrelling , b●abling , strife , chiding , contention , murder , treason , poisoning , which by daily punishments are rather revenged then refrained , doe die when money dyeth ? and also that feare , griefe , care , labours , and watching , doe perish even the very same moment that money perisheth ? yet poverty it selfe , which onely seemed to lacke money , if money were gone , it also would decrease and vanish away . and that you may perceiue this more plainly , consider with your selves some barraine and unfruitfull yeare , wherein many thousands of people have starved for hunger : i dare be bold to say , that in the end of that penury , so much corne or graine might have beene found in rich mens barnes , if they had beene searched , as being divided among them whō famine and pestilence then consumed , no man at all should have felt that plague and penury . so easily might men get their living if that same worthy princesse lady money did not alone stoppe vp the way betweene vs and our living , which a gods name was very excellently devised and invented , that by her the way thereto should be opened . i am sure the rich men perceive this , nor they be not ignorant how much better it were to lacke no necessary thing , then to abound with overmuch superfluity : to be rid out of innumerable cares and troubles , then to be besieged and encombred with great riches . and i doubt not that either the respect of every mans private commodity , or else the authority of our saviour christ ( which for his great wisedome could not but know what were best , and for his inestimable goodnesse could not but counsell to that which he knew to the best ) would have brought all the world long agoe into the lawes of this weale publike if it were not the one onely best , the princesse and mother of all mischiefe pride , doth withstand and let it . she measureth not wealth and prosperity by her owne commodities , but by the misery and incommodities of other : she would not by her good will be made a goddesse , if there were no wretches left , over whom she might like a scornfull lady rule and triumph , over whose miseries her felicities might shine , whose poverty she might vexe , torment and increase , by rigorously setting forth her riches . this hel-hound creepeth into mens hearts , and pulleth them backe from entring the right path of life , and is so deeply rooted in mens breasts , that she cannot be pulled out . this forme and fashion of a weale publike , which i would gladly wish unto all nations , i am glad yet that it chanced to the vtopians , which have followed those institutions of life , whereby they have laid such foundations of their common-wealth , as shall continue and last not onely wealthy , but also as farre as mans wit may judge and conjecture , shall endure for ever . for seeing the chiefe causes of ambition ▪ and sedition , with other vices , be plucked vp by the roots , and abandoned at home there , can be no jeopardy of domesticall dissention , which alone hath cast underfoot and brought to naught the wel-fortified and strongly defenced wealth and riches of many cities . but for as much as perfect concord remaineth , and wholsome lawes be executed at home , the envie of all forreigne princes be not able to shake or moove the empire , though they have many times long agoe gone about to doe it , being evermore driven backe . thus when raphael had made an end of his tale , though many things came to my mind , which in the manners and lawes of that people , seemed to be instituted and founded of no good reason , but onely in the fashion of their chiualry , and in their sacrifices , and religions , and in other of their lawes ; but also , yea and chiefly , in that which is the principall foundation of all their ordinances : that is to say , in the communalty of their life and living , without any occupying of money , by the which thing onely all nobility , magnificience , worship , honour , and majesty , the true ornaments and honours , as the common opinion is , of a common-wealth , vtterly be overthrowne and destroyed : yet because i knew that he was weary of talking , and was not sure whether he could abide that any thing should be said against his mind : specially remembring that he had reprehended this fault in other , which be affraid least they should seeme not to be wise enough , unlesse they could find some fault in other mens inventions : therefore i praising both their institutions and his communication , tooke him by the hand , and lead him into supper , saying that we would choose another time to weigh and examine the same matters , and to talke with him more at large therein . which would god it might once come to passe . in the meane time , as i cannot agree and consent to all things that he said , being else without doubt a man singularly well learned , and also in all wordly matter exactly and profoundly experienced : so must i needs confesse and grant , that many things be in the vtopian weale-publique , which in our cities i may rather wish for , then hope after . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a07711-e340 cuthbert tunstall . rophael hithloday . ships of strange fa●●i●●s . the loadstone . partiall judgement . cardinall morton of lawes not made according to equity . by what meanes thee might be sower theeues and robbers . idlenesse , the m●t●e● of theeues . landlords by the way checked for rent raising . of idle serving-men co●● theeues . betweene souldiours and theeus small diversity . what inconve●●e ●ces commeth by continuall garrisons of souldiours . sheep-masters decayers of husband●● . the decay of husbandry causeth beggery , which is the mother of usg●●●●ds & theeves . the cause of dearth of victuals woat inconvenience commeth of dearth of wooll . the cause of dearth of wooll . dearth of cattell , with the cause therof . dearth of victuals is the decay of house-keeping ; whereof c●s●eth beggery and thefs excesse in apparell and d●●t , a maintainer of beggery and theft . baudes , whores , wine-tavernes , ale-houses , and unlawfull games ▪ be very mothers of thee●es . richmen i●grossers and fore●tal●ers . the corrupt education of youth , a mother of theevery . he is worthily put to silence that ●s too full of words . that theft ●ught not to ●● punished by death . straight lawes not allowable . that mans law ought n●t to be prejudiciall to gods law . theft is the old law not punished by death . what in convenience ensueth of punishing theft with death . punishing of theft by death causeth theft to be a murtherer . what lawfull punishment may be devised for theft . how the romans punished theft . a worthy and commendable punishmēt of theeves in the weale publike of the polilerites in persia . a pr●vy nip for them that doe otherwise . theeves condemned to be c●●●●● labo●ers . serving-men . an ●vi● intent esteemed as the deed . the right ●●● and intenn of punishment . 〈◊〉 the ●●vering judgement● of 〈◊〉 . sick , aged , impotent perso●s and begge●s . a common proverbe among beggers . a merry talke betweene a fryar and a foole. talke qualified according to the person that speaketh . the frēch men privily be counsailed from the desire of italy . lanceknights . a notable example , and worthy to be followed . enhancing and embesing of coynes . counterfes warres . the 〈…〉 of old lawes restraint selling of licences . the saying of rich crassus . poverty the mother of debate , and decay of realms . a wort●y saying of fabrice . a stra●g● and notable law of the m●●●ri●●s schoole philosophy in the consultations of princes hath no place . a ●ine and fit s●●ilitud● a d●mme player . the vto pi●● weale publike . plato willed all things in a common-wealth to be common . notes for div a07711-e2670 the fight and fashion of the new iland vtopia . a place naturally ●eaced , needeth one garrison . a politike devise in the changing land-markes . the iland of vtopis , so named of king vtopi● . many hāds make light worke . cities in vtopia . similitude causeth concord . a meane distance betweene city and city . the distribution of lands . but this now a daies is the ground of all mischiefe . husbandry & tillage , chiefly and principally regarded and advanced . the duties of men of husbandry . a strange fashion to ●atching and bringing vp of pulle●● . the vse . of horses the vse of oxen. bread and drinke . a great discretion in sowing of corne. mutuall helpe quickly dispatched . the vse of fresh water . the defence of the townew●ls . streets , buildings and houses to 〈…〉 this geare sine ●leth of plato h●● community glased o● canvased windowes . a tranibore in the vtopian tongue , signifieth a head or chiefe peere . a me●vilous strange fashion in choosing magistrates . tyranny in a well ordered weale publike vtterly to be abhorred . ●●ite● and ●…fies between party & party forthwith to be ended , which ●●w a dares of a set purpose be 〈…〉 de●a●ed . against hosty and rash decrees or statutes . a custome worthy to be vsed in these daies in our councels and parli●ments . similitude in apparell . no citizen without a science . to what occupation every one is naturally inclined that let hi● . learne . idle persons to be driven out of the weale publique . a moderation in the labour and toyle of artificers . the study of good literature . playing after supper . but new a daies dice-play is the pastime of princes . playes of games also profitable . the kinds of sorts of idle people . women . priests and religious men . rich men and landed men . serving-men . sturdy and valiant beggars . wonderfull wittily spoken . not asmuch as the magistrates liue idlely . only learned men called to offices . how to avo●●excessiv● 〈…〉 building . how to l●ss●n the char●e in apparell . the number of citizens . of the slaughter of beasts , we have learned manslaughter . filth and ordure b●ing the injection of pestilence into cities care , diligence and attendance about the sicke , everyman is at his liberty , so that nothing is done by compulsiō women both dresse and serve the meat . nurses . nothing sooner provoketh men to well doing then praise and commendation . the eles c●tt●n of yong children the young mixed with their elders . old men regarded and reverenced . this now adaies is observed in our vniversity . talke at table . this is repugnant to the opinion of our physiti●●s● musicke at the table . pleasure without bar●e , commendable . o holy common-wealth and of christians to be followed . equality is the cause that every man hath enough . a common wealth is nothing else but a great houshold . in all things and aboue all things , to the community they haue an eye . by what policy money ●●y be in lesse estimation ▪ it is better either with money or by policy to avoid warr● th●● with much losse of ma●s blood to fight . o fine wit. goldworse then yron as touching the necessary vse thereof . o●●● full 〈…〉 . gold ●●● repr●…s . gemme● and 〈…〉 ●to●●s , 〈…〉 ●●ildren to play ●●●all . a ver● pleasant t●le . o ●itty ●e●d . ●…ull ●…t●●…er 〈…〉 〈◊〉 an●●…t ●…t ●…y 〈…〉 a tru●t ●t●● and ●●itty how much more wi● is ●● the ●eds of the v●●●●an● , ●●●● of the common sort of christians . the studies among the vtopians . musique , logique , arithmetique , geonetrie . 〈…〉 lace 〈…〉 to 〈◊〉 a vp●… a 〈…〉 ●●t among 〈…〉 t●is 〈…〉 naturall philosophy is a knowledge most uncertaine . moral philosophie . the ends of good things . the vtopians hold opinion that felicity consisteth t● honest pleasure . the theologie of the vtopians . the immortality of the soule , whereof these daies certaine christians be doubtfull . as every pleasure ought to be imbraced , so griefe is not to be pursue i ●ut for vertues sake . in this definition of vertue they agree with th● s●●●cians ▪ the worke a●● effect of reason ●n ●●n . but now a daies some there be that willingly procure unto themselues painefull griefe , as though therein restedsome high point of religion where as rather the religiously disposed person , if they happen to him either by chance or else by naturall necessity ought patiently to receive and suffer them . bargaines and lawes . the mutual recourse of kindnesse . the definition of pleasure . false and counterfeit pleasures the errour o●th ▪ ●● that ●…e more for apparels sake . foolish honour . pleasure in precious stones must foolish . the opinion and fancie of people doth a●g●●nt and diminish the price and estimation of precious stones . hiders of treasure . dice-play hunting and hawking . hunting the basest part of butchery among the vtopians , yet this is now in the exercise of most noble men . the kindnesse of true pleasure bodily health . delecta●ions . the pleasures of the mind . the gifts of nature . marke this well . the w●lth ●●● descirption of the v●●pi●●s . a wonderfull ●p● nesse to lea●●●g ●● the vtopians . but now most block beaded asse ▪ be set to learning , and most prog●●●●●its corrupt with pleasures . phisicke highly regarded . the contemplation of nature . a●●●●vailons ●quity of this nation . 〈…〉 th●t be 〈…〉 . voluntary de●th . of wedl●… . diversement . the deseruing of punishment put to the discretion ▪ of the magistrates . motion to adultery punished . pleasure of fooles . co●●terfe● beauty . si●●e punished and vertue rewarded . the inordinate desire of honors condemned . magistrats honoured . f●● lawes . the multitude of lawyers superfluous . the intent of lawes . victory deere bought . the captaine is chiefly to be pursued to the intent the battaile may the sooner ●e ended . their armour . of truces religious houses . sedi●ious reasone●s punished . novil● opinion to be conceived of mans worthy ●●t●re . irreligious people secluded from all honours . a very strange saying . deceit and falshood detested . a mar●eilous stronge opinion touching the soules of brute beasts . to die unwillingly an evill taken . a willing and merry death not to be lamented . southsayers not regarded nor credited . miracles . the life contemplation . the life active . it is not all one to be wise and good . priests . excommunicate . the mejesty and preheminence of priests . the observation of holy dayes among the vtopians . their churches . churches of adimme light , and a reason why . an order for place in the church . their church ●sic●ke . contempt of money . a marvai●●●● saying . the history of the sevarites or sevarambi, a nation inhabiting part of the third continent commonly called terræ australes incognitæ with an account of their admirable government, religion, customs, and language / written by one captain siden, a worthy person, who, together with many others, was cast upon those coasts, and lived many years in that country. histoire des sevarambes. english allais, denis vairasse d', ca. 1630-1672. 1675 approx. 354 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 151 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2007-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a64809 wing v20 estc r13659 12002160 ocm 12002160 52248 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a64809) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 52248) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 79:1a) the history of the sevarites or sevarambi, a nation inhabiting part of the third continent commonly called terræ australes incognitæ with an account of their admirable government, religion, customs, and language / written by one captain siden, a worthy person, who, together with many others, was cast upon those coasts, and lived many years in that country. histoire des sevarambes. english allais, denis vairasse d', ca. 1630-1672. roberts, a., 17th cent. [20], 114, [6] p. printed for henry brome ..., london : 1675. written by d. vairasse. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). preface signed: d.v. translation of: histoire des sevarambes. translated by a. roberts. the second part has separate t.p. with imprint date 1679. advertisements on p. [1]-[4] at end. reproduction of original in university of michigan libraries. with: the history of the sevarites or sevarambi ... the second part ... london : printed by j.m. for henry brome ..., 1679 (wing v20a). created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in 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and edited 2006-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the history of the sevarites or sevarambi : a nation inhabiting part of the third continent , commonly called , terrae australes incognitae . with an account of their admirable government , religion , customs , and language . written by one captain siden , a worthy person , who , together with many others , was cast upon those coasts , and lived many years in that country . london , printed for henry brome , at the gun at the west end of st. pauls church-yard . 1675 the publisher to the reader . there are many , who having read plato's commonwealth , sir thomas more 's vtopia , the lord verulam's new atlantis , ( which are but ideas and ingenious fancies ) are apt to suspect all relatons of new discoveries to be of that kind ; and chiefly when they find in them any thing extraordinary and wonderful . but although these persons are to be commended for being wary and cautious , yet it is but so long as they keep within the bounds of moderation , and do not pass to the excess of incredulity . for as some men , through a believing simplicity , are easily imposed upon , and receive that for a truth , which in effect is not one : so others , on the contrary , through a contrary humour , are apt to reject , as fabulous , that which often proves to be a real truth . this clearly appears in the case of vergilius bishop of collen , who was like to have suffered a severe punishment for affirming , that there were antipodes ; neither could any thing save him but a publick recantation . columbus was looked upon ( here in england , and afterward in france ) as a brain-sick fellow for saying , there was land on the west parts of the ocean : yet the voyages since made round the world have justified vergilius his opinion : and the discovery of america ( where we have many flourishing plantations ) has sufficiently evidenced the truth of columbus his assertion . the histories of peru , mexico , china , &c. were at first taken for romances by many , but time has shewed since that they are verities not to be doubted of . those remote countries were for thousands of years unknown to the people of europe , and so are still many others perhaps , and at this day we know little more of them , than what lies upon the sea-coasts . but how should we have a perfect knowledge of remote countries , lately discovered , since there are many parts of europe very little known yet , and some not at all ? nay , the british islands are not perfectly described : and before their last civil wars , the highlands of scotland ; many parts of ireland , and other smaller isles about , were very little known to the people of england : and their customs , laws , and religion , are things we have not yet had any very good account of . few travellers make it their business to write histories , and make descriptions of those countries they have travelled in , for most of them being merchants , or seamen , they mind little more than their trade ; and being intent upon gain and profit , seldom busie themselves in making observations . besides , few of them are qualified for the writing of books if they were never so willing ; and fewer have time and opportunity to apply themselves to that study ; so it falls out , that we have few exact relations of remote countries , although they be often seen , and even described in maps . for an instance , the isle of borneo lies near java , and in the way to china , it is one of the biggest in the world according to geographical descriptions , and yet we have very little knowledge of it , although the dutch have very large dominions in java , and other islands about it , and sail daily by it in their way to jappan and china . many other places there are which sailers take no more notice of than as it is necessary for their ships to avoid them . and how can it be expected we should have any good descriptions of them , unless some great powers should undertake it , and send fit persons for that purpose , with all the helps and encouragement requisite in so useful and honourable a design ? among all remote countries , there is none so vast , and so little known , as the third continent , commonly called , terra australis . it is true , geographers give some small and unperfect descriptions of it , but it is with little knowledge and certainty ; and most of their draughts may be suspected , and look'd upon , as imaginary and fictitious . sure it is , that there is such a continent ; many have seen it , and even landed there , but few durst venture far in it , if any there were ; and i do not think that any body hath made any true description of it , either for want of knowledge , or other necessary means and opportunities . this history will supply that defect , in a great measure , if it be true , as i have reason to believe upon these grounds : first , upon the testimony of the reporter , who doth not only herein affirm this history to be true , but did it also by word of mouth , a good while before , and again near the time of his death , when he gave his papers to the gentleman , who did lately put them into my hands . these two gentlemen came to know one another at smirna , a little before the dutch fleet departed from thence , in or about the year 1607. and being both bound for holland ; they came together in the same ship where by a daily converse they contracted a very strict friendship . this fleet being attacked in its return , there were many men killed and wounded ; and among the rest , the author of this relation , called captain siden , was mortally wounded , and lived but little after the fight . upon his death-bed he made his friend heir of what he had in the ship , and spake to him in this manner : as the gentleman , himself , hath often declared to me . sir , since it is gods decree that i should live no longer , i patiently submit to his divine will without any murmuring . but before i die , i am willing to dispose of a chest i have in this ship , where you will find some money , and a few jewels , of no great value , i confess , but such as they are i give them to you , and i am sorry they are not better worth your acceptance , i give you also the chest , and every thing in it ; and though , it seems , the whole is worth but little , yet you will find a great treasure in it , and that is the history of my adventures in the south continent , as you have heard me relate to you several times . you will find it in a great disorder and confusion for the most part ; and written in several languages , as being intended only to serve for memoires till i could digest them into an orderly contexture . but since god will not permit me to do it my self , i commit it to your care , knowing you are an ingenious person , and give you full power and authority to dispose of the said papers as you will think most convenient ; assuring you upon my death bed , as i have done before in several discourses , that they contain nothing but truth ; which , i hope , time and further experience will bring to light . these were the last words of the dying gentleman , who a few hours after gave up his soul to god ; and who , according to his friends testimony , was a very sober , discreet , and worthy person . after his death his heir examined the papers , and found they were written , for the most part , in latine ; the rest in french , italian , and provencal ; the diversity of which languages put him to a great deal of trouble , for he did not understand them all , neither was he willing to trust the writings into strangers hands . these difficulties , together with the confusion of the wars that followed , and several troublesome affairs , were the reason why he kept this history concealed all this while , not knowing whom to trust it with . but being come from holland into england since the peace was proclaimed betwixt the two nations ; and having contracted some acquaintance and friendship with me , he did me the favour a while ago to intrust me with his papers , and desired my assistance in putting them into an orderly method . i perused them , and found the matter , therein contained , so extraordinary and wonderful , that i was never at rest till i had disposed them into a good order and contexture ; which i , at last , effected , not without much labour and pains , with the gentlemans help and counsel . now we were a while uncertain in what language we should publish this history , he being inclined to do it in latine , or french : but at last i prevailed with him , and perswaded him to let me print it in english , taking the whole task upon my self . but before we proceeded in that design , i was desirous to enquire after the truth of this discovery some other way , and told him it were very material to send into holland , to know of the officers of the admiralties there , whether any such ship , as the golden dragon , herein mentioned , was at any time gone from thence for batavia : to which he readily answered , he had satisfied himself therein , and found upon examination , that a vessel of that name was gone from the texel , at the time herein expressed , with all the other circumstances . but this was not enough to satisfie me , because i had nothing but his bare affirmation : i therefore went to mr. van dam , advocate to the east-india company but this could not be done , because the dutch gentleman was then in flanders ; whereupon he intreated him to write to him , and desire him to give the best account he could of it ; which he readily consented to , and having sent a letter to his friend concerning this matter , received the following answer , which we have faithfully translated out of french , and inserted it here . sir , according to your desire , and for your friends satisfaction , i shall tell you ; that when i was at batavia , in the year 1659 , a dutch seaman , named prince , hearing that i had been near the south-continent , told me , that some years before ( i do not remember how many , nor at what height ) he was cast away in a new ship , called the green , or golden dragon ; which carried a great deal of money , designed for batavia , and about four hundred people ; who for the most part had got into the said land , and kept there the same discipline they had at sea. that having entrenched themselves , with what they had saved , and among the rest , most of their victuals , they made a new pinnace out of the broken pieces of their ship , casting lots for eight men ( whereof this seaman was one ) to go to batavia , to inform the general of the holland company of their disaster , to the end he might send ships to fetch those who had been cast away . that pinnace being come to batavia , with much ado ; the said general dispatched presently a frigot , which being come to that coast , they sent their long boat ashore with many men , who landed at the place and height to them described before , but found no body there . they ranged along that coast till they lost their boat , and some of their men , through the badness of the weather , which that coast is very subject to , and so returned to batavia without effecting any thing . the general sent a second frigot , which likewise came back , with no better success than the former . people speak differently of that country , some saying , that in the inland , there are people of a great stature ; others , that they are little and subtile , and that they carry those they can catch into the inner parts of the land along with them . i was like to have landed there , but , as through gods special favour , a sudden calm in the night saved us from being cast away ; soon after a sudden storm made us alter our minds of landing there , and we thought our selves happy to get to sea again . this is all i can tell you of this business : your friends may hear more of this ship from those who belong to the east-india company . general maetsuycker was then , and is still , general in batavia ; but i had this account only of the seaman above mentioned . the land of this country is reddish , and barren , and the coasts as if they were enchanted by reason of frequent storms , which hinder much those who will land there : and that is the reason why the aforesaid frigots lost their boats and men . they could not land every where ; and this seaman is of opinion , they could not find the right place . i remain bridges , oct. 28. 1672. your most humble servant th. s. this is the true copy of the letter sent to this french gentleman , who has given me the original and i have it still in my possession . he added , that the savoyard took a copy of it , and told him , that he himself had made great enquiry after a gentleman of his country , who was said to have gone in this ship. that the same gentleman had been a great traveller , and had left an estate near nice de provence , where he was born , and that his kindred , not having heard from him for many years , were much troubled to know what was become of him . all these things are , in my opinion , very strong arguments to establish the truth of this history , since they agree so well with the history it self in all the circumstances of time , place , and person , and are attested by so many credible witnesses , which are yet alive , for the most part , and who living in several places , not knowing one another , and having no interest in the publishing of this story , cannot rationally be suspected , to have all joyned together to give credit to a fictitious narration . but i leave the reader to the liberty of using his own judgment , and content my self with shewing the reasons which have been able to convince mine . i wish that those who shall read this most delightful and admirable relation may reap some profit out of it either in point of pleasure or utility , it being a very ingenious piece , and the most perfect model of government i ever read or heard of in my life . d. v. the history of the sevarites , or sevarambi . my , natural genius , the manner of my education , and the example of others , inspired me in my young years with a restless desire of travelling the world , that i might my self be an eye witness of those things i had either read or heard of . but the authority of my parents , who designed me for the gown , and my want of sufficient means , were powerful obstacles to my desires ; and would have confined me at home , had not fortune , mightier than all these , ordered it contrary to their intent , and according to my wishes . for before i had attained the fifteenth year of my age , i was sent into italy , in a military imployment , which kept me there two whole years before i came home again into my own country ; from whence , soon after my return , i was obliged to march into catalonia with a better command than that i had before . i continued there in the army for the space of three years , and would not have quitted the service , if my fathers untimely death had not called we home again to take possession of a small estate he left me , and to obey my mothers absolute commands , who called me back , as the only person , after so great a loss , that was able to dry up her tears . these considerations made me to return ; and after that , to leave the sword , and to put on the gown , and change a souldiers life for that of a lawyer ; to which study upon this occasion i did wholly apply my self ; read the institutions , the codex , and the digests or pandects , where having made a pretty good progress in four or five years time i was perswaded to take my degrees in the university , which i did accordingly with an indifferent good success . then was i received into the soveraign court of judicature of my country in the quality of an advocate , as being the first step to higher dignities , exercised my self in declamations upon fictitious causes , and pleaded real and choice ones in apparatu , as they term it , with some applause and credit . i was well enough pleased with these kinds of exercises , in which young men love to shew their wit and eloquence to the publick , and where they get more praise than money ; but when i descended to the lower practice of the law , i found it so crabbed , so mean and slavish , that in a short time i was quite weary of it . i carefully examined the ways and means by which lawyers attain to riches and dignities , and found there was much of fraud and indirect proceeding in them , and that unless i did comply with men of that calling in all these vices , i should never get either wealth or credit by my practice . now being naturally inclined to ease and pleasure , and loving frankness and honesty , i clearly perceived i was no ways fit for that imployment . so while i was thinking and contriving how to cast it off with some plausible reason , a fatal accident took away my loving mother ; and although her death made me absolute master of my self and estate , yet it laid so much grief and sorrow on my heart , that all things at home became odious to me , insomuch that i made a strong resolution to leave my native land , if not for ever , at least for a long time . pursuant to this design , i disposed of all my concerns , except of a small estate in land , which i reserved for a place of retreat in case of necessity , leaving it in the hands of a faithful friend , who ever since gave me a very good account of it so long as he could hear from me . having in that manner ordered my affairs and taken leave of my best friends , i travelled into the chiefest provinces of the kingdom of france 'till i came to the famous city of paris , where i spent almost two years without going above fifty or sixty miles from it . but the former desire of seeing more countries , and an opportunity while i was there of travelling into germany made me depart from that populous city to go and see the several courts of the german princes , those of the kings of swedeland and denmark , and at last the low-countries , where i made an end of my european travels , and rested my self , till the year 1655. in which i took shipping for the east indies . the causes and motives which induced me to take this long voyage were these : first , my natural curiosity of seeing countries , and the wonderful relations i had heard or read of those remote parts of the world . secondly , the earnest solicitations of a friend who had a concern in batavia , and was bound for that place . and last of all , the great gain and profits which i was told would accrue to me by this voyage if it should prove successful . these arguments and invitations easily prevailed with me , so that having in a short time ordered my affairs , and prepared my self for this purpose , i went with my friend aboard a new ship , called the golden dragon , bound for batavia . she was a vessel of about six hundred tuns , and thirty two guns , and carried near four hundred people seamen or passengers , and great sums of money , where my friend , called monsieur de nuits , had a great concern . in order to our voyage we weighed anchor from the texel on the twelfth day of april 1655. and with a fresh easterly wind sailed through the channel betwixt france and england with all the speed and good success we could wish , till we came to the open seas , and thence prosecuted our voyage to the canary islands with variety of winds and weather , but no storms or tempests . there we took in fresh provisions , such as the islands afford , and which we had occasion for ; and steering from thence towards the isles of capo verdo to fetch a constant trade wind , we came in sight of them without any accident worth my relating it is true , we saw several sea monsters , flying fishes , new constellations , &c. but because those things are usual , that they have been described by others , and have for many years lost the grace of novelties , i purposely omit them , not being willing to increase the bulk of this book with unnecessary relations which would but tire the readers patience and my own . to proceed therefore with my intended brevity , i think it will be sufficient to tell you that we made the coasts of brasil , and got there another trade wind , which carried us towards the cape of good hope with indifferent good success . we doubled the cape without any danger , and pursued our voyage with all chearfulness and alacrity , till we came to 38 degrees of south latitude , on the second day of august of the same year 1655. till this time and place fortune had smiled upon us , but now she began to frown , for about three or four a clock in the afternoon the sky began to change its former clearness and serenity into thick clouds , lightnings and thunders , which were the forerunners of the vehement winds , rain , hail and tempest , which succeeded soon after . the very approach of this violent storm did much terrifie our seamen , and although they had time to take down their sails , tie fast their guns , and order every thing as they thought fit , yet foreseeing the terrible hurricane that hapned immediately after , they could not chuse but dread the violence and fierceness of it . the sea began to foam , and turn its smooth surface into mountains and vales. the winds ran all the points of the compass in less than two hours time . our ship was tossed to and fro , up and down again , in the horridest manner imaginable ; one wind drove us forward , and another beat us back again ; our masts , yards , and tackling were broken , and the storm was so violent that a great part of our seamen being sick could hardly hear and obey command . all this while our passengers were kept under deck , and my friend and i lay at the main mast sadly cast down , and both repenting , he for his covetous desire of gain , and i for my foolish curiosity . we wished our selves a hundred times in holland , and as often despaired ever to see it again , or any other land , for any would have served our turn then . he was a very honest young man , but no souldier nor seaman . at the begining of the storm i was full of courage , and well resolved to submit to the will of god without any murmuring or fear of dying , but he did not understand that philosophy , the dreadful image of death appeared to him with all his horrour , and i think i might have seen it in his face if we had not been in the dark . i have admired he did not die for the very fear of it : at first he sigh'd and and groaned only , but a while after , when the storm increased , he broke out into the saddest howling in the world . he accused his fathers counsel and command , who had sent him , but chiefly his own folly in obeying . he called his dear mother , brothers , and sisters , and bad them an eternal farewel , as likewise his beloved country , which he had no hopes ever to see again . he lamented and deplored the cruelty of his fate that put an end to his life in the flower of his age by so horrid and untimely a death . in fine , he made such sad complaints , and was so eloquent in his affliction , that i was moved with compassion more than with the fear of being drowned . pity first wrought upon my heart , and drove out of it all the stoicity my reason had laid there in store ; then fear and infirmity came in , so that i began to howl and lament with my afflicted friend , as if i had been as weak as he , and had it not been for some ridiculous expressions of his , which made me sometimes laugh , i think i had been as much dejected as he . mans weakness and simplicity is much to be admired in such occasions as this , and shews that custom , prejudices , and opinions , have more influence upon his mind than true reason he so much boasts of , and which in such occurrences as this forsakes him , and leaves the mastery of his soul to weak and silly passions . death is but one and the same thing what shape soever it assumes to appear in , and we commonly fear the manner of death more than death it self . before this storm ( wherein none of our people perished by the special grace of god ) i had been exposed to a great deal more danger than i was now ; i had been exposed to the mouth of canons , i had fought in battels , and in sieges , where many thousands of men had lost their lives , and where we marched upon the slain to a seeming inevitable death : yet the fear of it did hardly make an impression on my heart because it was an usual thing , and the contempt of danger as much accounted courage and gallantry as the fear of it cowardliness and infamy , yet death is still but one and the same thing . while my friend and i were thus lamenting , the master and his crew were not asleep , neither did they neglect any thing that could contribute to our preservation ; they used all their art , and all their endeavours , some about the stern , some about the pumps , and others about several other parts of the ship ; and god did so bless their labour , that they kept her up while the violent hurrricane lasted , which at last fell into one particular wind , that got the mastery of the others , and drove us to the southward with so great rapidity that we were not able to keep out of that course , but must yield to his violence . after two days running that course the wind changed a little , and drove us to the southeast for the space of three days , the weather being so foggy that we could see nothing at five or six yards distance . on the sixth day the wind slaked a little , but drove us still to the southeast till towards night , when of a sudden we felt a very great calm , just as if our ship had fallen into a pool or dead lake , which caused no small wonder in us . two or three hours after we were thus becalmed the weather cleared up , and we spied a great many stars , but could not make any good observation by them . we judged in general that we were not far from batavia , and a great many leagues from the south continent : but it proved afterwards we were much deceived in our conjecture . the seventh day we continued in this great calm , as if we had been ordered to celebrate the sabbath day after six days labour and toyl ; during this calm we searched and examined all the parts of our ship , and found her pretty tight , though she was a new ship , and had never gone a voyage before . but she was so strongly built that she endured the rage of the seas without springing any leak able to endamage her . the eighth day at noon a fine breeze began to blow , and drove us to the eastward , much to our joy and satisfaction , for besides that it made for our purpose , we were afraid of being becalmed ; at night the weather grew dark and misty , and the wind stiff and violent , so that we feared another storm the fog continued all the day following , and the wind blowing by fits and puffs , which did sometimes put us to great danger , at night the wind changed , grew boisterous and drove us again to the southeast with great impetuosity , the fog growing still thicker and thicker . about the middle of the night , the wind being very high , and our ship running very swiftly , she struck of a sudden upon a bank , much contrary to our expectation , and stuck there so fast that she remained there without any motion as if she had been nailed to the place . then did we think our selves absolutely lost , and looked every moment to see our ship staved in pieces by the fury of the seas and wind , and every body fell to his prayers seeing neither art nor industry could avail . but god , whose mercies are great , shewed us salvation where we expected nothing but destruction ; for the morning being come , and the sun having expelled the darkness of the night , and dissipated the thickness of the fog , we saw that our vessel stuck upon a bank near the shore of a great island or continent . the discovery of this land turned our despair into hopes , for although it was unknown to us , and we could not tell what good or bad fortune we should have in it : yet any land was then welcome to men who had during many days been so miserably tossed upon the water betwixt life and death , hopes and despair . about noon the weather grew very clear and hot , the sun over-powring the mist and fog , and the wind abating much of his violence , so that the sea did by degrees lose much of his rage and agitation . in the afternoon about three a clock it ebbed from the shore , and left our ship with less than five foot of water upon a kind of a muddy sand where she stuck very fast . the place where she stuck was not above a musket shot from a pretty high but accessible shore , whither we resolved to remove our selves and our goods whatever should come on 't , and in order to it our long-boat was let down , and twelve of our stoutest men were sent ashore well armed to discover the country , and to chuse a place near the sea where we might encamp with some safety without going far from our ship. as soon as they were landed they carefully viewed the country from the top of a rising ground not far from the shore , but saw neither houses , nor inhabitants , nor any signs of either , the country being but a sandy barren land , where grew nothing but bushes and little shrubs wild and savage . they could see neither river nor brook in the parts they had discovered ; and not having time to make a farther search that day , nor counting it prudence to venture any farther into so unknown a place , they came back again to the ship three hours after their landing . the next morning we sent them ashore again with provisions , and order to send the boat back again to fetch our people by degrees , and likewise our provisions and goods , which were all whole by gods mercy without any the least damage . all these orders were executed with great care and diligence , so that the day after our being cast upon the bank we got all ashore with a good part of our provisions and goods most useful and necessary . the first who landed pitched the camp on the side of a rising ground near the sea over against our vessel , which could cover us on the land side from being seen by any body that should come towards the shore , and afforded us a convenient station for a sentinel to discover a good way round about . thither did we by degrees carry our goods , leaving in the ship but ten or twelve men to keep her till we could tow her off upon high water , if it was possible , or dispose of her otherwise . one of the first things we did so soon as we were landed was to call a council , to advise what order we should take for our mutual preservation . it was presently resolved that we should keep for the present upon the land the same order and discipline we kept at sea , till such times we should think fit to alter it ; so after this resolution it was agreed , we should humble our selves before god almighty , to give him most hearty thanks for preserving our lives and goods in so special a manner , and to implore his divine assistance for the future in a place altogether unknown to us , and where we might fall into the hands of some barbarous people , or starve there for want of provisions , if he in his mercy did not provide for us as he had done heretofore . after this resolution and humiliation our officers divided our people into three equal parts , whereof two were ordered incessantly to work about the camp in drawing of a trench to secure us from any sudden invasion , and the others were imployed in discovering the country , and fetching in wood and such kind of supplies . those who were left aboard the ship had orders to see what condition she was in , and what could be done with her . after an exact examination they found that her keel was broke by the violent shock she gave against the sand , and that she stuck so fast in it , that it was impossible to tow her off if she were never so sound , so that they thought the best way was to take her in pieces , and build a pinnace or two out of her ruines to sent to batavia with all speed and diligence . that counsel was approved of , and the fittest men for that purpose were employed for the execution of it with all diligence . the parties that were sent to discover durst not venture far in the plain for fear of some danger or ill accident , till such a time that the camp was better fortified , and the guns carried thither from the ship. they brought in only wood , and some kind of wild berries , of which they found great quantities upon the bushes and shrubs of the place ; some spreading along the shore found a very great plenty of oysters , muscles , and other shell fish , which did not only refresh our people , but did also much save our provisions , which upon examination we found could not hold out above two months according to the ordinary allowance : the consideration whereof made us think of some way to husband it , which could be but by getting and saving . in the first place we used all diligence to get our nets and hooks ready , for we had found that the sea thereabouts was very full of fish ; we fed as much as we could upon the berries of the plain , and upon the shell fish of the shore ; and on the other side we shortned every ones allowance , and reduced it to eight ounces a day of the ships provisions . but our greatest want was sweet water , for although we had made a well in the trench that afforded as much of it as we could use , yet it was somewhat brackish and ungrateful by reason of the nearness of the sea. our adventurers made every day some new discovery , and having gone so far as almost ten miles about the camp without finding any the least sign that the country was inhabited grew every day bolder and bolder : they saw no living creature in all this sandy plain , but some snakes , a kind of a rat almost as big as a rabbet , and some kind of birds like wild pigeons , but somewhat bigger , who fed upon the berries we have made mention of . they killed some of them with their guns and brought them to the camp , where after trial they were found to be very good meat , especially the birds . these new discoveries made us a little remiss in our fortifications , and we contented our selves by drawing a small trench about our camp , casting up the earth inwardly , and thought it was enough in a place where we found no inhabitants . we planted some guns upon the most convenient places , and setting all thoughts of fear aside , dreaded nothing so much as hunger , and the injuries we might receive from the weather , which we were not yet acquainted with , for it had proved very temperate since our landing upon that coast , where we had been fourteen days before our pinnace could be perfected . but about the seventeenth day she was ready to put to sea with provision for eight men for six weeks time , which was as much as ever we could spare . now there arose great strife amongst the seamen about the sending of the pinnace to battavia , for few would venture on that voyage , yet it was necessary that some should go . whereupon it was agreed that a number of the best seamen should be taken out of the whole crue , and that they should cast lots among themselves to determine the difference , which was done accordingly . the lot fell upon the master himself , upon a seaman called prince , and six more , whose names i have forgotten . they seeing it was the will of fortune that they should go , submitted to it joyfully , and after having agreed upon a signal we should give them , to find us out if ever they should come again with relief , and taking their leave of the company , they went aboard the pinnace , and with a good land gale sailed to the eastward till they were out of our sight . we made publick prayers for their prosperity with many sighs and tears , trusting in gods goodness and mercy . the same day we advised among our selves what kind of government we should keep as most convenient for our present condition , for some of our officers being gone in the pinnace our sea discipline was somewhat altered , neither did we judge it proper for the land , upon better consideration . the business was debated pro and con , but after some contestation it was agreed that we should live in a military discipline under a captain general . and other inferiour officers , which together should compose a soveraign council of war with authority to direct and order every thing absolutely . now the question was whom we should chuse of all the company . all were inclined to defer that honour to van de nuits , my friend , as being the person of most eminent quality among them , and who had the greatest concern in the ship , but he modestly excused himself , alledging that he was young and unexperienced in military affairs , and therefore not fit for such command , and that it was necessary in such an occasion to make choice of a person of riper years and greater experience in that kind than himself was , who never was a souldier . then , observing some trouble and irresolutions in their faces , he went on in this manner : gentlemen , i give you many thanks for the esteem and good will you shew towards me , and wish heartily i were worthy of it , and capable of this command ; but since i cannot be your general my self , give me leave to recommend one to you who is very fit for that imployment , having been a commander in europe in two several armies and a great traveller in most parts of the christian world. you know his person , and i dare say you do all love and esteem of him as i do , although he is not so well known to you as he is to me , who have had long experience of his probity and good conduct . then ( poynting to me ) he said , the person i mean is captain siden , to whose command and authority i will readily submit if you please to chuse him for our general . this unexpected speech , and the looks of the company , who all turned their eyes upon me , put me somewhat out of countenance , but being soon come to my self , i answered , that his recommendation proceeded more out of affection and love than out of any knowledge of either merit or good conduct in me ; that i was a foreigner among them , and born in a country far from holland , and that i thought there were many in the company far more capable of that command than i was , and therefore desired to be excused , chusing rather to obey my betters than to use any authority over them . i had no sooner ended my speech , but one swart ( a stout and active fellow , who never went out of my company in all the discoveries we had made in the country ) took me up somewhat briskly , and said : sir , all these excuses will not serve your turn , and if mr. van de nuits counsel and mine be taken you shall be our general whether you will or no ; for besides what he hath worthily spoken of you , all the company ( and i particularly ) know that since we were cast upon this land you have shewed your self most active and industrious for the common good and preservation of all , and are therefore most fit to command us . we are seamen and traders , altogether ignorant of military discipline , which you alone can teach us here , since there is no body among us that understands it , and who is so well qualified as your self , upon which consideration i declare that you are the only sit person to command us , and that i will submit to no mans command but yours . this blunt fellows speech , which he pronounced with a strong and loud voice , did so affect the minds of the company , already disposed by van de nuits recommendation , that all with one voice cried out , captain siden must be our general . when i saw i could not avoid the taking of this command , i made sign for silence , and spake to them in this manner : gentlemen , since you force me to accept of this command , i accept it with thanks to you all , and do heartily wish your choice may prove to your advantage and satisfaction . but that all things may be done in good order , and carried on vigorously i beg a few things of you , which if you please to grant me i will do my best endeavour to preserve you from all danger , and to keep you in that civil discipline and society which may best conduce to the publick good. the first thing i beg , that every man here will take an oath to obey mine and the councils authority without any repugnancy , upon pain of such punishments as we shall think fit to inflict upon them . the second is , that i may have the priviledge of chusing the principal officers to be elected , and they to bear such commands and offices as i shall bestow upon them for the time . in the third place i beg , that in council my single vote may pass for three votes . lastly , that i or my deputy may have a negative voice in all publick deliberations . all these priviledges and prerogatives were presently granted me , and i was saluted by all the multitude in the quality of their general , and had a tent larger than ordinary set up in the middle of the camp for the first badge of my authority . i lay in it that night with van de nuits ; and had his advice in several things , which were afterwards put in execution . the next day we called all our people together , and in their presence i made van de nuits over-seer general of all the goods and provisions we had , or should hereafter have . swart captain of the artillery , arms , and ammunitions of war. maurice , an expert and active seaman , admiral of our fleet , which was to consist of a long-boat , a little boat , and another pinnace we were a making out of the pieces of our broken ship. morton , an english man , who had been a serjeant in the low countries , i made captain of the eldest company . de haes , a sober and vigilant fellow , was made second captain , one van sluis , third captain , one de bosch , fourth captain , and one brown , major general . i gave all these men leave to chuse their inferiour officers with my approbation , which they did accordingly . i had two servants with me , the one called devese , who had been my serjeant in catalonia , a stout and understanding fellow , sober , and trusty , who had served me ever since i left the wars , and followed my fortune every where , him i made my lieutenant general ; and the other , named tursi , my secretary . our officers being all chosen , we numbred our people , and found we were three hundred and seven men , three boys , and seventy four women , all in good health ; for although there were many of them sick when they first landed , they were all well again in less than a weeks time , which was no small argument of the healthiness of the country . i distributed all these into four parts , and gave maurice six and twenty of the best seamen , and the three boys , to man his navy . swart had thirty for his artillery . i disposed two hundred men into four companies , and van de nuits had all the rest to attend him , and take orders of him in the camp , or out of the camp. we had two trumpetters , which used to say prayers in the ship besides their office of trumpetting . i took one of them , and gave van de nuits the other , and they both were confirmed in both their imployments after the dutch fashion . all our affairs being so ordered and setled , in the evening i called our superiour officers together , and told them , that before our provisions were all spent we should go about by sea and land to discover the country , and endeavour to get some fresh provision , as likewise to discover some fitter place for a camp than that we were in , where in a short time all things would grow scarce , and where we had not so much as good water . that my opinion was we should send several parties of men well armed to make new discoveries , and go farther into the country than we had gone yet . they readily assented to my proposals , and told me they were ready to obey my orders . whereupon i commanded maurice to man his two boats , and to send them all along the coasts , as far as they could conveniently go , the one , on the right side of the camp , and the other , on the left . i ordered morton to take twenty men out of his company , and to go all along the shore on the left hand . de haes was commanded to take thirty out of his , and to go through the middle of the country ; and i my self drew forty men out of the two other companies , and left my lieutenant to command in the camp in my absence . we all took three days provision , and good store of powder and bullets , with swords and half pikes , and i commanded all my men to be ready early in the morning , and to wait for further orders , which they did accordingly . the next day , which was the twentieth since the first day of our landing , and from which we shall hereafter reckon as our principal epoche , all my men were ready by break of day , and came to receive my commands , which were the same i had given the night before , with this addition only : that if they should meet with any thing considerable they should presently send advice thereof to the camp. i likewise gave orders to morton to keep with the boat as near as he could , and to come every night to the shore to joyn with the boats-crew before sun setting , i my self intending to keep the same method with maurice . as soon as these orders were given we went our several ways all full of hopes and alacrity . i marched my men in rank and file , and i divided them into three parties , the first that had the van was composed of six musketteers and a corporal , the second of twelve and a serjeant , i my self brought up the rear . we marched within musket shot distance one from another in that manner as near the shore as we could , that we might be within sight of our boat. the sea was very calm , and the weather very still , though something hot . at noon the boat came to us at a place where we stood near the shore , and there we took some rest and refreshment for the space of two hours . all the country we came upon for ten or twelve miles was much like to that about our camp , and we did not so much as find a brook or a spring in all our way , all being dry sands , and nothing growing upon them but bushes and thorns . after we had taken some rest , we marched five miles beyond the place where we had halted , and there the ground began to grow more unequal , and to rise here and there into small hills . two miles farther we found a brook of sweet water , which gave us no small occasion of joy , chiefly when we saw that a little farther up in the country there was some small plots of green trees upon the banks of the brook ; there we halted again , and made signs to our boat to come to us , which they did immediately , coming into the brook with the tide ; and finding it was a very good harbour for such a vessel as theirs , they rowed up a mile into the land till they came to a plot of green trees , where we pitched our camp for that night . maurice brought us some fish he had taken in the sea , and some oysters , and other shell fish . we strook fire , went to supper an hour before night , and then to sleep , keeping a good guard about us , and hiding our fire with green boughs we fixed in the ground round about it lest it should be seen at a distance . the next day early in the morning i sent three of my men back again to the camp to give them notice of the brook and the trees we had found , and to tell them we intended to proceed farther . but before we removed from that place i sent five men up the brook to discover more of the country . they came back two hours after , and told us that the country above was a little more hilly than below , but dry and barren , and like that which lay towards our camp. our boat fell down towards the sea after these men were come with this account , and had carried us over the brook , which was deep and not fordable , unless we went two or three miles higher . when we had got over we marched on along the shore still within sight of our boat , and found that the country grew more and more unequal . when we had gone five or six miles further we came to a pretty high hill , which was barren and without trees . we got on the top of it , and from thence discovered a wood of tall trees four or five miles beyond this hill , which trees stood upon a high ground that shot a good way into the sea. at the sight of these green trees we did much rejoyce , and resolved to go thither after we had taken a little refreshment . we marched on through a sandy plain that lay betwixt us and the wood , and reached the foot of the high ground in less than two hours time , got up into the wood , and found it did consist of very lofty trees , not thick , and under which there was not much under-wood , so that it was easily pervious ; there i kept my men very close to one another , and doubled the van , that they might be the more able to resist if they should be set upon by any men or fierce beast . as we went we cut down several boughs , and strewed them upon the ground , whereby we might know the way we came in our return . in that manner we marched on in as direct a line as we could till we came to the other side of the wood , where we spied the sea again , and saw trees over the water at six or seven miles distance , which demonstrated to us that this water was a great bay between two capes . the place was very delightful to behold , and afforded a very fine prospect over the bay , which made us wish we had been cast away nearer to it than we were . we had left our boat on the other side of the wood by reason of the great way she must go about before we could meet her again . i sent down ten of my men to the water side , where they found a vast quantity of oysters , and other shel-fish , which was no small encouragement . as soon as they were come up i sent three men to maurice , and bid him row as fast as he could towards the head of the cape , where he should meet with a party i intended to send immediately that way . i sent another party towards the inner part of the wood on the land side to see if they could find any sweet water . those who went towards the head of the cape travelled almost two miles before they found any , but at last they perceived a declivity in the ground , which led them down into a kind of a vale , very full of green and thick trees , at the bottom of which they found a fine stream of sweet water , running into the bay. in this pleasant place they stopped , and sent three of their company to bring me notice of it ; they had not been come a quarter of an hour but the ten men , who were sent on the contrary side , came back again , and told us they had gone a great way in the wood , which they thought grew wider and wider towards the land ; that they had found a heard of deer near a little brook , whereof they had killed two , and shot at two more . they had cut these deer into four pieces , and carried them upon their backs , which was no uncomfortable sight to us . we left the place where we stood , and marched towards the vale above mentioned , having before dispatched five of our men towards the camp , to give them notice of what had hapned to us , and sent them part of our venison for a token of the good fortune we had met with . when we were come to the vale , i liked it so well , that i resolved to encamp there that night , and to remove our old camp thither , as soon as possibly we could . my men made presently a fire , and fell a roasting of their venison ; and i sent five of them to meet with the party which were sent to maurice ; they marched but two miles farther before they came to the head of the cape , where they joyned with the other party , and there standing all together , upon the most eminent place they could find , looked for maurice his coming . he as soon as he had received my orders , rowed to the rendezvous with all the diligence possible , and came to the place half an hour before sun setting , where having pulled the boat upon the ground , they all came to the new camp before it was night . they found us very merry , some about the fire roasting of meat , and others lying upon beds of dry leaves and dry moss , which they had gathered good store of in a little time . we passed all the night in that place with a great deal of joy and quietness , and the morning being come i got up betimes , and bid maurice and his crew to prepare for the old camp , whither i intended to return by water with only two of my men besides the boats crew . i left one to command the rest , and ordered him to keep in that place till he heard farther from me , promising to be with him again in less than three days , and that in the mean while they might supply their wants with hunting , fishing , and shelling ; so we went towards the boat. we soon reached the place where she lay , put her to sea , and rowed to the old camp the same day , a gentle breeze favouring our voyage ; we arrived about sun setting , and were received by our people with general demonstrations of joy . they had heard of the new camp , and all asked me if they should not remove thither ? i answered , we would do that with all speed , it being the best place to pitch upon of all those we had seen . morton and de haes were come to the camp two or three hours before my arrival , and came to give me an account of their expeditions . morton told me , he had marched his men fifteen or sixteen miles to the left side of the camp through a sandy and barren country , where they had not found so much as a spring or brook of sweet water ; that at night they were gone to meet the boat on the shore , according to my orders , and lain there till the next morning , which being come , they departed early from that place , and proceeded to the westward in the same manner as the day before , through a rocky and stony country , without finding any water till noon ; at which time they came to a pretty broad river , where they stopt till their boat came to them . that they had observed the tide came into this river with great noise and impetuosity , and that the water was salt where they came to it at first , as being not far from the sea , which had obliged them to go up the river till they should find sweet water . that going up along the banks they had at the last found a stream of sweet water , which refreshed them much , and so proceeded in their discovery ; they had been set upon by two great crocodiles , which ran out of the river to devour them , but that they having spied them before they could come near , had fired at them , and the report of their guns had so frighted those monsters that they ran into the water with more haste than they were come out of it . that seeing the danger there was along that river by reason of these , or other fierce creatures they might meet with ; and having no provision to go on any further in a country where they could get nothing but some shell-fish , and those only upon the sea-shore , they thought they should proceed no farther , but come back again the same way they were gone , according to my command of not staying longer without some special reason . de haes told me he had marched twenty miles the first day through a sandy plain , directly to the southward . that at night they were come to a little hill full of heath , where they lay till next morning . that when the sun began to shine they saw a very great mist five or six miles beyond their post , which clearing up by degrees , as they marched towards it , they discovered a great pool or lake of standing water , which could be no less than ten miles diameter . that being come near this lake they had seen abundance of reeds and rushes growing about the shore , and an infinite number of water-fowl , that flew from place to place , and made a very great noise in their flight . that they had gone a good way about this lake before they could come to touch the water by reason of the marshy and muddy ground about it , where they could not march without danger of sinking , till they came to a sandy place near a hill , somewhat higher than that they lay upon the night before . that having got to the top of it , from whence they had a very large prospect round about , they could discover nothing but a large heath , and at great distance towards the south , a long row of very high mountains , which stood like a wall , and reached from east to west as far as they could see . that after this discovery , they , being afraid of wanting victuals , were returned to the camp on the third day according to my command . i found by these relations that i had had far better luck than these two captains , and we were all the more encouraged to go to the new camp on the eastward ; that we saw it had such conveniences as we could not find any where else , and that all our hopes lay on that side . the next morning i called a council , where i propounded our removal to the green vale. it was embraced presently , and ordered that we should transport our people and goods thither by degrees , beginning with those which were most necessary and easie to carry . the new pinnace we were making was almost finished , and would be ready in four or five days more , and fit to transport our guns , casks , and other lumber . in the mean while we used both our boats to remove our provisions , and sent many of our people by land , with such axes , nails , spades , and other implements of that kind as we had there . the major went with the first party , my lieutenant with the second ; and when i saw that most of our people and goods were removed to the new camp , and that the pinnace was ready , i sent her loaded with diverse things , and travelled thither my self by land. i omitted to tell you that maurice had doubled the cape in his second voyage without any danger by reason of the calmness of the sea , and the stilness of the weather , which was clear and serene , without any rain or great wind above six weeks after our landing , and so temperate that we felt neither heat not cold in the first month except about noon , at which time the sun was something hot ; grew hotter every day as it drew nearer to us , and brought the spring about august : for in those countries it begins then ; contrary to our parts , where the summer ends at that time . maurice told me , that at the head of the cape he had found many small rocky islands , which lay together very thick as far as a great one that lay at the very mouth of the bay , and defended it from the fury of the waves ; he was of opinion that it would prove an excellent harbour for ships , if the passage into it was not too difficult , or too shallow for great vessels by reason of the many rocks that lay between the cape and the great island which divided and sheltered the bay from the main ocean . well maurice , said i to him , when we have removed all our goods and people , and they are settled in the new camp , we shall have time enough to discover those islands , and i will leave the discovery of them to your care and industry . in less than twelve days after the first discovery of the vale we had transported all our people and goods from the old camp to the new , which in my absence van de nuits and other officers named sidenberge . that name obtained so in two or three days time that it was impossible afterwards to change it . our men , partly by my order , or of their own accords , made several good huts along the brook side upon a piece of ground almost a mile long , which abutted to the bay on the east side of the cape . wood we had plenty enough upon the place , and our fishermen took so much fish in the bay that we knew not what to do with it for want of salt to season or smoak it . but maurice quickly supplied us with that , for being gone upon some of those rocks which lay at the mouth of the bay , he found there as much of it as would serve the whole company twenty years if we should be so long in that place that salt was naturally made by the water of the sea , which in great storms being slung upon those rocks , filled some hollow places in them , where the heat of the sun did afterwards turn it into salt. there were every day great parties sent into the woods to discover and hunt the deer , of which many herds were found up and down , and many of them killed by our men . we saw every day multitudes of water-fowl fly over the bay , which made us judge that they had some particular haunt there . maurice with his new pinnace and his longboat ventured every day further and further into the bay , and in the islands , and made several good discoveries . he found a place near the great island where grew abundance of reeds and rushes , and thither it was that an infinite number of sea-fowl of al sorts did repair . he found another place where there came many green turtles to lay their eggs upon the sand , from whence we might draw the greatest part of our subsistance . in fine , we found so many things to shift withal that we were certain never to want victuals if we should live there a thousand years . the greatest want we were sensible of was that of powder , for though we had saved a good quantity of it , yet that was a thing that would be consumed every day , and that we did not know how to get again when our stock was spent . we foresaw likewise that our cloaths , hooks , and vessels would in a short time be worn out if our friends , that were gone in the pinnace for batavia , should be lost , and no relief sent us . but we had already so many experiments of gods mercy towards us , that we hoped he would not forsake us . the spring came on apace , and we laid up every day new victuals , by the means of which we saved the ships provision as much as we could , and chiefly some casks of pease , and other kind of pulse we had brought from europe . it came in my head to sow some of these in the ground , and having told some of my officers of my design , they all readily agreed to it . in order to it , we felled a great many trees above and below the camp , and having cleared the ground of all bushes and underwood , which we burned upon the place , we made several furrows in the ground , and sowed our pease in them , covered them carefully with the earth we had taken up , recommending our endeavours to him that gives the increase . some of our huntsmen venturing far in the wood killed abundance of game , and not being able to carry it all with them , they hanged two deer upon an old and thick tree with an intent to fetch them home the next day . but when seven of them came to the place the day following , they saw upon the tree a great tiger gnawing on the dead deer before that terrible creature perceived our men , which i suppose was occasioned through his hunger , which made him so eager about his meat that he minded nothing else . our people were much surprised at the sight , and stood still behind some trees , and two of them , having cocked their guns , well charged with bullets , they aimed , and shot a him both at one time , and fetched him down the tree . the tiger made a hideous cry when he fell , but being shot in two places through the body he died immediately ; they stripped him of his spotted skin , and taking down the dead deer brought them in triumph into the camp. i was glad of their success , but yet new fears came upon me upon that subject ; for i judged , that since they had found this mighty creature in the forrest , there might be a great many more in it , which at some time or other might come to our camp , and fall upon our people unawares . i suggested this to the council , and it was resolved , that without any delay we should make a strong pallizado about our hutts . we fell to work the next morning , and in less than ten days after we had empaled our camp on all sides , so as to be secure from any sudden invasion of men or beasts . our huntsmen also became a little more cautious than before , and did not dare to straggle in the woods least they should meet any of those dreadful creatures . it was now seven weeks since we were cast away , and hitherto we had had no strife nor quarrel among us so long as we lay in fear and danger : but as soon as we thought our selves secure from men , beasts , thirst , and hunger , when we fed plentifully upon fresh meat and fish , and we did not labour so much as before , then our people began to be wanton . we had a great many women among us , of which i hitherto forbore to speak , because i saw no great occasion for it . but now that they began to act their part , and stir up trouble among us , i must a little speak of them . some of them were poor women , who compelled by poverty , and their hopes of preferment , were perswaded to go to the indies . some had their husbands there , or other relations , but most of them were whores taken out of bawdy houses , or spirited away by fellows , who sold them to the master for a little money , notwithstanding the punishment ordained by the laws against such practices . these whores seeing themselves at rest , and the men idle for the most part , began to smile at them , and by amorous speeches to draw some of them to themselves ; they found many so well disposed that they needed no spur to be put on , so they would sometimes come together in the night , and enjoy one another in the best manner they could . but as we lay altogether in a little camp , and that there was a guard kept in the night , they could not meet so secretly but some body or other would discover them and become a sharer in the prey . these practices did often occasion quarrels , and jealousies , which at last came to blows , but chiefly upon this particular occasion . two young fellows lay both with one woman , and did not know one of the other ; once she appointed a meeting to one of them in the night , and the other coming to her a while after , and requesting the like favour that very night , she denied him , and put him off upon frivolous pretences . the fellow being subtil , and of a jealous disposition , suspected something of the truth , and resolved so narrowly to watch her that he would find the true reason of her denial ; he did it accordingly , and caught the wench with her other gallant in the fact , the sight whereof did so move his anger , that he drew his sword and stuck them both in the ground , and then slunk away without being seen . the unfortunate couple cried out , and were found in that posture , first , by the next sentinel , and then by the whole guard , who having taken the sword out of their bodies , and out of the ground , into which it was run above a foot ( such was the strength and rage of this jealous lover ) carried them to the chirurgeon , who presently dressed their wounds , then came to me to give me an account of the business . the next day i assembled the council to advise what should be done about this horrid fact , but we knew not whom to accuse . we examined every body that could be suspected ; we asked the wounded man , whether he had any enemies which he could himself suspect ? he answered , that as he had neither wronged nor disobliged any body of the company , so he could not fasten any suspition upon any man. we examined the wench , but she would accuse no body , although she suspected , and it may be knew the author of the crime ; but knowing that it was a just indignation and excess of love that had moved her other lover to take that revenge , she was so generous as not to accuse or mention him in the least . this put us into a great perplexity , and we did not know by what ways or means we should find out the criminal , when at last it came into our thoughts to draw out our men into the fields , and see which of them wanted his sword , for no body would own that which had been found in the unhappy couples bodies . when they were all drawn up , we called every one of them according to the order of the list , and found out the fellow by the want of his sword. he was immediately apprehended , and brought to his trial . we asked him , what was the reason he was come into the field without his sword ? to which he answered boldly , he came without because he had none . had you never any in this camp , said i to him ? yes sir , i had one yesterday . what have you done with it ? i lent it last night to one who was to go to sea this morning ( for it was true , that a party of maurice his men were gone early in the morning to some of the islands . ) then we asked him , what the mans name was he lent his sword to ? i do not know his name , said he , although i lent him my sword , and did sometimes converse with him , as i do indifferently with any one in this camp , where i know every one by his face , although i am ignorant of the names of most men in the company , and i do think that it is the case of every man here as well as mine . then i asked him , whether he was a seaman or a passenger he lent his sword to ? he was a seaman , and told me , he had lost his own sword when he borrowed mine ; and because he would not have it known that he had lost his weapon , he intreated me to let him have mine upon his urgent occasian . then did we send for the sword with which the fact had been committed , and asked him , whether he knew that sword ? he readily answered , he might very well know it , since he had wore it ever since i trained up all the men of the camp into a military discipline , whereof himself was one . sir , saith he , this is my sword , and the very same i lent last night to him that borrowed it of me . how came this sword to be found in the bodies of the two wounded persons if your hands did not thrust it through them ? and please you general , it doth not follow that i thrust it into their bodies because it is my sword , he that had it of me might use it to commit that cruelty instead of using his own , thereby to shake off all suspition from himself , and lay the guilt on me . i confess that there are many apparent arguments against my innocency , but i am sure there is no evident proof , and i hope you will never find any . after this strict examination , finding we could not convince this fellow till maurices crew were come from sea , we deferred his trial until another time . but it fell out by fortune that the men of the boat being upon one of the sandy islands where they turn tortoises , and some of them having a mind to swim , went into the sea to wash and cool themselves in that element ; and as some were more forward than others , a great shark snapped the forwardest of the company , who being warned by that dreadful example , got out of the water with all the hast possible . the story of this fatal accident , as likewise the description of the person who had been devoured , came to the knowledge of the prisoner we had examined , before we could bring him to a second trial . when he was tried again , he cunningly catching hold on the opportunity , said confidently , that he had lent his sword to him who was devoured , of whose face and person he made a very exact description in our presence . so that we could not do any good , nor bring any evident proof against him . we all admired his confidence and subtilty , and hearing that the wounded persons were like to be well again , we were contented to keep him in bonds till they were both out of danger . the woman was soonest well , and here you may admire the humour of some of that sex. as soon as she was cured she came to the young man who had wounded her , and expressed the greatest love to him that can be imagined , under pretence that she had been the cause of all his trouble . but i think the true reason was , that she looked upon this fellow as a man well in his body , having never been wounded , and who consequently was far more vigorous than her other gallant , who had lately received a large wound through the body . this accident occasioned new laws , and new customs . we considered , that as long as we had women among us they would be the occasion of trouble and mischief if we did not betimes take some good course , and allow our men the liberty of using them sometimes in an orderly manner . but we had but seventy four women , and above three hundred men , and therefore could not give every man a wife . we consulted long upon a method , and at last pitched upon this , we allowed the principal officers each of them one woman wholly for himself , with the priviledge of chusing according to his rank . the rest we distributed into several divisions , and ordered it so , that every man , who was not past fifty years of age , might have his woman-bedfellow every fifth night ; we laid aside the old men , and the four wives that were going to their husbands in batavia , and who professed to be very chaste and honest . these kept together , and lived a while very reserved , but when they saw that all the other women lay freely every night with a man without incurring any blame , and that the relief we expected from batavia was long a coming , they began to grow melancholy , and to repent that they had chosen chastity for their share , by which means they were deprived alone of those delights and pleasures which they saw all the other women take so freely and so plentifully . they shewed their discontented minds by a hundred actions , and they nor we were never quiet till we had distributed them among the rest , and then they were satisfied . here we had a very great proof that multiplicity of men to one woman is no friend to generation , for few of these women , who were common to five men , proved with child ; and on the contrary , all those who lay but with one man presently got a great belly . i think that is the natural reason why multiplicity of husbands was never allowed in any nation , although poligamy of wives and concubines was ever used , and is still practised in most countries . now the time was come that we were to set up the signal we agreed upon with the eight men of the first pinnace sent to batavia . i therefore commanded our men to chuse in the forrest a tall and streight tree to set it up at the head of the cape with a white sail the largest we had , which was done accordingly . i commanded also a great fire to be made every night at the same place , that the ships sent to our relief might see it in the dark , and take their aim by that . we were in good hopes that the pinnace was got to batavia without any great difficulty , considering the good weather we had had , and that the general would send us relief with all the diligence possible . but god it seems had ordered it otherwise , for the weather , which for almost two months had been fair , began to grow rainy , and stormy , so that we saw almost every day great tempests in the ocean , although our bay was not much agitated by them by reason of the high ground , and the many little islands that sheltered it from the violence of the winds and waves . it rained almost every day for a fortnight together , but the sun shined hot every day also , so that we had a mixture of rain , wind , and sunshine at the same time . it was well that we had been provident in powdring and smoaking of meat and fish , which we laid up in great store in the empty casks we had brought from our ships , for if we had not done so , we might have wanted victuals while this bad weather lasted , which was above a fortnight . it grew a little better after that space of time , but not so good but we had winds , rains , and storms at sea ; then sudden calms , at the least once or twice a week , which made us despair of ever hearing from batavia , and made us resolve to provide for our selves there , without depending upon any relief from thence . the weather grew very hot , and since the rain fell all things were visibly grown in the fields , and our pease did thrive the best that ever i saw , so we were like to have a great crop of them , which encouraged , us to break more ground , and to sow a great many more . there was an infinite of fish and fowl in the bay , and upon a calm day we could take as many of them as we pleased ; but our nets began to wear out , and we were forced to tear some of our cables to make new nets of them , which we made a shift with for a great while , necessity being the mother of arts. our huntsmen had made such a noise in the wood near the camp , and so chased the dear , that they were quite gone from that part , and none could be seen ten miles about us . that made them resolve to take another course , and to go by water to the other side of the bay , or to the bottom of it , where we saw wood all round . maurice was first ordered to make discoveries on the other side ; which he did , and found there were great woods there , and a little river that ran into the bay. he rowed four or five miles up that river and saw nothing but trees , and some marshy ground along the bank of it , yet we supposed there would be many deer found on that side if we should put it to a trial . in order to which , fifty of our men having taken victuals and ammunition for a week , went to the banks of that river in the pinnace , and the long-boat , and having landed there , made themselves huts , keeping the long-boat with them to use it according to their occasion , and sending the pinnace back again . a while after being gone into the forrest to seek for deer , they found great herds of them , whereof they made a great slaughter ; they likewise found a kind of beast like a swine , but bigger , and slower in his pace , and using to go a rooting in the woods in great numbers ; they killed first one of them , vvhich upon examination proved far better meat than any of our european pork . maurice being desirous to discover the great island that lay at the mouth of the bay , landed there with twenty men ; the first part of it that lay inwardly he found to be but stony and rocky places , but when they were gone a little beyond , they found it to be a pretty big island , consisting for the most part of moorish ground , which being almost dreined by the heat of the summer was turned into very good pasture ground ; they found hundreds of deer feeding upon it , and abundance of fowl of all kind , so tame that they would let a man come within a yard or two of them , they marched to the eastward of the place , and found that this land was divided from the continent by a narrow channel only ; it was found afterward that in the spring time the deer swam from the continent to the island , which island was not above twelve miles diameter . these new discoveries being so happy filled our hearts with joy , and a certain assurance we should not want for victuals if we were ten times as many , and made us bold to venture farther . maurice had observed that the bay ran a great way in length towards the southeast , and supposed there was some great river that flowed from that side of the country into the sea , which was not unlikely . he therefore , having obtained leave to take a weeks provision , and a sufficient number of men , sailed that way with a resolution to go as far as he could with his pinnace , and we having prayed for his good success minded our other concerns , in hopes of his happy return . by this time our pease were almost ripe , and nine or ten days after we had a most prodigious crop of them , every peck yielding above a hundred , which is almost incredible ; and we expected another crop that promised no less than this if it should come to perfection . we dried them carefully , and laid them up in store for the winter and so we did with every thing that would keep , using for the present such as could not be preserved . it was above a quarter of a year since we were setled at sidenberg , and having heard nothing from batavia , we concluded our pinnace was perished , and gave it over for lost ; but our greatest trouble was , that above ten days were past since maurice was gone and we heard no tidings of him : this cast a general sorrow upon our hearts , and in that great affliction we did not know what counsel to take , we durst not send the long-boat in search of him for fear she should be lost , knowing that without our vessels we could hardly be able to subsist . our huntsmen had made a kind of a new plantation on the other side of the bay for conveniency of hunting , and without our boats we could keep no commerce with them . all these reflections , and the fear of worse accidents increased our affliction throughout all the camp , where we lay lamenting the loss of our pinnaces above a fortnight before we could hear any thing of either of them . maurice did not come , and we did not know what to think of him and his vessel , knowing there had been no great storms since she was gone , and that being in so calm a sea she could not have perished by tempests . we did not think neither that she was fallen into the hands of enemies or pyrates , having reason to believe from our former experience that there were no men in those parts . wavering so betwixt hope and fears , upon a calm day we saw maurices pinnace and two vessels more coming along with him towards us . while we were looking upon them , wondring how he came by these two vessels , and what they might be , we spied ten sails more at a good distance coming after them . this unexpected fleet put our camp into a great apprehension . we ran all to our arms , prepared our cannons for our defence , and sent scouts towards the shore to observe the motions of this fleet. in the mean while they drew near to the shore , and at musket shot they all cast anchor in good order ; but maurices pinnace came very near , so that we could see him and his men from the shore , and hear him plainly speak to us . he bid us not be afraid , and desired us to send the boat with three men only to fetch him ashore ; after some contestation we sent the boat , which being come aboard him he leapt into it with one of his men , and took down with him a tall and grave personage in a black gown , a hat on his head , and a white flag in his hand , and so came ashore to us . i , with some of my officers , stood at some distance , but when we saw this man landed we went to meet him . maurice told us in few words , that he was sent from the governour of a city situate about sixty miles above the bay , where we had received all the kindness and civility imaginable , and desired us withal to express all manner of respect to him . upon that advice we did bow to him in very humble and submissive manner , which he received with a great deal of gravity and mildness , and stretching his right hand towards heaven , said in very good dutch. the eternal god of the world bless you , the sun his great minister , and our glorious king , shine kindly upon you , and this our land be fortunate to you . after this , maurice having told him that i was the general , he gave me his hand , which i humbly kist , and he took me about the neck and kissed me in the middle of the forehead , and then desired to march to our camp , where we received him in the best manner we could . he looked upon our huts and pallizadoes , and nodded his head in sign that he liked it very well ; then spake thus to me : sir , i have heard the history of your disaster , and knowing of your merits and gallantry , i have made no difficulty of putting my person into your hands ; but that i may not keep you any longer from the relation your officer maurice will make unto you of what hath hapned unto him since his departure from hence ; i desire to rest a little in your hut while you satisfie your curiosity , and hear those things which will be necessary for you to be acquainted with , and that i hope will set your minds at rest . we made no answer , but making a low reverence left him in the hut , and went to maurice , who expected our coming in van de nuits hut . we were no sooner with him but we began to ask him questions concerning his journey ; and he having begged our leave and favourable audience spake to us in this manner : maurices speech . noble general , and worthy officers , with your leave , and even with your command , i departed from this place about three weeks ago , with a design to make further discoveries in the bay. the first day i sailed to the southeast of it above twenty miles , and saw nothing on either side but great woods as you see here , distant one from another five or six miles at the least . at night we cast anchor at a mile distance from the right side of the river , and lay there till next morning . from thence with wind and tide we sailed up further to the southeast about five miles more , and there we found the banks on each side of the river came near one to another , within two miles distance . we sailed up still , though with a little more difficulty , till we came into abroad place , where the water spreads it self into a great lake , from the middle of which we could hardly see the shore on either side ; we only saw ten or twelve small islands dispersed up and down the lake , and most of them shaded with tall green trees , very delightful to the eyes . by this time the wind was somewhat altered , and the lake was so calm that we could hardly perceive any motion in it ; but as the place was wide we rid to and fro as the wind did serve , not much caring which side of the lake we should go first to , yet when the wind would serve we endeavoured as much as we could to make to the southeast . about evening we had a fine breeze , which drove us to the southeast according to our wishes , and that night we cast anchor betwixt two or three of those small islands , not above two or three miles distant one from the other , with an intent to visit them the day following . we lay at anchor all night , and took our rest without any care or fear , not thinking there had been any inhabitants in those places , but we found we were much deceived , for as soon as it was broad light we saw about us ten or twelve vessels , which did so encompass us about , that we could go no way but we must fall among them . this struck a great terrour upon us , and we thought verily vve should all be killed or taken , for vve had but one of these vvays to chuse , to fight , or to surrender our selves , and lie at the mercy of unknovvn men , vvho might use any cruelty upon us . this last consideration prevailed , and made us all resolve to fight it out to the last man ; so vve all ran to our arms , prepared our guns , and vvere very vvell resolved to defend our lives , for vve could not run avvay , the vveather being very still , and the men vve savv about us having several shallops vvell manned vvith rovvers , vvho rovved tovvards us vvith great svviftness . when they vvere come vvithin musket shot of us they all stopped , save a small vessel , vvherein vve savv a man vvith a vvhite flag in his hand coming on to us , and making many signs in token of amity . we stood to our arms , and let that vessel come on to us , knovving it vvas not strong enough alone to attempt any thing against our pinnace . when they vvere come vvithin fifteen or tvventy yards of us the man vvho had the vvhite flag in his hand , making a low reverence , spake to us in spanish , and bad us not be afraid , for no harm was intended against us . one of my men , who could speak that language , explained what he said , and asked him why they came so about us ? he answered , it was the custom of the place , that we should come to no harm , and desired to know what countrimen we were . he told him we were hollanders . then he replied in dutch , that we were welcome into the country , and desired to be admitted into our pinnace himself and another man of his company only , proffering to remain with us as hostages till matters were better understood . we readily yielded unto his desire , so they came aboard us . he was a very lusty man , with a manly look , wearing a red gown down to the middle of his legs , with a cap of the same colour , and a shash about his waste , much after the garb we paint cardinals in . the other man was in the like habit , and a lusty man too , both about forty years of age. when he was come up to us he asked who was the commander of the pinnace ; and having been told i was the person , he came to me in a kind and civil manner embraced me , and bid us all welcome into the country . then he asked how we came into those parts in so small a vessel . i answered , that we came in a bigger , but that she was cast away upon the coasts , and that out of her ruines we had made this pinnace . then he asked me if we were all that were saved ? i told him it was so , and that the rest of our company were drowned ( for i did not think it fit to speak of our people in the camp until we were better acquainted with these men , and saw what usage we should have amongst them . ) he altering his countenance , as if he had been sorry for our loss , told us he took great part in our affliction . then did he ask me several questions concerning our voyage , our shipwrack , and the present state of europe . to which i returned such answers as i thought convenient . he seemed to be well pleased with my answers , and told us we were come into a country where we should find more kindness and civility than we could in our own , and where we should want none of those things that are capable to make moderate men happy . we returned him humble thanks , and desired to know what the name of the country was ? he told us it was called in their language sporumbè , the inhabitants sporui ; that it belonged to a greater and happier country beyond the hills , called sevarambè , and the people evarambi , who lived in a great city called sevarinde . that we were not above fourteen miles from another city ( but much less than the first ) called sporunde where he intended to carry us . then perceiving some alteration in our faces caused by his last words , he proceeded in this manner : gentlemen , i told you at first you should not be afraid , for no harm will be done you i assure you , unless you will draw it upon your selves through your distrust and stubbornness . your best way is to rely upon gods providence , and the assurances i give you , that no wrong shall be done to the least of you either in his person or his goods . you are but a small number of men in a little pinnace , in a strange country , destitute of all things , and no way able to defend your selves against our vessels which are many against one , and full of men , who no less understand how to fight than you , as you will find if you put it to a trial . they are no barbarians as you may imagine , but a very good charitable and civil people . so consider what is best for you to do . as soon as he had spoken those words , he and his companion went to one end of the pinnace as it were to give us an opportunity to consult among our selves , which we did , and presently resolved to follow his directions , and to trust to providence . he , perceiving we intended to go to him , came himself to us , and asked what course we were resolved to take ? we intend to obey your commands in every thing , sir , and think our selves happy to be under your protection ; we are poor distressed men , fitter objects for pity than for anger , and we hope to find mercy and help at your hands . you will find it in a great measure , and see in these countries such wonders as are not to be seen in any other part of the world. then he made sign to his shallop to come near , which they did immediately . they brought us bread , wine , dry dates , raisins , figs , and several sorts of nuts , of which we made an excellent feast , and drank merrily of the delicate wines that were given us . after this welcom meal , the man told me his name was carshidà , his companion 's benoscar , and desired to know mine . i told him my name was maurice , and asked him withal how he came to speak dutch and spanish in so remote a country . i will satisfie you herein another time maurice , ( said he ) in the mean while we must give order for our going to sporundè , that we may be there to day before night . then did he speak to his men in his own language , and they made sign to another vessel that stood near to come to us , they presently came , and having tied a rope to our pinnace , towed her up the lake to the southeast of it , the other vessel rowing after us ; in that manner we left the little island and the fleet ( which did not stir from their station so long as we were in sight of them ) and rowed till two in the afternoon through that great lake of salt water , which looks more like a sea than like a lake . about that time we had a gentle breeze , which carried us in less than two hours clear out of the lake into a river , where we found sweet water , and saw a fine champain country on each side of it . we had not sailed two miles in this river but we came to a pretty narrow place , where the water is kept in by two great and thick walls , and saw all along near these walls great buildings of brick and stone mixed together , and built after the manner of a castle in a perfect quadrangle . we went two miles further up along these walls and buildings before we came to the city of sporundè , which stands in the confluence of two great rivers , in a fine delicate plain , diversified with corn-fields , meadows , orchards , gardens , and groves , which make it very delightful to the eye ; the small vessel , which at first came after us , was gone up a good while before we came to the town , to give them warning of our coming . we rowed up to a great and stately key , where stood a great multitude of people , who came out to see us land. carshidà went on shore first , where he was received by some grave men in black , with whom having discoursed a while , he turned himself towards us , and made signs to benoscar to bring us ashore . he in a few vvords told us vvhat vve vvere to do , and bid us to follovv him . we vvent up the stairs of the key , ( vvhich vvas pretty high ) and being come to the place vvhere the grave men stood , vve inclined our selves down to the ground three several times . the men bowed a little to us , and the chiefest of them taking me in his arms , very kindly embraced me , kissed me in the forehead , and bade us all vvelcom to sporundè . from that place they carried us through a stately gate , and a noble street as streight as a line , to a great square building after the manner abovesaid . we vvent into it through a large gate that stood in the middle of the building , and found the inner part of it to be like cloysters vvith large galleries on all sides , and a large green in the middle . from thence vve vvere brought into a great hall , vvhere stood several tables and seats . there the grave men in black stood round me , and asked me several questions , much like unto those carshidà had asked me at the first , to vvhich i ansvvered in the same manner . a vvhile after they carried us to another hall next unto that , vvhere vve found several tables full of meat , much after our european fashion . then sermodas ( for that is the name of the grave man vvho is novv in the generals hut ) asked me vvhether vve had any stomach to our supper . to vvhom i made ansvver , that it vvas so long since we had seen such a supper that i did not think any of us vvould vvant a stomach to eat it . he smiled , and taking me by the hand brought me to the chiefest table , and made me sit next to him ; then all the other grave men sate vvith us , and carshidà with benoscar took all my men to another table . we had a very noble supper , after vvhich we were carried up into a great room , where we saw several beds upon iron bedsteads . there my men were ordered to lye two and two , and i was carried to a room by my self , where sermodas and his company wished me good night , and so went away . a while after carshidà came in and told me , that i and my men must prepare to appear the next day before albicormas , governour of sporundè , and said he would give us directions how to behave our selves , and so he bid me good night . the next day about six of the clock in the morning we heard a great bell ring , and an hour after carshidà and benoscar came into my chamber , and asked me how i had taken my rest , and if i wanted any thing ? i would have risen presently , but he told me i must not , till such time as i had new cloaths to put on , which would be brought immediately . upon that benoscar went out , and came a while after with some attendance , who brought new cloaths , both linnen and woollen , made after the manner of the country . then came in others with a tub , which they filled with warm water , and then carshidà told me it was to wash my body in before i put on my new cloaths , and so went out with all the company , leaving only a servant to wait upon me . according to his directions i vvashed , and then put on a fine cotten shirt and dravvers , vvith stockings of the same . i had also a nevv black hat , nevv shooes , a govvn of several colours , and a black shash to put about my middle . as soon as i vvas ready , the servant , taking my old cloaths vvith him , vvent out , and then came in again carshidà and his company , vvho told me that i and all my men vvere to attend albicormas and his council , and gave me directions hovv to behave my self . we vvent dovvn into the yard , vvhere i found all my men in nevv apparel , much like unto mine , but not altogether so good , and vvearing caps on their heads instead of hats . benoscar vvas vvith them , and vvas giving them directions hovv to behave themselves before the council . we stood there a vvhile looking one upon another , till sermodas and his company came in . he very kindly asked us all hovv vve did , and then , directing his speech to me , he asked me vvhether i vvas ready to vvait upon the council ? i ansvvered vve vvere all ready to obey his commands ; vvhich said , he took me by the hand , and made me march on his left side into the street . carshidà put himself at the head of my men , vvhich vvere disposed tvvo and tvvo , and marched in rank and file like souldiers , benoscar bringing up the rear . in that order vve marched through some streets till we came to a great place in the middle of the city , and in the center of this place stood a large and magnificent palace , of a square figure , and built with white freestone , and black marble , all so clean , and so well polished , that we thought it was new , though we heard afterwards it had been built a good while . in the middle stood a great and stately gate , adorned with several brazen statues , and on each side thereof two long files of musquetteers , all in blew gowns . we marched through them into the first court , where we found another lane of men in red gowns , with halberts in their hands . as soon as we were come in , we heard a great sound of many trumpets , and several other instruments of war , very sweet and pleasant , which sounded all the time we stood in that yard , for a quarter of an hour . from thence we proceeded into the next court , all built with well polished black marble , with nitches round about , and delicate statues in them . in the middle of the yard stood about a hundred men in black , most of them of riper years than those we had seen in the other courts . we stood a little in that place , till two grave men ( such as stood in the court , with only this difference , that they wore a piece of gold coloured silk hanging loose upon their left shoulder ) came down and bid sermodas bring us all up . we went up in the same order as we came , upon a stately stair-case , gilt and painted very richly , to a great hall , gilt and painted in the same manner , and there we stood a while . from that they brought us into another hall , richer than the first ; and then into a third , far beyond either of them . at the end of this hall we saw a pretty high throne , and a little lower long seats on each side of it . upon the throne sate a grave majestick personage , and upon the other seats several venerable men on his right and left . he that sate uppermost in the midst of them wore a purple gown , and the others were habited like the two men who led us into the place , who were members of the council . we were told that he in the purple gown was albicormas , and the others the chiefest officers of the city , who , together with him , govern the whole country of sporumbè . at our first coming into the hall we made an inclination of our bodies , then being come to the middle of it we bowed a little more , but when we came to a balister or rail near to the throne , we bowed down to the very ground , according to the directions given us before . then stood up all the counsellors and made a small inclination of their bodies , but albicormas nodded only with his head . then did sermodas take me by the hand , and brought me as near the rail as we could go , and bowing down very profoundly spake to albicormas , and gave him partly an account of us in his own language , as we imagined , and as we were told afterwards . methoughts their speech sounded much like the greek or latine , as i have sometimes heard it spoken in holland , and ran very smooth and majestical . when sermodas had spoken a while , carshida was sent for , who gave the council a full relation of our affairs , and of the time and manner we came into the lake , by them called sporascumpso ; how we were seen and taken in it , which was in this manner , as we understood afterwards . the day upon which we came into the lake was a solemn day in those parts , so that all the inhabitants of the islands were celebrating the same , and intent upon their exercises and pastimes when we sailed into it , and that was the reason why we saw no vessels in it at first , although there are several fishing there upon other days . but although we saw no body , yet our pinnace was soon spied from the islands , so that several vessels were sent out in the night to catch us in the morning , and secure us from going back again without leave . it being the custom of those people to keep a very strict guard about their country for fear it should come to be known to foreigners , whose designs , and corrupted lives might in time bring trouble to their state , and corruption to their manners , the peace and purity of which two things they are most careful to secure . when carshidà had made an end of speaking . albicormas stood up and bid us welcom in his own language , as sermodas interpreted it unto us . he added , that we should find all manner of kindness and good usage among the sporui , and that we should stay in sporundè till such a time as he did receive orders from sevarminas , the suns vice-roy , who lived in the city of sevarinde , whither he would send a messenger that very day to give him an account of us . that in the mean while we should enjoy all the comfort and moderate pleasure the country could afford if we would be ruled by sermodas and his officers , to whose care and conduct he recommended me and all my men , exhorting us to behave our selves modestly , and so he dismissed us . i observed , that albicormas was very crooked , though he was otherwise a man of good presence , and grave carriage , and so were many of his assessors ; and we found afterwards that among the people there was a great number of deformed persons mixed with very handsom folk of all ages and sexes ; and i was told , that the reason of it was , that those of sevarindè sent all such imperfect people as were born amongst them to this place , and would not suffer any body who had any deformity of body to live in their country . i was further told , that in their language spora signified a defective person , and sporundè the city of the maimed or defective . those that were incorrigibly vitious , or unquiet , were disposed of another way , as in the sequel or continuation of this history shall hereafter be made appear . after albicormas had dismissed us we went back to our lodging in the same order as we came from it , and found there a very good dinner provided for us . we kept at home all that afternoon because the weather was hot , but in the evening sermodas and carshidà took us out to shew us the city , and led us from street to street , where we found great multitudes of people , who came out to look on us . the town is the most regular that ever i saw , being divided into great square buildings , which contain every one above a thousand people , & they are built all after the same manner . there are seventy six of them , and so many thousands of inhabitants in the whole city , which is above four miles about . it stands betwixt two rivers , as i told you before , but the industry of that people has made it an island of a peninsula , by drawing a great trench from river to river two miles above the city . this trench is no less than three miles long , having a great wall on each side and many bridges over it , very broad and strongly built with large free-stone , as you may see your selves when you come to the place . at night we had a good supper , and two hours after we were all carried to a great hall , where we found fifteen young women , who waited there for us . they were most of them very tall and proper women , in painted callico gowns , wearing their black hair in long and thick breads , hanging down upon their breasts and shoulders . we were a little surprised to find so many of them in a row , and did much admire at them , not knowing what they stood there for , when sermodas spake to us in this manner : you wonder maurice to see here so many proper women together , and little understand the reason why you find them in this posture and habit , somewhat different from other womens dress . know you therefore that these are our slaves , and that they are here to wait upon you and your comrades . you have your several customs in europe , and so have other countries their own . some are bad and vicious in nature , and others only seem to be good or bad according to mens prejudices , and apprehensions . but there are some that are grounded upon reason , and are truly good in themselves if we rightly consider them . ours are for the most part , if not all of this kind , and we hardly have anyone which is not established upon reason . you know , i suppose , that the moderate use of those good things nature hath appointed for all living creatures is good , and that there is nothing but the abuse of them , either in the excess , or in the defect that may be termed bad , provided faith , justice , and equity be exactly observed among those good things , we conceive there are two of the greatest importance , viz. the preservation and happy being of every living creature , and the propagation of its species . the means to attain to the first are all those natural actions , without which no creature can subsist , and such are eating , drinking , sleeping , &c. but her bountiful hands do not only give us those things which are meerly necessary to keep us alive , but also liberally bestow upon us those delights and pleasures , the just and moderate use whereof may make our lives sweet and comfortable ; and that we may the better take pleasure in them she hath given us an appetite , and a palate capable to discern their various tastes and qualities according as they are sutable to our natures . for the preservation of every species nature hath likewise appointed that every male should be united to a female , that by their union their kind should be preserved , which is her chiefest end . and that they may be the more inclined to accomplish her noble design she hath given them a mutual love and desire of conjunction , and annexed a pleasure to the actual union of the two sexes for the preservation of the species , as a pleasure also in eating , and drinking to every animal . these are the eternal laws of god in nature , and these two ends , together with the pleasure we take in the means , through which we may attain to them , are not only lawful and necessary , but also laudible and commanded . besides these two great concerns there is a third one , which hath a general regard to humane society , and without which no kingdom or common-wealth can well subsit , and that is obedience and submission to the government . but every government ought to be established as much upon natural reason as possibly can be , that every member of that society may freely enjoy his natural liberty , and the moderate use of all those good things which nature hath appointed for the welfare of mankind . for if any government make those good things had and unlawful , which in themselves are good and innocent , we may conclude that such government is unjust , and contrary to the eternal laws of god and natural reason . by these arguments it appears , that those who have not in these three principal things a due regard to their own persons , their posterity and their neighbours are cruel to themselves , rebellious to god , and unworthy to live in any humane society . those considerations induced our great lawgiver sevarias ( whose glorious name and love of his imcomparable vertues shall ever be sweet and precious to us ) to fit his government as near as he could to the laws of nature established upon reason , carefully avoyding to forbid any thing that is naturally good in it self , and allowing the moderate use of them to all his subjects . among the rest of his laws there is one that commands marriage to all men and women , as soon as they are come to an age fit for generation , which law and custom we inviolably observe in all our dominions . but because many among us are sometimes obliged to travel and leave their wives at home , we keep in all cities a number of women slaves appointed for their use , so that we do not only give every traveller meat , drink , and lodging , but also a woman to lye with him as openly and lawfully as if she were his wife . according to this laudable custom , and being willing to use you as well as any of our own nation , we have appointed so many women as you are men to come and lie with you every other night so long as you remain here with us if you can find in your hearts to use this priviledge . you may easily imagine that these reasons quickly prevailed , and that he needed not use any further arguments to perswade us to accept of the proffer . we gave him most humble thanks , told him his reasons were very powerful , and the custom of this country much better than that of europe in our judgment . well , saith he , use the priviledge if you please , find out a method to agree among your selves , and so i wish you good night . as soon as he was gone there came in two men , who spake to us in french , and bid us welcome to sporunde ; one of them told us , he was a physician , and his companion a chirurgeon . he desired us very earnestly to be sincere with him , and to tell him whether any of us had any venereal distemper upon him . gentlemen , i am appointed to examine every one of you upon that score , and if any deny the truth it will turn to his damage and shame ; but if he confess it ingeniously he will get love , esteem , and a speedy cure . every one of the company said he was free from any such thing ; but notwithstanding our saying so , the man would not be satisfied till he had seen and carefully examined every one of us apart in a room next to the hall we stood in . when he was satisfied he told us he was very glad to find us all sound and free from so nasty distemper , very common in the other continents , but only known by fame in the southern lands . he told us likewise , he had lived in france and italy above six years , and seen most parts of europe and asta in the space of twelve years , and that from time to time there were men sent from sporundè beyond the seas upon the same account , by which means they had persons among them who knew all those nations , and could speak their languages . this speech unriddled to me the mystery of carshidà's speaking spanish and dutch the first time he came to us , and took us out of the amazement we were in , to hear so many european languages , and to see so many of our fashions in so remote a country , where we supposed there could be none but barbarous people , if any at all . we would have satisfied our curiosity by asking this man several questions if the earnest desire of going to bed had not prevailed with us , we therefore advised how to find a method to proceed in the choice of the women . it was at last agreed , that i , and then my two mates should chuse before any of the others , and then the commonalty should cast lots among themselves , which was done accordingly without any dispute or quarrelling , so every man chose his bedfellow . then was i brought to my chamber where i lay the night before , and my men to another long gallery , on each side of which stood little chambers , divided one from another by thin partition-walls made of white plaister , not unlike the cells of nuns and friers . every couple had one of these places , and lay there , till next day without any the least disturbance . the next morning we heard the sound of the bell at the usual time , and carshidà came to me to ask me how i did , and to tell me it was time to rise . my bedfellow had leaped out of the bed , and put on her cloaths as soon as she had heard the bell ring , and was but just gone out of my chamber when carshidà came into it . he told me benoscar was gone to my men to take them out of captivity , ( meaning out of their bedfellows embraces , and out of their cells ) where they had been locked all night lest they should use the opportunity of permutation , not allowed in those parts , lest some of the women proving with child the father should be uncertain . when i was drest i went to the hall , where my men came in like manner , and our guides carried us out to shew us the work-houses in several squares of the city , where we saw both men and women working very orderly , some in weaving and sowing , others forging , carving , &c. but carshidà told us , that the chiefest employment of the nation consisted in building and tilling of the ground . we lived there in that manner till the sixth day after our first coming to sporundè , expecting the return of the messenger albicormas had sent to sevarinde . he came at last with orders to send us to sevarminas , who was very desirous to see us . when i heard we were to march to sevarinde i was sorry i had concealed your being here in this camp , chiefly after we had found so good usage amongst those people , and did hardly know how to mend the matter ; but the reason i had at first to do so being a good and solid reason i thought it would be received , and that albicormas would forgive us the lye we told him , through the care we had for your safety in a time when we much doubted of our own . i did ingenuously confess the whole matter to sermodas , who immediately went to albicormas and told him what i had confessed to him . thereupon we were ordered to continue in sporundè till the return of another messenger , who was presently dispatched to sevarminas to acquaint him with the whole matter . he returned six days after his departure , and brought new orders from sevarindè to albicormas , who in obedience to them , sent us with all this fleet to fetch you and carry us all to the great city , where we must appear before the soveraign power that resides there , and where sermodas tells me we shall yet be better used than we were at sporundè . here maurice made an end of his speech , which filled us all both with joy and admiration , and seemed not to hold any considerable time , though it had been long , and might have proved tedious upon another subject . but the things he related were so full of wonder and novelty that we could have given him a quiet and patient hearing if his discourse had taken up a whole days time . we consulted a while what we had best to do , and resolved at last to submit to sermodas in all things , to go whither he would carry us , and wholly to depend upon gods providence and these peoples humanity . while maurice was relating all these adventures to us . some of his men , who burned with a desire to be talking of the same to their friends in the camp , got ashore , and began to discourse with our people , who gathering together in a ring about them , were all amazed at their relations , and were acquainted with the news almost as soon as we , so we needed not repeat any thing to them to let them know how our affairs stood . they were all willing to go to these fine places the fellows had mentioned and described to them , and wished themselves there already . one thing only vexed us all , and this was it , we were still in some hopes that our first pinnace might have got to batavia , which if it had , we did not doubt but the general would send ships to our relief as soon as he should be informed with our misfortune . now if those ships should come and not find us , they would conclude we were lost , and we should see our selves deprived of all hopes of ever hearing from our friends , and of returning to our native country . but maurice told us , that there was no reason to fear in either of these cases , considering that we were fallen into the hands of a civilized nation , who had ships , and sent some of them from time to time beyond the seas . and that it was probable we might get leave to go to the indies if we did not like this new country . after we had ended these consultations we went to my hut , where we found sermodas just got up from the quilt where he had a while taken his rest . he smiled at us when we came in , and asked us how we liked the description maurice had made us of the people and city of sporundè ? we answered , we could not but like and admire both of them , and wish our selves there if it was his pleasure to carry us thither . i came for that purpose , said he , and i am very glad to find you so well disposed to go ; you will find our cities far better places to live in than this camp , although through your industry you have made it already a very fine habitation . we had several discourses upon that and other subjects ; after which we asked him , whether he would not be pleased to eat and drink of such victuals as we were able to give him ? i will , saith he , eat of your victuals upon condition you will accept of such as we have brought along with us . then he desired maurice to send for some of his men , and bid them bring some of the ships provision , which together with ours made up a very good feast . when the dinner was ended sermodas told us , that since we were willing to go with him , we should use all diligence to put our selves in readiness , and order the transportation of our men and goods as we should think fittest ; that he thought it convenient the chiefest of us , and all our women should go aboard the same day , and he would leave some of his men ashore , who together with such of ours as we should appoint should take care to ship up all our things , and then come after us to sporundè . thereupon i told him we had another company on the other side of the bay , and if it was his pleasure we should send maurice with a vessel or two to fetch them . you may do so , answered he , and i will order one of our ships to go along with maurice , and carry them from their station directly to the city without coming back again to this camp. do you get such of your officers as you like best to keep you company , and come along with me aboard my ship , where you will find passing good accommodations . i took only de nuits and turci my secretary with me , and appointed devese and the other captain to command in my absence , and see every thing transported with good order and diligence . sermodas left benoscar with devese to be his assistant and conductor , and so we sailed toward sporundè , where we landed the third day after our departure from sidenberge . we were received in almost the same manner as maurice had been , with this only difference , that de nuits and i had a great deal more respect , and better attendance than he had had . albicormas was very kind to us , and particularly to me . we had several long conversations concerning the present state of europe , wherein i was far better able to give him satisfaction than any one of our company . i found he was a man of very excellent parts , learned in all solid sciences , and very well acquainted with the greek and latine tongues . we spake latine in all our conversations ; for although he understood some of our vulgar languages , yet he could speak none so readily and so eloquently as latine . he told me many things concerning the customs and government of their nation , which i will faithfully set out when i come to describe the city , laws , and manners of the sevarambi . the day after our coming to this town all our people and luggage arrived there , and nothing was left in the camp but what they thought was not worth taking . they were all used as maurices men , and had new and clean cloaths given them every man and woman . but there arose some difficulty concerning our women , for as you may remember it was ordered in the camp that one woman should serve five of our common men , and none but our principal officers were allowed to have one woman wholly every officer to himself . sermodas and his companions were much displeased with this plurality of men to one woman , and told us it was so beastly a thing as was not to be suffered , and rather than to endure it they would provide more women for our men to keep them from that filthy and worse than brutish practice . we excused our selves upon the necessity of our condition , and told him he might order the matter as he thought best himself . will you , saith he , heartily conform to our laws and and customs ? we told him , we desired to do so , and thought it our best way . well then , saith he , number out your men and women , and give me a list of them all ; and let me know likewise , how many of your women are with child , and we will take care that you shall be supplied with every thing you want in that particular according to the manner of the country . we gave him an exact account of every thing according to his desire ; and then he said , that if any one of us was willing to stick to any of the women we had , who was not with child , he might do it ; furthermore , we should agree of a method for every one how to chuse his bedfellow , for there would be a number of slaves allowed to supply the want of our women . we consulted among us how to proceed in that matter , and it was agreed , that every principal officer , who had a woman wholly to himself , might keep her still if he pleased , or take a slave of the country , chusing according to his degree ; and that the commonalty should cast lots as maurice his men had done before . some of these officers stuck to their old bedfellows , but others had rather chuse a new one than to keep such as they were already weary of ; the inferiour sort chose according to their lot ; and maurices men not being allowed to make a new choice must be content to keep those women they had chose at the first . the women who were with child by any officer were commanded to stick to the father of the child , although he was allowed a fresh woman besides ; as for those of the commonalty that had a great belly , they were obliged to stick to one of the five men who lay with them , and exhorted to chuse , as near as they could , the man whom they thought to be the true father of the child . and that was the method according to which this matter was ordered , much to most of our womens grief and discontent . the fifth day after we were come to sporundè , sermodas came to me in the morning , and told me , that i must prepare to go to the temple , where the osparenibon or marriage solemnities were to be celebrated . he told me farther , that the same was kept four times a year , and that it was the greatest festival they had , though much inferiour to that of sevarundè , which was the most magnificent in the world . i got up and put on the new cloaths that were brought me , and to every one of our principal officers who came to my chamber to go with me to the temple along with sermodas and carshidà our perpetual leaders . we went together to the palace , where albicormas had given us audience , and having passed through several courts we came at last to a large and magnificent temple , where we saw a great many young men and women together in new apparel , and wearing upon their heads , the men wreaths of green boughs ; and the women garlands of flowers . they altogether made the loveliest show that ever i saw , being most of them very proper and handsome . the farther end of the temple was kept from our sight by a large curtain which divided it almost in the middle ; we stood there near an hour , looking upon the rich ornaments , and the several objects of the place before we heard or saw any alteration , but at the last we heard the sound of several trumpets drawing near to us ; we heard likewise the harmony of many flutes and houboyes , which played very sweet and airy tunes . then came in a great number of people with lighted torches in their hands , and set them up in divers places of the temple , where hanged divers candlesticks disposed in a very good order . the windows were close shut up , and the curtain drawn , which discovered the other end of the church , where we saw at a distance a great altar very rich and magnificent , adorned with garlands and festons of fresh flowers ingeniously done up together . about it , and in the wall , against which it was set up , we saw a great globe of crystal , or very clear glass , as big about as four men can fathom , which cast such a light as enlightned all that end at a very great distance . on the other side was a great statue , representing a woman with many breasts , and suckling as many little children , all very curiously cut . in the middle of these two figures we saw nothing but a large black curtain , plain without any ornaments . while we were looking upon these objects , the musick came nearer and nearer , and at last into the temple . then turning our eyes that way , we saw albicormas ; with all his senators , coming towards the altar in great pomp and state. as soon as he came in , several priests went to meet him with thuribula , censors in their hands , and singing a canticle . they bowed to him three times , and then turned and lead him to the altar , where he and his men inclined their bodies three times to the curtain , twice to the luminous globe , and once to the statue : then he took his seat on the right hand of the place against the wall , where several high thrones were set up to receive him and his company , and so many on the other side on the like manner . sermodas brought me to a seat under albicormas his feet with three more of my men , and placed the rest over-against us on the otherside . we were no sooner set down but three of the priests went towards the young people , and called them to the altar . they divided into two parts , and all the men came orderly on the right hand , and the women on the left . then did the principal priest stand up on a high place in the middle of all , and made a short speech unto them ; which done , fire was brought in lighted by the sun-beams , as i understood afterwards . this fire being brought in , albicormas came down to the altar , where he lighted some aromatical sticks that lay upon it with that fire , and kneeling before the luminous globe , spake aloud some words , which then i could not understand . from the globe he went to the statue , and bending down one of his knees only , he made there another short speech or prayer , which done , the priests sang an anthem , which was answered by the people . when this short anthem was ended , several musical instruments began to play very sweet and melodious tunes . a chorus of men and women succeeded these instruments , and sang so divinely that we all thought we were in heaven , our voyces and musick in europe being not comparable to these . when this symphony was ended , the chiefest priest went to the young woman , who stood at the upper end of the row , and asked her , whether she would be married ? she , making a low inclination , and blushing at the same time , answered , yes . then did he go to all the others , asked them the same question aloud , and received the like answer . the same was done on the other side where the young men stood , and when all these questions were asked , and answered , the priest went again to the uppermost maid , and asked her , whether she would marry any one of the young men who stood on the other side ? whereunto she answered , yes . then did the priest take her by the hand , and brought her to the uppermost young man of the other row , and bid her chuse her husband . she looked upon the first young man , and then upon the others successively , until the came to the sixth , and there she stopped and asked him , whether he would be her good lord and faithful husband ? he answered , that he would be so , if she would be his loving and loyal wife . which she said , she would be till death should part them . after this solemn and mutual promise , he took her by the hand , kissed her , and walked with her to the lower end of the temple . all the others did successively do the same till they were all marched down by couples . but there remained eight young women who could get no husbands : five of them seemed to be full of confusion , and tears trickled down their eyes in great abundance . the three others looked not so dejected , and when the priest came to them they got hold of his robes , and went along with him to albicormas . he spake some words to them , and then they went to three several senators , and said , that since it was their ill fortune not to be able to get single men to their husbands , they made choice of them to take away their reproach that lay upon their heads , after having three times been slighted publickly . therefore they desired them , that , according to the laws , and their particular priviledge , they would receive them into the number of their wives , promising to be very loving and faithful to them . the three senators came down immediately , took them by the hand , and carried them to the altar , where they stood till all the others came up by couples . the five afflicted virgins were asked by one of the priests , whether they had a mind to chuse any of the officers ? to which they answered , that this being the first time they had tried their fortune , they were willing to try twice more before they took that course . then pulling down their vails they marched out of the temple , and got into a chariot , ready to receive them at the gate , and so went away much discontented . as soon as they were out of sight the musick began to play very merry tunes , and albicormas going to the altar spake some words aloud , and taking the three first maids , and the three senators , joyned their hands together , and spake some words , to which they made answer , and bowed very humbly to him . he did the like to seven or eight couples more , and at last leaving the office to other senators , he went up again to his throne . the like ceremony was used to all the rest , and when it was done , two priests took the fire from the altar , brought it to the middle of the temple , and the new married folks made a ring about it . every one of them had some gums or perfumes in their hands , and each couple mixing them together threw them into the fire : then kneeling down , laid their hands upon a yellow book , which two priests held in their hands , swore obedience to the laws , and promised to maintain them to the utmost of their power till the end of their lives , taking god the sun , and their country to witness of their oaths . then did they march to the altar again , where albicormas made a short prayer , they being upon their knees , and turning towards them gave them his blessing , which done , he marched out of the temple , all the company following after , and the musick playing all in a consort . next , they went into a great hall near unto the temple , where stood many tables , which were immediately covered with meat . albicormas took me and van de nuits , told us we should be his guests that day , and bringing us to the uppermost table , sate down with his chiefest officers , and made us sit with them . sermodas took the rest of my men to another table , and the commonalty of our people , who stood in a gallery all the time of the ceremony , were carried home again by carshidà and benoscar . we had a very noble feast , several instruments of musick playing all the while we fate . after dinner we marched out into the amphitheater , which stood about a musket shot from the temple , and all the way we went we found the streets strewed with herbs and flowers , and heard the acclamations of a great multitude of people , who came out to see us pass . this amphitheater is strongly built with very large stone , and is no less than fifty paces diameter , counting from outer wall to outer wall. it is covered with a prodigious high and large vault , which shelters the place from the sun , and from all injuries of weather . there are seats round about it one over the other , from top to bottom , which take up a great deal of room , and streighten the pit to an indifferent bigness . the upper seats were full of people , and none but the officers and the new married folks were admitted into the pit except some young men , who exercised themselves a while in wrastling , fencing , leaping , and in many other acts of agility , which was no unpleasant sight . then fell our people to dancing , and kept so till it was almost night , at which time the trumpets and other instruments sounded out a retreat . we marched out in the same manner as we came , and found in the streets many fire-works , which made a second day of the night . albicormas and his company went home in their chariots , and the new married people to the lodgings prepared for them , where i suppose they enjoyed one another all night to their hearts content : and sermodas carried us home again , where he explained to us several parts of the ceremony . the next morning he came to us and asked whether we would go to the temple again to see another ceremony which was but a consequence of the former ; to which we readily assenting he carried us away , and made us stand a while at the temple-gate . soon after we heard a sound of musick coming towards us , and saw the new married men coming to the temple , each of them with a long and green bough in his hand , where were hung up the wreath he wore the day before , and his wives garland , tied together with a white clout stained with bloud , which were the marks of his wives virginity . they came all into the temple in a triumphing manner , and being come to the altar laid down their garlands upon it , consecrating them to the deity , to the sun , their king , and to their country , which is represented by the statue i spake of before . after this consecration they went out dancing at the sound of the merry tunes , the instruments played till they came to their homes . this festival lasted three whole days with a general joy and merriment throughout the whole town . now our time was come to leave the city of sporundè , and to march to sevarindè . sermodas , gave us warning of it the day before we went , and carried me , van de nuits , and maurice to albicormas to take our leave of him . we went together to his house , which we found to be a noble and stately palace , though much inferiour to the city palace both in bigness and state . he received us very kindly , and told us that the day following we must take our journey to sevarindè to wait upon sevarminas . then he asked us how we liked sporundè , and the ceremonies we had seen in the celebration of the osparénibon . we answered , we liked every thing even to admiration . you have seen nothing yet , and you are going to a place as far above this as the sun is above the moon . i will not too much prepossess your minds with the glory of it , knowing experience will teach you more than i can tell you . sermodas is to be your guide , he will be very tender of you , and i admonish you to take his counsel in every thing , and to carry your selves so prudently that the great sevarminas may love and cherish you as heartily as i have done . then he kissed us in the forehead , and bid us farewell . the next morning early we were carried to the waterside on the west part of the city , where we found several great barges ready to receive us . sermodas brought me and three or four of my men into an indifferent big one , but rarely carved , gilt , and painted . our other men and women were distributed into other vessels , and in that manner we rowed up the river , which running through a very flat and champain country flowed down very slowly . we saw along the banks of it several great buildings like those we had seen below the city . we had many rowers , who relieved one another from time to time ; so we went up with great speed , and never stopped till we came to an indifferent great city , called sporumè , about thirty miles above sporundè . we were expected there at that day , and so we found great numbers of people upon the key , who came out to see us land . a little before our barge came to the city , a vessel full of several officers , cloathed like those of sporundè , came to meet us , and some of them leaping into our barge expressed a great deal of respect to sermodas , and much civility to us . we went ashore with them , where stayed for us the governour of the place , called psarkimbas . sermodas and he embraced one another , and had some discourse together , after which he kindly saluted us , and bid us welcom into the country in the latine tongue . then addressing himself to me , embracing me , and kissing me in the forehead , he said he would be glad to have a little private discourse with me sometime of the next day . i answered , i was at his command , after which we followed him into the city , which we found to be built much after the manner of sporundè , and about half as big as it , standing in a fine and fruitful soyl , the best manured and tilled we had ever seen before . we were received and used in this place as at sporundè , without any great difference , and stayed there all the day following , not observing any thing remarkable in it but the exemplary punishment which in the afternoon was inflicted upon fourteen malefactors in this manner : they were taken out of prison fast tied together with ropes , and divided into three parts . in the first were six men , who as we were told had been condemned to ten years punishment , some for murther , and others for committing adultery . in the second were five young women , whereof two were condemned to suffer punishment during seven years , to satisfie the law , and afterwards so long as their husbands pleased , and this was for having lain with other men . the three others were condemned to suffer three years punishment for having been debauched before their osparenibon was come , or the time of their marrying , which is at the eighteenth year of their age . in the third were the three young men who debauched these maids , and they were to suffer the like punishment , and at last marry them . they were carried from the prison to the palace gate , where stood a great multitude of people to see the execution . these poor prisoners were stript of all their cloaths from their shoulders to the middle of their bodies , and we saw their naked skins very plainly . i remember that one of the women , who had committed adultery , was a very proper and lusty woman , not above one or two and twenty years of age . she had a very beautiful face , black eyes , brown hair , and a delicate clear skin . but her breasts , which we saw quite naked , were the loveliest i ever beheld . this was the first time she was brought to her punishment , so that her shame was extraordinary . tears trickled down her cheeks in great abundance ; and these instead of taking off from her natural beauty , did on the contrary so much add to it that i never admired any thing like this beautiful criminal . admirarion produced love , and pity joyning with those two passions did so move the hearts of all the spectators , that there was hardly any ingenious person who was not moved to an extreme compassion . but their pity was turned to a kind of generous indignation , when they considered that within a few moments all these divine charms were to be soiled and prophaned by the cruel stripes of a barbarous executioner : yet this was an act of justice ordained by the laws against a crime which among those people is look'd upon as one of the greatest ; so there was no means to save this lovely person from the rigour of the law , and the officer had already lifted up his scourge , and was going to strike , when of a sudden her husband , running through the croud , cried with a loud voice , hold , hold , hold . all the spectators , and the officers themselves , hearing this voice were much surprized , and turned their eyes on the side from which they heard the voice come , suspending the execution till they knew what this mans meaning was . he came to them almost out of breath , as having with much ado passed through the crowd , and , addressing his speech to the chief officer , said , pointing at his wife , sir , i am that miserable womans husband , and therefore much concerned in this execution . before she receive her punishment i desire to speak something to her in your presence , after which you will know more of my mind . then having got leave of the officer , he spake to her in this manner : you know vlisbè with how great a passion i loved you for the space of three years before our marriage ; you know likewise , that since we have been united my love hath rather increased than decreased and that i have given you all the testimonies of a tender , sincere , and constant affection for these four years that a woman could expect from her husband . i was perswaded that you had for me the same sentiments , and that your flame was equal to mine ; and as criminal as you have proved , since i believe still that i have the best share of your divided heart , knowing that you have been seduced by the wicked claniba's wiles , and subtil devices to commit a crime which you would not have committed out of your natural propensity . within this three hours i have been informed of his wicked practices , and know that you could not be drawn to comply with his desires till you were perswaded i had wronged you , and done with his wife that which , in your ill grounded indignation and desire of revenge , you have since done with him ; if i had known so much before , you had not come to this place in this infamous manner , and i would rather have forgiven you the wrong you have done to our conjugal bed , and concealed your crime than brought you to this severe and shameful punishment . i cannot altogether free you from it , because you must satisfie the law and your country which you have grievously offended ; but if the tears i see you shed , and the sighs and sobs i hear out of your mouth be true signs of repentance , if you have still in your breast any remainder of that love so sincere which you once professed to me with so many obliging demonstrations , and if you promise me that you will wholly give me your heart again , i will save you from the cruel stripes that are ready to fall upon you , and suffer them mine own self , rather than see them laid upon you . speak vlisbe , and let not your silence be an argument of your obdurateness , and indifferency for me ; there he stopt , and the woman , almost drown'd in her tears , was silent a while before she could utter any words , but at last she returned him this answer , my silence , o too generous bramistes , is not an argument of my obstinacy , or indifferency , but of my shame and confusion . i have injured you contrary to the sacred laws of justice , and honour ; i have defiled our conjugal bed , and whether i have done it out of a just revenge , or out of any other cause , i am guilty , and deserve to suffer a far greater punishment than is ordained for the expiation of my crime ; do not trouble your self for me , i am a fit object of your indignation , and just revenge , and not of your undeserved pity . all that i beg of you is that you would believe that i am truly penitent , and that i would endure with gladness the cruellest torments , and at last lose my wretched life to satisfie you if it were possible . why should you receive upon your innocent body the stripes which ought justly to fall upon mine ? ah , why should i be freed from a pain due to me , and not to you ? to make it short , there was a long contestation betwixt the husband and the wife , which made all those , who could hear them , shed tears ; and at last the business came to this , that the man received the blows which were prepared for his wife . he was tied with her , and they , with all the other , were whipt three times round the palace , and then sent to prison again . it seems that the women in that country have that priviledge to be exempted from such chastisement if any body will suffer it for them , whereof i was told that there had been many examples upon several occasions . after this execution we went home again , where psarkimbas and i had above an hours discourse together about the affairs of europe , and such like matters as atticormas and all the other officers had been inquisitive of . the next morning we took leave of psarkimbas , and went to the water-side again , where we found other barges ready to receive us . sermodas went into one of them , taking me and the other person who travelled with us before , and so we rowed up the river five or six miles above it , where we found a town consisting only of eight square buildings like those of sporumè there we found other barges of another fashion waiting for us , so without losing any time we went into them , and were drawn up by horses against the stream of the river , which growing strong in this place , we could not row up any farther . the town we left behind was called sporunidè , and , as we were told , was governed in the same manner as the other were . as we went up the river we drew nearer and nearer to the great mountains de haes had seen at a distance when he was near the lake in his discovery of the island over against the old camp. they stretcht from east to west as far as we could see , and appeared very high and steep ; we had spied them long before we came to this place , but now we could see them very plain . from sporunidè we were drawn up to another lesser place fourteen miles above it , called sporunikè , where we took fresh horses , and went up eight miles farther the same day to another little town , called sporavistè , where we lay that night , and where we observed nothing remarkable . the next day in the morning we found several chariots and wagons ready to receive us ; sermodas took me , de nuits , and maurice only to bear him company , and so leaving the river on the west side we went directly to the southward , and drew nearer and nearer to the mountains , the ground rising by degrees as we went towards them , although the country be flat and plain to the very foot of them , which is the reason of their steepness . as we went thorow the country we saw here and there many towns and buildings , and came to a place called sporaguestè about eleven of the clock ; there we took some rest and refreshment till two in the afternoon , and pursuing our journey came in the evening to the very foot of the mountains , where we found a pretty big town , called sporagondò , where we were received with much kindness by astorbas the governour of it . the town consists of fourteen squares , and is the last we saw in sporumbè . we were treated there as in other places , and rested our selves all the day following ; we saw nothing considerable in it , or about it , but the rare canals which are drawn up and down to water the country , which is full of fine pastures , always green as we were told . these canals by walls , bridges , and sluces convey abundance of water from the mountains to this plain , and the work is so vaste and costly that the like could not he done in europe for fifty millions of livers , yet the industry of these people has done it without money , for they use none in any part of their dominions . we were told that we should rest there three days , and then we should go through the mountains into sevarambe , whereof we intend to give the description in the second part of this story , begging of the reader that he would allow our pen a little rest , till we have put into a method the papers out of which we are to draw the second part , where vve shall give him an account of the country beyond the hills . finis . a catalogue of some books , printed for , and sold by h. brome , since the dreadful fire of london , to 1675. divinity . a large concordance , by s. n. to the bible , folio , price 16 s. 130 sermons by mr. farindon , in three vol. in fol. 2 l. 5 s. 51 sermons in fol. by dr. franck , 15 s. dr. heylin on the creed , fol. 15 s. a guide to the humble , by thomas elborow , b. d. in octavo 2 s. a guide to eternity , by john bona , octavo , 2 s. a guide to heaven , with a rule of life 10 d. a companion to the temple , or a help to publick devotion , by tho. cumber , in octavo 4 s. holy anthems of the church , 2 s. 6 d. a looking-glass for loyalty 2 s. sermons . bishop lanyes sermon at court against comprehension 6 d dean w. lloyd's sermon before the king about miracles . 6 d — his sermon at the funeral of john l. bishop of chester 6 d — his sermon before the king , in lent , 1673. 6 d m. naylor's commemoration sermon for col. cavendish 6 d mr. sayers sermon at the assizes at reading 6 d mr. tho. tanner's sermon to the scattered members of the church 6 d mr. stanhopp's four sermons on several occasions , octavo bound 1 s. 6 d papal tyranny , as it was exercised over england for some ages , with two sermons on the fifth of nov. in quarto , 1 s. 6 d — his sermon at the funeral of dr. turner , dean of cant. 6 d histories . the life of the duke espernon , the great favourite of france , from 1598. where d' avila leaves off to our times , by charles cotton , esq in fol. price 18 s the state of the ottoman empire , with cuts , by p. ricaut , esq in octavo , 6 s bishop cosin de transubstantiatione , octavo , 2 s the same in english 2 s. 6 d the commentaries of m. blaiz de montluck , the great favourite of france , in which is contained all the sieges , battels , skirmishes , for three kings reigns , by charls cotton esq in fol. 14 s the fair one of tunis , a new piece of gallantry , by c. c. esq in octavo 2 s. 6 d erasmus coll. in english , octavo 5 s poems . elvira , a comedy by the earl of bristol , 1 s m. a. bromes s. and poems , oct . 3 s. 6 d — his , with other gentlemens translation of horace , in oct . 4 s virgil travestie , by c. c. esq 1 s. 6 d lucian's dialogues , burlesque , 2 s. 6 d horace , with a song at every act , by charls cotton esq 1 s mr. cowlys satyr against separatists physick . dr. barbettes and dr. deckers excellent practice of physick , and observations . sir k. digby , his excellent receipts in physick and chyrurgery , and of drinks and cookery . the anatomy of the elder tree . miscellanies . dr. glisson , de vita naturae , quarto 8 s lord bacons advancement of learning . the planters manual , very useful for such as are curious in planting and grafting , by c. cotton , esq the complete gamester 2 s dr. skinner's lexicon , in fol. 1 l. 5 s 14 controversial letters , in quarto 4 s. 6 d essays of love and marriage , duod . 8 d the vindication of the clergy , 1 s. 6 d toleration discussed , by roger l'estrange , esq 2 s. 6 d a treatise of humane reason , in twelves 8 d school books . nolens volens , or you shall make latine 2 s. 6 d centum fabulae , in octavo 1 s artis oratoriae , in duodec . 2 s law. the lord cook 's institutes , in four vol. fol. 2 l. 5 s sir james dyer's reports , fol. 18 s the clerks guide , in four parts , and the first part alone . the exact constable . controversies . the seasonable discourse against popery , in quarto 6 d — the defence of it , quarto 6 d — the difference betwixt the church and court of rome , in quarto 6 d the papists apology to the parliament answered 6 d the papists bait , or , the way to get proselytes , by ch. gataker , b. d. 1 s dr. du moulin against the lord castelmain 6 d a journey into the country , being a dialogue between an english protestant physician and an english papist . friendly and seasonable advice to the roman catholicks of england , in twelves , 6 d essays of love and marriage , being letters disswading from love , and answered ; with some characters and other passages of wit , in twelves , 1 s. 6 d the history of the sevarites or sevarambi : a nation inhabiting part of the third continent , commonly called terrae australes incognitae . with a further account of their admirable government , religion , customs , and language . written by one captain siden , a worthy person , vvho , together with many others , was cast upon those coasts , and lived many years in that country . the second part more wonderful and delightful than the first . london , printed by j. m. for henry brome , at the gun at the west end of st. pauls church-yard . 1679. licensed , feb. 25. 1678 , roger l'estrange . to the reader . i have here recommended to thy perusal the second part of the rare country of the sevarites : a country so curious and so pleasant , that if thou hadst ever been there , thou couldest never have had the least inclination to dwell in any other part of the world. i know some will be carping and quarrelling at this narration , like those unreasonable animals , that are always fretting to see things with which they are not well acquainted . but these poor souls that have seen nothing but the compass of their cradle , and have confined their knowledge within the narrow limits of their own territory , cannot well conceive nor imagine the glorious things , and the strange wonders that appear to travellers beyond the seas in foreign nations . captain siden was one of the most famous of his time , a man well known for a worthy and approved person . what account he hath given of these rare people is not so publick , i confess , as could be wished , because the persons and the nation , who have now a correspondency in those parts , have discouraged all others , by declaring these things to be fabulous , because they intend to ingross all the trade to themselves . the advantages many dutch families have received by them already , is incredible . the vast treasure they have heaped up in a few years , is beyond all belief . they have met with some new mines of gold in this golden country , and raised their families to an extraordinary grandeur . it is an idle humour in any of us to despise or reject strange discoveries . if all our wise forefathers had been of the same temper , the indies had always been unknown to the european people , and we should again burn such as dare affirm , that there is a jamaica or an america , a world under us . our nation heretofore , and the french court , lost the advantage which the spaniard hath well improved , through incredulity . it is therefore good in all such cases as this , to weigh the reasons and arguments on both sides , and to judge of the probabilities of this country . if any thing is here related of this country or people seemingly beyond all possibility , we must know , that as this people have the advantage of living in the earthly paradise , they have knowledges of nature and natural effects , which look like miracles . captain siden and his dutch camrades visited many places , and saw some other islands thereabouts , which are as full of curiosities as those we have here taken notice of . but that this relation might not be too voluminous , and the account too tedious to the ingenious reader , i thought fit to set some of his papers aside , and speak only of the chief country of the sevarites ; hoping that these lines may give some an incouragement , when they are at cap de bon esperanza , to direct their course a little out of the way , and to visit this country , which lies southwest and by south from the point . if the charge and danger don't discourage them , doubtless some brave generous soul may get to himself an immortal name , and wealth enough to pay his charges , if he returns as safe as captain siden did . however i wish that this narrative may give you all as much satisfaction as you can desire or wish for . the second part of the history of the sevarites . at the foot of the great mountains we rested three days upon the borders of sevarambè , in a little town called by the inhabitants cola , from the delightsomness of the place ; for it stands upon a small rising , and is watered by three pleasant rivers , banon , caru , and silkar , which render the ground thereabouts extraordinary fruitful beyond all credit , to a miracle . for some have told me , that they have usually in their fields every year four crops of corn , because the ground wants neither heat nor humidity to bring forth , and is never parched with the drought of summer ; for here as well as in all the kingdom of sevarambè , they know no difference between summer and winter , unless it be by the course of the sun and stars , which draw nearer to or farther from the northern and southern poles . sermodas had here many old acquaintances , and particularly a she-friend , who caused us to stay in this place longer than we purposed at first . for our great expectation and earnest desire was to pass over the mountains into sevarambè , to injoy the delights of that paradise on earth . but whiles sermodas was diverting himself one way , he caused some divertisement to be given us another way , that our abode there might not seem too tedious . he intreated some of the chief of the place to shew us their gardens of pleasure , and to lead us out into the fields to hunt the ostrich with beagles , and grey-hounds , or dogs not much unlike that sort which we have in europe . this hunting was performed in parks , where this sort of game was kept for diversion . the pleasure that it afforded to us , and the extraordinary actions which were thereby represented , caused us not to think the time long , or our abode in that place tedious , though we were in great expectation of injoying sweeter delights beyond the mountains in a country so far excelling all others in the world , according to the relation which had been given to us . it is the usual custom of all travellers that pass often through this town , to have a she-comrade , with whom they are wont to spend some days . for in the country of sevarambè such kind of natural delights are not allowable by the laws of the country , nor agreeable with the strict lives and sewere customs of the inhabitants , nor with the nature of the air ; for at the first entertainment of inordinate lust , such disorder happens in the blood and veins of men , that their countenances are immediately changed , and their skins are covered with boils and scabs , chiefly their noses , which have so great a correspondency with the noble members . for this cause the inhabitants of sevarambè abominate the least sign of all lasciviousness . i never was amongst a more temperate and orderly generation . all passengers therefore use to make a due preparation before they can or are admitted to pass over the mountains . at this town of cola therefore travellers stop to refresh themselves with those delights which are only allowable in sporumbe . after three days rest sermodas had provided all things needful for our passing over the mountains , some provisions and carriages . we had to each man of us an unicorn appointed to carry us . this creature by the skill of the sporvi are brought to be as tame as our horses . they seemed to me far stronger and more swift , and so sure footed , that though we climbed over rocks and mountains , there was none of them seen so much as to stumble or fall . instead of a bit and bridle we held in our hands a silken cord tyed to the horn , which was in the front of the beast , and at the least motion it would bend and turn , and go a swifter or slower pace , according to our desire . i inquired several things concerning this animal , which i could never hear of in all europe . sermodas gave me great satisfaction , and informed me of its nature , properties , and excellent qualities , so that i had brought some over with me into my own country , had not this transportation been forbidden by the law of that place . we took our leaves of cola about noon after a plentiful dinner . an unicorn of a chestnut colour , with many black spots on the right side , and white on the left , was prepared for me to mount upon . at the first when i saw the nimbleness of the beast , i was afraid to venture my self upon it , and could not be perswaded to make any use of it , till sermodas assured me , that it was one of the gentlest creatures in the world , and so extraordinary swift , that we passed over the mountains through uneven ways into severambè in a day and a half , being near threescore or fourscore miles . these mountains are not inhabited by any other thing but lions , tygers , panthers , and such wild and ravenous beasts as care not much for the society of men . we had the sight of many thousands of them in our way , and saw the roman sports of their theatres and amphitheatres in the bottoms , when we were on the side of the hills ; for there we met with these surious beasts contending for their prey . two bears were devouring an unhappy deer , which by chance was by them surprised in thicket or bush of brambles . they had no sooner seized upon it and overcome it , but in steps the lion to share in the sport . the two bears would not allow him any part , therefore one steps back to encounter him , whiles the other held the innocent deer half dead ; but the lion being too strong for the first bear , the second ran in to rescue him with that fury , that made the lion leave his hold . the fight lasted about an hour , with such a variety of sport , that we could not pass on in our journey , till we had seen the end . at last the lion had so bitten the master-bear by the legs , that he was scarce able to stand ; which when the lion perceived , he retreated from him about an hundred paces , and then was too strong for the other bear , which had unadvisedly pursued him . after a short dispute the bear ran away , and left the lion alone to his dinner with the lame bear in sight , which sent to him many snarlings and wishful looks waiting till this king of beasts had well satisfied his appetite . but when the lion had well filled his paunch with the deer flesh , and that he endeavoured to drag away the rest , the two bears seeing his greediness , gave the lion another assault , and obliged him to depart with a good piece of flesh in his mouth , leaving the remainder to the hungry bears that devoured all to the very guts . in pursuance of our journey we were carried over a high mountain named sporakas ; the top reaches to the second region of the air , and is always covered over with snow and ice in this hot country . there is a very clear fountain of water which yields a plentiful stream running down the rocks and mountains of various ascents , and by the fall and diversity of the noises and rumbling of the water , gives to the passengers a pleasant musick . when i was within a mile of the place , i thought i had heard some trumpets , drums , and war like harmony , flutes and hoboys , and such other windy and watry instruments of musick . what! said i to sermodas , what means this warlike musick that we hear ? is there not an army coming before us ? this question caused sermodas and all the sporvi to smile . no , said sermodas , we have no need to fight amongst our selves , this country is more free from all disputes and contentions than any other under the sun. we are not pinch'd with those necessities that are apt to make you europeans so mad and furious one against another . there is nothing of oppression or violence to be seen here . we are never assaulted by any enemy : all our thieves , robbers , and disorderly persons are confined to the skirts of our dominions where they live to plague one another , but they are not suffered to abid in the middle and bowels of the kingdom . since noahs flood , whereof we have more certain memoires than you in europe , there was never any disorder nor war in this place , or in the country round about , because of the excellent orders and useful laws of this country , which i shall hereafter represent to you . at the top of the mountain we lodged in a tent which nature had prepared in a diamant rock , with several apartments . the rock stood in a plain ground , as high as the great steeple of amsterdam . it occupied about an acre of ground , having many transparent turrets round about at the middle of it . there was an entrance into it so luminous and glorious , that i thought the sun had made here its abode , and that there was one within as well as without in the heavens . in the first room we rested our selves , and unloaded our unicorns . some of the company gave them provender , others kindled us a fire ; but sermodas led me and maurice by the hand to take a full view of this stately palace . when we had gone round , and seen the glory of it , and taken notice of the brightness of the diamant with the crystal turrets , and steps by which men may climb up to the top , and which are made of ice congealed and hardened into crystal by length of time , we returned to our company to take a share of the fire they had kindled ; but we were no sooner sate down in the niches about the wall , but out comes a leopard followed by a wild masty from some inner rooms where they had been sleeping all the day . now the noise of men had awakened them , and obliged them to seek another more quiet retreat . the entrance was stopt with our fardels and goods to keep out the cold wind that blew in . when therefore we perceived them running and walking about , we ran to our arms to defend our selves from their fury . but stay , said sermodas to me , we need not stir , you shall see pleasant sport , if you will sit quietly . he had no sooner spoken the words , but the leopard and the wild masty began to salute one another with grim looks and furious crys , which ended not without a sharp dispute for mastery . sometimes the one had the upper hand , anon the other would tread his enemy under foot . they were so furiously set one against another , that they took no notice of our being there , nor of the fire kindled in a corner , till two of our company , by the order of sermodas , discharged two guns upon them . the bullets killed the leopard , but the wild dog retreated into the inner rooms ; where he remainded till the next morning , that we fetched him out with fire , and dispatched him also . we were mightily afraid at their first appearance ; but when we perceived how little they regarded us , and how speedily they fell foul of one another , we were well pleased with their company , for the room was large enough for them and us . sermodas led us into every chamber , and corner of this diamant palace , where we had the sight of all manner of prospects and snapes of beasts and birds graven there with natures finger to delight passengers when they pass over these rough mountains into sevarambé . i shall forbear from giving any exact description of it , for fear this strange account , incredible of it self , should injure the rest of this story , and cause my reader to suspect the truth of all other passages of these travels in this remote country . the night we spent in such pleasant dreams , as made us europeans to laugh heartily in our sleep . we fancied our selves in a most glorious paradise , and were not willing to depart the next day . had not sermodas promised to bring me back the same way , i had prevailed upon him to have staid there a few nights , that we might have again a taste of our drowsie delights , and of our imaginary happiness , which to us was as good as any real and true . i had almost forgot a custom observed by all the crooked sporvi , when they come to this place , to prepare themselves to go down into the glorious and fruitful vallies of sevarambé . they wash themselves all over their bodies in a mineral fountain of a water , which to the eye appears very yellow , which fountain stands at a stones cast from the rock ; and though the air be cold , this fountain is hot , and of an excellent virtue : for the water cleanseth not only the filth of the body , but it hath that influence upon the humors of men , that they are freed from all those extravagant desires of lust and lechery , which agrees not with the air and manners of the sevarambi . before we went to sleep , sermodas led me and my companions out to this rare fountain : now , captain , said he to me , strip your self naked , and wash your self in this water : with these words he shewed me several corners , which seemed to be made purposely for men to bathe themselves and wash their bodies from the irregular inclinations of these other regions . after we had well cleansed our selves , we returned to our lodging , and after supper sermodas gave me this account of this custom : captain , said he to me , we are entring into a climate where men are forced to be abstemious against their wills ; where if they harboured those amorous affections which other men have , they meet with so many and such powerful temptations , that they would be far more extravagant than the rest of men , and be more deformed than any people ; for the air and nature of this country is such , that it sets a mark upon all men that touch any other women than their own . and such virgins as forget themselves , are spotted visibly to the eyes of all beholders , as you shall see when you come amongst them . for the prevention therefore of this and all other inconveniencies which proceed from lustful appetites , we have a custom to wash our selves in this admirable fountain , whereof the water hath that virtue to free us from those lecherous inclinations as well as our bodies from filth , and to oblige us to appear amongst the sevarambi with a quiet and calm spirit : so that none or few dare joyn with any other female but his own . i inquired whether they had not a plurality allowed them : no , answered sermodas , we in our country have that allowance , and this causeth us all to be so crooked in our bodies ; for this shape proceeds from the crookedness of our reason , which carries us to act and perform such things as agree not , i confess , with the excellency of our humane nature , but only with those natural propensities , which we either by art or resolution should restrain within the compass of a moderate appetite . but you are entring amongst the soberest people of the world , free from all those wild passions which cause so much disturbance in other lands . they are the perfectest and most beautiful ladies that ever you beheld , all their country and all things therein are stately , glorious , pleasant , rich and noble , and so extraordinarily full of innocent delights , that you would be content to abide there for ever . this short account , with the many relations that we had already of this country , inflamed our desires to be eye-witnesses of these rare things , and to injoy the stately advantages that this place and country afford . therefore the next morning early we washed and prepared our selves for our journey . but there happened an accident which retarded our journey for a while . as soon as our unicorns were loose and ready to be loaded , a jaccal happened to run by in sight of these animals . as soon as they perceived it , they ran after it so swiftly , that one of the foremost caught the jaccal , and killed it : for there is a natural antipathy between these two creatures , as there is between a hare and a grey-hound . at the first sight of a jaccal it is not possible to keep in the unicorn , who is naturally carried to pursue this ravenous beast . this gave us the trouble to run about a mile after them to the declive of the hill , where the unicorns were all dividing the spoils of the dead jaccal : one was tearing the tail , another was busie about the head , another was devouring the guts ; they had all shared it amongst them . when we had brought them back , we all mounted , and went on in our journey . about ten miles in our way , at the top of a very high steep hill , we saw the great city of sevarinde , and the beautiful country where it is situate . here the sporvi are wont to perform certain ceremonies before they dare venture farther ; for they imagine , that if they neglected or contemned them , the great spirit of the air , which governs in that climate , would punish them with some signal token of his displeasure , as he doth such as are given to debauchery and lechery . i and my comrades were all obliged to follow the same customs and manners , for fear of giving offence , and for avoiding those deformities and marks which are said to be inflicted upon all contemners of the laws of the land. in our travelling we had the sight of many strange creatures , animals , birds , and insects , whereof i knew not so much as the name . the trees in our road were hung with apes and monkies : the woods full of aromatick trees and sweet perfumes : the mountains and wildernesses were inriched with diamant rocks and banks of crystal : the rivers and streams of water are full of sandy gold and precious stones transparent . when i considered how rich and delightful a place the descent of these mountains was , i judged that the country beyond , and the bottoms and vallies must consequently exceed all that i ever beheld on earth . one thing i cannot omit : we saw in our travelling a beaver pursued and hunted by a creature not much unlike in shape to our rabbets , but of another nature , more ravenous and fierce . for eagles and vultures of all kinds and sorts , they were here in such numbers , that the sky was sometimes darkned with them . in the way sermodas gave me and my companions several precautions how we should behave our selves amongst the sevarites . first he advised us to talk but little : for , said he , they are the wisest of all men . if therefore you will gain any esteem , or hinder your selves from being despised , abstain from too much discourse ; for if they perceive , by a multiplicity of words , any indiscretion in you , they will contemn you , and not think you worthy to abide in the land , much less to be honoured by them . again , take heed of swearing , cursing , or damning ; for such irregularities in language were never yet admitted into that land. they spue or banish out all disorderly persons , and confine them to the borders . observe next to do as you see other men , and take heed you be not singular in any practices : but when once you are admonished by them , imitate them , and follow their good advices ; for in so doing , you will preserve your selves in their esteem , and shew them respect . obstinacy and singularity are vices not known amongst them as they are amongst you europeans . take heed that you drink not too much of the delicious wines of the country , but use all things with abstinence and moderation . refuse not any gifts which they will bestow upon you ; for they are all noble and generous in their behaviour and actions , and love not to see their favours slighted by strangers . i shall , said sermodas , inform you what to do , and give you other directions , as i shall see occasion , that you may pass with credit through the country of the sevarambi . when he had ended his discourse , we thanked him for his kindness , and promised him our ready obedience to all that he should require from us . he seemed to be well satisfied with our compliance with him from the beginning . thus we travelled along till we came to the foot of these high mountains to the passage of a large river three times bigger than the danube or the rhyne . it is called by the sporvi cocab , and by the sevarambi rocara . it runs at the bottom of the hills , and incompasseth the kingdom of the sevarites almost round , till it meets with another large river , which together unite their streams , and fall into the pacifick sea beyond the streights of magellan , about one hundred leagues southwards . at sun-setting we came to the banks of the river , but could not get over till the next day ; for there is no bridge suffered to be made , because the sevarites are not willing to give such an easie access into their country . they are afraid of two things , of the vices of strangers , and of their diseases , which causes them to set guards at the mouth of their rivers , and all the ordinary passes , lest a sudden invasion should disorder their quiet and earthly tranquillity . this caused us to stop upon the sides of the river till the morning ; for the boat which was to carry us over and our company , was then on the other side , and after sun-set there can no man be admitted into this happy country : besides there are many things to be examined of strangers before they can be received into the boat. we lodged therefore all night at the foot of the mountains in a beautiful arbour or bower of jesmine mixed with rose-trees , which in this place flourish and bear all the year long ; for here neither snow nor frost is to be seen , nor such cruel winds as hinder the fruits of the earth . the bower was about an hundred paces from side to side , so that our unicorns and goods lay and rested with us in the same place all night . whiles our supper was providing , sermodas took me and my companions to walk with him near the rivers side , and to discourse with me about the wonders of nature , the delightsomness of the prospect , the clearness of the river-water , the sweet harmony of the evening-birds , the pleasant noise of the crystal-streams , together with the comfortable brieses of wind , which amongst the branches of the chestnut , orange , cedar , elm , oak , and other trees , which here upon the sides of the mountains grow naturally without planting , and promiscuously together , made such an angelical musick , that we imagined our selves in paradise , and wonderfully contributed to our satisfaction in our walk . sermodas being in the middle of us , asked how we liked this abode : it is , replied maurice , the most glorious that i ever was in . you will see and know something more when you get over the river , and behold the excellency of those things which are there confined . i asked him how it came to pass , that we in europe were so ignorant of this country , and why this should excel all others . this question , replied sermodas , requires a long discourse to give an answer to it ; but i will not leave you without some satisfaction . you must know , that when adam , the first man , had offended his god by disobedience , he shut him out of the earthly paradise , and would not suffer him nor his wicked posterity to injoy the pleasures of that pleasant abode . they had liberty to inhabit round about , but for two thousand years paradise was guarded in such a manner , that none could enter into it all that time . afterwards came the flood , which turned and altered mountains and vallies ; therefore we have some records that tell us , that the earthly paradise , which , during the old world , was in asia , was then transported hither , and all those rare trees , with the jewels and riches , were carried hither by angels , and planted in this remote corner . and because there was no man then fit to inhabit so blessed a place , of the sons of noah , a new couple were formed , not out of the slimy earth as the former , but out of a purer and more delicate substance , out of some metal mixed with gold and silver : hence it is , that their bodies are so clean , pure , glorious , and splendid as you shall see . this couple , named chericus and salmoda , are the parents of all the sevarites ; from their loins proceed the numbers of beautiful men and women , which you shall see on the other side of the river . they had an hundred sons and as many daughters , and lived , by our records , two thousand years ; afterwards he was buried in the city of sevarinde , where you shall see his sepulchre . when men and women began to increase , his eldest son sevarias appointed laws for men to govern their actions , and to avoid all kind of confusion . these laws we can shew you in our registers , subscribed by all the men of those days . in his time there happened some sons of noah to be carried by the stormy winds upon these coasts . at their landing one of them met with a beautiful virgin called serissa , whom he ravished and got with child . she brought forth twins , a boy named bubo , and a girl called chrestona . these two being crooked , could not meet with matches amongst the sevarambi , who despised them : therefore when they came to the age of thirty , they matched and increased strangely . when sevarias our law-giver saw how numerous they were like to be , being a just man , would not destroy them , neither would he suffer the pure race of the sevarambi to be defiled or mixed with the filthy generations of the other part of the world. he sent a way bubo and chrestona with their old european father and their mother serissa , with all their children and grand-children to build the city of sporunde , and to inhabit the country on this side the river , appointing a certain tribute for us to pay as an acknowledgment that we are descended partly from the same stock : hence it is , that we are all so deformed , and a little crooked , and that the true sevarites will not be perswaded to joyn with us in marriage , and yet they love us as brethren , and have a natural inclination for all men in general , which obliges them to be courteous , kind , affable , liberal , and bountiful to them all when they happen to fall into their hands . sevarias our wise law-giver appointed to us distinct laws , and in some respects contrary to the rest of the sevarites according to the crookedness of our european nature , which he saw could not live up to that natural sanctity which became us as men . he gave us therefore liberty to make the vilest of our female sex slaves for our conveniency in times of need , and in travelling up and down our country ; but such practices as these are not agreeable with the strictness of the lives of the rest of the sevarambi , they abominate such mixtures ; and though their country inclines them as much as any to the flesh , they cannot be perswaded to make use of it out of the rules and ways prescribed to them . and if at any time they forget themselves by chance , the air and country is so great an enemy to such practices , that it distinguisheth them from all the rest by some visible mark upon their noses or foreheads , which causeth them to be immediately banished out of the country to the confines over another river on the other side of the kingdom , where they have the liberty to live deprived of all the pleasures of this earthly paradise . thither are confined all the disorderly persons , the lecherous , the filthy , and base , each sort have their distinct places of abode , or islands from whence they are not suffered to depart till they dye naturally : for our wise and ever glorious law-giver commanded us not to put men to death for any mistake , forgetfulness , or miscarriage of their lives . killing is permitted by our laws only in defence of our own persons ; all other offenders against the municipal laws of the land are banished to the borders , where they live to repent them of their wickedness , and most times dye good men . i shall give you a farther account of the excellent laws and manners of the sevarites , when we shall be on the other side amongst them ; for they will not be perswaded to venture over into these parts , for fear of infecting themselves with foreign customs and manners , and the vicious air , which is every where but in sevarambé . but , captain , said sermodas to me , when we had walked about a mile from our company , it is time for us to visit them again , for yonder comes a furious company down the mountains , which will force us to a retreat . i looked and saw a party of jaccals followed by two old lions and some young ones running apace towards us , howling as if they had been mad : hunger makes them more furious and greedy than otherwise they would be ; for they increase so fast , that in the woods and retreats there is not sufficient food for them all to fill their paunches every day . towards the dawning of the day they burst out of their caves and holes to seek their necessary provisions for them and their young ones . the foremost were not above an hundred paces from us , when they first declared their coming with fearful out-crys , which were signs to the lions round about , that they had discovered some prey . we were then without weapon , and never dreamed of any danger in so pleasant an abode . all the wild beasts understood the alarm of their fore-runners , and hasted to the place where the jaccals had made a noise . a mixture of all sorts followed them close at the heels , lions , bears , tygers , elks , leopards , and some other sorts which i shall hereafter describe . it was not time for us to stay there any longer , and see our danger hasten upon us . we took our selves to our heels , and ran with sermodas towards our bower , where all the sporvi had put themselves in a posture of defence as soon as they heard the noise . but we could not make such haste , but one of the foremost leopards caught maurice by the coat , and tore off a piece , which the furious beast devoured , and gave him time to escape ; another bit me by the buttocks , and held me so fast , that i could not get away from him . in the mean while all my company run before , every one shifting for himself . i thought my self lost , but i was resolved to struggle for my life . the less hopes i saw of escaping , because several companies of other ravenous beasts were near at hand . i turned therefore my self and pulled the leopard by the ears , thrusting one of my fingers into his right eye . the pain forced him to let go his hold , which as soon as he had done , he leaped upon me with his open jaws , into which i thrust my right hand and took hold of the tongue , necessity adding more strength to my arm , i pluckt it by the root whiles the beast held me with his paws . at that instant six roaring lions , and three bears , with an infinite number of jaccals , had overtaken and surrounded me , but none offered to touch me . i flung amongst them the leopards tongue , which they all greedily catched at with a short dispute , which of them should have it . this gave me leisure to run about a dozen paces from them before they had ended it . as soon as a lion had taken it for his share , the rest fell foul upon the leopard , which was become so troublesom to them , because of his extraordinary howling , that they minded me not so much , only an old bear made after me , and overtook me . when i saw sermodas and maurice , and all the company hastening with weapons to my rescue , their sight and coming gave me some hopes of escaping out of the jaws of an unavoidable death . the bear gallopped after me , and was just at my very heels , when i stumbled and fell flat on my face , the bears fury caused him to run about a dozen paces beyond me over my body , before it could stop ; then were sermodas , maurice , and all the rest come in with their guns , and other weapons , and one for my self . as soon as i had got a sword in my hand , i ran at the bear , and wounded the beast in the right thigh at the first blow , but at the second i thrust it in at the breast , and wounded him at the heart . in the mean while all our company were not idle , they fell upon the wild beasts with their swords and halberts in their hands , and killed in a short time twenty lions , thirteen bears , and forty jaccals , with threescore other sort of furious and ravenous creatures . we found dead the next day one like a bull with six horns , two small ones a little above the nose , two a little bigger under the eyes , and two great ones upon his head. this beast is called suja , and lives upon the spoils of other animals . we saw another having a head like a lion , a skin like a crocodile , and a tail as a fox as red as blood , the claws were bent in , but when they were stretched out , they were about a foot long , and as sharp as needles . sermodas told me , that this was the most furious beast in all the world ; for nothing can escape out of its jaws and claws , it tears in pieces all that it meets with , and were it not that it hath but a small appetite , it would devour all the lions of the woods . he told me , that the sporvi called it forabab , and that there are no females of them to be found , because they are begot by a mixture of lions and other animals which copulate together . we killed two other beasts as big as ordinary masties , but so extraordinary furious , that none are to be compared to them . we continued the slaughter near two hours , rescuing one another when the wild beasts were too hard for any of us , and had worsted us . the rest we put to flight , having wounded most of them : three of the sporvi in our company were bit in their limbs , and six of us run through the arm with the claws of the lions . after this fierce encounter , which was not above three stones cast from our bower , we went , very joyful to have escaped the danger , to refresh our selves with a good supper of roast meat and fruit , which was ready prepared for us . sermodas embraced me and maurice , expressing much joy for our escape out of this great danger , because none of us had been devoured by these furious inhabitants of the woods . after supper he walked into the air , and met with a shrub tree upon the bank of the river , called mezola , he took a stick from it , and rubbed the wound of my buttocks , and before the morning i was perfectly cured of my wounds , as all the rest of the men hurt by the beasts : for had he not applied this to our wounds , we should have been lame , and hindred thereby from passing over the river into sevarambe . we laid our selves down upon the banks and beds of earth made under the bower for strangers to rest themselves , and slept all night , only we were interrupted by the howlings of strange creatures and beasts of prey , who ranged about the bower , attempting to enter in , but we had stopt the passages and ways , so that there was no entrance for any of them . the next morning a large boat was on this side to carry us over with five grave signiors , two came to our bower to call to us before we were up , and visit us . the chief owner of the boat was named kibbus . as soon as we heard them we rose and dressed our selves . sermodas went out to give kibbus an account of our persons and misfortunes : which when he had understood , he entred in with him , and took us by the hand and kissed us , bidding us be of good chear , and that his prince would be joyful to see us . we went with him to see the slaughter of the wild beasts which we stripped of their skins , because the sevarambi are great lovers of furs ; and this was a noble present , which we intended to give to their king. as soon as we had dispatched our business , kibbus with his companions called us one after another to ask us , whether we had any infirmities or distemper in our bodies : after this he caused us to wash in a fountain hard by , and gave us green gowns , which he had in his boat on purpose for all travellers , buttoned before with rich buttons of jasper stones . they were perfumed in such an extraordinary manner , that i never saw the like . after this and some previous ceremonies , we were admitted with our unicorns into his wide and large boat , and in an instant we were carried over to a small town , where i beheld the most beautiful men and women of the world. they all knowing us to be strangers , of a foreign country , went to the banks of the river to salute and welcome us . at the head of them was a grave gentleman with ruddy cheeks , and a comely countenance , and a long beard of bright hair , which in the sun shined as if they had been of gold : he was attended upon by six most beautiful tall young men , who were followed by four of the female sex , whom i cannot liken to any but to angels : they surpassed all that lever beheld with my eyes on earth . these were his children . they took maurice and my self by the hand , asked of our welfare and country , and spoke to us in very good french. i was glad to meet in so remote a place a man that spoke that language , i desired to know his name : my name , said he , is zidi marbet . all the rest of the town did him obeisance when he passed by them ; for he was a man of great riches and authority , and of an excellent memory and wit. sermodas had some private discourse with him near the river ; afterwards he marched with us into his town to his palace , the most glorious thing that i ever beheld , and yet that was nothing to what i saw afterwards . the town lay upon the banks of the river , and had six uniform streets abutting to the water . the houses were for the most part built all of white and black marble , very curious to the eye : they were covered over with a shining slate , which seemed to be gilt with gold before every door . in a wide empty place grew several aromatick and excellent rare trees for pleasure and profit . we all admired to see the place , sometimes we stood astonished at the beauty of the men and women , anon we were ravished with the glorious and delightsom abodes . where-ever we cast our eyes , we saw nothing but that which deserved our wonder and admiration . zidi marbet walked with us with his company , and led us to his palace , which excelled all the other houses in beauty . at our entrance we saw two posts of pure ivory , ring'd round with gold , with a little court paved with white and black marble . the house was built almost in the same manner as the rest , but surrounded with the most beautiful trees , and moted with a draw-bridge of black wood like ebeny , having chains of gold instead of iron . in the water the fish were in such plenty , and so great , that we saw hundreds as we passed by . at our first entrance we stood in amaze to behold the glory of the inside , we could not sufficiently admire the beauty and splendor of the rich moveables , the hangings and tapistry over-laid with gold and precious stones , with all other things which can never be believed , if i should offer to relate them . here we stopped seven days , till we had news from sevarinde , whither we had sent word of our arrival , to know the kings pleasure . in the mean while i cannot express the delights which were given to every day ; the sweet concerts of musick , the pleasant walks about the town , the recreations of hunting , fishing , hawking , and other sports , were not wanting to us , with many other past-times . zidi marbet and his whole family were extraordinary civil to us . the town were not wanting in their respects . at the end of seven days , sermodas our guide , with the rest of our company , set forward towards sevarinde , where we arrived in six days . the journey was the most pleasant that ever i had been in . there was scarce any manner of recreation or innocent pleasure belonging to our bodies , but we found it in the way . all our senses were ravished with their delights ; the ears with the sweet harmony and tunes of all manner of singing-birds , with the grateful crys of all sorts of creatures : our eyes beheld all the most glorious sights which are to be seen in all the earth : the fields , the towns , and cities , the woods , the vallies , and mountains refreshed our eye-sight with new objects of pleasure and wonder at every moment : our noses met with the rarest perfumes ; every bush and corner yielded to us new delights of this kind . for our taste we had every where such dainties and rare wines , that are not to be expressed . one thing i took great notice of , that all those creatures which are elsewhere , are to be seen in this earthly paradise ; as lions , bears , wolves , jaccals , &c. and tame beasts , as sheep , cows , camels , oxen , horses , &c. but they are not of the same nature , as elsewhere . the wild beasts , as soon as they swim over the river of rocara , lose all their fierce dispositions , and become as harmless and mild as lambs ; for they feed upon grass and insects , without offering to meddle with any living animal . likewise they , as well as the tame beasts , have another cry , not so harsh and unpleasant , as every where else . their crys are more grateful to the ear . all things , in a word , are so ordered , as if they were purposely intended to delight and increase the pleasure of the inhabitants we saw in our journey many strange birds and tame beasts , not to be seen in any other part of the world. the fields almost in every place are watered with fresh streams and chanels , full of all manner of fresh water fish : so that in every town and village we saw many fish-ponds incompassed about with the rarest trees in nature . the ground is so extraordinary fruitful , that it is ordinary for them to gather three or four crops every year of several forts of grain . so that it is no wonder , if men and creatures are here so numerous . every two miles we met with a good town in our way , some more , some less glorious than the rest ; but built so regular and uniform , that i judged that these sevarites were not ignorant of the humane sciences and arts , which are imperfectly known in other parts of the world. sermodas informed me , that for philosophy , the mathematicks , astrology , and the rest , they were all trained up in them from their youth . they chiefly excel in all delightful sciences and arts , as musick and the mathematicks . every child about fourteen years of age can play upon all manner of instruments , with that dexterity and nimbleness , that i have often wondered to look upon them , and hear such ravishing tunes and airs , which our musicians are not acquainted with . they are not much skill'd in physick , nor in those arts , which mens vices and diseases cause the europeans to inquire into ; for seldom any distemper seizeth upon them , till they fall away with old age , and drop into their graves . i never saw any deformity amongst them , but such variety of beauties both in men and women , that we were all ravished to look upon them . these beauties in the female sex were not pitiful and effeminate , as amongst our women ; but accompanied with a great deal of majesty , modesty , and gravity together . it is not possible to instance all the several particulars and instances of their beauty ; for there was as great a variety in that excellency of the body , as there is a variety and diversity in the deformity of ours in europe . sermodas entertained us in our road with many delightful and satisfying stories concerning these sevarites . but i intend to represent them in the several chapters or heads unto which they properly belong . we had in our journey a sight of many eagles and vultures ; but i was told , that they prey upon nothing but insects : and for venemous creatures , there are none to be found . they know not what it is to live always in fear , to be poysoned by asps , scorpions , snakes , or to be devoured by flying serpents and crocodiles , which in other kingdoms swallow man and beast . so that in all respects this country is the happiest , the most pleasant , and abounds with so many necessaries to the life of man , that it is not possible to imagine any thing more . we saw many diamant rocks in our way , with which the inhabitants imbellish their houses . we saw some rocks of jasper , of sardonyx , of beryl , and emerald ; for gold and silver and brass , they find these metals , but rough , as plentifully as we do in other countries , stones . but as they never make use of money , they resine the gold for no other purpose but to adorn themselves and their dwellings , and for other civil uses . silver they have in great abundance , and brass much more easie to be purified than ours in europe or america , because nature being hotter and more powerful , performs that in the bosom of the earth which belongs to our refiners to do , and fits the metal for their use with a small alteration and labour . all manner of precious stones are to be found here in the high-ways , in such abundance , that had our merchants liberty to trade into these parts , they would bring down the price of jewels , that they would not be looked upon as they are for such rich commodities . the cattle and the sheep here are far bigger and better than ours , and all their tame beasts ; but when they want any thing , they exchange with one another : and if they are not able to purchase it in that manner , they have all that great love and affection for one another , that they never deny things that may benefit the publick society , or any of the sevarites . there is amongst them so much love , sincerity , good correspondence , that no nation hath the like besides themselves . hence it is , that poverty and want are not known amongst them . they are great lovers of hospitality , and strive to excel one another in this vertue . an example of this we had in our way to sevarinde ; for in a great town , named bubasti , ten of the chief men contended with one another in civil manner to have us to lodge at their houses , which i may justly call palaces : and to content them all we were forced to divide ourselves , and to accept of all their kindnesses neither could we get away from them in a day , they had so many new inventions and recreations to retard us till the evening , and then they would not suffer us to depart till the next morning . our first stage was at foralar , thirty miles from the river , where we met with excellencies and riches beyond all belief and imagination . the next was fustad , about five and thirty miles from foralar . the third was brobas , a large city well walled , and so glorious to the eye when the sun shines , that it dazles it . the fourth night we reached as far as crocarambe . the fifth we entred into bubasti : and the sixth day about noon we were received and welcomed into sevarinde . as soon as we were arrived and entred into the palace appointed for our abode , men and women of all sorts , but of rare and compleat beauty , came in to welcome us , bringing with them of the fruits of the country . amongst them a party of musicians , a dozen in number entred the hall , where we were refreshing our selves , and admiring all the excellencies before our eyes , and the divine beauty of those incarnate angels , the women of that place . at the first they saluted us with a short speech to this purpose in their own language , which was immediately interpreted to us by a stander by in spanish welcome , noble strangers , to our city of sevarinde , let not your misfortunes and losses grieve you , the great being of beings hath sent you to discover what i understand was never known to your world. you shall see by experience the generosity and brave minds of the sevarambi . we rejoyce to have an occasion of imitating our bountiful god , and express our liberalities to his creatures , and our kindness to men , though of another world and parentage . this brings me and my companions into this place , and at this time to mitigate your sorrows , and cause you to forget your shipwrack and calamity ▪ with these words he made a grave bow and nodded to the rest of his comrades and immediately the musick began to play so sweetly , that we reckoned our selves in heaven , and not upon earth . this sport continued about two hours with an interruption of other sports . we tasted there also some of the most delicious wines of the world ; they grow not as ours upon shrubs and short stumps , but upon great trees as high as the cedar and oak-trees neither have they any trouble with them to manure or cut them , for the wine-tree brings forth of its own accord plentifully . in an orchard of these kinds of trees about the compass of an acre , they have sometimes ten tun of this rare wine , as clear as crystal , but so extraordinary strong and pleasant , that the vin de la cindad of paris , nor the rhenish , nor frontiniack , nor florence , nor canary , nor any other sorts of wine of asia , or europe are to be compared to this divine nectar , which so refreshes nature , and strengthens the body , that the oldest persons in that country seem to be but young . their age is discoverable only by their grey hairs and long beards , which they are not to cut by the law of the land. that evening sevarminas sent us a messenger to know of our welfare , advising us to prepare our selves for the next morning to wait upon him , for he was very desirous to see us . sermodas had been with him , and had given him an account of us , and of our behaviour since our landing in sporumbè , and our entrance in sevarambé . at his return to us , after supper we desired him to give us an exact account of the extent of the dominions of his king sevarminas , and of the further most bounds of his empire . in answer to your request , said sermodas to us , i must tell you , that we have now a prince called sevarminas , lineally descended from our wise law-giver sevarias : this is the seventh thousand five hundred and ninth king , who hath since that time reigned in this land. his government between the rivers are threescore and five principalities : the chief are rostaki in the west , shafstati on the north towards the pacifick sea , roblati on the east , and manasti on the south . these are the four principal parts of the kingdom commanded by four chief officers , who are to have an inspection over the other lesser divisions . these wait upon sevarminas , and are of his privy council . the other chieftains are to reside in their several principalities , and take care to do justice , and punish all offenders with banishment to their several places appointed for their retreat . besides these jurisdictions within the rivers , there are several other places belonging to sevarminas , which acknowledge him for their supreme lord ; but they are full of all banished men , offenders of the law , and malefactors . there is the province of the sporvi , which you have seen already , commanded by the noble albicormas : the next to us is the island of the fornicators , whom these sevarambi cannot endure . these all appear with their rotten noses and poysoned faces , so that they are ashamed to shew themselves amongst perfect men . they live in woods and dark caves , men and women promiscuously , without any regard to their honesty , which they have had no care to preserve . they have an ill-favour'd old hag for their governess , a filthy bawd , named brustana . their country affords them many good things , so that they live without much labour ; but are so deformed and infectious , that none dares venture amongst them , who hath any regard to the safety of his own person or honour . when amongst the sevarites any , either man or woman , breaks the law by any such fleshly liberty , they are immediately sent over and landed there , from whence they cannot possibly return , because there is no boat dares carry them from thence . in this place they have a freedom to do what they list , and to please themselves with the choice of persons of their own disposition and temper without any restraint . the next province is that of the knaves , a cunning sort of men , who are all upon catches , continually plotting the mischief of others . when there is the least suspicion of any such person in a province of the sevarites , they never leave till they have found him out , and sent him to this place , where he is commanded by marabo : when any excels in knavery , he is there promoted in his court to offices of honour and trust . these have the largest and best province belonging to sevarminas beyond the river ; for they are numerous and increase daily in number of men and in lands towards the south . they dispossessed another generation of covetous rascals , who had been banished from among the sevarambi , and had laid great improvement upon their lands , having built many good towns and cities . when the knaves , their neighbours , had understood it , they caught it from them , and drove them out of it by a trick , sending the covetous to live in their country empty of inhabitants . the next is the province of disorderly persons troubled with the distempers of discontent , fury , ambition , and other vices . sevarminas is forced to keep a guard upon their borders , and to place next to them the stoutest and most warlike souls , for fear of a sudden irruption . there are thirteen other large provinces filled with other kind of men ; but i forbear to speak of them till i shall give you an account of an attempt which the bordering provinces made once to dispossess king sevarminas of his throne , and to seize upon the territories of the unspotted sevarites , who were forced to arm themselves , and drive those disorderly villains into their own nests , where they are now confined . since that time care hath been taken to build such walls and forts , as that they cannot now easily pass over to trouble the peace of the sevarites . i had almost forgotten to speak of the large province of fools , which lies directly south from sevarindé . if any person , by a mischance , becomes crack-brain'd or distemper'd with any kind of folly , he is condemned to be transported to the island of cracos , where he is to spend all his days in what exercises please him best . the country affords him all necessaries without pains : therefore the fools lead a pleasant life in the woods and medows . before we go out of the kingdom , i will , said sermodas , beg leave of sevarminas to have a guard , and visit the provinces of knaves and fools , where you shall see such tricks and sports , as you never saw the like . and if you desire to visit any other part of the kingdom , i will desire leave from our mighty king , who will take care to provide for your safety in going and coming . for though in this happy paradise there is nothing of evil , all things are answerable to the excellent and kind nature of the inhabitants ; yet round about the borders in the adjoyning islands and provinces , there is as much disturbance , war , tumult , and unquietness , as in any part of your northern world ; for the sevarambi have a law to send thither all those persons who desire to cause any alteration in their government or manners , or who live not according to the strict rules which they have received from their forefathers , and which by no means they will be perswaded to change . some of these banished men , after a certain number of years , and a visible sign of reformation , have leave to return , and to be admitted again amongst the sevarambi ; but others are so unquiet and unruly , that they are a trouble to themselves , and all that are concerned with them . therefore our princes and governors will not admit them again , for fear they should relapse into the same evils , and disturb this kingdom , which for many thousand years hath continued in peace and prosperity without alteration by the excellent laws of our great and wise sevarias , the first monarch of this happy land. hence it is , that we never have any change of chief governours or governments , every one knows his duty , his place and abilities , and is fully satisfied with the advantages that he expects from thence . here is no oppression nor violence , the least inclination of that unnatural disposition sends men away to the borders to prevent future mischiefs . neither have the sevarites that wicked custom of coining money , and buying and selling all things with money , the root of all northern evils . they will not admit of any such weed to grow in this land , but things are exchanged for one another . and you have seen since your entrance , there is so great an abundance of all good things , that men must be lovers of wickedness , that can be evil in the midst of such a plenty of goodness where it overflows . but i must tell you , said sermodas , of one thing more , which causeth us to continue in peace : we are not subject to the wicked attempts and temptations of any evil spirit , as you are in the northern world. those dangerous imps care not to visit this southern part ; for they have been so often caught in the snares here , that they dread the very sight of the sevarites , or of their country . you , i understand , in the northern parts lay most of your miscarriages at the devils door , who hath a room in many of your habitations , and a dwelling in every place and corner ; but we are altogether free from his company and temptations . sometimes it is true , he sends some loose devils to debauch a few indiscreet persons , but then we send them away immediately to their proper places with the fiend in their company . but , said maurice , how can you keep the devils out of your land ? they fly in the empty air , and go by night as well as by day . sermodas answered , our eyes are better than yours , but the sevarites of all men have the most refined senses . they can see when the spirits come amongst them ; for this purpose there is a constant guard kept in all the usual roads upon the borders of the sevarites , four hundred conspirers , if i may so call them , are kept in constant pay to drive away the devil with spells , when he ventures to approach upon the borders . they have a particular art to command the evil spirits , which no man knows but themselves . it is true , some of the peeping and crasty rascals creep into this land through by ways out of the usual roads ; but when the sevarites catch them , they torment them sufficiently , and deal with them as with spies , without any compassion of them : so that they seldom return to this place again , but by their cruel entertainment they keep all their other comrades from entring in amongst the sevarambi . i know that in your countries you have not that care nor vigilancy of your selves for your own good . hence it is , that all sorts of devils have so great an interest in your parts , and that you can scarce stir without meeting one or many in your way . besides , this country between the rivers bears an aromatick tree , which the devils cannot endure ; for it sends up into the air such a strong smell , that they are ready to choke when they draw near to a place where it grows , and you shall see that the inhabitants have been advised by their wise sevarias , to plant one in every garden and side of their houses . the tree is named crassarabi , and bears a leaf like a palm-leaf , but is full of prickles as a thorn and bramble-bush . the sevarites have this way to torture the poor devils that unhappily fall into their hands : they tye them with a cord invisible to you , but visible to them , answerable to the substance of the devils , which is airy , and then bind them to this tree , where they slash them with a rod cut out of the branches , which causes them to howl most dreadfully . we may chance to give you a sight of this action , if you travel into the country towards the borders . another way they have to plague and imprison them , by making gun-powder ; for when the devils come into a land , they always draw to that place where there is the greatest noise and disturbance , for there they imagine they may make a good interest . now there is no greater noise in this land than this of the gun-powder , which we make not as you do in europe , but with a wheel , as you may see , if you travel into the land. sometimes therefore it happens , that the silliest of them prying too near into the work , either to understand the art , or to know what the sevarites are doing , they are many times caught by their ears , and i have known half a dozen wound into a grain of gun-powder , and imprisoned so close , that they could not possibly get away , till the powder took fire . the best and strongest powder hath always some of these airy beings shut up . this causeth the destruction that follows when gun-powder takes fire ; for then the devils being released , break out with a vengeance , and tear in pieces all that dare stand in their way . the sevarites have many other ways to punish them for the insolences and wickednesses which they have committed in the world ; but when i have an opportunity , i shall give you an account of that . i could wish , said maurice , that our country-men in europe knew how to deal with these subtle creatures , and how to be revenged for the continual wrongs which they daily receive from their malice and evil suggestions . it is a question , said i , whether many of them would make use of that art , if they knew it ; for a great many are so pleased with their company and suggestions , that they seek them rather , than to endeavour to be rid of them . well , said sermodas , let them be in love with their own mischief and danger , the sevarites are seldom taken and deceived by their allurements : and if at any time they are carried to any wickedness , they are banished ; and if the devil be caught , he is severely tortured . this good order and many others , when i shall speak to you of their laws , preserves happiness , peace , and prosperity in this country . this discourse pleased us well , and caused us to intreat sermodas to take some other time to inform us of the laws of the sevarites . we asked him several other questions concerning their government within the rivers , concerning their customs and tributes , and whether all the country was so happy and rich as that which we had already beheld . he answered to all questions so exactly , that we thought our selves much obliged to him for his singular favour . he was well acquainted with all things , for he had been imployed about the affairs of sevarminas from his infancy , and was often sent to carry the tribute to his court. he told us , that the kings revenues were certain , and that from all parts men brought to him all sorts of necessaries for him and his numerous court. that he never had any need to demand more , for his expences were as regular as his incomes ; and that if he should want any thing more , there is none of his subjects , from the meanest to the highest , but would think himself highly honoured , if he would accept of all that they have . but as he is a great lover of justice and equity , he is content with the ancient reversions of the provinces , which are sufficient to cause him and his court to live in great abundance and extraordinary splendour , which all the sevarites looked upon as their greatest glory . sevarminas , said he , is a middle-aged man , and hath reigned in this place twenty two years , with the general love of all his subjects . he is adored by us all as our visible god. his fathers name was seravino , a prince of an extraordinary beauty ; he reigned amongst us thirty years , and mightily inlarged the palace and dwelling of the kings of this country . you shall see to morrow a place which hath not its parallel on earth for riches and humane glory , and you shall see a prince and such noble attendants , that your eyes never looked upon any thing , nor persons more deserving admiration . after this discourse , sermodas led us all to our chambers , where we had all things convenient for us , and shewing us in a great wide room hung with cloth of gold , each mans bed of embroidered silver for him to rest till the next morning , he took his leave of us , and bid us good night . we rested very sweetly without any disturbance till the next morning , when a concert of musick in the next chamber awakened us . sermodas opened first our door , and entred our room , desiring us to get up and put on the apparel which he had brought to us . whiles we were dressing of our selves , a messenger came from king sevarminas to hasten us away , because he intended to give us audience , and then to take some recreation before dinner . at the time of our appearance he appointed ten senators of his city , men of great gravity and worth , to attend upon us , and lead us to him . we were conducted through the streets full of sevarites , who seldom see strangers in those parts . their curiosity caused them to throng together to look upon us : we marched thus about half a mile through the most splendid places , and had the sight of so many rare objects , that the world cannot afford the like . the number of jewels and precious stones , the quantity of gold , silver , the excellency of the structures , arches , palaces , and temples dedicated to their god , are beyond all credit and imagination of men . but nothing surprised us so much as to look upon the royal court and the glory of it . it stands upon a small rising incompassed about with a deep river , and walled three times round with square stones cut out of a diamant rock about six foot square , and polished so well , that at the first approach our eyes could not endure the brightness of the place when the sun shines clear without a cloud . some other precious stones were intermixed of green and red colours , but all transparent . there was but one entrance over the river by a bridge . the first gate was full of ivory pillars and supporters , and embellished with large stones , black and white marble . round about in the void space were delicate walks , and gardens full of strange sorts of trees , some yellow , others green , some black , others white , and shewing to the eye such a variety of beautiful colours , that it is the most glorious prospect of the world. the second wall was all of a red stone , but bright and shining . the third and innermost wall was as white as snow , like to our alabaster , but of a stone which is not to be found in any part of the northern world. in the empty places round about between the walls , grew all manner of trees for pleasure or profit , with some that are not to be seen elsewhere . the kings palace stood within these three inclosures , having round about it a large green with several walks of sandy gold and stately images of alabaster and porphyry , representing all manner of shapes , as beasts , birds , and men in most actions of their life . these images stood upon bases of saphir , and the images were all made of a transparent hard stone as clear as crystal . you may imagine , that at our first entrance , the sun shining in its greatest brightness upon them , we were cast into a sudden maze , and surprised at the unexpected view of so many glorious things . the palace was perfectly round , with four long galleries reaching from side to side , and as many gates . it was built of precious stones , of all sorts and sizes : the tyling was of gold and silver , and the inside was so curiously wrought , and so rich , that it is not to be imagined nor believed , if i should here declare every particular . the king sate in an empty court in the middle of his palace , under a beautiful gallery inriched with all manner of jewels : round about him on the right and left stood his counsellors and attendants : his seat was a throne of six steps , over which there was a canopy of state , before it were six bases upon which stood six lions rampant of a red stone . to this place we were conducted by sermodas and the ten grandees , and led to the foot of the throne , where we were taught to do our obeisance upon our knees . the king had a rich crown upon his head , and a scepter in his right hand , and sate in a great deal of majesty and glory . sermodas advised me to speak to the king , as soon as we had paid him that respect which was due to his person and place . therefore i stood up , and addressed my self to him in this manner in the french tongue , which he understood well : most glorious and mighty prince , you see before you poor strangers cast upon your coasts by a storm , which i know not how to name , happy or unhappy ; for since our arrival in your land , we have met with so many civilities and expressions of kindness from your loving people , that we have already received a compensation for the loss of our ships and goods . we are come here to adore your majesty in obedience to your commands , and to receive from you those orders , which we shall punctually follow . we doubt not but according to your wonderful clemency , your majesty will look with compassion upon such objects of pity as providence hath made us , and to raise us up from our hard and low fortune . as all things that we have hitherto met with in your noble kingdom , are beyond all belief and credit , we are perswaded that the king of so glorious a land , must needs have vertues as extraordinary and divine . we humbly submit our selves therefore to your majesties wisdom and mercy , and that when we shall have performed what your majesty shall think fit to require from us , you would out of your compassion and goodness , suffer us to depart into our own countries , that we may spread abroad all over the world the riches , the excellency , and wealth of this earthly paradise , and the noble vertues of your most glorious majesty , and publish your fame where-ever the sun appears with his beams of light. sevarminas seemed to like our persons and our speech , to which he returned this answer : that he had sent for us , not to offer any injury to our persons : that he who was a lover of justice amongst his own subjects , could not do injustice to strangers : that the sevarites in general were of a civil behaviour , and inclinable to pity the miseries of other men ; but that he had given strict orders to have a care of our persons , and furnishes with all that we should want . he told us , that not only the curiosity of seeing us , who were come out of remote nations , famous for their industry and wit , had caused him to send for us to discourse with us , and understand our customs and manners ; but also to discover to us his kingdom and the riches of it , that we might report it in our own lands , and incourage some to venture to trade with his people : that for that purpose he would appoint a place or an island in the pacifick sea , where all the commodities and riches of the sevarambi should be transported , because the ancient laws , as well as the good and preservation of his kingdoms peace , vertues , and innocency , suffered him not to admit all manner of strangers into his borders : that he had received a good report of us , which inclined him the more to send for us , and that he hoped that our conversation and behaviour would be answerable to his expectation , and the kindness that he would shew . after this , he inquired of our country , how long we had been from it , who commanded in chief , what commodities we had of any request , what arts and sciences of any use to the life of man. to all these particulars , and many others , i gave him full satisfaction . so that , as a gratification , he sent for a box of jewels , which he bestowed upon us , together with collars of gold and ambergriese , which he wished us to wear whiles we should remain in that country . after we had continued with him about an hour , he rose up from his throne , and commanded zidi parabas , the master of his ceremonies , to lead us to lodgings provided for us in his own palace , and zidi marlorat his chancellor and chief minister , to discourse with us about a trade , and the means to open it with us . during our abode in those parts , we had several meetings with him , and assured him , that the dutch nation would be overjoy'd to meet with so civil a people , so sociable and amiable , and that they would quickly embrace the first motion of a trade with them . we extolled our home-commodities , and shewed what advantage they would reap by a conversation with us ; but the chancellor told me , that such as i was should have liberty to enter into their borders ; but russians and rascals of an ill life could not be admitted by the laws of their land. yet they should have leave to trade in sporumbe , and in the islands , which sevarminds would appoint for that purpose ; but that none of the sevarites should go thither , unless it be such banished men as are sent away for their misdemeanours . i replied to him , that if he would keep away from thence such as are banished out of sevarambè for their knavery , we would trade with all the rest ; for we and all our country-men had rather deal with honest men than with knaves . at last it was concluded to prevent the inconveniencies on both sides , that all the dutch should land amongst the sporvi , and in an island that is at the mouth of the great river rocara in the pacifick sea , about an hundred and thirty lagues from the streights of magellan . this island is peopled with a generation of men descended from the sevarites , and banished out of the country for their inordinate love of women and men . there are three good towns belonging to it , and a capacious harbor for ships of the greatest burden . i acquainted the chancellor with our art of navigation , with many other knowledges which the europeans use with great profit and advantage to their kingdoms . he seemed to be well satisfied and mightily pleased with the account i had given him . whiles sevarminas was gone to hunt and sport himself , sermodas and zidi parabas led us round about the galleries and walks , shewing us the rare fish-ponds , the stately orchards , the riches and beauty of the buildings , and all things round about , which caused us to wonder , and stand many times in a maze . the art of painting is here also , and the sevarites excel in that skill . therefore the galleries , and generally all the palace of sevarminas , was adorned with many lively representations . maurice , who was an excellent painter , admired some pictures , and told us , that he thought they could not be made but by a divine hand . the sevarites are excellent in geometry and astrology . they have differing names for all the stars that appear in their hemisphere , and understand perfectly well all their motions and vertues . as soon as we returned from our pleasant walk , we met with sevarminas about dinner-time returned from his hunting , whereof i shall give this short account , for this sport is not like to ours . the sevarites hunt not with dogs , but with tame foxes , of an extraordinary swiftness ; they hunt rabbets , hares , deer ; and all other wild beasts are hunted with tame leopards . in the morning that the king intends to see this sport , the chief huntsman hath orders to prepare all things for the diversion , twenty leopards are then let loose in a wide park , where the wild beast is brought . the king and all his nobles are mounted upon their glorious mules , of beautiful colours , with trappings of silver and gold , adorned with precious stones . the leopards , at the sight of the lion or the bear , draw near to him by degrees , and taking their opportunity , they run to him . when he feels himself overpowered , he seeks his safety in his heels , and all the mules gallop after him . i am not able to represent all the various actions and delights that are here expressed to the beholders eyes ; but this kind of hunting is much esteemed by the sevarites , and none have the liberty to make use of it , but the king and some of the prime nobles ; for it is a royal sport , and gives much satisfaction to the spectators . sevarminas at his return entred into his palace , accompanied with all his servants , in very rich attire : some of them came and spoke to us in the spanish tongue , and bid us welcome into their country . we answered their civilities with respect , and followed the train of sevarminas that walked two and two into the palace , into a great hall an hundred yards in length , and as many in breadth , where tables were ready covered with all manner of curious dainties , of all sorts . sevarminas and his queen , with three of his sons , and six of his daughters , sate down at a table , which stood at the upper end , raised a little above the rest , under a large canopy shining with gold and precious stones , of an inestimable value . as soon as they were sate down , the musick in the galleries round about began to play such ravishing tunes , that we europeans were astonished . sermodas and zidi parabas invited us to sit down at a table not far from that of sevarminas . to tell you of all the glory and state we beheld , the sweetness of the wines , the various services , and the dainty meats , of the excellent and ravishing sights , i reckon it impossible , i could fill up a volume of those things that were then presented to our senses ; so many and such variety of objects , rare and wonderful , appeared before us , that when zidi parabas saw how we were pleased with them , he inquired of us , whether we had any such delights in europe . i answered , that the pleasures and delights of the europeans are many and curious , but they are not to be compared to what we then saw . one of the table inquired of us about some other particulars ; and because he was a learned philosopher , he proposed to us several learned questions relating to the nature of things . every one had liberty to speak his mind and judgment . after all , he declared his opinion , with a repetition of what every one had spoken , and then added his own solution with that learning and gravity , that i never heard the like . this to me and maurice was almost as good as the musick and meats ; for at table it is a modern as well as ancient delight to feed the mind with rare instructions , as well as the body with meat and drink . after dinner zidi parabas went to wait upon sevarminas , and understand his pleasure . when he was returned to us again , he brought us up to sevarminas , who was then sitting on his throne with his queen larida at his right hand , and his daughters and his sons on the left . she was the most beautiful creature that i ever beheld . we paid them our respects according to the mode of their country . to please queen larida , sevarminas asked us many questions in spanish , a tongue which she understood : after all they seemed to be well satisfied . sevarminas sent us all gifts and presents of a great value . when i was returned into europe , i sold the jewels and other rarities , which the king and queen bestowed upon me , for above six millions of gold. maurice and the rest of my companions had gifts according to their qualities . we had orders to walk about the city , and take a view of the rarities of that wonderful place . to speak truth , every thing , if it were in our own country , would seem a rarity . i never beheld so much glory and riches , nor such beautiful objects , nor such gravity , and comely personages so full of majesty and goodness . they were so far from scorning or contemning us that were strangers , that they seemed they could not too much honour and respect us ; for sevarminas had given that strict order , to give us all the satisfaction that we could desire . zidi parabas led us to their publick halls through beautiful streets , paved with many transparent stones . when we entred into them , we saw their court of judicature . on both sides were the lawyers cells or little closets . these are a certain number of men , who are locked up as prisoners in this place , and not suffered to range up and down the city , for fear they should infect the rest of men with their idle notions and quirks . they are here all kept , the judges only excepted , as our mad and crasie men in europe , are confined to bedlams , and as the wild beasts to their dens ; for by this policy they preserve the city in quiet . when we were in their vast hall , and heard some entring in , they looked all to see , whether we were fit for their turn , whether we had committed some offence that deserved punishment ; but when they saw that we viewed that place only out of curiosity , they sneaked all in again , and would not so much as look upon us all the time that we were there , till the trumpet began to sound , and the judge sate upon his seat. then came in a company of sevarites leading a young girl that had forgotten her self , and given liberty to a puny fellow to play the wag with her . they had both of them great punches of flesh growing upon their noses and foreheads , which came up in the very act . as soon as their neighbours had beheld this superfluity , they understood the crime , and took hold of them both to bring them to this tribunal . the lawyers , like bees , swarmed round about , all the petty attorneys , clerks , bailiffs , sergeants , demy-sergeants , pleaders , sollicitors , probationers , &c. and such a gang of them , that i pitied the poor couple to fall into their unmerciful hands . amongst the sevarites in every city they have a hall or a convent of these persons , whom they all esteem no better than butchers and executioners , they have not that honour as amongst us in europe , nor that esteem of honest men , with which many of them cozen our world. zidi parabas made me get up to hear their pleading , but i understood not their language , only sermodas gave me an account of some passages . the crime was not to be denied , which caused them both to look ashamed , because they had forgotten all honesty , and lost their honour . the judge asked them many questions . all the cruel lawyers cryed to punish her with death , because she had not given them any thing to plead for her ; but the young man had got a bawling lawyer to speak for him when his crime came to be examined ; but all would not do : he would have made the judge believe , that this excrescence in his sace was only a natural deformity proceeding from some other inward cause , and not from lust . but the judge , a wise and brave man , of the court of sevarminas , convinced him of his errour , and made him at last confess , that the girl had inticed him with her bewitching looks . in conclusion of the tryal , the lecherous couple were sent to the island of whores and rogues , where they were to live confined for ever from all friends and acquaintances , and to spend their life in lust and debauchery , a sufficient punishment , as they imagined , for their forgetfulness . i took no great delight amongst the lawyers ; for i looked upon this place as the hell in the midst of the earthly paradise of the sevarites . after these two fornicators had been judged and condemned to perpetual banishment , where nevertheless they live in great plenty , there was brought before the judge a thief , a sneaking fellow , differing in looks , as well as in manners , from the rest of the sevarambi . the judge , whose name was zidi morasco , commanded him to be examined before him by a crafty lawyer . and it was proved plain against him , that he had stole some jewels and gold from his neighbour , with some garments of cloth of silver , covered over with precious stones , of a great value . the fellows countenance since this deed was mightily changed ; for every wicked action , especially amongst the sevarites , alters the countenances of men . the eyes being the windows of the soul , through them it discovers all the inward thoughts , fears , apprehensions , and displeasures that rowl in the breast . besides , the thieves have here in this country a mark , which immediately appears upon their chins and cheeks , a black spot very ugly to the eye . this fellow also was adjudged unworthy to live any longer amongst the religious sevarites . i asked sermodas , why the sevarambi suffered the lawyers , who i told him in our country , were generally none of the best men in the world : what! said he , have you any there ? yes , said i , to our sorrow , we cannot be quiet for them . captain , replied he , i must tell you , were it not for these fellows , the sevarites would not be able to live so quiet as they do ; nor so innocent as in all other countries : fear as well as shame must keep men in awe , and in the performance of their duties to their neghbours and superiours . and though men are not here so inclinable to wickedness as in europe , because they proceed from another stock and generation of men ; yet the pleasures of the country , together with the inticements of some subtle devils , whom we cannot always perceive , many may be brought to do what is contrary to law , reason , equity , and justice . it is therefore for the publick good , that these men are living amongst us . and though they are as bad as those whom they plead against , they are here confined in these and such like . cells , where there is a publick provision made for them , to keep them from running up and down to breed disturbances . such amongst them as are honest , good , and merciful men , are highly esteemed , but they are very rare ; and if they were known to be honest and good men amongst the lawyers , the rest would not suffer them to come near the bar , but would banish them out of their society , and deprive them of all manner of practice and liberty of pleading . the greater knaves they are , the more esteemed amongst the lawyers , though less valued by the rest of the sevarites . therefore , to keep up their credit amongst both , is a hard chapter , and not to be done without some kind of dissimulation on some side . with that he pointed at a great fat fellow , who stood up in court to see and look for his clients : do you see , said he , that knave ? do you see him ? i turned my eyes towards him , and beheld him stedfastly , and asked what he was : he is , said sermodas , one of the chief attornies of this court , a cunning fellow , his name is rekrap , a wicked villain , and a great oppressor of poor fellows that fall into his hands . after the court had examined and tryed all the causes , the lawyers departed to their dens ; and zidi parabas taking me by the hand , led me to the shambles of the city , and to view all the excellencies of that noble place . as i was passing one of their temples , i intreated him to give me a sight of that which i judged to be a rarity , or rather full of rarities ; for it was so glorious without , that i could not but think that the inside was far more rich and splendid . zidi parabas made some difficulty to yield to my request ; but sermodas perswaded him to grant it at last , when he had asked me some questions concerning the religion of our country : are you not , said he , desiled with idolatry , i mean with the worshipping of images ; for i must tell you , that this is a great abomination amongst the sevarambi . we have pictures and images in our houses , but none in our temples : we adore a great and glorious being , the creator and author of this earthly paradise : he is an infinite spirit , not to be consined within our walls ; therefore our temples are open on the top , when we are at our devotions . he is not to be likened to any outward image or representation ; therefore our ever blessed sevarias commanded us to have no images in our temples , nor to liken god to any creature or representation visible to the eye . if therefore you have never dishonoured your self with such kind of practices , you may be admitted to see and walk in our temples . i thanked him for his kind condescension , and assured him , that though it was a wickedness that many nations in europe were guilty of , yet our country-men abominate such kind of follies , and that for my own particular i never was of that religion which allows of idolatry and worshipping of images . when he understood this , he walked to the great gate of the chief temple , where he met with a grave priest standing at the door , unto whom he declared our business : the priest took me by the hand , and in spanish told me , that i should see the temple of his god. i walked round , and saw so many glorious sights and such extraordinary riches , that all europe together cannot produce the like . the priests name was ziribabdas . i desired him to tell me something of the religion of the country , and of their manners : for that purpose zidi parabas took me by the hand , and led me to a by-place much like a chancel , where when we were all sate down , in niches of beaten gold in the wall , ziribabdas began his discourse in this manner : i perceive you are a stranger to this country and to the customs of the sevarites , i know not what religion you have in your country , nor what thoughts you have of the great god , who hath made us all ; but i hope none of you are guilty of the foul sin of worshipping of images , which we hear is universally practised by the europeans . i answered him , that there were a great many nations who did abominate and hate such practices as well as the sevarites . well , said he , in regard you are free from that vice and baseness , i will shew you a great many sacred curiosities of this temple , which you have not yet seen , and i will give you a brief account of our religion in this country . you must therefore know , that we acknowledge but one only great god , maker of all things , lord of heaven and earth , who sendeth us all those good things that we injoy : reason teacheth to worship and praise him for his goodness and innumerable mercies . for that purpose we have schools erected in every corner of this city to train up youth , and teach them the principles of religion . all persons are obliged twice every week to assist at our publick devotions , which are songs made to praise our god , with instruments of musick : we have also prayers , which i and my brethren offer for the prosperity of sevarminas and of his royal family . once a year every person is obliged to present something upon a table , which stands in the middle of this and other temples , as a token of gratitude to god : now this thing is always the richest and best beloved thing that he hath . by this means every one shews , that his affection for god is greater than for any thing else . religion amongst us is the most sacred thing , and whatsoever belongs to religion is highly valued by every one . there is the greatest respect shewn to religious persons and religious things amongst all the sevarites , you shall not hear oaths and blasphemies , cursing and damning . the rules of good living are registred in the book of our law giver sevarias ; and since that time we are all so addicted to it , and all our generations so used and trained up in our obedience to these laws , that very few persons offer to break or violate them : and if at any time any such be , he is carried away and banished into the islands : by this means peace , plenty , and good manners are here to be seen every where , and men take not the liberty to do what they list . but the rules of reason are commonly observed by all the sevarites in their behaviour and actions : so that you shall not see any thing of drunkenness , gluttony , quarrelling , murders , and villanies committed scarce in a whole year all over the empire . but for our better government in matters of religion , besides our king , who is the chief moderator in all disputable matters , we have thirty chieftains under six principal heads , who are always at the court attending upon our prince . these thirty live in their precincts and jurisdictions , having under them such as have the care of and inspection over every town and hamlet . we have besides , publick meetings and assemblies to consult about matters of high moment . now there is such an excellent order and harmony in all respects , that we injoy peace both in divine and civil affairs , and there is no jarring , disputations , and dissensions , as amongst you in europe , but a blessed concord and agreement . if any be suspected to be otherwise disposed , he is immediately banished to the lonesom islands , where he can quarrel with none but with wild beasts that inhabit there . he is never suffered after to set a foot in the country of the sevarambi ; but there in those islands amongst the woods and caves he is confined , and obliged to spend the rest of his days in fighting with the lions , jaccals , wild dogs , bears , and such like furious creatures . by this means you shall see we preserve peace and quiet both in church and state. but that our governors might not act in an arbitrary way , we suffer no mans will to be a law , but that of our glorious sevarminas and his lawful successors ; but for the rest of all our governors , they have rules and laws to act by in all occasions : neither can they do any thing without the consent , advice , and concurrence of other wise men appointed for that purpose . for our belief , i must tell you , we know and are taught by nature as well as by the works of our great sevarias , that god created all things in heaven and earth : that in the beginning this paradise stood in another part of the world ; but when men began to abuse those good things that it affords , it was transported hither upon the shoulders of angels , and all the trees planted here , where they have increased : and that because the first generation of men was corrupt and wicked , there was another man and woman made to inhabit here , and to live in this blessed kingdom . we believe , that when we come to dye , our souls being of a spiritual substance , fly up to the firmament , where they rest till a certain time be appointed to joyn them again together . now our bodies decay not as yours , we lay them in places where they continue thousands of years without any alteration . i shall shew you our sepulchres , and that of our kings , where you may see all the princes who have governed in these happy regions since the beginning of the world , as fresh as if they were yet all alive . we believe , that when our bodies and souls shall be again joyned , your generation and ours shall be received together into a place appointed for us , such i mean of you as are honest and good men ; but for the rest of you , i know not what you are fit for , unless it be to be cast into the sea , or banished to a lonesom place , where they may live without doing harm . we believe that there are good and evil spirits above us , and that the sun , moon , and stars are full of creatures answerable to their light and beauty . we believe , that when this generation shall be transported somewhere else , other creatures shall succeed us in this paradise , and in other parts of the world. we have many things that we believe ; but i must tell you , that our reason directs us , and rules our judgments in all matters of faith as well as practice ; only some things of a sublime nature , which our senses cannot attain to , we must submit to the wisdom of our sevarias , who had them by inspiration from the angels , with whom he had a familiar acquaintance , and therefore his body is not to be found in the sepulchre of our kings ; but it is thought they took him with them into the place appointed for their abode , and that there he lives with them without fear of death , in expectation that all his posterity should come to him . but you must take notice , that such of our generation as are banished for their misdemeanors , will be admitted one day to the same happiness , if they bear patiently their punishment , and are sorry for their wickedness ; but such also must be purged in a fire which is in the air , through which their bodies , as well as ours , must pass to mount up to the highest station designed for us : but with this difference , that the fire shall open to let us go by ; but they must burn a while there , till their bodies be freed from all corruption and filth , some more , some less , according to their dispositions , but few stay there less than twenty years , some an hundred , others a thousand , till such time as their bodies be sublimated and fit for an higher abode . such of us as are incorrigible , shall be confined to a sad pit , where they shall be up to the elbows in mire and dirt , and be deprived of all comforts of life . whiles he was speaking this , there happened an accident , which caused him to stop and put an end to this good discourse . ziribabdas was called to receive a dead sevarite , and open the caves , in which the deceased lay in coffins of ivory and gold. he excused himself , and told me , that he had much more to say concerning the religion of their country , but could not remain with us any longer . i was glad to have this opportunity to see their manner of burying the dead . at the great gate of the temple stood near a thousand people with the friends of the deceased . when ziribabdas came to them , one who stood before the corps and the bearers , spoke to him in this manner , as was afterwards interpreted to me . most holy priest , we have brought to you our neighbour suffarali , a good man , and a religious sevarite , who hath often expressed his devotion in this place , and his respects to your holiness ; we desire that he may be admitted amongst the dead sevarites , as he hath lived amongst them with respect and honour . ziribabdas sate himself down in an ivory chair adorned with many precious stones , which stood in the porch , and then he called the friends of the deceased , inquiring of them , whether he had committed no unworthy action in his life-time ? whether he had lived peaceably with his neighbours ? whether he had not been privately guilty of drunkenness , & c ? whether he had not at his departure bequeathed something to the church ? how many children he had ? what were their names ? and such like questions , to which they gave an answer , and satisfied him fully . afterwards they carried in the corps into the temple , and laid it upon a long table of an emerald-stone , and the priests anointed the body all over with an excellent oyl , called the oyl of botamine , which signifies in their language uncorruption : for such is its extraordinary virtue , that it keeps a body from all manner of corruption or alteration an hundred years . now this is a sacred oyl , which only the priests , who are learned in chymistry , make of several ingredients ; for this cause it is no where to be found but in their temples , unto which they have their laboratories annexed . now once in an hundred years they anoint over all the bodies of the deceased from the beginning of the world : by this means the bodies are kept fresh , and so lively and beautiful , that if a dead body could stand upright , at a distance no man could distinguish the dead from the living . when the body was well anointed , they opened a large cave of a thousand yards broad , and as many long . it had as many closets as there were houses in the city . ziribabdas , at the opening of the mouth of the cave , caused some ceremonies to be performed , and then marched down a pair of stairs into this burying-place : the corps was carried after him , and i and my companions , with sermodas , were admitted to behold the subterranean rarities , and to walk up and down in the caves , so full of transparent stones , that the light entring in by two or three holes , made on purpose , caused it to be as light within , as if the sun had shined there in its meridian . in the cave were six hundred thousand separations , capacious enough to hold above an hundred thousand bodies : they were all laid one upon another in very good order . there were several alleys and walks between the separations , unto which were doors of massie gold , and in several places stood great pots full of that oyl of botamine , which the priests cast upon the bodies , when they perceive any alteration in the bodies by their smelling . by this means it happens , that there is not the least noisom smell ; but there is every where the most blessed perfume in every corner , as if you were in a garden of roses , or amongst blooming beans . when we had well viewed the caves , i intreated ziribabdas to shew me the sepulchres of their kings ; for that purpose he led us out at another door , when all the company was departed , and shewed us all their princes sitting in chairs of state , as if they were alive ; but this place was not in the cave , but round about their temple , in closets made on purpose . the princes were all cloathed in their royal attire , which they change once every year ; for that purpose the king that reigns is bound to send them vestments according to the ancient custom . ziribabdas shewed us all the ancient kings sitting in their gravity and majesty , and pointed out to some who had been very remarkable in their lives for some noted actions , by which they had obliged the nation of the sevarites , and rendered their names and memories more sacred than others amongst their posterity . he shewed us king bormarti , who was so great a lover of justice , that he banished his own son for committing a fault , and sent him to live and dye in the islands . he told of his king robarmi , who invented the art of painting , and laid the foundations of sevarinde . he shewed us the body of king darti , who built the stately palace for the kings of the sevarites , and fetched the stones from the diamant rocks and the mountains of saphyr , at a great distance from thence , upon carts driven with the wind , with sails as ships . we saw king marati , who taught the sevarites how to make boats , and to fish in the rivers . we saw the bodies of king bumorli , serabi , cussori , menari , menasti , nacri , labomor , apolori , ribolo , staraki , muraki , amlorod , and many others , who had been reverenced for some witty invention or glorious action , by which they had benefited posterity as well as their own generation . therefore their closets were more beautiful and richer than the rest , and they had the honour to have their images placed in the noted rendezvous of the city , for all men to look upon them , and for all posterity to reverence and respect them . by this honour the succeeding kings were the more incouraged to do good , and abstain from all blame ; they are the more animated to deserve well from their generation , and to invent something to advantage their people . we walked about to see all the rarities of this royal sepulchre , which exceeded in glory the richest and stateliest palaces of our european emperours and kings . to speak of the rare jewels , of the gold and precious stones , and of the excellent things that were never brought over nor seen in our world , i should be endless ; for here in every place there are red , yellow , white , and other transparent stones of rare vertues , not known to us in europe . orient pearls as big as walnuts are as ordinary as pebble-stones in our country . the common people polish them , and hang them in strings about their windows ; but they seldom wear them , because they have rarer and more glorious things to put about their necks and bodies as ornaments , than these things , which , for want of a name , i omit . ziribabdas shewed me next the gallery of their sacred hieroglyphicks , which is one of the rarest things of the world. the gallery is about half a mile long , joyning to the temple , standing upon an arch , under which are beautiful walks and closets , for the learned students in all arts and sciences to spend their time , and imploy themselves in their searches into the mysteries of nature . the wall is of a white transparent stone , as clear as crystal , and the gallery is paved with diamant stones square , at every six foot is a great large window of crystal , and the top is covered and arched over with saphyr stone . emeralds , chrysolytes , rubies , jaspers , beryls , and other precious stones not known to us , are without number about in the walls . this gallery was built in the year 3406. after the creation of the world , by king murabormati , a great philosopher , and a learned student of natures mysteries . in these walls he caused the rules of all sorts of sciences , and the principles of all manner of arts to be ingraven in black in the white stone of the walls , not in characters , but in figures and dark enigmes and representations . here i beheld the shapes of all manner of creatures of this and our world in all kind of postures and actions of life , put here to represent the sacred mysteries thereby signified to the understanding reader . in this gallery were several hundred learned students beholding and searching into the directions that were given them by these hieroglyphicks . and in some closets , near adjoyning , were several companies of men discoursing and disputing about those things which were represented upon the wall. we were introduced amongst them to look and sit with them , and observe their grave postures and mien ; but for their learned lectures and excellent discourses , we understood nothing , only sermodas told us , that here were all the wits and learned men of the sevarites gathered together ; and that for their better understanding of all manner of sciences , and to perpetuate learning , and free it from forgetfulness , they had in the gallery the rules and axioms of all arts , with all the definitions and other matters of any moment , needful to be known in relation to any skill or science ; and that when any student doubted of any matter , in these closets the great doctors were met to direct and teach the ignorant , and improve all arts and sciences ; and that by degrees as they improved learning by new discoveries , they were always engraven upon the walls , after a serious and judicial examination of the learned doctors , and their approbation of such invented things and rules : which hieroglyphicks were graven with the names of their authors for a perpetual memory . we walked three or four turns in the gallery , and saw such variety and number of new objects and representations , that i have often wondered , how any one man can have that vast memory to give an interpretation to all those things of different shapes , and to comprehend all the mysteries of such enigmes . in some places of the gallery the wall was covered over with plates of silver , and the hieroglyphicks were of gold ; but generally they were in black upon a white clear stone , and so hard , that though , as i was informed by zidi parabas and the priest , some of the hieroglyphicks have been there put above a thousand years ago , yet appear as fresh , as if they had been graven but yesterday . at the end of the gallery are two large cabinets , of a curious workmanship , and rare stone , of a reddish colour , most beautiful to the eye , curiously cut and graven . the cabinets are full of pictures and images of all sorts of creatures , which serve the learned in their contemplations : here are also a great many skeletons of many animals , with all manner of rare things , which are to be found in this wonderful country . here i saw a great saphire stone , about the bigness of a goose , in which the heavens and the earth were represented very lively to the eye . in an emerald , about the bigness of a mans head , i found in one side all manner of birds graven with the finger of nature , and in the other all sorts of beasts . i saw several other precious stones , one having the image of a man , another of a horse , another of a woman , another of a camel , another of an eagle , another of a river , another of a fish , another of other creatures , so curiously engraven , that no artist could mend natures work . these stones were useful not only to satisfie mens curiosity , and please the sight of the learned ; but also to teach them several things concerning those creatures , which were thereby intimated to them . we found several learned men observing those things , and viewing them with leisure : for that purpose are several seats for them to sit down and contemplate . here i saw also many talismans , an art altogether lost in europe , and not to be recovered but from the learning of the sevarites ; for zidi parabas shewed me a round stone , hollow within , wherein i saw , through many parts of it transparent , a perpetual motion of trees , woods , wild beasts , and many animals , which he told me , was but a talisman made to direct such as are learned in this art , how to make others for the same purpose . some are so skilful , that with a talisman they will kill any beast or creature at a mile distance ; but as the sevarites are not for the destruction of creatures , but for their preservation , they never make use of this art to do mischief , but save and comfort such creatures as are decaying , and to put life into those that are dead . only the venemous creatures and noisom flies , if by the procurement of any evil-spirited , such are introduced into the country , then the philosophers have an art to make such a talisman , as will not only destroy the flies , and disarm the beast of his poysonous and ill qualities ; but severely punish the wicked spirit , who hath been so bold as to send in such troublesom creatures into their land. for this purpose i saw upon four corners of the great church a great giant of black marble , holding in his right hand a pair of rams horns , as they appeared to me ; but in truth it was nothing but a talisman to keep off the devils and evil spirits from their meeting-place and holy assembles . in his left hand he held a book open , of white marble , in which some characters were graven , as i was told , which the devils cannot endure to see , and therefore keep at a distance from such places . besides , these learned in talismanical figures , have the art to make those talismans as have an influence not only upon bodies corporeal , but also upon the subtle spirits of the air , and will bind them to a good behaviour , or drive them with vengeance off from the place , or else so benum their senses , that they can neither stir nor move , but are as so many mazed creatures , without life or motion , when they come within such a compass . for that purpose i saw upon the top of the temple a great eagle of gold standing with its wings abroad on the highest pinacle of the temple , which ziribabdas told me , was nothing but a talisman made to drive away all subtle spirits of the air , or to hinder their malicious intents in that sacred place , and amongst the people of the city . he told me , that they have some persons so well acquainted with that art , that they can work wonders , and do any miracle by their talismans , kill and make alive , cure distempers , benum the minds and senses of men , draw together thousands of creatures and birds , and make them perform any action that may be named . i intreated ziribabdas to let me see some of the skill of these learned men in this art. i importuned him so much , that he went into one of the closets from the gallery , and fetched to us a grave signior about an hundred years of age , with a long beard reaching down to his knees , and a pair of large whiskers each near a foot long . he saluted me very gravely , and led me into a private closet , which belonged to him , out of it there was a way and a door into a stone-balcony , of a red transparent stone , with several bosses or apples of gold. he had several curious inventions , talismans , and other things of a wonderful art. one thing he took in hand , about the bigness of a bushel , having several handles to it , the substance , as i thought , was of crystal : it had several large holes : in the midst i could see many birds , all without motion , till the grave philosopher , whose name was zidi mufti , pulled a string , and set them all in a motion , then did we hear the chirping of all manner of birds , so pleasantly , that we stood in a maze and wondered ; but much more , when we saw all the birds of the air , that can be named , flying a pace towards us into the philosophers closet : there were eagles , cormorants , magpies , crows , vulturs , jack-daws , kites , sparrows , falcons , &c. i numbered above a thousand , which in less than a quarter of an hour came into the closet , and perched upon the balcony and upon the gallery . when zidi mufti saw them all come , he played another tune , and all these birds began to dance two and two , and chirp according to their kind , very pleasantly . this sport lasted about an hour , with such a variety of action , that we could have wished it might have lasted longer . at the conclusion the philosopher dismissed them , neither at that time did any of them injure one another , but were as quiet and harmless , as if there had been no enmity between them . when they were gone , he took the image of a man made in wax ; but shewing all his privy parts backwards , and with it he marched to the balcony , where he sate up and spoke two or three hard words , to the best of my remembrance they were these , bomralok kostraborab abrolakar bourakabou branbastrokobar abrovora birikabu , and immediately there came a company of men and women of the sevarites that danced all naked before us in a beautiful green : whiles he held the image in that place , they were not able to depart from thence , but continued playing and dancing , and sporting with one another above an hour , shewing such antick tricks , as i never saw the like ; for all this they were not dishonest ; but immediately as soon as the image disappeared , every one of them departed and run away ; but whiles the image stood still , they were neither ashamed , nor could they stir from the place , so great a power these talismans have upon the minds of men , as well as the bodies of beasts and birds . 't is an art which can give as much delight as profit to those that understand it well ; for they can perform those things in nature that are most wonderful , and advantageous to the life of man. in the first ages of the world this art was generally known amongst the learned : and when i saw how perfect the sevarites were in it , i wished with all my heart , that we had but some insight into the same art and skill for the good of our country ; but our ignorance would slander such knowledges , and think it to be magick , if we did not understand the depth of it , nor the causes that such men set a work , for many wonderful effects are to be produced by the inferiour causes , which are secret and hid to the most part of men ; for such is our natural unskilfulness , that we know not the hundredth part of those things that we may easily attain to . this learned philosopher gave me another diversion : he fetched his instrument for that purpose , and caused such musical sounds and voices to be in the air round about us at a distance , that we began to hang between fear and pleasure . when ziribabdas saw a change in our countenance , he desired us to be contented , and assured us , that we should receive no harm . the noise and voices continued half an hour , not in the instrument , but at a distance , and with such a variety of sounds , that i could never imagine what it was . for whiles he stayed upon the balcony , he turned the instrument round with a little wheel , which was in the inside , but this had the power by the talismanical art to cause in the air such shrieks , crys , hollowings , and sometimes such curious and melodious voices , that we were ravished and struck into admiration . we desired to know what it was that made that noise in the air ; the philosopher told us , that they were airy spirits , which this talisman had the power to attract , and to oblige to break out into those shrieks and crys . this caused us to wonder the more , that this corporeal instrument , which seemed to have nothing but material , should draw together on a sudden such powerful spirits , and oblige them to give sport to men . i concluded from these examples , that he that understands well the talismanical art , is able to do any thing in nature , to work wonders and miracles , and to delight himself with any kind of sport when he pleaseth . after these passages , i saw another philosopher , very well skilled in this curious art , bring before sevarminas threescore lions roaring , with an hundred bears , twenty wild horses , two hundred mastiffs , thirty leopards , forty wild bulls , which he caused first to cry every one according to his custom and nature , then the philosopher forced them to dance whiles he played upon a musical instrument , and they performed this as exactly , as if they had been taught on purpose ; but when he saw his time , he set them all together by the ears , the dogs , the lions , and the bears , every one pitched upon his enemy , and began a pleasant fight , which lasted two full hours , with a great deal of variety of sport , which caused sevarminas and all his court ost-times to laugh heartily . when he hath a desire to take any such diversion , he sends for some of these men skilled in the talismanical art , and they answer his expectations in all things , and bring before him whom , and what they please . we returned our thanks to this worthy philosopher for his great pains . he answered , that he was glad to give us any delight , and that if we would visit him at some other more convenient time , he would shew us some more of his skill in acting greater wonders , than what we had seen ; but that he had done this only to divert us for the present , because he saw that we could not stay with him long ; but if we would see more wonderful things , that we should do well to come to him some morning , and to spend a whole day with him , and that then he would shew us what we had never seen , nor never should see but by his and his companions means . we returned him our thanks again for his great kindness , and then departed with ziribabdas , who led us next to see the treasury of the church , which is a large room joyning to the porch , all arched above , with six windows on the top : the walls were of diamant , niched with saphirs and emeralds , in it were chests and coffers full of the rarest things in nature , offered to the service of the great god by the citizens of sevarinde . we beheld with admiration the rare workmanship , the curious things , and the excellencies that had been there laid up by many ages , and never made use of . some pictures were upon the walls of this treasury , of an admirable hand : ziribabdas told us , that the painter was an european , cast upon their coasts by a storm at sea , and that he lived and dyed in that country ; and that the father of sevarminas had such an affection for him , that he gave him a beautiful young virgin to wife , one of the most considerable of his court , and gave him an estate to live on , having made him a citizen of sevarinde : and that he lived there fifty years , till he was an old man , leaving behind him many children , girls and boys , to perpetuate his name amongst the sevarites . his name was simeon van zurich , a dutch man , who had a great skill in swimming ; for when he was cast away , all the ships company was lost , but only him : they were at a distance from the shore , and could not so well swim , or were devoured by the fishes . it was his fortune to be carried stark naked on the coast of the sevarites , in an island full of ladies of pleasure , who had been banished thither for their incontinency . as soon as it was day , he found himself surrounded by a whole troop of the female sex , who had a great delight to see him , and came to draw him into the country ; but when he saw no men , he was afraid to venture amongst them : this caused him to swim up the river into the land in the sight of these beautiful creatures that accompanied on the shore , and often made signs to him to land , and go no further ; but he continued on till he landed amongst the innocent sevarambi , who cloathed and brought him to their king. he was by him entertained courteously and nobly , and provided for the rest of his days . when we had taken notice of the treasury , and of all the great rarities that are in it , we marched into the church or temple again to see the excellent workmanship , the carving , and rare things that adorn this excellent place . ziribabdas caused us to take notice of three partitions in the temple , the one , which is at the higher end , is only for their priests and their king : the second is for their nobles : the third is for all sorts of persons promiscuously without exception . by that time we had seen all this , the night drew on apace , which caused us to withdraw towards our lodgings . zidi parabas led me , and sermodas went with maurice , our other companions followed us to our lodgings . we took our leaves of the generous and civil ziribabdas , the chief priest of that stately and glorious cathedral-temple of sevarinde , and thanked him heartily for his great courtesie shewed to us . when we came to our lodgings , we found our supper ready , and we were no less prepared for it ; but zidi parabas returned to the palace , to give sevarminas an account of his commission and of our walk , promising to return to us the next day . sermodas , my self , and companions supped that night together , the musick playing all the while we were eating . after supper we had good store of rare wines brought to us , which we received and made good use of ; but , as we understood , that the sevarites hate drunkards and drunkenness , i advised all my companions to drink moderately , for fear of giving an offence to those noble people . they followed my advice , and after an hour or two's discourse with sermodas , we went to our beds , where we had been the night before . sermodas brought us into the chamber , and then bid us good night , telling us , that he would call us up the next day , and shew us some other diversions , as pleasant as those of the day before . we thanked him , and told him , that we should be ready to wait upon him , and that we had seen so many wonders already , that we thought that we could never see any more : at those words he departed smiling . the next morning zidi parabas and sermodas , with twenty more gentlemen of the kings court , came to attend upon us , sermodas only entring the room , the rest stayed in a chamber hard by till we were dressed . as soon as we were ready , two fellows , with flutes in their hands , ready to play , saluted us , offering to conduct us to the company that stayed for us : they marched before us , making most curious musick , till we came to the company . a grave signior of them stood with zidi parabas , and told us , that we must that day ride with sevarminas into the country , and that he had sent them to call upon us for that purpose . sermodas had caused some of the excellent wines of the country to be brought , he caused some to be poured forth into a great shell of a fish , which is the ordinary drinking vessels of that country . he caused us to taste of it , and obliged all the company , before we went out , to pledge us : which when we had done , zidi parabas led us to the door , where we saw as many dromedaries ready sadled as we were men : we mounted upon them that were prepared for us ; but when i inquired for a bridle , they bid me take hold of the ears ; for in this country these creatures have ears of an incredible length , they are commonly an ell long , but very slender : so that they are fastened together as the reins of a bridle , at the end , with a clasp , or some such thing . this men hold in their hands , and with this they govern or turn them at their pleasure . i must confess , i was afraid when i was first mounted upon this strange beast , which is so swift , that in a day we rid over hedges and ditches and uneven places , above one hundred and fifty miles . we went through the streets to the kings palace , where we attended not long before there came out a great train with sevarminas himself , i and my companions alighted to salute and do him reverence . he inquired how we had thrived , whether we wanted any thing ; we assured him , that amongst so courteous and obliging a people as his subjects were , we thought that we could not possibly want any manner of thing needful for the life of man. he bid us get up again and ride along with him , we were in all near a thousand , all on swift dromedaries : the kings was as white as snow , all the rest either red or black . it seems sermodas had given the king an account of the passages of the former day : so that , to increase the more our wonder , he was resolved to shew us the excellency of his country , and many other rare things ; for that purpose he had appointed in our road towards the confines , all the ingenious men to meet us at every town with their talismans in their hands ready to shew us their skill and sport . we had not gone above two leagues southward , but we came to a town called by the sevarites magmandi , where thirty philosophers met the king ; and to welcome him , they had a talisman ready to make a louse grow in an instant as big as a camel. i saw the beast , and admired how such things could be done by a man , and as they told me , that they did it by the natural causes alone , without the concurrence of any other thing . as soon as the philosopher had turned the louse into a camel , he mounted upon it , and offered his service to sevarminas to wait upon him in his progress , which was accepted . and if i should say , that this strange camel gallopped , or rather flew , as fast as any of our dromedaries , scarce any person will believe it : yet true it is , that this new-made creature led the way before us , and returned back with 〈…〉 the wing no signs of being weary : in 〈…〉 provender the philosopher had 〈…〉 himself with a bottle of spirits , 〈…〉 he would sometimes , as i took 〈…〉 , pour into the camels ears , and-by that means kept the beast alive and vigorous . another of these philosophers had got a flea in his hand , which , with an image of wax , he turned into a dromedary , so like that which the king was upon , that i could not tell how to distinguish them . i saw the flea which he held in a silken string , he shewed it to all our company , and before us , by an application of the talismanical figure , the flea began to dilate it self into the body of a camel , and out of the body the legs and ears and head broke out almost like a snail when it goes to creep , or like a tortoise . all this was done in less than a quarter of an hour . he also had a saddle ready to ride along with us in the company of the king and his nobles . i confess , i took these two learned sevarites for conjurers , if not for devils in mens shape . when zidi parabas perceived in our way , that maurice whispered to me , he drew near to me , and assured me , that they could do more wonderful feats than that by their great art , and that what they had done , was done by the secret power of natural causes , set on work by the influence of the talisman . i told him , that i could wish , that we in our country had the same skill and knowledge : but he answered , that such mysteries are not fit but for men of the most refined wits , and that no dull or vicious apprehensions can be capable of the sublime notions that such men must have to act such wonders , and to find out the way to make such strange talismans . another of these philosophers , who stood within some golden rails adjoyning to the high-way , had in his hand a naked image of wax , representing a young girl , which image he turned about his head , with some hard words which he uttered out of his mouth , and immediately there came to the place all the young maidens within a certain distance , and threw off their garments with their modesty , in my judgment ; but the religious sevarites are not ashamed to behold what nature teaches other men to cover . these maidens leaped over the rails about threescore in number , and began a most pleasant dance upon the green grass before all our company , the philosopher having appointed a musician ready for that purpose , who played all the while upon his instrument of musick , according to which these maidens leaped and danced up and down , which gave sevarminas much sport and to all his court ; but when the philosopher began to turn away , and cover the waxen image , they took all their garments again , and departed with much satisfaction , because they had given some delight to their prince , whom all the sevarites reverence as they do a visible god ; they are therefore very joyful , when they can do any thing to please and delight him . the rest of the philosophers shewed every one in his turn what he was able to do . one held a mouse by the tail in one hand , and his talisman in the other , and threw the mouse behind sevarminas upon his dromedary , which as soon as it was there , but a moment , it had the power to attract one of the most beautiful virgins , whom i saw straggling behind the king. this thing caused the whole company to burst out in laughter ; for she was just putting on her apparel with the rest of her companions , when the talisman tyed her hands and feet , and drew her on a sudden , so that she was seen to leap all naked through the midst of us behind the king , where she remained till the philosopher drew her back with the talisman , and caused her to put on her cleaths and depart . another of these makers of talismans was blowing with a pipe at the breech of a cat , which swelled bigger than any elephant : when therefore he saw his time , he turned the tail towards the company , and by a secret talisman gave liberty to the wind to go softly out by the same hole where it was put in . the noise was so delightful , that i never heard more variety and sweoter musick in my days ; for the philosopher stroked the cats back and belly , and as he pressed it harder or softer , the wind would go out and whistle all sorts of tunes . the king himself and all the company desired the learned man to come to court as soon as he should return , and give them that sport , which they fancied very much . i looked upon the cat , whether it was alive , and i saw that it was a natural cat , much like the civet-cats ; for besides the musick , the air was filled with such excellent and glorious smells , that we were all ravished and in a maze , how this could come to pass . all the rest shewed some trick or other , but for brevity sake i omit them , to give an account of our journey . i cannot here describe the number of beautiful fabricks , of orchards full of all manner of fruit-trees , gardens with all kind of flowers , herbs , and plants , both delightful to the eye , and useful to the body . i cannot number all the other rarities and riches which this country was full of , with the pleasant chanels of crystal-water , with the bridges and arches in our way , with the many towns walled and open , most of precious stones , and adorned with gold and silver , and ivory , and all manner of riches . if i should give a particular account , no person can believe , unless he had been himself an eye-witness of the things that we saw then in our journey . we went through parascali , a good town , where the river omer joyns with rocara . the inhabitants were so civil , that they met the king with rich tables of gold , covered all over with dishes of sweet-meats , of a china substance and make . every cavaliero had liberty to take what pleased him best . whiles we stayed there , some philosophers stood in our way to give us some of the former sports : at last he that was mounted upon his camel , made of a louse , caused two great wings to grow out at the back , by the means of a talisman , which he had brought with him in his hand . as soon as they were perfected , the camel flew up to the top of the great steeple of the temple of parascali , where it stood a while with the philosopher on its back : at last it returned to us again without any harm either to the beast or the man. the next town was moramir , the third storax , the fourth bolaciro , the fifth memrak , the sixth burino , where we stopt to take a dinner prepared for us . i must not forget to mention certain images that stood in the high-way , at the entring in of the town ; there were two chief , a young maid of alabaster , and a man of white marble . the philosophers camel would not go beyond them , till he began to prick the beast forward with a talisman . if it had not been for this accident , i should not have taken so much notice of them , nor inquired after the cause of their being there . zidi parabas gave me full satisfaction , and told me , that they were the images of two unfortunate lovers of the town of burino , who had been constant to one another , till death separated them , their love and constant affection caused their deaths : for it happened , that their parents would not consent to their conjunction , which they dared not agree to without their leave , and the publick solemnity , for fear of the disgrace which usually , as a consequence , attends upon such kind of amorous indiscretions in the country of the sevarites . they were therefore resolved to love one another tenderly , and to refuse all other matches and proffers . they had been often tempted with other proposals , and with the beauty and riches of other parties ; but ziricus and malimna , so were they named by zidi parabas , flighted all things but the sight and company of one another , which they would endeavour to injoy by stealth , because they were narrowly watched by their jealous parents , who by no means would suffer them to come near together with their good will. their love by this restraint increased more and more , and their mutual affection found many tricks and arts to meet together in spight of their parents watchfulness . they found many back doors and secret corners , to which their extraordinary sympathy brought them together : yet they would not be perswaded to violate the law of the sevarites . this love continued near forty years with a constancy worthy to be chronicled ; yet their parents would never consent to their marriage . at last when they saw , that neither their affection , nor their resolution never to change could prevail upon their cruel parents , and their invincible obstinacy , they consulted betwixt themselves to depart together out of the kingdom , and to marry in some other land. whiles they were in this resolution , they knew not which way to go , because the passages were narrowly guarded . at a meeting therefore , an old crafty devil appears to them in the likeness of a man , and offers them his service to assist them over the seas . they agreed for a price to be transported to an island not inhabited , upon the pacifick sea , with some tools , and grain for their maintenance . the devil , in the shape of a sevarite , promised to bring them a ship in the dead time of the night to the great river of rocara ; for they thought he had been some sea-man or ship-master . the time and place of departing was appointed . the young couple , according to their ingagement , came to the place a little before the evening ; and when they saw that the devil was rough to them , and had cloven feet , they began to suspect , yet they were so passionate for one another , and therefore so blind , that the woman first ventured her self in the arms of the devil to be carried through the water to the ship , which they saw in the river : the young man intending to follow next ; but the wicked devil , instead of conveying the young virgin safe aboard , plunged and held her under water till she was stifled and dead , and that in sight of her sweet-heart , who as soon as he heard her begin to shriek , and saw what was practising against her life and his , it is not to be imagined what torments and trouble of mind he was in , sometimes with his sword in his hand he ran into the water up to the neck , again he would return up to the bank , to see whether his dearly beloved was yet alive , again he would run into the river , till at last , when he perceived the wickedness of the counterfeit devil , he cast himself cesperately into the river ; and though he had never any skill to swim , his love for his beloved , for whom he had a more tender affection than for his own soul , made him venture , and found a means to get as far as the body of his murdered darling , which he brought ashore , and seeing no sign of life , he killed himself , and fell upon her body . in remembrance of this tragedy the town hath dedicated these two images , the one to ziricus , and the other to malimna , with a great many lesser images of young men and maidens , that are all weeping for the misfortune of these two constant lovers . this story zidi parabas told me , whiles the dinner was bringing in to the great hall of ivory , where the king sevarminas was to dine with all his court. when we were sate down , we had all things needful presented before us , with a concert of musick mingled with rare voices of some virgins of the city . after this , a philosopher brought in a silver chain , a great white rat , about the bigness of a good rabbet , which leaped upon the table near sevarminas , and looked wishfully upon him when he was eating ; but when the rat saw that the king said nothing , the rat reached forth its paw or foot , and took some of the meat . the king was not a little surprised with the rats boldness : how now ! said he , did your master teach you this ? the philosopher by the talismanical art could make it speak what he listed , for he could govern the tongue of the little creature in that manner , that what was in his mind the beast would speak : by your leave , my lord , quoth the rat to the king , i am hungry . the rats speech surprised the king , and all the company left their meat to hear the discourse between the king and the rat ; for the philosopher told his majesty , that it would give him any answer that he would desire . they not knowing from whence it proceeded no more than we , they stood to see what the rat would say : the rat was neither ashamed , nor afraid of the company , but went from one dish to another to taste which was the best ; it met with an ostrich-pye , on which it fell aboard without any manners : the king bid it be gone , i 'le fill my belly first , answered the rat , now i am here . king , i command thee to be gone . rat , i love this company too well to run away in haste . king , make haste . rat , we must do nothing rashly . king , thou wilt eat all . rat , there is enough in the land for you and me too . king , who tutored thee ? rat , my master . several other discourses past between sevarminas and this artificial creature , which was made to speak , not by its own understanding , but by that of the philosopher only ; by the talismanical art he could make use of the organ and tongue of the rat to speak what was according to his mind . this was a curious passage , and gave the whole company great delight . the philosopher told sevarminas , that he could make any beast , that was tame , to speak in that manner , and say any thing . we found this to be too true ; for afterwards another learned man had taught a camel , another an ass , another a dromedary , another a tame lion to say any thing , with as much reason , as if they had been rational creatures , whereas it was but the organ of their tongue that was made use of by the strong power of a talisman to turn which way , and articulate whatsoever the author of the talisman pleased . we stayed not long in the place ; but as soon as we had all dined , and refreshed our selves , we mounted upon our dromedaries , and went on in our journey . the louse , camel , and the flea turned into a dromedary , going with us in our company , we passed by a curious town that stood upon an hill , which had a plentiful stream of water rising from the top , and falling from a steep place upon a diamant rock , and then incompassed the hill round with a deep chanel , over which there was a curious bridge of precious stones , with silver globes on the top , and the sides of the walls with a most beautiful arch , the most regularly built that i ever knew . the towns name is tiftani , commanded by a prince , the most considerable of all the subjects of sevarminas , he came out to meet us with a beautiful guard of young gallants , all cloathed in cloth of silver . the princess also came to the entring in of the town with a beautiful attendance of ladies in their rich attire covered over with pearls , and the richest and most precious stones . they made a low obeisance to king sevarminas , and offered him the keys of their city , which he returned to the prince muraski : that was the name of the prince , who was young , about the age of thirty years . we passed through the streets through the acclamations and applauses of all the common people , that are the happiest in the world in all respects ; for they pay but little or no tribute , and have all things in such abundance , glory , and plenty , that there is no want nor complaints in all the land , the poorest sevarite hath enough , and the richest can have no more than they use , for all the rest is superfluous . the next town was tiptanicar , where upon an high tower stood a talisman of gold , for what intent i could never learn. we went through muramni , borascot , malavisi , and several other good walled towns in our way . we lodged that night in one of the kings palaces , situate in a little lake , about ten miles in compass , in an island that stands in the middle . several boats and vessels waited for us to convey us and our dromedaries over to the island . this place is one of the most pleasant abodes of the world. here we stop'd above a fortnight , which we spent sometimes in fishing , sometimes in hunting , walking about , and admiring the wonderful things that appeared every where . sometimes the kings philosophers together with the musicians , would make us such good sport , that we were never weary , we could have spent the days and the nights in seeing such sports and pass-times . sevarminas all this while sent for me often , with de nuits and maurice , to discourse with us , and inform himself concerning the affairs , commodities , and conveniencies of our country : in which particulars i always gave him such answers as would increase his desire to entertain a trade and correspondency with our nation , and the other people of europe . when we had lived here in this castle , and pleasant island called the isle of foxes , and in the sevarites language cristako , we set forward for another place called the mount timpani , where the kings of the sevarites have another house of pleasure : it is about an hundred leagues distant towards the southwest from cristako . we passed through many woods , vallies , and an open country in our way to it , and had the sight of several rare towns , seravi , puteoli , nanti , quarok , runtour , and several others no less rich and beautiful than the former . i cannot forget to mention a rare invention which i saw at seravi . there is a large river about two miles distant from the town , which stands upon a hill without any water . the ingenious sevarites therefore have found an art to convey this great river in an artificial chanel , built and supported upon an arch of hard diamant stone , above two miles from one hill to the other , over a deep valley , into which the river did run before ; but because the valley was not so wholesom an air as the top of the mountain , they have built there their houses , and been at the trouble to make for the river an artificial chanel , so deep , that boats of an hundred tun can sail up and down in the driest time of summer ; for there is scarce any mud or dirt in the chanel over the valley : the water is as clear as crystal . in another town called runtour , there was a company of apes met us at the entry in of the town : they were so bold , that they leapt upon the backs of our dromedaries , and put us in no little danger to be cast to the ground . but one of our philosophers pulled out of his pocket a strange talisman , of a yellow colour , through which there was a hole which he clapt to his lips , and whistled away the apes . they were not gone ten paces from us , but they all fell down dead with the venemous spirits which this talisman conveyed to them without hurting any creature else ; for you must know , that what is a poyson to one creature , is not so to another , and these skillful men so well read in the secret mysteries of nature , can direct their operations which way they please , at a distance as well as near at hand . the king of the sevarites hath always one or more of these philosophers to accompany him when he goes into the country , for fear any accident might happen to his person or retinue . we found a plentiful dinner prepared for us at nanti , where the ladies of the town waited upon sevarminas at the table , and came to the rest of his company to offer their services . the governors name was forabo , an old grave signior near fourscore years of age , he had twenty sons comely and proper young men , with five daughters , all by one woman , whose name was pluralis : she was then a grave matron of a beautiful and grave countenance , her daughters young ladies followed her when she came to salute sevarminas and his lords . we made no long stay in this place , but marched next to the mount timpani , but could not get thither till the next day at night ; we lodged therefore in the town of durambi , and the next day early in the morning we set forward in our journey to mount timpani , where we arrived about sun-set . there happened nothing in this days riding remarkable , only maurices dromedary being offended that he had kicked her with his heel , cast him to the ground , and bruised his thigh and arm ; but the kings physician applying an herb called muroz , which he found in the fields hard by , cured the wound , eased him presently of his pain , so that he never complained afterwards . the nature of these creatures is such , that they must be gently dealt withal , otherwise they become furious and mad : but if the rider handles them softly , there is no beast so gentle , so easie , and useful . mount timpani is a pleasant hill crowned on the top with all manner of the most beautiful trees in nature , bearing all sorts of fruits . in the midst is the kings palace moted round . the water runs from six great fountains , which are on the top of the hill , unto which there is an easie ascent on the side of the hill : about half a mile from the castle is a town of the same name , very glorious to the eye when the sun shines . the castle or the kings palace is about a mile in circumference , with strong walls of clear stones , of a white and reddish colour , such as i never saw the like before . it was well furnished with all manner of houshold-stuff , the richest that i ever beheld : the large and spacious rooms , chambers , and halls , and galleries , with their ornaments , were not to be numbered . at our first arrival , the governor of the town , with the chief inhabitants , came to wait upon their king , who shewed them a great deal of respect as belonged to his loving subjects . all this while he had concealed the cause of his journey to that place , and would not let any person , not his own son , nor any of his privy counsellors understand any thing of it , till three or four days after our arrival ; for it becomes a great prince , who intends to act securely in weighty matters , not to let any man , not his greatest friends , know his intentions to the full . sevarminas having here a great business to put in execution , which concerned nothing less than the safety and peace of his empire , he concealed it from all the world , and gave out , that he would make this progress for his pastime and for his health . the governors name was smuriamnas , a man of an ancient family , lineally descended from the great sevarias , but young and very ambitious , and no less proud and haughty amongst his equals , which caused his people not to affect him so much as otherwise they would have done . at our arrival he came to pay his homage and respects to sevarminas his prince , and the next day invited him and all the court to a costly and sumptuous banquet . i and my companions , together with sermodas and zidi parabas , were lodged in a spacious chamber , where were twenty beds of ivory and gold , with curious curtains of silk embroidered with gold , with the walls hung with pictures , very well and artificially drawn . after supper we went to take our leaves of king sevarminas , and were immediately conducted to our chamber , where we rested sweetly , till the next morning the noise of the trumpets , bag-pipes , flutes , viols , and violins , harps , guitars , and all manner of musick played at the kings rising . this pleasant and ravishing harmony awakened us and our chamber-fellows , and obliged us to put on our apparel . we walked about the chamber a while , discoursing of the strange passages of our journey , when in came a messenger from the king to call us to him . he had an intent to walk about his parks , and view the town before dinner . he was therefore willing , that we strangers might go along with him , not only for our satisfaction , but also to shew his people men of foreign nations come to adore and worship him . the parks were all walled round with many lakes , ponds , rivers , and streams of water full of all manner of wild and tame fowl , with all sorts of beasts , deer of all kinds , rabbets , hares , and a sort of creature named buffoli , which hath no joynts in its fore-legs , and nevertheless runs as swift as any other beast . in the parks we had the sight of many trees and woods , where the birds and wild fowl and beasts use to shelter themselves . after this walk we marched into the town , all our company , where the governor at the entrance received us with his family ; but the citizens , with the chief men , stood at a distance , crying out , men , women , and children in their language , marabi , marabi , marabi , that is , justice , justice , justice . i saw at this sudden cry the governors countenance change : he nevertheless drew near to sevarminas with all the respect imaginable ; but he received him with a setled countenance , and asked what the people meant by their marabi . before he had time to answer , one of the chief of the sevarites stept forward , followed by all the rest . they all fell upon their knees , and bowing to sevarminas , they humbly intreated him , that he would listen to and pity their grievance . what is the matter ? answered he . one of them stood up , and in the governors presence spoke to him in this manner : most noble and ever glorious monarch , we your subjects are heartily glad to see you amongst us , we have longed a great while to have you here to free us from an intolerable burden . prince smuriamnas our governor forgetting the blessed rules of our great sevarias , oppresseth us contrary to all law and justice , and hath spilled the innocent blood of many of our friends , whose souls will not suffer us to sleep in quiet , till their deaths be revenged . we have often admonished him to recal him from his perverse and wicked practices ; but to all our admonitions he hath returned nothing but curses and blows without mercy : so that for these many years we have lived as so many slaves ; and unless your glorious majesty will relieve us , we must forsake him and his principality , and seek our remedy in a retreat far from him . but we expect from your justice and goodness that relief which you have afforded to many of your poor subjects in such like cases . this speech made smuriamnas faint away , so that he fell down as dead before the whole company ; but sevarminas caused him to be taken up , and his physician to take care of him . sevarminas expected this complaint before he heard it . his coming was to remove and punish smuriamnas , and place in his stead his eldest son suricolis , a young man of an excellent beauty , who waited upon him from his youth . as soon as he heard the peoples grievance , he assured them , that he would severely punish him according to law , and cause them to receive satisfaction , wishing them all to depart home with this assurance , without noise or tumult , and to be ready when his judges should be ready to examine their cause , to bring in their allegations and proofs against smuriamnas . in the mean while sevarminas would not go to the palace of smuriamnas as he was invited , nor to the town hall , where the chief of the town promised to bring him a dinner ; but he returned with all his train to the castle , where dinner was ready for us . he gave order , that smuriamnas should be kept in a close prison , joyning to the place of judicature , till the next day ; for then he intended , with the advice of his court , to punish him according to the laws of the land ; for it seems he had been guilty of murder , and violence , and oppression , and had not observed the sacred laws of the sevarites in his jurisdiction . the next day we went down into the town to accompany sevarminas , who sate down upon an high throne prepared for him , under a canopy of gold , embroidered ; round about sate and stood his religious counsellors and judges . when it was noised about the town , that sevarminas was sate in his judgment-seat , for it was not above nine of the clock in the morning , the whole town came to the place , with intention to accuse smuriamnas , who was brought before the king with his hands tied behind his back . presently there came a widow with four young infants weeping , because smuriamnas had killed her husband in his anger , for no other cause , but because he would not comply with his irregular commands . she proved it against him by no less than ten witnesses , who were there present upon the place . another stept up and said , that he had killed his brother , producing sufficient witnesses that saw the murder . another complained of the destroying of his friend privately : others came forth to declare how smuriamnas had oppressed them with cruel exactions . the king desired no other proof of these accusations , but the view of his body without a disguise , covering , or paint : for , as i said before , as soon as men amongst the sevarites have committed any wickedness , there is immediately an alteration upon the body and skin of the offendor , that declares what he hath done . that this might not appear , smuriamnas had made use of the talismanical art and of painting , by the one to keep down all tumors and rising in his face and hands , and by the other to cover all ugly colours that were upon his skin . therefore the king commanded him to be stript naked , and carried into a bath , and there to be rub'd and washed , which accordingly was done . when he was brought back , i never saw such a disfigured creature , his arms were as black as pitch , his hands all gore blood , his face as green as grass , his legs as yellow as saffron , on his back and legs appeared two tumors about the bigness of walnuts . when he appeared so odious to the company , the king passed his sentence upon him , to the great joy of the inhabitants : and because blood requires blood , and no other crime is to be punished with death but murder amongst the sevarites , the king delivered him to the will of the aggrieved parties to put him to death . they took him first and whipped him , till his body was full of scars and wounds , which they anointed with honey , and then tyed him upon an high place in the middle of their town with his face upwards . as soon as he was there , a swarm of wasps and bees flew about him , with some vulturs and eagles , which devoured him in two days : so that there was nothing remaining of his body but the bones . the king condescended to this exemplary punishment , the rather , because smuriamnas had a design to alter the government of the sevarites , and revolt from his obedience : for that purpose he had endeavoured to perswade some other petty princes to joyn with him against their soveraign king sevarminas . yet he was so gracious to call his son in the prefence of all the chief men of the town , and to restore him to his fathers estate and goods , without the least diminution of any thing . he gave him this admonition in the prefence of a multitude of people : suricolis , said the king , thou hast seen a severe example of justice upon thy father for abusing his power and authority , i might make that use of his crime , to deprive all his family from any such opportunity of doing a mischief ; but i consider , that thy religious inclinations have often caused thee to disallow thy fathers proceedings , and to blame him for the liberty he took contrary to justice and law. i consider , that thou art as likely to do as much good as smuriamnas hath done mischief . i restore thee not only to thy fathers estate , but likewise to his authority and command . take heed that thou followest not thy fathers example : let not thy glory puff thee up with pride , nor thy power cause thee to act contrary to reason and law : remember that there is a punishment for evil doers , as there are rewards for the just : behave thy self with that discretion and moderation , that thou mayst have the commendation rather than the condemnation of thy country-men , that thou mayst deserve well from me and them . this clemency and justice made sevarminas to be praised in all parts amongst the sevarites ; for thereby all persons were obliged , and thereby secured from such like violences , and the noble family of smuriamnas continued in its splendour and glory , only a rotten member was taken out of the way for the publick good . after this piece of justice , we remained there about a month , which sevarminas spent in regulating all those things-that were amiss in the government of smuriamnas through his ill management of affairs . afterwards he left there the new governor suricolis to do justice in his absence , commanding him to be impartial in all his publick actions , and to abstain from the vices unto which his father was inclinable , which cast him into the dangerous precipice of destruction . we departed from thence with the blessings and good wishes of all the inhabitants , and in three days we returned to sevarinde , where our coming was expected with much impatience ; for in the kings absence that city could not be governed well by any other person . some disorders therefore had happened , which the viceroy could not pacifie without the kings authority and presence . the whole city met us at two miles from the place , and in a most beautiful order marched along with us into sevarinde . i continued in the city about half a year , which i spent in inquiring after the conveniencies of the country , the sea-ports , the commodities and riches that it brings forth , that i might give that information to my country-men , which might benefit them in future ages after my return to my own country ; for we were in expectation of a ship from batavia , whither we had again sent some of our men with a vessel , which we had recovered amongst the sporvi , to desire the governor of batavia to send a ship that might convey away our goods and persons . but whiles i stayed there , a young lady of sevarinde , who had lost her husband by death , fell in love with maurice , and often treated us very nobly in her house . manrice was no sevarite , and could not refrain from some amorous embrances , which the lady gladly accepted of ; for it was not lawful by the law of the sevarites to match with any other generation . but to cover their actions , the lady had made use of the skill of the philosophers to keep down the tumors in her skin and body , and to paint maurices face and hands , which hindered their secret correspondency from being known abroad . i must needs confess , that maurices happiness caused me to look abroad , and see whether i could meet with the same fortune : for that purpose i walked about the city often , early and late , to see what i should by chance meet with . about a month before our departure from sevarinde , a young gentlewoman , who had father and mother , and never knew a man , invited me into a garden , where she was alone , in the spanish tongue . i was glad of this opportunity , we walked therefore several turns together , talking of divers matters : at last she opened her mind to me in this manner . sir , i understand by your countenance , that you are a stranger , our king sevarminas hath a great esteem for you , as well as my father and mother : we have often talked of you and your religious behaviour since your coming into our country ; we shall therefore be glad to be acquainted with you ; for in my fathers name i will bid you welcome , and will assure you , that he will give you a kind reception ; for he is a merchant , and conveys commodities from city to city amongst the sevarites . sir , modesty will not give me leave to tell you more of my mind ; but when we shall be better acquainted , i hope — with these words she broke off with a modest blush upon her cheeks . the young woman was most beautiful , and was cloathed in white silk , with a girdle of pure gold , all beset with precious stones about her middle . she inquired whether i were not married in my own country , i assured her , that i was not : upon this , she confessed her amorous inclinations for me , but withal told me , that every thing must be performed in due time , and that she would not precipitate the business , but wished me to ask her fathers consent , assuring me , that she would willingly leave all to live and dye with a man of that sweet temper and disposition that i was of . her loving complements i answered with caresses , and assured her , that i should think my self happy in her injoyment . we spent some time together to begin our acquaintance , and to inform ourselves of one anothers conditions and estate ; but the night obliged me to leave her for that time , and return to my lodgings . when i gave maurice an account of all particulars , he advised me not to neglect the offer , but to visit her in her fathers house ; for himself and his lady , he told me , that he was resolved to carry her with him to batavia , where he intended to live and dye with her : and though women amongst the sevarites are forbidden goods , and that it is not lawful to transport them to other countries , he was perswaded by the means of friends with sevarminas , to get that liberty and priviledge , which was never granted to any before . this discourse and his hopes made me conceive the same . i went therefore often to see the young lady , who entertained me and my companions very courteously , as well as her father and mother . after several visits , i opened the matter to the parents in their daughters absence ; they made some difficulty , because of the laws of the country , and my inclinations to return into my own country . but when i told them , that we had plantations in batavia , not far from thence , and that i would live and dye with her there , they began to yield to my request , in case sevarminas would dispense with the law of the land , and suffer me to carry her away . this i told them , that i would endeavour to obtain from his goodness . i cannot give an exact account of all our pleasant meetings , of the rare things she discovered to me , of the delightful walks , and other things which pass all imagination . but certainly her company and sweet conversation made me spend my time with great contentment . in order to our marriage , when the portion was agreed upon , i caused zidi parabas and ziribabdas , my two intimate friends , to open the business to king sevarminas , that we might have his approbation and consent to that which was not agreeable with the ancient laws of the sevarites . but in regard we had behaved our selves so religiously since our being in the country , he thought it no disgrace to grant us more liberty than ordinary . after this business had been debated in his privy council , it was resolved that this course should be taken to oblige us the more , and invite our country men to trade with his people . therefore i had a leave to marry publickly my young mistress , and maùrice also had a dispensation to take to wife his courteous lady . when all these things were agreed upon , the day was appointed , for both king sevarminas , and all the nobles of his court , assisted at the solemnity , and brought us to his royal palace , where he bestowed upon us most rich and glorious gifts , and entertained our new and young wives with a sumptuous feast , at which they had the honour to sit next the queen . the ceremony of marriage was performed in the great temple of sevarinde , by breaking of bread , and joyning of hands , with many prayers and blessings from their priests . it was concluded with a dance and musick , where all the young ladies of the court shewed their activity . before the marriage was concluded , a ship was arrived amongst the sporvi from batavia , where meen heer van plumerick commanded in chief . as soon as we had news of this ship , we went and gave an account of its arrival to sevarminas , who desired us to send for the captain van plumerick , and promised , that then we should have liberty to depart along with him , with our wives , and such things as belonged to us , to batavia , or whither we had a mind to go . we thanked him for his great and extraordinary civilities , and told him , that we would spread his fame all over the world. according to this order , sermodas was sent back to sporunde , to fetch captain van plumerick , whose ship had orders to get into the river of rocara . he came with some kind of reluctancy , not knowing the civilities and good entertainment that we had found amongst the sevarites . but when he was arrived , and saw the riches and happiness of the people and country , and found them , as well as we , to be men of faith , good behaviour , and honesty , he was not sorry for his condescension to this request . after his arrival to sevarinde , we remained there two months , which we spent in merry sports , feasts , banquets , hunting , hawking , and all manner of delights , according to the custom of that glorious court. sevarminas was well pleased with the conversation of van plumerick ; for he was a gallant man , and knew so well how to hit the humor of sevarminas , that the king gave him very rich presents . his ship had orders to draw near to the borders of the sevarites into the river rocara , because we might more conveniently load our goods , and because sevarminas had a great desire to go on board , and see the manner and fashions of our ships of war , and the great guns that were on board . to comply with his desire , we all went to the banks of the river rocara , where the ship rode at an anchor , trimmed and flourishing with garlands and pendents of all colours . sevarminas , accompanied by all his court , was carried in the captains pinnace that waited for him , with several other boats : when he was aboard , the cannon and trumpets bid him welcome . the captain presented him with some rarities , which they have not in that country . he gave him a watch , a clock , guns of an extraordinary make , with many other things of europe . after a banquet in the great cabin of the ship , he returned to the shore , very well satisfied with his entertainment . he desired one or two of our great guns ; for he intended to have some cast of silver , because he had no brass nor bell-metal in all his country . we returned with him to sevarinde , and then taking our farewel of all our friends and relations , we carried away our goods , and shipped them aboard . van plumericks ship , with our wives , and all our company , set sail towards batavia ; but a storm , or rather a hurricane at sea , had a most driven us back again on the shore . we escaped narrowly by the great skill of the mariners , and the watchfulness and vigilancy of the captain : so that in six days , or thereabouts , after the storm , we had sight of a cape in batavia , where we landed , to the great joy of all our country-men , who were desirous to see the new country that we had discovered , when we shewed them our riches and jewels , and gave them an account of the excellent people that inhabit there . finis . a catalogue of some books printed for , and sold by h. brome , since the dreadful fire of london , to 1676. dr . woodford on the psalms . — his divine poems . the reformed monastery , or the love of jesus . bishop wilkins natural religion . 130 sermons by mr. farindon , in three vol. in folio . dr. heylin on the creed , fol. a guide to eternity , by john bona. practical rules for a holy life . dr. du moulins prayers . a guide to heaven , with a rule of life . bishop wilkins real character . a companion to the temple , or a help to publick devotion , by dr. comber , in octavo , 4 vol. holy anthems of the church . a looking-glass for loyalty . the fathers legacy to his children , being the whole duty of man. gerhard's meditations in latine . several sermons at court , &c. papal tyranny , as it was exercised over england for some ages , with two sermons on the fifth of november . and several tracts more against popery . histories . the life of the duke of espernon , the great favourite of france , from 1598. where d' avila leaves off , to our times , by charles cotton esq in folio . the history of the charter-house . the state of the ottoman empire , with cuts , by p. ricaut esq in octavo . the lives of the grand viziers . bishop cosin against transubstantiation . the common law epitomized . the commentaries of mr. blaiz de montluck , the great favourite of france , in which are contained all the sieges , battels , skirmishes , for three kings reigns , by charles cotton esq in folio . the fair one of tunis , a new piece of gallantry , by c. c. esq in octavo . erasmus coll. in english , octavo . poems . elvira , a comedy by the earl of bristol . mr. a. bromes songs and poems , octavo . horace his works englished by several persons . virgil travestie , by c. c. esq . lucian's dialogues , burlesque . horace , with a song at every act , by charles cotton esq . mr. cowlys satyr against separatists . dr. guidet's history of bath . dr. barbettes and dr. deckers excellent practice of physick , and observations . sir k. digby , his excellent receipts in physick and chirurgery , and of drinks and cookery . the anatomy of the elder-tree . dr. glisson , de vita naturae , quarto . — his anatomia . the universal angler , in three parts . lord bacons advancement of learning . the planters manual , very useful for such as are curious in planting and grafting , by c. cotton , esq . the complete gamester . dr. skinner's lexicon , in folio , 1 l. 5 s. papists no catholicks . the jesuits loyalty answered . 16 controversial letters , in quarto . the growth of knavery and popery . essays of love and marriage , duod . dr. moulin's education of children . the vindication of the clergy . toleration discussed . a treatise of humane reason , in 12. school-books . nolens volens , or you shall make latine . pools pernassus in english . centum fabulae , in octavo . artis oratoriae . the scholars guide from the accidence to the university . sir james dyer's reports , folio . the exact constable enlarged . the plague of athens , by dr. sprat . six witty conversations . mr. sarazins ingenious works . coke of trade . sir ph. meadows wars of denmark and sweden . the geographical dictionary . vossius's motion of the seas and winds . mr. sympsons compendium of musick . — his division viols . banisters new airs and dialogues . old father christmas arraigned and condemned . leyburns arithmetical recreations . dr. fords discourse on the man whose hands and legs rotted off , for stealing a bible , and denying it . five love-letters .