testifie) before our arriuall ther they neuer harde any thinge of vs, whome they call the ultraequinoctialles; sauinge that ones about .M.CC. yeares ago, a certein shyppe was loste by the Ile of Vtopia whiche was driuen thither by tempest. Certeyn Romayns and Egyptyans were caste on lande, whyche after that neuer wente thence. 2 1 'Marke nowe what profite they tooke of thys one occasion, through delygence and earneste trauaile. There was no craft nor scyence within the impery of Rome, wher of any proffite could rise, but they other lerned it of thies straungers, or els, of them taking occasion to searche for yt, fownde it owte. So great proffyte was it to them that euer annye wente thyther from hence 3. But yf annye lyke chaunce before thys hath brought any man from thence hether, that is as quyte out of remembraunce, as this also perchaunce in time to come shalbe forgotten that euer I was there. And like as they quickelye, almoste at the first nostrum de rebus nostris (quos illi uocant Vltraequinoctialeis) nihil unquam quicquam audierant, nisi quod olim annis abhinc ducentis supra mille, nauis quaedam apud insulam Vtopiam naufragio periit, quam tempestas eo detulerat. Eiecti sunt in littus Romani quidam, atque Aegyptii, qui postea nunquam inde discessere. Hanc unam occasionem uide quam commodam illis sua fecit industria. Nihil artis erat intra Romanum imperium, unde possit aliquis esse usus, quod non illi aut ab expositis hospitibus didicerint, aut acceptis quaerendi seminibus adinuenerint. tanto bono fuit illis aliquos hinc semel illuc esse delatos. At siqua similis fortuna quempiam antehac illinc huc perpulerit, tam penitus hoc obliteratum est, quam istud quoque forsan excidet posteris, me aliquando illic fuisse. Et ut The joining of these two seems to point to a ship of Alexandria, such as conveyed St. Paul to Rome. 'About 1200 years' before the Utopia was written would bring us to the end of the reign of Diocletian (ob. A. D. 313); but it is not likely that More had any reason beyond mere fancy for naming this particular time. 2 That is, empire (imperium). 3 This does not express the sense very well. Burnet has: 'So happily did they improve that Accident, of having some of our People cast upon their Shore.' meting, made their owne, what so euer is among vs. wealthely1 deuysed; so I suppose it wold be longe befor we wolde receaue any thing that amonge them is better instytuted then amonge vs. And thys I suppose is the chiefe cause whie theyr common wealthes be wyselyere gouerned, and do florysh in more wealth then ours; though wee nother in wytte nor in ryches be ther inferiours.' a 'Therfore, gentle maister Raphaell' (quod I) 'I praye you and beseche yow descrybe vnto vs the Iland. And study not to be shorte; but declare largely in order their groundes, there ryuers, their cities, theire people, theire manners, their ordenaunces, ther lawes, and, to be short, al thinges that you shal thinke vs desierous to knowe. And you shal thinke vs desierous to know what soeuer we knowe not yet.' 'There is nothing' (quod he) ‘that I will a in omitted. illi uno statim congressu quicquid a nobis commode inuentum est fece67 runt suum; sic diu | futurum puto, priusquam nos accipiamus quic[69] quam, quod apud illos melius quam nobis est institutum. Quod unum maxime esse reor in causa, cur quum neque ingenio neque opibus inferiores simus eis, ipsorum tamen res quam nostra prudentius administretur, et felicius efflorescat. Ergo, mi Raphael, inquam, quaeso te atque obsecro, describe nobis insulam; nec uelis esse breuis, sed explices ordine agros, fluuios, urbes, homines, mores, instituta, leges, ac denique omnia quae nos putes uelle cognoscere: putabis autem uelle quicquid adhuc nescimus. sary. That is, 'well.' See the Glos 2 The slowness of our countrymen to adopt new ideas, or to admit improvements discovered by foreigners, has often been remarked. It is hard to select instances in so wide a field, but the proverb 'they manage these things better in France' may be readily illustrated-to take but a single example-from Evelyn's Diary. Com I pare his entries under Dec. 24, 1643, where he speaks of the flat stone pavement in the streets of Paris, and contrasts it with our pebles in London'; or under Aug. 30. 1653, where he describes the recent drainage works in the fens of Lincolnshire, suggested by similar works in Holland, at which the inhabitants, ' consisting of a poore and very lazy sort of people,' were much displeased. do gladlier. For all these thinges I haue freshe in mind. But the matter requireth leasure.' 'Let vs go in therfor' (quod I) 'to dinner: afterward we will bestowe the time at our pleasure.' 'Content' (quod he) 'be it.' So we went in and dyned. When diner was done, we came into the same place again, and sate vs downe vpon the same benche1, commaunding oure seruauntes that no man should trowble vs. Then I and maister Peter Giles desiered maister Raphaell to performe his promise. He therefore seinge vs desierous and willinge to harken to him, when he had sit still and paused a litle while, musing and bethinkynge hymself, thus he began to speake. The ende of the ffyrste boke. Nihil, inquit, faciam libentius, nam haec in promptu habeo. Sed res ocium poscit. Eamus ergo, inquam, intro pransum: mox tempus nostro arbitratu sumemus. Fiat, inquit. Ita ingressi prandemus. Pransi, in eundem reuersi locum, in eodem sedili consedimus, ac iussis ministris ne quis interpellaret, ego et Petrus Aegidius hortamur Raphaelem ut praestet quod erat pollicitus. Is ergo ubi nos uidit intentos atque auidos audiendi, quum paulisper tacitus et cogitabundus assedisset, hunc in modum exorsus est. PRIMI LIBRI FINIS. a Addunt A. et B. sequitur secundus. This may have been suggested by the way in which Cicero introduces the discourse, in the early part of his Brutus, § 24: Sed quo facilius sermo explicetur, sedentes, si videtur, agamus. Quum idem placuisset illis, tum in pratulo propter Platonis statuam consedimus.' |