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the Supreme Being, of which they say many instances have occurred among
them; and that sometimes their public prayers, which upon great and
dangerous occasions they have solemnly put up to God, with assured
confidence of being heard, have been answered in a miraculous manner.

"They think the contemplating God in His works, and the adoring Him for
them, is a very acceptable piece of worship to Him.

"There are many among them that upon a motive of religion neglect
learning, and apply themselves to no sort of study; nor do they allow
themselves any leisure time, but are perpetually employed, believing that
by the good things that a man does he secures to himself that happiness
that comes after death. Some of these visit the sick; others mend
highways, cleanse ditches, repair bridges, or dig turf, gravel, or stone.
Others fell and cleave timber, and bring wood, corn, and other
necessaries, on carts, into their towns; nor do these only serve the
public, but they serve even private men, more than the slaves themselves
do: for if there is anywhere a rough, hard, and sordid piece of work to
be done, from which many are frightened by the labour and loathsomeness
of it, if not the despair of accomplishing it, they cheerfully, 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 labour: and yet they do not value themselves upon this, nor
lessen other people's credit to raise their own; but by their stooping to
such servile 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 chaste, 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 cheerful and earnest in their endeavours after
it. Another sort of them is less willing to put themselves to much toil,
and therefore 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 human nature, and to their country;
nor do they avoid any pleasure that does not hinder labour; and therefore
eat flesh so much the more willingly, as they find that by this means
they are the more able to work: the Utopians look upon these as the wiser
sect, but they esteem the others as the most holy. They would indeed
laugh at any man who, from 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 from the motives 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; 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 employments when they return; and those who served in their
absence, attend upon the high priest, till vacancies fall by death; for
there is one set over 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, the worship of God, and an
inspection into the manners of the people, are committed to them. It is
a reproach to a man to be sent for by any of them, or for them to speak
to him in secret, for that always gives some suspicion: all that is
incumbent on them is only to exhort and admonish the 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 those that are desperately wicked from joining in their
worship: there is not any sort of punishment 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 education
of youth belongs to the priests, yet they do not take so much care of
instructing them in letters, as in forming their minds and manners
aright; they use all possible methods to infuse, very early, into 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, and conduce much to preserve the peace of the
government, which suffers by nothing more than by vices that rise out of
ill opinions. The wives of their priests are the most extraordinary
women of the whole country; sometimes the women themselves are made
priests, though that falls out but seldom, nor are any but ancient widows
chosen into that order.

"None of the magistrates have greater honour paid them than is paid the
priests; and if they should happen to commit any crime, they would not be
questioned for it; their punishment is left to God, and to their own
consciences; for they do not think it lawful to lay hands on any man, how
wicked soever he is, that has been in a peculiar manner dedicated to God;
nor do they find any great inconvenience in this, both because they have
so few priests, and because these are chosen with much caution, so that
it must be a very unusual thing to find one who, merely out of regard to
his virtue, and for his being esteemed a singularly good man, was raised
up to so great a dignity, degenerate into corruption and vice; and if
such a thing should fall out, for man is a changeable creature, yet,
there being few priests, and these having no authority but what rises out
of the respect that is paid them, nothing of great consequence to the
public can proceed from the indemnity that the priests enjoy.

the Supreme Being, of which they say many instances have occurred among

them; and that sometimes their public prayers, which upon great and

dangerous occasions they have solemnly put up to God, with assured

confidence of being heard, have been answered in a miraculous manner.

"They think the contemplating God in His works, and the adoring Him for

them, is a very acceptable piece of worship to Him.

"There are many among them that upon a motive of religion neglect

learning, and apply themselves to no sort of study; nor do they allow

themselves any leisure time, but are perpetually employed, believing that

by the good things that a man does he secures to himself that happiness

that comes after death. Some of these visit the sick; others mend

highways, cleanse ditches, repair bridges, or dig turf, gravel, or stone.

Others fell and cleave timber, and bring wood, corn, and other

necessaries, on carts, into their towns; nor do these only serve the

public, but they serve even private men, more than the slaves themselves

do: for if there is anywhere a rough, hard, and sordid piece of work to

be done, from which many are frightened by the labour and loathsomeness

of it, if not the despair of accomplishing it, they cheerfully, 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 labour: and yet they do not value themselves upon this, nor

lessen other people's credit to raise their own; but by their stooping to

such servile 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 chaste, 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 cheerful and earnest in their endeavours after

it. Another sort of them is less willing to put themselves to much toil,

and therefore 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 human nature, and to their country;

nor do they avoid any pleasure that does not hinder labour; and therefore

eat flesh so much the more willingly, as they find that by this means

they are the more able to work: the Utopians look upon these as the wiser

sect, but they esteem the others as the most holy. They would indeed

laugh at any man who, from 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 from the motives 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; 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 employments when they return; and those who served in their

absence, attend upon the high priest, till vacancies fall by death; for

there is one set over 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, the worship of God, and an

inspection into the manners of the people, are committed to them. It is

a reproach to a man to be sent for by any of them, or for them to speak

to him in secret, for that always gives some suspicion: all that is

incumbent on them is only to exhort and admonish the 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 those that are desperately wicked from joining in their

worship: there is not any sort of punishment 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 education

of youth belongs to the priests, yet they do not take so much care of

instructing them in letters, as in forming their minds and manners

aright; they use all possible methods to infuse, very early, into 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, and conduce much to preserve the peace of the

government, which suffers by nothing more than by vices that rise out of

ill opinions. The wives of their priests are the most extraordinary

women of the whole country; sometimes the women themselves are made

priests, though that falls out but seldom, nor are any but ancient widows

chosen into that order.

"None of the magistrates have greater honour paid them than is paid the

priests; and if they should happen to commit any crime, they would not be

questioned for it; their punishment is left to God, and to their own

consciences; for they do not think it lawful to lay hands on any man, how

wicked soever he is, that has been in a peculiar manner dedicated to God;

nor do they find any great inconvenience in this, both because they have

so few priests, and because these are chosen with much caution, so that

it must be a very unusual thing to find one who, merely out of regard to

his virtue, and for his being esteemed a singularly good man, was raised

up to so great a dignity, degenerate into corruption and vice; and if

such a thing should fall out, for man is a changeable creature, yet,

there being few priests, and these having no authority but what rises out

of the respect that is paid them, nothing of great consequence to the

public can proceed from the indemnity that the priests enjoy.