Page 142 - UTOPIA

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, un-
less, 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 pre-
suming to set limits to Him, how early or late it should be;
but, if it may be wished for without derogating from His
supreme authority, they desire to be quickly delivered, and
to be taken to Himself, though by the most terrible kind
of death, rather than to be detained long from seeing Him
by the most prosperous course of life. When this prayer is
ended, they all fall down again upon the ground; and, after
a little while, they rise up, 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 commonwealth, which I do not
only think the best in the world, but indeed the only com-
monwealth that truly deserves that name. In all other places
it is visible that, while people talk of a commonwealth, ev-
ery man only seeks his own wealth; but there, where no
man has any property, all men zealously pursue the good
of the public, and, indeed, it is no wonder to see men act so
differently, for in other commonwealths every man knows
that, unless he provides for himself, how flourishing soever
the commonwealth may be, he must die of hunger, so that
he sees the necessity of preferring his own concerns to the
public; but in Utopia, where every man has a right to every-
thing, they all know that if care is taken to keep the public

142 Utopia