vices. Therefore public slavery ruins them;
useful works, in the field, in military service, and in arts, except
those which are debasing, are not cultivated, the few who do practise
them doing so with much aversion.

But in the City of the Sun, while duty and work are distributed among
all, it only falls to each one to work for about four hours every day.
The remaining hours are spent in learning joyously, in debating, in
reading, in reciting, in writing, in walking, in exercising the mind and
body, and with play. They allow no game which is played while sitting,
neither the single die nor dice, nor chess, nor others like these. But
they play with the ball, with the sack, with the hoop, with wrestling,
with hurling at the stake. They say, moreover, that grinding poverty
renders men worthless, cunning, sulky, thievish, insidious, vagabonds,
liars, false witnesses, etc.; and that wealth makes them insolent,
proud, ignorant, traitors, assumers of what they know not, deceivers,
boasters, wanting in affection, slanderers, etc. But with them all the
rich and poor together make up the community. They are rich because they
want nothing, poor because they possess nothing; and consequently they
are not slaves to circumstances, but circumstances serve them. And on
this point they strongly recommend the religion of the Christians, and
especially the life of the apostles.

G.M. This seems excellent and sacred, but the community of women is a
thing too difficult to attain. The holy Roman Clement says that wives
ought to be common in accordance with the apostolic institution, and
praises Plato and Socrates, who thus teach, but the Glossary interprets
this community with regard to obedience. And Tertullian agrees with
the Glossary, that the first Christians had everything in common except
wives.

Capt. These things I know little of. But this I saw among the
inhabitants of the City of the Sun, that they did not make this
exception. And they defend themselves by the opinion of Socrates, of
Cato, of Plato, and of St. Clement; but, as you say, they misunderstand
the opinions of these thinkers. And the inhabitants of the solar city
ascribe this to their want of education, since they are by no means
learned in philosophy. Nevertheless, they send abroad to discover the
customs of nations, and the best of these they always adopt. Practice
makes the women suitable for war and other duties. Thus they agree
with Plato, in whom I have rea