rs 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; it frequently happens that the same house which one person built
at a vast expense is neglected by another, who thinks he has a more
delicate sense of the beauties of architecture, and he, suffering it to
fall to ruin, builds another at no less charge. But among the Utopians
all things are so regulated that men very seldom build upon a new piece
of ground, and are not only very quick in repairing their houses, but
show their foresight in preventing their decay, so that their buildings
are preserved very long with but very little labour, and thus the
builders, to whom that care belongs, are often without employment, except
the hewing of timber and the squaring of stones, that the materials may
be in readiness for raising a building very suddenly when there is any
occasion for it. As to their clothes, observe how little work is spent
in them; while they are at labour they are clothed with leather and
skins, cut carelessly about them, which will last seven years, and when
they appear in public 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. As they need less woollen cloth than is used anywhere else, so
that which they make use of is much less costly; they use linen cloth
more, but that is prepared with less labour, and they value cloth only by
the whiteness of the linen or the cleanness of the wool, without much
regard to the fineness of the thread. While in other places four or five
upper garments of woollen cloth of different colours, and as many vests
of silk, will scarce serve one man, and while those that are nicer think
ten too few, every man there is content with one, which very often serves
him two years; nor is there anything 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 employed
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 it frequently happens that, for want of other work, vast
numbers are sent out to mend the highways; but when no public undertaking
is to be performed, the hours of working are lessened. The magistrates
never engage the peo