AFTER More has given in detail the picture of an ideal
society which forms the exact opposite of the society
of his time, at the conclusion of Utopia he once more
flings down the gauntlet in a vehement apostrophe.

Modern Socialism has hardly emitted a sharper criti-
cism of society than is contained in the sentences with
which Hythloday concludes his account of the Utopians.

"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 commonwealth that truly deserves that name. In
all other places it is visible, that while people talk of a
commonwealth every man 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 everything, they all know that if care
is taken to keep the public stores full, no private man can
want anything; for among them there is no unequal
distribution, so that no man is poor, none in necessity,
and though no man has anything, yet they are all rich;
for what can make a man so rich as to lead a serene and

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