NEW ATLANTIS 



bare hand as he went, as blessing the people, but in silence. The 

 street was wonderfully well kept; so that there was never an army had 

 their men stand in better battle-array than the people stood. The 

 windows likewise were not crowded, but every one stood in them as 

 if they had been placed. When the show was past, the Jew said to 

 me, &quot; I shall not be able to attend you as I would, in regard of some 

 charge the city hath laid upon me, for the entertaining of this great 

 person.&quot; 



Three days after, the Jew came to me again, and said, &quot; Ye are 

 happy men ! for the father of Solomon s House taketh knowledge of your 

 being here, nnd commanded me to tell you, that he will admit all your 

 company to his presence, and have private conference with one of you 

 that ye shall choose ; and for this hath appointed the day next after 

 to-morrow. And, because he meaneth to give you his blessing, he hath 

 appointed it in the forenoon.&quot; 



We came at our day and hour, and I was chosen by my fellows for 

 the private access. We found him in a fair chamber, richly hung, and 

 carpeted under-foot, without any degrees to the state. He was seated 

 upon a low throne, richly adorned, and a rich cloth of state over his 

 head, of blue satin, embroidered. He was alone, save that he had two 

 pages of honour, on either hand, one finely attired in white. 1 1 is 

 under-garments were the like that we saw him wear in the chariot ; 

 but instead of his gown, he had on him a mantle, with a cape of the 

 same fine black, fastened abou t him. When we came in, as we were 

 taught, we bowed low at our first entrance ; and when we were come 

 near his chair, he stood up, holding forth his hand ungloved, and in 

 posture of blessing ; and we every one of us stooped down and kissed 

 the hem of his tippet. That done, the rest departed, and I remained. 

 Then he warned the pages forth of the room, and caused me to sit 

 down beside him, and spake to me thus in the Spanish tongue : 



&quot; God bless thee, my son, I will give thee the greatest jewel I have : 

 for I will impart unto thee, for the love of God and men, a relation of 

 the true state of Solomon s House. Son, to make you know the true 

 state of Solomon s House, I will keep this order : first, I will set 

 forth unto you the end of our foundation ; secondly, the preparations 

 and instruments we have for our works ; thirdly, the several employ- 

 ments and functions whereto our fellows are assigned ; and fourthly 

 the ordinances and rites which we observe. 



&quot; The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes and secret 

 motions of things, and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, 

 to the effecting of all things possible. 



&quot; The preparations and instruments are these. We have large and 

 deep caves of several depths : the deepest are sunk six hundred 

 fathoms, and some of them are digged and made under great hills and 

 mountains ; so that if you reckon together the depth of the hill and 

 die depth of the cave, they are some of them above three miles deep : 

 for we find that the depth of a hill and the depth of a cave from the 

 flat is the same thing, both remote alike from the sun and heaven s 

 beams and from the open air. These caves we call the lower region, 



