The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-05-01
For the Hill Country Club and
the Others.

that, before entering upon the study OF
the Elizabethan period, the members
of the Club might report anything of
interest which they had CLEANED from
their studies thus far, and which had
not already been considered. The fol-
lowing sketch by " Cloyerpatch came
in response to this invitation:
To my mind the portrait given by
Mr.. Green, in his Z" Shorter History of
the English People," of Sir Thomas
More, the author of the " Utopia"
forms one of the most interesting scenes
of English history. Born and reared
at the time when England was just
awaking from its intellectual slumber
of centuries, More threw all the restless
energy of his nature into the new
learning. L" He had no sooner left the
university than he was known through
out Europe as one of its foremost
figures" The brightness and free
dom of the new learning seemed incar-
nate in the young scholar, with his gay
talk, his winsomeness of manner, his
reckless epigrams, his passionate love
of music, his omniverous reading, his
paradoXical speculations, his jibes at
the monks, his school-boy fervor of
liberty" His first work was life of
Edward "; his second, the famed
Utopia" In this, an imaginary visit
to the Kingdom of Nowhere, /" More
touches the great problems which were
fast opening before the modern world
problems of labor, of crime, of con-
science, of government. Merely to
have seen and to have examined ques-
tions such as these would prove the
keenness of his intellect; but its far
reaching originality is shown in the
solutions which he proposes. Amid
much that is the pure play of an ex-
uberant fancy, we find again and again
the most important social and political
discoveries anticipated by the genius
of Thomas More. In some points,
such as his treatment of the question
of labor; he still remains far in adj
vance of public opinion" He advo-
Gated religious federation, a government
of the people, public system of
education, reform in the treatment of
criminals looking toward the proven
ton of crime, labor laws for the benefit
of the laborer, etc. More tried as
hard to keep out of court as most men
try to get into it, His seventies
against the Professionals, exaggerated as
they have been by polemic rancOr, re-
main the one stain on memory that
knows no other" There is only space
to speak of his death. Thomas Crom-
well had become prime minister, and,
hating More fiercely, he found in
More's disapproval of the divorce of
Henry VIII. from Catherine of Ara
gon, the wished-for weapon against
him, and soon framed an act calling
upon all to recognize the religious valid
ity of the divorce. " The act was no
sooner passed than a royal mandate
babe More repair to Lambeth The
summons was, as he knew, simply
summons to death, and for a moment
there may have been some passing i'm
pulse to yield. But it was soon over.
l thank the Lord More said, with a
sudden start, as the boat dropped
silently down the river from his gar
den steps at Chelsea in the early morn
ing, | thank the Lord that the field is
won.' Cranmer rendered him the oath,
but he refused it. He was told to re-
consider it." "The day was hot and
More seated himself in a window from
which he could look down into the
crowded court; even in the presence of
death, the strange sympathy of his ma
ture could enjoy the humor and life of
the throng below" Recalled, he again
refused the oath, and was sent to
prison, from which he was soon taken
and beheaded A. d. 1885,
The frequent use of the adjective
" Utopian," derived from the chief
work of the above author, is one among
many illustrations that might be given
of the need that people of the present
day know something of the literature
of the past, in order that they may un
derstand the literature of recent times
Writers now assume that people of in
telligence know the leading characters
in standard English literature and the
prominent personages of history. The
Scribe was reminded of this, the othel
day, by running across the following
expression in magazine article: " 81
far can they advance, but here they
must stop. No }urther,' sag the neu
King Canutes." Now the Scribe was
greatly tempted at certain point il
our studies to call attention to this in
teresting Dane, Canute or Knut, witt
occupied for time the throne of En-
gland, but resisted the temptation be
cause his reign had no direct infuenc
on our language or literature. Yet tn
writer of this article takes for grantee
that everybody knows the incident il
his life here referred to. How man
of you, boys and girls, can tell what
was? You may "show hands b.
sending to the Scribe on a postal car
the main points of this story, or any