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THOMAS MORE R Lord Chancellor of England.

Written in Latin by Sir THOMAS MORE,
Lord High Chancellor of England.

Translated into English by GILBERT BURNET D. D.
Sometime Profeffor of Divinity in the University of
Glasgow, afterwards Bishop of Sarum.

GLASGOW,

Printed by ROBERT FOULIS, and fold by him there; and, at
Edinburgh, by Meff. HAMILTON and BALFOUR Bookfellers.

Bishop BURNET's PREFACE

CONCERNING

TRANSLATION, particularly this of UTOPIA.

T

HERE is no Way of writing fo proper, for the refining and polishing a Language, as the tranflating of Books into it, if he that undertakes it has a competent Skill of the one Tongue, and is a Master of the other. When a Man writes his own Thoughts, the Heat of his Fancy, and the Quickness of his Mind, carry him fo much after the Notions themfelves, that for the most Part he is too warm to judge of the Aptnefs of Words, and the Juftnefs of Figures; fo that he either neglects thefe too much, or over-does them: But when a Man tranflates, he has none of these Heats about him: And therefore the French took no ill Method, when they intended to reform and beautify

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their Language, in fetting their best Writers on work to tranflate the Greek and Latin Authors into it. There is fo little Praise got by Translations, that a Man cannot be engaged to it out of Vanity, for it has paffed for a Sign of a flow Mind, that can amuse itself with fo mean an Entertainment; but we begin to grow wifer, and tho' ordinary Tranflators must fucceed ill in the Efteem of the World, yet some have appeared of late that will, I hope, bring that Way of writing in Credit. The English Language has wrought itself out, both of the fulfome Pedantry under which it laboured long ago, and the trifling Way of dark and unintelligible Wit that came after that, and out of the coarfe Extravagance of Canting that fucceeded this: But as one Extream commonly produces another, fo we were beginning to fly into a fublime Pitch of a strong but falfe Rhetorick, which had much corrupted, not only the Stage, but even the Pulpit; two Places, that tho' they ought not to be named together, much lefs to resemble one another; yet it cannot be denied, but the Rule and Measure of Speech is generally taken from them: But that florid Strain is almost quite worn out, and is become now as ridiculous as it was once admired. So that without either the Expence or Labour that the French have undergone, our Language has, like a rich Wine, wrought out its Tartar,

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