Archimedes Texts

91
Wall, nor would it be amiss to add a Tower,
which is not at all inconsistent with a religious
Edifice. The Monastery for those Recluse
who to Religion join the Study of the liberal
Arts, that they may be the more ready to pro
mote the Good of Mankind, according to the
Obligation of their Character, ought to be nei
ther within the Noise and Hurry of Trades
men, nor too far remote from the Access of the
Citizens. And as they are a great many in
Family, and there is generally a great Con
course of People to hear them Preach and Dis
pute concerning sacred Things; they require a
very large House. They can be placed no where
better than among some publick Buildings,
such as Theatres, Circusses, or Squares, where
the Multitude going for their Pleasure may
more easily by the Exhortations, Example and
Admonition of the Religious, be drawn from
Vice to Virtue, and from Ignorance to Know
ledge.

The Ancients, and especially the Greeks,
used in the very Middle of their Cities
to erect those Edifices which they called
Palæstræ, where those who applied themselves
to Philosophy, attended publick Disputations.
They were large spacious Places full of Win
dows, with a free Prospect on all Sides, and
raised Seats, and Porticoes running round some
green flowery Meadow. Such a Structure is
extremely proper for these Persons, who may
be reckoned a Kind of Religious; and I would
have those who delight in the Study of Learn
ing, be provided with every Thing that may
induce them to stay with their Tutors with
Pleasure, and without Uneasiness or Satiety.
For this Reason, I would have the Meadow,
the Portico, and every Thing else so laid out,
that nothing whatsoever could be better con
trived for Recreation. In Winter let them re
ceive the kindly Beams of the Sun, and in Sum
mer be shady and open to gentle refreshing
Breezes. But of the Delicacies of this Kind of
Structures we shall speak more particularly in
another Place. Only if you do resolve to erect
publick Schools, where the Learned may meet
and converse, place them in that Situation
which may be most convenient and pleasant for
them. Let there be no Noises of working Trades,
no noisome ill Smells; and do not let it be a
Place for idle People to loyter in; but let it
have more the Air of a Solitude, such as be
comes Men of Gravity employed about the no
blest and most curious Enquiries: In a Word,
it should have more of Majesty than Nicety.
As for Hospitals where the Priest is to exercise
his Charity towards the Poor and Distressed,
they are to be built with much Thought, and
a good Deal of Variety; for one Place is pro
per for harbouring the Distressed, and another
for curing and fostering the Sick and Infirm:
Among these last too we should take Care to
make a good Deal of Distinction, that while
we are providing for a few useless People, we
do not neglect more that might really be of
Service. There have been some Princes in Italy
that would never suffer any tattered Cripples
to go about their Cities begging Charity from
Door to Door; but as soon as ever they came,
an Order was brought to them not to be seen
in that City without working at some Trade
above three Days: For there is hardly any so
maimed but what may do some Work or other;
and even a blind Man may turn a Rope
maker's Wheel, if he can do nothing else. As
for those who are entirely oppressed and dif
abled by some heavier Infirmity, they were
taken care of by Magistrates appointed on pur
pose to provide for sick Strangers, and distri
buted regularly to inferior Hospitlers, to be
looked after. And by this Means these poor
Wretches did not wander about begging Re
lief, perhaps in vain; and the City was not of
fended by miserable and filthy Objects. In
Tuscany, always famous for Religion and Pie
ty, there are noble Hospitals, built at a vast
Expence; where as well Strangers as Natives,
are furnished plentifully with all Manner of
Necessaries for their Cure. But as the Sick are
of various Sorts, some afflicted with Leprosy or
Plague, with which they might infect those who
are in Health, and others, if such an Expres
sion may be allowed, with more wholsome