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The City of the Sun by Tommaso Campanella
page 54 of 58 (93%)
For the praise of no one is a statue erected until after his
death; but while he is alive, who has found out new arts and very
useful secrets, or who has rendered great service to the State
either at home or on the battle-field, his name is written in the
book of heroes. They do not bury dead bodies, but burn them, so
that a plague may not arise from them, and so that they may be
converted into fire, a very noble and powerful thing, which has
its coming from the sun and returns to it. And for the above
reasons no chance is given for idolatry. The statues and pict-
ures of the heroes, however, are there, and the splendid women
set apart to become mothers often look at them. Prayers are
made from the State to the four horizontal corners of the
world -- in the morning to the rising sun, then to the setting
sun, then to the south, and lastly to the north; and in the con-
trary order in the evening, first to the setting sun, to the rising
sun, to the north, and at length to the south. They repeat but
one prayer, which asks for health of body and of mind, and
happiness for themselves and all people, and they conclude it
with the petition "As it seems best to God." The public prayer
for all is long, and it is poured forth to heaven. For this rea-
son the altar is round and is divided crosswise by ways at right
angles to one another. By these ways Hoh enters after he has
repeated the four prayers, and he prays looking up to heaven.
And then a great mystery is seen by them. The priestly vest-
ments are of a beauty and meaning like to those of Aaron.
They resemble nature and they surpass Art.

They divide the seasons according to the revolution of the
sun, and not of the stars, and they observe yearly by how much
time the one precedes the other. They hold that the sun ap-
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