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Cardinal John Morton
One of the men whom Raphael Hythloday speaks with at Cardinal Morton’s table, the lawyer praises the severity of English justice: he thinks it a good sign that so many thieves in England are hanged and that so few escape hanging. After Hythloday thoroughly critiques his position, the lawyer attempts to respond in pompous, verbose terms, but the Cardinal worthily silences him. Later, the lawyer just dismisses Hythloday’s argument out of hand—and ironically everyone present agrees with him, except for the Cardinal himself. The lawyer represents how pride and prejudice make us deaf to reason and wisdom.
A Lawyer Quotes in Utopia
The Utopia quotes below are all either spoken by A Lawyer or refer to A Lawyer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Book 1 Quotes
Provision should have been made [in England], so that no man should be driven to this extreme necessity, first to steal and then to die.
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A Lawyer Character Timeline in Utopia
The timeline below shows where the character A Lawyer appears in Utopia. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Book 1
One day, while sitting at Cardinal Morton’s table, Hythloday fell into discussion with a cunning lawyer concerning English law. The lawyer praises the rigorous justice executed upon felons and especially thieves...
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The lawyer responds that England should cherish these pampered, out-of-work serving men, for they are stouter and...
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The lawyer tediously claims he will answer Hythloday, promising to rehearse each of his points in order...
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...can be so organized that even bad people can’t help but to do good. The lawyer at once counters that, were England to do as the Polylerites do, the nation would...
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