“We gave ourselves for lost men and prepared for death. Yet we did lift up our hearts and voices to God above, who showeth His wonders in the deep, beseeching Him of His mercy, that as in the beginning He discovered the face of the deep, and brought forth dry land, so He would now discover land to us, that we might not perish.”
The narrator asserts the state of mind of the occupants of their vessel as they are gusted off course at sea. The assertion is more of a prayer for their safety since they are facing their own mortality. The statement also foreshadows the significance of divinity and religion to the narrative, as they come upon the Christian island of Bensalem.
“If ye will swear by the merits of the Saviour, that ye are no pirates, nor have shed blood, lawfully, nor unlawfully within forty days past, you may have license to come on land.”
The statement is an oath uttered to travelers who wish to enter the utopian land to pledge their devoutness and purity. The people of Bensalem hold dear the sanctity of their land, are therefore insistent that no sinfulness or wrongdoing be brought into their community. They work hard to preserve their culture and customs from outside interference and any visitor must thus abide by their creed.
"...and continually we met with many things right worthy of observation and relation: as indeed, if there be a mirror in the world worthy to hold men's eyes, it is that country."
As the narrator and his crew are permitted to leave the House of Strangers and explore the island, the narrator comes to understand the beauty of the inhabitants and the moral code to which they adhere. Here, he describes the utopian nature of the island as the best representation of the ideal form of man.
"He did ordain that of the strangers that should be permitted to land, as many (at all times) might depart as would; but as many as would stay should have very good conditions and means to live from the state."
In this quotation, the Governor of the House of Strangers explains how King Solamona implemented his policy about strangers visiting Bensalem: anyone who arrived as a stranger would be free to return home, but if they chose to stay, they would be welcomed into society and provided for by the state. As such, few people ever chose to return home. This description suggests that the utopian nature of the island is based on the willingness of the state to provide for its people, no matter their origins or financial state.
“But hear me now, and I will tell you what I know. You shall understand that there is not under the heavens so chaste a nation as this of Bensalem; nor so free from all pollution or foulness. It is the virgin of the world.”
Joabin the merchant describes the utopian nature of the island through the moral character of its inhabitants. Here, he describes the residents as "chaste," praising them for their pure-heartedness and Christian values (despite the fact that Joabin himself is Jewish).
"Know therefore, that with them there are no stews, no dissolute houses, no courtesans, nor anything of that kind. Nay they wonder (with detestation) at you in Europe, which permit such things."
When the narrator asks Joabin what kinds of laws the people of Bensalem have regarding marriage, Joabin praises the inhabitants for their chastity. Here, he suggests that the people of Bensalem have a much more faithful Christian understanding of marriage, which Europeans have marred through a preoccupation with money and self-interest.
"He was a Jew and circumcised: for they have some few stirps of Jews yet remaining among them, whom they leave to their own religion. Which they may the better do, because they are of a far differing disposition from the Jews in other parts."
A week into his stay in Bensalem, the narrator befriends a Jewish merchant named Joabin. Here, he describes Joabin as an exceptional kind of Jew, one who does not hate Christ but indeed reveres him with near-Christian understanding. These remarks (clearly anti-Semitic to contemporary readers) emphasize both the harmony with which the people of Bensalem live among one another, but also the notion that Christianity is the governing force behind the island's culture, regardless of the presence of Jewish worshippers.
"The end of our foundation is the knowledge of causes, and secret motions of things; and the enlarging of the bounds of human empire, to the effecting of all things possible."
When the narrator is granted a private audience with Father of Salomon's House, he learns of the structure and purpose of the island and its governing body. Here, the Father explains that at the root of the utopia is the quest for knowledge about the universe, which Salomon's House acquires through exploration, synthesis, and interpretation (the scientific method).
"We have also..."
While the narrator listens to the Father of Solamon's House, nearly every paragraph begins with this phrase. The repetition of the words "we have also" helps emphasize the plentiful nature of the island and of Salomon's House. It also conveys to the narrator (and thus the reader) how much more advanced this civilization is than early modern Europe, as they have so many outlets for research and scientific inquiry that the repetition of this phrase becomes a testament to that preeminence.
"I give thee leave to publish it for the good of other nations; for we here are in God's bosom, a land unknown."
When the Father of Salomon's House is finished telling the narrator about their foundation and goals, he grants him permission to publish his findings for the rest of the world. This moment explains the origins of New Atlantis as a text and also implies that the people of early modern Europe (i.e., Bacon's peers) could learn from this utopian vision.
