PROGRESS: A DRAMA OF KVOLITIOS 



185 



fessing to hold the learning of the past, 

 are telling us that we "cannot change 

 hvnnan nature"; that every wicked 

 and vicious thing has its roots in nature, 

 and however much it is to be deplored, 

 it must be endured. This attitude is 

 one of the deep fmidamental causes of 

 the present war. Let us learn indeed 

 from the past, that significant progress 



is always possil)lc, but through narrow 

 paths, which to our eyes, blinded by the 

 light of custom, seem dark and danger- 

 ous. Hazarding these byways, many of 

 us must fail, but the few who succeed 

 will win for the human race the rich 

 prizes of the future. This is not mere 

 sentiment; it is the teaching of science 

 and of universal experience. 



Act I 



Beneath the waters of the ocean. Seaioeeds, lobsters, crahs, inoUusks, etc. 



Time, Late Cambrian 



Enter Amphioxus, Larv.\l Tunicate axd Balaxoglossus 



Amphioxus. We are not much to look at, Is nothing. The spirit of creation, giving 



but we are lobsters, crabs and snails, 



All in the way of progress. Fine worms, starfishes and sea cucumbers: 



Our backs are stiffened by a notochord, and all this 



all above Can now be set at naught, and you, clean 



A slender nerve cord runs from fore to aft, upside down. 



Prophetic of a brain. This tiny spot, this Will lead the van of progress! 



httle speck of black, ^^^^ ^^^, ^^,^ .,,^^^^ j^^^^^j^ inordinately.] 



Will some day be a pair of eyes, to knowingly 



survey the world, 

 While these gill slits, ranged on each sitle, 



already serve 

 To liven us with oxygen, gleaned from the 



waters flowing through them. 

 All in the way of progress to be vertebrates, 



and in days to come 

 Perchance, some creature with a soul. 



OvsTER. Our good crustaceous friend speaks 



truly; let me ask 

 \Miere would your progress take you? 

 What is a vertebrate, and what this thing 

 You say might have a soul? 

 No science teaches of such things, nor any 



story of the past; 

 A crab we know, a shrimp we know, a limpet 



is concrete and real. 

 Lobster. All in the way of progress! Are But this absurdity you tell of, what is it? 



you mad? A recollection of a dream that dreamed of 



I tell you, sirs, the progress of the ])ast has dreams. 



not been thus. 

 In years so many that to count by millions 



is fatiguing. 

 In all the ages since the Cambrian dawn, and 



all the unknown times before 

 Was never such a thing. 

 Your nerve cord dorsal! Do you know 

 You're upside down? Clean topsy-turvy, Small, soft and pallid or mud-colored. 



and this somersault No legs, no spines, no shell, no gaudy hues 



You say is progress! You think the learning To make you seem in fashion, and in form 



of the past To mix in good society. 



A twist of thought so meaningless that it is 



less than nothing. 

 Come friends, forsake your quest and be like 



us! 



Se.\ urchix. Moreover, just consider how 

 vou look: 



