Civilization and Decay 353 



sive, though perhaps an abler, man than Henry. In 

 this he is probably quite right. His account of the 

 hounding down of Boniface, and the cruel destruc- 

 tion of the Templars, is as stirring as it is truthful ; 

 but he certainly pushes his theory to an altogether 

 impossible extreme when he states that the moneyed 

 class, the bourgeoisie, was already the dominant 

 force in France. The heroes of Froissart still lay 

 in the future ; and for centuries to come the burgher 

 was to be outweighed by king, priest, and noble. 

 The economic man, the man of trade and money, 

 was, at that time, in no sense dominant. 



That there is grave reason for some of Mr. 

 Adams's melancholy forebodings, no serious stu- 

 dent of the times, no sociologist or reformer, and 

 no practical politician who is interested in more 

 than momentary success, will deny. A foolish op- 

 timist is only less noxious than an utter pessimist; 

 and the prerequisite for any effort, whether hopeful 

 or hopeless, to better our conditions is an accurate 

 knowledge of what these conditions are. There is 

 no use in blinding ourselves to certain of the ten- 

 dencies and results of our high-pressure civilization. 

 Some very ominous facts have become more and 

 more apparent during the present century, in which 

 the social movement of the white race has gone 

 on with such unexampled and ever-accelerating 

 rapidity. The rich have undoubtedly grown richer; 

 and, while the most careful students are inclined to 

 answer with an emphatic negative the proposition 

 that the poor have grown poorer, it is nevertheless 



