THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY 



with conscious or unconscious reference to 

 events which happened centuries ago. That the 

 rapid and permanent character of modern pro- 

 gress is in great measure due to this circum- 

 stance will be denied by no one. And thus 

 is explained the wonderful civilizing effect of 

 various events which have from time to time 

 brought together distant sections of mankind ; 

 among which it will be sufficient merely to name 

 the campaigns of Alexander, the spread of 

 Roman dominion, the Arabian conquests, the 

 Crusades, and the voyages of Columbus, Ma- 

 gellan, and De Gama. The invention of print- 

 ing, increasing the rapidity and the frequency 

 with which the thoughts of various minds are 

 brought into contact, offers another illustration ; 

 and in a similar way is to be explained the civi- 

 lizing agency of railroads and telegraphs. 



Comparing these deductions with the histori- 

 cal survey of ethical development above taken, 

 we arrive at a set of mutually harmonious con- 

 clusions. We see that the process of intellectual 

 and moral adaptation which constitutes social 

 progress is determined by the steadily increasing 

 heterogeneity of the social environment. And 

 we see that this increased heterogeneity of the 

 environment is caused by the integration or 

 growing interdependence of communities that 

 were originally isolated. We have now to ex- 

 amine this process of integration somewhat 



3^5 



