ORIGIN OF INDUSTRIAL CIVILISATION 31 



retained their energy unimpaired. In this natural Book i 

 descent of the stronger races on " the richer and 

 more varied habitats " of the weaker, and the conse- 

 quent super-position of one race over another, we 

 see the origin of slavery, and of all the ancient 

 civilisations that reposed upon it. 



We have here the three essential elements to the 

 union of which primarily all human progress has 

 been due : firstly, a race remarkable for its active 

 energy ; secondly, the appropriation by this race of 

 some richer habitat than its own ; and thirdly, 

 the possession by it of an inferior race, as subjects, 

 who are ready to work for its benefit, and are 

 capable, when coerced and directed by it, of pro- 

 ducing wealth indefinitely greater and more varied 

 than they would or could have produced had they 

 been left to their own devices. 



And here we are brought to the threshold of a Again, division 

 new order of facts. Industrial production, which is 

 the basis of all civilisation, is not, says Mr. Spencer, 

 started on its progressive career by the sudden was caused by 



J the differences 



orders of any one remarkable man, but by the in the products 



. of different 



spontaneous action of certain natural causes. It localities, 

 must first be observed that its general character 

 and its progress are always found to depend on 

 the same thing. They depend on the division of 

 labour. This, as Mr. Spencer says, developed 

 in varying degrees, is the salient characteristic of 

 every civilisation in the world. To what, then, is 

 the division of labour, in the first instance, itself 

 due ? This is the opening question asked by Adam 



