116 Progress and Civilisation. PT. m. 



idea of Progress has acquired a predominance over 

 the public mind which it never before exercised. It 

 has become in itself a moving force in human affairs. 

 I mean that the universal impression that great 

 changes are taking place, and that Progress is a law 

 of Nature, has in itself an active influence. There 

 is, however, something vague and indefinite in the 

 current impressions which are so widely scattered 

 throughout all classes of the community. Men echo 

 the phrases, 'The Progress of Society,' 'The Advance 

 of Civilisation,' ' This is an Age of Progress.' They 

 use these general expressions without any very dis- 

 tinct or accurate sense of their purport, or any 

 attempt to explore the depths of the vast subject 

 comprehended in these expressions. A civilised 

 State is generally understood to describe a society 

 which has attained a certain point of refinement 

 and cultivation, in which the Arts and Sciences 

 are studied and understood, where a regular Govern- 

 ment is established, and where a system of laws 

 administered with tolerable justice, and securing the 

 fundamental rights of property, is established. 



A rough, but not very incorrect classification is 

 adopted in familiar conversation. The European 

 Nations, and their descendants established in America 



