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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



exercise for the mischief and impudence of 

 their charges is well portrayed in several 

 places. The text is not burdened with tech- 

 nical names, and the many spirited illustra- 

 tions, together with the tasteful cover, add to 

 the attractiveness of the book. 



Social Progress : An Essay. By Daniel 

 Greenleaf Thompson. London and New 

 York: Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 161. 

 Price, $2. 



This work forms a part of the same se- 

 ries of philosophical discussions to which the 

 author's earlier volumes belong. Its spe- 

 cial object is to present the principles that 

 control the progress of society, a knowledge 

 of which will enable men to direct their 

 movements as social units so as to produce 

 the most useful work with the least friction. 

 The essay is substantially the introduction to 

 a longer work, on which the author is en- 

 gaged, entitled " The Fundamental Eights of 

 Man." The two chief topics of this book 

 are the conditions and the promotion of so- 

 cial progress. Every individual desires his 

 own advancement, says the author, and close- 

 ly bound up with this ideal of individual bet- 

 terment is an ideal of social improvement. 

 If there be either individual or social progress, 

 there must be liberty for action. But the 

 conflicting efforts of antagonistic individuals 

 will neutralize each other if they are not re- 

 strained. This restraint is furnished by law. 

 But too much restraint is as destructive as 

 none. Hence the general condition essential 

 to social progress is the establishment of 

 an equilibrium between liberty and law. 

 Men dwell together in the organic relations 

 of society because this state allows each in- 

 dividual to attain a greater number of de- 

 sires than he could in a solitary and hostile 

 existence. The existence of society requires 

 a social liberty — that is, the recognition of 

 rights due each member of the community, 

 and the limitation of the acts of every one 

 by those rights. The nature of men makes 

 necessary the defense of social liberty by 

 positive law, with machinery to enforce it un- 

 failingly and consistently. No government 

 can be stable that does not insure equality 

 in rights at least between those of the same 

 class, and a government which depends upon 

 the existence of classes tends to instability 

 as knowledge becomes diffused among the 



least favored classes. Inequality of power, 

 whether political or ecclesiastical authority 

 or wealth, is dangerous to security and should 

 be resisted. One more condition essential 

 to the progress of society is fraternity — a 

 disposition to prefer the good of the whole 

 to the selfish interest t>f the individual. 



In the part of the volume devoted to dis- 

 cussing the promotion of social progress Mr. 

 Thompson calls attention to the fact that in 

 every community there are observable two 

 opposed tendencies with regard to the exist- 

 ing order of things : one toward change, the 

 other resistance to change. The terms radi- 

 calism, and conservatism have been used to 

 express these antagonistic forces. Men un- 

 fortunately tend to range themselves as ad- 

 herents of one tendency or the other, and 

 any idea which bears the name of one party 

 is scouted by the other. In the social organ- 

 ism, as in the human body, change is essen- 

 tial to life, and, when the changes which con- 

 stitute the vital processes stop, death en- 

 sues and disintegrative changes begin. Mr. 

 Thompson states as the general principles 

 governing the promotion of social progress, 

 that opportunity should be afforded for the 

 action of evolutionary forces ; that changes 

 favoring the common freedom should be aid- 

 ed ; and that equal enjoyment and security 

 of life, liberty, and property are the test of 

 common freedom. Further, in order to de- 

 cide whether to aid or oppose a given change, 

 we should examine the motives of its propo- 

 nents and its opponents, estimate both the im- 

 mediate and the remote consequences of the 

 proposed change, consider the result of leaving 

 things as they are, and calculate the probabili- 

 ties of accomplishing the change and the re- 

 sults of failure. For the formation of opinions 

 that will be reliable guides to conduct, self- 

 knowledge and self-control in individuals are 

 prime necessities. The habit of being sus- 

 picious of the correctness of one's positions 

 and of the justice of one's sympathies and 

 antipathies ought to be systematically culti- 

 vated. Opinions should be expressed freely 

 though judiciously, in order to get the bene- 

 fit of criticism, upon them. Action should 

 be controlled by an extension and more care- 

 ful application of the same rules which ought 

 to govern expression of opinion. Compromise 

 and forbearance are sometimes the most ef- 

 fective action. While Mr. Thompson in his 



