He is submerged
in progress."
"You might call civilization a placid lake," said the American, "and
the other a river or torrent."
"Exactly!" remarked Mr. Heard. "The one is static, the other dynamic.
And which of the two, Count, would you say was the more beneficial to
humanity?"
"Ah! For my part I would not bring such consideration to bear on the
point. We may deduce, from the evolution of society, that progress is
the newer movement, since the State, which welds together, is of more
recent growth than the individualistic family or clan. This is as far
as I care to go. To debate whether one be better for mankind than the
other betrays what I call an anthropomorphic turn of mind; it is
therefore a problem which, so far as I am concerned, does not exist. I
content myself with establishing the fact that progress and
civilization are incompatible, mutually exclusive."
"Do you mean to say," asked the millionaire, "that it is impossible to
be progressive and civilized at the same time?"
"That is what I mean to say.
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