To obtain even a general idea of that vast organic growth in the midst of which we are living, and which for want of a better name we call Western Civilisation, it is absolutely necessary that the point of view should be removed to some distance. When this is done the resulting change in aspect is very striking. We are apt to imagine that many of the more obvious features of the society in which we live go to constitute the natural and normal condition of the world; that they have always existed, and that it is part of the order of things that they should always continue to exist. It is far more difficult than might be imagined for the average mind to realise that the main features of our modern society are quite special in the history of the world; that institutions which seem a necessary part of our daily life and of our national existence are absolutely new and exceptional; and that under the outward appearance of stability they are still undergoing rapid change and development.

We have only to look round us to immediately perceive how comparatively recent in origin are many of the most characteristic features of our social life. Our trades, commerce, and manufactures, our banking systems, our national debts, our huge systems of credit, are the growth of scarcely more than two centuries. The revolution in methods of travel and means of communication, and our systems of universal education, are the products of the century in which we are still living. The capitalism and industrialism of to-day, and the world market which they seek to supply, are but recent growths.