THE IDEA OF PROGRESS
AN INQUIRY INTO ITS ORIGIN AND GROWTH

BY

J. B. BURY
REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY, AND FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE


Dedicated to the memories of Charles Francois Castel de Saint-
Pierre, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat de Condorcet, Auguste
Comte, Herbert Spencer, and other optimists mentioned in this
volume.

Tantane uos generis tenuit fiducia uestri?




PREFACE

We may believe in the doctrine of Progress or we may not, but in
either case it is a matter of interest to examine the origins and
trace the history of what is now, even should it ultimately prove to
be no more than an idolum saeculi, the animating and controlling
idea of western civilisation. For the earthly Progress of humanity
is the general test to which social aims and theories are submitted
as a matter of course. The phrase CIVILISATION AND PROGRESS has
become stereotyped, and illustrates how we have come to judge a