y of repeating these blunders--which, believing the article to
be by their own examiner, they of course did. The Professor plucked
every single one of them, but his action was considered to have been not
quite handsome.

I told them of Homer's noble line to the effect that a man should strive
ever to be foremost and in all things to outvie his peers; but they said
that no wonder the countries in which such a detestable maxim was held in
admiration were always flying at one another's throats.

"Why," asked one Professor, "should a man want to be better than his
neighbours? Let him be thankful if he is no worse."

I ventured feebly to say that I did not see how progress could be made in
any art or science, or indeed in anything at all, without more or less
self-seeking, and hence unamiability.

"Of course it cannot," said the Professor, "and therefore we object to
progress."

After which there was no more to be said. Later on, however, a young
Professor took me aside and said he did not think I quite understood
their views about progress.

"We like progress," he said, "but it must commend itself to the common
sense of the people. If a man gets to know more than his neighbours he
should keep his knowledge to himself till he has sounded them, and seen
whether they agree, or are likely to agree with him. He said it was as
immoral to be too far in front of one's own age, as to lag too far behind
it. If a man can carry his neighbours with him, he may say what he
likes; but if not, what insult can be more gratuitous than the telling
them what they do not want to know? A man should remember that
intellectual over-indulgence is one of the most insidious and disgraceful
forms that excess can take. Granted that every one should exceed more or
less, inasmuch as absolutely perfect sanity would drive any man mad the
moment he reached it, but . . . "

He was now warming to his subject and I was beginning to wonder how I
should get rid of him, when the party broke up, and though I promised to
call on him before I left, I was unfortunately prevented from doing so.

I have now said enough to give English readers some idea of the strange
views which the Erewhonians hold concerning unreason, hypothetics, and
education generally. In many respects they were sensible enough, but I
could not get over the hypothetics, especially the turning their own good
poetry into the hypothetical language. In the course of my stay I met
on