AUTHOR OF
"LOVE AND MR. LEWISHAM," "THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU,"
AND "TALES OF SPACE AND TIME."
SECOND EDITION
It is proposed in this book to present in as orderly an arrangement asthe necessarily diffused nature of the subject admits, certainspeculations about the trend of present forces, speculations which,taken all together, will build up an imperfect and very hypothetical,but sincerely intended forecast of the way things will probably go inthis new century.[1] Necessarily diffidence will be one of the graces ofthe performance. Hitherto such forecasts have been presented almostinvariably in the form of fiction, and commonly the provocation of thesatirical opportunity has been too much for the writer;[2][Pg 2] thenarrative form becomes more and more of a nuisance as the speculativeinductions become sincerer, and here it will be abandoned altogether infavour of a texture of frank inquiries and arranged considerations. Ourutmost aim is a rough sketch of the coming time, a prospectus, as itwere, of the joint undertaking of mankind in facing these impendingyears. The reader is a prospective shareholder—he and his heirs—thoughwhether he will find this anticipatory balance-sheet to his belief orliking is another matter.
For reasons that will develop themselves more clearly as these papersunfold, it is extremely convenient to begin with a speculation upon theprobable developments and changes of the means of land[Pg 3] locomotionduring the coming decades. No one who has studied the civil history ofthe nineteenth century will deny how far-reaching the consequences ofchanges in transit may be, and no one who has studied the m