_Privacy._――The last proviso is important. Civilization not only makes us more accessible to those we appreciate, but also makes us less accessible to those of whom we disapprove. An increase in our area of choice would be of little value if everybody else could choose to intrude upon us at any time or place. A limitation of social intercourse to a chosen few, or its total cessation for the time required for rest and recuperation in a strenuous life is one of the greatest boons one can desire. The rank and file is more gregarious than the _élite_ and, as one of the ideals of progress is to raise the masses towards the level occupied by the _élite_, the extension of facilities for seclusion is of the essence of progress. Hence commons and open spaces are provided in and around well-planned cities. Houses are provided with sound-proof walls, and gardens are protected as much as possible from “overlooking.” A very modern problem of the same kind is the protection of wireless listeners from oscillations produced in neighbouring receiving sets. _Clothing._――The present generation of civilized humanity justly prides itself on its sensible style of clothing. Although masculine clothing contains a number of “vestigial” elements which are absurd survivals of former necessities, the practice, observed more especially in Great Britain, of wearing a variety of apparel suited to special occasions and occupations adds a certain elasticity to fashions which otherwise are almost comically rigid. If a man wore a wreath of flowers round his head instead of a hat he would not walk fifty yards in any London street without being arrested for “insulting behaviour” or “conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.” Yet a woman could do so with impunity if she did it with the necessary air of assurance. The future of clothing is largely affected by social problems. Masculine clothing ceased to be demonstrative in Europe shortly after the French Revolution. While aristocracy flourished, it paraded itself aggressively in velvet and ruffles and powdered wigs. In modern times it is bad form to strut and swagger, except on very special occasions. Good clothing is not aggressively ornate or expensive. Its quality is a matter of lines and cut and finish. Its preciousness is disguised from the uninitiated. It is like the sober and almost dingy town houses of the nobility, whose splendour is only shown to favoured friends and trusted servants. In 1794 the dress of the “aristo” was a passport to the guillotine. In later and wiser days it is a disguise to deceive the tax-collector and the demagogue, and to lull their prying rapacity into inactivity.