The progress of the human mind can be illustrated only by that which is vital, not by anything mechanical.  Mind reacts upon whatever is given to it according to the divine laws of its own organism.  The human mind, like the plant, must exhibit vitality in abundance before it finds a higher and more complex manifestation.  The unskilled teacher, instead of inviting out the young pupil along the line of his own organism, may, at the outset, paralyze the unfolding mind by ill-advised dictation.  There can be no true teaching which does not involve growing, and growing in the way intended by nature.  The teacher must be something more than a critic.  The critic establishes criteria, protects the public, and, in a measure, educates the public taste.  When he is able to teach others how to reach true criteria he becomes a teacher.  Until he can do this he has no place in the class room.

It will be observed that the four volumes of the “Evolution of Expression” recognize the four general stages of man’s development:  Volume I., representing the period when the individual is engrossed with subjects or objects as a Whole, and his passion for life is expressed through rude energy, size—­the Colossal; Volume II., when he delights in so presenting The Parts to which he has been attracted, as to make them Effective in attracting the attention of others; Volume III., when his appreciation of the use or Service of the Parts carries him beyond the melodramatic to the Realistic; and Volume IV., in which his dawning perception of that higher service resulting from the truthful Relationship of the Parts leads him beyond realism to idealism, the Suggestive.

In choosing the selections for this and the accompanying volumes, the aim has been to preserve the natural oneness between the study of literature and that of expression, and to encourage the appreciation of this unity in the minds of teacher and student.  It may be said that the greatest of the world’s literature was written for the ear, not for the eye, and its noblest influence is felt only when it is adequately voiced by an intelligent and sympathetic reader.  It is the object of these volumes to foster in the student a keener and deeper appreciation of the truth and beauty of great prose and verse, and at the same time to enrich his own and other lives by cultivating the power of expressing the glories which are opened to his vision.

The arrangement of the selections is for the purpose of teaching the art of reading according to the steps of natural evolution hinted at in the foregoing pages, and in a way which experience has found most prolific in practical results.

While no effort has been made to search for novelties, great care has been taken to secure selections which, while of pure literary merit, are especially adapted for drill in the several steps of progress in reading.  The power developed in the student through carefully directed drill on these selections will enable him to illuminate whatever other literature he may care to interpret.  The arrangement of the selections in small divisions or paragraphs has been made for convenience in the work of the class room.