progressive steps through which the pupil may be led to a
realization of himself. This trend is best shown in the
multiplicity and excellence of recent pedagogical treatises and in
the appearance of carefully graded and progressive text-books. The
ancients believed that their heroes were born of gods and
goddesses. They knew of no means by which the mind could be
developed to the compass of greatness. The ancient theory to
account for greatness was preternatural birth; the modern theory
is evolution. To-day the interest of the child is awakened, his
mind is aroused, and then led onward in regular steps.

The study of all forms of art, so far as methods are concerned,
should be progressive. For correct guidance in our search for the
best methods, we must understand the order of the development of
the human mind. A child, before he arrives at an age where he can
be taught definitely, is simply a little palpitating mass of
animation. Soon he begins to show an attraction toward surrounding
objects. Next he begins to show a greater attraction for some
things than for others. His hands clutch at and retain certain
objects. He now enters the period of development where he makes
selections, and thus is born the power of choice. Objects which,
at first, appeared to him as a mass now begin to stand out clearly
one from another; to become more and more differentiated, while
the child begins to separate and to compare. Thus the brain of the
child passes through the successive stages from simple animation
to attraction, to selection or choice, to separation or analysis.
This principle of evolution, operating along the same lines, is
found in the race as in the individual. In all man's work he has
but recorded his own life or evolution. All history, all
religions, all governments, all forms of art bring their testimony