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PREFACE 



THE purpose of the following selections is to present to 

 students of English a few of Huxley's representative es- 

 says. Some of these selections are complete ; others are 

 extracts. In the latter case, however, they are not extracts 

 in the sense of being incomplete wholes, for each selection 

 given will be found to have, in Aristotle's phrase, " a 

 beginning, a middle, and an end." That they are complete 

 in themselves, although only parts of whole essays, is due 

 to the fact that Huxley, in order to make succeeding ma- 

 terial clear, often prepares the way with a long and careful 

 definition. Such is the nature of the extract A Liberal 

 Education, in reality a definition to make distinct and 

 forcible his ideas on the shortcomings of English schools. 

 Such a definition, also, is The Method of Scientific In- 

 vestigation. 



The footnotes are those of the author. Other notes on 

 the text have been included for the benefit of schools in- 

 adequately equipped with reference books. It is hoped, 

 however, that the notes may be found not to be so numer- 

 ous as to prevent the training of the student in a self-reliant 

 and scholarly use of dictionaries and reference books ; it 

 is hoped, also, that they may serve to stimulate him to 

 trace out for himself more completely any subject connected 

 with the text in which he may feel a peculiar interest. It 

 should be recognized that notes are of value only as they 

 develop power to read intelligently. If unintelligently relied 

 upon, they may even foster indifference and lazy mental 

 habits. 



I wish to express my obligation to Miss Flora Bridges, 

 whose careful reading of the manuscript has been most 

 helpful, and to Professor Clara F. Stevens, the head of the 

 English Department at Mount Holyoke College, whose very 

 practical aid made this volume possible. 



A. L. F. S. 



