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OLD-TIME SCHOOLS

JiifaMMs sT/fa/h***

/ ^A 7

AND SCHOOL-BOOKS

A Schoolmaster of Long Ago.

OLD-TIME SCHOOLS
AND SCHOOL-BOOKS

By CLIFTON JOHNSON

WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS
COLLECTED BY THE AUTHOR

gorfc
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

LONDON : MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.
1904

ji.ll rights reserved

Set up, electrotyped, and published April, 1904.

A CONSIDERABLE portion of

• the material included in this
volume was first published in
The New England Maga-
zine, The Congregational-
ist, Frank Leslie's Popular
Monthly, The Interior,
The Springfield Republican,
Good Housekeeping, and
The Outlook.

Norwood Press

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.

Introductory Note

THE contrast between the dainty picture books
that are provided to entice the school children of
the present along the paths of knowledge, and the
sparsely illustrated volumes conned by the little
folk of two or three generations ago, is very great ;
and yet the old books seemed beautiful to the
children then, and the charm all comes back when
a person of middle age or beyond happens on one
of these humble friends of his youth. What an
aroma of the far-gone days of childhood hovers in
the yellow pages ! The scenes in the schoolroom
rise in the memory, one is young again, and has
in gentle illusion the same feelings and the same
juvenile companions as of old.

But the pleasure of seeing the books of our
schooldays is seldom experienced ; for, once their
work was done, they received scant care, and most
of the multitude that were printed have perished
utterly. The wear and tear of use and the acci-
dents and exigencies of time have made way with
them, and to-day one could hardly find the books
he studied as a child save by long and patient
search, and perhaps some of them not at all. My

vi Introductory Note

own collection of school-books has been largely
gathered by exploring the nooks and corners of the
old bookshops from New England to South Caro-
lina ; but many things I could not get, and I have
been greatly aided in compiling this volume by the
collections of various individuals and institutions.
I am especially grateful to the American Antiqua-
rian Society of Worcester, the Essex Institute of
Salem, the Deerfield Museum, the Connecticut His-
torical Society, and to Mr. Albert C. Bates of Hart-
ford, and Mr. George A. Plimpton of New York.
I also am much indebted to the Henry Barnard
Collection, now at Hartford, but probably soon to
be sold and transferred elsewhere — a collection
which includes the American publications used in
our schools from the beginnings down to 1850
more completely than any other in existence.

My readers will doubtless notice that I have
dwelt on the educational history of Massachusetts
rather than on that of any of its neighbors. This
I have done because it seems to me to possess un-
rivalled interest. Massachusetts has always been
a pioneer in educational experiments, and where
it has led the way the sister states have followed.
Its experience has been a constant aid to them, and
the attention it has given to education has always
been far above the average for the whole country.

CLIFTON JOHNSON.

HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS.

Contents

Chapter Page

I. Beginnings ....... I

II. Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century . . 29

III. The New England Primer .... 69

IV. The District Schools . . . . .100
V. Grammar Schools and Academies . . 135

VI. Fly-leaf Scribblings . . . . . .151

VII. Noah Webster and his Spelling-book . . .167

VIII. Other Spelling-books 185

IX. Primary Readers . . . . . .233

X. Advanced Readers . . . . . .265

XI. Arithmetics . . . . . . .301

XII. The First American Geography . . . .318

XIII. Later Geographies . . . . . • 337

XIV. Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books . 363

vii

Two Illustrations
selected from one hun-
dred and sixty similar
pictures in Paul Pres-
ton's Book of Gym-
nasties, 1847.

A Whale. From Comly's A New Spelling-book, 1806.

List of Illustrations

NOTE. — The reproductions from old school-books are the same size as the
originals unless otherwise stated beneath the engravings. All pictures not credited
in the following list to individuals or societies are from the author's own collection.

Page
A Fly-leaf Scribble. From a Webster's The Little Reader's

Assistant, 1791, in the Henry Barnard School-book

Collection, Hartford, Conn. ..... i

A Schoolmaster of Long Ago .... Frontispiece

A Decorative Pen. From the title-page of Emerson's First

Class Reader, 1833 Title-page

Two Illustrations selected from 160 similar pictures in Paul

Preston's Book of Gymnastics, 1 847 . . . viii

A Whale. From Comly's A New Spelling-book, 1806 . ix
A Melancholy Scene. From Town's Second Reader, 1848 xxii
Schoolhouse erected in 1 649 at Dedham, Mass. From The

New England Magazine ..... 7
First Lesson Page of Comenius's Visible World. Owned by

Mr. George A. Plimpton, New York . . .15
Part of an Illustrated Alphabet in the Visible World. Owned

by Mr. George A. Plimpton . . , , ,17
ix

x List of Illustrations

Page
A Page showing the Method of" Teaching in the Visible

World. Owned by Mr. George A. Plimpton . . 19
Portion of the Title-page of a popular Text-book first pub-
lished in 1596. Owned by Mr. George A. Plimpton 20
Frontispiece to a Speller entitled A Rational Way of Teach-
ing, 1688. Owned by Mr. George A. Plimpton . 21
The School Dame v i -.-.,*,- . facing 24

A Typical Horn-book . . . . . . . 26

Revolving Alphabet. Owned by Mr. Albert C. Bates,

Hartford, Conn. . . . . . .27

A Salem Schoolhouse with Whipping-post in the near Street.

From a drawing in the Essex Institute, made about 1770 30
Facsimile of Washington's Schoolboy Handwriting. From

a manuscript in the National Archives . . .34

One of the Log Schoolhouses still to be found in the South . 3 5
Inkstand, Sandbox, and Bunch of Uncut Quills. Owned by

the Museum at Deerfield, Mass. . . . -37
A Homemade Copy Book with a Wall-paper Cover. Owned

by the Essex Institute . ... . . -39

A Colonial Schoolmaster. From Judd's Margaret facing 41
Part of the Title-page of an Early Religious School-book.

Owned by Mr. George A. Plimpton ... 45
Noah's Ark as depicted in The History of Genesis. Owned

by Mr. George A. Plimpton . . • . . .46
Title-page of The Child' s Weeks-work. Owned by Mr.

George A. Plimpton . . . . . . 47

A Tree of Knowledge Frontispiece. From The London

Spelling-Book, 1710. Owned by Mr. George A.

Plimpton . . . • . . . .48
An Illustrated Alphabet in The London Spelling-Book.

Owned by Mr. George A. Plimpton ... 49
The Fisherman with "a bird in the hand." From Dil-

worth's A New Guide to the English Tongue. Henry
Barnard Collection , , * , , 50

List of Illustrations xi

Page

The Waggoner and Hercules. From Dilworth's A New
Guide to the English Tongue. Henry Barnard Col-
lection . . . . . . ..51

The Ungrateful Adder. From Dilworth's A New Guide to

the English Tongue. Henry Barnard Collection . 52

Frontispiece to Penning' s The Universal Spelling-Book

facing 54

The Town in Danger. From Penning' s The Universal

Spelling-Book . . . . . . .54

The Truant Boys. From Penning' s The Universal Spelling-
Book 56

Virtuous Tommy gives Naughty Harry some Good Advice

From Penning' s The Universal Spelling-Book . . 57

Frontispiece to The British Instructor ; "Being a Plain and
Eafy Guide to the Englifh Language on a Plan Entirely
New," London, 1763. Henry Barnard Collection . 58

Selections from a Series of Alphabet Illustrations in The

British Instructor. Henry Barnard Collection . . 59

Frontispiece to Watts' s Compleat Spelling- Book y 1770 facing 60

An American Reprint of A New Bat tie door. Owned by

Mr. George A. Plimpton . . . facing 63

The Inside of the First Leaf of A New Battledoor. Owned

by Mr. George A. Plimpton . . . . .62

Heading from a Manuscript Arithmetic of Colonial Days.

Owned by Miss Alice Dickinson, Hadley, Mass. . 63

Page from a Manuscript Arithmetic of Colonial Days.

Owned by Miss Alice Dickinson .... 64

Frontispiece and Title-page of a Colonial Arithmetic. Owned

by the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, Mass. 65

Frontispiece to The Schoolmaster' s Assistant . . .66

Portion of Page from Penning' s A New and Easy Guide to

the Use of the Globes, 1760 68

The Earliest Mention known of The New England Primer.

From Newman's News from the Stars, Boston, 1690 . 71

xii List of Illustrations

* Page

A Characteristic Binding. Showing the oak sides with por-
tions of the blue paper which was pasted over the wood
still adhering. Owned by Mr. F. H. Coolbroth,
Springfield, Mass. . . . . . 73

Frontispiece to a Brookfield, Mass., Edition of 1828. Pub-
lished by the firm which later became famous as the
publishers of Webster's Dictionary. Owned by Mr.
F. H. Coolbroth 74

A Title-page. From the Henry Barnard Collection . . 75

The First Spelling. From a primer owned by Mr. F. H.

Coolbroth . 76

Picture Alphabet of Religious Jingles . . . 78,79

An Alphabet including both Religious and Secular Jingles.
From a primer printed in Boston about 1 800. Owned
by Mr. Albert C. Bates . . . . 80, 8 1

The Rogers Page. From the Webster Edition of 1843 . 83

A Rude Primer Cut purporting to show John Rogers being
turned at the Stake. From an edition of 1799, owned
by Mr. Albert C. Bates 84

The Butterfly and Crocodile. From an edition of about

1785 owned by Mr. Albert C. Bates . . .86

The Nightingale and Cuckow. From an edition of about

1785, owned by Mr. Albert C. Bates ... 87

One of Several Similar Pages of Illustrated Rhymes and
Comments, in The Royal Primer, Worcester, Mass. ,
1787. Henry Barnard Collection . . . .88

The Rewards of Virtue. From a copy of The Royal Primer

in the Henry Barnard Collection .... 90

Illustration to "The Hufbandman's Prayer" in a New
England Primer of about 1785. Owned by Mr.
Albert C. Bates ....... 90

Poem from a Charlestown, Mass., Edition of 1802, in the

Henry Barnard Collection 91

List of Illustrations xiii

Page

A Page from an Edition of about 1810. Owned by Mr.

Albert C. Bates 92

Two Pictures. From Emerson's The Evangelical Primer,

1810 ........ 93

Three Selections from a Picture Alphabet in Fisher's A

Youth's Primer t 1817. Owned by the Essex

Institute ....... 94, 95, 96

A Vacation Visit from the Committeeman to consider

Repairs ...... facing 101

An Old-time District Schoolhouse . . . . .103

Plan of a Characteristic Schoolroom of 1840. From The

New England Magazine ..... 104
A Teacher's Desk. From The New England Magazine . 105
One of the Benches for the Older Pupils. From The New

England Magazine . » . . . .106

One of the Benches for the Smaller Pupils. From The New

England Magazine . . . . . 106

An Illustration from Jenkins's Art of Writing, 1813. Owned

by the Essex Institute . . . . . .109

Slate, Inkstand, Writing-sand, and Ink-powder. Owned

by the Worcester Antiquarian Society . . 1 1 o

Quill Pens. Owned by the Connecticut Historical Society . 1 1 1
Exhibition Piece of a Writing Student. Owned by the

Essex Institute . . . . . . .112

Another Exhibition Piece. Owned by the Essex Institute . 113
A Schoolroom Corner . . . . . . .114

"Peter Parley." From The New England Magazine . 115
School in Connecticut. From The Malte-Brun School

Geography, 1831 . . . . . .116

Ichabod Crane's School. From Irving' s The Legend of

Sleepy Hollow . . . . . facing 1 1 8

Ichabod Crane at his Boarding-place. From Irving' s The

Legend of Sleepy Hollow . . . . 1 20

A Salem Reward of Merit. Owned by the Essex Institute 122

xiv List of Illustrations

Page

Whipping-post formerly in a Sunderland, Mass., School-
room. Owned by the Deerfield Museum . 1 24
William Biglow, who taught for many years in Salem and

Boston during the latter part of the eighteenth century
^ind the early part of the nineteenth. From a portrait

in wax owned by the Essex Institute . . .125
Box Desks and Cast-iron Stove. From The New England

Magazine . . . . . . . .130

A Schoolboy. From The New England Magazine . . 131
A Schoolgirl • * . . . . . . .132

At Work .... . . . . facing 133

On the Way Home . . . . . . .134

A Summer School as pictured in Bolles's Spelling Book, 1831 135

The End of Recess 136

A Little Girl of the Eighteenth Century. From a pastel

owned by the Connecticut Historical Society . . 139
A Reward of Merit, about 1820. Owned by the Deerfield

Museum • . . . . . . . 140

A Reward of Merit, 1822. Owned by the Deerfield

Museum . . . . . . . . 141

A Sampler. Owned by the Goodwin Historical Museum,

Hadley, Mass 142

One of the More Elaborate Samplers. Owned by the

Connecticut Historical Society . . . .143

Lower Half of a Sampler, showing a characteristic verse and

some intricate and romantic designing. Owned by the

Newburyport Historical Society .... 144
"A Minister's Rib Factory." Mary Lyon's Mt. Holyoke

Seminary, built in 1837 . . . . .146
An Old New England Academy . . . . .148
A Signature. From a Dil worth's Schoolmaster's Assistant . 152
A Warning. From a Dwight's Geography, 1802 . . 153
• Wise Advice in a Murray's English Reader, 1822 . . 154
Lines from a Bingham's American Preceptor, 1803 . . 156

List of Illustrations xv

Page
A Fly-leaf Bird. From a grammar of 1 7 1 4. Owned by the

American Antiquarian Society . . . .160

A Soldier. Drawn in Webb's The Common School Song-
ster, 1843 . . . . . . .161

A Rubbing from an Old Medal in The National Reader . 1 6 1
Scrollwork. From The New England Magazine . . 162
A Diminishing Scroll . . . . . . .162

A Conventional Combination of Dots and Line. From The

New England Magazine . . . . .162

tf A Basket of Eggs." From The New England Magazine 163

"A Spanish S" 163

A Protecting Cover of Leather stitched with Tow . .164
A Title-page Imprint. From Dwight's A Short but Com-
prehensive System of the Geography of the World . 165
A Fly-leaf Animal. From The New England Magazine . 166
Noah Webster, From a Steel Engraving owned by G. & C.

Merriam & Co., Springfield, Mass. . . .168

The Portrait in "The Old Blue-back" that scared the Chil-
dren. From an early edition owned by the Essex Institute 173
Of the Boy that stole Apples. From a Webster's speller
dated 1789. Owned by the American Antiquarian
Society . . . . . . . .179

The Country Maid. From a Webster's speller dated 1789.

Owned by the American Antiquarian Society . . 180
Frontispiece to Webster's Elementary, 1829 . . . 181
A Virago. From the Illustrated Edition of 1829 . .182
An Orator. From the Illustrated Edition of 1829 . . 182
The Bad Boy as he appeared in the Illustrated Edition of 1 8 29 184
A Half-page from Bingham's The Child's Companion, 1795 186
A Heading from Bingham's The Childys Companion . .189
Againft Pride in Clothes. From Alexander's Spelling Book,

1799. Owned by the American Antiquarian Society . 193
Againft Evil Company. From Alexander's Spelling Book.

Owned by the American Antiquarian Society . .194

xvi List of Illustrations

Page
For the Lord's Day Morning. From Alexander's Spelling

Book. Owned by the American Antiquarian Society . 195
The Dove and the Bee. From a Columbian Spelling Book,

1799, m t^ie Henry Barnard Collection . . .196
The Old Knight and his Wig. From a Columbian Spelling

Book in the Henry Barnard Collection . . .197
Alphabet Rhymes. From The Columbian Primer, 1802, 198-199
The Little Wanderers. From The Columbian Primer . 200
Rhymes from The Columbian Primer, or Ladder to Learning,

New York, 1827 202

Portion of a Page from Fiske's The New England Spelling-
book, 1803 ....... 203

The Child and the Serpent. From Fiske's The New Eng-
land Spelling-book ...... 204

The naughty Girl reformed. From an 1803 edition of

Perry's The Only Sure Guide to the English Tongue.

Owned by the Deerfield Museum . . . .207
The Complaisant Hermit. From Perry's Only Sure Guide,

1818 208

The Wolf accuses the Lamb of Muddying the Water.

From Perry's Only Sure Guide, 1818 . . . 210
The Smart Boy. From Jones's Analytical Spelling-book,

1823 ........ 214

The Little Sawyer. From Jones's Analytical Spelling-book 217
A Poetical Fable. From Picket's Juve?iile Spelling-book,

1823 > -; . . . . . .219

Owl. From The New York Spelling-book, 1823. Henry

Barnard Collection . . . . . .220

Part of a Page. From The New York Spelling-book. Henry

Barnard Collection . . . . . .224

A Page. From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book, 1836 . 225
A Mule. From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book . .226
A Pail. From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book . . 227
A Girl. From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book . . 227

List of Illustrations xvii

A Toad. From Parsons 's Analytical Spelling Book . . 228
A Comparison. From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book . 229
Pa ! May I go? From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book . 230
Part of a Page. From Spelling and Thinking, 1841 . . 230
Moses killing the Egyptian. From a Franklin Primer,

1802 234

Eager Students. A Title-page Vignette in Leavitt's Easy

Lessons, 1847 ....... 240

Sentences illustrating Inflection. From Leavitt's Easy Lessons,

1847 241

The Coach and Two. From The Clinton Primer, 1830.

Owned by the Essex Institute .... 243

Mr. Wood and Charles Bell. From Worcester's Second

Book, 1830 . . . . . . . 244

Thou Shalt not Steal. From Worcester's Second Book . 245
The Sleigh-ride. From Worcester's Second Book . . 246
Two Pages from Gallaudet's The Child1 s Picture Defining-

Book, 1830 247

A Bird. From The Progressive Reader, 1830 . . 248
The good Samaritan. From The Progressive Reader . 249
A Young Lion. From Th^.Progressive Reader . .251
A Handsome Quadruped. From The Progressive Reader . 252
The French. From The Progressive Reader . . .252
A Depiction of Wickedness. Printed above the Ten Com-
mandments in The Union Primer, 1832. Owned by
Mr. George A. Plimpton . . . . .254
Frontispiece to The Child' 's Guide, 1833 . . . 255

"Dear uncle, I cry almost all day long." From The

Child's Guide 257

"Two Wicked Birds." From Pierpont's The Young
Reader, 1835. Owned by the Boston Public Li-
brary 259

"A Composite Cut." From Lovell's The Young Pupil's

Second Book, 1836 ...... 260

xviii List of Illustrations

Page

Going to the Fields. From American Juvenile Primer, 1838

facing 260
The pretty little Bird. From American Juvenile Primer .

facing 260
A Topsy-turvy Hat. From Bentley's The Pictorial Primer,

1842 262

Doubtful Statements. From Mandeville's Primary Reader,

1849 263

Portion of Title-page, 1791. From a book owned by Mr.

Henry Pease, West Springfield, Mass. . . . 269
Story of Columbus. From a Little Reader's Assistant in the

Henry Barnard Collection . . . . .270
A " Christian " Indian getting the Best of a Heathen Indian.

From a Little Reader's Assistant. Owned by Mr.

Henry Pease . . . . . . .271

Night Attack of Indians on Major Waldron's House, Dover,

N.H. From a Little Reader's Assistant. Owned

by Mr. Henry Pease . . . . . .272

Captain John Smith a Captive in Serious Danger. From a

Little Reader's Assistant. Owned by Mr. Henry

Pease . . . . . . . .272

Putnam and the Wolf. From a Little Reader's Assistant.

Owned by the American Antiquarian Society . . 273
The Benevolent Churchill. From a Little Reader' s Assist-
ant. Owned by the American Antiquarian Society . 274
The Buffalo. From a Little Reader's Assistant. Owrned

by Mr. Henry Pease 275

An Appeal to King Philip. From the Columbian Reading

Book, 1799 ....... 280

A Meeting of Old Friends in the Streets of Paris. From

the Columbian Reading Book . . . .281

The Clever Indian. From the Columbian Reading Book . 282
The Philosopher. From the Columbian Reading Book . 282
A Rescue. From the Columbian Reading Book . . 283

List of Illustrations xix

Page

The Speaker. From Scott's Lessons in Elocution, 1814 . 288
The Flower Girl. From Strong's The Common Reader,

1818 289

The Catamountain. From The Improved Reader, 1827 . 291
Specimen Lines. From Comstock's The Rhythmical Reader,

1832 ........ 294

A Picture. From Emerson's The Second-class Reader, 1833 295
Sir Nicholas Gimcrack. From The Intelligent Reader,

1834 ........ 296

A Retired Sailor " instructing his sister's grand-children."

From Adams's The Monitorial Reader, 1839 . . 297
Making the Preliminary Bow to the Audience. From

Lovell's The Young Speaker, 1844 . . . 300

An Expressive Attitude. From Lovell's The Young Speaker 300
Copperplate Engraving on the Title-page of Sarjeant's Arith-
metic, 1788. Owned by the American Antiquarian
Society . . . . . . . .306

An Illustrated Problem. From Thompson's The American

Tutor's Guide, 1808 310

Part of a Page. From Barnard's A Treatise on Arithmetic,

1830 .... . 315

An Illustration. From Lesson First of Emerson's The North

American Arithmetic, Part First, 1838 . . . 316
Two Examples in Subtraction. From Emerson's The North

American Arithmetic, Part First . . . .317

Jedidiah Morse. From The New England Magazine . 319
A Heading. From an Edition of 1800 . . . .320

The First American Geography . . . facing 326

Country Store. From Willard's Geography for Beginners,

1826. Owned by the Essex Institute . . . 349
Cataract of Niagara. From Worcester's Elements of Geog-
raphy, 1828 . . . . . . «35O

Natural Bridge of Virginia. From Worcester's Elements of

Geography, 1828 . . . . . .351

kx List of Illustrations

Page
Whale Fishing. From Worcester's Elements of Geography,

'829 352

Trek-Shuit. From Worcester' s Elements of Geography, 1829 353
Bridges in Chili. From Woodbridge's Rudiments of Geog-
raphy, 1829 354

Frontispiece to Peter Parley's Geography, 1830 . . 355
English. From Peter Parley's Geography . . 356

A Chinese. From Peter Parley's Geography . . 356

Norwegian. From Peter Parley's Geography . . 357

White Bear. From Olney's A Practical System of Modern

Geography, 1831 . ... 357

The Maelstroom. From Olney's A Practical System of

Modern Geography . . . . . 358

Winter in Canada. From The Malte-Brun School Geog-
raphy, 1831 .' . . . . . «3S8
Progress of Improvement. From The Malte-Brun School

Geography, 1842 ...... 360

Scene in Illinois. From The Malte-Brun School Geography,

1842 361

Pilgrims landing at Plymouth. From Goodrich' s A National

Geography, 1845 . . . . . .361

Battle of Lexington. From Mitchell's A System of Modern

Geography, 1850 . . . . . . 362

Pronouns. From <( Murray' s Grammar adapted to the

present mode of Instruction by Enoch Pond," 1835.

Henry Barnard Collection . . . . '365
Interjections. From Enoch Pond's Murray's Grammar.

Henry Barnard Collection . . . . .366

Passive Verbs. From Enoch Pond's Murray' s Grammar.

Henry Barnard Collection . . . . .366

Adverbs. From Enoch Pond's Murray's Grammar.

Henry Barnard Collection . . . . 367

The Assault. From The Little Grammarian, 1829. Owned

by Mr. George A. Plimpton . . . . .368

List of Illustrations xxi

Page

Prepositions. From The Little Grammarian, 1829. Owned

by the Worcester Antiquarian Society . . -369

The Comparison of Adjectives. From The Little Gramma-
rian. Owned by the Worcester Antiquarian Society . 369

Verbs. From The Little Grammarian. Owned by the

Worcester Antiquarian Society . . . .370

Girl learning her lesson. From Frost's Easy Exercises in

Composition, 1839 . . . . . .370

Children promised a summer holiday. From Frost's Easy

Exercises in Composition . . . . .371

Capt. John Smith defending himself from the Indians.

From Goodrich' s A History of the United States, 1832 372

Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor. From Goodrich 's

A History of the United States . . . - . 373

Punishment of a man from Billerica. From Taylor's A

Universal History of the United States, 1830 . . 374

Capture of the Frolic. From Taylor's A Universal His-
tory of the United States . . . . • 375

Landing of Columbus. From Frost's A History of the

United States, 1837 376

" Conflagration of Moscow." From Butler's Sketches of

Universal History, 1818 . . . . • 3 7 7

Demosthenes declaiming upon the Sea-shore. From Whelp-
ley's Compend. of History, 1825 . . . . 378

Frontispiece to Godding' s First Lessons in Geology, 1846 . 379

Taking a thief to prison. From Goodrich' s The Young

American, 1842 . . . . . . .380

A Melancholy Scene. From Town's Second Reader, 1848.

Old-time Schools and School-
Books

BEGINNINGS

IN 1642, twelve years after the settlement of
Boston, the General Court of Massachusetts,
" taking into consideration the great neglect of
many parents and guardians in training up their chil-
dren in learning and labor which may be profitable
to the commonwealth," ordered that the selectmen
in every town should have power to take account
of all parents and masters as to their children's edu-
cation and employment. Each town was to be
divided by its selectmen into sections — a section
to each selectman ; and for the families in his
apportionment the selectman was responsible. He
must see that all the children learned to read, and
that they were taught to understand the principles
of religion and the capital laws of the country, and,
finally, he must make sure that they were put to
some useful work.

The education required could be provided by the
individual parents in their homes, or it could be
provided in any manner they chose to devise col-

2 Old-time Schools and School-books

lectively. Nothing was said about schools, and the
law which is the foundation of the school system of
the state was enacted five years later. The preamble
starts with the premise that " It being one chiefe
project of yr ould deluder, Sathan, to keepe men
from the knowledge of ye Scriptures/' effort must
be made to thwart this " ould deluder yc learning
may not be buried in ye grave of or fathrs in ye church
and commonwealth " : —

It is therefore ordred, yt evry towneship in this Juris-
diction, aftr ye Lord hath increased ym to ye number of 50
household1"8, shall then forthwth appoint one wthin their
towne to teach all such children as shall resort to him
to write & reade, whose wages shall be paid eithr by ye
parents or mastrs of such children, or by ye inhabitants in
genrall, by way of supply, as ye maior pl of those yt ordr ye
prudentials of ye towne shall appoint.

The law also made it obligatory that parents,
where schools were lacking, should teach " their chil-
dren and apprentices perfectly to read the English
tongue " ; and instances are not rare of persons
brought before the courts and admonished for neg-
lecting this duty. Another provision of the law
was that any town containing one hundred families
should " set up a gramer schoole, ye master thereof
being able to instruct youth so farr as they may be
fited for ye university." The university referred to
was Harvard, for the establishing of which arrange-
ments had been made in 1636.

In England a " gramer schoole " meant one where
Latin was the staple. English grammar, the study

Beginnings 3

the name most suggests, was not taught in such a
school at all. But in this country the grammar
schools, with few exceptions, were Latin and Eng-
lish schools combined. Even in those of the
early Boston schools which were distinctly " Latin
Schools," there appears to have been an usher, as
the master's assistant was called, who taught English.
The grammar schools rounded out and completed
the educational system of Massachusetts, and this
colony was decidedly in advance of all the others in
providing for a general distribution of knowledge.

The legislature of Connecticut soon followed the
example of Massachusetts in enacting a system of
school laws ; but in all the other colonies each parish
or settlement was a law unto itself in educational
matters, and the schools were mainly under the pat-
ronage and control of the church.

The claim has been made that New Amsterdam
had a free school before Boston did; but its first
school, established in 1633, was a public school in
only a very limited sense. It was maintained for
the town's children of the Dutch Reformed Church
and no others. The citizens were complaining four-
teen years later that no schoolhouse had yet been
built, and that " the school is kept very irregularly,
by this one or that, according to his fancy, as long
as he sees fit." Ten years more passed, and we find
the Manhattan folk humbly representing to the
Dutch West India Company, under whose auspices
they were governed, that there was no school in the
colony where their children could learn Latin ; that
there was no such school nearer than New England ;

4 Old-time Schools and School-books

and they prayed the honorable company to send a
man capable of teaching this language. Their request
was granted, but by that time Massachusetts had
half a score of flourishing Latin schools, and seven-
teen classes had been graduated from Harvard.

The early schools were supported partly by the
subscriptions of the well-to-do, partly by the rentals
of lands set aside for the purpose, partly by tuition
fees, and partly by taxes. There was no uniformity
in the methods the different towns had for meeting
their school expenses. Some took one way, and
some another, but most adopted a combination of
several ways ; and while there was usually a town
rate, this was only to supplement the other sources
of income. Each town in Massachusetts had full
control of its own schools, and the people voted in
their regular town meetings what they would spend
on them, how raise the money,- who should teach,
and what should be the amount of compensation.
All the details of the school economy were attended
to by the town officers.

The pay received by the teachers was meagre, and
not always easily collected. In Northampton the
first teacher was a town farmer by the name of Cor-
nish, who, in 1664, was voted "six pound towards
the scoole & to tacke the benifet of the scollers
provided that he teach Six months in the yeare to-
gether." The total expense was in this instance
shared between town and pupils ; but just what fees
resulted to Farmer Cornish from being allowed to
"tacke the benifet of the scollers" is uncertain. At
best, the remuneration could hardly have sufficed

Beginnings 5

for the support of the master and his family, and
he must have continued largely dependent on agri-
culture. He was apparently a man of considerable
ability and standing in the town, for the records give
his name the prefix of " Mr.," which was then an
honorable distinction. Yet he had a habit of pro-
fanity, and once was fined twenty shillings by the
court for cursing.

A year or two later his successor received an an-
nual ten pounds from the town, while the scholars
paid " fFowre pence pr weeke for such as are in the
primer & other English books and Six pence pr
weeke to learne the Accidence wrighting Casting
Accounts." The instruction was practically all rudi-
mentary. Even in the " Accidence," by which was
meant Latin grammar, probably only the slightest
outlines were taught. It is doubtful if the pupils
were generally supplied with books, and in " Casting
Accounts " trie master presumably imparted nothing
but his own knowledge of the art.

In 1687 the town changed its method of paying
the master. He was still to collect tuition fees, but
whatever he lacked of getting forty pounds was to
be made up by the town. There was always much
delinquency in paying on the part of those who
sent children to school, and when the teacher was
thus relieved from any absolute necessity for follow-
ing up his debtors, it can easily be imagined that
the amount collected dwindled. The result was
that the town voted shortly afterward to allow " the
Scholers to go free."

It was customary to pay the early masters in prod-

6 Old-time Schools and School-books

uce, agreement being made in hiring the teacher just
what this should be. An old Dedham contract calls
for two-thirds in wheat and the other third in corn ;
and Deerfield, in 1703, covenants to pay the master

Twenty and five pounds in manner following : yt is to
say They have by bargin liberty to pay him ye one 3d part j
of sd sum in Barley and no more : ye other two 3ds in
other grain yt is to say in indian corn : peas : or Rye in >
any or all of them : all these afore mentioned to be good
and merchantable.

The net salary of the schoolmasters in most towns,
after allowing a moderate sum for board, is estimated •
to have hardly exceeded, as expressed in modern
terms, sixty or seventy dollars.

I have spoken of tuition fees. They were an
accepted part of the educational financing in nearly
all the old towns, and free schools were many years I
discussed before the majority of the towns adopted I
them. Free schools found favor with the poorer
classes, but were opposed by the wealthy, especially
the wealthy who had no children to send ; and they 1
did not become the rule until long after the be-
ginning of the eighteenth century. Indeed, school
support by taxation was not made compulsory in
Massachusetts until 1827.

The first town to have a school supported by
general taxation — that is, by a tax on all the prop-
erty holders of the community — was Dedham. The
date of the innovation was 1649. The town records
show that the schoolhouse was "built together with
a watch house, the length 18 foote, the wideness,

Beginnings 7

15 foote ; two convenient windows in the lower
room & one in the chamber." The watch house
was " a leanto set at the back of. the chimney sixe
foote wide" and it projected beyond the corner of
the house on either side two and one-half feet. It
had a fireplace and it had " open windowes so that
the watch might have an aspect 4 severall wayes."
The building stood in the centre of the village on
the borders of the parish green near the meeting
house. In the schoolroom the scholars labored dur-

Schoolhouse erected in 1649 at Dedham, Mass.

ing the day, and in the lean-to a sentinel watched
from the windows during the night. The master
was permitted to keep the school in his own home
in extreme weather; and during the heat of summer
he might use the meeting-house, provided he kept
it clean and mended all the windows that his boys
broke.

For a hundred years we find frequent mention of
keeping schools in the meeting-houses. Those early
churches were never invested with the religious sane-

8 Old-time Schools and School-books

tity that is attached to a church now. They were
designed not only for places of worship, but for all
gatherings as the people had need. Until after the
beginning of the nineteenth century, meeting-houses
were in some communities used for town meet-
ings and even for sessions of the law courts. Occa-
sionally the building was outgrown as a church
and was then devoted to school use exclusively.
This happened in 1664 in one of our Connecticut
valley towns, and what had been the first meeting-
house sheltered the master and his pupils for thirty
years. The structure had been erected about a decade
previous to its becoming a schoolhouse, and was " of
Sawen Timber, 26 foot long and 18 foot wide, 9
foot high from the lower pt of ye cell to the upper
part of the raisens."

It was decidedly superior to the log houses which
sheltered the people, for most of the pioneer dwell-
ings were of round logs, and the finest of them had
nothing better in their walls than hewn logs. The
meeting-house, however, was of material that could
only be obtained by great manual labor. Saw-mills
had long before been introduced in the vicinity of
the settlements on the coast, but many years elapsed
before any were possessed by the new towns inland,
and the only means of sawing logs into timbers or
boards was by use of a long heavy saw operated by
two men, one standing on the log and the other in a
pit below.

The meeting-house had a single doorway, two
windows, and a chimney. The roof was of thatch.
Probably the edifice never had a pulpit or pews.

Beginnings 9

Backless benches served for seats, and the change to a
schoolroom was very easily made.

Most schools had to be content with buildings
far less substantial than this one ; yet the worst
trouble was that the structures seldom received the
attention they should have had when they began to
get out of repair. We are given a rather startling
impression of wliat these conditions might be by a
master who, writing in 1 68 1 of the " inconveniences "
of his schoolhouse, describes

the confused and shattered and nastie posture that it is in,
the glass broke, and thereupon very raw and cold ; the floor
very much broken and torn up to kindle fires, the hearth
spoiled, the seats some burned and others out of kilter,
that one had well-nigh as goods keep school in a hog stie
as in it.

A very prolific source of annoyance to the school-
master was the supply of firewood. The parents
were required to bring a certain quantity of wood to
the schoolhouse for each of their children attending.
Thus, in 1699, we find one of our New England
towns ordering " that all and every Scholler bring one
load of wood though they goe but two months, that
is two months from the beginning of October to ye
first of Aprill." During the other portion of the year
little or no fire was needed. Those who failed to
do their duty in this matter of fuel were to pay a
fine of four shillings. A penalty of some sort was
a necessity ; and it is explained that many who " sent
their children to Schoole were too negligent in
bringing of wood for want whereof the Schoole oft

io Old-time Schools and School-books

times was omited." An enormous fireplace was
the sole means of warming the schoolrooms of that
day, and in sharp weather it consumed the wood
most ravenously. The vote mentioned above was
intended to remedy the chronic vanishing of the
school woodpile, but it was not wholly effective,
and the next year the selectmen were directed to
prosecute delinquents.

Such an experience was not at all exceptional, and
most of the towns passed special acts applying to
the case. Sometimes the children of parents who
did not do their part in keeping up the woodpile
were turned out of the school. Sometimes they
were refused " the benefit of the fire," and the master
saw to it that they sat in the schoolroom's bleakest
corner. Another rule was that the schoolboys of
households whose parents sent the wood in sled
length must cut it up where it lay in the school-
yard.

Many of the towns provided a grammar school
before they did an elementary. It seems to have
been generally understood that children would be
taught to read before attending the grammar schools.
Thus in an agreement with a teacher of the Roxbury
grammar school we find he is to " use his best skill
and endeavor, both by precept and example, to
instruct in all scholastical, moral, and theological
discipline the children of the proprietors of the
school — all a-b-c-darians excepted."

We get suggestive glimpses of the routine of the
early schools in the Dorchester scho 1 rules of 1645,
which provided that for seven months in the warmer

Beginnings 1 1

part of the year the master should every day begin
to teach at seven o'clock in the morning and dismiss
the scholars at five in the afternoon, while in the
colder and darker months of the remainder of the
year he was to begin at eight and close at four.
There was to be a midday intermission from eleven
to one, except on Monday, when the master

shall call his scholars together between twelve and one of
the clock to examine them what they have learned, at
which time also he shall take notice of any misdemeanor
or outrage that any of his scholars shall have committed
on the sabbath, to the end that at some convenient time
due admonition and correction may be administered.

He shall diligently instruct both in humane and good
literature, and likewise in point of good manners and duti-
ful behavior towards all, especially their superiors. Every
day of the week at two of the clock in the afternoon, he
shall catechise his scholars in the principles of the Chris-
tian religion.

He shall faithfully do his best to benefit his scholars,
and not remain away from school unless necessary. He
shall equally and impartially teach such as are placed in his
care, no matter whether their parents be poor or rich. (A
necessary warning, for the well-to-do and influential were
given a preference in most affairs of the times.)

It is to be a chief part of the schoolmaster's religious
care to commend his scholars and his labors amongst them
unto God by prayer morning and evening taking care that
his scholars do reverently attend during the same.

The rod of correction is a rule of God necessary some-
times to be used upon children. The schoolmaster shall
have full power to punish all or any of his scholars, no
matter who they are. No parent or other person living in
the place shall go i out to hinder the master in this. But

12 Old-time Schools and School-books

if any parent or others shall think there is just cause for
complaint against the master for too much severity, they
shall have liberty to tell him so in friendly and loving way.

The emphasis laid on religious instruction in these
rules was very characteristic of the colonial period.
The children were perpetually enveloped, week-days
and Sundays, in an atmosphere saturated with re-
ligious forms, services, ideas, and language. To
illustrate how omnipresent this religious atmosphere
was, I cannot do better than to cite the occasion when
Judge Sewell found that the spout which conducted
the rain water from his roof did not perform its
office. After patient searching, a ball belonging to
the Sewell children was discovered lodged in the
spout. Thereupon the father sent for the minister
and had a season of prayer with his boys, that their
mischief or carelessness might be set in its proper
aspect and that the event might be sanctified to their
spiritual good. Powers of darkness and of light
were struggling for the possession of every youthful
soul, and it was the duty of parents, ministers, and
teachers to lose no opportunity to pluck the children
as brands from the burning.

The efforts to make the children religious were
not by any means uniformly successful. No doubt
the insistence of the elders on the solemnities often
deadened their charges' sensibilities. At any rate,
character and conduct among the young people were
far from perfect. A committee appointed to see if
the instruction at Harvard remained true to its early
adopted motto, For Christ and the Church, reported

Beginnings 13

that the Greek Catechism was recited regularly by the
freshmen, and that Wollebius's System of Divinity
was diligently pursued by the other classes, while on
Saturday evening, in the presence of the president,
the students repeated the sermon of the foregoing Sab-
bath. " Yet the committee are compelled to lament
the continued prevalence of several immoralities, par-
ticularly stealing, lying, swearing, idleness, picking of
locks, and too frequent use of strong drink."

Boys began to attend the grammar schools when
they were seven or eight years of age, and now and
then a youngster entered the Boston Latin School
no older than six and one-half. Not infrequently
the boys had by that time made considerable prog-
ress in Latin, and sometimes the merest infants
were taught by doting parents to read this learned
language as soon as they were taught to read Eng-
lish. Precocity was encouraged, not alone by intel-
ligent parents, but by leading writers and thinkers.
A good example of what was expected of the little
ones is furnished by Isaac Watts's The Young Child's
Catechism. The first half of it was designed for
learners of " Three or Four Years Old," and the
questions for these beginners included such as

Have you learnt to know who God is ?
What muft you do to efcape God's Anger, which your
Sins have deferved ?

What muft become of you if you are wicked ?

The answer to the last is, " If I am wicked, I
fhall be fent down to everlafting Fire in Hell among
wicked and miferable creatures."

14 Old-time Schools and School-books

The text-book equipment of the old schools was
exceedingly meagre, and the average schoolboy had
only a catechism or primer, a Psalter, and a Testa-
ment, or a Bible. For Latin students this list would
have to be extended, but ordinarily it comprised all
a boy ever used as long as he attended school. Still,
scattered copies of the school-books put forth in
England were possessed, and these were not without
influence in the schools and on the attainments of
the pupils. The text-books were practically all of
foreign authorship. Indeed, I believe the only
school-book of American origin prior to the Revolu-
tion was a little Latin grammar by Ezekiel Cheever.
Cheever was one of the most notable of the early
schoolmasters. He taught in New Haven and
some smaller places; but for the last thirty-eight
years of his life was master of the Boston Latin
School. He died at his post in i 708, at the age of
ninety-four, after having given seventy years of con-
tinuous service to the New England schools. His
death was widely mourned, and he was long held in
affectionate remembrance, for he was more patient
with the slow boys and less severe and brutal with all
boys than schoolmasters of that age were wont to be.

Full to the brim with Puritan theo/ogy, he wrote
a book called The Scriptural Prophesies Explained,
and he was unflagging in earnest endeavors to help
his boys to become Christian men. The text-book
of his 'authorship to which I have referred was, A
Short Introduction to the Latin Tongue, generally
known as " Cheever's Accidence." It enjoyed for
over a century immense popularity. The first edi-

Beginnings

Orbis Senfualium Piffw.

A World of Things Obvious to the
Senfes Drawn in Pi&ures.

Invitation.

The Matter and the

Boy.

Ome Boy, learn to be
wife.

P. What doth this mean, to
be wife ?

M« To underfand rightly,

Magift

M.TEn\ Pucr, difce fa*

.\T
V

pere

P. Quid hoc eft, Saptre?

qua? Jtece

First Lesson Page of Comenius's Visible World.

1 6 Old-time Schools and School-books

tion appeared in 1645, and tne book was republished
as late as 1838. In the grammar schools Cheever's
was usually the first Latin book, and after the boys
had worked their way through that they plunged
into the dreary wilderness of " Lily's Grammar "
with its twenty-five kinds of nouns, its seven gen-
ders, and other things in proportion — all to be
wearisomely committed to memory. The purga-
tory of this grammar was early recognized, and
Cotton Mather said of it, " Persisting in the use
of Lily's book will prolong the reign of the ferule."
The only copies I have seen have been revisions of
the original, yet the one I own, dated 1766, states
that the unrevised is still printed and for sale. The
author of the work died in 1523, and one would
think that in the two centuries and a half since the
book first appeared it would have been entirely sup-
planted.

A more attractive book to the Latin boys was
John Amos Comenius's Visible World which was
published in 1658. Aside from ABC primers, this
was the first illustrated school-book ever printed.
Comenius, born in 1592, was a Moravian bishop,
and the most distinguished educational reformer of
his time. He wrote a number of books, but the
one that attained the widest circulation was this
" Vijible World '.-or a Nomenclature, and Pictures of all
the chief things that are in the World, and of Men's
Employments therein; in above an 150 Copper
Cuts." Every subject treated had its picture, and
below the engraving was a medley of explanatory
little sentences in two columns, one column in Latin,

Beginnings

Comix cornicatur, <fa'
The Cnvt crietb.

Agnv* balat, l> £ f f

The Lamb b/aitetb.

Gorifaftridet, r/a
TbcGrafhopfer dtiipfft.

"Upupa dicit, du du
The Wbooppoo faith

Infans ejular, e e e
The Infant crietb.

Ventu* flat, Jifi

The Wind blowtb.

gaga

T&.Goofi'gagletb.

O^halat, bdhbdb
The moutb brertbtthout,

JW^mintrit, iii
Tbe Moitfe cbirpeth.

Tbe Duck quaketb.

Lupt* olulat, lu ulu
Tbe Wolf bowktb.

Aa
Bb
c
Dd

Ee
Ff

Gg
Hh

Kk
LI

R/*

Part of an Illustrated Alphabet in the Visible World.
c

1 8 Old-time Schools and School-books

the other in English. By such means the pupil was
supposed not only to learn Latin, but to absorb a
large amount of general knowledge concerning the in-
dustries and other"chief things that areinthe World."
It was a crude effort to interest the child, and was
encyclopaedic, dry, and verbal, having more the
character of an illustrated dictionary than a child's
reading-book ; yet for one hundred years this was the
most popular text-book in Europe, and it was trans-
lated into fourteen languages.

Other Latin books in common use were ./Esop,
Eutropius, and The Colloquies of Corderius ; and for
the older boys Caesar, Ovid, Virgil, and Cicero. In
Greek they had the grammar, the Testament, and
Homer. Thus they fitted themselves for the uni-
versity, which made very exacting requirements in
the dead languages, but paid little attention to the
progress its prospective students had made in sci-
ence, mathematics, or anything else. The Harvard
terms of admission were these : —

Whoever shall be able to read Tully, or any other such-
like classical author at sight, and correctly, and without
assistance to speak and write Latin both in prose and
verse, and to inflect exactly the paradigms of Greek nouns
and verbs, has a right to expect to be admitted into the
college, and no one may claim admission without these
qualifications.

The classical requisites noted above become quite
impressive when it is remembered that the law
ordered every town in Massachusetts of a hundred
families to provide this knowledge.

Beginnings 19

The Barbers Shop. LXXV. Tonjlrina*

The Barber, i.
*n the Barbers-fhop, 2.
cuttethoff fte
and the Beard

or jkavetb with a Razor,
w/?/c/7 fo ta£^ OM* °f h*f
Cafe, 4.

^nrf he waflieth one
over a Bafon, 5.
wttb Suds rwnmn^
out of a Laver, d.
andalfo with Sppe, 7.
andvpipeth him
with a Towel, 8.
combeth him with a Comb, 9.
and curletb him
with a Crifping Iron, 10.

Sometimes he cutteth a Vein
with a Pen-knife, u.
when thtBlwdftirtetb Qk*3i2.

Ton/or, I.
inTonflrina, 2*
tondec Crines
& Barbam
Foreipe, 5.
vel radit Novacute,
quam e Tbeca, 4^ depromit.

EC lavat
fuper PfMm, 5.
Lixivio defluente
e Guttnrnio, 6.
ut & Sapone, 7.
& tergit
Linteo, 8.
pedic
crifpat
Calamiftro, 10.

Interdum Venam fecac
Scalpetio, ii.

ubi Sanguis propullulat, 12.
The

A Page showing the Method of Teaching in the Visible World,

2O Old-time Schools and School-books

Most of the teachers of the early Latin schools
had received a college education in England, and
were men of more than ordinary capacity and expe-
rience. Our own Harvard, too, sent forth many
graduates who found places in the schools as well
as in the pulpits. The teachers were all deeply im-
bued with that religious spirit which characterized

ENGLISH

SCHOOL-MASTER.

Teaching all his Scholars , of what

age foever, themoft eafy, fhort, and perfeft or-
der of diftinft Reading, and true Writing our
Englilh-tongut , ihat hath ever yet been
known or publifhed by any.

Portion of the Title-page of a popular Text-book first published in 1596.

the Puritan epoch, for this was the trend of their
whole training. Their college studies were the
studies of a divinity school. There was some arith-
metic and geometry, physics and science, but as
for the rest — it was grammar, logic, and rhetoric;
politics and ethics ; Chaldee, Hebrew, and Syriac ;
biblical and catechetical divinity.

The earliest spelling-book was Coote's The Eng-
lish School-Master, a thin quarto of seventy-two

Beginnings

ljTU m Gre0rne-?/ard mlsMilnrZ flrrt

Frontispiece to a Speller entitled, A Rational Way of Teaching, \ 688.

22 Old-time Schools and School-books

pages, first published in 1596. It continued to be
extraordinarily popular for over a century. Accord-
ing to the title-page, " he which hath this Book
only, needeth to buy no other to make him fit from
his Letters to the Grammar-School, or for an Appren-
tice" Besides spelling, it contained arithmetic, his-
tory, writing lessons, prayers, psalms, and a short
catechism. To add to the intricacy, much of the
text was printed in old English black letter.

Another ancestral speller was England's Perfect
School-MaJter, by Nathaniel Strong, London, 1676,
of the editing and use of which the author says in
his

The Epiftle to the Reader

T JPon consideration of the bad reading of many, who know
*~^ not how scarcely to spell any word rightly : I have for ted
all the words I could think of and ranked them in particular
Tables. By this Book a Lad may be taught to read a Chapter
perfectly in the Bible in a quarter of a years time. I have
likewife added unto this Book certain other neceffary Inftruc-
tions, and ufeful Varieties, as well for writers as Readers.
The whole I crave God's Blejfing upon, and leave it to thy
candid acceptance ; Remaining

Thine to ferve thee or thine,

NAT. STRONG.

One curious department, covering fifteen pages,
consists of "Some Obfervations of Words that are
alike in found, yet of different fignification, and
fpelling." Their use and meaning are indicated
thus : —

Saw one fent unto the Hill's afcent,
Who did affent to me before he went,

Beginnings 23

Above thy reach a Spire-fteeple ftands,
Afpire not high, thou Spyer out of Lands.

The latter portion of the book is devoted to
Latin exercises, " Forms of Letters," and arithme-
tic. From the arithmetic I quote these two bills,
the items of which have a strangely unfamiliar
look : —

A Shoemaker s Bill.

1 pair Cloth Shooes and Golfhoes, with Ferry Boots

2 pair of Shafhoons for Boots

9 dozen of Wooden-heePd Shooes

For waxing a pair of Boots

2 pair of Women's Lac'd Shooes and Slaps

A Taylors Bill.
Mr. John Saddler, his bill.

For a Set of Gold and Silver Buttons

For Tabby for lining the Coat

For feifing Flap

For Cottoning for the Hofe and Pockets

For canvas for Stays and Stiffenings

For Belly-Pieces, Hooks, Eyes, and Stay-Tape

For Silk and Galloon

The lessons in the book are supplemented by
several prayers, and then at the bottom of the final
page there is this " Advertifement," in which the
author says he has a school

where Youth may be fitted for the Univerfity : Alfo taught
to write all manner of Fair Hands, with Arithmetick ;

24 Old-time Schools and School-books

Likewife Boarded with a great conveniency. My encour-
agement where I am being as yet but fmall ; If any Perfon
can advife to any Place or Parifh wanting a School-mafter ;
upon affurance of a competent livelihood, I fhall loon quit
my prefent concerns, and readily accept it.

The ministers had much to do with the public
schools in all places, large and small. Their super-
vision was constant and vigilant. The church was
then supported by the whole town, and its affairs
regulated in the town meetings ; and the minister
was a town officer. He was employed for the reli-
gious instruction of the people ; and as the children
were an important part of his charge, his visits to
the schools were frequent. He examined the chil-
dren in the catechism and in their knowledge of the
Bible, and sometimes questioned them on the ser-
mon of the preceding Sunday. In 1710 we find it
was expected of the Boston ministers that they
would, on their school visits, pray with the pupils,
and " entertain them with some instructions of
piety specially adapted to their age and educa-
tion " ; and something of this sort continued to be
the duty of the ministers in our rural towns until
the middle of the last century. The rural minister
also often rendered service as a teacher, especially as
a teacher of Latin in towns that had no grammar
school. Many ministers boarded several students,
as well as taught them.

When other means of education were lacking, the
laws ordered that the parents themselves should im-
part instruction to their children. But most com-
munities contrived at least to have a dame school.

The School Dame.

Beginnings 125

There was always some woman in every neighbor-
hood who, for a small amount of money, was willing
to take charge of the children and teach them the
rudiments of knowledge. The older and larger
towns had these dame schools as well as the pioneer
villages, and they were everywhere a chief dependence
for elementary instruction ; yet they were seldom at
first town schools, and none of them were free for
a long time. The dame school was an English
institution, .and the description of it by the poet
Crabbe as it existed across the Atlantic would very
well fit it here : —

... a deaf, poor, patient widow sits
And awes some thirty infants as she knits ;
Infants of humble, busy wives who pay
Some trifling price for freedom through the day.
At this good matron's hut the children meet,
Who thus becomes the mother of the street.
Her room is small, they cannot widely stray,
Her threshold high, they cannot run away.
With band of yarn she keeps offenders in,
And to her gown the sturdiest rogue can pin.

The school dame did not usually find the labor of
teaching very onerous. While she heard the smaller
pupils recite their letters, and the older ones read
and spell from their primers, she busied her fingers
with knitting and sewing, and in the intervals
between lessons sometimes worked at the spinning-
wheel. An interesting instance of school-dame
industry occurs in the annals of Northfield, Massachu-
setts. The first teacher in the town was a woman hired
to care for a class of little ones twenty-two weeks in

Old-time Schools and School-books

the
she

warm season. Besides the neihbors' children
had four of her own

to look after, yet her en-
ergies were by no
means exhausted,
and the semi-lei-
sure of the school-
room allowed her to
work quite steadily
making shirts for
the Indians at eight
pence each.

The beginner's
chief aid in starting
on the road to
learning was a
hornbook — not
really a book at
all, but simply a
bit of printed paper
about three by four
inches fastened on
a thin piece of
board. The name
"hornbook" origi-
nated in the fact
that the printed
slip was covered
with a translucent
sheet of horn,
" To save from fingers wet the letters fair." A
light strip of metal, usually brass, was fastened with
several short nails or tacks around the edges of the

A Typical Hornbook.

Beginnings 27

horn to keep it in place. The board had a handle
at one end, and occasionally this handle was pierced
with a hole so that a string could be attached and
the toddling owner of the hornbook could carry it
suspended from his neck. At the top of the paper

•

Revolving Alphabet.
Diameter of the original, five inches.

was printed the alphabet, capitals, and small letters ;
and then in orderly array the vowels, then double
lines of ab, eb, ibs, and the benediction, " In the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghoft. Amen'' The remaining space was devoted
to the Lord's Prayer, unless, as was sometimes

28 Old-time Schools and School-books

the case, this was supplemented at the bottom by
the Roman numerals.

A curious successor to the hornbook was pro-
duced by a Hartford publisher in 1820. It was
called "The Revolving Alphabet or Child's In-
structive Toy/' and consisted of two wooden disks
about five inches in diameter with a circular sheet of
paper between them. On one side of the paper was
printed the alphabet ; on the other side a series of
little syllables. By turning a thumb-piece the paper
inside the disks could be made to revolve, and an
aperture near the edge of one of the disks allowec
you to see the printing, a short column at a time
I imagine this educational toy never had much
vogue, and that few people have ever seen one.

COLONIAL SCHOOLS OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

THE early Massachusetts school laws decreed
that any town neglecting to provide a school-
master should be subject to a penalty of ten
pounds. In 1701 the General Court, after declaring
that the observance of this decree was " shamefully
neglected by divers towns, and the penalty thereof
not required, tending greatly to the nourishment of
ignorance and irreligion, whereof grievous complaint
is made," doubled the penalty, and enjoined all
justices of the peace and grand juries to vigilantly
attend to the law's execution. As a result, at nearly
every session of the court there were towns " pre-
sented " for not maintaining the schools required by
law, especially the grammar schools. Many excuses
were offered — sometimes poverty, sometimes in-
ability to secure a teacher. The poverty was often
very real, for the colony had passed through King
Philip's War, 1675—78, on which it had spent more
than half a million dollars. Besides the expense,
there had been great loss of life, twelve out of the
ninety towns had been utterly destroyed, and forty
others had been the scene of fire and massacre. A
number of communities were so reduced that their
share in the colony tax was remitted.

30 Old-time Schools and School-books

For a long time t'he fear of Indian invasion had a
tendency to hold the settlers closely together, and in
some of the towns it was forbidden to build beyond

A Salem Schoolhouse with Whipping-post in the near Street.
From a drawing made about 1 770.

a fixed distance of one or two miles from the meeting-
house. But now that the savages had been thor-
oughly subdued, the people began to push out into
the wilderness, and new towns were planted and
added to the commonwealth in quick succession.
Many of them had no village nucleus. They either
consisted of widely scattered farms, or of several
isolated hamlets. The old towns, too, sent forth
new shoots, and developed outlying neighborhoods.
Thus the schooling of the children presented new

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 31

conditions and problems. All the children must be
taught, and to reach them " moving schools " were
devised — that is, the towns voted that a school
should be kept for a part of the year in each of
several vicinities. The Massachusetts town of
Scituate ordered the school to be kept one-third
at each end of the town and one-third in the middle ;
Yarmouth decided to have the school in five places
varying from one to four months each ; and in
Sutton, where a more scanty education was provided,
the school was kept at the discretion of the select-
men in four places, one month to each. It was
permissible in some of the towns for the scholars to
follow the schools, but this privilege was probably
not much used. The various divisions of the town
were called " angles " or " squadrons " at first, and
later "districts.'* For a long period few of them
had schoolhouses, but presently the school was made
conditional on the district's -erecting a building. By
the middle of the century the towns began to allow
the districts to draw their proportion of the school
money and spend it as they liked. The schools
ceased to be town schools, and the choice of teachers,
their pay, and the time the schools should keep, was
taken out of the hands of the selectmen.

The early dame schools had been privately sup-
ported, but they were gradually absorbed into the
public school system, and we find such entries on
the town records as : —

Paid Widow Walker ten shillings for schooling small
children.

Paid for boarding schooldame, at three shillings per week.

32 Old-time Schools and School-books

However, in some towns no public provision was
made for the youngest children until after the
Revolution.

I have been describing educational conditions
more particularly as they were in New England.
Though far from ideal, these conditions were never-
theless better than in any other part of the country.
Especially in the South, with its widely separated
houses and few villages, the environment was in every
way unfavorable for maintaining public schools. The
children of wealthy planters were usually taught by
private tutors, or sent to England to be educated;
yet once in a while a planter would start a little
school for the benefit of his own children and the
other white children who chanced to live on or near
his plantation. The teachers of such plantation
schools were apt to be redemptioners and exported
convicts. In Europe at this time the lot of the
poor was extremely hard, and many persons came
across the Atlantic solely to escape the inevitable
misery at home. The captain of the ship that
brought over a penniless man of this class was
allowed to sell him for four years to pay his pas-
sage. It was also customary to transport men who
had been convicted of small crimes and sell them
for periods of greater or less length. When one of
these unfortunates could read and write, he some-
times was purchased for a schoolmaster, and teachers
of this kind were common both in the Southern
and the Middle colonies. Not infrequently they
were coarse and degraded, and they did not always
stay their time out as is witnessed by advertise-

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 33

ments like the following in the newspapers of the
period : -

Ran away : a Servant man who followed the occupation
of a Schoolmaster, much given to drinking and gambling.

Among those who bought a bondsman for educa-
tional purposes was George Washington's father,
and this bondsman was Washington's first school-
master. He was a slow, rusty old man by the name
of Hobby. Besides doing duty as dominie he served
as sexton, and in the intervals of teaching swept out
the church and now and then dug a grave. The
schoolhouse in which he taught is said to have stood
in an "old plantation field" — a field exhausted by
successive tobacco crops, and allowed to grow up
to pines. Tradition relates that Hobby lived long
enough to see his pupil rise to distinction. He was
very proud of his own services as the boy's teacher,
and was wont to boast it was he " who between
his knees had laid the foundation of Washington's
greatness."

After Hobby had laid this "foundation," his
pupil attended another school for four or five years
presided over by a Mr. Williams. If we are to
believe one of Washington's early biographers, Mr.
Williams " knew as little as Balaam's ass." Under
him the boy in playtime became expert in running
and wrestling, but in his studies failed to acquire
either correct spelling or the commonest rules of
English grammar. The book he perhaps learned
most from at this time was one entitled The Young
Man s Companion, which apparently came into his

34 Old-time Schools and School-books

possession when he was about ten. It claims to
teach a boy without a tutor " a fhort and eafy
Method of Book-keeping," how to " fpell, read and
write true Englifh, indite Epiftles or Letters in a
familiar ftile," how to make out papers such as
deeds, bonds, and wills, how to measure timber, and
do other useful things.

Facsimile of Washington's Schoolboy Handwriting.
Reduced one third.

Blank-books are still preserved into which the
boy Washington copied various legal forms, some
poor poetry, and a list of one hundred and ten
" Rules of Civility and Decent behavior in Com-
pany and Conversation." The handwriting is round,
fair, and bold, the letters large like the hand that
formed them, and the lines run straight and even.
Sometimes he made ornamental letters with scroll
work such as clerks were accustomed to use. The
Rules of Civility were probably taken down from
the lips of the teacher. They sound rather stiff

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 35

now, but it was a common thing then to set such
>recepts before children, and Washington very likely

committed them to memory. They touch on things
rreat and small, and in certain instances throw a
ather curious light on the rude habits of the times.
ow strange, for example, is the admonition, " Kill

no Vermin as Fleas, lice, ticks, etc., in the Sight of

Others."

The Virginia schools long continued to have

much the same desultory character they had in

One of the Log Schoolhouses still to be found in the South.

Washington's youth. A master who kept a plan-
tation school in 1800 for a few months tells of one
of his pupils who was a man thirty years of age.
Another pupil persisted in coming with two huge

36 Old-time Schools and School-books

mastiffs at his heels, and the dogs would uncere-
moniously enter the schoolroom " bringing with
them myriads of fleas, wood-lice and ticks." Then
there were two sisters who rode on a single horse to
the schoolhouse door, followed by " a running foot-
man of the negro tribe with their food in a basket."
The building was of logs. It stood on blocks about
two and a half feet from the ground, and the space
underneath formed a convenient rendezvous for
hogs and poultry. The interior had neither ceiling
nor plastering. When it stormed, the rain was ex-
cluded by going outside and propping a square board
against the window opening with a broken rail — and
yet the farmers of the neighborhood referred to this
rude structure as " The Academy/'

The first schoolhouses in the Middle colonies were
of logs almost exclusively. Such school buildings
were common in many sections for at least fifty
years after the Revolution, and among the moun-
tains they have lingered in use until quite recently.
The earlier ones had a rough puncheon floor, if they
had any floor at all. Often there was only the bare
earth which the children's feet soon rendered very
dusty. On occasion the youngsters would purposely
stir up this dust in clouds to annoy the teacher and
amuse their fellows. Sticks were inserted between
the logs around the sides of the room at a convenient
height, and boards were nailed on them to serve as
desks. Roofs were of bark, and at one end of the
building was a chimney of short logs laid up cob-
house fashion and daubed with clay. Many of the
school-houses, even to the borders of the nineteenth

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 37

century, had no glass in their windows. The paper
that served instead was greased with lard to make
it transparent and less easily affected by wet.

Inkstand, Sandbox, and Bunch of Uncut Quills.

The colonial schools had no blackboards and no

maps:

but once in a while a schoolroom in the

more flourishing communities would possess a globe.

38 Old-time Schools and School-books

Slates did not come into general use until about
1820, and lead pencils not for a good many years
after that. In rilling the pages of their manuscript
" sum-books " and " copy-books," the children were
in the habit of using pen and ink exclusively. A
favorite book of instructions of the period in its
" Directions to Beginners in Writing " says that the
necessary implements are

a pen-knife, quills, paper, good and free ink; likewife a
flat Ruler for Surenefs ; and a round one for Difpatch ;
with a leaden Plummet or Pencil to rule Lines : Alfo Gum
Sandrich Powder with a little Cotton dipped therein, which
rub gently over the Paper to make it bear Ink the better.

The pens were goose-quills, and one of the school-
master's most essential accomplishments was the
ability to make and mend these pens. Even if he
was very expert in the art, the making and repairing
for a large school consumed a good deal of time.
Each family was its own ink manufacturer. The
usual process was to dissolve ink-powder ; but many
of the country folk gathered the bark of swamp-
maple, boiled it in an iron kettle to give it a more
perfect black color, and when the decoction was
thick added copperas. These home-made inks were
often weak and pallid, and sometimes they dried up.
Again they were spoiled with grease that got into
the inkstands at the schoolhouse ; for when there
were evening meetings in the school building it came
handy to use the inkstands as candlesticks.

The paper ordinarily bought for school purposes
was rough and dark. Its cost, and the scarcity of

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 39

money, led the scholars to use it sparingly, and in
the newer and poorer communities children frequently

A Homemade Copy Book with a Wall-paper Cover.
Size of original about 10x12.

ciphered on birch bark. The paper came in foolscap
size, unruled. For the copy and sum books each
sheet was folded to make four leaves or eight pages.
Then enough of these folds were slipped within each

40 Old-time Schools and School-books

other to form a book of the desired thickness.
Lastly a cover of coarse brown wrapping-paper, or
possibly of wall-paper, was cut out, and the whole
was carefally sewed into shape. In preparation for
writing, the children ruled the paper themselves with
lead plummets. Some plummets were merely pieces
of sheet lead, but oftener the lead was melted and
run into a wooden mould and later smoothed with a
jack-knife. The most popular shape was that of a
tomahawk. When properly finished and sharpened
and drilled with a hole at one end, the plummet was
tied with a string of tow to the owner's ruler.

The handwriting of the colonial children, judging
from the copy-books that have been preserved, was
admirably legible and uniform — much better than
that of the young people of the present. In fact, it
was a chief requisite of the old schoolmasters that
they should be good teachers of penmanship. The
spelling mattered little, if only the " wrighting " was
clear and fair ; and as a logical result of this view a
very large proportion of the early chirography is
handsome and dignified, and easy to read.

Some particularly interesting glimpses of education
in the score of years preceding the Revolution are to
be found in the biography of John Trumbull, who
attended one of the best schools of the period in the
little town of Lebanon, Connecticut. For thirty
years the master of the school was Nathan Tisdale,
a man whose assiduity and fidelity became so widely
known that he not only had pupils from the New
England and Northern colonies, but from those ot
the remotest South and from the West India Islands.

A Colonial Schoolmaster.
From Judd's Margaret.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 41

It was the rule of the school to have no vacations,
and because of this rule, or in spite of it, Trumbull,
who became a pupil as a very small child, could read
Greek at six years of age, and at twelve was suffi-
ciently advanced to be admitted to college.

There is, perhaps, no better record of the appear-
ance of a typical colonial schoolmaster than is to be
found in Judd's Margaret : —

He wore a three-cornered hat. His coat descended in
long, square skirts, quite to the calves of his legs. He had
on nankeen small-clothes, white silk stockings, paste knee
and shoe buckles. His waistcoat was of yellow embossed
silk with long lappels. The sleeves and skirts of his coat
were garnished with rows of silver buttons. He wore
ruffle cuffs ; on his neck was a snow-white linen stock.
Under his hat appeared a gray wig falling in rolls over his
shoulders. He had on a pair of turquoise-shell spectacles.
A golden-headed cane was thrust under his arm.

I also wish to quote from the reminiscences of
Alexander Graydon a graphic description of the
methods of discipline adopted in the school he
attended in Philadelphia, about 1765. His master,
an Englishman by the name of Dove, was a humor-
ist, and it was his practice to substitute humiliation
for corporal punishment. His birch was rarely
applied in the usual way,

but was generally stuck into the back part of the collar of
the unfortunate culprit, who, with this badge of disgrace
towering from his nape, was compelled to take his stand
upon the top of the form for such a period of time as his
offence was thought to deserve. He had another contriv-

42 Old-time Schools and School-books

ance for boys who were late in their morning attendance.
This was to dispatch a committee of five or six scholars
for them, with a bell and lighted lantern ; and in this odd
equipage, in broad daylight, the bell all the while tingling,
were they escorted through the streets to school. As Dove
affected a strict regard to justice in his dispensations of
punishment, and always professed a willingness to have an
equal measure of it meted out to himself in case of his
transgressing, the boys took him at his word ; and one
morning, when he had overstaid his time, he found himself
waited on in the usual form. He immediately admitted the
justice of the procedure, and, putting himself behind the.
lantern and bell, marched with great solemnity to school,
to the no small gratification of the boys and entertainment
of the spectators.

Later, Graydon entered the Latin School presided
over by a Scotchman of diminutive figure, named
Beveridge. Of this master, Graydon says : —

He was diligent and laborious in his attention to his
school ; and had he possessed the faculty of making him-
self beloved by the scholars, and of exciting their emulation
and exertion, nothing would have been wanting in him to
an entire qualification for his office. Though not, perhaps,
to be complained of as intolerably severe, he yet made a
pretty free use of the rattan and the ferule, but to very
little purpose. He was, in short, no disciplinarian, and
consequently very unequal to the management of seventy or
eighty boys. He was assisted by two ushers, who eased
him in the burden of teaching, but who, in matters of dis-
cipline, seemed disinclined to interfere. I have seen them
slyly slip out of the way when the principal was entering
upon the job of capitally punishing a boy, who, from his
size, would be likely to make resistance.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 43

Various were the rogueries that were played upon him ;
but the most audacious of all was the following. At the
hour of convening in the afternoon (that being the most
convenient, from the circumstance of Mr. Beveridge being
usually a little beyond the time) the bell having rung, the
ushers being at their posts, and the scholars arranged in
their classes, three or four of the conspirators conceal them-
selves without for the purpose of observing the motions
of their victim. He arrives, enters the school, and is per-
mitted to proceed until he is supposed to have nearly reached
his chair at the upper end of the room, when instantly the
door and every window-shutter is closed. Now, shrouded
in utter darkness, the most hideous yells that can be con-
ceived are sent forth from at least three score of throats ;
and Ovids and Virgils and Horaces, together with the more
heavy metal of dictionaries, are hurled without remorse at
the astonished preceptor, who, groping and crawling under
cover of the forms, makes the best of his way to the door.
When attained, and light restored, a death-like silence en-
sues. Every boy is at his lesson : no one has had a hand
or a voice in the recent atrocity. What, then, is to be
done ? and who shall be chastised ?

This outrage, from its succeeding beyond expectation,
and being entirely to the taste of the school, had a run of
several days, and was only put a stop to by the interference
of the faculty.

The ferule was the standard implement for reform-
ing the erring pupil, but some masters used a rattan
or a cowhide. Even a cat-o'-nine-tails was not un-
known. It was a time when young men were pub-
licly whipped in colleges, and the severity of the
treatment meted out to the pupils in the minor
schools is not at all surprising. One New York

44 Old-time Schools and School-books

master had a short ladder beside his desk, and when
he called forth a culprit for punishment, the boy
had to step up on the ladder to receive his caning.
It is related of a certain rustic schoolmaster that he
kept a long birch rod with the butt-end resting on
his chair, so that he could use it without rising.
Another master would sit with his feet on the table
and call up all the boys to march around the table
in single file. As they passed in front of him he
hit them each in turn with his ruler. In this way,
though some of the innocent may have suffered, he
made sure that none of the guilty escaped. But not
all the discipline in the old schools was muscular.
Instances are recorded of an offender's being ordered
out to cut a small branch from a tree, and when he
returned with it, the teacher squared and partially
split the larger end and fitted the cleft on the culprit's
nose. Pinched and ridiculous, the boy was forced
to stand in full sight of the school until the teacher
relented.

In the dame schools premiums of gingerbread
were now and then bestowed for good behavior, but
these were not a chief reliance in the cultivation of
virtue. Most dames had great faith in a thimble
tapped sharply on the delinquents' craniums. Whis-
perers were sometimes compelled to silence by hav-
ing inserted in their mouths a short stick, like the
bit of a bridle, with strings at the ends which could
be tied at the back of the head. There were schools
where transgressors were made to stand on the
benches and wear dunce caps, or huge leather spec-
tacles; or they might have pinned to their persons

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 45

THE

large labels lettered, " Lying Ananias," or " Idle
Boy," or whatever the teacher thought was appropri-
ate to the case. Occasionally a child rebelled when
punished and attempted revenge. Thus, in a Boston
dame school, where the teacher had a habit of pin-
ning naughty pupils
to the cushion of her
chair, one rogue,
while fastened in
this way, contrived
to pin the dame's
gown to the same
article. When she
rose she carried
cushion and boy
with her, to the
great consternation
of all concerned.

Books written
especially for school
use increased in
number with the
passing years ; but
almost without ex-
ception they were
of English authorship, and most were of British
printing.

A text-book with an individuality all its own was
The History of Genesis, published in 1708. It was
made up of short narratives retold from the first
book of the Bible. To add to its attractiveness
there were numerous illustrations. What the vol-

HISTORY

O F

GENESIS.

BEING

An Account of the Holy Lives and
Actions of the Patriarchs ; explained
with Pious and Edifying Explicati-
ons, and illuftrated with near Forty
Figures.

Fitted for the Ufe of Schools, and recom-
mended to Teachers of Children, as a,
Book very proper for the learning thern
to read Englifli, and inftru&ing them in
the right underloading of thefe Divine
Hiftorys.

Part of the Title-page of an Early Reli-
gious School-book.

Reduced one-third.

Old-time Schools and School-books

ume aspired to do for youthful students can best be
shown by an extract from the Preface.

This Book of Genefis (the antienteft Writing now
extant) is justly ftiled the Epitome of all Divinity. It is
indeed a great Bleffing of God, That Children in England

Noah's Ark, as depicted in The History of Genesis.

have liberty to read the holy Scriptures, when others abroad
are denied it. And yet alas ! how often do we fee Parents
prefer Tom Thumb, Guy of Warwick, or fome fuch foolish
Book, before the Book of Life ! Let not your Children
read thefe vain Books, profane Ballads, and filthy Songs.
Throw away all fond and amorous Romances, and fabu-
lous Hiftories of Giants, the bombaft Atchievements of
Knight Errantry, and the like; for thefe fill the Heads
of Children with vain, filly and idle imaginations.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 47

The Publifher, therefore, of this Hiftory of Genefis,
being fenfible how ufeful a Work of this Nature might be
for Schools, hopes it
will meet with a gen-
eral Acceptance.

THE

CHILD'S

O R,

A Little Bo OK,

So nicely Suited to the

©enfus ano Capacity

LITTLE CHILD,

Both for

MATTER and METHOD,

That it will infallibly Allure and Lead
him on into a Way of

READING

With all the fiafe and Expedi-
tion that can bedefired.

One of the earli-
estelementary books
of the century was
entitled The Child's
Weeks-work. It was
a compilation of
lessons for each
day of four weeks.
Among other things
there were proverbs,
fables, a section de-
voted to " Behav-
ior," and " A Short
Catechifm fitted for
the Ufe of Children
after they have faid
their Prayers." But
the oddest feature
was the insertion
here and there of
conundrums and
anecdotes. Several
of the former and one of the latter follow : —

BytBiUiamEonfcflep

L O N D 0 tf,

Printed for G.Cenyen and j. ^
in Little Britain. 1712.

Title-page of The Child's Weeks-work.
Reduced one-third.

§>ueft. What's that which is higher fitting than ftand-
ing?

Anjw. It Is a Dog.

48 Old-time Schools and School-books

^ueft. A long Tail, a Tongue and a Mouth

Full fifty feet above the Ground,
'Tis heard both Eaft, Weft, North and South,
A mile or two all round.

Anfw. It is a Bell in a Steeple.

Queft. I never
Spoke but once.

Anfw. It is Ba-
laam's Afs.

A Countryman
being preft
for a Soldier, was
engaged in a Fight,
and at his return
was afk'd, what
Manly Acts he had
done, he anfwer'd
he had cut off one
of the Enemy's
legs. Oh ! faid
the other, you had
done much more
like a ftout Man,
if you had cut off
his Head: Oh!
faid he, that
off before.

was

A Tree of Knowledge Frontispiece.
From The London Spelling-Book. 171Q-

Somewhat al-
lied to the two
books just de-
scribed, in their
distinctly reli-;

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 49

gious character,
was "The Prot-
estant Tut or ) in-
ftructing Youth
and Others, in
the compleat
method of Spel-
ling, Reading,
and Writing,
True Englifh :
Alfo difcovering
to them the No-
torious Errors,
Damnable Doc-
trines, and cruel
MaJJacres of the
bloody Papifts,
which England
may expect
from a Pop-
ifh SUCCESSOR :
Printed by and
for Tho. Norris,
and fold at the
Looking-glafs
on London-
Eridger The
title-page from
which this is

taken is dated 1715, but there were earlier editions,
and the book apparently enjoyed a considerable cir-
culation. The lessons included the alphabet, a few

An Illustrated Alphabet in The London Spelling-
Book.

50 Old-time Schools and School-books

pages of spelling words and easy reading lessons,
but mostly were made up of rabid anti-Catholic
matter illustrated with dreadful pictures of persecu-
tions and of heaven, hell, death, and the judgment.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the buih.
FABLE Xil. Of the Fijhennnn and the Fijh.

The Fisherman with "a bird in the hand."
From Dilworth's A New Guide to the English Tongue.

Only infrequent copies of the text-books I have
mentioned wandered to our shores ; nor were any
school-books imported in quantity until the publi-
cation of Dilworth's A New Guide to the English
Tongue^ in 1740. This was the most popular speller
of the eighteenth century. A portrait of Dilworth
with a scholastic cap on his head and a pen in his
hand served for a frontispiece ; and, in truth, as the

Colonial Schools , of the Eighteenth Century 51

He that will not help himfelf, fhall have help from

nobody.

FABLE!. Of the Wagoner and Hercules.

A S a waggoner was driving his team, his wag-
<£\. gon funk into a hole, and (luck faft.

The poor man immediately fell upon his knees$
and prayed to Hercules, that he would get his wag-
gon out of the hole again.

Thou fool, fays Hercules, whip thy horfes, and
fee thy flioulder to the wheels -, and then if thou
wilt call upon Hercules he will help thec.

The Interpretation.,

Lazy wtfhes never doa Man any fervice ; but if he would
have help from God in time of need, lei him not on!/ implore
his alfiUance, buc_make ufc of fm own beA endeavours.

From Dilworth's A New Guide to the English Tongue.

52 Old-time Schools and School-books

Evil be to him that evil think. Alfo, give a

crufl to a furly dog, and he will bite you.
FABLE X.. Of the good natured Man and the Adder.

A Good natured man being obliged to go out
in frolty weather, on his return home found
an adder almoft frozen to death, which he^brought
home with him and laid before the fire.

As foon as the creature had received frefh life
by the warmth, and was come to herfelf, fhe. be-
gan to hifs, and fly about the houfe, and, at length
killed one of the children.

Well, faid the man, if this is the beft^return
that, you'can make for my kind offices, you (hall
even fhare the fame fate yourfelf j and fo killed
her immediately.

The Interpretation.

Ingratitude is one of the blacked crimes that a man can be
guilty of: It is hateful to Cod and man, and frequently brings
upon fuch a gracclefs wretchall thacmifchief which he either did
Or thought to do to another.

From Dilworth's A New Guide to the English Tongue.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 53

greatest school-book author of his time he was not
unworthy of the honor. The spelling words were
interspersed with much religious reading and dismal
moralizing, but as an offset to this matter there was
"A Select Number of Fables, adorned with proper
Sculptures."

Two of the fable pages are reproduced entire.
The other illustration, delineating the fisherman, is
accompanied by the following story : —

AFifherman having caft his line into the water pref-
ently drew up a Fifh.

The little captive intreated the fifherman that he would
fpare her (fhe being but fmall) till The was grown larger ;
and then fhe would fuffer herfelf to be taken by him again.
No, no, replied the fifherman, I am not to be fo ferved.
If I let you go, I muft never fee you any more : I was
always of that temper that whatever I could catch I had
rather take it away than leave it behind me.

The Interpretation.
Never let go a certainty for an uncertainty.

The only speller to seriously rival Dilworth's in
circulation during the remainder of the colonial
period was Fenning's, which appeared in 1755. ^e-
sides " Tables of Words," this contained " Leffons
both moral and divine, Fables and pleafant Stories,
and a very eafy and approved Guide to Englifh
Grammar." There was also some minor material
including a chronology of " the moft remarkable
Occurrences in Sacred and profane History," that
had in it items like : —

54 Old-time Schools and School-books

THE Creation of the World .
Noah's Flood ....
Walls of Jericho fell down
Eleven Days fucceffive Snow
A very great Comet ....
A terrible high Wind, November 26
The furprifing Meteor and Signs in the Air

B.C. 4047
. 2350

• H54

A.D. 1674
. 1680

• 1703
. 1719

Here is one of the " Fables " : —

The Town in Danger.
From Fenning's The Universal Spelling-Book,

THERE was a Town in Danger of being befieged, and
it was confulted which was the beft Way to fortify
and ftrengthen it ; and many were the different Opinions
of the Town Folks concerning it.

A grave fkilful Mafon faid, there was nothing fo ftrong

Frontispiece to Pennine's The Universal Spelling-Book.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 55

nor fo good as Stone. A Carpenter faid, that Stone might
do pretty well ; but, in his Opinion, good ftrong Oak was
much better.

A currier being prefent, faid, Gentlemen, you may do
as you pleafe ; but to have the Town well fortified and
fecure, take my Word, there is nothing like Leather.

MORAL.

' Tis too common for Men to confult their own private Ends,
though a whole Nation fuffer by it.

Then here is one of the " pleafant Stories " : —

THERE were feveral Boys that ufed to go into the
Water, inftead of being at fchool ; and they fome-
times ftaid fo long that they ufed to frighten their Parents
very much; and though they were told of it Time after
Time, yet they would frequently go to wafh themfelves.
One Day four of them, Smith, Brown, Jones and Robinfon,
took it into their Heads to play Truant, and go into the
Water. They had not been in long before Smith was
drowned : Brown's Father followed him, and lafhed him
heartily while he was naked ; and Jones and Robinfon ran
Home half dreffed, which plainly told where they had been.
However, they were both fent to Bed without any Supper,
and told very plainly, that they fhould be well corrected at
School next Day.

By this time the News of Smith's being drowned, had
reached their Mafter's Ear, and he came to know the
Truth of it and found Smith's Father and Mother in
Tears, for the Lofs of him ; to whom he gave very good
Advice, took his friendly Leave, and went to fee what was
become of Brown, Jones and Robinfon, who all hung down
their Heads upon feeing their Mafter ; but more fo, when

56 Old-time Schools and School-books

their Parents defired that he would correct them the next
Day, which he promifed he would ; though, fays he, (by
the bye) it is rather your Duty to do it than mine, for I
cannot anfwer for Things done out of the School.

Do you, therefore, take Care to keep your Children in
Order at Home, and depend on it, fays the Mafter, I will
keep them in Awe of me at School. But, fays he, as they

The Truant Boys.
From Fenning's The Universal Spelling-Book.

have been naughty difobedient Boys, and might indeed
have loft their Lives, I will certainly chaftife them.

Next Day, Brown, Jones and Robinfon were fent to School,
and in a fhort time were called up to their Mafter ; and he
firft began with Brown. — Pray, young Gentleman, fays
he, what is the Reafon you go into the Water without the
Confent of your Parents ? — I won't do fo any more, fays
Brown. — That is nothing at all, fays the Mafter, I can-
not truft you. Pray can you fwim ? — No, Sir, fays Brown.
— Not fwim, do you fay! Why you might have been

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 57

drowned as well as Smith. — Take him up fays the
Maiter. — So he was taken up and well whipt.

Well, fays he to Jones, can you fwim ? — A little, Sir,
faid he. — A little ! why you were in more danger than
Brown, and might have been drowned had you ventured
much farther. — Take him up, fays he.

Now Robinfon could fwim very well, and thought as
Brown and Jones were whipt becaufe they could not fwim,
that he would efcape. — Well, Robinfon, fays the Maiter,
can you fwim ? — Yes, Sir, fays he, (very boldly) any where
over the River. — Pray, Sir, fays his Mafter, what Bufi-
nefs had you in the Water, when you fhould have been at
School ? — Take him up, fays he ; fo they were all feverely
corrected for their Difobedience and Folly.

Virtuous Tommy gives Naughty Harry some Good Advice.
From Penning' s The Universal Spelling Book,

The next story is a most vivid contrast of good
and evil as personified by virtuous Tommy and

58 Old-time Schools and School-books

Frontispiece to The British Instructor;

"Being a Plain and Eafy Guide to the Englifh Language on a Plan Entirely New."
London, 1763.

naughty Harry. The latter was " A fullen perverfe
Boy from his Cradle," while Tommy was " good-

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 59

natured, pleafant and mannerly." Hence Tommy
becomes a great and rich man while Harry sinks
to poverty and wretchedness and crime. Finally,

flie

Ferret

Infant

Yawle

Selections from a series of Alpha-
bet Illustrations in The British
Instructor.

to escape arrest, Harry
took flight by sea; but
" Divine Vengeance " fol-
lowed him, the ship was
wrecked, and though he
was cast up on the shore
he soon afterward " be-
came a Prey to wild
Beafts, which God furTered
to tear him in Pieces, as
the juft Reward of his
Difobedience and mifpent
Life."
In the miscellany of the latter part of the book

are directions for making both black and red ink.

The red ink recipe is : —

TAKE Half a Pint of Water, and put therein Half an
Ounce of Gum Senega ; let this diffolve in a Galli-
pot, and then add one Pennyworth of the beft Vermilion,
ftirring it well for two Days.

Yoake

60 Old-time Schools and School-books

That stirring for two days makes it sound like a
weary process. In some books the ink recipes
were supplemented by a paragraph like this : —

IN hard frofty weather, Ink will be apt to freeze ; which
if it once doth, it will be good for nothing; it takes
away all its Blacknefs and Beauty. To prevent which put
a few Drops of Brandy into it, and it will not freeze. And
to hinder its moulding put a little fait therein.

One -of the handsomest spellers of colonial day
was "WATTS's Compleat SPELLING-BOOK.

Its contents included, besides the ordinary spelling
book matter, " Praxes on Words of different Sylla
bles ; Portions of Scripture ; a Short History o
England ; and Directions for writing the Rounc
Hand, and Round Text, and the Italian Hand.
In connection with the writing directions there ar
two or three pages of sentences designed for copies
I quote from these several maxims in a list o
" Moral Inftructions, beginning with every Lette
of the Alphabet."

Grow quiet and eafy, when Fools ftrive to tieze ye.
Remember the Liar, has his Part in Hell-fire.
X Excufe but with Truth, the Follies of Youth.

Concerning the last a foot-note says : -=—

The Letter X begins no Englifh Word fo that we migh
begin that line with EX, unlefs the Reader will choofe th
inftead of it, viz.

X is fuch a crofs Letter, hallos my Morals and Metre.

The quotations which follow are portions o
lessons in a book that was made up from a numbe

GEORGE III. by the Grace of
GOD, of GREAT-BRITAIN,
FRANCE and IRELAND, King,
Defender of the Faith.

la evYy Stroke, in ev'ry Line,
Does fome exalted Virtue fliine j
And Albion $ Happinefs we trace,
In every Feature of his Face.

Frontispiece to Watts' s Compleat Spelling-Book, 1770.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 61

of English spellers and published in Boston in 1770
under the title, The Touttis I nf true tor in the Englifh
Tongue^ Or the Art of Spelling Improved. It claimed
to be "a more plain eafy and regular Method of
teaching young children than any other Book of this
kind and Bignefs extant."

The Defcription of a good Boy.

THE boy that is good
Does mind his book well ;
And if he can't read
Will ftrive for to fpell.

His fchool he does love;

And when he is there,
For plays and for toys,

No time can he fpare.

Of taking God's Name in vain.

TO mention God, no man has juft pretence,
But to his honour, or the truth's defence.
In common talk, where trifles moft abound,
God, Chrift or Lord ftrikes horror with the found.
.Nor fhould we dare appeal to him on high,
To gain belief, or to atteft a lie,
Thus to abufe that name, if man prefume,
The third Commandment loudly fpeaks their doom.
Yet fome, alas ! in every trivial caufe,
To ftop a gap in fpeech, or for a paufe ;
Or to fill up the fentence, at each word,
From mouths unhallow'd, breathe, Chrift, God or Lord.
Good Lord, if e'er fuch monsters I come nigh,
From their ill ways give me the grace to fly.

62 Old-time Schools and School-books

' ; J~\i

p-i r3 -Mnuujuck.Avifljyou
uv au .Alniaiia clc

The Inside of the First Leaf of A New Battledoor.
Reduced one-third.

Againft Songs or Ballads.

ATE vulgar impious Tongs, a wretched chime,
Where fulfome nonfenfe jingles into rhyme.

ABCDEFGHHK

An American Reprint of A New Battledoor.
Size of original, 4x63 inches.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 63

Of Man.

Lord what is man ! a dunghill blanched with fnow, or a
May game of fortune, a mark for malice, a butt for envy ;
He is born crying, lives laughing and dies groaning !

For acquiring the elements of education the
hornbook still held its humble place among the
school publications. Another help somewhat related
to the hornbook was the "battledore" — a folded
card of two or three leaves with a little flap like an
old-time pocket-book. The battledores were essen-
tially little illustrated primers ; the price was from a

A Heading from a Manuscript Arithmetic of Colonial Days.
Reduced one-half.

penny to fourpence, and they found ready sale.
One English publisher in ten years sold upwards
of a hundred thousand, and many other firms were
issuing them at the same time. They are said first
to have been put on the market in 1746. The
earlier ones were covered outside with Dutch gilt
embossed paper, and the inner, printed side was
varnished. Later the varnish and the fancy outer
pasting of gilt paper were omitted and the entire
folder, outside and in, was printed. Battledores were

Old-time Schools and School-books

comparatively little used in this country after the
Revolution, but in England they were common for
fifty years longer.

The colonial teachers usually taught arithmetic

ivA - j£/~<*j/'~tSi.f*S^

Page from a Manuscript Arithmetic of Colonial Days.
Reduced one-half, The original book is a quarto of one hundred pages with a card-
board cover.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 65

without text-books. They gave out to their scholars
rules and problems from manuscript sum-books
which the schoolmasters had themselves made
under their teachers. It was such a sum-book that

H* I^K more of iV.mc F.xalii»<i \vr.uU know,
O»fh:< thv EC OK. t« bin; (on r i!:c.i'gh:< bellow.
Doe? Q»,«!km in A K IT H M'K 7iC A' here arc
Demonftsawd by Rt'JL.ESfo 1'Iain, fo Raifj
J-W'y i: Self muft re«k «n,l'c!s thus 'much, W
R-sd »il the JBwA; i'Bi' \Y«:ld, jxa'il Imd Nea« }

fl-0 2) 2> £ K*s
ARITHMETICK

OR, THAT

NecdfaryART

Made Moft Eafie ;

king exptain'd ia a way famifor
to th< Capacity of any that dc-
firc to- learn it in a tittle Twit.

Tfc *«Den anb Ctaererttt!) dTWtlon, Pt-

J5y WilUam Hamc, Philomath.

LONDON?

Printed for £> MiJiuixter, 4 Btntfuxnb. and

C.tf'rf, «.**•>, X.«T«-< 7. .-

t 7. Ln>tm**t C. Salbwf, uni
ut, 1739.

Frontispiece and Title-page of a Colonial Arithmetic.
Reduced one-half.

the boy Abraham Lincoln copied while he was learn-
ing arithmetic ; for even at that date the old method
of teaching without a text-book survived here and
there. Many scholars in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries never saw a printed arithmetic,

66 Old-time Schools and School-books

and when a master chanced to own a copy, most of
it was likely to be quite incomprehensible to the

average pupil.
One of the ear-
liest to attain
favor was Cock-
er s Arithmetic:
"Being a Plain
and famili ar
Method, fuita-
ble to the mean-
eft Capacity, for
the underftand-
ing of that in-
comparable
Art." It was
first printed in
1677. Later
came Hodder's,
and in 1743 The
Schoolmaster's
.AJJiJtant by
Thomas Dil-
worth. Dil-
worth's book
was still in use
to some extent
at the beginning
of the last cen-
tury. One can judge from the fact that it makes no
allusion to decimal currency it could not by then have
been very well adapted to American requirements.

Frontispiece to The Schoolmaster" s Assistant.
Reduced one third.

Colonial Schools of the Eighteenth Century 67

Among the books concerned with the dead lan-
guages, Bailey's English and Latin Exercises for
School-Boys was very popular. It was made up
sandwich fashion from cover to cover of alternat-
ing paragraphs of English and Latin, one a transla-
tion of the other. Some of the material would
hardly find place in a school-book of to-day, as, for
instance : —

Joan is a nafty Girl.

Ugly Witches are faid to have been black Cats.

The Report of the great Portion of an unmarried Virgin
is oftentimes the Sound of a great Lye.

Greedy Gluttons buy many dainty Bits for their ungodly
Guts.

Children drink Brimftone and Milk for the Itch.

If we fhould compare the Number of good and virtuous
Perfons to the Multitude of the Wicked, it would be but
very fmall.

Toward the close of the book are several of those
excessively polite conversations between Master and
Scholar such as were frequently inserted in the early
school-books. From Dialogue III in this Latin
book I take enough to show the manner of them.

Scholar. Sir, I entreat, that you would be pleas'd to
grant me my requeft.

Mafter. If my grant may profit thee, I will not deny ;
if thou afk thofe things, that tend to thine own Hurt, I
muft refufe.

Scholar. I only beg, Sir, that you would repeat to me
thofe Inftructions that you gave to our Form Yefterday.

68 Old-time Schools and School-books

Thus they go on through a number of pages, and
at the conclusion the Scholar says, " I thank you,
honored Sir."

4. Of ZAARA, or the DESART.

Tyro. How is this Defart fituate ?

Fhilo. Zaara is bounded on the N. by
Bildulgerid, on the E. by Egypt and Nu-
bia, on the S. by Negro-Land, and on the
W. by the Atlantic Ocean.

Portion of Page from Fenning's A New and Easy Guide to the Use of the
Globes, 1760.

The ordinary binding of all these colonial school-
books was full leather, even when the books were
small and thin. Illustrations were used sparingly,
and the drawing and engraving were very crude.
The volumes of English manufacture were as a rule
well printed on good paper ; but the American
editions were quite inferior, and they continued to
make a poor appearance as compared with the trans-
Atlantic books until after the middle of the nine-
teenth century. The most marked typographical
contrasts to the present that one observes is the use
of the long j, that looks like an /, and the habit of
printing beneath the final line of each page the first
word of the page following. The catchwords and
long s were employed up to 1800, but within the
first decade of the new century they were entirely
abandoned.

Ill

THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER

ORIGINALLY a "primer" was a book of
private devotions. The earliest books thus
named contained devotions for the hours,
the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Command-
ments, a few psalms, and some simple instruction in
Christian knowledge. They date back almost to
the time when type-printing was invented. Before
that time the only way of producing books had been
by laboriously copying them with brush or pen, letter
by letter. Learning, and even knowledge how to
read, were confined to the very few. But type-
printing reduced the cost of books so materially
that they were possible in the homes of the people,
and it at once became desirable that the rudiments
of language should be put within reach of the many
who now wished to learn to read. In consequence
an alphabet was often included in the little devo-
tional primers, and this led presently to giving the
name "primer" to all elementary books for the use
of children.

The contents of the old-time primers changed,
but for hundreds of years the teaching of religion
and reading continued united in them. No other
way could have been devised to mould the religious

70 Old-time Schools and School-books

thought of the people so effectively. The need of
guiding public sentiment on this subject was plainly
apparent ; for those who studied the Bible did not
understand its teachings alike, and printing no sooner
gave the Scriptures a wide distribution than divergent
opinions multiplied. The Bible itself does not con-
tain a distinct creed, nor does it tell us what to think
about it — hence the importance of setting forth the
simple tenets of religion in a form for general dis-
tribution. The primers were an especially valuable
medium, because they went to the fountain head.
Their precepts were instilled in minds as yet un-
formed, and the children were drilled to believe
what they were to think out for themselves when
they were more mature.

One trouble, however, was that primers from
different sources did not present the truth alike,
and successive rulers from Henry VIII down tried
to control their teachings. The unauthorized books
were seized and burned, and preachers and printers
guilty of preparing and distributing them were
whipped, imprisoned, and put to death. But their
production could not be stifled, and after the reign
of James II, the people were allowed to have such
primers and catechisms as they chose.

No doubt the early settlers of New England pos-
sessed primers that they brought across the ocean
with them. The family Bible and primer occupied
the same shelf in the pioneer homes, and from the
primer the children were faithfully catechised every
Sabbath day. The exact date of the first issue of
the " New England " primer is not known, but

The New England Primer 71

below is the earliest mention that has been dis-
covered of a primer with that name. It is from a
Boston "Almanack for the year of the Chriftian
Empire, 1691."

ADVERTISEMENT.
^Thereis now in the Prefs, and will fuddenly
be extant, a Second Imprefllon of The Ntw> Eng-
land Primer enlarged, to which is added, more
DirtQions for Spelling : the Prayer o/K. Edward
the 6tb. and ferfis made by Mr. Rogers the Mar.
*yr-> *eff as * Legacy to his Children.

Sold by Benjamin Harris^ at the London Coffct-
tionfe in Bo/Ion^

The Earliest Mention known of The New England Primer.
From Newman's News from the Stars. Boston, 1 690.

This Harris had formerly been a printer in Lon-
don where he brought out many tracts and broad-
sides of a religious or political character. He was
a man of considerable enterprise and ingenuity and
wrote both in verse and prose much of what he
printed. In 1681 a " Protestant Petition " he put
forth got him into trouble with the government,
which at that time was inclined toward Catholicism,
and he was fined five hundred pounds and con-
demned to stand in the pillory. This apparently
ruined his business, and we hear no more of him
till 1686, when he arrived in Boston and became the
proprietor of a book and coffee shop. Soon he
was publishing pamphlets and circulars, and among

72 Old-time Schools and School-books

other ventures he started a newspaper under the
title of Public Occurrences, which was the first
newspaper printed in America.

The general plan of the primer sent forth by
Harris was old, but the compilation had new fea-
tures, and its name lent it an aspect of originality.
In New England and the neighboring colonies it
promptly became an institution. Every home pos-
sessed copies, and they were for sale at all the
town and village bookshops. Occasionally printers
changed the title, and called it The New York
Primer^ or The American Primer ', or The Columbian
Primer; but the public preferred the New Eng-
land title. For a hundred years this book beyond
any other was the school-book of American dissent-
ers. Its power waned rapidly later. The cities
abandoned it first, and gradually it was neglected
in the villages. Still, even in Boston, it was used
in the dame schools as late as 1806. Its total sales
are estimated to have been not less than three
million copies. Astonishingly few of these have
been preserved, and early editions are among the
rarest of school-books. All issued previous to 1700
have vanished, and only a few score have survived
of those that were published during the next cen-
tury when it was in the zenith of its popularity.
The oldest perfect copy known is one printed in
Boston in 1735. This was picked up by a Pennsyl-
vania teacher at a farm-house auction in 1893 f°r
twelve cents. Ten years later he sold it to a New
York dealer for $2500.

The newspapers heralded this sale throughout the

The New England Primer

country, arousing much interest in the old primers,
and giving to the average owner a fabulous idea of

A Characteristic Binding.

Showing the oak sides, with portions of the blue paper which was pasted over the wood
still adhering.

the value of his possession. As a matter of fact
the chances are that five to twenty dollars is as much

Old-time Schools and School-books

as could be realized
even for copies ante-
dating 1800. Any-
thing more recent is
seldom worth over a
dollar or two.

The covers of the
New England prim-
ers were usually of
thin oak, that
cracked and splin-
tered badly with
use, in spite of the
coarse blue paper
which was pasted
over the wood. The
back was of leather.
Neither back nor
sides had any print-
ing on them. Most
editions of the primer
contained a frontis-
piece. For this a
rudely engraved
portrait of the reign-
ing English monarch
was customary until the Revolution, when one or
another of the American patriots had the honor.
After the war Washington was the favorite frontis-
piece character. Sometimes a school scene was
substituted, as in the cut reproduced from the
Brookfield edition. This same picture is to be

Children, like tender oziers, lake the bow,
And as they first are fashioned always

grow.
For what we learn in youth, to that

alone,
In age we are by second nature prone.

Frontispiece to a Brookfield, Mass., edition
of 1828.

Published by the firm which later became famous
as the publishers of Webster's Dictionary'

The New England Primer

found in a Boston book of 1791, but the verse
underneath it was —

The School-Mam, fee, whofe only care,

Is to inftruct her tender youth,
How they may vice's ways beware,

And tread the fteps of peace and truth.

THE

PRIMER,

OR AN

EASY A^D PLEASANT
CfflD-JE T& THE ART ON J

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

THE

CATECHISM

,Jf. M.

>LI8EED AND-SOtD BY I. AXB W. R. HIJ.1, AT TUU.B

A Title-page.

76 Old-time Schools and School-books

Every primer had a page devoted to the alphabet,
followed by two pages of those curious word frag-
ments, " ab, eb, ib, ob, ub," etc., which the book
itself calls " Easy syllables for Children." Then
came three pages of words grading up from those of

one syllable to " a-

Easy syllables for Children. bo-mi-na-ti-on"
Ba be bi bo bu and a few others of
ca ce ci co cu six syllables The
da de di do du r<;st of the bo°k 1S
la fe fi fo fu al,most en*rely »
ga ce °i go o-u religious and moral
ha he hi ho hu miscellany of verse
• -e ji j0 ju and prose gathered

ka ke ki ko ku from a11 sorts of
ja je u }o lu sources. Prominent

ma me mi mo mu in this miscellany is
na ne ni no nu a picture alphabet
pa pe pi po pu — a series of twenty-
ra re ri ro ru f°ur tiny pictures,
sa se si SO su each accompanied
ta te ti to tu by a two or three line
va ve vi VO VU jingle. Apparently
wa we wi wo WU two of the letters are
ya ye yi yo yu slighted, but not
zn ze z\ ZO zu really — for it was

customary to teach

that J was simply / with another name, and that
U and V were likewise identical. One must grant
that the pictures are expressive in spite of their
diminutive size. The artist took care to get every-
thing he could into them that would help the text.

The New England Primer 77

In the first series reproduced, notice the apple tree
in the garden of Eden. It is all there, and you can
plainly see the apples among the leaves. The tree
that Zaccheus did climb is also shown practically
entire; and. how effectively Noah's Ark is brought
out sailing on the flooded world while in the back-
ground the forked lightning plays in the black clouds.
Then there are Felix and Paul with the judgment as
distinct before them as if it was in the same room ;
and opposite the letter 7\ how horrid sin is made to
appear ! — no wonder that young Timothy flies !

This rhyming method of teaching the alphabet
is much older than The New England Primer, but
the little book gave the old idea fresh expression.
The primer rhymes are thought to have originated
with the Boston printer Harris, as the poetry he
was in the habit of manufacturing had much the
same character. They were always being changed,
however, sometimes merely in wording, sometimes
in subject, and the only one of the twenty-four that
remained unaltered was —

In Adam's Fall
We finned all.

That seemed to find general acceptance as a desirable
fact to promulgate in exactly those words. The new
features in the jingles were in part casual changes
made by the printers, and in part were a result of
the feeling that many of the rhymes earlier adopted
were too earthy in their sentiment.

The Cat doth play,
And after flay,

Old-time Schools and School-books

«§

3§
-Si

to o

The New England Primer

8o Old-time Schools and School-books

The New England Primer

82 Old-time Schools and School-books

and the similar couplets, were gradually rewritten and
given religious significance.

Another curious change found in some of the
primers was connected with the K rhyme. At first
this read : —

King Charles the Good

No Man of blood.

But by the time of the Revolution praise of royalty
was not as acceptable as it had been, and rhymes like
the following were substituted : —

Kings fhould be good
No men of blood.

Britain's King in fpleen
Lost States thirteen.

Queens and Kings
Are Gaudy Things.

In addition to the picture alphabet there was an"
unillustrated one of " Leffons for Youth." Three
of the short precepts will suffice to show what stern
stuff was put into these lessons : —

FOOLISHNESS is bound up in the Heart of a
Child, but the Rod of correction fhall drive it
from him.

IARS fhall have their Part in the Lake which
burns with Fire and Brimftone.

UPON the Wicked God fhall rain an Horrible
Tempeft.

The New England Primer 83

The letter X presented difficulties that were got-
ten around in this way : —

one another daily, while it is called To
Day, left any of you be hardened thro* the
Deceitfulnefs of Sin.

The feature of the primer that perhaps aroused
most interest was an illustration depicting Mr. John
Rogers burning
at the stake, with
his wife and ten
children look-
ing on. Every
youthful primer
owner counted
those children
to make sure the
statement of the
text as to their
number was cor-
rect. Of course
the readers never
suspected that
the scene in the
engraving was at
all fictitious —
yet history only
records of Rog-
ers's wife and
children that
they " met him

MR. JOHNROGERS, rninifterof the
gofpel in London, was the firfl mar-
tyr in Queen MARY'S reign, and was
burnt at Smithfield, February 14, 1554. — His
wife with nine small children, and one at
her breast folio wing him to the ftake; with
which forrowful fight he was not in the
leaft daunted, but with wonderful patience
died courageoutty for the gofpel of J E s u »
CHRIST.

The Rogers Page.
From the Webster edition of 1 843.

Old-time Schools and School-books

by the way as he went toward Smithfield," his
place of martyrdom. In connection with this tragic
picture is printed a long poem of practical and
spiritual exhortation that purports to be of Rogers's
authorship.

Some few Days before his Death he writ the
following Advice to his Children,

says the heading, but in truth the composition was

the work of another
martyr who met his
death a year later
than Rogers. The
poem attained con-
siderable popularity
among the Puritans
before it was in-
cluded in the primer.
Another long
poem to be found
in most primers was
A Dialogue between
Chrift, Touth, and
the Devil. It starts

with a declaration on the part of the Youth that —

A Rude Primer Cut purporting to show John
Rogers being burned at the Stake.

An officer stands on the right, and Mr. Rogers's wife
and ten children on the left.

Thofe days which God to me doth fend,
In pleafure I'm refolved to fpend.

The devil applauds, remarking among
things that —

other

The New England Primer 85

If thou my counfel wilt embrace,
And fhun the ways of truth and grace,
And learn to lie, and curfe and fwear,
And be as proud as any are ;
And with thy brothers wilt fall out,
And fister with vile language flout ;
Yea, fight and fcratch, and alfo bite,
Then in thee I will take delight.

Christ pleads with Youth to leave his folly, until
at length Youth wavers ; but he cannot make up
his mind to yield. He is promising to reform at
some time in the future, when to his surprise and
dismay Death appears and says : —

Youth, I am come to fetch thy breath,
And carry thee to th' fhades of death,
No pity on thee can I fhow
Thou haft thy God offended fo.
Thy foul and body I'll divide,
Thy body in the grave I'll hide,
And thy dear foul in hell muft lie
With Devils to eternity.

In minor matters the primers varied greatly, but
you could usually depend on finding the Apostle's
Creed, Dr. Watts's Cradle Hymn, and several prayers,
including the Lord's Prayer and Now I lay me down
to sleep ; and there was a page of " Inftructive §>uej-
tions and Anfwers" beginning with " Who was the
firft man? — Adam" and continuing in the same
tenor with such items as —

86 Old-time Schools and School-books

The Bmiterfy 'In gawdy Drefs,

The wcpthlf (i Ccxcomb doib exprefsi

""file C fifo C. O D 1 L £7

The Butterfly and Crocodile.
From an edition of about 1 785.

Who was the oldeft Man ? Methufelah.

Who was the patienteft Man ? Job.

Who was the meekeft Man ? Mofes.

Who was the hard heartedeft Man ? Pharaoh.

Who made iron fwim ? Elifha.

Who was in the Whale's Belly ? Jonah.

The New England Primer 87

A primer published by E. Draper about 1785
has five pages of natural history, consisting of two
pictures to the page with a couplet below each
like : —

The Afs, tho' mean, will by his Bray,

Oblige your Horfe to run away.

The Xiekiinra!* doth ^e

The Cuchw tells a merry
Uport tixc Wlf, and fe ib«

The Nightingale and Cuckow.
From an edition of about 1785.

88 Old-time Schools and School-books
The COCK.

THE Cock doth crow to let you know;
If you be wife, what Time to rife.
There is no Bird treat-ed with fo much Cru-
el-ty as the Cock ; for he, poor Thing (with-olit
the leail Of-fence) is ti-ed to a Stake, and thrown
at by a fet of i-dle, wjck-ed, bar-ba-rous Pel-
lows, until he is beat in Pie-ces. This is a Cuf-
tom the very Hea-thens would blufli at ; and
there-fore J hope you, who are a Chrift-ian, will
ncv-er be guilt- y of any Thing fo in-hu-man.

One of Several Similar Pages of Illustrated Rhymes and Comments in
The Royal Primer, Worcester, Mass., 1787.

In an edition of 1771 we find what at first sight
promises to be an entertaining story, but it proves
only a description of one of the priggish little good
boys that abound in the juvenile literature of the
period.

THE HISTORY OF MASTER TOMMY
FIDO.

AS Goodnefs and Learning make the Child a Man, fo
Piety makes him an Angel. M after Tommy Fido
not only loved his Book becaufe it made him wifer, but be-
caufe it made him better too. He loved every Body, and

The New England Primer 89

could not fee a Stranger hurt, without feeling what he fuf-
fered, without pitying him, and wifhing he could help him.
He loved his Papa and Mamma, his Brothers and Sifters
with the deareft Affection; he learnt his Duty to God,
thanked him for his Goodnefs, and was glad that he had
not made him a Horfe or a Cow, but had given him Senfe
enough to know his Duty, and every Day when he faid his
Prayers, thanked God for making him a little Man. One
Day he went to Church, he minded what the Parfon faid,
and when he came home afked his Papa, if God loved him ;
his Papa faid Yes, my Dear. O ! my dear Papa, faid he,
I am glad to hear it ; what a charming Thing it is to have
God my PViend ! then nothing can hurt me ; I am fure I
will love him as well as ever. I can. Thus he every day
grew wifer and better. Every Body was pleafed with him,
he had many Friends, the Poor bleffed him, and every one
Strove to make him happy.

A Philadelphia edition of 1797 " much improved"
indulged in some similar fiction that took the form
of eighteen little reading lessons, one of which was
the following: —

Har-ry ! fays Bil-ly, what do you think the world ftands
on ? I don't know, fays Har-ry ; but I can tell you what
our Tom fays: Old Tom fays the world ftands on a great
tur-tle ; but he could not tell me what the tur-tle ftood on.

rell, fays Bil-ly, I will tell you what my pa-pa fays ; My
pa-pa fays the world don't ftand on a-ny thing ; but is
ba-lanc-ed on its own cen-tre, and goes round the fun,
in the o-pen fpace, once e-ve-ry year.

Another story is this from The Royal Primer,
Worcester, Massachusetts, 1787: —

90 Old-time Schools and School-books

The Rewards of Virtue.

The Rewards of VIRTUE.

Mifs Goodchild had the advantage of fuch Inftructions in

her youth that fhe could reafon juftly on the Being, Provi-
dence and Perfections of
God ; whom fhe admired,
loved, and reverenced, from
a Conviction of his infinite
Excellence ; and to whom
every Morning and Night,
fhe offered up her Prayers
for Protection, and for Ad-
vancement in ufeful Knowl-
edge, and good Difpofitions,
the chief object of her Pur-

fuit ! Her Papa and Mamma foon died ; and fhe had no

other Portion left her but her undiffembled Piety, a decent

Modesty, which fhowed itfelf in her Actions, an innocent

Simplicity and a Heart full

of Goodnefs. Thefe raifed

her Friends; they admired

her, they loved her, they

ftrove to make her happy.

A Gentleman of Under-

ftanding and Virtue became

fenfible of her Merit, and

married her. It was the

Bufinefs of their Lives to

make each other happy, Illustration to

and as their Fortune was

large fhe was enabled to

gratify the generous Difpofitions of her Heart, in relieving

any diftreft honeft Man ; and in promoting the fubftantial

Benefit of all about her.

The Hufbandman's
Prayer " in a New England Primer
of about 1785.

The New England Primer 91

Here are a few morsels showing the kind of
material that was used in the primers to fill space
between the more important portions : —

Good children muft

Fear God all day, Love Chrift alway,

Parents obey, In fecret pray,

No falfe thing fay, Mind little play,

By no fin ftray, Make no delay

In doing good.

FAITH.

HE Father of the Faithful faid,

At God's firft calling, "NHere am I ;"
iLet us by his example fway'd,
Like him fubmit, like him reply.

Then let us imitate the Seer,

And tender with compliant grace

Ourfelves, our fouls, and children here,
Hereafter in a better place.

Poem from a Charlestown, Mass., Edition of 1802.

92 Old-time Schools and School-books

He that loves God, his school, and his book, will no
doubt do well at last ; but he that hates his school and
book, will live and die a slave, a fool, and a dunce.

(£$• Children, obey your parents m
the Lord : for this is right. Honour
thy father and mother, (which is the
first commandment with promise,)
that it may be- well with thee, and
thou mayes>t live long on the earth.

The Sum of the Ten Commandments*
\X/ITH all thy fouJ love God above,
' And as thyfelf thy neighbour loye%

Our Saviour's Golden Rule.

BE you to others kind and true,
As you d have others be to you.
And neither do nor lay to men,
JVhate'er y°u wovld net take again.

A Page from an Edition of about 1810.

Ancient Proverb.

Young folks think old folks to be fools ;
but old folks know young ones to be so.

The New England Primer

Human Frailty.

OUR days begin with trouble here,
Our life is but a fpan ;
And cruel death is always near,
So frail a thing is man !

Believe in Jefus Chrift while young
Then when thou com'ft to die,

Thou fhalt fing forth that pleafant fong,
u Death, where is thy victory ? "

Acts 13:11. John4:5— 7. •

Two Pictures.
From Emerson's The Evangelical Primer. 1810.

A modification of The New England Primer that
continued to enjoy a wide circulation for many years
was Emerson's The Evangelical Primer. It was a
little larger and thicker than The New England
Primer and contained considerable more matter but
less variety. Among those who vouched for its
value and recommended its use in families and
schools were Noah Webster, Jedidiah Morse, and
the president of Yale College. The contents were

Old-time Schools and School-books

a " minor doctrinal catechism, a minor historical
catechism," — which however only covered Bible
history, — and The Westminster Assembly's Shorter
Catechism with explanatory notes and Scripture
proofs and a few hymns. Like all books of its kind
it did not fail to set forth the terrors of hell with
definiteness and detail, and the closing paragraphs
of the doctrinal catechism were these : —

What will be your condition in hell ? I shall be dread-
fully tormented. — What company will be there ? Legions
of devils, and multitudes of sinners of the human race.

Will company afford me any comfort in hell ? It will
not, but will probably increase my woes.

If you should go to hell, how long must you continue
there ? For ever and ever.

If you should die in your sins, and God should make
you miserable, should you have any reason to complain of
him? Not the least. I must be speechless.

Amidst our cheer
DEATH may be Dear;

All shortly must
Be laid in dust.

From a Picture Alphabet in Fisher's
A Youth's Primer, 1817.

A similar book
was The Touth's
Primer " by Jona-
than Fisher, A.M.,
Minister of the
Gospel at Bluehill,
Maine, 1817." It
contained " a series
of short verses in
alphabetical order,
each followed by
religious, moral, or
historical observa-

The New England Primer

tions," and it contained the catechism. The verses
and accompanying illustrations were reminiscent of
the picture alphabet in The New England Primer and
occasionally treated the same subject. Thus, the
first jingle was —

By ADAM came
Our sin and shame.

Our Parents fell
And we rebel.

For the letter T there was this : —

Take ye my YOKE
So Jesus spoke

and the picture
shows Christ
carrying an ox
yoke in his hand
while two oxen
stand in the field
in the back-
ground.

The " obser-
vations " that
went with the
verses were often
very lugubrious,
as the extract be-
low will indicate.

Borne with delight
'Tis easy quite,

The EARTH must burn,
And Christ return;

What then will hide
The sons of pride?

From a Picture Alphabet in Fisher's A Youth's
Primer.

There is a very pretty little hymn, and a true one,
which parents often teach their children, and that very
fitly : I will here insert it : —

Old-time Schools and School-books

I in the burying place may see

Graves snorter there than I ;
From death's arrest no age is free,

Young children too may die.
My God, may such an awful sight

Awakening be to me !
Oh ! that by early grace I might

For death prepared be.

Young people may very soon learn that they are dying

creatures. This dy-
ing is the parting of
the soul from the
body, so that the
body is left without
thought, or motion ;
being thus left, it soon
putrefies and becomes
loathsome, so that it
is necessary to bury
it under ground, out
of our sight, where
A ml from her stove it moulders away to
dust. This is the
consequence of sin,
by reason of which
God said to Adam,

Dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return. If man had

not sinned, he would have lived for ever.

The backbone of The New England Primer was
The Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, which
Cotton Mather called a " little watering pot to shed
good lessons." He urged writing masters to set
sentences from it to be copied by their pupils, and

KIN'DNBSS appears,
DissolvM in tears

Relieves the poor.

From a Picture Alphabet in Fisher's A Youth's
Primer.

The New England Primer 97

he advised mothers to "continually drop something
of the Catechism on their children, as Honey from
the Rock."

This Catechism was the work of the great West-
minster Assembly called together by parliament in
1643 : — an Assembly composed of one hundred and
twenty-one clergymen, thirty of the laity, and five
special commissioners from Scotland. It held 1163
sessions and lasted six years. The 107 questions
and answers printed in the primer were entitled
The Shorter Catechism, but the children who were
expected to memorize all the ponderous answers
could discern no sign of condensation or abbreviation,
and they sometimes wondered what a longer one
could be like. They were drilled in the Catechism
constantly, both in the church and at school. Min-
isters preached about it, and it was much in every
one's mind. Its importance in the thought of the
time is suggested by the fact that the largest book
printed in New England previous to the nineteenth
century was Samuel Willard's Complete Body of Di-
vinity in Two Hundred and Fifty Expository Lectures
on the Assembly s Shorter Catechism ; and this enor-
mous volume of nearly a thousand pages had marked
popularity.

Many primers contained a second catechism —
Spiritual Milk for American Babes, it was called —
which in general was of the same type as the
Westminster Assembly's, only it had not much more
than half as many questions and the answers were
shorter.

Public interest in the primer was kept up in

98 Old-time Schools and School-books

country communities by the custom of " Saying the
Catechism " yearly in church. Three summer Sun-
days were set apart for the purpose, and a portion
was recited each Sunday at the close of the afternoon
service. It was a momentous occasion, and when
the parson announced from the pulpit that, " Sab-
bath after next, the first division of the Catechism
will be recited here," a thrill of excitement ran
through the congregation. In this recitation all the
children between eight and fifteen years took part.
There were fortnight intervals between the three
Sundays to allow the children to perfect their mem-
ory of the next lot of questions. They must know
every answer, and old primers were looked up, new
ones bought, and the young folk got to work in
earnest.

When the first of the great days came, and the
other exercises of the day were concluded, the chil-
dren, arrayed in their " Sabba'day clothes," gathered
in two long lines in the broad aisle, the boys on one
side, the girls on the other. The lines began near
the deacon's seat under the brow of the pulpit, and
very likely extended the full length of the broad
aisle and around into the aisles at the rear. Parents
and relatives crowded the pews and galleries, all
watching the scene with solemn interest — an in-
terest that was tinged on the part of the mothers
with anxiety lest their children should not acquit
themselves with credit.

The minister, standing in the pulpit, gave out the
questions. Each child, in order, stepped forth into
mid-aisle, faced the pulpit, made his manners, an-

The New England Primer 99

swered the questions put to him, and stepped back.
To be " told " — that is, to be prompted or cor-
rected by the minister — was a dire disgrace, and
brought one's ability and scholarship into ill repute.
Many were the knees that smote together, and many
were the beating hearts and shaky voices among the
little people in those two conspicuous lines.

When the 'second division of the Catechism was
recited, the smaller children had dropped out, and,
on the third Sunday, reserved for the long and
knotty answers in the last portion of the Catechism,
only a meagre squad of the oldest children lined up
in front of the pulpit.

The Catechism was treated scarcely less seriously
in the schools than it was in the churches, and the
teachers drilled their pupils in it as thoroughly as
they did in spelling or any other lesson. With the
primer so constantly used in church, school, and
home, the people could not help but be saturated
with its doctrines, and no book save the Bible did
more to form New England character. In short, this
humble little primer was a chief tool for making
sure that the children, or, as Jonathan Edwards called
them, " young vipers and infinitely more hateful than
vipers to God," should grow up into sober and
Christian men and women.

THE DISTRICT SCHOOLS

THE years after the Revolution, till about
1840, form the most picturesque period in
our educational history. This was preemi-
nently the period of the district school ; and while I
refer especially, in what follows, to the experiences
of Massachusetts, these experiences did not differ
essentially from those of the states neighboring. At
first the prevailing poverty and rusticity and loose
government made it difficult to maintain any school
organization that was at all adequate. Many com-
munities had no schoolhouse until the beginning of
the nineteenth century, but hired a room in some
dwelling and furnished it with desks and benches.

In colonial times, either the town in its meetings
chose the master, fixed his salary, and determined
the conditions on which pupils were admitted, or
else this business was turned over to the selectmen.
Now, however, the control of school affairs in each
division of the town was delegated to a " prudential
committeeman " elected by the people of his own
district. The amount of money to be raised for
school support was still determined by the town and
was assessed with the other taxes, but after its distri-

100

A Vacation Visit from the Committeeman to consider Repairs.

The District Schools 101

bution among the districts there was no responsibil-
ity to the town for its expenditure.

Yet it is to be noted that the Massachusetts law
of 1789 required supervision. This supervising
was done by a committee that usually included the
ministers of the gospel and the selectmen in their
capacity as town officials. They were obliged to
visit and inspect the schools at least once in six
months and inquire into the regulation, discipline,
and proficiency of the scholars. Their visitations
were very formal and solemn affairs. The whole
delegation, composed of the community's chief
priests and elders — sometimes to the number of
more than twenty — went in stately procession to the
schools in turn. They heard the classes read in the
primer, Psalter, Testament, etc., examined the writ-
ing and ciphering books, and addressed the children
in short speeches of the customary school-committee
style. Just before departing, they entered on the
school records their testimony to the good behavior
and proficiency of the pupils, and the fidelity of the
master. " The school may be said to flourish like
the palm tree " is the way one such visitation closed
its commendation in the records of old Nicholas
Pike's school at Newburyport.

Supervision waned as time went on, until nearly
all real power in the affairs of each local district was
vested in the prudential committeeman. This indi-
vidual received no pay and little honor, and there
was seldom any rivalry for the position. It went to
the man who was willing to serve, and had ability
enough to look after the repairs of the building

IO2 Old-time Schools and School-books

and other material needs of the school. His edu-
cational qualifications were likely to be meagre,
and some of the local committeemen were very
rude and ignorant. The district system resulted
in many a tea-pot tempest, for every person had
decided ideas as to how affairs in his or her own
neighborhood should be managed, and whatever
action the committeeman took, he had to run a
gauntlet of criticism that was often far from judicial
or gentle. To settle the question of where one of
the little frame schoolhouses should stand has been
known to require ten district meetings scattered over
a period of two years ; and the meetings would be
attended by men from the mountain farms for miles
around. Some of these men had no children to be
schooled, and some of them were not interested
enough in^national affairs to vote in a presidential
election. L The one point on which all could agree
was that the schoolhouse should be built where the
land was as nearly valueless as possible. Any spot
was good enough, provided it was in the geographi-
cal centre of the district. If the schoolhouse was
not thus centrally located, and the rights, real or
fancied, of individuals were set aside for the con-
venience of the majority, then there was trouble that
might smoulder almost interminably, ready to blaze
forth at any time.

Most of the buildings were erected close to the
highway, and they encroached on the adjoining field
very little. Usually they formed a part of the line
fence. A favorite situation was at the meeting of
two or more roads, and sometimes the building

The District Schools

103

would be so near the wheel tracks that a large stone
was set up at the most exposed corner to protect
the structure from being injured by passing vehicles.

An Old-time District Schoolhouse.

The schoolhouses seldom had enclosures or shade
trees, and the summer sun and the winter winds had
free play.

The number of pupils to be accommodated in a
district was likely to be large, for the children in the
old-time families were numerous, and the farm regions
had not yet begun to be depopulated by the city-
ward migration destined to drain them later. Never-
theless, no matter how many the scholars, there was
never any thought of providing more than a single
teacher. The main purpose of the constructors of
the buildings seems to have been to see into how

IO4 Old-time Schools and School-books

small a space the children could be crowded, and
some schoolrooms not over thirty feet square accom-
modated a hundred pupils. The structure was gen-
erally roughly clapboarded, and it might possibly
receive a coat of red or yellow paint, but more likely
paint was lacking both outside and in. The school-

STOVE

LJ ^

5 2

< 0

Plan of a Characteristic Schoolroom of 1840.

room was lathed and plastered, and was lighted by
five or six small windows of twelve panes each.
The glass in the windows was often broken, and
during school hours, in cool weather, the place of
the missing panes was apt to be supplied with hats.
Just inside, next to the entrance, was a fireplace,
and at this same end of the room was the master's
desk or table — usually a table in the early days;

The District Schools 105

but later a desk specially contrived by the carpenter,
on a slight platform, was customary. Besides serv-

A Teacher's Desk.

ing the ordinary purposes of a desk, it was a reposi-
tory for confiscated tops, balls, penknives, marbles,
jewsharps, etc., and was frequently a perfect curiosity-
shop.

106 Old-time Schools and School-books

Against the walls on the remaining three sides of
the room was built a continuous sloping shelf, about
three feet from the floor. Long, backless benches

One of the Benches for the Older Pupils.

accompanied it, on which the older scholars sat,
facing the wall. While they were studying, they
leaned against the edge of the shelf, and when they
wrote or ciphered they rested their exercise books
and slates on it. Under it, on a horizontal shelf
that was somewhat narrower than the upper one, the
pupils kept their books and other school belongings
when not in use. A line of lower benches for the

One of the Benches for the Smaller Pupils.

smaller children was set within the three-sided square
formed by those of the big scholars. The number
of children the schoolhouse would hold depended on
how closely they could be packed on the benches.
In the middle of the room was a limited open space.
Here the classes stood while reciting, at which time

The District Schools 107

they were expected to faithfully " toe the crack " —
a particular crack between the floor boards chosen
for the purpose of keeping them in line.

The schoolroom walls were dismally vacant except
for weather-stains, and grime from the fire which
had an annoying tendency to smoke. There were
no maps or pictures, and even blackboards were not
common until about 1820. The earliest reference
I have seen to a school blackboard is in the preface
to an arithmetic published in 1809, in Philadelphia.
Evidently the use of such a thing as a school aid
was an innovation. A footnote explained that " the
Black Board should be about 3 feet square, painted
or stained with ink, and hung against the wall in a
convenient place for a class to assemble around it."

Seats and desks were of pine or oak, rudely fash-
ioned by some local carpenter. Their aspect was not
improved by the passing years ; for the unpainted
wood became more and more browned with the
umber of human contact, and every possessor of a
jack-knife labored over them with much idle hacking
and carving.

Ordinarily there was a narrow entry running across
the front of the building that was mostly filled by
a big chimney. The boys were supposed to hang
their hats in the entry, but the diminutive space and
few nails in the wall did not accommodate all the
extra apparel, and much of it would lie on the floor
to be trampled on. The fireplace which warmed
the schoolroom was large and deep, and in severe
weather it consumed not far from a cord of wood a
week. The wood was always burned green. No

io8 Old-time Schools and School-books

one thought of getting the school wood ready long
enough beforehand to allow it to season. Most of
what was used was standing in the forests at the
time the winter term began. When it was presently
delivered in the schoolyard, it lay there exposed, and
it was often wet by rain and buried in snow. In
summer the place of the woodpile was marked by
scattered chips and refuse.

The children usually played around outside for a
while before school began in the morning, but at
length a sudden outcry would arise, " There he is
— the master's coming!" and they would all start
pell-mell for the schoolroom and clatter noisily into
their seats, girls on one side of the room, boys on
the other. In below-zero weather, however, there
was no lingering in the open air, and if the lad who
made the fire was not prompt, the little children stood
about the room crying with cold, while the big boys
blew the flickering flames and coaxed them into a
brisk blaze. Later in the morning the fire gradu-
ally waxed hotter and hotter until the heat was a
real trial to those nearest the fireplace. But at the
rear of the room the atmosphere might still be
frigid, and the back-seat scholars would be asking,
" Master, may I go to the fire ? " at the same time
those in front were complaining, " Master, I am too
hot."

In a winter school of forty pupils there might be
a dozen young men and women who were practi-
cally grown up. On the other hand, quite a group
of the youngest could not read, and several had not
mastered the alphabet. The little scholars were

The District Schools

109

most of the
time " busy "
keeping still.
The backless
benches they
occupied were
commonly far
too high for
them, leaving
their feet dang-
ling in mid air.
Of course they
would get to
knocking the
shins of one
another, a whif-
fet of laughter
would escape,

and the noise An Illustration from Jenkins's Art of Writing, 1813.

would increase

until it attracted the attention of the master. Then
down would come the pedagogue's ferule on his desk
with a clap that sent shivers through the little learn-
ers' hearts to think how it would have felt had it
fallen somewhere else. "Silence!" commanded the
master, and he gave them a look that swept them
into utter stillness.

The usual routine of a school day began with
reading from the Testament by the " first class."
Next came writing and its accompanying prepa-
ration of pens and copies, and possibly thawing
and watering of ink. Huntington's American

no Old-time Schools and School-books

Penman, 1824, gives these directions for writing
pupils : —

The ink should be the best British ink-powder. The
paper should be of the first quality, folded in a quarto form,

Slate, Inkstand, Writing-sand, and Ink-powder.

and stitched across the narrowest side, that the lines may be
ruled the longest way of the paper. Where blank writing
books, ready ruled, can be procured, they would be prefer-
able, and of less trouble than to rule by hand.

The District Schools in

For each writer the master set a copy at the top
of a page in the pupil's copy-book This copy in the
case of a beginner would be simply straight lines ;
but a little practice on these sufficed, and then the
master changed the copy to " hooks and trammels "
— that is, to curved lines which received their name
from their resemblance to the kitchen fireplace
implements on which pots and kettles were hung
from the crane. For the more advanced pupils the

Quill Pens.

master wrote, in a large round hand, " Procrastination
is the thief of time," " Contentment is a virtue," or
some other wise saw. Every writer was expected,
to fill out a page daily in imitation of the master's
copy. - Occasionally a master had narrow slips of
engraved copy that he could distribute among the
writers. The first series of these copy slips put
forth in this country was prepared and published by

112 Old-time Schools and School-books

the celebrated Boston schoolmaster, Caleb Bingham,
in 1796.

If the end of the term was near, the writing schol-
ars, instead of using their copy-books, made exhi-
bition pieces to pass around among the visitors on
the last day. Ordinarily they did the work on a
sheet six by eight, or eight by ten inches in size ;
but some of the more ambitious used paper four
or five times larger. The sheet would contain a
sentence, or several sentences, or, it may be, a short
essay on such subjects as Happiness, How to Get
Riches, Spring, Resignation, Friendship ; and there

Exhibition Piece of a Writing Student.
Size of original, 6 x 8,

The District Schools

was a decorative border and flourishes, and often
colored drawings of birds, flowers, pens, houses,
ships, or other objects.

Another Exhibition Piece.
Size of original, 8 x 10.

After writing, the second and third classes read
from the Testament, and the smallest children were
called out to repeat a few easy sentences from their
primers or spelling-books.

About half-past ten the teacher said, "You may
go out." The recess was short, but the scholars

H4 Old-time Schools and School-books

A Schoolroom Corner.

made the most of it till the instructor appeared at
the door and rapped sharply with his ferule on the
door-post as a signal for them to come in. Just
inside the schoolroom near the door was a pail of
water and a cup, and the children helped themselves
as they entered. Some drank large quantities — in
part to quench their thirst and in part to make an
exhibition of their capacity. Work was resumed,
and the rest of the session was spent chiefly in a
general "spell," the teacher giving out the words
from a spelling-book and the pupils spelling them
at the top of their voices.

The afternoon began with reading by the first
class from a reading-book, and then the other classes

The District Schools

recited in turn until recess. The final hour was
devoted to spelling once more with some minor
instruction in abbreviations, currencies, weights,
measures, etc. Then there was a roll-call, and the
boy whose turn it was to make the fire next morn-
ing was reminded of the fact. As the scholars pre-
pared to leave, the mas-
ter gave positive orders
for them to "go straight
home and be civil to
everybody they might
meet."

An interesting de-
scription of a school
about the beginning of
the last century is found
in the autobiography
of Samuel G. Goodrich,
or "Peter Parley," as
he preferred to call
himself on the title-
pages of his numerous
books. He was born
in 1793 in the little
farming town of Ridge-
field, Connecticut, and the school he attended was
typical of those in all the older Northern states ; for
the city population of the nation in 1800 was only
three per cent of the whole. Hence, nearly all the
young people received their educational training in the
rural schools. Parley says that the immediate sur-
roundings of the schoolhouse to which he went were

Peter Parley."

n6 Old-time Schools and School-books

. . . bleak and desolate. Loose, squat stone walls, with
innumerable breaches, inclosed the adjacent fields. A few
tufts of elder, with here and there a patch of briers and
pokeweed, flourished in the gravelly soil. Not a tree, how-
ever, remained, save an aged chestnut. This, certainly, had
not been spared for shade or ornament, but probably because
it would have cost too much labor to cut it down ; for it
was of ample girth.

The schoolhouse chimney was of stone, and the fire-
place was six feet wide and four deep. The flue was so
ample and so perpendicular that the rain, sleet, and snow
fell directly to the hearth. In winter the battle for life with
green fizzling fuel, which was brought in lengths and cut
up by the scholars, was a stern one. Not unfrequently the

School in Connecticut.
From The Malte-Brun School Geography, 1831.

wood, gushing with sap as it was, chanced to let the fire go
out, and as there was no living without fire, the school was
dismissed, whereat all the scholars rejoiced.

I was about six years old when I first went to school.
My teacher was " Aunt Delight," a maiden lady of fifty,
short and bent, of sallow complexion and solemn aspect.

The District Schools 117

We were all seated upon benches made of slabs — boards
having the exterior or rounded part of the log on one side.
As they were useless for other purposes, they were converted
into school benches, the rounded part down. They had
each four supports, consisting of straddling wooden legs set
into auger holes.

The children were called up one by one to Aunt Delight,
who sat on a low chair, and required each, as a preliminary,
" to make his manners," which consisted of a small, sudden
nod. She then placed the spelling-book before the pupil,
and with a pen-knife pointed, one by one, to the letters of
the alphabet, saying " What's that ? "

I believe I achieved the alphabet that summer. Two
years later I went to the winter school at the same place
kept by Lewis Olmstead — a man who made a business of
ploughing, mowing, carting manure, etc., in the summer,
and of teaching school in the winter. He was a celebrity
in ciphering, and Squire Seymour declared that he was the
greatest " arithmeticker " in Fairfield County. There was
not a grammar, a geography, or a history of any kind in
the school. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were the only
things taught, and these very indifferently — not wholly from
the stupidity of the teacher, but because he had forty schol-
ars, and the custom of the age required no more than he
performed.

The voters decided in town-meeting how much
money should be expended for school purposes and
how it should be distributed. Some towns appor-
tioned it to the districts according to the number
of families they contained ; others according to the
number of children of school age; or the money re-
ceived in taxes was returned. The last two methods
.were very unfavorable to the poorer and more

n8 Old-time Schools and School-books

thinly populated districts, and most towns distrib-
uted a part of the money in equal sums among the
districts, and the rest according to valuation or
number of school children. That there were great
inequalities is shown by the fact that as late as 1844
several Massachusetts districts were reported to re-
ceive less than ten dollars with which to provide
schooling. Each district aimed to get the most for its
money, and quality was apt to be sacrificed for quantity.
The cheaper the teacher, the more weeks of school.

In the larger towns school kept almost continu-
ously, but as a rule the towns were content with
a master's winter school of ten or twelve weeks
attended by the older children, and a summer term
of equal length taught by a woman, chiefly for the
benefit of the little ones. The poorer communities
had to get along with a single term of two or three
months, or possibly of only a few weeks.

The winter term invariably began the Monday
succeeding Thanksgiving Day, and preparations
were made for it by giving the schoolroom a
thorough cleaning, and getting fuel ready. The
cleaning was done by the local women with the
help of the older boys and girls. None of
the scanty school money was spent for janitor's
work. The big boys took turns during the
term in opening and heating the schoolhouse,
and the larger girls alternated in sweeping out.
Attendance was irregular, there was much tardiness,
and many scholars did not come for some time after
the term began because they had to wait until shoes
or other articles of clothing were ready.

The District Schools 119

A considerable proportion of the masters of the
winter schools were men whose pedagogic earnings
helped them to work their way through the academy
and the college. Others, during the larger part of
the year, were engaged in farming or labored in the
village shops, and took up the task of teaching each
recurring winter, reckoning on the wages as a regular
part of their annual income. They bargained for a
term at a time, and change of place was common, so
that they were likely to teach in nearly all the towns
neighboring their homes. Some of them with a
more pronounced roving disposition wandered far
and wide. One of these wanderers was Ichabod
Crane who reigned in Sleepy Hollow a few years
subsequent to the Revolution. He was a native
of Connecticut.

His schoolhouse was a low building of one large room,
rudely constructed of logs. It was most ingeniously secured
at vacant hours by a withe twisted in the handle of the door,
and stakes set up against the window-shutters. The school-
house stood just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook
running close by. From hence the low murmur of his
pupils' voices conning over their lessons might be heard in
a drowsy summer's day, like the hum of a bee-hive; inter-
rupted now and then by the authoritative voice of the mas-
ter, in the tone of menace or command ; or, peradventure,
>y the appalling sound of the birch, as he urged some tardy
loiterer along the path of knowledge.

When school hours were over he had various ways of
rendering himself both useful and agreeable. He assisted
the farmers occasionally in the lighter labors of their farms.
He laid aside, too, all the dominant dignity with which he
lorded it in his little empire, the school, and found favor in

I2O Old-time Schools and School-books

the eyes of the mothers, by petting the children, particu-
larly the youngest ; and he would sit with a child on one
knee, and rock a cradle with his foot for whole hours
together.

In addition to his other vocations, he was the singing
master of the neighborhood, and picked up many bright

Ichabod Crane at his Boarding-place.

shillings by instructing the younger folks in psalmody. It
was a matter of no little vanity to him, on Sundays, to take
his station in front of the church gallery, with a band of
chosen singers ; where, in his own mind, he completely car-
ried away the palm from the parson. Thus, by divers little
makeshifts, the worthy pedagogue got on tolerably enough,
and was thought, by all who understood nothing of the labor
of headwork, to have a wonderfully easy life of it.~"7

The District Schools 121

Generally the teacher was young, sometimes not
more than sixteen years old ; but if he was expert at
figures, if he could read the Bible without stumbling
over the long words, if he could write well enough
to set a decent copy, if he could mend a pen, if he
had vigor enough of character to assert his authority,
and strength enough of arm to maintain it, he would
do.

Pluck was indeed of superlative importance, for
according to the old-time educational ideal, the
lesson of .all others to be impressed on the scholars
was obedience, and there were pretty certain to be
big boys among the pupils, whose love of knowledge
was far exceeded by their love of mischief and spirit
of insubordination. A muscular clash with them was
all but inevitable, and the master who lacked cour-
age or athletic vigor was likely to meet with igno-
minious disaster. When the boys had "put out"
two or three masters in succession, the school got
the name of being " hard," and the prudential com-
mitteeman was obliged to offer liberal wages and
seek out a teacher who could overpower the young
savages. That this warfare between the teachers
and taught was common is shown by a record of
over three hundred Massachusetts schools broken
up in the year 1837 by the mutinous pupils or by
the incompetence of the teachers.

Severity was held to be a virtue in a teacher rather
than the contrary. Some parents were uneasy if
the master was backward in applying the ro.d, and
inferred that the children could not be learning

th:
I

much. IThe means the average schoolmaster em-

122 Old-time Schools and School-books

ployed to tame and discipline his pupils were ex-
tremely primitive. He depended chiefly on a ruler,

A Salem Reward of Merit.

or on what was called " the heavy gad," by which
expression, was designated five feet of elastic sapling.
These two implements were applied with force and
frequency. An appropriate share of the chastise-
ment was visited on the girls, and the older ones
were not allowed to escape justice any more than
the younger ones ; for it was thought that a youth
of either sex who was not too old to do wrong was
not too old to be punished.

We get a suggestive impression of what the
discipline could be from the fact that a Sunderland,
Massachusetts, schoolhouse erected in 1793 con-

The District Schools

tained a whipping-post set firmly in the schoolroom
floor. To this post offenders were tied and whipped
in the presence of their mates. It is also related
that the schoolroom walls, as time went on, became
marred with dents made by ferules hurled at mis-
behaving pupils' heads with an aim that sometimes
proved untrue.

Occasionally a teacher did not punish at all by
main strength, but resorted to moral suasion. Horace
Greeley tells of attending a New Hampshire district
school of sixty or seventy pupils about 1815, the
master of which rarely or never struck a blow. He
governed instead by appeals to his scholars' nobler
impulses. When the master left at the close of his
second term, a general attendance of parents on his
last afternoon, and a rural feast they provided of
boiled cider and doughnuts attested the emphatic
appreciation of his worth. Another master of this
gentler type held sway in Belchertown, Massachu-
setts, a little earlier. If his scholars became noisy,
he would stamp his foot and cry out, " Children,
if you do not behave better, I will go right off and
leave you ! " and the children would be frightened
into orderly quietTj

To turn agairTto Horace Greeley's reminiscences,
a still more curious bit of school lore is his de-
scription of the custom of barring out.

At the close of the morning session of the first of Janu-
ary, and perhaps on some other day that the big boys chose
to consider or make a holiday, the moment the master left
the house in quest of his dinner, the little ones were

124 Old-time Schools and School-books

Whipping-post formerly in a Sunderland, Mass., Schoolroom.
Height of original, about five feet.

The District Schools

125

started homeward, the doors and windows suddenly and
securely barricaded, and the older pupils, thus fortified

William Biglow.

Who taught for many years in Salem and Boston during the latter part of the eigh-
teenth century and the early part of the nineteenth. From a portrait in wax.

against intrusion, proceeded to spend the afternoon in play
and hilarity. I have known a master to make a desperate
struggle for admission, but the odds were too great. If he

126 Old-time Schools and School-books

appealed to the neighboring fathers, they were apt to. advise
him to desist, and let matters take their course. I recollect
one instance, however, where a youth was shut out who,
procuring a piece of board, mounted from a fence to the
roof of the schoolhouse and covered the top of the chimney
nicely with his board. Ten minutes thereafter, the house
was filled with smoke, and its inmates, opening the doors
and windows, were glad to make terms with the outsider.

The usual. sum paid to a master was ten or twelve
dollars a month, though a wealthy district might, in
exceptional cases, give twenty dollars to retain a
man of culture and experience. Women earned
from four to ten dollars. Even after the middle
of the nineteenth century the standard pay for a
woman teacher in many districts was one dollar a
week. Instances of still lower wages can be found
a few decades earlier. Thus a " qualified woman
teacher" in a Connecticut town in 1798 received a
weekly stipend of sixty-seven cents, and some mas-
ters of that period were paid no more. Besides the
money remuneration, the districts boarded the teach-
ers. Otherwise, the salary would have loomed much
larger,and the town appropriation would have quickly
melted away. The teacher " boarded round " among
the homes of the pupils, spending at each house a
length of time proportioned to the number of school
children in the family. The custom was common
until after 1850. The following paragraphs from
what purports to be a schoolmaster's diary written
early in the last century give a very spirited account
of a week's experience of —

The District Schools 127

Boarding Round in Vermont.

Monday. Went to board at Mr. B's; had a baked gander
for dinner; suppose from its size, the thickness of the skin
and other venerable appearances it must have been one of
the first settlers of Vermont ; made a slight impression on
the patriarch's breast. Supper — cold gander and potatoes.
Family consists of the man, good wife, daughter Peggy, four
boys, Pompey the dog, and a brace of cats. Fire built in
the square room about nine o'clock, and a pile of wood lay
by the fireplace ; saw Peggy scratch her fingers, and couldn't
take the hint ;. felt squeamish about the stomach, and talked
of going to bed ; Peggy looked sullen, and put out the fire
in the square room ; went to bed, and dreamed of having
eaten a quantity of stone wall.

Tuesday. Cold gander for breakfast, swamp tea and nut
cake — the latter some consolation. Dinner — the legs,
&c., of the gander, done up warm — one nearly despatched.
Supper — the other leg, &c., cold; went to bed as Peggy
was carrying in the fire to the square room ; dreamed I was
a mud turtle, and got on my back and could not get over
again.

Wednesday. Cold gander for breakfast ; complained of
sickness, and could eat nothing. Dinner — wings, &c., of
the gander warmed up ; did my best to destroy them, for
fear they should be left for supper ; did not succeed ;
dreaded supper all the afternoon. Supper — hot Johnny
cake ; felt greatly revived ; thought I had got clear of the
gander, and went to bed for a good night's rest ; disap-
pointed ; very cool night, and couldn't keep warm ; got up
and stopped the broken window with my coat and vest; no
use ; froze the tip of my nose and one ear before morning.

Thursday. Cold gander again ; much discouraged to
see the gander not half gone ; went visiting for dinner
and supper ; slept abroad and had pleasant dreams.

128 Old-time Schools and School-books

Friday. Breakfast abroad. Dinner at Mr.. B.'s ; cold
gander and potatoes — the latter very good; ate them, and
went to school quite contented. Supper — cold gander
and no potatoes, bread heavy and dry ; had the headache
and couldn't eat. Peggy much concerned ; had a fire
built in the square room, and thought she and I had better
sit there out of the noise ; went to bed early; Peggy thought
too much sleep bad for the headache.

Saturday. Cold gander and hot Indian Johnny cake ;
did very well. Dinner — cold gander again; didn't keep
school this afternoon ; weighed and found I had lost six
pounds the last week ; grew alarmed ; had a talk with
Mr. B. and concluded I had boarded out his share.

In the newer and thinner populated portions of
the country education was much neglected. Com-
munities either had a poor school or none at all.
We get some idea of the difficulty of obtaining an
education on the frontier from the life of Abraham
Lincoln. The schools he attended between 1814
and 1826 in Kentucky and Indiana were held in
deserted log cabins with earthen floors. The win-
dows were small holes cut through the logs ; and in
some of the schoolhouses sheets of paper greased
with lard served in the window holes instead of glass.
Lincoln never was able to go to any school regularly
and had less than a year's schooling in alL He was
seventeen when he attended his last school. It was
four and a half miles distant from the home cabin,
and no doubt the long daily walk back and forth
seemed a waste of time to most of his relatives. The
region was still new and but little subdued, with
many bears and other wild animals in the woods, and

The District Schools 129

Lincoln has said of the schoolmasters that " No
qualification was ever required beyond ( readin',
writing and cypherin' to the Rule of Three/ If
a straggler supposed to understand Latin happened
to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon
as a wizard."

Teaching offered no rewards sufficient to attract
men of education or capacity, and it sometimes
seemed as if a master's chief reason for taking up
teaching was inability to earn anything in any other
way. Lincoln acquired much of his early education
at home. In the evening he would pile sticks of
dry wood into the brick fireplace. These would
blaze up brightly and shed a strong light over the
room, and the boy would lie down flat on the floor
before the hearth with his book in front of him.
He used to write his arithmetic sums on a large
wooden shovel with a piece of charcoal. After
covering it all over with examples, he would take his
jack-knife and whittle and scrape the surface clean,
ready for more ciphering. Paper was expensive, and
he could not even afford a slate. Sometimes when
the shovel was not at hand, he did his figuring on
the logs of the house walls and on the doorposts, and
other woodwork that afforded a surface he could
mark on with his charcoal.

An interesting sidelight on education in the dis-
trict schools is furnished by an official report of
1838 concerning the three thousand school buildings
of Massachusetts. Their estimated value was little
above a half million dollars. To-day the state has
single school structures which have cost more than

130 Old-time Schools and School-books

that. The report says " there is no other class of
buildings within our limits, erected for the permanent

Box Desks and Cast-iron Stove.

or temporary residence of our native population,
so inconvenient, so uncomfortable, so dangerous to

The District Schools 131

health by their construction within, or without, aban-
doned to cheerlessness and dilapidation." In one
town, for a series of years, all the money annually
appropriated for repairs on its eight schoolhouses
was five dollars — an average of sixty-two and a
half cents each.

Conditions in the schools of other states were no
better. Thus the local reports in Connecticut
between 1840 and 1850 make frequent mention of

A Schoolboy.

132 Old-time Schools and School-books

A Schoolgirl.

the small size of the schoolrooms as compared with
the number of pupils they had to accommodate.
Some of the rooms were less than seven feet high ;
often they had broken windows, clapboards hanging

The District Schools 133

loose, props up at the blinds to keep them in place,
stoves without doors, leaky roofs, patches of plaster-
ing missing and the rest of the plastering much
marred and begrimed; crevices in the "floor admitted
any quantity of cold air,- while the woodwork of the
desks and walls was cut and marked " with all sorts
of images, some of which would make heathens
blush."

The required studies now were reading, spelling,
writing, arithmetic, geography, and grammar. Alge-
bra and even Latin and French were attempted in
an occasional school if the teacher was equal to them.
Yet with all this broadening in studies and all the
advances in school-books, and in spite of the correct
English the books were supposed to impart, the
scholars in their daily conversation continued to use
the vernacular. Had they been reproved for so
doing, they would have felt affronted.

One handicap to effective teaching was the fact
that it might happen no two pupils were equally
advanced in their studies — possibly did not have
the same text-books. The books were often much
worn and defaced, for they were family heirlooms
and continued in use as long as they held together.
One scholar would bring a volume used by some
member of the family of the preceding generation ;
another a book procured many years before for an
elder brother or sister, and a third would appear with
a copy just bought.

Some one has said, " It seems to me that we may
learn everything when we know the letters of the
alphabet;" and it is unquestionably true that the

Old-time Schools and School-books

capable and aspiring youth can make a very slender
educational foundation serve to give an opportunity
for great development. In most of the old district
schools little was imparted beyond a few bare rudi-
ments, the teachers were often ignorant, and some-
times brutal, the methods mechanical and dreary.
Notable men have come from " the little red school-
houses," but this was because of their own native
energy and thrifty acquisitiveness, and was not due
to any superlative virtues of the schools themselves.!

On the Way Home.

SUMMER SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES

THE old-time summer schools were nearly
always kept by women. A man would have
been considered out of place — would have
had an unnatural appearance presiding over a school
at that season. The women teachers were usually
young, ambitious girls, eager to earn enough to

A Summer School as pictured in Bolles's Spelling Book, 1831.

allow them to attend an academy fora term or two.
Most of them married later; but others lived on
as schoolmarms, " sometimes sweetening as they
ripened, sometimes quite the contrary."

The law ordered that the teachers should have
good moral character and competence to teach the

135

136 Old-time Schools and School-books

The End of Recess.

required branches.
What furnished a
woman, however,
the surest passport
to employment was
to be related to
some prudential
committeeman.
He was all-power-
ful in his district,
and while his
daughters or sis-
ters, of course, had
first chance, if none
among these closer
relatives had anxi-
ety for the place,
there was oppor-
tunity for the more
remotely con-
nected. The
partiality of the
prudential com-
mitteeman in this
respect was pro-
verbial, and no
little friction re-
sulted from the
f a m i 1 y arrange-
ments he was wont
to make. Occa-
sionally the discus-

Summer Schools and Academies 137

sion would split a school in two, and a portion of the
families in the district would secede and set up a
school of their own in some dwelling or shop ; but as
a rule nothing was done until the next annual meet-
ing, when another committeeman might be chosen
and a new dynasty substituted^

The employment of women in the public schools
had become general, and coincident with this recog-
nition of their value as teachers came the enlarging
of the educational opportunities of the girls ; but it
was not until the nineteenth century was well ad-
vanced that they had anything approaching the same
advantages as the boys. Books had nearly always
been considered outside the feminine sphere from
the most ancient times. When Fran9oise de Saint-
onges, in the sixteenth century, wished to establish
girls' schools in France, she was hooted in the
streets, and her father called together four doctors
of law to decide whether she was possessed of a
devil in planning to teach women. In like manner,
early in the last century, when Mary Somerville's
father discovered that she was engaged by herself in
mathematical and other studies, he said to his wife,
" Peg, we must put a stop to this, or we shall have
Mary in a strait-jacket one of these days."

Instruction in household duties was the essen-
tial thing, and if a girl had that, she could do very
well without book-learning ; yet there was a time
in England about the period of Queen Elizabeth
when English girls studied Latin and Greek, and
the wisest masters were glad to teach them. How-
ever, this state of affairs passed away, and educated

ij 8 Old-time Schools and School-books

women came to be regarded with marked disfavor
by English gentlemen.

In our own country, also, while the seventeenth-
century girls to some extent attended the public
schools, they gradually dropped out. The early
school laws did not recognize them at all, expressly
stating that " the word c children ' is to be interpreted
to mean £ boys/ ' There was no controversy on the
subject. It simply seems to have been thought
unnecessary that girls should be instructed in the
public schools. Nevertheless, either at the dame
schools or at home, they nearly all learned at least
to read and sew. Writing was held to be much less
important, and not by any means an essential accom-
plishment for females in common life. Scarcely one
in a dozen women could write in 1700, and of those
whose names appear in the recorded deeds of- the
early part of the eighteenth century less than forty
per cent sign their names. All the rest make their
mark. Even at the time of the Revolution many
of the patriot wives and mothers could not write.

As an example of feminine disadvantages it is
worthy of note that the town of Northampton, now
one of our most famous educational centres, voted in
1788 to be at no expense for the schooling of girls,
and they were not admitted to its public schools
until 1802. President Quincy of Harvard College,
in his history of Boston, says that in 1790 Boston
girls were allowed to attend the public schools in the
summer months only, and not then unless there were
seats left vacant by boys. This semi-exclusion lasted
until 1822, when Boston became a city. The girls

Summer Schools and Academies

139

were then given free access to the common schools,
and presently another innovation was made, whereby
a high school was established for them with a three-
year course,
though Latin and
Greek were not
included in the
curriculum ; but
this school was
such an "alarm-
ing success" that
it was abolished
after eighteen
months' trial.
The school au-
thorities were
apparently dis-
mayed at the way
the girls crowded
into the new high
school, and Mr.
Quincy says of
the pupils, " Not
one voluntarily
quitted it, and
there was no rea-
son to suppose
that any one
admitted to the
school would voluntarily quit for the whole three
years, except in case of marriage."

Boston was very conservative in this respect.

A Little Girl of the Eighteenth Century.
From a pastel.

140 Old-time Schools and School-books

Throughout the country as a whole there began
to be a considerable change in public sentiment
regarding feminine education immediately after the
Revolution, and within a decade or two, most places
allowed the girls to attend all the town schools. Yet
the new advantages were accorded only gradually
and in the face of a good deal of opposition. At
first some towns were cautious enough to arrange
that the boys should be sent home earlier in the
forenoon and afternoon to give the girls a chance
to come in for the time remaining; but the girls
could attend all of Thursday afternoon, for that was
the boys' holiday. Even these slender schooling
privileges were cut off in the winter out of con-
sideration for "the female health." Thus the sum-
mer district schools in many instances continued to
be, if not the only educational reliance of the girls,
at least a very important one. There they were
taught reading, writing, and spelling, and great atten-
tion was paid to polite behavior. The scholars
" made their manners " — that is, the girls dropped a

REWARD OF MERIT.

THIS certifies, that ^k*£^ /^^W^f

by diligence and good behaviour, merits the approbation of 2§*

friends and Instruct

®*^^

A Reward of Merit, about 1820.

courtesy and the boys bowed, to the teacher when
they came into the schoolroom and when they left
it. They made their manners while out at play to

Summer Schools and Academies

141

passing strangers ; and if the minister or some other
prominent person went by, they formed in line and

rrn 9fr *•/ '£ & /*-//%) /

JLj.lv.LJL ss?-C-4'** (..'Sf g £*-..•}''•- c*j?\ • '<j f^\'yis&><Ct'~'**y]

by /MM amiable manners, diligence, and
progress in study, is entitled to the in-
creased affection of *&* friends, and the
applause of AM, Instruct £* »$ fc-n V. //
J *£•• /

/j—^ <$£* •.:

A Reward of Merit, 1 822.

bowed and courtesied all together. At the end of the
school day the teacher would tell them that as soon
as they reached home they must remember to make
their manners to their parents.

Besides studying their books, the girls did regular
stints at school of sewing and knitting, and each made
an elaborate sampler which was expected to be a
household treasure ever after. The sampler was a
square or oblong of coarse linen, or possibly silk,
on which it was customary to stitch the alphabet in
capitals and small letters, the digits, a verse of senti-
ment appropriate to a child student, and the worker's

142 Old-time Schools and School-books

name, age, and place of abode. There were also
decorations — borders, conventional trees, and flower-
pots, and sometimes abnormal animals and people —
all resplendent in many-colored silks or worsteds.
Not only was the sampler intended to be a thing of

Kelioggr Smple

sA*****^^

Sot to fpend yny time in

A Sampler.
Size, 10 x 12.

beauty, but the alphabet portion of it was useful for
reference to show the proper formation of the letters
when clothing was to be marked. It was in fact this
reference feature that made the article a "sampler."
The smaller samplers were only about seven by
nine inches, but the larger ones were two or three

Summer Schools and Academies

times those dimensions. Some of the verses and in-
scriptions were very quaint, as is witnessed by the
two which follow : —

Next Unto God Dear Parents I Address
My Self to You in Humble Thankfulness
For All Your Care And Pains on me Bestow'd
The Means of Learning Unto Me Allow'd
Go on I Pray And Let me Still Pursue
Those Golden Paths the Vulgar Never Knew.

One of the More Elaborate Samplers.
Size, fifteen inches square.

144 Old-time Schools and School-books

Elizabeth Briggs is my Name And With my
Hand I Have Wrought the Same in the ioth year
Of my Age, Salem February 15th 1805

How should we scorn these clothes of flesh,
These fetters and this load,
And long for evening to undress
That we may rest with God.

££o w blest the jQOtakl whoro circling years improve
I $3er Qodr the object of tar warmest lov« •

' Whose ujs«fuS kour s successive as tkev gfe

• -FORT \^f^

Lower Half of a Sampler.

Showing a characteristic verse and some intricate and romantic designing. Width of
original, fifteen inches.

When the girls began to go to the masters' schools,
the more aspiring of them adventured a little way
into geography, grammar, and mathematics. The
ignorant derided them for so doing and, with regard

Summer Schools and Academies 145

to the arithmetic, would ask them if they expected
to carry pork to market, else why should they want to
take up such a study. Some of the girls attended
private schools — " finishing schools/' they were
called — which had been established at the dictate
of fashion to cultivate ladylike accomplishments.
All the larger towns had schools of this kind.
Boston gentlewomen were accustomed from very
early times to eke out their incomes by taking into
their homes little girls and misses from the country
and from the southern colonies and the Barbadoes
who wanted to attend the finishing schools of the
city. Salem and Newburyport were also favorite
towns for acquiring feminine polish. The finishing
schools taught a smattering of French, the art of
embroidery and other fancy "needlework, consider-
able dancing, and many elegant manners. Dancing
seems to have had an especially important place
among the young misses' attainments, though in
early colonial days it was inveighed against by both
magistrates and ministers. Increase Mather loudly
proclaimed its evils just as he did the evils of wear-
ing wigs — "Horrid Bushes of Vanity," he called
those head adornments. But perverse human nature
adopted both wigs and dancing, and presently " or-
dination balls " were given when a new minister was
installed.

About the beginning of the last century, girls'
schools of genuinely serious aims and purposes
came into being, and their high character and the
success of their pupils, and the like success won
by the girls in the academies, were very effective in

146 Old-time Schools and School-books

breaking down the opposition to feminine educa-
tion. The higher institutions of learning for girls
established in those early years shone with added
lustre because their novelty attracted workers with
the enthusiasm of pioneers, and with a keenness of
appreciation and exhilaration that could be elicited
by no other circumstances. These schools were in
a marked way religious, their pupils absorbed moral
earnestness, and they had a deep and lasting influ-
ence on New England life. They furnished heroines
of the mission field and some of the most ardent
workers against intemperance. From them, too,
came such numbers of wives for the clergy that the
humorous appellation " ministers' rib factories " was
not wholly amiss. This nickname was the more
telling, owing to the fact that the buildings them-

" A Minister's Rib Factory."
Mary Lyon's Mt. Holyoke Seminary, built in 1837.

selves were apt to be great barren barracks with
very much of the factory look.

Summer Schools and Academies 147

I have incidentally referred to the academies.
Their waxing and waning form a curious phase of
our educational development. In the eighteenth
century the growth of the scattered villages, and
the division of the towns into school districts, was
attended by a gradual discontinuance of the gram-
mar schools. Indeed, the law requiring grammar
schools was relaxed, until we find in Massachusetts
only seven towns where they were obligatory in 1824.
The people preferred to spend all the money raised
for education on the district schools ; but some channel
of more advanced instruction was a necessity, and
there began to come into being many private schools
and incorporated academies. The first of the latter
was established in 1780 at Andover; others soon
followed, and by 1840 the state had nearly one hun-
dred of them. The purpose of the founders was
primarily to provide a means by which young men
could be fitted for college. They were imperatively
needed. For instance, when Leicester Academy
began its work, there was not in all Worcester
County an educational institution higher than the
district schools. The few boys who were deter-
mined to attend college conned their Latin and
Greek by their own firesides, and recited to the
parish ministers.

The standard studies in the academies were Eng-
lish, Latin, Greek, and French ; writing, arithmetic,
and geography; the art of speaking, logic, geome-.
try, and philosophy. Some of the academies were
little more than day schools for town pupils ; others
drew from a wide constituency, not alone in their

148 Old-time Schools and School-books

own state, but from other states throughout the
Union. They did excellent service in broadening
the scope of education, but they fostered the idea
of private schools. As a consequence there was a
marked inclination among the well-to-do to with-
draw their children from the common schools, which
were thus left for the poorer families, the indifferent
and careless, to get from them what little they could.
A typical academy was that at Deerfield, Massa-
chusetts, formally opened in 1799. It had 269 pupils

An Old New England Academy.

the first year. The building was of brick, sixty
by eighty feet, two stories high, and surmounted by
a cupola. Ten years of prosperity encouraged the
trustees to add another story and a wing, and a bell
was bought and put in the cupola. Twelve rooms
were fitted up for boarders, and rented at a weekly
charge of from seventy-five cents to one dollar and
a half. The latter sum was the standard price for
board. It was ordered that " the preceptors and

Summer Schools and Academies 149

ushers, besides teaching the arts and sciences, should
instil into the minds of the pupils moral and Chris-
tian principles, and form in them habits of virtue
and the love of piety." The study of natural his-
tory, natural philosophy, and logic was encouraged,
and " no person was suffered to attend to painting,
embroidery, or any other of the ornamental branches
to the neglect of the essential and fundamental facts
of education."

For the regulation of the pupils' conduct there
was a code of by-laws of thirty-six articles. Among
other things, these provided that pupils of different
sexes should not meet on the grounds or within the
walls of the academy except at meals and prayers,
nor walk or ride or visit together, under a penalty
of one dollar. They were fined a dollar if they were
absent from meeting Sunday, Fast Day, or Thanks-
giving Day, and the same if they walked in the streets
and fields or visited Saturday night or Sunday. They
must forfeit a dollar if detected playing cards, back-
gammon, or checkers in the building. Ball and
similar games near the academy were prohibited
under a penalty of six cents, and a like sum was
exacted from students found out of their rooms dur-
ing study hours. The morning prayers were at five
o'clock, or as soon as it was light enough to read ;
fine for absence, four cents — for being tardy, two
cents. The appointed time for beginning to study
was an hour later. Fines were imposed for damage
to library books, or books belonging to fellow-
students, at the rate of six cents for a blot, and six
cents for each drop of tallow ; while for every leaf

150 Old-time Schools and School-books

torn, six cents an inch must be paid, and for every
mark or scratch two cents. Separate schoolrooms
were provided for the boys and girls, and separate
entrances to the building, and the yard was divided
by a high board fence to keep the sexes apart while
at play.

The decay of the academies dates from about the
middle of the nineteenth century, when Horace
Mann began to urge the necessity of free high
schools. These were rapidly established, and as
they and the academies derived their students from
the same source, the academies weakened. Most
of them, after dragging out a lingering existence for
a longer or a shorter time, finally succumbed. A
few of the stronger ones adjusted themselves to the
altered conditions and survived, but their students
now came chiefly from the homes of the wealthy,
and they were no longer the resort of the awkward
rural youths and maids, to whom a short period in
the academy was often their only opportunity for a
glimpse of the broader world of culture and books."]

FLY-LEAF SCRIBBLINGS

X^>(HILDREN have always been prone to scrib-
! bling, and the pupils in the old district schools

^^ were no exception to the rule. They did not
by any means confine their chirography to their copy-
books. A fair surface of paper, no matter where
found, was a temptation to some of them, and all
had moments of mental ennui when the employ-
ment of the fingers in aimless, or at least unneces-
sary, whittling and writing was as natural as breathing.
Instances can be found where there was a genuine
ferment of literary or artistic inspiration, but mostly
the children produced only copies of what they had
seen their schoolmates do. Probably the young
folks of two or three generations ago scribbled less
in their school-books than their descendants ; for the
majority of the old books that have survived the
wear and tear of use and the casualties of the passing
years are comparatively free from markings. Books
were rarer and far more valued in the early days than
later, and were treated with more respect, though it
must be admitted the comparative immaculateness
of such copies as are now extant is in part due to the
fact that the books most decorated were the soonest
to go to pieces, and they no longer exist. But

152 Old-time Schools and School-books

search and appeal to elderly people bring to light
many curious bits of school-child lore.

The first thing the youthful proprietor of a book
was likely to do was to mark it with his name.
Usually he put his signature on the front fly-leaf,
but he might write it on the final fly-leaf, or almost
anywhere else in the book. Sometimes he lettered

BOOK. //J*

A Signature.
From a Dilworth's Schoolmaster's Assistant.

it outside on the cover, or even on the edges of the
leaves. Various common forms of name inscrip-
tions are given below. They exhibit considerable
originality in spelling and in punctuation or the lack
of it, and are transcribed just as they were written.

William Ornes 1779

Elisa Lee,s property

cost of it 3/ Hartford ioth Dec 1798

Allen m Shepherds
Book and pen the year
1831 augest 17

Fly-leaf Scribblings 153

Jonathan Colton owner 1807
Ella Morrill is my name 1828

Mifs Jane Elizabeth Smith her book

Price 37 ^J Cnts January 1st 1833

Mifs Nottinghams Seminary for Young ladies

In an old Latin book I find this signature: —

Andrew Hillyer Ejus Liber
A D 1700 and frose to death.

The Latin students were fond of writing " Ejus
Liber/' but the line which gives the date is the only
one of the kind I have seen. Frequently the names
were accompanied by verses such as : —

A Warning.
From a Dwight's Geography, 1802.

If this book should chance to roam
Box its ears and send it home.

154 Old-time Schools and School-books

Steal not this book, for if you do,
Tom Harris will be after you.

Steal not this book for fear of strife
For the owner carries a big jackknife.

Steal not this book my honest friend
for fear the gallos will be your end
The gallos is high, the rope is strong,
To steal this book you know is wrong.

Let every lerking thief be taught,
This maxim always sure,
That learning is much better bought
Than stolen from the poor.
Then steel not this book.

06 V

Wise Advice in a Murray's English Reader, 1822.
Reduced one-half.

The longest and most impressive of these incanta-
tions against possible purloiners was the following: —

Fly-leaf Scribblings 155

Whosoever steals this
Book away may
Think on that great
judgement day when
Jesus Christ shall
come and say
Where is that book you
stole away.
Then you will say
I do not know
and Christ will say
go down below.

The most dubious fly-leaf inscription that I have
seen is this one : —

Francis Barton
is my name a merica
is my nation
pitsfield is my
dweling place
and christ is my
salvation when
i am dead and
in my grave and
all my bones are
rotton its youl
remember me or else
i will be forgotten.

In a tiny volume published in Boston in 1685
entitled the Protestant Tutor^ I find a quatrain of a
very different character from the rough humor or
the belligerent threatenings of the usual fly-leaf
entries. It runs thus ; —

156 Old-time Schools and School-books

William Graham his Book

God grant him grace therein to look,

that he may run that blessed race

that heaven may be his dwelling Place.

A rhyme of similar gentleness was : —

This Book was bought for good Intent
pray bring it home when it is lent.

Lines from a Bingham's American Preceptor, 1803.

Sometimes a series of jingles was so arranged as
to lead the reader on a wild goose chase. At the
top of one of the early pages would be written : —

If my name you wish to see
look on page 103.

Fly-leaf Scribblings 157

Turn to that page and you have : —

If my name you cannot find
look on page 109.

Again do as you are bidden, and you are rewarded
with : —

If my name you cannot find
Shut up the book and never mind.

On occasion the poetry dealt with some incidental
topic, as, for example, these lines in an Adams's
arithmetic : —

Oh may I learn with true submission
Daniel Adams composition.

A ditty which was considered a fitting characteriza-
tion to inscribe in the school histories was this : —

If there should be another flood,

Then to this book I'd fly ;
If all the earth should be submerged

This book would still be dry.

Among the schoolgirls attending the academies it
was a fad to write sentimental verses of affection in
each other's books, thus : —

To Miss Lottie

I always wish you happiness
No sorrow veil your earthly bliss ;
And when this little piece, you see
Of friendship mine remember me.

Your friend and schoolmate

MARY ANN W.

158 Old-time Schools and School-books

To Ellen

Many, many a voice will greet me,
In a low and gentle tone
But its music will not cheer me
Like the cadence of thine own.

A FRIEND

The boys once in a while made similar declara-
tions, but these were usually in prose, and evidently
were not intended so seriously as those the girls
produced. Very likely the lad to whom the
endearments were addressed would append joking
comments. Here are specimens of masculine handi-
work : —

You give your heart

to me and I will give

mine to you we will lock them

up together and throw away the key

No Sir ee Oh yes

I shall always think of you as a dear friend

S. GRAY

All right Gray ; only don't tell any one else about it

LEE

A school-book in my possession that is dated 1 832
has pencilled inside the front cover these lines : —

Puzzle
writen over the commandments

P.RS.V.R.Y.P.RF.CTM.N
.V.RK..PTH.S.PR.C.PTST.N

Fly-leaf Scribblings 159

No solution was offered, and I studied over the mys-
terious medley for some time before I saw that it
made sense if an E was substituted for each of the
dots.

In another of my books, published a dozen years
later, is a fly-leaf assertion that

1 1 weeks will never go away
never never never never

What repining and hopeless melancholy in looking
forward to the long term just begun !

Some children would fill in with their lead pencils
every letter o on the page they were studying, and
they might even fill in the loops of the ^'s, ^/'s, and
other letters that had enclosed spaces suited to the
whim. They delighted also to go over with pencil
portions of the illustrations. If imaginative, they
were apt to improve the pictures by putting in new
features, and would run ropes to the ground from a
sailing balloon, draw weather-vanes on the houses, etc.

Toward the end of the spellers was often a page
of first names, male and female ; and the owner of a
book, recognizing some of these as belonging to his
friends, was very likely inspired to write in the appro-
bate surnames, as follows : —

A'bel Chapin
dlon'zo Tyler
Eli'sha Gunn
'AVby Bliss
Nan'cy Steadman

160 Old-time Schools and School-books

I have a Webster's Elementary Spelling Book that
belonged to S. Augusta Tinker. She must have
liked her name, for it is found on page after page,
and occasionally several times on the same page.
The S. stood for Sarah or Sally, and occurs written
in each of these ways. Evidently the book served
for communication with other scholars, else why
such pencillings as —

you must go out of school if you dont be

have better

lend me piece of paper
you may tak it after recess

Here is an item which I suppose must be credited
to one of the owner's schoolmates: —

Augusta is goozey

Another interesting freak is the supplementing
the short sentences of the book with comments in
this fashion : —

The mason puts a layer of mortar between bricks, they dont
Intemperance is the grievious sin of our country, so it is
Boys like a warm fire in a winter y day. so do girles

Along with the
writing in the old
books there is more
or less drawing. The
very early books
sometimes have fly-
leaf sketches of Ind-

A Fly-leaf Bird,
from a grammar of 1714-

Fly-leaf Scribblings

161

ians and log houses. The later books have houses

of a more modern sort, and you find rude draw-
ings of steamboats, houses, birds,

flowers, faces, and the like. Often

a penny or other coin was slipped

under the fly-leaf and the surface

of the paper covering the coin was

rubbed with a piece of lead from

the schoolboy's pocket, or with the

blunt end of a pencil. Usually

the boy was not satisfied till he got

a print of both sides of the coin.
Five characteristic school-book

decorations are shown on pages

162 and 163. The first is a scroll

that could be lengthened out clear

across a fly-leaf or all down a

text-page border. The second

is a flourish that frequently ap-
peared beneath a signature. The third was made by

drawing equidistant from one another sixteen dots

and then pencilling a consecu-
tive line that would gradually
enclose them all with its loops.
The fourth is a scheme of the
same sort which was sometimes
called "a basket of eggs.'* The
last design was known as " a
Spanish S" All these things
were drawn on slates and
blackboards as well as in the
books.

A Soldier.

Drawn in Webb's The Com-
mon School Songster, 1843.

A Fly-leaf Rubbing from an
Old Medal.

1 62 Old-time Schools and School-books

The children had numerous methods for defacing
their school-books, and they also had certain devices

Scroll Work.

A Diminishing Scroll.

for keeping them in good order. Many of the
older books are protected by an outer cover of
sheepskin neatly folded in at the edges and sewed

A Conventional Combination of Dots and Line.

in place with homespun tow. After 1825 this outer
covering was apt to be calico, and sometimes there
were tie strings attached at the sides. The girls

Fly-leaf Scribblings

were addicted to the use of a " thumb paper/' folded
and slipped in where the thumb rested when the

"A Basket of Eggs."

book was in use. This might be merely made of
a piece of newspaper or wrapping paper ; or it might
be nice new foolscap, or possibly
bright blue or red glazed paper.
Some children had their thumb
papers attached to the book by
a long thread, and they were par-
ticularly happy if instead of the
thread they acquired a bit of
gay-colored sewing-silk from the
mother's work-basket.

The most serious attention
the average boy gave to his books " A Spanish s."

164 Old-time Schools and School-books

had to do with the corners. When the leaves began
to be dog-eared, he would get out his knife and care-
fully pare off the page corners of the entire book ;

and if he had an
eye for beauty, he
was not satisfied
with a straight
cut, but would
round the corners.
As soon as the
leaves agai n
showed a dog-
eared tendency,
the paring pro-
cess was repeated.
For nearly fifty
years after the
Revolution the
common text-
book binding was
either full leather,
or was a leather
back attached to
sides of wood that
were pasted over

A Protecting Cover of Leather stitched with Tow. _. r ., / *.

The full leather

Reduced one-third. . . ,

books, unless

quite thin, had the titles on the backs ; the others
had no lettering. Occasionally, instead of blue paper,
there was marble paper or a fancy paper suggestive
of wall-paper on the sides. The earliest book I

Fly-leaf Scribblings 165

have seen with printed sides is dated 1818, but
within the next decade cover printing became com-
mon. It soon was customary to print on the back
cover a list of books issued by the publisher. At
first, however, the publisher, if he was also a book-
seller and stationer, as he was pretty sure to be, used
this space for advertising like the following : —

For Sale.

Bibles, Testaments, Spelling Books, Readers and Geog-
raphies, Atlases, Primers, Writing- paper, Inkstands, Ink-
Powder, Slates, Pencils, Quills, Pen-knives, Wafers, Psalm
Books, Writing Books, on the covers of which is printed
a System of Writing.

There is a similar suggestion of primitiveness and
rusticity in the way the publishers sometimes made
known their location. Thus, at the foot of the title-
page of The American Grammar by Robert Ross,
1782, we find, "Hartford, Printed by Nathaniel
Patten a few Rods North of the Court-Houfe " ;
and on a New England Primer title-page of 1770,
" Bofton, Printed and Sold by William M'Alpine,

HARTFORD:

PRINTED BY HUDSON AND GOODITW.

Sold fcy them, at their Book-ftore, oppofhe the North Meeting-

Houfe. By 7. Beers, New-Haven. By B. Tallmodge & C*.

JLitchfield, By T. C. Green> New-London ; and by

Andrew Huntlngton, Norwich.

1802.

A Title-page Imprint.
From Dwight's A Short but Comprehensive System of the Geography of the World.

1 66 Old-time Schools and School-books

about Mid-way between the Governor's and Dr.
Gardiner's in Marlborough Street."

The publishing was not by any means confined
to the large cities. In New England, the chief
source of school-book supply, every town of any con-
sequence and enterprise seemed to have its text-
book publishers. The compilers were very apt to
put forth their books from the town where they
lived. Thus, Hartford, which was the home of an
unusual number of prolific text-book authors, was
for a time the most important educational publish-
ing centre in America.

A Fly-leaf Animal.

VII

NOAH WEBSTER AND HIS SPELLING-BOOK

NOAH WEBSTER was bornOctober 16,1758,
in Hartford, Connecticut, about three miles
from the centre of the city. His father,
Noah Webster, Sr., was a respectable farmer, a deacon
in the church, and a justice of the peace. The boy
worked on the home farm and attended the village
school. When he had reached the age of fourteen,
we find him beginning the study of the classics
under the instruction of the parish clergyman, and
two years later he was admitted to Yale College.
The Revolutionary War seriously interrupted the
college course, but he graduated with credit in 1778,
and his father gave him an eight-dollar Continental
bill, then worth about half its face value in specie,
and told him he must henceforth rely on his own
exertions.

It had been young Webster's intention to become
a lawyer. The country, however, was impoverished
by the war, and his first necessity was to make a
living. So he resorted to school teaching. Peda-
gogy at that time was attended with unusual difficul-
ties. Not only was the war still in progress, but
the interruption of intercourse with Great Britain
had made school-books very scarce. The need of

167

1 68 Old-time Schools and School-books

a home source of text-book supply was evident, and
in 1782, while in charge of a school in Orange
County, New York, Webster compiled a spelling-
book. This was printed at Hartford the next year

Noah Webster.

and gradually won very wide acceptance — so wide,
indeed, that during the twenty years its author was
engaged in preparing his dictionary, 1807 to 1827,
the profits from that one little school-book furnished

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 169

the entire support of his family, though his copy-
right receipts were less than a cent a book. The
sales went on increasing up to the time of Mr. Web-
ster's death, at the age of eighty-four. A million
copies annually were then being called for and the
total distribution had reached twenty-four millions.

In his person Webster was tall and slender. To
the very end he was remarkably erect, and his step
light and elastic. He was enterprising, self-reliant,
and very methodical, and a most persevering worker.
Besides the monumental labor of making his dic-
tionary, he had much to do with newspapers and
magazines, both as editor and contributor, and he
wrote a great number of books and pamphlets on
literary, historical, medical, religious, scientific, and
political subjects, some of which were of very marked
value in forming public opinion. He taught school
in his early manhood for about ten years, and then,
from 1789 to 1793, was a lawyer in Hartford. Dur-
ing other periods, he served as an alderman in New
Haven, as a judge in one of the Connecticut courts,
and as a member of the Massachusetts legislature.
His activity was astonishing in amount and variety,
and it was unceasing. Mental exertion seemed to
be the native element of his soul.

Webster had originally intended to call his speller
The American Instructor^ but by the advice of the
president of Yale College, the title was changed
to The First Part of a Grammatical Institute of the
English Language ', the other parts being a grammar
and a reader issued shortly afterward. Profound
names were to the liking of the old college presidents.

170 Old-time Schools and School-books

When Mary Lyon was starting her famous school
for girls at South Hadley, President Hitchcock of
Amherst proposed she should call it " The Pangy-
naskian Seminary " ; but she, wiser than Noah
Webster in this matter, did not accept the sugges-
tion, although the meaning of the name — that the
whole woman was to be put to school — was exceed-
ingly appropriate.

For a score of years Webster's spelling-book bore
the ponderous title conferred on it, and yet survived.
Then he changed the name to The American-Spelling-
book^ and still later to The Elementary Spelling-book.
From almost the very first it took the leading place
among books of its class and kept that place for
many decades. Webster, in a general way, compiled
his book on the plan of Dilworth's, the most popu-
lar English speller of the century ; but radical di-
vergencies were not lacking, for he aspired to reform
the language and simplify the spelling. Hitherto
the spelling in the different text-books had been far
from uniform ; and in letters, records, and other
manuscripts of the time there was a curious variety
in word construction. Even men of high education
often spelled the same word in several different
ways ; but Webster presently became the American
standard and brought order out of chaos. He did
not accomplish all that he at first planned in the
way of reform, but some of his innovations, like the
treatment of tion and sion as single syllables instead
of two, as had formerly been the custom, found per-
manent acceptance, and he did very effective work
in counteracting vulgarisms in pronunciation.

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 171

When the first edition of the spelling-book was
printed, Webster had to give a bond to make good
any loss that might result, but the copyright was
soon very valuable. Authors were in the habit of
selling the printers the right to issue editions of
their books for a certain number of years, and
Webster sold his privilege to a firm in his home
city, and to other firms in Boston, Albany, New
York, and Philadelphia. Such a multiplication of
publishers would hardly do now, but the old-time
difficulties of transportation afforded these firms
ample protection from rival encroachment. In 1817,
when the speller was revised, one printer gave
Webster three thousand dollars a year for his term
of copyright, and another forty thousand for the
privilege of publishing editions for fourteen years.

Each printer varied his issue in minor particulars
to please his own fancy. One edition appeared
" embellished " with a portrait of "The Father of
his Country," another with a dreadful woodcut that
purported to show the features of " Noah Webster,
Jun. Esq.," but which made him look like a por-
cupine. This engraving and the absurd title of
the book furnished vulnerable points of attack.
Names like " Mr. Grammatical Institute," " Mr.
Institutional Genius," and " Mr. Squire, Jun."
were applied to the author, and one critic drew up
a mock will, in which he bequeathed Webster "six
Spanish-milled dollars, to be expended on a new
plate of his portrait at the head of his spelling-book,
that which graces it at present being so ugly it scares
the children from their lessons ; but this legacy is

172 Old-time Schools and School-books

to be paid only on condition that he leaves out the
title of 'Squire at the bottom of said picture, which
is extremely odious in an American school-book,
and must inevitably tend to corrupt the principles
of the republican babies that behold it."

Webster was a good deal disturbed by the criti-
cisms passed on his book, and in replying to one
which especially irritated him, he challenged the
writer to " meet him in the field." But the offender
chose to shed ink instead of blood, and the warfare
was confined to the columns of the newspapers.
Fortunately this sort of thing proved good adver-
tising and brought the speller thoroughly into notice.

One of the first effects of the publication of the
Grammatical Institute was to make spelling a craze.
Previously spelling had been little taught, but now
it absorbed a large share of the student interest and
enthusiasm, and the pupil who could " spell down
the whole school " ranked second only to him who
surpassed the rest in arithmetic. The child at the
head of a class when the day ended had a credit
mark, and perhaps was given a written certificate of
good scholarship to carry home. There were in-
stances, too, where the spelling classes had prizes —
possibly a half dollar for the oldest class, a quarter
for the next, and a " nine-pence " for the little ones.
Each prize coin was drilled and hung on a string,
and the winners in the afternoon spelling lessons
were entitled to carry a coin suspended from their
necks until the next morning, when these decora-
tions were turned over to the teacher to be again
contended for. A record was kept, and at the close

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 173

KOAH WEBSTER,

The Portrait in "The Old Blue-back" that scared the Children.

174 Old-time Schools and School-books

of the term the child who had carried the coin home
the greatest number of times was given permanent
possession. .

Once a week the school would choose sides for a
spelling-match. This match took up half the after-
noon and was frequently attended with efforts to de-
fraud and exhibitions of envy. The side which spelled
best was declared to have " beat " and usually mani-
fested much triumph. The spelling-matches were
also a common recreation of the winter evenings,
and from time to time neighboring districts sent
their champions to contend for orthographic honors
in friendly combat. To these evening contests
came not only the day pupils, but the older brothers
and sisters and the rest of the community. Horace
Greeley, when a tiny white-headed youngster of five
or six years, had already become a famous speller,
and had not an equal in his district. He was
always the first one chosen at the spelling schools.
Sometimes he fell asleep in his place before the
evening was over and had to be nudged by his
companions when his turn came. He would
instantly be alert, spell his word, and then drop
asleep again.

After the spelling came recitations of poetry, to-
gether with oratory and dialogues. The dialogues
were inclined to buffoonery, but the oratory was
entirely serious, though not infrequently it was high-
flown to the point of grandiloquence. The speeches
of the patriot leaders of the Revolution were always
favorites, especially Patrick Henry's "Give me
Liberty or Give me Death,"

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 175

Until the Grammatical Institute became The
Elementary Spelling-book in 1829, the usual binding
consisted of a back of leather and sides of thin
oaken boards pasted over with a dull blue paper.
Blue paper of a somewhat brighter tint was used on
the later editions, and the speller was often spoken
of as " The Old Blue-back." Up to the time of
the Elementary y the cover was entirely without letter-
ing. The sheets were held together and fastened
into the cover by means of two strands of tape that
pierced the folds of paper a quarter inch from the
back, and the book opened very stubbornly. In
fact it could" never be induced to be outspread flat
unless the tape was severed. The paper was coarse,
the ink poor, and the print varied from muddy
blackness to a faint illegibility.

For the first two or three years that the children
attended school, during the earlier decades of the
Republic, Webster's speller was their chief text-
book. Not only was it primer and spelling-book
combined, but there was a formidable introduction
containing an " Analysis of Sounds in the English
Language," to be learned word for word. The
Analysis begins with this definition : —

Language or speech is the utterance of articulate sounds
or voices, rendered significant by usage, for the expression
and communication of thoughts.

The rest of the explanations were in the same vein.
Of course they failed to convey their meaning to the
child mind, and the teacher offered no elucidation.

1 After the introduction there was a page devoted

ij6 Old-time Schools and School-books

to the alphabet. The letters, Roman and Italic,
large and small, were arranged in several columns,
and opposite each letter in a final column was the
letter's name. Webster called r, er, and w, oo, while
in addition to the usual name for h, he gives he, and
forjy, ye. Authorities differed in naming the letters.
Hale's speller, 1799, names w, ew, and says in a foot-
note : " Two words or two syllables make an awk-
ward name for a letter. U and w have the same
sounds, and should have names as nearly alike as
can be distinguished from each other."

A London speller of 1712 pronounced w, wee,
and in another English speller j appears as jee or
jod ; still another colonial speller gives j as iazh and
z as zad or zed.

In Webster's book the alphabet is succeeded by
a page packed with " ab, eb, ib," and the rest of
those meaningless word fragments. Then come
three-letter words, and orthoepy is fairly begun.
The long columns march on without a break over
to page 43 where we find a few " lessons of easy
words to teach children to read, and to know their
duty." This first reading looks like poetry, yet
when you test it, you discover it is a very prosaic
prose. The opening paragraph is

No man may put off the law of God ;
My joy is in his law all the day.
O may I not go in the way of sin !
Let me not go in the way of ill men.

Throughout the remainder of the book the read-
ing breaks the spelling columns quite frequently.

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 177

The following selections will show how aptly the
preface described the reading lessons when it said
that they were planned " to combine, with the familiar-
ity of objects, useful truth, and practical principles."

A good child will not lie, swear, nor steal. — He will be
good at home, and ask to read his book ; when he gets up
he will wash his hands and face clean ; he will comb his
hair and make haste to school ; he will not play by the
way as bad boys do.

As for those boys and girls that mind not their books,
and love not the church and school, but play with such as
tell lies, curse, swear and steal, they will come to some bad
end, and must be whipt till they mend their ways.

January begins the year, and the first day of that month
is called New Year's day. Then people express to each
other their good wishes, and little boys and girls expect
gifts of little books, toys and plums.

There are five stages of human life, infancy, childhood,
youth, manhood, and old age. The infant is helpless ; he
is nourished with milk — when he has teeth he begins to
eat bread, meat, and fruit, and is very fond of cakes and
plums. The little boy chuses some plaything that will
make a noise, a hammer, a stick or a whip. The little
girl loves her doll and learns to dress it. She chuses a
closet for her baby-house, where she sets her doll in a little
chair, by the side of a table, furnished with tea-cups as big
as a thimble.

As soon as boys are large enough, they run away from
home, grow fond of play, climb trees to rob birds' nests,
tear their clothes, and when they come home their parents
often chastise them. — O how the rod makes their legs
smart. These are naughty boys, who love play better than
their books.

178 Old-time Schools and School-books

One feature that appears rather queer in an ele-
mentary school-book is a lesson of " Precepts con-
cerning the Social Relations." In this the "young
man, seeking for a partner for life," is advised to
" Be not in haste to marry," and the young women
to —

Be cautious in listening to the addresses of men. Is
thy suitor addicted to low vices ? is he profane ? is he a
gambler ? a tippler ? a spendthrift ? a haunter of taverns ?
and, above all, is he a scoffer at religion ? — Banish such a
man from thy presence, his heart is false, and his hand
would lead thee to wretchedness and ruin.

Then for married people there are suggestions of
this sort : —

Art thou a husband? Treat thy wife with tenderness;
reprove her faults with gentleness.

Art thou a wife ? Respect thy husband ; oppose him
not unreasonably, but yield thy will to his, and thou shalt
be blest with peace and concord; study to make him
respectable ; hide his faults.

The reading which appealed most forcibly to the
students who conned " The Old Blue-back " was
undoubtedly a series of eight short fables, each with
an illustration. One of the fables in particular made
a profound impression, and no child ever forgot it
or its picturesque telling. This was the story —

Of the BOY that stole APPLES.

AN old Man found a rude Boy upon one of his trees
stealing Apples, and desired him to come down ; but the
young Sauce-box told him plainly he would not. Won't

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 179

you ? said the old Man, then I will fetch you down ; so he
pulled up some tufts of Grass and threw at him ; but this
only made the Youngster laugh, to think the old Man
should pretend to beat him down from the tree with grass
only.

FABLE L — Of tie BOY that ftolt APPLES^

From a Webster's speller dated 1 789.

Well, well, said the old Man, if neither words nor grass
will do, I must try what virtue there is in Stones : so the
old Man pelted him heartily with stones, which soon made
the young Chap hasten down from the tree and beg the old
Man's pardon.

MORAL

If good words and gentle means will not reclaim the wicked,
they must be dealt with in a more severe manner.

The book ends with " A Moral Catechism " of
ibout a dozen pages. The topics considered are "Of

"umility, Of Mercy, Of Revenge, Of Industry,"
Jtc., and include such questions and answers as : —

180 Old-time Schools and School-books

^. Is pride commendable ?

A. By no means. A modest, self-approving opinion of
our own good deeds is very right — it is natural — it is
agreeable, and a spur to good actions. But we should not
suffer our hearts to be blown up with pride ; for pride
brings upon us the ill-will of mankind, and displeasure of
our Maker.

The Elementary Spelling-book, which appeared in
1829, had a frontispiece and seven pictures in the

FABLE II, — the COUNTRY MAID and her
MILK PAIL.

From a Webster's speller dated 1 789.

text. There was also an illustrated edition contain-
ing the identical material that was in the other except
that every spelling page had a narrow cut added at
the top. The lists of words in the Elementary were
newly arranged and were more comprehensive than
in its predecessors, but the most noticeable change

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 181

was in the reading matter. The Moral Catechism
was omitted, and so were the scattered religious and

Frontispiece to Webster's Elementary, 1829.

ethical lessons. Four of the little fables were re-
tained unaltered, but instead of the other four we

1 82 Old-time Schools and School-books

find "The Dog," "The Stag," and "The Squir-
rel " described, a paragraph to each. Then there
was a half-page disquisition about time. The read-

" A Virago is a Turbulent, Masculine Woman."
From the illustrated edition of 1829.

ing otherwise consisted of short disconnected sen-
tences containing as a rule wise advice, or state-
ments of interesting facts. Nearly every page had

"An Orator makes Orations."
From the illustrated edition, 1829.

some of these sentences, and they numbered over
a* thousand in all. Below are selections from them,
beginning with the shortest and simplest : —

an ox

is it so

I am to go in

He has got a new tub

Noah Webster and his Spelling-book 183

The man can put on his wig

I love the young lady that shows me how to read.

Vipers are bad snakes, and they bite men.

I saw a rill run down the hill.

Visitors should not make their visits too long.

Style not in verse is called prose.

The birds fly from branch to branch on the trees and
clinch their claws fast to the limbs.

Wolves howl in the woods, in the night.

Never pester the little boys.

The lark will soar up in the sky to look at the sun.

Forks have two or three tines.

Shut the gate, and keep the hogs out of the yard.

The dysentery is a painful disease.

Our blood is often chilled at the recital of acts of cruelty.

When large hailstones fall on the house they make a
great racket.

Pompions are commonly called pumpkins.

The chewing of tobacco is a useless custom.

Many kings have been thrown down from their thrones.

The rainbow is a token that the world will not be
drowned again.

Christ is a mediator between an offended God and
offending man.

A piece of cloth, if good, is worth what it will bring.

Friday is just as lucky a day as any other.

It is a mean act to deface the figures on a mile stone.

The ladies adorn their heads and necks with tresses.

Fiction is a creature of the imagination.

It is every man's duty to bequeath to his children a rich
inheritance of pious precepts.

The love of whiskey has brought many a stout fellow
to the whipping-post.

Large bushy whiskers require a good deal of nursing and
training.

184 Old-time Schools and School-books

The little sentences make a curious medley, and
are not at all childlike ; yet they have a certain
lively straightforwardness and are often picturesque
and entertaining. They inculcate thrift, sobriety,
and the other virtues, and considerable instruction
is conveyed by them, though some of it is rather
indigestible. All the editions of Webster's book from
first to last have about them a certain crudity and
primitiveness, but the book was suited to the times
and regions when and where it most flourished. It
did its work well, and it would have made Noah
Webster's fame secure, had he produced nothing
else. Its sway weakened first in New England,
but its use continued to increase in the South and
West until the Civil War began. Since then the
sales have dwindled, yet there are schools where it
is studied even at present, and " The Old Blue-
back" stands unrivalled among American books in
circulation and length of life.

The Bad Boy, as he appeared in the Illustrated Edition of 1829.

VIII

•
OTHER SPELLERS

JOHN LOCKE, in 1690, said of elementary
school education in England, " The method
is to adhere to the ordinary road of the Horn-
book, Primer, Psalter, Testament, and Bible ;
these are the only books used to engage the liking
of children and tempt them to read." " The ordi-
nary road " was the same here. There were three
reading classes in the schools — " The Psalter Class "
for beginners, next " The Testament Class," and
thirdly " The Bible Class," which went through
about two chapters at each school session and was
expected to spell the words in the portions read.
For a long time spelling-books were lacking, and
they did not become common much before 1750;
but after that time for fully three-quarters of a
century the spelling-book was almost the sole re-
source of the school children for elementary instruc-
tion. Advanced readers were in the market in the
early years of the republic, but readers for the be-
ginners seem to have been thought unnecessary.
Thus the spellers of the forefathers did double duty
as spelling-books and primers, and were a much
more important institution than they have ever
been since.

185

1 86 Old-time Schools and School-books

During the years immediately preceding the
Revolution, Dilworth's speller was accepted almost
universally, but Noah Webster's book presently
supplanted it. The next American speller to take
the field was The Child's Companion^ a small, thin
volume compiled by Caleb Bingham. As com-
pared with most of the early text-books, The Child's
Companion was bright and attractive. Like all the

re-ply fet-tee tranf-late un-xvife
re-port fe-vere tranf-grefs u-nite
re-pr/eve fbal-loon tranf-plant un-feen

TABLE VI.

Eafy Leflbns, conjifting of Monofyllables, /a
be read without fpelling.

LESSON L

MY child, love God with- all thy heart.
Let it be thy joy to do his will.
O do not go in the way of ftn !
Turn tby feet from the road to deatfi;

From Bingham's The Child^s Companion.

older spellers, it contained fragments of rudimentary
prose and verse, and every few pages the " Eafy
Leffons " for reading made a pause in the column
of spelling words. The " Eafy Leffons " consisted
very largely of moral advice and reflections selected
from the Bible, but in the latter part of the book
were a number of fables and stories. Two of the
stories follow : —

Other Spellers 187

The PRETTY BUTTERFLY.

T)UTTERFLY, pretty butterfly! come and reft on the
JD flower that I hold in my hand ! Whither goeft thou,
little fimpleton ? Seeft thou not that hungry bird that
watches thee ? His beak is fharpened, and already open
to devour thee. Come, come, then, hither, and he will not
dare approach thee. I will not pull off thy wings, nor
torment thee ; no, no, no ; thou art little and helplefs, like
myfelf. I only wifh to look at thee nearer.

I will not keep thee long ; I know thou haft not long to
live. When the fummer is over, thou will be no more,
and as for me I fhall only then be fix years old.

Butterfly, pretty butterfly ! come and reft on this flower
that I hold in my hand ! Thou haft not a moment to
lofe from enjoying this fhort life ; but thou mayeft feed
and regale thyfelf all the time that I look at thee.

A DIALOGUE between Mifs CHARLOTTE
and Mifs SOPHIA.

Charlotte. 1\/TISS So.Phia» wh>" do >"ou always canT your
1VJL Spelling Book to fchool with you ? I carry

nothing but my work.

Sophia. Becaufe I mean to learn to fpell as well as learn
to work.

Char. I mean to learn to fpell too. But what great
matter is it if one is not always fo very exact about one's
fpelling ?

Soph. Why, if we don't fpell our words a little accord-
ing to cuftom, people will not be able to make fenfe of
them.

Char. But mamma fays if they do but know what we
mean, that is enough. She fays, I may as well begin pin-

1 88 Old-time Schools and School-books

cufhion with the laft letter, and end it with the firft, as any-
way, if I am but underftood.

Soph. That is the very thing. If you fhould begin it
with an n, and end it with a />, you would be more likely
to make night cap of it than pincufhion ; and that would be a
fad miftake.

Char. Well now, I will tell you a little affair, if you
will promife to keep it afecret.

Soph. You know I never reveal fecrets.

Char. Last New Year's day, I wanted to make my
coufin Sally Chapman a prefent of a pretty little hiftory
book. And fo I wrote her name in it and fent it. But,
inftead of writing it properly, I wrote For Sale Cheap Mon.
My coufin opened it, and read it ; but could make nothing
more or lefs of it, than For sale cheap for Money ; and im-
mediately fent back to know the loweft price. Now, think
how mortified I was.

Soph. We must expect that fuch miftakes will often
happen, if we do not learn to fpell in feafon. I knew a
man who had a great deal of money, and was about mak-
ing a great feaft, who fent his fervant to market with an
order, the true meaning of which was, that he wanted a
dozen of fowls, either ducks, turkies, or chickens. But it
was written thus : " Send me a dofe of fools — Dukes will be
preferred to Turks; but Chittens will be better than either."
Guefs the man's aftonifhment, at feeing his fervant come
home lugging a baf ket full of kittens !

Char. I fee that great miftakes, and great injuries may
arife from bad fpelling. I am refolved to learn to be a
good fpeller too ; and will afk mamma to let me carry my
fpelling book to fchool every day.

Soph. I am glad you have come to that refolution. You
write a very handfome hand ; and nothing looks more
fhameful than to fee good writing and bad fpelling to-
gether.

Other Spellers

189

What philosophers the school-book children of
that generation were — and how quickly the virtu-
ous and industrious won over their less admirable
mates ! In this dialogue between the two " Miffes "
the glimpse we get of Charlotte's mother mirrors the
general opinion of the times that it was hardly worth
while to teach girls much except sewing and house-
work, and if they took their stitching to school, it
did not matter if they left their spellers at home.

In the back part of Bingham's book is a " collec-
tion of vulgarisms " of which the author says that
many more examples might have been added. I
select rather freely, for the list gives an interesting
impression of the language in everyday use. It fills
twelve pages under this heading : —

APPENDIX.

IMPROPRIETIES in PRONUNCIATION,
common among the people of New-England*

Afraid not
afterwards

Afeard
arterwards

chimney
cucumber

audacious

outdacious

confifcate

awkward

awkid

cover

bellows

belluffes

drain

boil

bile

dandruff

bachelor
bonfire

bacheldor
burnfire

eternity
earth

cowcumber

confifticate

kiver

dreen

dander

etarnity

airth

190 Old-time Schools and School-books

gown not

gound

really not

raly

guardian

guardeen

rheumatifm

rheumatiz

grudge

begrutch

fervant

farvant

girl

gai

fhook

fhuck

his

hi fen

fuch

fich

however

howzever

fomething

futhing

herbs

yerbs

fpirit

fperrit

hoof

huf

fcarce

fcafe

hurricane

harricane

fteady

ftiddy

handkerchief

handkercher

fpoonful

fpumful

icicle

ifuccle

faufages

links

ideas

idees

ftunned

ftunded

January

jinuary

this

this-ere

linen

linning

that

that-are

medicine

medfon

tutor

tutorer

molaffes

laffes

umbrella

umberriller

mufquitoes

fketers

value

valley

mufician

muficianer

voyage

vige

novelty

newelty

vagabond

vagabone

nervous

narvous

widow

widder

ours

ourn

wreck

rack

potatoes

taters

walnut

warnut

quench

fquinch

yonder

yender

The same subject is continued in sentence form,
thus : —

I gin it to him.

I dun it myfelf.

He is the moft wifeft man.

He teached a fchool.

My wives fister is fick.

She enjoys a bad ftate of health.

He rid and I walked.

Is your parents living ?

Other Spellers 191

I have nary one.

She fpeaks very proper.

He don't ought to behave fo.

What does I do but goes and demands the money.

I never drink' d better wine.

She died of a Tuefday.

About a year agone.

A speller very similar in size and makeup to
Bingham's was " The Child 's Spelling-book : calcu-
lated to render Reading Completely Eafy to Little
Children; Compiled by a printer, Hartford, 1798."
It is illustrated with a number of pictures and the
text is unfailingly brisk and entertaining. The first
reading starts off in this wise : —

Come hither, Charles, come, tell me your letters ; do
you know how many there are ? Where is the pin to point
with ? Here is the pin. Now read your book.

In the next extract we get more glimpses of old-
time child life both at school and at home.

How cold it is ! Where are the little girls and boys ?
Have they not yet come from fchool ?

Here they come, here they come. — Who was at the head
of the clafs to-day ? Rachel. And did fhe get the bow ?
Yes papa, here is the pretty bow. And will papa give me
a penny for bringing home the bow ?

Yes, Rachel fhall have a penny. No, pennies are out
of date. She fhall have a cent.

Dinner is ready. Come little frozen boys, come get
fome pudding.

Will mamma give Charles fome beer ? Yes, Charles
fhall have fome beer.

192 Old-time Schools and School-books

Wipe your mouth before you drink. Do not cough in
the cup.

Thomas fhall I help you to a potato ? No, fir, I have
dined.

Then go to the fcullery, and wafh your hands, your face,
and your teeth.

This is winter. Well never mind it. We will fit by
the fire, and read, and tell ftories, and look at pictures.

Take care, little boy, you ftand too near the fire. You
will burn your fhoes.

Do not fpit on the floor. Spit in the corner.

It is dark. Light the candle. Shut the window-blinds.
Bring in fome wood.

The fun is gone to bed. The chickens are gone to
bed ; and little boys and girls muft go to bed.

Poor little boy is sleepy. He muft be carried up-
ftairs.

Pull off his thoes. Pull off his frock and petticoat.
Put on his nightcap.

Lay his head upon the pillow. Cover him up. Good
night.

In 1799 appeared Caleb Alexander's The Young
Ladies and Gentleman 3 Spelling Book. It was a well-
printed, leather-bound twelve mo, and contained eight
engravings, each illustrating a poem by that eminent
divine, Isaac Watts, whose verse both for adults and
children was the especial delight of New Englanders
in the eighteenth century.

These illustrated poems were the book's most
distinguished feature as can be imagined from the
pictures and portions of text which follow : —

Other Spellers

193

Again/I PRIDE in CLOTHM.

From Alexander's Spelling Book, 1 799.

HOW proud we are ! how fond to fhew
Our clothes, and call them rich and new !
When the poor fheep and filkworm wore
That very clothing long before.

The tulip and the butterfly

Appear in gayer coats than I :

Let me be dreft fine as I will,

Flies, worms, and flowers exceed me ftill.

Then will I fet my heart to find
Inward adornings of the mind ;
Knowledge and virtue, truth and grace,
Thefe are the robes of richeft drefs.

No more fhall worms with me compare ;
This is the raiment Angels wear ;
It takes no fpot, but (till refines ;
The more 'tis worn the more it fhines.

194 Old-time Schools and School-books

AgainJI EVIL COMPANY.

From Alexander's Spelling Book.

WHY fhould I join with them in play,
In whom I've no delight ;
Who curfe and fwear, but never pray.
Who call ill names, and fight ?

I hate to hear a wanton fong ;

The words offend my ears ;
I fhould not dare defile my tongue

With language fuch as theirs.

My God, I hate to walk or dwell

With finful children here ;
Then let me not be fent to hell,

Where none but finners are.

THIS is the day when Chrift arofe
So early from the dead ;
Why fhould I keep my eyelids clofd,
And wafte my hours in bed ?

Other Spellers 195

Today with pleafure chriftians meet,

To pray, and hear thy word ;
And I will go with cheerful feet

To learn thy will, O Lord.

I'll leave my fport and read and pray,

And fo prepare for heaven ;
O may I love this blessed day,

The beft of all the feven.

Forth* LORD'S DAY MORNING.

From Alexander's Spelling Book.

The Columbian Spelling Book, Wrentham, Massa-
chusetts, 1799, was similar to Alexander's in size,
but was more roughly made, and the cuts were mar-
vels of crudity. Two of these queer engravings are
here given with the fables they illustrated.

The Dove and M

A POOR Bee came to a brook to drink, but in her
hafte fhe fell in, and would have loft her life, had it
not been for a dove, who broke off a fmall twig from a

196 Old-time Schools and School-books

tree, and dropped it in, fo that the bee got on the top of it,
and rode fafe to fhore.

In a few days time a man came with his gun, and would
have fhot the kind dove ; but the bee, who was clofe by,
saw what he was at, flew to him, and ftung him on his

The Dove and the Bee.
From The Columbian Spelling Book, 1 799.

" For now, thought fhe bee is my time, and I will fave
my friend, if I die for it." As foon as the man felt the
fting, he made a ftart, and the good dove flew off, and got
fafe to her neft.

MORAL.

Learn from hence to help thofe who are in need as
much as you can.

The Old Knight and his Wig.

A CERTAIN Knight growing old, his hair fell off fo
faft, that he foon became bald ; and fo he was forced
to buy a wig. But one day, as he was riding out a hunting

Other Spellers

197

with fome of his mates, they met with a fudden blaft of
wind ; and fo off fell his hat and wig. Thofe who were
with him could not help laughing at the odd figure he made ;
and for his part, being a cheerful old blade, he laughed as
loud as the beft of them. How could I expect faid he to
keep the hair of other people on my head, when my own
would not ftay on ?

The Old Knight and his Wig.

From The Columbian Spelling Book.

MORAL.

The beft way to turn off the edge of a joke is to join
in the laugh yourself.

A spelling-book with a title suggesting relationship
to the one of which I have just been speaking was
The Columbian Primer by H. Mann, Dedham, 1802.
It was a small book of eighty-four pages, quite

198 Old-time Schools and School-books

Cc Stands for Camel, who lives in the eq/l ;

attractive typographically and containing many pic-
tures. The author thought the pictures would make
the lessons " a pleafure rather than a tqfk" and that
the teacher would rejoice " in the fatiffaction of
feeing the animated looks and rapid progrefs of his
pupils." Most of the pictures were used in illus-
trating a rhymed alphabet that began with : —

Aa Stands for ADAM, the firft of our race ;
Bb Stands for bis BRIDE, with beauty & grace.

Dd Sta«^/0rDrunkard, aworfe look ing beqft.

An Alphabet Rhyme.
From The Columbian Primer, 1802.

Other Spellers

199

Stands for a Queen, who looks very gay ;

Each line has its accompanying picture filling the
upper third of a page, and the rest of the space is
devoted to spelling columns. The spelling is scarcely
interrupted until we get to the last twenty pages
which are made up of" Lessons in Reading/' Nearly
half this final portion is occupied by a story
called : —

The Little Wanderers.

T was one of thofe fine days of fummer, when all
nature fmiled with the feason, and feemed to invite

Rr Stands for Robin, whojtngs on

An Alphabet Rhyme.
From The Columbian Primer, 1802.

2oo Old-time Schools and School-books

every one abroad to feast among the great variety of
beauties it afforded ; when young Edwin^ about four years
old, and his little fifter Eliza, aged three, rambled off into
the woods and could not find the way back.

We muft now conclude, that young Edwin and Eliza
were filled with much fear and amazement. We may
fuppofe they recollected the many frightful ftories they
had heard of huge, wild beafts and ferpents which fre-
quent thefe abodes of folitude.

THE LITTLE WANDERERS.

From The Columbian Primer.

At length there was a thunderstorm of such vio-
lence that —

the whole foreft, at times, feemed on fire, and tumbling
into ruins. Eliza clung round her little brother, and tried
to hide her face from the lightning, which every moment
threatened to ftrike them lifelefs.

Behold, now, the fable curtains of the night fhrouding
thefe unhappy innocents in the midft of this defolate foreft !
Here was no mother to cherifh, and prepare for them a

Other Spellers 201

wholefome (upper. And inftead of the downy bed, and
the foft fong of the Whippoorwill and Nightingale to lull
them to repofe, naught, but a bed of leaves drenched with
rain, the wild wind which whiftled terror thro' the trees,
and the hoarfe note of the Owl, to frighten their ears !

Meanwhile, the father and all the neighbors had
been searching for the children, and the search con-
tinued unsuccessfully through the stormy night.
"At last, when the day had dawned, the father
happening to caft his eyes on a clufter of leaves —
who fhould he difcover but his fweet babes ! He
fprang to fold their cold bodies to his bofom : And
while he wiped the rain from their tender limbs, the
parental tear ran down his cheeks."

The mother and a daughter some years older than
the lost children were with the father. Of this
older daughter the book says : " How could that
humane, delicate bosom, which always turned from
the cruel fcene where the lamb is led to the flaugh-
ter ; whofe foft hands could never indulge them-
felves in the barbarous fport of depriving the robin
of her eggs, much lefs of her young neftlings ; I fay,
how could this amiable sifter endure the thought
that her little brother and fifter fhould thus perifh."

But she was spared the pain ; for while the
rescuers picked up the children and "were alter-
nately preffing their clay-cold lips to their own, a
fmall breath was difcovered to proceed from their
mouths, and their little hearts faintly vibrated with
life," and shortly they recovered and the adventure
ended happily.

2O2 Old-time Schools and School-books

About a dozen years after this Columbian Primer
was published at Dedham, a speller of the same title
and very similar appearance was issued in New York.
The text and illustrations, however, were new, though
arranged just as in the earlier volume ; but where the
spelling pages of the Dedham book had single cuts at
the top of each, the New York book had two. Be-
neath the pictures were jingling couplets such as : —

The blushing Flowers The Birds do in the

bloom and spring, bushes sing.

Dick and Tommy go
to plough

The pretty Maids have
modest looks,

The naughty Boy who
^steals the pears,

And Caty milks the
brindled cow.

Good boys and girls will
learn their books.

Is whipt, as well as he
who swears.

The Captain boldly
draws his sword,

Rhymes from The Columbian Primer, or Ladder to Learning, New York, 1 827.

The Soldier marches
" at his word.

Other Spellers 203

In the portion of a page given herewith from
Fiske's The New England Spelling-book, Brookfield,
Massachusetts, 1803, it seems a little odd to find

WORDS frequently ufedin SPEAKING and Wsi7^
iNGyWhich JkoHldfo well learned by every
Scholar.

bright Dam/i fra«d

bread di^a 'fraught

Badg* brogue detfd freight

ba/ztf bruife dearth fr/ez*

ba/k budg* de/jti fri^t

ba/m b«6y d^w fruft

ba,th£r b?/y dirg^ Ga/t

bawd Ca/V£ do^ 4gaol

Portion of a Page.
From Fiske's New England Spelling-book, 1803.

" Damn " included among the " words which fhould
be well learned by every Scholar." But words just
as much out of place are not uncommon in the old
spellers. To quote a text-book preface of 1828,
" They contain words collected from all departments
of nature, life, and action; from the nursery, the
kitchen, the drawing-room, the stable, the bar-room,
the gaming table, the seaman's wharf, the apothe-
cary's shop ; from the subtle pages of the metaphysi-
cian, and the rhapsodies of the pompous pedant."

The latter part of Fiske's speller, comprising the
larger half, consists of the Constitution of the United
States, the Declaration of Independence, the Consti-

204 Old-time Schools and School-books

tution of Massachusetts, and Washington's Farewell
Address. But preceding these profundities are a
few short reading lessons of a more entertaining
character including two " Moral Tales " which each
have an illustration, the only pictures in the book.
One of the tales was about —

MORAL TALES.

The CHILD and the SERPENT.

From Fiske's The New England Spelling-book-

A CHILD, playing with a tame ferpent, faid to it, My
dear little animal, doft thou imagine I would be fo
familiar with thee if thy venom was hot taken out ; you
ferpents are the moft perverfe, ungrateful creatures. I re-
member to have read, that a good natured countryman found

Other Spellers 205

a ferpent under a hedge, almoft dead with cold. He took
it up and warmed it in his breaft ; but it was fcarcely come
to life when it ftung its benefactor, and the too charitable
peafant died of the wound. This is aftonifhing faid the
ferpent : How partial are your hiftorians ! Ours relate this
hiftory in a different manner. Your charitable peafant be-
lieved the ferpent dead : Its fkin was beautifully variegated
with different colours; he took it up and was haftening
home in order to flay it.

Now tell me whether the ferpent was ungrateful ?

Hold your tongue, replied the boy. Where is the ingrate
who cannot find fome excufe.to juftify himfelf?

Well anfwered, interrupted the boy's father, who had lif-
tened to the dialogue. Neverthelefs, my fon, if ever thou
fhouldeft hear of an inftance of ingratitude bafer than or-
dinary, forget not to examine every circumftance to the
bottom, and be extremely backward in fixing fo foul a ftain
on any man's character.

Comly's A New Spelling-book, Philadelphia, 1806,
has on nearly every page a few short paragraphs of
reading in addition to the columns of words. The
first of this reading starts off lugubriously with —
"All of us, my son, are to die," and the tone of the
reading lessons right through the book is very
serious. If there is a pause for a bit of natural his-
tory about " The Wren," " The Camel," or some
other creature, it is only momentary, and the text
promptly reverts to its pedantic and melancholy
moralizing, often with a touch of theology added.
Here is one of the longer lessons : —

Joseph Harris, a child of eleven years old, during his
last illness, gave the following advice to his sister, Dost

206 Old-time Schools and School-books

thou know that it is thy duty to pray to the Lord every
night, to return him thanks for his preservation through
the day, and to desire his protection through the night; also,
in the morning to return thanks to him for relieving thee
from darkness.

When thou sittest down to meals, recollect how many
there are that would be glad of the smallest morsel, while
thou hast full and plenty : return the Almighty thanks for
his bounty, and be good to the poor.

Mind the advice of thy uncles, aunts, and friends. Love
every body ; even thine enemies. Endeavour to assist thy
poor afflicted mother, who is struggling through the world,
with four children without a father, and her fifth going to
be taken from her. Love thy little brother and sister, and
walk in the paths of truth, and the Almighty will be a father
to thee.

Among spellers of British origin Dilworth's, Fen-
ning's, Murray's, and Perry's long continued in cir-
culation, but in the early years of the nineteenth
century Perry's was by far the most popular. It
was entitled The Only Sure Guide to the English
Tongue, although one would have difficulty in per-
ceiving wherein it was essentially better than some
of its contemporaries. The thing in Perry's book
which most impressed those who studied it was the
frontispiece — a tree of learning. This was growing
in a schoolyard, and groups of boys were playing in
its shadow. A ladder reached from the ground up
into the branches, and several boys were ascending
with open books in their hands. Another book boy
had stepped off the ladder into the tree and was pre-
paring to climb higher, while three boys engrossed

Other Spellers

207

in their books were perched among the loftiest
branches. To the average child this picture allegory
was very curious and incomprehensible.

The reading in Perry is decidedly moral and reli-
gious ; but once in a while it reverts to such light-
some matter as the following : —

COME let us go forth into the fields ; let us see how
the flowers spring; let us listen to the warbling of the
birds, and sport ourselves upon the new grass.

Toward the end of the book are several pages of
hymns, a number of illustrated fables, a chapter on
Manners, the Ten Commandments, and a morning
and evening prayer. Nearly all the old spellers
included material of this sort. I give two of the
fables : —

The naughty GIRL reformed.

From an 1803 edition of Perry's The Only Sure Guide to the English Tongue.

2o8 Old-time Schools and School-books

A CERTAIN little girl ufed to be very naughty; fhe
frequently ftrayed away from home without the con-
fent of her parents ; was often quarrelfome and was fome-
times fo very wicked as to tell lies. One day fhe went
into an orchard, and, without leave, took fome fruit and
was carrying it off. A faithful dog obferved her and pur-
fued her, and would have bitten her, if a countryman had
not at that inftant been paffing who very humanely refcued
her from the jaws of the furious animal. The danger fhe
was in caufed her to reflect on her paft bad conduct — fhe
repented of her folly, and became one of the beft children
in the neighbourhood.

The Complaisant Hermit.
From Perry's Only Sure Guide, 1818.

The Hermit.

A HERMIT, one morning, sat contemplating with pleasure
on the various objects that lay before him. The woods
were dressed in the brightest verdure ; the birds carolled
beneath the branches ; the lambs frolicked around the
meads j and the ships driven by gentle gales, were return-

Other Spellers 209

ing into their proper harbours. In short, every object
yielded a display either of beauty or of happiness. On a
sudden arose a violent storm. The winds mustered all
their fury, and whole forests of oak lay scattered on the
ground. Darkness instantly succeeded ; hailstones and
rain were poured forth in cataracts ; and lightning and
thunder added horrour to the gloom. And, now, the sea,
piled up in mountains, bore aloft the largest vessels, while
the horrid uproar of its waves drowned the shrieks of the
wretched mariners. When the whole tempest had ex-
hausted its fury, it was instantly followed by the shock of
an earthquake.

The poor inhabitants of a neighbouring village flocked
in crowds to our hermit's cave, religiously hoping that his
well known sanctity would protect them in their distress.
They were, however, not a little surprised at the profound
tranquillity that appeared in his countenance. " My
friends," said he, " be not dismayed. Terrible to me, as
well as to you, would have been the war of the elements
we have just beheld, but that I have meditated with so
much attention on the various works of Providence, as
to be persuaded that his goodness is equal to his power.

The old-time school-book authors often attained a
good deal of picturesqueness in the selections that
went into their volumes, and some of these authors
were hardly less picturesque in the arguments and
opinions they addressed to the public in their pref-
aces. Here is the way Joshua Bradley appeals for
the acceptance of his " lessons in spellings " which
he compiled in a square little volume of sixty-four
pages, published at Windsor, Vermont, in 1815.

The author was led to lay this small work before the
publick, for the benefit of beginners ; who are apt to wear

2io Old-time Schools and School-books

out a large book, without gaining any more knowledge than
they would from one of this description.

Should parents, instructors and the benevolent encourage
the introduction and continuance of this little work among
children, they may be instrumental in guiding millions to
a true knowledge of the rudiments of our language and
receive their reward at the resurrection of the just.

To such patrons of learning the author wishes to tender
his unfeigned thanks and to subscribe himself their sincere
and affectionate friend.

The Wolf accuses the Lamb of Muddying the Water.
From Perry's Only Sure Guide, 1818.

An equally quotable preface is found in the Ana-
lytical Spelling Book by John Franklin Jones, New
York, 1823. The compiler says of the reading mat-
ter in his book that —

Something was wanted, in American schools to replace
the lessons, which have been copied from book to book,
since the reign of Queen Anne. It is the intention, in the

Other Spellers 211

present work to advance principles suited to the rising
generation, in the United States. Beast, reptiles and
insects are not represented in this volume, as the equals of
rational beings ; because such a supposition is repugnant to
nature, science, and correct moral sentiment. Most of the
fables so long employed in schools, are particularly im-
proper for small children, who should be taught by literal
examples, before they can comprehend figures of rhetoric
or draw inferences from remote hints. The fancy of con-
verting inferior animals into " teachers of children" has been
carried to ridiculous extravagance.

Thus he throws j^Esop overboard. Here is a les-
son to show what Mr. Jones could do in the way
of " penning readings " : —

Keep clear of the boy that tells lies, for he is a bad
boy.

O how I like to read my book, and be a good child, and
mind what my pa and ma tell me !

Let the best child in school have a good ripe red peach,
and five blue plums, and ten grapes, and a nice new
book.

Pinks smell sweet.
Good girls are neat.
A leech sucks blood.
Ducks play in mud.

The great feature of the speller is the " Story of
Jack Halyard," which fills thirty closely printed
pages. Jack lived on a New Jersey farm. He was
nine years of age, and had an older brother Charles
and two younger sisters Mary and Betsey. His
father was "very honest," and his mother —

212 Old-time Schools and School-books

was a woman of engaging manners, and unblemished char-
acter. Jack's teacher, Mr. Clement, was very fond of him,
and used to call him little General Washington, because he
acted with so much honor and manliness. Jack scorned
the vile mischief that low bred fellows sometimes practice,
and which they seem to think very cunning.

If he saw a silly fellow skulk behind a bench, or behind
another boy, to do some sly trick, while the teacher was
looking the other way, he would say, when they went out,
that bad scholars took more pains to be dunces than would
be needed to become men of talents.

Jack's little sisters were charming girls, very fond of
learning ; and, when he came home, he would find pretty
stories for Mary to read, and teach Betsey in her a b abs.
He always treated his mother and sisters with great atten-
tion, and was very polite to other ladies of his acquaintance.

The story goes on to say that " Jack's conduct
began to attract notice in the town where he lived."
Major Wilson, " a gentleman of distinction," whose
house was about four miles distant from Mr. Hal-
yard's, had a ten-year-old son, named Peter, " and
Peter was inclined to be idle and childish." When
other boys were sliding and skating, Peter would sit
moping indoors. One day the lads were asking
among themselves where Peter was, and Solomon
Belmot said, " Oh, he is sitting in the corner to keep
the cat from eating the tongs. That is all he is good
for; the ninny is too lazy even to play."

Major Wilson was mortified, at having such a shameful
lubber of a son. He thought of Jack Halyard, and con-
cluded the best thing he could do, would be to get so smart
a boy to come and live a while with his son.

Other Spellers 213

Jack's father agreed, and during the five weeks
Jack stayed, " Peter was so altered, he hardly appeared
to be the same boy." Among other things Jack
cured his companion of timidity. It is told that —

One day as they were in a pasture together, Peter was
scared almost to death, at the sight of a rattle snake. He
ran and screamed, as if the terrible creature was going to
swallow him alive; but Jack like a hero, without being at
all afraid, got a good stick and killed the snake. u These
animals," said Jack, "are like tattling, mischief making
people : they are very poison ; but dangerous only when
they creep in secret, and bite before they are seen."

Jack talked much and very sensible with Peter, and
Major Wilson was so much pleased with the change in his
son, that he said Jack Halyard was worth five times his
weight in gold, and he made him a present of a likely colt.
" My good little friend," said the major to Jack, and he
almost shed tears while he said it, " the great happiness of
parents is in seeing their children do well. If Peter should
ever make an honorable man, it will be in part owing to
what you have done for him. Take this colt. I hope,
my dear fellow, you may live to ride him to congress."

Jack led him home and felt as rich as King Cre-sus.
The colt was all over as black as a mink ; but the hired man
was a queer fellow, and he named this black colt Snow-ball.

The best people in this world are not perfect ; and Jack,
though so excellent a boy, committed some great errors.
The first disgraceful thing he did, was when he was about
five years old. He got to a bottle of rum, very slily, and
tasted a little ; at first it made his mouth smart, and his
nose tingle. He soon got over this, and thought it would
be a pretty notion to take another dram : but he found that
this was very poor business. Several children have killed
themselves by drinking ardent spirits in this way. Jack

214 Old-time Schools and School-books

was not dead drunk, but tipsey. He staggered off like a
crazy fellow, nearly half a mile from the house ; said some
most ridiculous, vulgar, silly things ; and was saucy to an
old man. He even abused his mother after he had been

The Smart Boy,' leading home his
Black Colt Snowball.

From Jones's Analytical Spelling-book, 1823.

carried sick, to the house, and put on the truckle bed ; but
at last he grew stupid and went to sleep.

Mr. Halyard, the next day, called his tippling son, and
asked him what he had been about. Jack was still weak,
and so much ashamed, that he hardly dared to look his

Other Spellers 215

father in the face. He clasped his arm around his pa's leg,
and hung down his head. But though this little boy had
done wrong he despised a falsehood. He told the facts as
nigh as he could remember, without any quibbling. Jack's
father was so glad to find him honest in owning his fault
that he did not say a harsh word.

Jack had turns of the colic, especially, if he eat unripe
fruit ; but he bore these things like a young philosopher,
and felt above the silly whining, that is sometimes heard
among children. The whooping cough, he passed lightly
through, and considered it hardly worth minding; but he
found the measles much more serious, and at one time
rather forgetting himself was somewhat peevish.

The narrative continues to tell of Jack's clever-
ness and the increasing honors he won through five
chapters. " But there is no lasting happiness here
below," it says, and the final pages record that Mr.
Halyard had his best horse stolen and that he was to
an expense of "above sixty dollars in chacing the thief,
and getting back the horse." Soon afterward a flood
drowned five of his cattle and a number of his sheep,
his crops were much damaged, and he himself was
" taken extremely sick with a bilious fever " and died.
His dying precepts fittingly close the story.

One would fancy there could not be another
youth with the perfections of Jack Halyard ; yet
that this impression is a mistake is shown by the
tale below, which is also taken from Jones's speller.

THE LITTLE SAWYER, FRANK LUCAS.

Mrs. Corbon kept a village school in the state of New-
York. She had a noble mind and was a friend to all good

Old-time Schools and School-books

children. One cold morning in the winter, a small boy
came along, with a saw on his arm, and wanted this lady to
hire him to saw wood. She said, one of her neighbors
would like to saw the wood and she did not wish to hire
any body else. " O dear," said the boy, "what shall I do ?
My father is blind, mother is sick, and I left my sister cry-
ing at home, for fear poor ma will die. I take care of them,
as well as I can, but they have nothing to eat." Mrs.
Corbon had never seen this lad before ; but she perceived
he was a boy of uncommon goodness. He shivered very
much with the cold ; for he was but thinly drest, and his
ear locks were white with frost. The lady asked him to
come in and warm himself. Are you not hungry, said
Mrs. Corbon ? Not much ma'am. I had some potatoe
for dinner yesterday. Did you not have supper last night ?
No ma'am. Nor breakfast, this morning ? " Not yet :
but no matter : I shall get some by and by. If I try to do
well, God will protect me : for so my precious mother says.
I believe she is the best woman in the world. If I did not
think she was, I would not say so." " You are a brave
lad," said the lady. " I will be your friend, if you have
not another on earth ; " and the tears sparkled in her eyes
as she gave him a biscuit with a piece of meat, on a small
plate. Thank you, ma'am, said Frank; if you please, I
will keep them to carry home. Don't you think, ma'am,
that any body will hire me to saw wood ? Yes, my dear
little fellow, she answered, I will give you money to saw
mine. He thanked her again, and ran to the wood pile to
begin his work. The lady put on her cloak and went out
among her neighbors. She told them Frank was one of the
best boys she had ever seen, and hoped they would do some-
thing to help the little fellow provide for the family. So
they came to her house, where he was, and one gave him
a six cent piece, another a shilling, and a third twenty-five
cents, till they made up nearly three dollars. They pre-

Other Spellers

217

sented him a loaf of bread, part of a cheese, some meat
and cake, a jug of milk, and some apples ; with a snug
basket to put them all in : so that he had as much as he
could carry. He told them he was very much obliged; but
he chose to work and pay for what he had if they would

The Little Sawyer.
From Jones's Analytical Spelling Book.

let him. They said he might see to that another time.
We are going, said Mrs. Corbon, to send the things to your
mother. Frank hurried back, tugging his load, and the
whole family cried for joy. Bless your dear heart, said his
poor blind father ; come here and let me get hold of you.

2i 8 Old-time Schools and School-books

My dear wife, a blessing has come upon us all for the sake
of our dutiful child. He is one of nature's noblemen.
The good man raised his hands in prayer, and thanked the
Creator of the world for giving him so hopeful a son.

It is thirty years since this affair happened, and the same
Frank Lucas is now a judge, and one of the first men in
the county where he lives. His father is at rest. Twenty
summers, the bell-flower has bloomed, on his peaceful grave.
His mother has grown very old and feeble. She still lives
with her son. Judge Lucas is married to a charming lady,
and has five children. They go to school ; and their father
tells them they must love God ; honor their parents and
teachers, and be kind to all ; and that the way for a poor
little boy to become a great and happy man, is, to be honest,
industrious and good.

A poem from Picket's Juvenile Spelling-book, New
York, 1823.

The Lamb.

A tear bedews my Delia's eye,

To think yon playful lamb must die :

From crystal spring and flow'ry mead

Must in his prime of life recede ;

Erewhile in sportive circle, round

She saw him wheel, and frisk and bound ;

From rock to rock pursue his way,

And on the fearful margin play.

She tells with what delight he stood

To trace his features in the flood ;

Then skipp'd aloof with quaint amaze ;

And then drew near again to gaze.

She tells me how with eager speed

He flew to hear my vocal reed \

Other Spellers

And how with critic face profound,
And steadfast ear, devour'd the sound,
His every frolic light as air,
Deserves the gentle Delia's care ;
And tears bedew my Delia's eye,
To think yon playful lamb must die.

219

The Danger of Temptation.
THElilly fish, while playing in the brook',
Hath gorg'd and swallow'd the destructive hook;
In vain he flounces on the quiv'ring haiiy
Drawn panting forth to breathe the upper air ;
Caught by his folly in the glitt'ring bait,
He meets his ruin and submits to fate.

Moral.

Avoid base bribes : the tempting lure^display'd,
If once you seize, you perish self- betray 'd.
Be slow to take when strangers haste to give,
Lest of your ruin you the price receive.

A Poetical Fable.
From Picket's Juvenile Spelling-book, 1823.

220 Old-time Schools and School-books

Owl. Bolles's Spelling-book, New

London, 1831, is given an odd
individuality by the fact that
" each page is embellished by
select proverbs and maxims.'*
^ These bits of wisdom are printed
in small type on the borders of
Owls eat mice, the pages, one at the top, one at
and live in the the bottom, and one on each side.
woods. There is a comparatively large

AvFr^crne/!)t fr?mt?fo^"' amount of other reading matter,

York Spelling-book, 1823. . & *TM_

and frequent illustrations. The
longest story in the book is about —

ALMIRA AND JANE.

Almira was a very thoughtful girl ; she took delight in
viewing the beauties of nature ; and for this purpose, often
took a walk near the close of the day.

On her return, one evening- she was accosted by Jane,
who, though younger than herself, was always pleased with
Almira's company, and requested the pleasure of walking
with her the next day.

Jane informed her mother of what had passed ; and made
request, that she and her little brother, might join Almira in
her ramble.

Her Mamma was very willing, and said, as she was about
to go ; Do not forget, my child that it is God, who permits
you to enjoy so many pleasures.

By this time Almira had arrived and Jane and George
were ready to go with her.

Almira and Jane soon began to converse, and little George
listened with attention.

How pleasant it is, said Jane, to see the earth decked so

Other Spellers 221

gaily ; the grass so fresh and green, and do see the little
lambs yonder !

Al. O yes ; emblems of innocence ; how sweetly they
play ; the musick of the birds also affords me much pleasure.
Indeed I sometimes rise very early to hear them ; but I do
not say right, I rise because their sweet notes seem to say ;
Awake, and give thanks too. The same God that made
them, and teaches them to sing, made us, and takes care
of us.

Ja. And bestows on us many blessings which they
never knew.

Geo. But how can you say so; sister? I think the
birds are very happy, and sometimes wish, that, like them,
I could skip from bough to bough.

Ja. Why, George, they know very little; they were
never taught to read, as we have been.

Al. Nor did they ever hear of heaven ; but we, if we
love the Lord, and obey him, may hope to be happy here,
and happy in the world to come.

Geo. Now I see the folly of my wishes ; I think I
shall never, again, desire to be a bird ; I would much rather
learn to read, and become wise.

Ja. Have we not yet arrived at the extent of your
walk ; Almira ?

AL Yes ; on the banks of this little rivulet I admire
to sit among the shrubs, or under the shade of some of the
willows.

Ja. George, I believe, is delighted by looking into the
the brook; what do you see, George?

Geo. Some frogs, and a great many little fishes. But
they are so shy, and nimble, that, before I can touch them
they dart away.

As they walked along the side of the stream Jane began
to be very pensive :

I have been thinking, said she, that the God who made,

222 Old-time Schools and School-books

and takes care of all these things, must be very great, and
very good.

AL He is so, indeed ; he is worthy of all our praise.

Ja. If he makes this earth so pleasant, what must
heaven be ?

AL What does the word of God say ? Eye hath not
seen ; neither has it entered into the heart of man, to con-
ceive the glory, that shall be revealed in that world. O
may we meet in heaven ; we shall then be happy indeed.

The evening drew on, and they returned home ; little
George being so well pleased, that he related the whole
story to his papa.

The several lessons following the above are phi-
losophies on life and nature that in manner of ex-
pression are reminiscent of the Psalms in the Bible.
I quote one of them : —

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business
in the great waters ; these see the work of the Lord, and
his wonders in the deep.

For he-commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which
lifteth up the waves thereof.

They mount up to the heaven ; they go down again to
the depths ; their soul is melted because of trouble.

They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
and are at their wits' end.

Then they cry unto the Lord and he bringeth them out
of their distress.

He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves are still.

Then are they glad because they be quiet : so he bring-
eth them to their desired haven.

Here is a sample of the verse contained in the
book : — .

Other Spellers 223

THE ORPHAN.

My father and mother are dead,

No friend or relation I have ;
And now the cold earth is their bed,

And daisies grow over their grave.

I cast my eyes into the tomb

The sight made me bitterly cry ;

I said, and is this the dark room,

Where my father and mother must lie ?

I cast my eyes round me again,
In hopes some protector to see ;

Alas ! but the search was in vain,
For none had compassion on me.

I cast my eyes up to the sky,

I groan'd, though 1 said not a word ;

Yet God was not deaf to my cry ;
The friend of the fatherless heard.

O yes — and he graciously smil'd

And bid me on him to depend ;
He whisper'd — " Fear not, little child,

For I am thy father and friend."

One lesson of an unusual sort was three pages
of information on various subjects under the title
" Common Things," and I reprint several para-
graphs.

The rainbow is formed by the reflection and decomposi-
tion of the sun's rays on the drops of falling water.

Electricity is a subtle fluid which pervades most bodies
and is capable by certain operations, of being accumulated
in certain substances to a greater or less degree.

224 Old-time Schools and School-books

Ignis Fatuus is a light supposed to be of a phosphorick
nature, frequently seen in mines, marshy places, and stag-
nant water ; from its resemblance to a candle in a lantern
it has been vulgarly called, Jack with a lantern, or Will
with a wisp. People have sometimes been misled by fol-
lowing these lights.

Man and Horse* Mad Bull.

A Horse drinking^ Boy in danger.

Children should be careful not to
provoke a bull, or get over into the
field where one is. Alas ! for that lit-
tle boy that is running with all hi£
might : see hi& hat flying behind him,
and the mad bull close at his heels.

Part of a Page.
From The New York Spelling-book-

The two short reading lessons below are from
The Young Tyros Instructer^ "comprising all that is
really useful in a spelling-book to instruct a child
in his native tongue.'' New York, 1834.

A pig can eat a fig.
A cat can eat a rat.
A fly sat on a pie.
A bee sat on a pea.

Other Spellers

225

Boys must learn to spell, read, and write,
And try to learn with all their might ;
Then they will be wise, good, and great,
And, in due time, may serve the state.

No. 5.

Has the dam a lamb?
What is a dam ?
What is a Iamb ?
Ann can catch the
lamb by the ham.

Ram and
Dam.

cram cramp

dram damp

ham camp

sham scamp

slam lambs

No. 6.

Nag
and

Bags.

A nag and some bags.
Jack holds the nag.
it is a black nag.
See the rags on Jack's
back.

snag
bag

hag
shag

brag Jack
rag tack

rag-ged tact
cags act

A Page.

From Parsons's Analytical Spelling Book, 1836.

Parsons's Analytical Spelling Book, Portland, Maine,
1836, was decidedly more attractive in its makeup
Q

226 Old-time Schools and School-books

than most books of the period. It had a good deal
of variety and sparkle, and the author in enumer-
ating its virtues in his preface says that with it
" Parents who have little skill in teaching can learn
their children to read, where there are no schools,
and adults with little assistance can learn by them-
selves." He does not begin the lessons with the
alphabet as was usual in books of this sort. Instead,
he requires the pupils " to learn letters only to make
out definite words/' The lessons start with a pic-
ture of a rat, and the author directs the teacher to
" gather all the a, b, c, and a, b, ab scholars round
him, and ask them, c What is the first picture ? '
c A rat/ say they. c Well, here is his name under
him. You are now to learn to read his name.' '
Then they were drilled to recognize the three letters
that formed the word.

On looking along through the book it is notice-
able that the statements and questions in the lessons
are often trivial and irrelevant, and
the happy-go-lucky way in which
several subjects are introduced and
mixed up in the same lesson must
have proved rather confusing to the

youthful mind. For instance, this
A Mule. * . c i i i i • i

picture or a melancholy-looking mule
is accompanied by the remarks that —

Mules are good to pull.
Mules are mute.
They make no noise.
Use the mule well.

Other Spellers

227

A-buse no man.
Give to all their due.

At the end it is uncertain whether the mule is a
man, or the man mentioned is a mule.

Of the next picture we are told "The
pail has a wire bail," though it is per-
fectly plain that the bail is wooden.

Here are several consecutive sen-
tences under a picture of a hen.
They seem to have some occult but
not easily perceived connection. A Pail.

Hens lay eggs
Sev-en eggs to a keg
Sev-en hens to a keg
Sev-en eggs to a hen

On page 9 is a picture of a girl with
what looks like a flower in her hand ;
yet the text reads, " Ann and her fan,"
and it also asks, " Has Ann an ap-ple ? "
The same picture reappears on page 1 7 ;
but meanwhile the girl has changed her
name and the text says, " Let Jane tell

her tale," and states that " Jane has a cape on her

neck."

Then here is a picture from a little farther along

in the book with the following sentences beneath it:

A toad in the grass.
Toads can hop far.
See his long hind legs.

A Girl.

228 Old-time Schools and School-books

Can he swell as large as a goat ?

How many toads would load a cart ?

Grass is mown with a scythe when it is grown.

Pa groans with a pain in his arm.

Is it not perfectly plain that the " toad " in the

picture is a frog? What
is the sense of asking if
he can swell as large as
a goat, or how many
would fill a cart ? — as if
toads were in the habit
of swelling monstrously
and of being loaded into
carts ; and what is the
AToad- matter with Pa? Has

From Parsons' s Analytical Spelling Book, i ,

he been mowing, or

has he been loading toads, or what does cause his
pain ?

Turn a few more pages and we find a lesson that
sounds as if it were intended for humor. I give
several extracts : —

A smith can steel an axe by welding a strip of steel on
the edge. The Bible says, u Thou shalt not steal."
You could be kind if you would.
Chairs are made of wood.
A dog will scent a fox.
James is sent away for laughing.
Girls vail their faces in the sun.
Brooks run through vales.
Hear the horse neigh.
One who lives near, is a neigh-bor.
Boys need dinner ; girls knead dough.

Other Spellers 229

The book conveys information about punctuation
as follows : —

You see a little round dot, once in a while as you read.
It means that you should let your voice fall, as if you were
done read-ing, and stop while you could say, one, two,
three, four. Thus : —

"Lot is dead. One two three four. f|e died Jast njght.

One two three four. pjjs mother,one his old mother is sick."
This little dot is called a pe-ri-od.

Large, larger, largest.

The top is large. The bell is larger. The.
ox is largest.

A Comparison.
From Parsons ' s A nautical Spelling Book.

The use of emphasis is explained with similar
lucidity.

Suppose you wished to call your brother at a distance,
and he should not hear you at first would you not repeat
it in this way : —

JOSEPH ! ! !
JOSEPH ! !
Joseph !

growing louder every time ? That is called raising the
key.

230 Old-time Schools and School-books

Again, suppose you wished to ask your pa, if you may
go a fishing with Jacob ; and you are afraid he does not
hear. You would ask this way : —

go?

Pa!

Occasionally at the end of a lesson which has not
quite filled out the page the space is utilized for bits
of advice and wisdom such as —

See that haggard, bloated, red-faced, hopeless looking
drunkard, holding upon the fence ! He began by drinking
a little^ and never meant to take too much. If you would
not be a drunkard, never taste any thing that can make
drunk.

"Swear not at all." It is vulgar — it is degrading — it
is profane to swear.

114

KEEP YOUR TEETH SOUND.

anatomy
anatomist
anatomical
drug
druggist
apothecary

renovate
renovating
renovated
invigorate
invigorated
animate

J233l

accuse
accusing
accused
accusation

Part of a Page.
From Spelling and Thinking, 1 84 1 .
At the top of each page was a maxim.

One of the most peculiar of the old spellers was
Exercises in Orthography, a Providence publication

Other Spellers 231

dated 1826. The title-page says that the book is
" designed to assist young persons to spell with
accuracy and effect," though from the look of the
lessons you would think the whole thing was con-
trived for a joke. The spelling is in fact as bad as
ingenuity can make it, and yet the volume is intended
seriously and this crazy spelling is supposed to stimu-
late the pupil's interest. The preface advises that
" The scholar should always be provided with a
dictionary, and in order to rectify the false orthog-
raphy the teacher should require him to copy with
care each paragraph of this work ; it is then pre-
sumed very considerable advantage will be found in
the use of this compilation." Below are character-
istic extracts : —

Nolledge is the best foundashun ov happines. Its kulte-
vashun in yuth promotes vertshu, bi kreating habits ov
menttal disseplin ; and bi inkulkating a sense ov morral
oblegashun.

Menny nashuns liv nakid in kavurns undur ground, pur-
form no labur, and depend for thare subsistens on the
spontaneus produkts ov the erth, and on the flesh ov ani-
mals, witsh tha destroy bi simpel strattajems.

The arts ov savvidje life inklude the arts ov swimming,
hunting, taking ame with missil weppons, and prokuring
fire.

The art ov swimming depends furst in keeping the arms
and hands undur watur ; in protruding only the fase and
part ov the hed out ov the water; and then uzing sutsh
akshun, as wil derekt the boddy in enny partikulur korse.

Hunting is performed bi most savvidge nashuns on fut,
and with menny ov them the prinsepal weppon is the klub.
Therefore the swiftest and strongest uzhualy bekum tsheefs.

132 Old-time Schools and School-books

In taking ame with missel weppons, the presizhun witsh
savvidje nashuns have attaned is wondurful. In throing a
stone, tha seldum mis the smalest mark; tha transfiks fish
in the watur; nok down burds on the wing; and strike
evury enemy with unerring egzaktnes.

Among savvidjes, the uzhual mode ov produsing fire is
bi the rapid frikshun ov too peeses ov wood til tha produse
flames. Having no mettels, tha do not pozzes the simpel
methud ov kommunikating a spark to tinder, bi the violent
kollizhun ov flint and steal.

In 1843 a similarly strange educational scheme
was perpetrated under the title Companion to Spelling-
books. A single specimen of the more than three
hundred lessons in the book will suffice.

I have seen thy wonderous mite,
Thro' the shaddows of the night ;
Thou who slumb'rest not nor sleapest,
Blessed are they Thou kindly keepest !
Thine the flaming sphear of light,
Thine the darkness of the night,
Thine are all the gemms of ev'n
God of angels ! God of Heav'n !
God of life, that fade shall never !
Glory to thy name fore ever !

Such a medley of mistakes would soon confuse
even a good speller, and the plan is worse than use-
less unless one wants to acquire the orthography of
a Josh Billings or an Artemus Ward.

PRIMARY READERS

THE first period of American school-book
authorship was characterized by erratic efforts
and random shots in many directions. It
did not become the general custom to put forth
books in nicely graded series until well toward the
middle of the nineteenth century, and in consequence
many isolated spellers, primers, and readers were
published and used for a brief period within a limited
area. Readers of any sort for beginners were very
few previous to 1825. So far as I am aware the
first was The Franklin Primer, published in 1802,
" containing a new and ufeful felection of Moral
Leffons adorned with a great variety of elegant cuts
calculated to ftrike a lafting impreffion on the Ten-
der Minds of Children." The elegant cuts were a
frontispiece portrait of Benjamin Franklin and about
a dozen text illustrations of Bible scenes.

The book in size and general appearance had very
much the look of a New England Primer. Indeed,
the introduction says it was intended " as a fubfti-
tute for the old Primer which has of late become
almoft obfolete." The most important portions
of the volume were " a variety of tables, moral lef-
fons and fentences, a concife hiftory of the World,

233

234 Old-time Schools and School-books

appropriate Hymns, and DR. WATTS, and the Af-
fembly of Divines' Catechifms." The history of
the world was entirely Biblical, and began with the

THE FRANKLIN PRIMER.

MOSES killing the Egyptian.

From The Franklin Primer, 1 802.

creation and ended with Christ's resurrection. For
an example of the miscellany in the book I quote
a poem entitled : —

Primary Readers 235

LeJJons in Verfe.

WHEN the Sun doth rife you muft go up each day,
And fall on your knees, and to God humbly pray :
Then kneel to your parents, their bleffing implore,
And when you have money, give fome to the poor.
Your hands and your face, in the next place wafh fair,
And brufh your apparel and comb out your hair.

Then wifh a good morning to all in your view,
And bow to your parents, and bid them adieu ;
Salute every perfon as to fchool you go ;
When at fchool, to your mafter due reverence fhow.
And if you can't read, pray endeavour to fpell,
For by frequently fpelling you'll learn to read well.

Shun all idle boys, and the wicked and rude ;
And pray, only play with thofe boys who are good.
To church you muft every Sunday repair,
And behave yourfelf decently while you are there.
At the clofe of the day, ere you go to your reft,
Kneel again to your parents, and be again bleft :
And to the Almighty again humbly pray,
That he may preferve you by night and by day.

The next book of this class was The Child's In-
structor^ Philadelphia, 1808. A peculiar typo-
graphical feature is the use of the long s in some
parts of the book, and the short s in others. Most
printers had discarded the former altogether by this
time. In Chapter I are the alphabet, some columns
of three and four letter words, and a number of short
sentences, of which the first is —

A bird that can sing, and will
not sing, must be made to sing.

236 Old-time Schools and School-books

Chapter II starts thus : —

1. Now George, you know all the letters.
Now you must learn to spell and read.
A good boy will sit and mind his books.

2. Knife, fork, spoon, plate, dish, cup, bowl, mug, jug,
pot, pan, tub, chair, ta-ble, bed, box, fire, wood, shov-el,
tongs, bel-lows.

3. What is your name ? My name is George. How
old are you ? Four years old. Do you go to school ?
Yes, sir. Can you spell ? Yes, sir, a little.

4. Bread, but-ter, cheese, meat, pud-ding, pye, cake,
beef, pork, veal, soup, salt, pep-per, su-gar, ho-ney, jel-ly,
car-rot.

This alternation of spelling and reading paragraphs
is soon abandoned, and the spelling words are con-
fined to a paragraph at the end of each lesson.
Perhaps the most noticeable thing in the lessons is
the constant reiteration of the idea that it is profit-
able both spiritually and materially to be good.

All dutiful children who do as they're bid,

Shall be lov'd, and applauded, and never be chid ;

And their friends, and their fame, and their wealth fhall

increafe,
Till they're crown'd with the bleffings of plenty and peace.

Frank is a good boy ; he loves his school, and learns to
read. He can spell hard words and is head of the class.
Frank shall have a new hat, and new shoes, and go to the
fair.

Good boys and girls go to church. Did you go to

Primary Readers 237

church ? Billy went to church, and so did Betsey. The
church is the house of God ; and God loves little children
when they go to church.

When you go to church you must sit still, and hear what
the preacher tells you ; he tells you to be good children and
love your parents, and then God will bless you.

Do you know who makes it rain ? I will tell you : God
makes it rain. Do you see that dark cloud rising in the
west ? That cloud will bring thunder and lightning and
rain. You need not be afraid ; God makes it thunder; and
he will not let it hurt you if you are good.

The following are some of the longer lessons in
the latter p'art of the book. The unmitigated black-
ness of the lad's character portrayed in the first of
these is quite impressive.

Defcriftion of a BAD BOY.

A bad Boy is undutiful to his father and mother, difobe-
dient and ftubborn to his mafter, and ill-natured to all his
play-fellows. He hates his book, and takes no pleafure in
improving himfelf in any thing. He is fleepy and flothful
in the morning, too idle to clean himfelf, and too wicked
to fay his prayers.

He is always in mifchief, and when he has done a fault,
will tell twenty lies in hopes to clear himself. He hates
that any body fhould give him good advice, and when they
are out of fight, will laugh at them. He fwears and wran-
gles, and quarrels with his companions, and is always in
fome difpute or other.

He will fteal whatfoever comes in his way ; and if he is

238 Old-time Schools and School-books

not catched, thinks it no crime, not confidering that God
fees whatfoever he does. He is frequently out of humour,
and fullen and obftinate, fo that he will neither do what he
is bid, nor anfwer any queftion that is afked him.

In fhort, he neglects every thing that he fhould learn,
and minds nothing but play and mifchief ; by which means
fee becomes as he grows up a confirmed blockhead, incapa-
ble of any thing but wickednefs or folly, defpifed by all men
of fenfe and virtue, and generally dies a beggar.

He that giveth to the poor, lendeth to the Lord.

There was a poor man who was charitable to excefs ;
for he gave away all that he had to relieve the neceffities
of others ; chufing rather to throw himfelf upon Provi-
dence, than to deny an alms to any one who afked him, fo
long as he had any thing to beftow.

Being at length, by his conftant liberalities, reduced to a
very indigent condition, he was forced to betake himfelf to
digging for a livelihood. Yet notwithftanding he gained his
own bread by hard labour, he ceafed not to fhew his wonted
kindneffes to the poor; giving them whatever he could pof-
fibly fpare from his own neceffities.

One day as he was digging in the field, he found feveral
earthen pots of gold, fupposed to be buried there in the
time of the wars. The good man carried this huge treas-
ure home to his houfe, with all imaginable privacy.

And having diftributed the greateft part of it in chanty,
he was going with the laft referve to the houfe of a diftreffed
widow, to whom he gave a fuflicient fum to relieve her
wants, being all he had left : When as he was returning
home he found a jewel in the high-way, which being fold,
yielded him ten thoufand crowns.

This was a noble bank for new liberalities, and a con-
vincing argument, that there was fomething more than mere

Primary Readers 239

chance which thus ftrangely recruited his purfe ; that it
might not lack fomething to give to the poor.

Bleft is the man whofe bowels move,
And melt with pity to the poor ;
Whofe foul with fympathizing love,
Feels what his fellow faints endure.
His heart contrives for their relief,
More good than his own hands can do :
He in the time of general grief,
Shall find the Lord hath bowels too.

A book very like the one I have been describ-
ing, both in title and text, was the Child's Instructer
and Moral Primer^ published at Portland, Maine,
in 1822. The stories in it have to do mostly
with such children as Timothy Trusty, who " is
very desirous to learn " ; Patty Primp, whose
notion is that " to be a lady one must be idle, care-
less, proud, scorn inferiors, calumniate the absent,
read novels, play at cards, and excel in fine dress " ;
John Pugg, whose " face and hands you would
think were not washed once in a fortnight " ; and
Tom Nummy, who " hates his book as bad as the
rod." Some of the other suggestively named char-
acters are Tim Delicate, Charles Mindful, Caroline
Modesty, Susy Pertinence, Cynthia Spindle, and
Jack Fisty-Cuff. Except for Cynthia, you know
what to expect of each without further details.

To indicate how scarce elementary readers were
in the first quarter of the nineteenth century, I
quote from the preface to Leavitt's Easy Lessons in
Reading, Keene, New Hampshire, 1823 : —

240 Old-time Schools and School-books

The compiler has been excited to the present under-
taking by representations that there is no reading book to
be found at the bookstores, suitable for young children, to
be used intermediately, between the Spelling-Book and the

English or American Reader.
The Testament is much
used for this purpose ; and,
on many accounts, it is ad-
mirably adapted for a read-
ing book in schools. But it
is respectfully submitted to
the experience of judicious
Eager Students. teachers, whether the pe-

Atitle-page^ne«einLeavitt's£^y culiar stmcture of scripture

language is not calculated

to create a tone ? I am persuaded it would be better to
place a book in the hands of learners, written in a more
familiar style. Such a work, I flatter myself, will be found
in the following pages. The selections contain many
salutary precepts and instructive examples, for a life of
piety and morality, of activity and usefulness.

Mr. Leavitt later supplemented his Easy Lessons
with a Second Part. In this the most noteworthy
portion was a series of sentences to illustrate the
sounds of the letters. The chaotic paragraphs
which follow are fair samples : —

The baboon blabbed and blubbered, dabbled in ribbons,
gabbled in gibberish, played hob-nob with a robin, brow-
beat the tabby, made a hubbub for the rabble, bribed a na-
bob, and barbarously bamboozled a booby.

Our daddy did a deed, at dawn of day, that doubled the
depredations of the dogged ducks and drakes, deceived the;
doubting dunce, addled the dandy paddy, and drove the sad-j
died and bridled dog down the downward road,

Primary Readers 241

A giddy, giggling girl gave a noggin of gruel to a big
beggar with green glass goggles, going out of a greasy
groggery.

Nathan Noonan knows his nose ; no man knows I know
he knows his nose ; his nose knows he knows his nose.

An alliteration with a somewhat different purpose
is the one below. It was designed as an exercise to
teach the pupils to " avoid the vulgar error of clip-
ping off the final g."

I am thinking of going to singing meeting, this evening,
in hope of hearing the bells ringing, and of seeing ranks
of smiling, loving, languishing lasses.

Then here is a group of sentences that seem to
have suffered an earthquake shock, but they simply
show the appropriate use of the rising and falling
inflection.

Sentences illustrating Inflection.
From Leavitt's Easy Lessons, 1 847.

A poem from The Fourth Class Book, Brookfield,
Massachusetts, 1827.

LITTLE CHARLES

Well, Charles is highly pleased to day,
I gave him leave to go and play

1^.1 Old-time Schools and School-books

Upon the green, with bat and ball ;

And when he heard his playmates call,

Away he sprung across the plain,

To join the little merry train,

But here he comes — why, what means this ?

I wonder what has gone amiss, —

Why, Charles, how came you back so soon ?

I gave you leave to stay till noon.

I know it, sir, and I intended
To play till every game was ended ;
But, to say truth, I could not bear
To hear those little fellows swear —
They cursed so bold and fearlessly
, That the cold chills ran over me —

For I was seized with awful dread
That some of them would drop down dead —
And so I turned and came away,
For, Pa, I was afraid to stay !

An attractive little book published in 1830 was
The Clinton Primer. It was named after De Witt
Clinton, whose portrait appeared on its paper cover.
Illustrations were used freely, and the body of the
book was made up of reading at the top of the pages,
spelling columns in the middle, and arithmetic at
the bottom. I reprint some rather naive fragments
from the earlier lessons, and two of the longer lessons
complete.

It is a mule. I see a mule ; do you ?
He has a flute ; let him play on his flute.

Ripe pears are good for boys and girls, but it is a sin to
eat too many of them. They often cause sickness.

Primary Readers 243

Who does not love the robin ? He sings a most lovely
note.

The raven is not a fine bird nor a very good bird ; he
has been known to pull up corn.

THE HORSE RACE

Who loves a horse race ? Are not too many fond of
it ? Does it not lead to many evils, and to frequent ruin ?
Never go to a horse race. Mr. Mix had one child, whom
he called Irene ; he had also a good farm, and some money.
He went to the races with his child, dressed in black crape
for the loss of her mother. Here Mr. Mix drank freely,
and bet largely, and lost all he was worth. At night he
went home a beggar; took a dose of brandy, and died
before morning, leaving his child a pennyless orphan.
Never go to a horse race.

THE COACH AND TWO.

Who is she that is growing up to the good fortune of
riding in a coach and two ? She is the girl who rises with
the rising day ; —
whose hands and face
are made clean ; —
whose hair is cleared
of snarly locks, and
neatly rolled in
papers ; and whose

clothes are clean and The Coach

whole though never

& From The Clinton Primer, 1830.

gay. bne who loves

her book, her school, the truth, and her parents, and also
the path of peace and virtue. I now see her through the
window of the carriage, and I hear her say : —

244 Old-time Schools and School-books

" What though I ride in a coach and pair,
And in dress and food like a princess fare;
I'll not be proud like the haughty Moor,
Nor stop my ear at the cry of the poor."

The next selection is from Worcester's A Second
Book for Reading and Spelling, Boston, 1830. It is
a story wherein merit is so promptly rewarded as to
take one's breath away.

ME. WOOD AND CHARLES BELL.

From Worcester's Second Book, 1830.

One day, when Mr. Wood took a walk to the end of
the town, he saw Charles Bell, who lives with his Aunt
Jane, hard at work in his aunt's garden.

" I think you are warm, Charles," said Mr. Wood.

Charles held up his head, and made a bow, and said —
" Yes, sir ; my aunt says, corn is so scarce, and bread so
dear, that I must work, or else she cannot keep me."

u You seem to be a nice boy," said Mr. Wood ; " will
you come and live with me ? I will give you as much
bread as you want, and will not make you work so hard."

Primary Readers

But Charles thought his aunt needed him. So
Mr. Wood told Charles to call at his house and he
would give him a dollar and some good books, and
he also offered to send Charles to school. Charles
replied that he would refer the matter to his aunt.
She was agreeably disposed, and he called on Mr.
Wood and got the books. No doubt he got the
dollar also, though that is not mentioned. Better
still, his benefactor arranged to have him go to
school, and " He was so good a boy and learned
so fast that Mr. Wood sent him to college."

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.

From Worcester's Second Book-

Here is pictured a youth of another sort. The
text says : —

See that little boy creeping softly along on tiptoe towards
his mother's tea-table. See him lift the cover of the sugar-
pot and as quickly as possible, put one piece in his mouth,
and another in his pocket.

246 Old-time Schools and School-books

His name is William Morton. His kind mother is sit-
ting at the fire place mending his clothes, with his little
baby sister asleep on her lap. She does not think that
William is thus taking what is not his own.

William goes on from day to day, taking apples, and
cakes, and sugar, without leave ; and what is worse, he
tries hard to conceal it, and even tells lies about it.

Does William know that this is stealing ? Does he
remember that this is breaking the EIGHTH COMMAND-
MENT of the Lord his God.

THE SLEIGH-RIDE.

From Worcester's Second Book-

For a final selection from Worcester's book I give
this letter which Lucy Turner, thirteen years old,
wrote to her mother, who was spending a month in
Boston at the home of Lucy's aunt, Mrs. White.
It serves as a dreadful example to all children who,
like Lucy, " never take any pains to learn to spell."

Mi deer Mama,

Wen yu cum bak, wee shal awl bee pleesed. Evry
wun seams dul becaus yu air gon.

Primary Readers

247

Farther sez hee wonts yu too sta longe enuff too hav
ay gude vissit ; butt ie no hee wil bee gladd whenn yure
vissit iss ovur.

Jaims gose too skule and ie thinke hee behaivs wel.
Saror stais att hom, and wurks withe mee. Wee awl ih-
joy gude helth.

Doo rite mee ay lettur, and tel mee abowt Bosten, and
ant Wite's foax, and hou soone wee ma expekt yu.

Yure verry luving childe,
Lucy Turner.

Now, only think how much grieved and ashamed her
mother must have been, when she found that Lucy had
spelled only her name and one word right.

That man is holding ;i plough.
Two oxen are drawing jit.
T!MA wear a heavy yoke.
The plough makes fitrrows.
That. ia<l hits ;i Ions, whip.
He will whip tin: oxen,
to make f hnn sp t'asl.
He will not vyhtp tfw«n l»f«sdL
Some cows are eating grasss,
in tin; distant field.
There ftre soitie jnonn<Hin-i.
Their tf){is are, very high,
an«i are ai>ove the eloiuis.
Then- is the or«ui.
Tf»<* ot^an is veiy wide.
A ship is sailmg on h.
XGWI can hardly se«» the ship,

Two Pages.

From Gallaudet's The Child's Picture Defining Book, 1830
Reduced one-half.

Gallaudet's The Child's Picture Defining and Read-
ing Book, Hartford, 1830, had a half-page cut on

A strong man.

Some'ca

de.

A bewry plonah.

Mountail

H?wd large oxen.

Clouds,

A wooden yoke.

The « id"

ocean.

A large field.

Adistan

=4iip.

A young lad.
Along whip.

! A tall tr<
A slende

n»>k.

A wooden fence'.

Mam ie

V 'S.

248 Old-time Schools and School-books

every left-hand page. Its author was evidently a
man of much keener and more sympathetic peda-
gogic perception than most of the makers of school
books and the plan of the book was quite interest-
ing. The idea was to teach the meaning of words
through the " language of pictures," and each of the
engravings in the first part of the book is accom-
panied by a list of the most prominent objects in it
and with a few short, simple phrases. The cuts are
repeated in the latter part of the book, but this time
the text that goes with each is a little story.

Here is an illustration from The Progressive Reader
or Juvenile Monitor, Concord, New Hampshire, 1 830:
We are told that the bird it de-
picts " sang from morning till
evening and was very hand-
some." Caroline, the little girl
to whom the bird belonged,
" fed it with seeds and cooling
herbs and sugar, and refreshed
it daily with water from a clear
fountain." But at length it
died. " The little girl lamented
her beloved bird, and wept sore."
Then her mother bought an-
other " handsomer than the
former, and as fair a songster."
" But Caroline wept still more," and her mother,
"amazed," asked the reason. Caroline replied it
was because she had wronged the bird that died by
eating a piece of sugar herself that her mother had
given her for the bird. The mother saw then why

A Bird.

From The Progressive Reader,
1830.

Primary Readers 249

Caroline had been so distressed. It was " the
sacred voice of nature in the heart of her child."

" Ah ! " said she, " what must be the feelings of
an ungrateful child at the grave of its parents."

The longest narrative in the book was entitled —

The good Samaritan,

From The Progressive Reader.

CHARLES BRUCE TELLS HIS ADVEN-
TURES.

When I was about twelve years old, an Indian by the
name of Splitlog, came to my father's house in Boston.
He was generally esteemed a good Indian, and he loved
my father, because he once saved his life, when he was
attacked by some sailors in the streets of Boston.

He asked my father to let me go home with him. He
told me of excellent sport they had in shooting squirrels
and deer where he lived ; so I begged my father to let me
go, and he at length consented.

250 Old-time Schools and School-books

Splitlog lived near Northampton, at the foot of a moun-
tain called Mount Holyoke, just on the bank of Connecticut
river.

There is a good road from Boston to Northampton now,
and the stage travels it every day. But the road was bad
when I went with Splitlog, and there were no stages in
America then.

So Splitlog and I set out on foot. The second day we
arrived at Worcester. It was then a very little town, and
there were no such fine houses there as now.

The fourth day we arrived at Splitlog's house, which was
a little wigwam at the foot of mount Holyoke.

In this little house we found Splitlog's wife and three
children ; two boys and a girl. Splitlog's wife roasted some
bear's meat, and gave us some bread made of pounded corn,
which formed our supper.

We sat on the floor, and took the meat in our fingers,
for the Indians had no knives or forks. I then went to
bed on some bear skins, and slept well.

Early in the morning, Splitlog called me from my sleep,
and told me they were going into the woods a-shooting, and
that I must go with them. I was soon ready and set out
with Splitlog and his two sons.

It was a fine bright morning in October. The sun was
shining on the top of mount Tom and mount Holyoke.
We ascended Holyoke, through the woods.

At length we climbed a high rock, from which we could
see the beautiful valley far below us, in the centre of which
was the little town of Northampton.

u Do you see those houses ? " said Splitlog to me.
" When my grand-father was a boy, there was not a house
where you now see so many. That valley, which now
belongs to white men, then belonged to red men. But
hark ! I hear a squirrel chattering ; we must go and find
him. Whist ! " said Splitlog, " and follow me."

Primary Readers 251

We all followed accordingly, and soon discovered a fine
grey squirrel sitting in the top of a walnut tree with a nut
in his fore paws.

Splitlog beconed to his youngest son, who drew his bow,
and discharged his arrow, which whistled over the back of
the squirrel, but did not touch him.

Splitlogs eldest son immediately discharged his arrow,
which struck the squirrel in the side, and brought him in-
stantly to the ground.

After this adventure, we proceeded cautiously through
the woods. We had not gone far, when Splitlog beckoned
to us all to stop.

u Look yonder," said he to me, " on that high rock
above us." I did so and saw a young deer, or fawn, stand-
ing upon the point of a rock, which hung over the valley.

Splitlog now selected a choice arrow, placed it on the
bow, and sent it whizzing through the air. It struck the
fawn directly through the heart.

The little animal sprang violently forward over the rock,
and fell dead, many feet below, where Splitlog's sons soon
found him. We now returned to Splitlog's house carrying
the fawn with us.

This hunt was the chief event in Charles Bruce's
visit and a few days later he returned to Boston.

Among the engravings in the book is the one
reproduced herewith. The text says : —

To give a better idea of the

figure and appearance of the lion,
I have procured this picture of
a young lion ; by which you will

see that lions, when a few weeks

old, are only as large as small A Young Lion.

dogs. From The Progressive Reader

252 Old-time Schools and School-books

The zebra picture is accompanied by the state-
ment that " His appearance is very beautiful, and
he is esteemed one of the handsomest of quadrupeds."

"A Handsome Quadruped." The French.

From The Progressive Reader. From The Progressive Reader.

Of the squirrel we are told " Its tail constitutes
its greatest singularity, as well as its principal orna-
ment. It is also not less useful than ornamental ;
for being sufficiently large and bushy to cover the
whole body, it serves as an excellent defence against
the inclemencies of the weather. It also greatly
assists it in clinging and adhering to trees."

The most ambitious poem in the book is the one
reprinted in part below : —

STORY OF AMERICA IN VERSE

Columbus was a sailor brave,
The first that crossed th' Atlantic wave.
In fourteen hundred and ninety-two,
He came far o'er the ocean blue,
Where ne'er a ship had sailed before,
And found a wild and savage shore,
Where naked men in forests prowled,
And bears and panthers roamed and howled.

Primary Readers 253

At length, when years had passed away,
Some English came to Virginia ;
'Twas sixteen hundred seven ; be sure
You let this in your mind endure;
For 'twas the first bold colony
Planted in North America;
The first that laid the deep foundation,
On which has since been built a nation.
Well, here they raised a far-famed Town
On James' river, called Jamestown.
They struggled hard 'gainst many sorrows,
Sickness and want, and Indian arrows ;
But bold and strong at length they grew,
And were a brave and manly crew.

'Twas eight years after this, — I mean
The year sixteen hundred fifteen, —
Some Dutch, from Holland, settled pat on
An Island which they called Manhattan,
And straight they sat themselves to work,
And built the city of New-York.
Now let the laughing wags and jokers
Say that the Dutch are stupid smokers ;
We only tell, that, dull or witty,
They founded famous New- York city ;
The largest city in the west,
For trade and commerce quite the best.

A curious lesson found in The Union Primer,
1832, was this : —

A boy who was idle and wicked, saw an old man with
poor clothes on — he went up to him as he was in the
grave-yard, and said, u Father, you are in a very miserable
condition if there is not another world." u True, son,"«

254 Old-time Schools and School-books

replied the old Christian, " but what is your condition if
there is ? I have a plenty to keep me warm and dry, but I
fear you have not that which can keep your soul from
Hell."

A Depiction of Wickedness.
Printed above the Ten Commandments in The Union Primer, 1832.

The compiler of The Child's Guide , a popular and
in many ways admirable text-book, published at
Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1833, urges that the
pupils should read " very distinctly and slowly," and
he says, " When / used to go to school I found
these lines in my book : —

Learn to speak slow ; all other graces
Will follow in their proper places."

As an aid to clear comprehension and correct
enunciation the text is well peppered with words in
italics to indicate that such words are " emphatical."
On the next page is the frontispiece. No wonder
"all the boys looked" when they discovered their

Primary Readers

master had been carrying a prickly thing like that in
his pocket. It seems the master had happened along
that morning while a group of boya were pounding
chestnuts out of some green burs they had knocked

" He put his hand into his pocket again, and took out the chestnut burr,
and all the boys looked at it."

Frontispiece to The Child's Guide, 1 833.

off a tree, and he heard them declaring that the chest-
nuts " ought to grow right out in the open air, like
apples ; and not have such vile prickly skins on
them." He asked for one of the burs, and ap-

256 Old-time Schools and School-books

parently carried it in his pocket all day, for the text
says : —

That afternoon, when it was about time to dismiss the
school, the boys put away their books, and the master read
a few verses in the Bible and then offered a prayer, in which
he asked God to forgive all the sins any of them had com-
mitted that day, and to take care of them during the night.
After this he took his handkerchief out of his pocket, and
put his hand into his pocket again, and took out the chest-
nut burr, and all the boys looked at it.

Then the master, through questions and explana-
tions, satisfied the scholars that prickly burs are the
only proper and safe covering for chestnuts.

In a lesson farther on, entitled "The Listener,"
are recounted the tribulations of Charlotte Walden,
who " had a constant desire to hear what everybody
was saying/* and who if sent out of the room when
her father and mother did not wish her to hear
their conversation, stopped outside the door " with
her ear close to the key-hole."

One of her curls once got entangled in the key, and when
her father suddenly opened the door, she fell forward into
the room, and hurt her nose so that it bled.

When she knew that her mother had visitors in the par-
lor, or that her father had gentlemen there with him on busi-
ness, she would quit her lessons or her playthings, and come
softly down stairs and listen at the door ; or would slip into
the garden and crouch down under the open window, that
she might hear what they were saying.

Once when she was stooping, half double, under the
parlor window, her father, not knowing that she was tbere^

Primary Readers

257

and finding that a fly had got into the glass of beer that he
was going to drink, went to throw out the beer, and emptied
the tumbler on Charlotte's head.

But neither these nor other mishaps reformed her
until one evening she secreted herself at the top of
the cellar stairs to listen to the servants talking in
the kitchen. She fell asleep, and about midnight
tumbled off the stairs on to a heap of coal. Her
screams awakened the household, she was taken to
her room, and sickness and repentance and never-
did-so-any-more followed as a matter of course.

" Dear uncle, I cry almost all day long."
From The Child's Guide.

This shows the habit of the times in presenting
right and wrong to the youthful mind. There was
always the same sharp contrast; evil suffered prompt
and severe punishment, and good was as promptly
and decisively rewarded, while reforms were aston-
ishingly sudden and complete. Actual experience

258 Old-time Schools and School-books

must have been sorely disappointing to the child
who believed these character-myths. Here is another
typical reading-book story from The Child's Guide.
It is called —

THE IDLE SCHOOL BOY.

I will tell you about the laziest boy you ever heard of.
He was indolent about every thing. When he had spelled
a word, he drawled out one syllable after another, as if he
were afraid the syllables would quarrel, if he did not keep
them a great ways apart. Once, when he was saying a les-
son in Geography, his Master asked him, " What is said
of Hartford?" He answered, "Hartford is a flourishing
comical town."

He meant it was a " flourishing, commercial town " ; but
he was such a dunce, that he never knew what he was
about.

Another day, when his class were reciting a lesson from
the Dictionary, he made a mistake, worse than all the
rest. The word, A-ceph-a-lous, was printed with syllables
divided as you see; the definition of the word was, "with-
out a head."

The idle boy had often been laughed at for being so
very slow in saying his lesson ; this time he thought he
would be very quick and smart; so he spelled the word
before the Master had a chance to put it out. And how
do you think he spelled it ?

" A-c-e-p-h, Aceph," said he ; " A louse without a head."
The boys laughed at him so much about this, that he was
obliged to leave school.

You can easily guess what luck this idle boy had. His
father tried to give him a good education, but he would be
a dunce ; not because he was a fool, but because he was

Primary Readers £59

too lazy to give his attention to any thing. He had a con-
siderable fortune left him ; but he was too lazy to take
care of it ; and now he goes about the streets, with his
hands in his pockets, begging his bread.

"Two Wicked Birds."
From Pierpont's The Young Reader, 1835.

The above engraving from Pierpont's The Young
Reader, illustrates a story " about two foolish cocks
that were always quarrelling, which is very naughty.'*
These two wicked birds "were hardly out of the
shell before they began to peck at each other, and
they never looked pretty, because their feathers were
pulled off in fighting till they were quite bare."
They seem, however, to have plenty of feathers in
the picture. As was to be expected, they came to
an ill end, and they got only their just deserts when
a fox ate them both.

Lo veil's Young Pupils' Second Book, New Haven,
1836, followed the plan of The Child's Guide in the
use of italics, but what it particularly prided itself on

260 Old-time Schools and School-books

was its pictures. These it says are of " a superior
order." They consisted chiefly of " compound
cuts," all of the same general style as the one repro-
duced herewith. The preface claims that the com-
pound cuts are certain to " make a deep and lasting
impression, aiding the memory by storing it with
useful and accurate knowledge. After the child has
pored over them, the details which follow will be
read with anxiety and delight." The text accom-
panying the cut selected was this : —

Tlie Goat.

HU horni are made into

Hii skin b mode into

knife and fork handles. ~ ^aS^^e^r- glovoa.

A "Composite Cut."
From Lovell's The Young Pupils' Second Book, 1836.

Not many goats are raised in this country. They gnaw
the bark of trees and spoil them, so they have not been
suffered to increase. In some parts abroad, and most of
all in the east of the world, there are many goats. The
he-goats have long horns. Young goats are called kids, and
are full of play, and skip about in a very droll manner.
In a wild state, goats climb steep rocks, and can stand and
spring where few other an i mals would dare to go. The
goat has a very strong and un pleas ant smell, but his flesh

Going to tJte Fields.

The pretty little Bird.

From American Juvenile Primer, 1838.

Primary Readers 261

is very good to eat. The milk of the goat is also very
nice to drink, and is used as a cure for some dis eas es.
The skin of the kid is made into soft leather gloves.
Goats' horns are used for bandies of knives and forks.
The hair is often made into garments.

The following is a lesson which combines natural
history, moral training, and religion : —

The Hen.

Of all feathered an i mals, there is none more useful
than the common hen. Her eggs supply us with food during
her life, and her flesh affords us del i cate meat after her
death. What a moth er ly care does she take of her young !
How closely and ten der ly does she watch over them, and
cover them with her wings ; and how bravely does she
defend them from e ver y en e my, from which she herself
would fly away in terror, if she had not them to protect !

While this sight reminds you of the wisdom and good-
ness of her Cre a tor, let it also remind you of the care
which your own mother took of you, during your helpless
years, and of the grat i tude and duty which you owe to her
for all her kindness.

I quote below bits from various lessons : —

Many apple trees live above a thousand years, and it is
said there are some trees which were not destroyed when
the world was drowned.

Of all the horses in the world, some of the finest are
said to be bred in England. The English racers often go at
the rate of a mile in two minutes ; and some of them have
been known to go a mile in one minute.

Does any body live on the moon ?

262 Old-time Schools and School-books

That, my dear, is what we can not certainly know ; the
moon being at too great a distance for us to discover any
living creatures upon it. But, judging from what we can
discover, and from the general resemblance of the moon
to the earth, we have reason to suppose that the moon may
be in hab it ed by rational, in tel li gent creatures, capable
of knowing and praising their Creator.

The Sun.

The sun is above a million times larger than the earth ;
and like the earth, turns round about itself. It was for-
merly supposed to be an immense body of fire ; but this
opinion is no longer entertained by those who appear to be
best acquainted with the subject.

They think it can not be a body of fire, because, in that
case the nearer we approached to it, the greater degree of
warmth we should feel. But the contrary is the fact; it is
ascertained, that upon very high mountains the air is much
colder than it is below. Besides, by looking at the sun
through a glass made for the purpose, we perceive some
dark spots upon it, which would not be the case were it a
body of fire. We conclude, therefore, that the sun is not a
body of fire.

What then is the sun ?

The sun is understood to be an immense ball, or globe,
surrounded with an illumined atmosphere, which acting upon
the air that en com pass es the earth and other planets, in a
manner we are un ac quaint ^with, produces, light and heat.

Mandeville's Primary Reader,
Hat JIB, New York, 1849, endeavors to

teach words and their meanings j
A Topsy-turvy Hat. by elaborate repetitions and com-

binations. The text makes a

Primary Readers 263

very queer patchwork. Here is a lesson where the
words the child is specially to learn are " par-rot,
ti-ger, cam-el." It might have been just as well in
deference to the pictures not to have talked so much
of cages and carts.

This is a parrot in a cag^
against the wall

That is a ti-ger in a cage
upon a cart

This must be a cam-el.

Doubtful Statements.
From Mandeviile's Primary Reader, 1849.

The text goes on to say : —

Every tame parrot was once a wild parrot in the woods.

Some men have several parrots in the same cage against
the wall, but this man has but one.

Every tiger is not young, but some tigers are old tigers.

Camels are high, long, large and strong.

The camel is not wild and fierce like the tiger in the
cage on the cart, but tame and mild.

Some parrots can talk like any boy or girl.

No one should put his hand or his head in the cage of
the fierce tiger.

All camels will carry men and women, boys and girls,
as well as a large horse, or a strong mule.

Below is a specimen of what the book can do when
it undertakes to tell a story : —

264 Old-time Schools and School-books

Two boys went out in-to the snow, with a lit-tle sled.
One was na-med James, the oth-er was na-med Sam-u-el.
James said to Sam-u-el, u You dare not go on that pond
with your sled." Sam-u-el said, " Yes, I dare, but it is
wrong; be-cause fa-ther said we must not do it." Then
James laugh-ed and said, " What of that ? Fa-ther can-
not see us ; for he is at work in the shop."

Was not James a wick-ed boy ? He was. He for-got
that God saw him all the time.

Sam-u-el beg-ged him not to take the sled on the pond,
be-cause the ice was thin. But James was ob-stin-ate,
and went on the thin ice a great way. Then Sam-u-el
went back to the house and read in his Sun-day-school book.

After Sam-u-el had read a lit-tle while, he heard a noise
out of doors. It was James's voice. Sam-u-el was
fright-en-ed, and ran out, and there saw James in the
wa-ter. The ice was bro-ken, and James was up to his
neck in the pond. The poor boy was scream-ing for sorrte-
bod-y to come and take him out. Sam-u-el took a long
pole, and held the end of it, and James caught hold of the
oth-er end and crawl-ed out. His moth-er was ver-y sor-ry.
She was a-fraid James would be sick ; and he was sick a
long time. But there was an-oth-er thing which made
her more sor-ry still. It was his be-ing so wick-ed.

The selections I have made show certain salient
and picturesque features of the old-time readers, but
leave many books entirely unmentioned. I have
said nothing of the readers edited by Lyman Cobb,
who was the first to compile a thoroughly complete
and well-graded series. Worcester's books soon
followed, and Sanders's came a little later, and by
1850 Town, McGuffy, Russell, Swan, and others
were in the field and the series idea. was firmly
established.

ADVANCED READERS

FOR several decades in the early days of the
Republic the Catechism, the Psalter, and the
Bible continued to be extensively used in
the schools, and served for drilling the pupils in the
art of reading. But the chad could not acquire a
taste for reading from such sources, nor obtain from
them information concerning history, or the world
about him, or the world at large. There was a
demand for more freedom in the use of secular
material in the school curriculum. The national
life was developing rapidly, interests were broaden-
ing, and a steady theological diet was no longer
satisfying. Besides, the general unity of religious
doctrine which characterized the people earlier had
given place to diversity, and Calvinism had strenu-
ous opponents. As a result there was a marked
increase in the number and variety of the school-
books, and in these the nature of the child, his
inclinations, tastes, and desires became more and
more dominant factors in the choice and arrange-
ment of the subject-matter. Instead of demanding
that the child should adjust himself entirely to the
course of study, efforts were made to adjust the
course of study to the requirements of the child.

265

266 Old-time Schools and School-books

The first reader produced on this side of the
Atlantic was compiled by the industrious Noah
Webster, shortly after the Revolution, as the Third
Part of his Grammatical Institute. Hitherto, the
spellers and New England Primers were the only
text-books containing exercises in reading. Web-
ster's title-page describes his book as "An American
Selection of Leffons in Reading and Speaking cal-
culated to improve the minds and refine the tafte of
youth, to which are prefixed Rules in Elocution
and directions for expressing the Principal Paffions
of the Mind." From the prefatory matter I have
taken the several paragraphs which follow : —

Let each fyllable be pronounced with a clear voice, with-
out whining, drawling, lifping, ftammering, mumbling in
the throat, or fpeaking through the nofe.

If a perfon is rehearfing the words of an angry man, he
fhould affume the fame furious looks ; his eyes fhould flafh
with rage, his geftures fhould be violent, and the tone of
his voice threatening. If kindnefs is to be expreffed, the
countenance fhould be calm and placid, and wear a fmile,
the tone fhould be mild, and the motion of the hand
inviting.

Mirth or laughter opens the mouth, crifps the nofe, lef-
fens the aperture of the eyes, and fhakes the whole frame.

Grief is expreffed by weeping, ftamping with the feet,
lifting up the eyes to heaven, &c.

Fear opens the eyes and mouth, fhortens the nofe, draws
down the eye-brows, gives the countenance an air of wild-
nefs ; the face becomes pale, the elbows are drawn back
parrallel with the fides, one foot is drawn back, the heart
beats violently, the breath is quick, the voice weak and
trembling.

Advanced Readers 267

Boafting is loud and bluftering. The eyes ftare, the
face is red and bloated, the mouth pouts, the voice is
hollow, the arms akimbo, the head nods in a threatening
manner, the right fift fometimes clenched and brandifhed.

The bulk of the book is made up of three depart-
ments — " Narration/' " Lessons in Speaking,"
and " Dialogues." In one lesson with the caption
" Rules for Behavior," we find this advice : —

Never hold any body by the button or the hand, in
order to be heard through your story ; for if the people
are not willing to hear you, you had much better hold your
tongue than hold them.

Here are the opening paragraphs of a tale entitled

MODESTY, DOUBT, AND TENDER AFFECTION.

CALISTA was young and beautiful, endowed with a
great fhare of wit and folid fenfe. Agathocles, whofe
age very little exceeded hers, was well made, brave and
prudent. He had the good fortune to be introduced to
Califta's home, where his looks, wandering indifferently
over a numerous circle, foon diftinguifhed and fixed upon
her.

But recovering from the fhort ecftacy occafioned by the
firft fight, he reproached himfelf, as being guilty of rude-
nefs to the reft of the company ; a fault which he endeav-
oured to correct by looking round on other objects. Vain
attempt ! They were attracted by a powerful charm, and
turned again towards Califta. He blufhed as well as fhe,
while a fweet emotion produced a kind of fluttering in his
heart, and confufion in his countenance,

268 Old-time Schools and School-books

Of course, after that, Agathocles became a fre-
quent caller, and in every visit " he difcovered fome
new perfection in the fair Califta."

At laft he refolved to open his heart to her; but he did
not do it in the affected language of a romantic paffion.
" Lovely Califta," faid he ingenuoufly, u it is not mere
efteem that binds me to you, but a moft paffionate and
tender love. I feel that I cannot live without you : Can
you, without violence to your inclinations, confent to
make me happy ? I may love you without offence ; 'tis
a tribute due to your merit : But may I flatter myfelf with
the hopes of fome fmall return ? "

A coquette would have affected to be difpleafed at fuch a
declaration. But Califta not only liftened to her lover with-
out interrupting him, but anfwered him without ill-nature,
and gave him leave to hope. Nor did f he put his conftancy
to a tedious trial : the happinefs for which he fighed was
no longer delayed, than was neceffary to prepare for the
ceremony.

Another lesson from which I wish to quote is —

SELF-TORMENTING

SERGEANT Tremble and his wife, during a time of
general health, feel as eafy and fecure as if their chil-
dren were immortal. If there are no cancers, dyfenteries,
fmall-pox, bladders in the throat, and fuch like things to be
heard of, they almoft bid defiance to death ; but the mo-
ment information was given that a child fix miles off, had
the throat diftemper, all comfort bade adieu to the houfe ;
and the mifery then endured from dreadful apprehenfions,
left the difeafe fhould enter the family, is unfpeakable.

The old fergeant thought that when the wind blew from
that quarter, he could fmell the infection, and therefore

Advanced Readers 269

ordered the children to keep in the houfe, and drink worm-
wood and rum, as a prefervation againft contagion. As for
Mrs. Tremble, her mind was in a ftate of ceafelefs agitation
at that time. A fpecimen of the common fituation of the
family is as follows.

Sufy, your eyes look heavy, you don't feel a fore throat,
do you ? Hufband, I heard Tommy cough in the bed room
juft now. I'm afraid the diftemper is beginning in his
vitals, let us get up and light a candle. You don't feel any
fore on your tongue or your mouth, do you, my dear little
chicken ? It feems to me Molly did not eat her breakfaft
with fo good a ftomach this morning as fhe ufed to do. I
fear she has got the diftemper coming on.

To be fhort, the child that had the diftemper died ; and
no other child was heard of, in thofe parts, to have it ; fo
that tranquility and fecurity were reftored to Mr. Tremble's
family, and their children regarded as formerly, proof
against mortality.

THE
LITTLE READER'S

ASSISTANT;

CONTAINING

I. A number of Stories,
moftly taken from the hiit-
ory of America,and adorned
with Cuts.

II. Rudimen<s~of Engtifh
Grammar.

•III. A Federal Catechifm,
.being a Ihorc and eafy ex-

planation of the Conftitu-
tion of the United States.

IV. General principles
of Government and Com-

merce.

V. The Farmer's Care-
chizm, containing plain
rules of husbandry.

Ail adapted J^tK capacities of children.

Portion of Title-page, 1791

270 Old-time Schools and School-books

About 1790 Webster published another reader, a
square little book called The Little Reader's Assist-
ant. It contained " familiar ftories in plain lan-
guage for the benefit of children, when they firft
begin to read without fpelling." In other words, it
was a middle-class reader. A good many years were
still to pass before any one would devise a primary
reader. The first part of Webster's book is largely

STORY OF COLUMBUS.

From The Little Reader's Assistant.

a relation of the early settlers' experiences with
the Indians. No details are too grewsome to
be omitted, and the effect on the imaginations of
" Little Readers " could not have been altogether
salutary ; for the stories were sure to be recalled
whenever a child had to encounter alone the mysteri-
ous dusk of evening or the gloom of night. The
book has the honor to be the earliest reader to use

Advanced Readers

271

illustrations, and several of the weird little pictures
are here reproduced. The art of engraving as
practised in this- country was very crude, and these
are fair examples of the rough-hewn primitiveness
of the book illustrations of the period. Their un-
couth ness was still further emphasized by the paper
on which they were printed, for all the paper of
early American manufacture was inferior, and very
little, even of the best, was of a snowy whiteness.
The first picture in Webster's book illustrated the
" Story of Columbus," and I suppose that is Colum-
bus himself waving his hat from the mast-head. The
sea has a very lively appearance, and there is some
doubt whether the artist has delineated an expanse of
white-capped waves or a multitude of leaping fish.

A "Christian" Indian getting the Best of a Heathen Indian.
From Webster's The Little Reader's Assistant.

The text accompanying the picture of the two
Indians says the individual behind the rock was

272 Old-time Schools and School-books

Night Attack of Indians on Major Waldron's House, Dover, N.H<

Captain John Smith a Captive in Serious Danger.
From The Little Reader's Assistant.

friendly to the English. He was pursued by one
of his enemies and betook himself to this refuge ;
" but feeing his purfuer on the other side, waiting to
shoot him as he lifted his head above the rock he

Advanced Readers

273

put his hat upon his gun, and raifed it flowly above
the rock. The Indians feeing it, fired a ball through
it; and before he could load his gun again, the
chriftian Indian fhot him through the head."

The cut showing the predicament of Captain
John Smith must have been very interesting to the
old-time school children, and equally so the spirited
portrayal of Putnam and the Wolf. You can see

Putnam and the Wolf.
From The Little Readers Assistant.

the rope attached to Putnam's leg and his comrades
up above gripping it, ready to pull him forth. We
can fancy very well the damage to that hero's clothes
and person as he was hauled out, if the picture gives
a truthful impression of the jaggedness of the rocks.
The street scene shows " Charles Churchill the
poet. As he was returning home one night at a
late hour, he was accofted by a female, whofe air
and manner raifed his curiofity to take particular

274 Old-time Schools and School-books

notice of her. She appeared to be about fifteen
years old, and handfome, but pinching want had
given her beauty a fickly caft, and the horrors of
dispair were feen in the languid fmile which fhe put

The Benevolent Churchill.
From The Little Reader's Assistant.

on while fhe fpoke." Churchill gave her a piece
of money whereat " fhe fell upon her knees in the
ftreet, and raifing her eyes and hands to heaven, fhe
remained in that pofture for fome time, unable to
exprefs the gratitude that filled her heart." She
told her benefactor a sad tale of distress, and he
learned she had parents dependent on her. So he
went with her to her home garret and there the rest
of the family were soon on their knees around the
poet, and he " gave them ten guineas."

The final picture is of a queer-looking beast that
one would hardly recognize if it were not labelled.
The text says : —

Advanced Readers

275

THE Buffalo, found in the woods of America, is a large
animal with black, fhort horns. He has a large beard
under his lower jaw, and a large tuft of hair upon his head,
which falls down upon his eyes and gives him a hideous
look. He has a large bump or rifing on his back, beginnig
at his hips and increafing to his fhoulders. This is covered
with hair, fomewhat reddifh, and very long. The reft of
the body is covered with black wool \ a fkin produces about
eight pounds of wool, which is very valuable.

I The Buffalo.

From The Little Reader s Assistant.
The buffalo has a good fmell, and will perceive a man at
great diftance, unlefs the wind is in the man's favor. His
flefh is good, but the bull's is too tuff, fo that none but the
cow's is generally eaten. His fkin makes good lether —
and the Indians ufe it for fhields.

The last half of the book is devoted to a "Farmer's
Catechizm," mostly agricultural instruction, but start-
ing off with some general laudation like — •

276 Old-time Schools and School-books

Q. Why is farming the beft bufiness a man can do ?

A. Becaufe it is the moft neceffary, the moft helthy, the
moft innocent, and moft agreeable employment of men.

Q. Why is farming the moft innocent employment ?

A. Becaufe farmers have fewer temptations to be wicked
than other men. They live much by themfelves, fo that
they do not fee fo many bad examples as men in cities do.
They have but little dealing with others, fo that they
have fewer opportunities to cheat than other claffes of
men. Befides, the flocks and herds which furround the
farmer, the frolicks of the harmlefs lambs, the fongs of the
cheerful birds, and the face of nature's works, all prefent to
the hufbandman examples of innocence, beauty, fimplicity
and order, which ought to imprefs good fentiments on the
mind and lead the heart to God.

One of the most popular of the early readers was
Caleb Bingham's The American Preceptor, Boston,
1794. The preface declares that —

In making felections for the following work, a preference
has been given to the productions of American genius.
The compiler, however, has not been wholly confined to
America; but has extracted from approved writers of differ-
ent ages and countries. Convinced of the impropriety of
inftilling falfe notions into the minds of children, he has not
given place to romantic fiction. The compiler pledges him-
felf, that this book contains neither a word nor a fentiment
which would " raife a blufh on the cheek of modefty."

Most of the early reading books drew their
materials largely from British sources, and American
contributions were for a long time mainly from the
speeches of the Revolutionary orators. Typical
subjects were : Frailty of Life, Benevolence of

Advanced Readers 277

the Deity, Popery, Rules for Moderating Our
Anger, Reflections on Sun Set, Character of a
Truly Polite Man, The Child Trained Up for the
Gallows. These and the rest of their kind were all
" extracted from the works of the most correct and
elegant writers." The books were also pretty sure
to contain selections from the Bible, and some had
parts of sermons. Indeed, nearly all the matter
was of a serious, moral, or religious character.

From the American Preceptor I quote a portion of

A Dialogue between two School Boys, on Dancing.

Harry. Tom, when are you going to begin your dancing ?
You will be fo old in a fhort time as to be afhamed to be
feen taking your five pofitions.

Thomas. I don't know as I fhall begin at all. Father
fays he don't care a fig whether I learn to jump any better
than I do now; and, as I am to be a tradefman, he is
determined to keep me at the reading and writing fchools.

Har. That muft be very dull and dry for you. And
what good will all fuch learning do you, fo long as you
make the awkward appearance you do at prefent ? I am
furprifed at your father's folly. So becaufe you are to be a
tradefman, you are not to learn the graces !

Thus they go on, Thomas representing wisdom
and Harry folly, and though neither convinces the
other, they make it very plain where the reader's
sympathies ought to be.

Another very successful book of Bingham's, pub-
I lished about a dozen years later than his Preceptor,
; was The Columbian Orator, a compilation of dia-
! logues and pieces suitable for declamation. Perhaps

278 Old-time Schools and School-books

nothing in the book more generally pleased or was
oftener heard from the school platform than

LINES SPOKEN AT A SCHOOL-EXHIBI-
TION, BY A LITTLE BOY
SEVEN YEARS OLD.

YOU'D scarce expect one of my age,
To speak in public, on the stage ;
And if I chance to fall below
Demosthenes or Cicero,
Don't view me with a critic's eye,
But pass my imperfections by.
Large streams from little fountains flow ;
Tall oaks from little acorns grow :
And though I now am small and young,
Of judgment weak, and feeble tongue;
Yet all great learned men, like me,
Once learn'd to read their A, B, C.
But why may not Columbia's soil
Rear men as great as Britain's isle ;
Exceed what Greece and Rome have done,
Or any land beneath the sun ?
Mayn't Massachusetts boast as great
As any other sister state ?
Or, where's the town, go far and near,
That does not find a rival here ?
Or where's the boy, but three feet high,
Who's made improvements more than I ?
These thoughts inspire my youthful mind
To be the greatest of mankind ;
Great, not like Caesar, stain'd with blood ;
But only great, as I am good.

Advanced Readers 279

In the extract below we get a glimpse of very
primitive educational conditions. The book vouches
for what is depicted as still true to life in some
vicinities, though not nearly as applicable as for-
merly. The scene is a public house.

Enter SCHOOL-MASTER, with a pack on his back.

Schoolmaster. How fare you, landlord ? what have you
got that's good to drink ?

Landlord. I have gin, West-India, genuine New Eng-
land, whiskey, and cider brandy.

Schoolm. Make us a stiff mug of sling. Put in a gill and
a half of your New England ; and sweeten it well with
lasses.

Land. It shall be done, Sir, to your liking.

Then the schoolmaster asks if the landlord knows
of any vacancy in the local schools, and is informed
they are without a master in that very district, and
the three school-committeemen were to be at the
tavern directly to consult on school matters. The
landlord says the last master " was a tyrant of a
fellow and very extravagant in his price. He grew
so important the latter part of his time, that he had
the frontery to demand ten dollars a month and his
board." He never patronized the landlord's bar,
and was always in his chamber of an evening " por-
ing over his musty books." Finally the severity
of his discipline roused the neighborhood, and he
was hooted out of town.

The three committeemen, accompanied by the
parson, at length appeared at the tavern, and the

280 Old-time Schools and School-books

schoolmaster applies for a position. He acknowl-
edges that he has never had more than a year's
schooling, and that he knows nothing of geography
or grammar, but he can read a newspaper without
spelling more than half the words, and has " larn'd to
write considerably, and to cypher as fur as Division."
Most important of all, he will work for five dollars
a month, and the committee hire him. The parson
alone protests.

By far the most copiously illustrated of any of
the earlier readers was a thin i2mo published in
Philadelphia in 1799, caUed The Columbian Reading
Book, or Historical Preceptor, "a collection of Authentic
Histories, Anecdotes, Characters, &c. &c. calculated
to incite in young minds a love of virtue, from its
intrinsic beauty, and a hatred of vice from its dis-
gusting deformity." From the 164 short lessons I
make several selections.

- Spirited Reproof of a Woman.

PHILIP, rising
from an entertain-
ment at which he
had sat for some
hours, was ad-
dressed by a woman,
who begged him to
hear her cause. He
accordingly heard
it, and, upon her
saying some things

not pleasing; to him,

An Appeal to King Philip.

he gave sentence

From The Columbian Reading Book, 1799.

Advanced Readers

281

against her. The woman immediately, but very calmly,
replied, " I appeal." " How," says Philip, " from your
king ? To whom then ? " " To Philip when fasting,"
returned the woman. The manner in which he received
this answer would do honour to the most sober prince.
He afterwards gave the cause a second hearing, found
the injustice of his sentence, and condemned himself to
make it good.

Gasconade.

A Gentleman of Gascony who inherited two thousand
crowns a year from his father, commenced living at Paris,
and being a gay
volatile genius,
soon squandered
his fortune, and
was reduced to the
lowest ebb of
wret c hedness.
Yet he never lost
his spirit and cour-
age ; but with the
small pittance he
had left, he pur-
chased a mule and
turned water-car-
rier. Some time
afterwards, as he was trafficking his merchandize up and down
the streets, he happened to meet two of his old companions,
who would have avoided him for fear of giving him pain, at
being caught with such an equipage. But he sprang forward
and saluted them with his usual freedom ; and, when they
seemed to pity his ill fortune, briskly interrupted them by saying,
u That he had forty thousand crowns worth of water in the
Seine, but for want of servants, was obliged to sell it himself."

A Meeting of Old Friends in the Streets of Paris.
From The Columbian Reading Book.

282 Old-time Schools and School-books

The Clever Indian.
From The Columbian Reading Book.

The retort Courteous.

A white man meeting an Indian asked him, " whose
Indian are you ? " To which the copper-faced genius
replied, " I am God Almighty's Indian : whose Indian are

you

Philosophy an unfailing refuge.

The Philosopher.
From The Columbian Reading Book.

ZENO, a phi-
losopher of Cyprus,
turning merchant
for his better sup-
port, was always un-
fortunate by losses
at sea, insomuch
that he was reduced
to one small vessel;
and having advice
that it was also cast
away in the ocean,
and nothing saved,

Advanced Readers

he received the news with cheerfulness, saying, " O Fortune,
thou hast acted wisely, in forcing me to throw of? the rich
attire of a merchant to put on the mean and despised habit
of a scholar, and return me back to the school of phi-
losophy, where there is nothing to lose, and the most satis-
factory and durable things to be gained."

Successful Bravery.

Mr. GILLET, a French quarter-master, going home to
his friends, had the good fortune to save the life of a young
woman, attacked
by two ruffians.
He fell upon
them, sabre in
hand, unlocked the
jaw of the first
villain, who held a
dagger to her
breast, and at one
stroke pared the
nails of the other
just above the
wrist. Money
was offered by the
grateful parents ;
he refused it ; they offered him their daughter, a young
girl of 16, in marriage; the veteran, then in his 73rd
year, declined, saying, " Do you think that I have rescued
her from instant death, to put her to a lingering one, by
coupling so lively a body with one worn out with age ? "

Few of the early text-books enjoyed more favor
than Stamford's The Art of Reading, Boston, 1807.
The title-page says it contains "A variety of selected

A Rescue.
From The Columbian Reading Book.

284 Old-time Schools and School-books

and original pieces, Narrative, Didactic, Argumenta-
tive, Poetical, Descriptive, Pathetic, Humorous, and
Entertaining, together with Dialogues, Speeches,
Orations, Addresses, and Harangues." The
following is an example of what the book calls
humorous : —

AWKWARDNESS IN COMPANY.

1. WHEN an awkward fellow first comes into a room,
he attempts to bow, and his sword, if he wears one, gets
between his legs, and nearly throws him down, Confused
and ashamed, he stumbles to the upper end of the room,
and seats himself in the very place where he should not.
He there begins playing with his hat, which he presently
drops ; and recovering his hat, he lets fall his cane ; and,
in picking up his cane, down goes his hat again. Thus
'tis a considerable time before he is adjusted.

2. When his tea or coffee is handed to him, he spreads
his handkerchief upon his knees, scalds his mouth, drops
either the cup or saucer, and spills the tea or coffee in his
lap. At dinner, he seats himself upon the edge of his chair,
at so great a distance from the table, that he frequently
drops his meat between his plate and his mouth; he holds
his knife, fork, and spoon, differently from other people;
eats with his knife to the manifest danger of his mouth ;
and picks his teeth with his fork.

3. If he is to carve he cannot hit the joint ; but, in
laboring to cut through the bone, splashes the sause over
every body's clothes. He generally daubs himself all over ;
his elbows are in the next person's plate ; and he is up to
the knuckles in soup and grease. If he drinks, 'tis with his
mouth full, interrupting the whole company with, " To
your good health, Sir," and " My service to you ; " perhaps
coughs in his glass, and besprinkles the whole table.

Advanced Readers 285

4. He addresses the company by improper titles ; mis-
takes one name for another ; and tells you of Mr. What
d'ye call him, or you know who; Mrs. Who'ist there,
what's her name, or how d'ye call her ; He begins a story ;
but, not being able to finish it, breaks ofF in the middle,
with, u I've forgot the rest."

I also reprint one of the dialogues. It is in-
tended to illustrate the prejudices of the vulgar
against academies. The participants in the con-
versation are Old Trumpet, Goody Trumpet, and
their son, Leander.

OLD TRUMPET, alone.

A PLAGUE and Satan confound such ignorance, says I ;
what, the dog is ruin'd and undone for ever and for 'tarnally.
Must I feed and pamper and lodge the puppy ? ay, ay,
and send him to the Mackademy, and give him laming —
and for what ? good Lord, for what ? O ! snakes, toads and
dung worms ! O ! the Mackademy ! My son Len will
be ruin'd !

Enter GOODY TRUMPET in haste.

G. Trum. Well there now, husband, I can't, no nor I
wont bear it any longer — for would you think it? our
Leander is gone crazy, and's a fool, and melirious, and —
and —

Old T. Yes, yes, that's as clear as the sun — that I'll
vow to any day. He's a fool, and a dog, and crazy, and
— and — what was the word you us'd ?

G. T. Pshaw ! you're a 'tarnal pesterment. You're too
old to larn any thing but how to wear horns —

Old T. No, no, that's a lie — I've larnt that a ready —

286 Old-time Schools and School-books

there's not a ram in the flock that wears horns more tre-
mariously than I do.

G. T. Ha, ha, ha, tremariously, O distravagant ! well,
my son's a fool and my husband a jack-ass — but hark you,
this chip o' yourn, this Mackademicianer, inserts that our
tin quart is brim full, when I shook, and shook, and shook
every atom, and morsel, and grain of beer out of it — and
there was not a bit nor a jot in't any more than there is in
his head, not a bit more.

Old T. Ay, ay, I warrant ye, nothing more brovebler

— yes, yes, and he told me about the dentity of pinticles
in fire — and as how the proximation to fire made the
sentiments of heat. Odd's buds ! he's ruin'd, he's un-
done ! Well, well, I'll go to the Protector, (Preceptor) I'll
pound him — I'll mawl him — I'll see if he'll make Len a
fool again —

G. T. Well, well, take him away, take him home, —
I'll larn him. If you'll let him alone — I believe I can
make him know a little something. But the conceptor !
I'll strip his head for him — I'll make it as bare as an egg

— I'll pull his soul case out.

Old T. Why good George ! I sent him to the mackad-
emy to get laming. If this is laming, my dog knows
more than the Protector and the Mackademy besides.

Enter LEANDER.

Old T. How now, how now, coxcomb ! Why, Len,
you're a fool ! You're crazy, you're melirious, as your
poor mother says.

Leander. Sir, you know you have a right to command
your own, but I think, Sir, that the abuse of such power
is worse than the want of it. Have I, Sir, deserved such
treatment !

Old J", Yes, you have reserved the gallows — ay, ay,

Advanced Readers 287

Len, you must be chained in a dark room and fed on
bread and water — O the Mackademy !

Leander. You may arraign me, Sir, with impunity for
faults which I in some instances have been guilty of —
but my improvements in the liberal arts and sciences, have
been, I believe, equal to most of my standing, and I am
confident, Sir, that I have asserted nothing but what is
consistent with the philosophy of our times.

Old T. Your dosolophys may go to Beelzebub, and
you may go with them, Sir, and be hang'd, Sir — O the
Conceptor, and Mackademy may go to Beelzebub and be
hang'd and they will ! Come home, Len, you sha'nt go
there any more, you'll be ruin'd and undone for ever, and
for 'tarnally !

A reader with a special purpose was The Mental
Flower Garden, or an Instructive and Entertaining
Companion for the Fair Sex, New York, 1808. It
was full of sugar-coated wisdom and mild senti-
ment as was befitting in a text-book for " female
youth," and no effort was spared to use highly pol-
ished and becoming language on all occasions. Its
tone was very like that it recommended for " episto-
lary writing — easy, genteel and obliging, with a choice
of words which bear the most civil meaning, and a
generous and good-natured complaisance"

Scott's and Lindley Murray's readers were the
only ones by English compilers to be widely circu-
lated in this country. Murray's several readers
continued in use until the middle of the nineteenth
century. They were stupid-looking, fine-print vol-
umes, full of profundity and never lapsed into the
shallow amateurishness of some of our American

288 Old-time Schools and School-books

school-books. Yet the information imparted was
occasionally rather peculiar, as for instance what is
said about

The Cataract of Niagara, in Canada, North America.

This amazing fall of a hundred and fifty feet perpendicu-
lar is made by the river St. Lawrence, one of the largest
rivers in the world, a river that serves to drain the waters
of almost all North America into the Atlantic Ocean. It
will be readily supposed, that such a cataract entirely de-
stroys the navigation of the stream : and yet some Indians
in their canoes, it is said have ventured down it in safety.

I reproduce from Scott's book one of four plates
illustrating an introductory chapter, " On the speak-
ing of Speeches at schools." The text advises —

If the pupil's knees are not well formed,
or incline inwards, he must be taught to
keep his legs at as great a distance as pos-
sible, and to incline his body so much to
that side on which the arm is extended, as
to oblige him to rest the opposite leg upon
the toe ; and this will in a great measure,
hide the defect of his make.

When the pupil has got in the habit of
holding his hand and arm properly, he may
be taught to move it, that is, to raise the
arm in the same position as when grace-
fully taking off the hat. (See Plate.)

When the hand approaches to the head,
The Speaker. , , V, . , .,

the arm should, with a jerk, be suddenly

From Scott s Lessons in . , , , J

Elocution, 1814. straightened, at the very moment the em-
Reduced one-half, phatical word is pronounced. This co-

Advanced Readers

289

incidence of the hand and voice, will greatly enforce the
pronunciation.

Below is a part of one of the lighter pieces in
The Common Reader, by T. Strong, A.M., Green-
field, Massachusetts, 1818.

The Flower Girl.

From Strong's The Common Reader, 1818.
Reduced one-third.

THE FLOWER GIRL.

" Pray buy a nosegay of a poor orphan ! " said a female
v6ice, in a plaintive and melodious tone, as I was passing
the corner of the Hay-market. I turned hastily and beheld
a girl about fourteen, whose drapery, though ragged, was
clean, and whose form was such as a painter might have
chosen for a youthful Venus.

Her neck, without colouring, was white as snow; and
her features, though not regularly beautiful, were interesting,

290 Old-time Schools and School-books

and set off by a transparent complexion ; her eyes, dark
and intelligent, were shaded by loose ringlets of a raven
black, and poured their supplicating beams through the
silken shade of very long lashes.

On one arm hung a basket full of roses, and the other
was stretched out towards me with one of the rose buds.
I put my hand into my pocket and drew out some silver —
u take this, my pretty girl," said I.

The narrator added some kindly and highly moral
remarks for her benefit, and she caught his hand and

burst into a flood of tears. The actions and the look
touched my soul ; it melted, and a drop of sympathy fell
from my cheek.

u Forgive me, Sir," said she, while a blush diffused itself
over her lovely face. " You will pardon me when I tell you
they were the first kind words I have heard since I lost all
that was dear to me on earth."

" Can I leave this poor creature ? " said I, pensively.
" Shall I quit thee, fair flower, to be blown down by the
rude blast of adversity ! to droop thy lovely head beneath
the blight of early sorrow ! No ! thou hast once bloomed
beneath the cheerful sun of domestic content, and under it
thou shalt bloom again."

My heart beat with its sweet purpose, and the words of
triumphant virtue burst from my lips. " Come, thou lovely
deserted girl ! come and add one more to the happy group
who call me father ! thou shalt be taught with them that
virtue which their father tries to practice."

Her eyes flashed with frantic joy; she flung herself on
her knees before me. I raised her in my arms ; I hushed
her eloquent gratitude, and led her to a home of happiness
and piety ; and the poor orphan of the Hay-market is now
the partner of my son !

Advanced Readers

291

The scene of this story is one of the busiest parts
of London ; but the illustration which accompanies
it shows a New
England country
road, with three
curious little loads
of hay standing in
a wayside field to
suggest a hay-mart.

Here is a lesson

The Catamountain.
, . . From The Improved Reader, 1827.

which purports to

have been written by a Missourian. It is from

Pierpont's The National Reader, Boston, 1827.

The Worm.

Who has not heard of the rattle-snake or copperhead !
An unexpected sight of either of these reptiles will make
even the lords of creation recoil : but there is a species of
worm found in various parts of this state, which conveys a
poison of a nature so deadly, that, compared with it, even
the venom of the rattlesnake is harmless. To guard our
readers against this foe of human kind, is the object of this
communication.

This worm varies much in size. It is frequently an
inch through, but, as it is rarely seen, except when coiled,
its length can hardly be conjectured. It is of a dull leaden
colour, and generally lives near a spring or small stream of
water, and bites the unfortunate people, who are in the
habit of going there to drink. The brute creation it never
molests. They avoid it with the same instinct that teaches
the animals of Peru to shun the deadly coya.

Several of these reptiles have long infested our settle-
ments, to the misery and destruction of many of our fellow-

292 Old-time Schools and School-books

citizens. I have, therefore, had frequent opportunities of
being the melancholy spectator of the effects produced by
the subtle poison which the worm infuses.

The symptoms of its bite are terrible. The eyes of the
patient become red and fiery, his tongue swells to an im-
moderate size, and obstructs his utterance ; and delirium
of the most horrid character, quickly follows. Sometimes,
in his madness, he attempts the destruction of his nearest
friends.

If the sufferer has a family, his weeping wife and help-
less infants are not unfrequently the objects of his frantic
fury. In a word, he exhibits all the detestable passions
that rankle in the bosom of a savage ; and such is the
spell in which his senses are locked, that, no sooner has
the unhappy patient recovered from the paroxysm of insan-
ity, occasioned by the bite, than he seeks out the destroyer,
for the sole purpose of being bitten again.

I have seen a good old father, his locks as white as snow,
his steps slow and trembling, beg in vain his only son to quit
the lurking place of the worm. My heart bled when he
turned away ; for I knew the fond hope, that his son would
be the " staff of his declining years," had supported him
through many a sorrow.

Youths of Missouri, would you know the name of this
reptile ? It is called the Worm of the Still.

The next selection is from The General Class-Book,
Greenfield, Massachusetts, 1828.

Dialogue between Mrs. Lackwit, Mrs. Goodsense^ etc.

MRS. LACKWIT. Scat you little beast ! See that kitten.
She has been patting my ball of yarn, and rolling it all over
the floor, till it is half unwound. There, take that box in
the ear, and learn better manners.

Advanced Readers 293

CAROLINE. Poor kitten ! I am afraid, mother, you
have hurt her.

MRS. L. Hurt her ? I meant to, and I wish I had
killed her.

Now that robin sets up his tune, which I suppose we
must hear till sunset. The old rooster too must come
and crow like thunder at the very door, so that I cannot
hear myself speak ; and to crown all, somebody has let the
calves into the yard, and there they are galloping and rac-
ing over the table-cloths, which I had laid out to bleach.
O, what a world we live in.

Caroline, cannot you be still ? Do mind your needle.
Surely we have noise enough without your singing or
playing.

CAR. Dear mother, I am afraid you are not well. Does
your head ake ?

MRS. L. No ; but my ears ake ; and my heart akes.

MRS. GOODSENSE. My dear Mrs. Lackwit, as your children
have been confined six hours in school to-day, would it not
be well to let them go and play a little while in the yard ?

MRS. L. No ; the girls would be tanned, and become
black as negroes, and the boys would be more noisy than
ever. Mrs. Goodsense, how can you live with your eight
children ? I have only four, and it often seems as if I
should be distracted.

Then Mrs. Goodsense explains and' advises, and
finally, Mrs. Lackwit concludes she will follow her
neighbor's example.

One book of a very unusual sort was Comstock's
Rhythmical Reader^ Philadelphia, 1832. While the
latter half is not unlike other books of its class, the
earlier pages are an appalling mass of cabalistic signs.
It is an endeavor by a system of notation to treat

194 Old-time Schools and School-books

discourse like music, and to teach how to read with
perfect ease and rhythm.

PART OF THE EPISCOPAL BURIAL SERVICE.
FROM THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER.

Rather slow.

9 Y I ?' !-««• Y- I Y Y Y Y ?

• . • » 1 -W 1 • , 1 i 1 •• . • •

saith the Lord ;

he that be-

lieveth in

me,

Y Y Y I 9 r 1 Y > I Y [ .9 "I
though he were | dead, | yet shall he | live ;

Specimen Lines.
From Comstock's The Rhythmical Reader, 1832.

Another unusual reader of about the same date
was The Christian Reader ', a stout volume, entirely
made up of tracts, except for a half-dozen hymns
inserted at the end.

Still another peculiar reader was The Farmer s
School-Book, Albany, 1837, " published to take the
place of such useless, unintelligible reading as Mur-
ray's English Reader, and other readers in common
use, which never give the children one useful idea
for the practical business of life." The book con-
veys a good deal of information, but I am afraid
the author was disappointed in his expectation that
" Chymistry, The Nature of Manures, Raising
Calves, Making and Preserving Cheese," and simi-
lar topics which filled out the list of chapters would

Advanced Readers

295

"seize the feelings and get the attention of every
child that is learning to read."

A Picture.

From Emerson's The Second-class Reader, 1833, illustrating a popular poem which

began :

You are old, Father William, the young man cried,
The few locks which are left you are gray ;

You are hale, Father William, a hearty old man;
Now tell me the reason, I pray.

In the days of my youth, Father William replied,

I remembered that youth would fly fast,
And abused not my health and my vigor at first,

That I never might need them at last.

A volume of more than ordinary interest was The
Monitorial Reader, Concord, New Hampshire, 1839,
and from it I make a number of excerpts.

That Red Stuff.

Father, said a little boy, in the lisping accents of .youth,
what is that red stuff you have just been drinking, and

296 Old-time Schools and School-books

which makes you wink so ? What do you call it ? Hush,
my son, it is medicine. This inquiry was put by a sweet
looking child, as I was entering the door of a grocery to
purchase a few articles for my family.

The tradesman had just drained his glass, and leaning on
a cask, in which was burned the word Brandy, was wiping
his mouth on the sleeve of his coat ; while the little one
stood watching his motions with a sweet affectionate look
of the son, blended with the curiosity and simplicity of
childhood. " Excuse me," said I, " but oh, tell your inno-
cent reprover, that // biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an
adder. Deceive him not."

The man looked abashed and with a private admonition,
I left him.

The lesson closes with appropriate comments, but
what the drinker did is not stated.

Sir Nicholas Gimcrack who "spread himself out on a large table, and

placing before him a bason of water with a frog in it, he struck with

his arms and legs as he observed the animal do." Thus he learned

" to swim on dry land ; but he never ventured himself in the water."

From The Intelligent Reader, 1834.

Advanced Readers

297

A Retired Sailor " instructing his sister's grand-children."
From Adams's The Monitorial Reader, 1 839.

Borrowing.

" My dear," said Mrs. Green to her husband one morn-
ing, " the meal we borrowed from Mr. Black a few days
ago, is almost out, and we must bake to-morrow."

u Well," said her husband, u send and borrow a bushel
at Mr. White's ; he sent to mill yesterday."

" And when it comes, shall we return the peck we bor-
rowed more than a month ago from the widow Grey ? "

" No," said the husband gruffly, " she can send for it
when she wants it. John do you go down to Mr. Brown's
and ask him to lend me his axe to chop some wood this
forenoon ; ours is quite dull, and I saw him grinding his
last night. And James, do you go to Mr. Clark's, and

298 Old-time Schools and School-books

ask him to lend me a hammer — and you may as well bor-
row a few nails, while you are about it."

A little boy now enters and says, " Father sent me to
ask if you had done with his hoe, which you borrowed a
week ago last Wednesday ; he wants to use it."

a Wants his hoe, child ? What can he want with it ?
I have not half done with it. Tell him to send it back,
though, as soon as he can spare it."

They sit down to breakfast. UO la!" exclaims Mrs.
Green, " there is not a particle of butter in the house —
James, run over to Mrs. Notable's, she always has excel-
lent butter in her dairy, and ask her to lend me a plateful."

After a few minutes James returns ; u Mrs. Notable
says she has sent you the butter, but begs you to remember,
that she has already lent you nineteen platefuls, which are
scored on the dairy door."

u Nineteen platefuls," exclaimed the astonished Mrs.
Green, holding up both her hands; u it is no such thing —
I never had half that quantity ; and if I had, what is a little
plateful of butter ? I should never think of keeping an
account of such a trifling affair — I declare, I have a great
mind never to borrow any thing of that mean creature
again, as long as I live."

The narrative goes on to relate other borrowing
episodes in the Green family, and closes with the
statement that —

After all, the lowest, the most degraded class of bor-
rowers, are NEWSPAPER BORROWERS ; fellows who have
not soul enough to subscribe for a newspaper, yet long to
know its contents ; who watch with lynx-eyed vigilance
for the arrival of the mail, and when their more generous
neighbor receives his paper, send their boys with messages
like the following.

Advanced Readers 299

" Mr. Borrowall wishes you would be kind enough to
lend him your paper for one minute. There is something
particular in it, that he wants to see; he'll send it back
before you want to read it."

The Pot of Baked Beans.

O ! how my heart sighs for my own native land,

Where potatoes and squashes and cucumbers grow ;
Where cheer and good welcome are always at hand,
And custards and pumpkin pies smoke in a row ;
Where pudding the visage of hunger serenes,
And what is far dearer, the pot of bak'd beans.

Let Maryland boast of her dainties profuse,

And large water-melons, and cantelopes fine ;
Her turtle and oysters, and terrapin stews,

And soft crab high zested with brandy and wine ;
Ah ! neither my heart from my native land weans ;
Where smokes on the table the pot of bak'd beans.

The pot of bak'd beans ! with what pleasure I saw it,

Well season'd, well pork'd by some rosy fac'd dame ;
And when from the glowing hot oven she'd draw it,
Well crisp'd and well brown'd to the table it came ;
O, give me my country, the land of my teens, —
Of the dark Indian pudding, and pot of bak'd beans.

The pot of bak'd beans ! Ah, the muse is too frail,

Its taste to descant on, its virtues to tell ;
But look at the sons of New-England so hale,

And her daughters so rosy — 'twill teach thee full well;
Like me it will teach thee to sigh for the means
Of health, and of rapture ! — the pot of bak'd beans.

300 Old-time Schools and School-books

Speaker, 1844.

Yomg

The most interesting feature of
Lo veil's The Young Speaker^ New
Haven, 1 844, was the numerous pic-
tures. The book, as a whole, was
planned for a school reader, but it
was the purpose of the pictures to
" inculcate the art of graceful and
eloquent gesture." The first of the
two engravings reproduced

presents the side view of a boy making
his bow before an audience. With a

Making the Prelimi- gentle but assured step, he approaches to
near the front of the platform, a little on
the right of the centre, then pausing for a
moment, he casts his eyes with a diffi-
dent respect, over the audience ; slides out his left foot

on the toe, in a straight line ; then supporting the body on

that foot, he draws in the right foot until its heel comes

into the middle or hollow of the left

foot ; he then presses his legs to- /••

gether, and dropping his eyes /

modestly to the floor, brings his j

body into a slight and graceful \

curve, the arms hanging perfectly \

free. In this posture the body is *•

kept for an instant ; he then rises

slowly to an erect attitude, and is

ready to commence speaking.

The second cut indicates
how to express " painful ob-

servation, surprise, alarmed
compassion, and the like."

An Expressive Attitude.
From Lovell's The Young Speaker-

ARITHMETIC

MOST teachers, even in the days of the first
settlers, gave some instruction in mathe-
matics, but it was a long time before such
instruction was made obligatory. In Massachusetts
only reading and writing were required in the ele-
mentary schools until the enactment of a law in
1789, which said there must also be arithmetic, the
English language, orthography, and decent behavior.
Of these added requirements the first was generally
felt to be of the most practical importance, and a
reputation as an "arithmeticker" was to any teacher
a valuable asset. Nothing was more likely to assist
a man in getting a school than the ability to do any
sum in arithmetic. To be "great in figures'" was
to be learned.

Books by native writers in all departments had
begun to supersede those imported from England,
and in place of Hodder's and Dilworth's Arithmetics,
the famous treatise by Nicholas Pike of Newbury-
port, published in that town in 1788, gained wide
acceptance — an acceptance aided, no doubt, by the
flattering testimonials it received from George Wash-
ington and other dignitaries. It was a pretentious
8vo of 512 pages with a range almost encyclopaedic,
and it served to give tone to all the arithmetic study

302 Old-time Schools and School-books

of the early district-school period. Rules were om-
nipresent in it. There was indeed a rule for nearly
every page, and many of them were calculated to
tax the understanding of a pupil severely to grasp
their meaning. Some of the problems, too, re-
quired for their mastery a great deal of genuine
mathematical capacity.

A majority of the district-school pupils, includ-
ing practically all the girls, ciphered only through
the four fundamentals of addition, subtraction, mul-
tiplication, and division, with a short excursion into
vulgar fractions. They won distinction among their
mates if they penetrated into the mysteries of the
Rule of Three ; and to cipher through " Old Pike "
was to be accounted a prodigy.

The manuscript of this first American arithmetic
was ready in 1785, and after the manner of early
school-book authors, both in this country and in
England, " Nicholas Pike, Esq.," submitted it in
that form to various worthies to get their opinions
as to its merits. They responded with polite com-
mendations, which, as was usual, were printed in the
book. For many years after the volume was issued,
it held the foremost place among text-books of its
class. A preface in 1793 to an abridged edition, es-
pecially prepared for use in the public schools, speaks
of the larger book as " That celebrated work, which
is now ufed as a claffical book in all the Newengland
Univerfities."

Here are a few items from the table of contents
that will give some idea of the ground Pike attempted
to cover ; —

Arithmetic 303

Extraction of the Biquadrate Root
Penfions in Arrears at Simple Intereft
Barter

Alligation Medial
Of Pendulums
A Perpetual Almanac

To find the Time of the Moon's Southing
Table of the Dominical Letters according to the Cycle
of the Sun

To find the Year of Indiction fc

Table to find Eafter from the year 1753 to 4199

Plain Oblique Angular Trigonometry

To meafure a Rhombus

To gauge a maf h Tub

The Proportions and Tonnage of Noah's Ark.

Congress established " Federal money " on the
decimal plan in 1786; but twenty years elapsed be-
fore its use became at all general, and Pike treats
it as something of a curiosity. English money was
our standard. In that denomination accounts were
kept, and until after the first decade of the nineteenth
century, it continued to have prominent place in our
arithmetics. Coins of many kinds were current dur-
ing the early years of the republic, and the school
children had to learn the comparative value of these
moneys. Besides Federal money, there were four
varying currencies issued by the individual states.
Then there were English and Irish coins, and the
Continental Johannes, Pistoles, Moidores, Doub-
loons, etc. The labor involved in the computation
of ordinary business transactions at this period was
appalling.

304 Old-time Schools and School-books

I have mentioned the Rule of Three. It was
recognized as an arithmetical landmark and I give
Pike's definition : —

The Rule of Three teacheth, by having three numbers
given, to find a fourth, that fhall have the fame proportion
to the third, as the fecond to the firft.

This is sufficiently clear ; but some of the book's
explanations are quite unintelligible to the present
generation, as for instance : —

When tare, and tret and doff are allowed.

Deduct the tare and tret, and divide the futtle by 168,
and the quotient will be the clofF, which fubtract from the
futtle, and the remainder will be the neat.

One fails to make any sense out of such a jumble
until he reads the definitions appended to it.

Tare is an allowance, made to the buyer, for the weight
of the box, barrel, or bag which contains the goods bought.

Tret is an allowance of 4 K) in every 104 fib for wafte,
duft, &c.

ClofF is an allowance of ift> upon every 3 cwt.

Suttle is, when part of the allowance is deducted.

Neat weight is what remains after all allowances are
made.

Another rule that has an equally unfamiliar sound
to modern ears is this : —

To find the Gregorian Epact.

Subtract 1 1 from the Julian Epact : If the fubtraction
cannot be made, add 30 to the Julian Epact ; then fubtract,

Arithmetic 305

and the remainder will be the Gregorian Epact ; if nothing
remain, the Epact is 29.

In the tables of weights and measures are Wine
Measure and Ale or Beer Measure in good and
regular standing among the rest. These were gen-
erally included in all the early school arithmetics.
Cloth Measure, as Pike gives it, consists chiefly of
Nails, and Ells Flemish, Ells English, and Ells
French ; Long Measure starts with " 3 Barley corns
make i inch ; " and in Dry Measure we find " i
Quarts make i Pottle, 2 Bufhels make i Strike,
2 Strikes make i Coom, 2 Cooms make i Quarter,
4 Quarters make i Chaldron, 5 Quarters make i
Wey, 2 Weys make i Laft." The following para-
graph shows the interesting manner in which the
author expressed himself when he had a problem to
propound : —

An ignorant fop wanting to purchafe an elegant houfe,
a facetious gentleman told him he had one which he would
fell him on thefe moderate terms, viz. that he fhould give
him a penny for the firft door, id. for the fecond, \d. for
the third, and fo on, doubling at every door, which were 36
in all : It is a bargain, cried the f impleton, and here is a
guinea to bind it ; Pray, what would the houfe have coft
him ? Anf. £286331153 is. %d.

A small book much used in the old schools was
An Introduction to Arithmetic ', by Erastus Root, Nor-
wich, Connecticut, 1796. Queerly enough, it omits
fractions, " not becaufe I think them ufelefs," the
author explains in his preface, " but becaufe they are
not abfolutely neceffary." He gives unusual space

306 Old-time Schools and School-books

as compared with other arithmetics of the time to
the recently adopted decimal " Federal Money," of
which he says : —

It is expected that before many years f hall elapfe, this
method of reckoning will become general throughout the
United States. Let us, I beg of you, Fellow-Citizens, no
longer meanly follow the Britifh intricate mode of reck-
oning. — Let them have their own way — and us, ours. —
.Their mode is fuited to the genius of the government — for
'it feems to be the policy of tyrants, to keep their accounts
j|m as intricate, and perplexing a method as poffible ; that
the fmaller number of their fubjects may be able to eftimate
'their enormous impofitions and exactions. But Republi-
can money ought to be fimple and adapted to the meaneft
capacity. This mode of reckoning may feem a little odd
at firft, but when the coins of the United States come into
circulation, it will foon become familiar.

Copperplate Engraving on the Title-page of Sarjeant's Arithmetic, 1788.

Below are two of the shorter problems in the
book : —

Arithmetic 307

What is the difference between fix dozen dozen and
half a dozen dozen ? Anf. 792.

What is the difference between twice twenty-five and
twice five, and twenty ? Anf. 20.

From a similar book, The Youtti s Assistant :
" Being a plain, Eafy, and Comprehenfive Guide to
Practical Arithmetic," published in the same town
as Root's and at about the same time, I quote this
problem illustrative of old-time travel from tavern
to tavern : —

I demand the diftance from the Town-houfe in Norwich,
to Bull's in Hartford ; fuppofing it to be nine miles from
faid Town-houfe to Aldin's in Lebanon, from Aldin's to
White's Andover fourteen, from White's to Marfh's Eaft
Hartford twelve, from Marfh's Eaft Hartford to Benjamin's
ditto three, from Benjamin's to Bull's two ?

Anfwer, 40 miles.

A book that rivalled "Old Pike" in popularity
was the Arithmetic by Daniel Adams published in
1801. It had large pages, and on these was blank
space after each problem for the student to record
the process of solution. The preface advises that
the operation should be " first wrought upon a slate
or waste paper," and afterward transcribed.

Another popular early arithmetic was Nathan
Daboll's Schoolmaster s Assistant^ and I quote from
it the several problems which follow : —

Divide 4-|- gallons of brandy equally among 144 soldiers.

Am. i gill a-piece.

How much shalloon that is | yard wide, will line 5^ yards
of camblet which is i^ yard wide? Ans.

308 Old-time Schools and School-books

If a pistareen be worth 14! pence, what are 100 pista-
reens worth ? Ans. £6.

A privateer of 65 men took a prize which being equally
divided among them, amounted to 119!. per man ; what is
the value of the prize ? Ans. ,£7735.

Seven gentlemen met at an inn, and were so well pleased
with their host, and with each other, that they agreed to
tarry so long as they together with their host, could sit every
day in a different position at dinner ; how long must they
have staid at said inn to have fulfilled their agreement ?

Ans. 1 1 o JJ^ years.

A, B and C, playing at cards, staked 324 crowns; but
disputing about tricks, each man took as many as he could ;
A got a certain number; B as many as A and 15 more; C
got a fifth part of both their sums added together: how
much did each get? Ans. A 127^, B 142^, C 54.

If to my age there added be,
One-half, one-third, and three times three,
Six score and ten the sum will be ;
What is my age, pray shew it me ?

Ans. 66.

Problems from Walsh's Mercantile Arithmetic^
Northampton, Massachusetts, 1807: —

If 8 boarders drink a barrel of cider in 12 days, how
long would it laft if 4 more came among them ?

Anf. 8 days.

Three boys, John, James and William, buy a lottery
ticket for 3 dols. of which John pays 90 cts. James I dol.
and William the remainder. This ticket is entitled to a
prize of 2000 dollars, fubject to a deduction of I2| per
cent, how much is each to receive? Anf. John 525 dols.
James 583 dols. 33^ cts. William 641 dols. 66| cts.

Arithmetic 309

What length of cord will fit to tie to a cow's tail, the
other end fixed in the ground, to let her have liberty of eat-
ing an acre of grafs, and no more, fuppofing the cow and
tail to be five yards and a half? Anf. 6,136 perches.

A certain perfon married his daughter on new year's day
and gave her hufband one fhilling towards her portion,
promifing to double it on the firft day of every month for
one year j what was her portion ? Anf. £. 204 i$f.

How much will 10 ferons of cochineal come to weigh-
ing neat 724 okes 73 rotolas, at 80 piaftres per oke ?

Anf. 57978,40 piaftres.

How much will 189 bazar mauds 31 feer 8 chittacks of
fugar come to, at 6 rupees per maud ?

Anf. 1138 rupees, n annas, 6 pice.

The last two examples deal with foreign weights,
measures, and money terms under the head of
Exchange. The several selections below are from

'hompson's The American Tutor s Guide > Albany,

808 : —

A man overtaking a maid driving a flock of geese, said
to her, how do you do, sweetheart ? Where are you going
rith these 100 geese? No Sir, said she, 1 have not 100;
>ut if I had as many, half as many, and seven geese and a
ilf, I should have 100 : How many had she? Ans. 37.
A person was 17 years of age 29 years since, and sup-
>se he will be drowned 23 years hence : Pray in what
rear of his age will this happen ? Ans. In his 6()th year.

The illustration on the next page is one of eight
little cuts that helped to elucidate problems in square

>t. No other arithmetic up to this time had em-
)loyed any cuts save very formal diagrams.

310 Old-time Schools and School-books

In the midst of a meadow,

Well stored with grass ,
I've taken just two acres,

To tether my ass :
Then how long must the cord be,

That feeding all round ;
He mayn't graze less or more, than

Two acres of ground. Ani

An Illustrated Problem.
From Thompson's The American Tutor's Guide, 1808.

Here is an example from The Science of Numbers
made Easy, by Leonard Loomis, Hartford, 1816.
The hero of it not only was well supplied with
money, but had his cash very picturesquely dis-
tributed about his person.

Harry told Thomas, that he had got 580,50 cts. (Bank
Bills) in his hat, and he had got twice as much in his pocket
book; besides 15,23 cts. silver money in his purse, and
four cents that had slipped out of his pocket into his boot ;
pray tell me if you can, how much money he had ?

Ans. 1756,77 cts.

From The Scholar s Arithmetic, by Jacob Willetts,
Poughkeepsie, New York, 1817:-

When hens are 9 shillings a dozen, what will be the
price of 6 dozen of eggs, at 2 cents for 3 eggs ?

Ans. 48 cts.

If the posterity of Noah, which consisted of six persons
at the flood, increased so as to double their number in 20
years, how many inhabitants were in the world two years
before the death of Shem, who lived 502 years after the
flood? Ans. 201,326,586.

Arithmetic 311

When first the marriage knot was ty'd

Between my wife and me,
My age was to that of my bride,

As three times three to three.
But now when ten, and half ten years

We man and wife have been,
Her age to mine exactly bears,

As eight is to sixteen ;
Now tell, I pray, from what I've said,

What were our ages when we wed ?
* {Thy age, when marry'd must have been
{just forty-five: thy wife's fifteen.

A workman was hired for 40 days upon this condition,
that he should receive 20 cts. for every day he wrought,
and should forfeit 10 cts. for every day he was idle; at
settlement he received 5 dollars : How many days did he
work and how many days was he idle ? Am. wrought
30 days, idle 10.

The most remarkable thing about the above
example in the extreme moderateness of the man's
charge. It seems rather severe to require a forfeit
from a man who is working at twenty cents a day.

A large volume " containing Vulgar, Decimal, and
Logarithmical Arithmetick," by Beriah Stevens, was
published at "Saratoga Springs" in 1822 with a
special claim to attention, by reason of a process it
introduced for proving the correctness of one's
figuring, and which it called " casting out the nines."
I reprint the directions for proving subtraction.

Cast the nines out of the minuend, and note down the
excess above the nines on a cross ; then cast the nines

3 12 Old-time Schools and School-books

out of the subtrahend and note the excess as before; lastly
cast the nines out of the remainder, and add the excess
last found, and the excess of the subtrahend together, and
if the sum of both be equal to the excess found in the
minuend the work is allowed to be right.

An efficient force in raising the standard of mathe-
matical instruction was the publication of Warren
Colburn's Intellectual Arithmetic in 1821. Pre-
viously all arithmetic had been scarcely intelligible
ciphering; but Colburn gives a multitude of simple
problems to be done mentally. These cultivated
quick comprehension and accuracy, and made it
easy to apply what was acquired to the affairs of
everyday life. The best teachers lost no time in
putting the book into use, and it determined the
character of all subsequent text-books. From the
very first, its sale was prodigious, and during
the next half century more than two million copies
were circulated.

Among the books patterned more or less closely
after Colburn's was a little volume called the Franklin
Arithmetic, Springfield, Massachusetts, 1832. This
had a moral purpose, and proposed to improve on
the other works then in vogue by the use of " ques-
tions, the solution of which will convey to the mind
some important truth. It seems rather out of place
for a teacher to sit down with a pupil to calculate
the gain or loss on the sale of gin, or lottery tickets.
In one of our excellent and popular books on mathe-
matical science, there are two or three questions
which the scholar cannot solve without knowing

Arithmetic 313

how many cards there are in a pack." To show
how the book is made interesting and enlightening,
I quote rather freely : —

How many letters in the word JOHN ?

How many in the word SMITH ?

How many letters in both names, JOHN and SMITH ?

How many hands have a boy and a clock ?

In eighteen hundred and thirty-one, 119 persons died of
drunkenness in New York, and 137 in Philadelphia; how
many in both ?

Hudson's Bay was discovered 10 years before the settle-
ment at Plymouth, and Bagdad was taken by the Turks
1 8 years after; how long a time passed between ?

Take E from the word HOPE, and how many letters
would be left ? and what would it be then ?

A man had seven children ; two of them were killed by
the fall of a tree ; how many had he left ?

A boy played three days in a week ; how many did he
work ?

Four rivers ran through the garden of Eden, and one
through Babylon ; how many more ran through Eden than
Babylon ?

Judas, one of the twelve apostles, hung himself; how
many were there left ?

John Baptist was beheaded after Christ 32 years, and
the book of Revelation was written in 87 ; how long after
John was beheaded ?

Adam was 930 years old when he died, and 130 when
Seth was born ; how old was Seth when Adam died ?

Miss Fanny Woodbury was born in 1791, and died in
1814; Miss Hannah Adams lived to to be 53 years older;
how old was Hannah Adams ?

" Adonibezek said, 3 score and 10 kings, having their
thumbs and their great toes cut off, gather their meat

314 Old-time Schools and School-books

under my table" (Judges i. 7.); how many thumbs and
toes did Adonibezek cut off"?

At Surat is a hospital for sick animals, in which there
is a tortoise that has been there 75 years; what is 3 eights
of the number ?

The Baltimore rail-road cars run 12 miles an hour;
what is |^ of it ?

A human body, if baked until all moisture is evaporated,
is reduced in weight as I to 10; a body that weighs 100
pounds living, will weigh how much when dry ?

The book closes with an appendix of biographical
paragraphs containing facts relating to persons re-
ferred to in the problems. The paragraphs are of
this sort : —

HOMER lived in Greece about 3 thousand years ago ; he
was a school teacher and a poet. He wrote two poems,
one called the Iliad, which is an exhibition of bodily
strength ; the other called the Odyssey, which is an ex-
hibition of the strength of the mind.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE is distinguished as a writer of
dialogues. He lived in England; when a boy, he fell in
company with bad boys, who stole some deer, and were
punished ; he was obliged to leave home ; he went to Lon-
don, and brought himself into notice by taking so good
care of the horses of those that came to the theatre.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT was a great warrior; he con-
quered the world, and wept because there were no more
worlds to conquer. He then gave himself up to dissipa-
tion, and died in a fit of debauch.

Miss FANNY WOODBURY died in Beverly, Mass. She
was an eminently pious young lady. Her life is printed,
and is a very interesting book for young ladies to read.

Arithmetic 315

Miss HANNAH ADAMS was a native of Massachusetts.
She had a feeble constitution, and never went to school
much ; she studied and read by herself, and acquired much
knowledge.

5. One stage has four horses. How many horses have
two stages/

6. Then 2 times 4, or twice 4 are how many ?

7. Here are three boats, and each boat contains three
men. How many men in all ?

8. 3 times 3 are how many 1

Part of a Page.
From Barnard's A Treatise on Arithmetic, 1830.

The earliest arithmetic I have seen that used
pictures as an aid to beginners was Barnard's, pub-
lished at Hartford in 1830. The book claimed to
be " rendered entertaining to the pupil by a great
variety of amusing problems." Some of these took
the form of a continued story, as : —

1. John made 3 marks on one leaf of his book, and
six on another. How many marks did he make ?

2. His teacher punished him, for soiling the book, by
giving him 4 blows on one hand, and 5 on the other.
How many blows did he strike him ?

3. 7 boys laughed at him on one side of the house,
when he was punished, and 2 on the other. How many
boys laughed ?

316 Old-time Schools and School-books

this flock of black-birds : they have lighted
upon the bars of a gate, and are all singing together.
Find how many there are on each separate bar.

An Illustration.
From Lesson First of Emerson's The North American Arithmetic, Part First, 1 838.

The pictures were confined to the early lessons
in the first pages, and the book as a whole was
designed for the older pupils. We had no primary
arithmetics until 1838, when Emerson's The North
American Arithmetic^ Part First^ appeared with illus-
trations scattered all through it. This was a genu-
ine beginner's book of the modern type. The
preface deprecated the fact that " the practice of
postponing arithmetic till children arrive at the age

Arithmetic

317

of nine or ten years still prevails in many of our
schools," and the bright little volume no doubt
fulfilled the author's hope that it " would make
the study both profitable and pleasant for young
learners."

5 boysrcanierup to recite, but 2 of them were sent1
back for having no lessons. How many recited ?

There were 7 farmers, 3 of whom drank rum and
whisky, and became miserable ; the rest drank water,
and were healthy and happy. How many drank water ?

Two Examples in Subtraction.
From Emerson's The North American Arithmetic, Part. First.

The final quotation in this chapter is one of many
jingles in Underhill's New Table-Book, 1846.

Two pennies had John
His sister had I,
They gave them to me,
And then I had 3,
Thus you may see
That 2 and I make 3.

XII

THE FIRST AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY

IN colonial days geography was spoken of as
diversion for a winter's evening," and acquaint-
ance with it was considered an accomplishment
rather than a necessity. Some rudimentary instruc-
tion in the science was occasionally given at th
more advanced schools, but the topic was not take
up in the elementary schools until after the Revolu-
tion. A knowledge of it was first made a condition
for entering Harvard in 1815, and a dozen years
more elapsed before Massachusetts named it among
the required studies in the public schools. To begin
with, it was not introduced as a separate study, but
the books were used as readers. The same was true
of the early school histories. However, geography
presently won a place of its own and kept it in spite
of the protests that the scholars' attention was
thereby being taken away from " cyphering."

The pioneer of American authors of school geog-
raphies was Jedidiah Morse. On the title page of
most editions of his books his name was appended
with " D. D. Minifter of the Congregation in
Charleftown, Maffachufetts." He was born in
1761, graduated from Yale in 1783, and the year
following published at New Haven his first geogra-

318

The First American Geography 319

phy. Later he put forth several other geographies,
large and small, became a compiler of gazetteers,
wrote various important historical and religious
works, was one of the founders of Andover Theo-
logical Seminary, and for more than thirty years

Jedidiah Morse.

served as pastor of the First Church in Charles-
town. He won fame not only in his own country,
but was recognized abroad as a man of distinguished
attainments, and a number of his books were trans-
lated into French and German. His Geography

320 Old-time Schools and School-books

Made Easy, a small leather-bound I2mo of about
four hundred pages, was for many years by far the
most popular text-book dealing with this subject.
My copy, dated 1800, is dedicated

TO THE

Young Mafters and Miffes
Throughout the UNITED STATES

Two maps of double-page size are the only illustra-
tions— one a map of the world, the other of North
America.

GEOGRAPHY MADE EASY.

A Heading.
From an edition of 1800.

The earlier pages treat of the " Doctrine of The
Sphere, Of Aftronomical Geography, Of Globes
and their Ufe," etc. But soon we come to the
Hiftory of the 'Difcovery of America, and then to
a General Defcription of America." In the latter
chapter is much that is interesting and picturesque.

The First American Geography 321

It includes, as do all the early geographies, a good
many imaginative travellers' tales picked up from
newspapers and other chance sources without any
pains being taken to verify them or to inquire as to
the reliability of their authors. In fact, it sometimes
seems as if the more fabulous the story the better
its chance to be recorded in the school text-books.
We get very entertaining glimpses of the limitations
of geographical knowledge at the time in the follow-
ing extracts from Morse.

The Andes, in South America, ftretch along the Pa-
cific Ocean from the Ifthmus of Darien to the Straits of
Magellan. The height of Chimborazo, the most elevated
point in this vaft chain of mountains is 20,280 feet, above
5000 feet higher than any other mountain in the known
world.

North America has no remarkably high mountains. The
moft confiderable are thofe known under the general name
of the Allegany Mountains. Thefe ftretch along in many
broken ridges under different names from HudfonV River
to Georgia. The Andes and the Allegany Mountains are
probably the fame range interrupted by the Gulf of Mexico.

Who were the firft people of America ? And whence
did they come ? The Abbe Clavigero gives his opinion in
the following conclufions : —

" The Americans defcended from different nations, or
from different families difperfed after the confufion of
tongues. No perfon will doubt the truth of this, who has
any knowledge of the multitude and great diverfity of the
American languages. In Mexico alone thirty-five have
already been difcovered."

But how did the inhabitants and animals originally pasf
to America ?

322 Old-time Schools and School-books

The quadrupeds and reptiles of the new world paffed
there by land. This fact is manifeft from the improba-
bility and inconfiftency of all other opinions.

This neceffarily fuppofes an ancient union between the
equinoxial countries of America and thofe of Africa, and
a connexion of the northern countries of America with
Europe on the E. and Afia on the W. The beafts of cold
climes paffed over the northern ifthmufes, which probably
connected Europe, America, and Afia; and the animals and
reptiles peculiar to hot countries pafled over the ifthmus
that probably connected S. America with Africa. Various
reafons induce us to believe that there was formerly a tract
of land which united the moft eaftern part of Brazil to the
moft weftern part of Africa ; and that all the fpace of land
may have been funk by violent earthquakes, leaving only
fome traces of it in that chain of iflands of which Cape de
Verd, Afcenfion, and St. Matthew's Ifland make a part.
In like manner, it is probable, the northweftern part of
America was united to the northeaftern part of Afia, and
the northeaftern parts of America to the northweftern parts
of Europe, by Greenland, Iceland, etc.

QUADRUPEDE ANIMALS within the United States:

Mammoth. This name has been given to an unknown
animal, whofe bones are found in the northern parts of
both the old and new world. From the form of their teeth,
they are fuppofed to have been carniverous. Like the ele-
phant they were armed with tufks of ivory ; but they obvi-
oufly differed from the elephant in fize; their bones prove
them to have been 5 or 6 times as large.

A late governor of Virginia, having afked fome dele-
gates of the Delawares what they knew refpecting this ani-
mal ; the chief fpeaker informed him that it was a tradition
handed down from their fathers, " That in ancient times
a herd of them came to the Big-bone licks, and began an
univerfal deftruction of the bears, deer, elks, buffaloes, and

The First American Geography 323

other animals which had been created for the ufe of the
Indians ; that the Great Man, above, looking down, and
feeing this, was fo enraged that he feized his lightning,
defcended to the earth, feated himfelf upon a neighboring
mountain, on a rock, on which his feat and the print of
his feet are ftill to be feen, and hurled his bolts among them
till the whole were flaughtered, except the big bull, who,
prefenting his forehead to the fhafts, fhook them off as
they fell ; but at length, miffing one, it wounded him in
the fide ; whereupon, fpringing round, he bounded over the
Ohio, the Wabafh, the Illinois, and finally over the great
lakes, where he is living at this day."

Sapajon, Sago'm. There are various fpecies of animals
faid to inhabit the country on the lower part of the Miffif-
fippi, called Sapajons and Sagoins. The former are capa-
ble of fupporting themfelves by their tails ; the latter are
not. They have a general refemblance to monkeys, but
are not fufficiently known to be particularly defcribed.

The sapajon and sagoin are not as mythical as
might be fancied from what the book says of them.
They both belong to the monkey tribe, but dwell
in South America instead of on the lower Missis-
sippi. Another curious item is this : —

Grey Squirrels fometimes migrate in confiderable num-
bers. If in their courfe they meet with a river, each of
them takes a fhingle, piece of bark, or the like, and car-
ries it to the water ; thus equipped they embark, and erect
their tails to the gentle breeze, which foon wafts them over
in fafety; but a fudden flaw of wind fometimes produces
a deftructive fhipwreck.

Fifty " quadrupede " animals are described in all,
and then we have a section devoted to " Birds."

324 Old-time Schools and School-books

Next "Amphibious Reptiles" are considered, after
that " Serpents," and finally " Fifties." Here are
sample paragraphs : —

The Wakon Bird, which probably is of the fame fpecies
with the Bird of Paradife, receives its name from the ideas
the Indians have of its fuperior excellence ; the Wakon
Bird being in their language the bird of the Great Spirit.
Its tail is compofed of four or five feathers, which are
three times as long as its body, and which are beautifully
fhaded with green and purple. It carries this fine length
of plumage in the fame manner as the peacock does his,
but it is not known whether, like him, it ever raifes it to
an erect pofition.

The Whltfaw is of the cuckow kind, being a folitary
bird, and fcarcely ever feen. In the fummer months it is
heard in the groves, where it makes a noife like the filing
of a faw.

Of the Frog kind are many fpecies. Pond frog, green
fountain frog, tree frog, bull frog. Befides thefe are the
dufky brown, fpotted frog of Carolina; their voice re-
fembles the grunting of fwine. The bell frog, fo called,
becaufe their voice is fancied to be exactly like that of a
loud cow bell. A beautiful green frog whofe noife is like
the barking of little dogs, or the yelping of puppies. A
lefs green frog, whofe notes refemble thofe of young
chickens. Little gray fpeckled frog, who make a noife
like the ftriking of two pebbles together under the furface
of the water. There is yet an extremely diminutive fpe-
cies of frogs, called by fome, Savanna crickets, whofe notes
are not unlike the chattering of young birds or crickets.
They are found in great multitudes after plentiful rains.

The Alligator is a very large, ugly, terrible creature, of
prodigious ftrength, activity, and fwiftnefs in the water.
They are from 12 to 23 feet in length ; their bodies are as

The First American Geography 325

large as that of a horfe. The head of a full-grown alli-
gator is about three feet long, and the mouth opens nearly
the fame length. The upper jaw only, moves, and this
they raife fo as to form a right angle with the lower one.
They open their mouths while they lie bafking in the fun,
on the banks of rivers and creeks, and when filled with
flies, mufketoes and other infects, they fuddenly let fall their
upper jaw with furprifing noife, and thus fecure their prey.

The Rattle Snake may be ranked among the largeft fer-
pents in America. If purfued and overtaken, they in-
ftantly throw themfelves into the fpiral coil ; their whole
body fwells through rage, their eyes are red as burning
coals, and their brandifhing forked tongues, of the colour
of the hotteft flame, menaces a horrid death.

The 'Joint Snake, if we may credit Carver's account of
it, is a great curiofity. Its fkin is as hard as parchment,
and as fmooth as glafs. It is beautifully ftreaked with
black and white. It is fo ftifF, and has fo few joints, and
thofe fo unyielding, that it can hardly bend itfelf into the
form of a hoop. When it is ftruck, it breaks like a pipe-
ftem ; and you may, with a whip, break it from the tail to
the bowels into pieces not an inch long, and not produce
the leaft tincture of blood.

Other snakes mentioned are the " Water Viper,
with a fharp thorn tail, Hog nofe Snake, Coach
Whip Snake, which the Indians imagine is able to
cut a man in two with a jerk of its tail, Ribbon
Snake, Glafs Snake, and Two-headed Snake."

In the list of fishes are noted the "Skip jack,
Minow, Shiner, Dab, Hard Head and Mummy-
chog." Of the Lamprey it is affirmed that

After the fpawning feafon is over, and the young fry
have gone down to the fea, the old fifhes attach themfelves

326 Old-time Schools and School-books

to the roots and limbs of trees, which have fallen or run
into the water, and there perifh. A mortification begins
at the tail, and proceeds upwards to the vital part. Fifh
of this kind have been found at Plymouth, in New Hamp-
fhire, in different ftages of purification.

When the general characteristics of the United
States have been dealt with. New England is taken
up, and we are informed that in this portion of the
republic —

Learning is more generally diffufed than in any other
part of the globe ; arifing from the excellent eftablifhment
of fchools in almoft every townfhip and fmaller diftrict.

A very valuable fource of information to the people is
the Newfpapers, of which not lefs than thirty thoufand are
printed every week, in New England.

Apples are common, and cider conftitutes the principal
drink of the inhabitants.

Each state is described in detail, including such
topics as " Religion, Military Strength, Literature,
Curiofities, Conftitution, and Hiftory." Bridges are
constantly referred to — even those over the smaller
rivers. We learn, for instance, that across the Pis-
cataqua in New Hampshire a few miles above Ports-
mouth " has been erected the moft refpectable bridge
in the United States, 2600 feet in length," at a cost
of nearly seventy thousand dollars. In Massachu-
setts ten bridges are listed that " merit notice," and,
it is added, " Thefe bridges are all fupported by a
toll."

Harvard University, the book says, " confifts of
four elegant edifices," and we are told that "In Wil-

The First American Geography.
Size of book, 12mo.

it oh

The First American Geography 327

.stown is another literary inftitution ftarted in
^o, partly by lottery and partly by the liberal
Cation of gentlemen of the town." Boston had
seven schools supported wholly at the public ex-
pense, " and in them the children of every clafs of
citizens freely affociate." Three of these were " Eng-
lifh grammar fchools in which the children of both
fexes, from feven to fourteen years of age are inftructed
in fpelling, accenting, and reading the Englifh lan-
guage with propriety ; alfo in Englifh grammar and
compofition, together with the rudiments of geog-
raphy." In three schools " the fame children are
taught writing and arithmetic. The fchools are at-
tended alternately, and each of them is furnifhed
with an Ufher or Affiftant. The mafters of thefe
fchools have each a falary of 666 2-3 dollars per
annum payable quarterly." Lastly there was the
" Latin grammar fchool " to which " none are
admitted till ten years of age."

The inhabitants of Boston at this time numbered
24,937. As usual in speaking of important places
a list is given of the " public buildings." There
were " 1 8 houfes for public worfhip, the ftate houfe,
court houfe, gaol, Faneuil Hall, a theatre, an alms
houfe, and powder magazine." The principal manu-
factures of the town were "rum, beer, paper hang-
ings, loaf fugar, cordage, fail cloth, fpermaceti and
tallow candles, and glafs."

The final states to be considered in the New Eng-
land section are " Rhode If land and Providence
Plantations," and Connecticut. Perhaps the most
interesting bit in this portion is the statement that

328 Old-time Schools and School-books

to Hartford, at the head of ship navigation on the
Connecticut River, was brought in boats the produce
of the country for two hundred miles above. Rail-
roads were as yet undreamed of, and right through
the book navigable streams and canals are treated
as of far more importance than they would be at
present.

Morse in his first edition devoted a paragraph to
the " Connecticut Inhabitants." Whether he aban-
doned it because it gave offence, I do not know. It
says : —

The people of this ftate are generally induftrious fagacious
hufbandmen ; generous and hofpitable to ftrangers, and good
neighbours. But they are characterifed for being intem-
perately fond of law fuits and little petty arbitrations. The
ladies are modeft, handfome, and agreeable, fond of imitat-
ing new and extravagant fafhions, neat and chearful, and
poffeffed of a large 1 hare of delicacy, tendernefs and fenfi-
bility. The above character may with juftice be given to
the ladies of the four New-England States.

Now we come to " The SECOND GRAND DIVISION
of the UNITED STATES." It comprised New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and " Territory
N. W. of the Ohio." Special attention is paid to
the climate of this tract, which the book says has

but one fteady trait, and that is, it is uniformly variable.
The changes of weather are great, and frequently fudden.
On the whole, it appears that the climate is a compound
of moft of the climates of the world. It has the moifture
of Ireland in fpring ; the heat of Africa in fummer; the
temperature of Italy in June ; the fky of Egypt in autumn ;

The First American Geography 329

the fnow and cold of Norway in winter ; the tempefts (in
a certain degree) of the Weft Indies, in every feafon ; and
the variable winds and weather of Great Britain in every
month in the year.

From this account of the climate, it is eafy to afcertain
what degrees of health, and what difeafes prevail. As the
inhabitants have the climate, fo they have the accute difeafes
of all the countries that have been mentioned.

Concerning New York City, the book says : —

A want of good water has been a great inconvenience to
the citizens ; there being but few wells in the city. Moft
of the people are fupplied every day with frefh water con-
veyed to their doors in cafks, from a pump at the head of
Queen-ftreet, which receives it from a fpring almoft a mile
from the centre of the city. This well is about 20 feet
deep, and 4 feet diameter. The average quantity drawn
daily from this remarkable well, is no hogfheads of 130
gallons each. In fome hot fummer days, 216 hogfheads
have been drawn from it, and what is very fingular, there is
never more or lefs than about three feet of water in the
well. The water is fold commonly at three pence a hogf-
head at the pump. The Manhattan Company was incor-
porated in 1798, for the purpofe of conveying good water
into the city, and their works are now nearly completed.

New York then had a population of sixty thou-
sand, which included about three thousand slaves.

In describing the "Territory N. W. of the Ohio"
a list is given of its forts " eftablifhed for the pro-
tection of the frontiers," and we are told that

both the high and low lands produce vaft quantities of nat-
ural grapes, of which the fettlers univerfally make a fuffi-
ciency, for their own confumption, of rich red wine. It is

Old-time Schools and School-books

afferted that age will render this wine preferable to moft of
the European wines. Cotton is the natural production of
this country, and it grows in great perfection.

Below are fragments of information about the
Southern States, " The THIRD and much the largejt
GRAND DIVISION of the UNITED STATES."

The city of WASHINGTON stands at the junction of the
rivers Patomak and the Eaftern Branch. The fituation of
this metropolis is upon the great poft road, equi-diftant from
the northern and fouthern extremities of the Union. The
public offices were removed to this city in the fummer of
1800, and here in future Congrefs will hold their feffions.

In the flat country near the fea-coaft of North Carolina,
the inhabitants, during the fummer and autumn, are fubject
to intermittent fevers, which often prove fatal. The coun-
tenances of the inhabitants during thefe feafons, have gen-
erally a pale yellowif h caft, occafioned by the prevalence of
bilious fymptoms.

A few years fince, Tenneffee abounded with large herds
of wild cattle, improperly called Buffaloes ; but the improvi-
dent or ill-difpofed among the firft fettlers, have deftroyed
multitudes of them, out of mere wantonnefs. They are
ftill to be found on fome of the fouth branches of Cumber-
land river. Elk or moofe are feen in many places, chiefly
among the mountains. The deer are become comparatively
fcarce ; fo that no perfon makes a bufinefs of hunting them
for their fkins only. Enough of bears and wolves yet
remain.

In Maryland, Virginia, and North-Carolina the inhabit-
ants are exceffively fond of the diverfion of horfe racing.
Every fpring and fall they have ftated races for three or four
days, which collect the fporting gentlemen from every part
of the country from 100 to 200 miles. Every poor peaf-

The First American Geography 331

ant has an horfe or two and all the family in ruins, with
fcarcely any covering or provif ions ; while the nag, with
two or three Negroes rubbing him, is pampered with luxu-
ries to the extreme of high living.

This last item is from the edition of 1784. I

make one more quotation from that edition under

the heading, " Spanifh Dominions in N. America,"

-that is, Florida and Mexico, — and then resume

consideration of the later book.

In California, there falls in the morning a great quantity
of dew, which, fettling on the rofe-leaves becomes hard like
manna, having all the fweetnefs of refined fugar, without
its whitenefs.

The greateft curiofity in the city of Mexico, is their
floating gardens. When the Mexicans, about the year
1325, were fubdued by the Colhuan and Tepanecan na-
tions, and confined to the fmall iflands of the lake, having
no land to cultivate, they were taught by neceffity to form
movable gardens, which floated on the lake. Their con-
ftruction is very fimple. They take willows and the roots
of marfh plants, and other materials which are light, and
twift them together, and fo firmly unite them as to form a
fort of platform, which is capable of fupporting the earth
of the garden. Upon this foundation they lay bufhes and
over them fpread the mud which they draw up from the
bottom of the lake. Their figure is quadrangular; their
length and breadth various, but generally about 8 rods long
and 3 wide ; and their elevation from the furface of the
water is lefs than a foot. Thefe were the firft fields that
the Mexicans owned, after the foundation of Mexico;
there they firft cultivated the maize, great pepper and other
plants neceffary for their fupport. From the induftry of
the people thefe fields foon became numerous* At prefent

332 Old-time Schools and School-books

they cultivate flowers and every fort of garden herbs upon
them. In the largeft gardens there is commonly a little
tree and a little hut, to fhelter the cultivator, and defend
him from the rain or the fun. When the owner of a gar-
den wifhes to change his fituation, to get out of a bad
neighborhood, or to come near to his family, he gets into
his little boat, and by his own ftrength alone, if the garden
is fmall, or with the affiftance of others if it be large, con-
ducts it wherever he pleafes.

Among the islands off the coast of South America
that are described is "Juan Fernandes 300 miles
weft of Chili," famous for its connection with Defoe's
Robinson Crusoe. The book tells how Alexander
Selkirk dwelt there and how he was finally rescued,
concluding with : —

During his abode on this ifland he had killed 500 goats,
which he caught by running them down ; and he marked
as many more on the ear, which he let go. Some of thefe
were caught 30 years after, their venerable afpect and ma-
jeftic beards difcovering ftrong fymptoms of antiquity.

Selkirk upon his return to England, was advifed to pub-
lifh an account of his life and adventures. He is faid to
have put his papers into the hands of Daniel Defoe, to
prepare them for publication. But that writer, by the help
of thofe papers, and a lively fancy tranfformed Alexander
Selkirk into Robinfon Crufoe, and returned Selkirk his
papers again ; fo that the latter derived no advantage from
them.

Part I of the geography closes with " New Dif-
coveries," which it declares " have been numerous
and important." Here is one : —

The First American Geography 333

The Northern Archipelago.^ This confists of feveral
groups of iflands fituated between the eaftern coaft of
Kamtfchatka and the weftern coaft of America.

The moft perfect equality reigns among thefe iflanders.
They feed their children when very young, with the coarf-
eft flefh, and for the moft part raw. If an infant cries,
the mother immediately carries it to the fea fide, and,
whether it be fummer or winter, holds it naked in the water
until it is quiet. This cuftom is fo far from doing the chil-
dren any harm that it hardens them againft the cold, and
they go barefooted through the winter without the leaft in-
convenience. The leaft affliction prompts them to fuicide ;
the apprehenfion of even an uncertain evil, often leads them
to defpair ; and they put an end to their days with great
apparent infenfibility.

A little farther on we find this about the people
of the Friendly Islands : —

Their great men are fond of a fingular kind of luxury,
which is, to have women fit befide them all night, and
beat on different parts of their body until they go to fleep ;
after which, they relax a little of their labour, unlefs they
appear likely to wake ; in which cafe they redouble their
exertions, until they are again faft afleep.

Part II is devoted to the eastern hemisphere. I
quote two paragraphs about Lapland : —

The employment of the women confifts in making nets
for the fifhery, in drying fifh and meat, in milking the rein-
deer, in making cheefe, and in tanning hides ; but it is
underftood to be the bufinefs of the men to look after the
kitchen, in which, it is faid, the women never interfere.

When a Laplander intends to marry a female, he, or his

334 Old-time Schools and School-books

friends, court her father with brandy ; when with fome
difficulty he gains admittance to his fair one, he offers her
a beaver's tongue, or fome other eatable, which fhe rejects
before company, but accepts of in private.

The father evidently enjoyed his part of the
courting and was loath to end his free supply of
liquor. " This prolongs the courtfhip fometimes
for three years," says the book.

I expected when I turned to the pages devoted
to Asia that I would find rats named as an article
of Chinese diet, but the rat myth seems to have
been of later growth. None of the geographies
refer to it until Peter Parley in 1830 shows a picture
of a pedler " selling rats and puppies for pies." In
spite of this lack Morse's information about the
Chinese is by no means uninteresting, as will be seen
by the cullings which follow : —

The Chinefe have particular ideas of beauty. They
pluck up the hairs of the lower part of their faces by the
roots with tweezers, leaving a few ftraggling ones by way
of beard. Their complexion towards the north, is fair,
towards the fouth, fwarthy ; and the fatter a man is they
think him the handfomer.

Language.^ The Chinefe language contains only 330
words, all of one fyllable : but then each word is pro-
nounced with fuch various modulations, and each with a
different meaning, that it becomes more copious than could
be eafily imagined, and enables them to exprefs themfelves
very well, on the common occafions of life.

The Chinefe pretend, as a nation, to an antiquity beyond
all meafure of credibility ; and their annals have been car-
ried beyond the period to which the fcripture chronology

The First American Geography 335

affigns the creation of the world. Poan Kou is faid by
them to have been the firft man ; and the interval of time
betwixt him and the death of the celebrated Confucius,
which was in the year before Chrift, 479, has been reck-
oned from 276,000 to 96,961,740 years.

The descriptions of Africa in Morse's book lack
defmiteness, except as regards Egypt and the north
coast. The rest of the continent, " from the Tropic
of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope/' is handled
in a single lump. Of the inland countries Abys-
sinia receives most attention, and we are told that —

The religion of the Abyffinians is a mixture of Chrif-
tianity, Judaifm and Paganifm ; the two latter of which
are by far the moft predominant. There are here more
churches than in any other country, and though it is very
mountainous, and confequently the view much obftructed,
it is very feldom you fee lefs than 5 or 6 churches. Every
great man when he dies, thinks he has atoned for all his
wickednefs, if he leaves a fund to build a church, or has
one built in his life-time.

The churches are full of pictures flovenly painted on
parchment, and nailed upon the walls. There is no choice
in their faints, they are both of the Old and New Teftament,
and thofe that might be difpenfed with from both. There
is St. Pontius Pilate and his wife ; there is St. Baalam and
his afs ; Sampfon and his jaw bone, and fo of the reft.

It makes the beginning of the nineteenth century
seem very barbaric when we read a few pages farther
on that —

In the Guinea or weftern coaft, the Englifh exchange
their woolen and linen manufactures, their hard ware and

336 Old-time Schools and School-books

fpirituous liquors, for the perfons of the natives. Among
the Negroes, a man's wealth confifts in the number of his
family, whom he fells like fo many cattle, and often at an
inferior price.

One page near the close of the volume estimates
the number of inhabitants in the world and forecasts
the probable population of the United States a
century later. It supposes that the number will
double every twenty years, and that therefore in
1900 we should be a nation of 160 millions.

In this forecast and in some other respects our
author fails to hit the mark, but whatever the book's
shortcomings, it was not dull, and it did admirable
service in introducing an important study into the
old-time schools.

XIII

LATER GEOGRAPHIES

THE old-time geographies until nearly the
middle of the last century were never larger
than i2mos and some of them were dimin-
utive 32mos. Up to 1820 they were as a rule
bound in full leather, but occasionally the wood or
binder's board of the sides was covered with dull
blue or marbled paper. Buff-tinted papers with
the title and more or less other printing on them
were substituted on nearly all the later books. Il-
lustrations also began to be used, at first sparingly,
but soon very generously ; and instead of being
designed for the older pupils the books were made
with special reference to the needs of the younger
children.

For a score of years after geographies began to
be introduced into the schools they depended largely
on the use of a globe to make clear the divisions of
the earth. It was not long, however, before nearly
every book was accompanied by an atlas, and this
continued customary to about 1850. Not many
of these atlases have survived. They were flimsily
made, with paper covers, and the wear and tear of
daily use made an end of them. The usual size
was either about six by nine inches or nine by eleven
z 337

33 8 Old-time Schools and School-books

inches. Comparatively little color was used on the
maps, and even at their newest the atlases must have
looked dull and uninteresting. To modern eyes the
oddest features of the maps are the vacant or mis-
taken outlines of the northern coasts of this con-
tinent, and the general blankness of all its western
portion, with Mexico making a great sweep up into
the present domains of our republic. Some of the
African maps, too, are given a strange appearance
by the portrayal of an immense line of mountains
— the " Jibbel Kumra or M? of the Moon " -ex-
tending in a continuous and perfectly straight chain
from east to west entirely across the broadest part
of the continent.

Jedidiah Morse was the pioneer among American
authors of school geographies, as I have explained
in the previous chapter. The earliest rival to con-
test the field with Morse's books was a small volume
of questions and answers compiled by Nathaniel
Dwight and published at Hartford in 1795. Our
own continent is confined to the final third of
Dwight's Geography, while Europe, Asia, and Africa
have the first two-thirds. How very remote and
unfamiliar many portions of the globe still were can
be judged from the fact that most of the capital
cities in Africa and some even in Asia and Europe
are located by giving their distance and direction
from London. Thus, " Peterfburgh the capital of
Ruffia is 1140 miles north-eaft from London.
Pekin the capital of China ftands eight thoufand
and fixty-two miles fouth-eafterly of London."
Monomotapa, the capital of a country of the same

Later Geographies 339

name " on the Tea-shore in the fouthern part of
Africa, is built with wood, covered with plafter and
ftands about 5,200 miles fouth-eafterly from Lon-
don." Other curious bits from the geography
follow : —

Q. What are the Ruffian funeral ceremonies ?

A. They are fingular : The prieft prays, and fprinkles
the corpfe for eight or ten days ; it is then buried with a
paffport to heaven, figned by the bifhop and another clergy-
man, which is put between the fingers of the deceafed, and
then the people return to the houfe whence they went, and
drown their forrow in intoxication. This they commonly
do for about forty days, during which time the prieft fays
prayers over the grave.

Q. Are there any lakes in Scotland ?

A. There are many ; but two are very remarkable :
One near Lochnefs is on the top of a hill almoft two
miles high. This lake is fmall, but it has never been
founded, nor does it ever freeze. About feventeen miles
diftant is another lake which is frozen all the year.

Q. What are the perfons and characters of the Scots ?

A. They are generally lean, raw-boned, and have high
cheek-bones, which is a characteriftical feature.

Q. What are the diverfions of the Scots ?

A. They are all of the vigorous, athletic kind ; such as
dancing, goff and curling. The gofF is a fpecies of ball-
playing performed with a bat and a ball, the extremity of
the bat being loaded with lead, and the party which ftrikes
the ball with feweft ftrokes into a hole prepared for the
purpofe wins the game.

Q. What are the cuftoms and diverfions of the Irifh ?

A. There are a few cuftoms exifting in Ireland peculiar
to this country. Thefe are their funeral howlings and pre-
fenting their corpfes in the ftreets to excite the charity of

34° Old-time Schools and School-books

ftrangers, their convivial meetings on Sunday, and dancing
to bag-pipes, which are ufually attended with quarreling.

Q. What curiofities are there in France ?

A. A fountain near Grenoble emits a flame which will
burn paper, ftraw, etc., but will not burn gun-powder.
Within about eight leagues of the fame place is an inac-
ceffible mountain in the form of a pyramid reverfed.

Q. What are the animal productions of Poland ?

A. Buffaloes, horfes, wolves, boars, gluttons, lynxes and
deer. Befides these there is elk, which is faid to be de-
ftroyed in the winter by flies who get into his ears and live
upon his brain.

Q. What curiofities are there in Portugal ?

A. There are lakes into which a stone being caft caufes
a rumbling like the noife of an earthquake.

Q. What do you obferve of the inhabitants of Guinea ?

A. They are chiefly pagans and idolaters. In Eyo,
where the people are governed by a king who is not abfb-
lute, when they are tired of him, a deputation waits on him
and informs him that it is fatiguing for him to bear the
burden of government any longer, advifing him to take a
little reft. He thanks them and retires to his apartment
as if to fleep, and directs his women to ftrangle him ; and
after he expires they deftroy all things which belonged to
him or to themfelves, and then kill one another. His fon
fucceeds to the government, and on the fame terms.

Q. Give a concife defcription of the Giages and Annians.

A. The first inhabit a part of the Congo coaft ; the
latter live in the Macaco. The people are cannibals. They
kill and eat their firft-born children ; and their friends who
die are eaten by their relations. The king of Macaco
refides in Monfol, where there is a market in which human
flefh is fold, although other meat exifts in plenty. They
efteem it a luxury, and it is faid an hundred prifoners or
flaves are daily killed for the king's table.

Later Geographies 341

Q. What are the characteriftics of the Hottentots ?

A. They are the moft abject of the human race. They
befmear their bodies with foot and greafe, live upon carrion,
old leather, fhoes, and everything of the moft loathfome
kind ; drefs themfelves in fheep's fkins, untanned, turning
the wool to their flefh in the winter, and the other fide in
the fummer. Their drefs ferves them for a bed at night,
for a covering by day, and for a winding-fheet when they
die.

Q. What is the temper of the New England people ?

A. They are frank and open, bold and enterprifing.
The women are educated to houfe-wifery, excellent com-
panions, and houfe-keepers ; fpending their leifure time in
reading books of ufeful information.

Q. What are their diverf ions ?

A. Dancing is a favorite one of both fexes. Sleigh-
riding in winter, and fkating, playing ball, gunning and
fif hing are the principal ; gambling and horfe-jockeying are
practiced by none but worthlefs people who are defpifed by
all perfons of refpectability, and confidered as nuifances in
fociety.

Q. Are there any flaves in Maffachufetts ?

A. NONE.

One geography that had a marked individuality
of its own was a thick little volume, mostly in verse,
entitled The Monitor s Instructor, published at Wil-
mington, Delaware, in 1804. Speaking of himself in
the third person in the introduction the author says,
" Unpractised in poetry in a great degree, he has ven-
tured thereupon supposing it to be, in general, rather
more taking, with youth, than prose ; and though
not the most flowery cast, it will, he hopes, answer
the end.'1

342 Old-time Schools and School-books

Now let the muse some incense bring,
As we the works of nature sing,

is the way he begins, and below are extracts culled
here and there from succeeding pages : —

America (our native) streams,
Shall first awhile become our themes,
Both lakes and rivers, great and small,
Which in th' Atlantic Ocean fall.

After naming the more important coast rivers, the
book remarks : —

Now o'er these streams thus having glanc'd,
And hastily, thus far advanc'd,
Not having left the sounding shore,
Next their main sources shall explore ;
And on the wing which poets feign,
Soar to each mount, skim o'er the plain,
To find the little purling rill,
And which the largest rivers fill.

******

One river, of enormous size,
To west of Mississippi lies. . . .
The river this call'd Missouri,
And tow'rd south-east its courses lie,

This river, from what I can see,
Can't less than the Ohio be.

Skipping to where the book is describing leading
towns, we find these lines: —

An island is well known to fame,
Manhattan is this island's name.

Later Geographies 343

On sou'west end New York doth stand,
Investing all that point of land. . . .
Not fully regular it's plann'd,
Yet very elegant and grand. . . .
The streets present diversity,
And suited to conveniency,
The Broadway has still more of taste
Than any street in all the place. . . .
A street three-score and ten feet wide,
And gently rising from the tide,
Its edifices bold and grand,
Present themselves on either hand ;
The most magnificent of all,
Known by the name of Fed'ral Hall,
For pleasantness, it is agreed,
And health, few places this exceed.
In summer come, on every side,
The cooling breezes from the tide.
For winter mildness few excel
This city, of same parallel.

In the prose portion of the book are several curi-
ous "paradoxes." Here is one of them : —

Three men went on a journey, in which, though their
heads travelled 1 2 yards farther than their feet, all returned
alive, with their heads on.

The Solution explains that " If any person should
travel round the globe, the space travelled by his
head will exceed that his feet travelled" by about
the number of yards mentioned.

The next geography from which I make selection
is by Benjamin Davies. It was published in 1813.

344 Old-time Schools and School-books

The first two paragraphs quoted come under the
heading " New Holland." This was the accepted
name of Australia until the middle of the nineteenth
century. The Dutch discovered the continent in
1616, but its size and shape were only vaguely
known until Captain Cook explored most of the
coast in 1770.

SOME suppose that this extensive region, when more
thoroughly investigated, will be found to consist of two,
three or more vast islands, intersected by narrow seas.

INHABITANTS. The black bushy beards of the men and
the bone or reed which they thrust through the cartilage of
the nose gives them a disgusting appearance ; which is not
improved by the practice of rubbing fish oil into their
skins as a protection from the air and moskitos ; so that in
hot weather the stench is intolerable. The women are
marked by the loss of the two first joints of the little fin-
ger of the left hand ; as they are supposed to be in the way
when they coil their fishing lines.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN THE UNITED STATES.
Travellers have observed a want of urbanity, particularly
in Philadelphia ; and in all the capital cities, an eager pur-
suit of wealth, by adventurous speculations in commerce,
by land-jobbing, banks, insurance offices, and lotteries.
The multiplication of inns, taverns and dram shops, is an
obvious national evil that calls loudly for legislative inter-
ference; for in no country are they more numerous or
more universally baneful. Schools are spread everywhere
through the well-settled parts of the country, yet the do-
mestic regulation of children and youth is not duly regarded.

LANGUAGE. The English language is the general one
of the union, and is cultivated with great assiduity in all
the principal cities and towns. All the classical authors in
the English language have been reprinted in America, many

Later Geographies 345

of them have passed through several editions, some with
great elegance and correctness.

BOSTON is built in a very irregular manner, on a penin-
sula, at the bottom of Massachusetts bay.

SOUTHERN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. The inquisitive
traveller as he progresses southward no longer beholds so
great a proportion of hardy, industrious, and healthy yeo-
manry, living on terms of equality and independence; their
domestic economy neat and comfortable ; their farms well
stocked ; and their cattle sleek and thriving. On the con-
trary he discovers the farmhouses more thinly scattered,
some of them miserable hovels ; the retreats of small pro-
prietors, who are too indolent or too proud to labour ; here
and there a stack of corn-fodder, and the cattle looking as
miserable as their owners. A few miles distant perhaps he
finds a large mansion house, the property of the lord of
two or three thousand acres of land, surrounded by 50 or
I oo negro-huts, constructed in the slightest manner; and
about these cabins swarms of black slaves. But it is just
to observe that many of the gentry are distinguishable for
their polished manners and education, as well as for their
great hospitality to strangers.

Cummings's Geography, 1814, apologizes in its
preface for adding another " to the number of
geographies, already so great as to obstruct, rather
than promote improvement." This preface is very
long, and is chiefly made up of directions " designed
to assist teachers, who have had but imperfect, or no
geographical instruction." It advises them to " let
the pupils always set with their faces towards the
north." Then with their maps before them they
will be in proper position to get the points of the
compass straight in their minds.

346 Old-time Schools and School-books

Early in the lessons we are informed that the
" Alleganies are in some places, immense masses
of rocks, piled one above another in frightful preci-
pices, till they reach the height of more than 10,000
feet above a level with the ocean." In reality not a
peak reaches 7000 feet.

During the previous decade Lewis and Clark had
made their journey across the continent, and we
now find mention of the "Stony Mountains." It
was a number of years before the name Rocky was
substituted for Stony. On the maps they were
sometimes labelled the Chippewan Mountains, and
Workman's Geography, in 1805, says the ranges "that
lie weft of the river St. Pierre are called the Shining
Mountains, from an infinite number of chryftal
ftones of an amazing fize with which they are cov-
ered, and which, when the fun fhines full upon them,
fparkle fo as to be feen at a very great diftance."

In the descriptions of the states, we learn from
Cummings that the western part of Pennsylvania
abounds with excellent coal, but we get no hint of
its having any commercial importance. Indeed, coal
mining as an industry did not begin until 1820.
Before that time coal was in the same category as
were petroleum and natural gas, which the book calls
" curiosities."

Concerning the Andes in South America, we are
told, " These amazing mountains, in comparison with
which the Alps are but little hills, have fissures in
some places a mile wide, and deep in proportion ;
and there are others that run under the ground, and
resemble in extent a province."

Later Geographies 347

When we come to Europe, we are made to realize
the intense cold of the Lapland winters by the state-
ment that, " In attempting to drink the lips are fre-
quently frozen to the cup." It is affirmed, too, that
if there is a crust on the snow, " The Laplander
travels with his reindeer in a sledge two or three
hundred miles a day." Another queer bit is this
about the roads in Flanders, an old-time province,
which included all the coast region of Belgium and
extended into France and Holland. " They are
generally a broad causeway, and run several miles in
a straight line till they terminate in a view of some
magnificent building." These views no doubt gave
pleasure, but I think I should have preferred to have
the roads continue.

Presently we find the following paragraph : —

In the ocean there are many dangerous whirlpools. That
called the Maehtroom, upon the coast of Norway, is consid-
ered as the most dreadful and voracious in the world.
A minute description of the internal parts is not to be
expected, since none, who were there, ever returned to
bring back information. The body of the waters, that
form this whirlpool, is extended in a circle about thirteen
miles in circumference. In the midst of this stands a rock
against which the tide in its ebb is dashed with inconceiv-
able fury. At this time it instantly swallows up every-
thing that comes within the sphere of its violence. No
skill in the mariner, nor strength of rowing, can work an
escape ; the vessel's motion, though slow in the beginning,
becomes every moment more rapid, it goes around in circles
still narrower and narrower, till at last it is dashed against
the rocks and instantly disappears. Nor is it seen again

348 Old-time Schools and School-books

for six hours ; till, the tide flowing, it is thrown forth with
the same violence with which it was drawn in. The noise
of this dreadful vortex still farther contributes to increase
its terror, which, with the dashing of the waters, makes
one of the most tremendous objects in nature."

In another geography of the period we learn that
even " the bellowing struggles of the whale have not
always redeemed him from the danger," and that
" the bottom is full of craggy spires." The real
maelstrom is caused by the current of the Great
West Fiord rushing between two of the Loffoden
Isles. Ordinarily it can be traversed without appre-
hension, but when the wind blows directly against
the current, the sea around for several miles is vio-
lently agitated and extremely dangerous.

Adams's Geography, 1818, is divided into three
parts — Part I, "Geographical Orthography," con-
sisting of ten pages of names of states, rivers, towns,
etc., to be used as spelling lessons; Part II, "A
Grammar of Geography," fifty pages, being an epit-
ome of main facts " to be committed to memory " ;
Part III, "A Description of the Earth," making
up the body of the book, " to be read in classes."
The first four excerpts are from Part II, the rest
from Part III.

A MOUNTAIN is a vast protuberance of the earth.

Europe is distinguished for its learning, politeness, gov-
ernment, and laws ; for the industry of its inhabitants, and
the temperature of its climate.

The White Mountains are the highest not only in New
Hampshire, but in the United States.

Switzerland is a small romantic country, lying upon the

Later Geographies

349

Alps, and is the highest spot in Europe. St. Gothard is the
highest mountain.

Navigation on the Mississippi is attended with many diffi-
culties and dangers, from the sudden crooks and bends in
the river, the falling in of its banks, and more especially
from the SAWYERS, so called, which are trees whose roots
have by some means become fastened to the bottom of the

Country 6'<ore, exhibiting the Productions of Furious Countries.

Frontispiece.

From Willard's Geography for Beginners, 1826.
Reduced one-third.

river, in such a manner, that, from the continual pressure
of the current, they receive a regular vibratory motion
from the resemblance of which to a saw-mill, they have
derived their name. Their motion is sometimes very quick,
and if they strike a boat, it is immediately upset or dashed
to pieces. Vessels are from five to thirty days on their
passage up to New Orleans, 87 miles ; although with a
favorable wind, they will sometimes descend in 12 hours.

350 Old-time Schools and School-books

From New Orleans to Natchez, 310 miles, the voyage
requires from 60 to 80 days. Ships rarely ascend above
that place. It is navigable for boats, carrying about 40
tons, and rowed by 18 or 20 men to the falls of St. Anthony.

Cataract of Niagara.

From Worcester's Elements of Geography, 1828.

The number of post-offices in the United States in 181 1,
was 2,043. Trie mail was carried 46,380 miles in stages,
and 61,171 miles in sulkies and on horseback.

Several mineral springs break forth in different parts of
the United States. The most celebrated are those of Sara-
toga and Ballstown in the state of New York. The latter
place is much frequented by gay and fashionable people, as
well as by invalids.

Beer is the common drink of the inhabitants of New York
State. The forests abound with bears, wolves, deer, and elks.

Many of the towns and plantations in Maine are desti-
tute of any settled minister. Missionaries sent among
them have been affectionately received.

Water is brought to Philadelphia in a subterraneous canal,

Later Geographies

351

from the Schuylkill, and is then raised by steam 30 or 40
feet to a reservoir on the top of a circular edifice, from
which it is distributed by bored logs to the different parts
of the city.

Pittsburg is supplied with foreign goods chiefly by land
from Philadelphia and Baltimore. The price of waggon
carriage this distance is from 5 to 6 dollars a hundred pounds
weight. The number of inhabitants, in 1810, was 4,768.

A decade later,
when Pittsburg had
a population of
seven thousand, the
geographies speak of
it as " one of the
greatest manufactur-
ing towns in the
Union."

I quote further
from Adams, begin-
ning with what he
has to say of "the
floating mills for
grinding corn, which
are frequently seen
on the Ohio River."

The mill is sup-
ported by two large
canoes, with the wheel

Natural Bridge of Virginia.

From Worcester's Elements of Geography, 1 828.

between them ; this is moored wherever they can find
the strongest current, nearest to the shore, by the force
of which alone the mill is put in operation. It is floated
up and down the river whenever a customer calls.

352 Old-time Schools and School-books

The exports from Ohio, consisting of flour, corn, hemp,
flax, beef, pork, smoked hams of venison, whiskey, peach
brandy, and lumber are mostly sent down the Mississippi
to New Orleans. Those boats which descend with the
produce rarely return, but on arriving at New Orleans, are
taken to pieces and sold for lumber.

Cincinnati is a pleasant, flourishing town. It contains
about 3,000 inhabitants. In this town is fort Washing-
ton, which commences the chain of forts extending to the
westward.

Detroit, the capital of Michigan Territory, is a place
of considerable trade, which consists chiefly in a barter of
coarse European goods with the natives for furs. The
town is surrounded by a strong blockade, through which
there are 4 gates. The streets are generally crowded with
Indians in the day time ; but at night they are all shut out
of the town, except such as get admittance into private
houses, and the gates are closed.

Whale Fishing.
From Worcester's Elements of Geography, 1 829.

Later Geographies

353

St. Louis, the capital of the Territory of Louisiana,
contains about 200 houses and is well fortified.

The people of Norway are justly famed for honesty and
industry, and retain their strength so long, that a Nor-
wegian is not supposed incapable of labour, till he is up-
wards of 100 years old. The inhabitants in some of the
interior parts it is said live till weary of life.

Treck-Shuit.
From Worcester's Elements of Geography, 1 829.

In all the northern parts of Russia the winter cold is
very terrible. Birds in the act of flying have sometimes
been known to drop down dead from the atmosphere in
consequence of it ; drivers of carnages are frequently
frozen to death upon their seats without being able to
change their position. At Petersburg, only two months
in the year are entirely free from snow.

The CONDOR is undoubted the largest bird that per-
vades the air. When it alights on the ground, or rises
from it, the noise it makes with its wings is such as to

354 Old-time Schools and School-books

terrify and almost to deafen any one who happens to be
near the place.

Among the animals peculiar to South America, the
most extraordinary is the SLOTH, or as it was called by
the way of derision, the swift Petre. It is about the size
of an ordinary monkey, but of a most wretched appear-
ance. It never stirs unless impelled by hunger; it is said
to be several minutes in moving one of its legs. Every
effort is attended with a most dismal cry. When this
animal finds no wild fruits on the ground, he looks out

with a great deal of pain for a tree well loaded, which he
ascends moving and crying, and stopping by turns. At
length, having mounted, he plucks off all the fruit and
throws it on the ground, to save himself such another
troublesome journey ; and rather than be fatigued in com-
ing down the tree, gathers himself in a bunch, and with
a shriek drops to the ground.

Bridges in Chili.
From Woodridge's Rudiments of Geography, \ 829.

A similar description of the sloth in Dwight's
Geography includes the statement that " It is so
many days travelling from one tree to another, that
it frequently grows lean during the journey."

Later Geographies

355

Peter Parley's Method of telling about Geography ',
1829, was a thin, square little book with leather back
and flexible pasteboard sides. For years it had an

PETER PARLEY

Going to tell about Geography.

Take care there ! take care boys ! if you run against my toe,
I'll not tell you another story !

Frontispiece to Peter Parley s Geography, 1 830.

immense circulation. The style is simple and collo-
quial ; there are numerous pictures and a variety of
maps and diagrams. Perhaps the portion best re-

356 Old-time Schools and School-books

membered by those who studied the book is a rhymed
review of the earlier lessons, beginning —

The world is round, and like a ball
Seems swinging in the air,
A sky extends around it all,
And stars are shining there.

Pains are taken to inculcate good morals and reli-
gion, and we find in treating of Asia considerable

English* A Chinese selling Rats and Puppies

for pies.

From Peter Parley's Geography, 1829.

Bible history with appropriate comments. " This
history," the author says, " is exceedingly interest-
ing, and is all true. A great part of the history of
almost all other nations is false ; but the Bible tells
us nothing but what is worthy of belief."

The Malte-Brun Geography, 1831, was also writ-
ten by "Peter Parley," but the materials for the
book were drawn chiefly from the large work by
the noted French geographer, whose name gives

Later Geographies

357

the book its title. Selections that show something
of the character of the book
and of the times follow: —

Occasional bands of white
hunters and trappers range the
Missouri Territory for furs.
Some of them extend their
expeditions to the foot of the
Rocky mountains, and some
to the shores of the Pacific.
The herds of buffaloes that are
seen in this territory sometimes
amount to 10,000 each. When
the herd is moving, the ground
trembles, and the grumbling and Norwegian.

bellowing of the multitude is From Peter Parley's Geography.

heard for miles.

It is probable that, ere long, roads will be cut across

White Bear.

From Olney's.4 Practical System of Modern Geography, 1831.

the Rocky mountains ; that lines of stages will convey
travellers from the shores of the Atlantic to the Pacific j

358 Old-time Schools and School-books

that the borders of the latter ocean will be occupied by
towns and villages ; and that the immense valleys of the

The Maelstroom.

From Olney's A Practical System of Modern Geography.

Missouri, the Arkansas and the Columbia, now given up
to the dominion of savages and wild beasts, will present all
the busy and varied scenes of a crowded population.

Winter in Canada.
From The Malte-Brun School Geography, 1831.

Paris sets the fashions for Europe, and in some meas-
ure for America. An immense trade is here carried on in

Later Geographies 359

articles of dress. Every week the female fashions are
changed, and every month there is a new cut for male
attire.

From Woodbridge's Universal Geography, 1833,
a large thick volume for advanced scholars, I make
this extract : —

In 1790 the extent of post-roads in the United States
was only 1875 miles; in 1827, it was 105,336. The
great roads are usually turnpikes constructed by the state
or incorporated bodies and supported by tolls. New Eng-
land, and the greater part of the Middle States, are inter-
sected in every direction by roads, which are usually well
constructed and in good repair.

In the sandy, alluvial country of the Atlantic coast
from New York to Florida, the roads are heavy, and not
easily improved. The scattered state of population has
prevented much attention to roads, in the states south of
Maryland : and frequent impediments are presented by the
want of bridges and causeways, over the streams and
marshes.

In the Western States, during the wet season, many
roads are scarcely passable for wheel carriages. The trav-
elling in these states is chiefly by steam boats, on their
noble rivers. The small streams are so variable that most
of them can be forded during the dry seasons, and bridges
are rarely built. The banks are high and steep, and the
difficulty of passage is often very great. During high water,
many of the streams become impassable, and the traveller
encounters serious dangers.

The most important post-road in the United States is
that which traverses the states on the Atlantic, a distance
of i, 800 miles, passing through all the principal towns from
Robbinstown in Maine to Florida.

360 Old-time Schools and School-books

A plan has recently been invented for constructing
roads with iron bars, or railways, on which the wheels of
carriages run so easily that they may be drawn from 15 to
30 miles an hour, by means of locomotive steam engines.

Peter Parley, in one of his geographies published
in 1837, says of the railroads : — ^

Progress of Improvement.
From The Malte-Brun School Geography, 1 842.

They are found so useful, that, for carrying passengers
from one place to another, they have, on many routes, taken
the place of stage-coaches. When the cars first began to
run, it was amusing to see the astonishment of the horses and
cattle, as the engines came snortfng, smoking and puffing
over the road. You have heard of the rail road from Bos-
ton to Worcester. Near the latter place is an Insane Hospi-
tal, which commands a view of the road. When the first
car came into Worcester, a crazy man was looking out of
the window. " Upon my word," said he, " that's a strange-
looking beast and travels desperate fast for such a short-
legged crittur."

Later Geographies

361

Scene in Illinois.
From The Malte-Brun School Geography, 1842.

Peter Parley's National Geography, 1845, was
the earliest, I believe, to take the large, flat quarto

Pilgrims landing at Plymouth.
From Goodrich's/1 National Geography, 1845.

shape. This form enabled it to include good-sized
maps and do away with the necessity for a separate

362 Old-time Schools and School-books

atlas; and in a few years the I2mos had been en-
tirely abandoned. The chapters of the National
Geography were enlivened with poetical introduc-
tions, and there were occasional other verses. The
following selection, the last I have to make from the
geographies of our forefathers, is this jingle descrip-
tion of " a general custom of moving, in the city of
New York, on the first of May."

Bustle, bustle ! Clear the way !
He moves, they move, we move, to-day ; —
Pulling, hauling, fathers calling,
Mothers brawling, children squalling,
Coaxing, teasing, whimpering, prattling ;
Pots and pans and kettles rattling;
Tumbling bedsteads, flying bedspreads,
Broken chairs, and hollow wares,
Strew the streets — 'Tis moving day !

Battle of Lexington.

From Mitchell's A System of Modern Geography, 1850.

XIV

GRAMMARS, HISTORIES, AND MINOR TEXT-BOOKS

THE two most successful makers of text-books
in the period immediately following the
Revolution were Noah Webster and Caleb
Bingham. The former's spelling-book outstripped
the latter's Child's Companion, but none of Bingham's
books were failures, and his American Preceptor and
the Columbian Orator were more widely used than
Webster's readers or any others.

Caleb Bingham was born in what was then the
new town of Salisbury in the northwestern corner
of Connecticut in 1757. Many Indians still dwelt
in the vicinity, and they were of such doubtful char-
acter that the people had always to be on their guard
against a treacherous assault. Sundays the pioneers
went to church armed ; and the log structure used
for a meeting-house had portholes, and a sentinel
was stationed at the door. These frontier conditions
gave little chance for education, but tradition says
Caleb studied with the minister and thus prepared
for college. He entered Dartmouth in 1779, and
as soon as he graduated began to teach.

He came to Boston in 1784, and established a
school for girls, but presently gave this up and
taught in the public schools of the city. Still later
he became a bookseller and publisher. He was an
old-fashioned man, and almost to the time of his

363

364 Old-time Schools and School-books

death, in 1817, went about attired in a cocked hat
and small clothes, white vest and stock, and black
silk stockings. In summer he wore shoes with sil-
ver buckles, and in winter white-topped boots.

Next to his reading-books, Bingham's most famous
publication was " The Young Lady's Accidence : or a
fhort and eafy Introduction to Englifh Grammar.
Defigned principally for the ufe of young Learners,
more efpecially thofe of the FAIR SEX, though
proper for either." The title-page also contained
this couplet : —

Delightful tafk ! to rear the tender thought,
To teach the young idea how to fhoot. —

The date of the first edition was 1799. The book
treats the subject with admirable simplicity and clear-
ness, the type is good, and the little volume is a very
pleasing contrast to the dull, crowded pages of nearly
all the other grammars of the time. A hundred
thousand copies are said to have been sold. It was
the first English grammar used in the Boston schools,
and was one of. the earliest grammars ever prepared
by an American author, its only predecessor of im-
portance being Part II of Webster's Grammatical
Institute. Both these books gave place to the gram-
mar by Lindley Murray, which in its numerous
abridgments was used for several decades almost
to the exclusion of every other work dealing with
the subject. Murray was born in Pennsylvania in
1745, and as a young man acquired considerable
reputation and wealth as a lawyer in New York City.
But in 1784 he went to England to reside, and it

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 365

was there he wrote his grammar, published in 1795,
and his several other school-books brought out
within the next few years. Mr. Murray is described
as modest in manner, humane and generous, and, in
spite of bad health, unfailingly cheerful. His books
were all works of solid merit, though not very pala-
table to children. The grammar looks dreary to the
last degree now, and it must have had something of
the same aspect even in the heyday of its popularity.
There is a tradition that a friend of the author's once
said to him, "Of all contrivances invented for puzzling
the brains of the young your grammar is the worst,"
and this anecdote is quite believable. Murray, how-
ever, introduced system into the treatment of the
subject, and is known not unjustly as " the father of
English Grammar."

PRONOUNS.

A man has stolen a bundle, and he is running away
with it.

Here he and it are pronouns, because they stand
for nouns, and save the trouble of repeating them.
If it were not for the pronouns, we should have to
say, a man has stolen a bundle, and the man is run-
ning away with the bundle ; but the pronouns
save the necessity of repeating the words man and
bundle.

From Murray's Grammar, adapted to the present mode of Instruction by Enoch Pond,

1835.

366 Old-time Schools and School-books

INTERJECTIONS.

The study had been adopted in nearly all the
schools by 1810, yet few teachers explained its in-
tricacies or did more than make it a drill. The
pupils understood little of what the books were in-
tended to impart, and their interest
was always at the ebb. It is
related of a Pennsylvania school,
about 1795, that some scholars,
after a short experience with the
new study, finding they could
make nothing of it, got parental
sympathy in their troubles and each
OH ! my poor brother, came to the master with the report
From Enoch Pond's Murray's ^at : " Daddy says I needn't larn

Grammar. T J, J ,,

grammar. It s no use.

That particular master was a grammatical enthu-
siast and would not let them off. He tried to give
the science practical application, and for the purpose
of correcting the boys' language while they were at
play, he whittled a small piece of thin board into the
shape of a paddle. Whenever a boy used a wrong

expression.

PASSIVE VERBS.

had to step aside

and take the

paddle, and he

could not play

again until he M? knife has been °Pened

detected some

other lad in a grammatical mistake. Then the badge

of interdiction was transferred. As a result of this

system the scholars became very critical and made

marked improvement in their speech.

My scissors have been ground.

From Enoch Pond's Murray's Grammar.

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 367

ADVERBS.

The ship sails SMOOTHLY,

The most attractive edition of Murray's Gram-
mar was " one adapted to the present mode of in-
struction," by Enoch Pond, Worcester, 1835, a tnm
little volume with many small engravings illustrating
the parts of speech.
Another illustrated
text-book dealing
with this subject was
The Little Gram-
marian. It was of
English origin, but
was republished in
New York in 1829.
The text made clear
" the leading rules
of syntax in a series
of instructive and
amusing tales."

The pictures con-

, r r , The cars go SWIFTLY.

sisted of twelve From Enoch Pond,s Murray. s Grammar.

half-page steel en-
gravings made to accompany the stories. The author
says of his system that he is trying to make agree-
able " a subject naturally dry and tedious in the same
way that the skilful apothecary gilds his pill and
colors the otherwise nauseous draught." Each
chapter takes a part of speech, and the narrative in
that chapter has that part of speech printed in italics
as often as it occurs. These emphatic words occur
so often they make the text pages look very queer.
Just how effective this method is can be judged from
the specimen which follows : —

368 Old-time Schools and School-books

THE ROBBER AND LITTLE ANN.

Some few years back, a poor man, living on one of the
moors in the North of England, whilst busily employed in
cutting turf, was cruelly beaten by an impious man, because
he would not give him his watch and the little money he
had in his pocket.

The Assault.
From The Little Grammarian, 1 829.

His little girl (about three years old) had been to visit
him, and was asleep on a bed of heath at the time her father
was attacked ; but his cries awoke her just in time to catch
a sight of the barbarous thief, as he turned away from the
mangled and almost lifeless body of her parent. Poor little
Ann cried most bitterly as she assisted her poor father in
his efforts to reach home, which, after more than an hour's
toil, he accomplished.

A year or two later little Ann saw the assailant at an inn
and ran into her father's hut in great affright, and called

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 369

out, as she swooned away, " I have seen the man " ; more
she could not say for tears and faintness. Her mother said
to her husband, " Did you not hear her say the man ? If

A Coach WITH four horses going FROM Boston TO
Providence, WITH passengers ON the outside.

Prepositions.
From The Little Grammarian, 1 829.

she had said a man, I should have thought some silly fellow
had been playing tricks with the child. Surely, John, she
has not seen the man who lamed and robbed you ? "

A beautiful A. more beautiful The most beautiful
BIRD. BIRD. BIRD.

The Comparison of Adjectives.
From The Little Grammarian-

John hastened to the inn, and arrived in time to secure
the man who had assaulted him. The man was taken to
prison ; and in a few months was sent from England for
life, to repent himself in toil in a distant land for the crimes

Old-time Schools and School-books

VERBS.

he had wrought in his own. Now, had Little Ann used a
instead of the in her alarm ; the thief would have escaped

before she had been able
to tell her parents what
she really meant : hence
learn the great difference
between a or an and the.

A Boston edition of
The Little Grammarian
was also published, but
a good deal of matter
was added, and, instead
of illustrating the
stories, the pictures

were confined to showing the meaning of the parts

of speech.

A very fully illustrated book dealing with a sub-

Active. Passive. Neitter.

From The Little Grammarian.

Girl learning her lesson.

Description of picture. Old-fashioned furniture. Girl's attention
not diverted by her pets. She seems to have nearly learned her lesson
and to be just ready to start for her.schopj.

From Frost's Easy Exercises in Composition, 1 839.

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 371

ject allied to grammar was Frost's Easy Exercises in
Composition. There were two or three pictures to a
page right through the first half of the book, each
with a few lines of suggestion under them. By this
combination of pictures and short hints the pupils
were expected to speedily and easily acquire " the
art of expressing their ideas in writing."

Children promised a summer holiday.

Description. Pleasure of anticipating a holiday. Inducement to
study hard, and behave well.

From Frost's Easy Exercises in Composition-

History was not taken up in the schools until the
nineteenth century was well begun. One of the
earliest histories of the United States, prepared for
school use, was "by a citizen of Mass.," who states
in his preface that, " while our schools abound with
a variety of reading-books for children and youth,
there has never yet appeared a compendious History
of the United States fitted for our common schools."

372 Old-time Schools and School-books

This was 1821. The book was a small volume in
full leather without maps or illustrations.

The next year the Rev. C. A. Goodrich published
his history, which for a Jong time surpassed all rivals

Capt. John Smith defending himself from the In.
dians.

From Goodrich's A History of the United States, 1832.

in popularity. Within a dozen years one hundred
and fifty thousand copies had been sold. It ap-
peared in various editions, some entirely lacking
pictures and none with more than a few insignificant
cuts until 1832. Then it was produced in a thick
I2mowith forty-eight engravings and a map. Good
paper was used and the pictures were excellent for
the time, and very well printed.

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 373

In 1832, also, Noah Webster put forth a school
History of the United States, to which was " prefixed
a brief Account of our [English] Ancestors, from
the dispersion at Babel, to their Migration to Amer-
ica." The book ends with the adoption of the
Constitution, because, as Mr. Webster explains,
" An impartial history cannot be published during
the lives of the principal persons concerned in the
transactions related, without being exposed to the
charge of undue flattery or censure ; and unless

Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor,

From Goodrich's A History of the United States.

history is impartial, it misleads the student, and
frustrates its proper object/' The individuality
of the book is farther emphasized by a chapter of
"Advice to the Young" -economical, moral and

374 Old-time Schools and School-books

religious — which the author hopes will "serve, in
a degree, to restrain some of the common vices of
our country."

Other early school histories of the United States
which attained more or less circulation were Hale's,
Taylor's, Olney's, and Peter Parley's, the last run-
ning up into hundreds of editions. The study of
history was not confined wholly to the story of our
own nation. Several universal histories were pub-
lished. Butler's, the earliest to be brought out,
included, according to the title-page, " History, Sa-
cred and Profane, from the Creation of the World,
to the year 1818, of the Christian Era." It was
very Biblical, the author's " first object through the
whole work being to show the influence and impor-

Punishment of a man from Billericafwho purchased a gun
fromjaj$rilishsoldierjn Boston, March, 1775.

From Taylor's A Universal History of the United States, 1830.

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 375

tance of religion — to contrast particularly the reli-
gion of Christ and his Apostles, with the religion of

Capture of the Frolick, October 18, 1812.

From Taylor's A Universal History of the United States.

the Popes and Mahomet; and to show that Martin
Luther was the angel of the gospel for the age in
which he lived, and will continue to be the angel of
the gospel until the millennial day." The book is
illustrated with a number of full-page copper-plate
engravings. The one reproduced purports to be a
representation of Moscow in flames. The flames
are genuine enough, .but the city, with its clap-
boarded houses and slender church spires, bears a

376 Old-time Schools and School-books

suspicious resemblance to the American towns of
the period.

Of the other early Universal Histories I will only
speak of that by Rev. Royal Robbins, published
at Hartford in 1835. ^ te^s tne scriptural story

Landing of Columbus.
From Frost's A History of the United States, 1837.

of the Creation, "about 5829 years ago," and then
mentions, " as a matter of curiosity," a few theories
of philosophers and others which do not agree with
the Bible narrative. I quote two of these theories
and add a few paragraphs from subsequent pages of
the book about Adam and Eve.

The negroes of the Congo affirm, that the world was
made by the hands of angels, excepting their own coun-
try, which the Supreme Being constructed himself; that
he took great pains with the inhabitants, and made them
very black and beautiful ; and when he had finished the
first man, he was well pleased with him, and smoothed
him over the face ; and hence his nose, and the noses of
all his descendants became flat.

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 377

"Conflagration of Moscow."
From Butler's Sketches of Universal History, 1818.

Darwin, an infidel, in accounting for the origin ot the
world, supposes that the mass of chaos suddenly exploded,
like a barrel of gunpowder, and in that act exploded the

378 Old-time Schools and School-books

sun, which in its flight, by a similar convulsion, exploded
the earth, which in like manner exploded the moon, and
thus, by a chain of explosions, the whole solar system was
produced and set in regular motion.

Adam and Eve, the names of the first human pair,
were placed by the Diety, in the garden of Eden. It is
evident that Eden was east of Canaan ; but the most ex-
travagant opinions have been entertained on this subject,
and not only the four quarters of the globe, but even the

Demosthenes declaiming upon the Sea-shore.
From Whelpley's Compend- of History, 1825.

air and the moon, have been conjectured to include this
delightful abode. •

The innocence and felicity of the first pair were of
very short duration. They violated, with daring impiety,
the sole command of their Maker. The precise time of
this transaction cannot be determined ; but it was prob-
ably only a few days after their creation.

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 379

The story goes on until we come to the flood,
which we are assured must have happened because,
"In agreement with the universal voice of tradition,
the surface of the earth, in various respects, indicates
the occurrence of such a catastrophe. Its broken
state, the disposition of its strata, and the remains
of marine productions on the tops of the highest
mountains, are no doubtful evidence on this subject."

In the second quarter of the nineteenth century,
not only did books multiply, but also the subjects
included in the school curriculum. I have noted
all the studies ordinarily taken up, but occasionally

1 Labyrimhidon. 2 Dinotheriutn. 3 Birds.

Frontispiece to Godding's First Lessons in Geology, 1 846.

380 Old-time Schools and School-books

others were introduced, such as botany, geology,
natural philosophy physiology, etc. Economics
was even included in the curriculum of some schools.
The most individual of early text-books dealing
with this topic was The Young American by S. G.
Goodrich, a simple and entertaining dissertation on
"government and law; showing their history, nature,
and necessity." It had the usual merits of " Peter
Parley's " books, and without reaching any very

Taking a thief to prison.
From Gocdrich's The Young American, 1842.

superior or lasting excellence was easy of compre-
hension and reasonably authoritative. The interest
was much increased by numerous pictures. Another
book, dealing with the more profound things of life,
and yet nevertheless much in vogue in the old dis-
trict schools, was The Improvement of the Mind by
Isaac Watts. It was a lengthy disquisition on the
acquiring of knowledge and character. The book
was generally spoken of as "Watts on the Mind,"

Grammars, Histories, and Minor Text-books 381

and the title was so printed on the back of the
volume. To the younger scholars the title was a
puzzle. They could understand having " watts "
on the hand, or even "watts" on the nose; but to
have " watts " on the mind did not seem possible.

Neither this book nor the others concerned with
advanced and special studies impressed themselves
on the pupils as did the more elementary studies
which have been particularly my theme. With few
exceptions all the books showed narrowness and
crudity, but time brought a steady improvement.
By 1850 the formative period in the manufacture of
school-books was over ; yet while the later books are
much better than the old, they have not the pictu-
resque interest and antiquarian charm that belong to
beginnings, and they do not come within the scope
of this record of Old-time Schools and School-
books.

The Land of Heather

By CLIFTON JOHNSON
Illustrated Crown 8vo Cloth Extra gilt top $2.00 net

The latest addition to the author's foreign series of Highways and Byways — and
destined to be one of the most popular; for there is no country which appeals more
forcibly to the imagination than Scotland. Its glens and hills, its woods and shrubby
hollows, its noisy streams and mountain-girded lochs, have won the affection of the whole
English-speaking race. Mr. Johnson's new book, through its sympathetic text and many
beautiful pictures, brings the real Scotland vividly to the reader, not only in its varied
landscape, but in the home life of the people. Scotch village life and the ways of the
farm folk and cottagers have probably never been portrayed with more entertaining
faithfulness. .

New England and its Neighbors

By CLIFTON JOHNSON

Witb over 100 Illustrations by the Author

Crown 8vo Cloth Gilt top $2.00 net

" Mr. Johnson is a keen observer; he knows how to describe the scenes he visits and
the people he meets. The student of American life outside of urban boundaries could
not ask for a better guide." — Brooklyn Eagle.

" A book that ranks with the best in the author's long list of entertaining and pictu-
resque works. Every phase of the New Englander's existence is touched, and one feels
he is listening to a sympathetic interpreter of things. Mr. Johnson's literary style is
direct, and his word-pictures vivid. The result is a book that will doubtless give long
delight." — Denver Republican.

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

AMONG ENGLISH HEDGEROWS

By CLIFTON JOHNSON

Witt an Introduction by HAMILTON W. MABIE
Illustrated. Cr. 8vo. Cloth extra. Gilt top. $2.25

" ' Among English Hedgerows ' is one of the most beautiful of illus
trated books, containing, as it does, a great number of half-tone repro-
ductions of Mr. Johnson's admirable photographs.

"The author, as far as possible, lived the life of the people who figure in
these pages, and we have delightful accounts of village characters, and
glimpses of quaint old English homes.

" Hamilton W. Mabie, who furnishes the introduction, well summarizes
Mr. Johnson's merits as ' a friendly eye, a hearty sympathy, and a very
intelligent camera, and that love of his field and of his subject which is
the prime characteristic of the successful painter of rural life and country
folk.' " — Illustrated Buffalo Express.

ALONG FRENCH BYWAYS

By CLIFTON JOHNSON
Illustrated. Cr. 8vo. Cloth extra. Gilt top. $2.25

"A book of leisurely strolling through one of the most picturesque
countries of Europe, enlivened with description and anecdote, and pro.
fusely illustrated. . . . Mr. Johnson is not only a delightful writer, but is
one of the best landscape photographers of whom we have knowledge." —
Boston Transcript.

"This book shares the merits of Mr. Johnson's 'Among English Hedge-
rows ' : simplicity of theme and treatment, sympathy and love of nature."
— The Mail and Express.

" A book of strolling, a book of nature, a book of humble peasant life
intermingled with the chance experiences of the narrator." — The Worcester

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

66 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK

The Isle of the Shamrock

By Clifton Johnson

Author of "Among English Hedgerows," " Along French Byways," etc.

Fully Illustrated. Crown 8vo. Gilt top. Boxed. $2.00 net

(t One of the most informing books about Ireland and the conditions
of the Irish folk in the country and small towns that has been pub-
lished in a long time. ' ' — Brooklyn Eagle.
ft Deserves to be read and remembered."

— Louisville Courier-Journal.
"For more kindly appreciation no people could ask."

— Chicago Tribune.
"A. most interesting book, full of sketches and anecdotes."

— London Daily News.

Don Quixote

By Miguel De Cervantes

Edited by Clifton Johnson
For School and Home Reading

With Ten Illustrations by George Cruiksbank. Cloth. I2mo. 75 cents

tf An admirable piece of editing has been done by Clifton Johnson.
He has omitted the obnoxious portions and many of the unpleasant
details which made the original objectionable. The result is a pleas-
ant, readable story, in every way wholesome and attractive."

— The Chautauquan.

The Macmillan Company
66 Fifth Avenue, - New York

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

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