Old-time schools and school-books . have been describ-ing, both in title and text, was the Childs Instructerand Moral Primer, published at Portland, Maine,in 1822. The stories in it have to do mostlywith such children as Timothy Trusty, who isvery desirous to learn; Patty Primp, whosenotion 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 wouldthink were not washed once in a fortnight ; andTom Nummy, who hates his book as bad as therod. Some of the other sugge
Old-time schools and school-books . have been describ-ing, both in title and text, was the Childs Instructerand Moral Primer, published at Portland, Maine,in 1822. The stories in it have to do mostlywith such children as Timothy Trusty, who isvery desirous to learn; Patty Primp, whosenotion 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 wouldthink were not washed once in a fortnight ; andTom Nummy, who hates his book as bad as therod. Some of the other suggestively named char-acters are Tim Delicate, Charles Mindful, CarolineModesty, Susy Pertinence, Cynthia Spindle, andJack Fisty-Cuff. Except for Cynthia, you knowwhat to expect of each without further details. To indicate how scarce elementary readers werein the first quarter of the nineteenth century, Iquote from the preface to Leavitts Easy Lessons inReading, Keene, New Hampshire, 1823 :—? 240 Old-time Schools and School-books. Eager Students. A title-page vignette in Leavitts EasyLessons, 1847. The compiler has been excited to the present under-taking by representations that there is no reading book tobe found at the bookstores, suitable for young children, tobe used intermediately, between the Spelling-Book and the z~. .__^^-.^-^ English or American Reader. The Testament is muchused for this purpose; and,on many accounts, it is ad-mirably adapted for a read-ing book in schools. But itis respectfully submitted tothe experience of judiciousteachers, whether the pe-culiar structure of scripturelanguage is not calculatedto create a tone ? I am persuaded it would be better toplace a book in the hands of learners, written in a morefamiliar style. Such a work, I flatter myself, will be foundin the following pages. The selections contain manysalutary precepts and instructive examples, for a life ofpiety and morality, of activity and usefulness. Mr. Leavitt later supplemented his Ea
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