SOME RHETORICAL ASPECTS OR THE i.!C GUFFEY READERS

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillm ent of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State U n i v e r s i t y

By

JOHN THOMAS RICKEY, B .S ., M.A.

The Ohio State U niversity 1955

Approved by:

Adviser Department of Speech TABLE OP CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I . INTRODUCTION...... 1

I I . THE PROBLEM AMD DEFINITION OP TERMS ..... 6

I I I . INFLUENCES CONTRIBUTING TO W. H. MCGUFFEY'S PREPARATION FOR THE COMPOSING OF THE READERS. 13

I V . EARLY INFLUENCES CONTRIBUTING TO ALEXANDER H. MCGUFFEY *3 PREPARATION FOR COMPOSING THE FIFTH READER...... 36

V. INFLUENCES OF WINTHROP B . SMITH ON THE PREPARATION AND SUCCESS OF THE MCGUFFEY READERS...... 48

V I. INFLUENCES OF THOSE WHO REVISED THE MCGUFFEY READERS ON THEIR CONTINUED SUCCESS...... 61

V II. INFLUENCES AFFECTING THE SELECTION OF MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS IN THE MCCUFFEY READERS ...... 70

V I I I . WILLIAM HOLMES MCGUFFEY'S PLAN OF SELECTION AND REJECTION OF THE PROSE AND POETRY MATERIALS FOR THE READERS...... 97

I X . THE COMPOSITION OF THE AUDIENCE OF THE MCCUFFEY READERS AND THE RHETORICAL EFFEC­ TIVENESS OF THE READERS ON THAT AUDIENCE. . . 119

X . SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...... 136

BIBLIOGRAPHY...... 14-4

11 I

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION'

Throughout the part of the United States which is west of the Alleghenies, the name McGuffey was a household word for the final two-thirds of the nineteenth century*

Many of our elders still join McGuffey clubs to recite the selections from their favorite readers. Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, still holds annual National Conventions of the Federation of McGuffey Societies* The programs come from the McGuffey Readers and Spellers.

The educational aspects of the Readers which inspired this prolonged interest have been investigated frequently.

The rhetorical importance of these books has not been the subject of intense scrutiny, however. Such a study is the province of this thesis.

Is a study such as this one a rhetorical study?

Most of the rhetorical studies which I have read, and most of the books and articles dealing with rhetorical analysis and criticism, concern the orator and the structure, style and delivery of his speeches in certain surroundings.

However, a study may be rhetorical without having a speaker to analyze. An author and his works may be the subject of rhetorical study.

1 2

In discussing some problems of scope and method In rhetorical scholarship, Bryant sees a place for such studies as this one in the history of public address. He says, Perhaps only one or two specific and limited studies need to be made, to give order and movement to a whole series of forces and Influences. Perhaps a study of the contents and vogue of the McGuffey Readers would be sufficient to provide the necessary connection between what Is already known and under­ stood of American literature in the mid-nineteenth century and the knowledge we seek of the state of popular culture at that time. . . • The larger con­ ceptions of the history of public address must still depend upon the co-operative efforts of many scholars for realization.

According to Bryant, then, a study of the contents and vogue of the McGuffey Readers would fa ll within the prov­ ince of rhetorical scholarship.

Griffin does not mention McGuffey specifically as

Bryant did In the quotation above. However, he does talk of just this type of study when he says, . . . a need exists for further background studies in the development of theories of rhetoric and public opinion, and in the history of the teaching of rhetoric as well . . . a need for a body of period and regional-period studies which w ill give us specific demonstrations of the integration of theory and practice.**

Donald C. Bryant, "Some Problems of Scope and Method in Rhetorical Scholarship,” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 25:187, April,' 1937. ------2 Leland M. Griffin, ”The Rhetoric of Historical Movements," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 28:187, April, 1952. According to Griffin, then, this study of the McGuffey

Readers is needed in the rhetorical field if it is a back­ ground study in the development of theories of rhetoric and public opinion, or in the history of the teaching of rhetoric* It is both of these. It is also a regional- period study, which he says is needed, giving specific demonstrations of the integration of theory and practice.

Further searching to determine whether or not such a study as this one of iVicGuff ey ’ s Readers could leg iti­ mately be considered a rhetorical study revealed other substantial support. Thonssen and Baird point to George M.

Trevelyan’s Life of John Bright as a most successful use of rhetorical criticism . Although we are dealing with the rhetorical aspects of a series of readers Instead of the biography of an ora to r, some of the same r h e to r ic a l principles apply. Trevelyan defends his use of Bright’s speeches as follows:

Not by administration or legislation, not by arguing in the Cabinet or sharing in the counsels of the party, but by his public orations as a private citizen he profoundly modified English politics and the relations and balance of English classes.

We might paraphrase this quotation to make it apply to the authors and editors of the McGuffey Readers as regards

George M. Trevelyan, The life of John Bright, (Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company, 19137, p. 4. 4 rhetorical principles. It would read something like this:

Not by educational administration or legislation, not by arguing in the pulpit or university board meetings, but by the writing of their readers they profoundly modified oral reading practices in the American schools, Trevelyan referred to the "'bell-like clearness* of

Bright’s voice, and ’the absence of gestures’ in his plat­ form performance."^ Among the rhetorical aspects of

McGuffey*s Readers is the treatment of voice and gestures in the lessons of the Readers. Therefore, I have found It necessary to take as part of my problem the bases of selection of the lessons. This Includes, among other things, the instructional methods in teaching articulation, gesturing, inflections, accent and emphasis, and culti­ vation of the voice.

Bright said, "My life is in my speeches," but Trevelyan found that • • , after two generations have gone by, not even the greatest speeches can be widely read or com­ pletely understood, except with the help of historical comment, and of such reproduction of a great personality as the biographer, by aid of private letters and recollections, can all too feebly accomplish.

Lester Thonssen, and A. Craig Baird, Speech Criticism, (New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1948), p , 268,

Trevelyan, 0 £, cit., p, 4, 5

In the same way, after two, or more, generations not even the rhetorical aspects of these books on oral reading can be completely understood, except with the help of historical comment, and of such reproduction of several great person­ alities as the author and editors, by the aid of private letters, speeches, and other such materials, can this author all too feebly accomplish.

Summary. There is adequate justification for considering this approach to McGuffey to be a rhetorical study. The study of an author is as rhetorical as the study of a speaker. The study of a series of books written by that author is as rhetorical as the study of a series of speeches delivered by a speaker. Modern authorities show the way fo r such a r h e to r ic a l study as th is one. CHAPTER X I

THE PROBLEM AMD DEFINITION OF TERMS

This study of the McGuffey Readers w ill he more easily understood if we define three terms which w ill be used quite frequently throughout the study. The terms are

(1) McGuffey Readers, (2) Series, and (3) Rhetoric. The McGuffey Readers are books designed to teach pupils to read orally and then to improve that reading.

However, only the Primer was devoted to teaching beginners to read. The six Readers which followed the Primer in progressively Increasing difficulty assumed that the pupil could read at least a little. Improvement in reading included grasping the author*s meaning and interpreting it orally; learning to spell, pronounce, and articulate the words in the lessons; and being able to demonstrate comprehension of what had been read by applying the infor­ mation in answering the questions suggested to the teacher in the books. The major portion of the Readers included selections of prose and poetry to be read by the pupils. These selections had an obvious moral in the First, Second and

Third Readers. The selections in the Fourth, Fifth and

Sixth Readers were examples of the better literature of 6 7

the day. The moral or point of instruction was less

obvious than in the lower Readers.

The inclusion of McGuffey’s name in the term

’'McGuffey Readers” has led us to believe mistakenly that

one man was entirely responsible for these books* William

Holmes McGuffey was the ’’McGuffey” referred to. He wrote

the Primer and the first four Readers» In so doing he gave the Readers their basic form. He was not alone in the

project, however. The publisher Winthrop B. Smith saw the

need for such books and went in search of someone who

could write them. He bought the rights to the books as

they were written. He had the control over their revision

and sale. His influence on them was not a minor one. His

sales methods and his wise choice of editors may have had

as much to do with our remembering the Readers as did William Holmes McGuffey*s contribution in authorship.

Alexander McGuffey, brother to William Holmes,

wrote the Fifth Reader. Parts of William’s Fourth Reader and Alexander’s Fifth Reader were later combined into a

Sixth Reader. Therefore, William Holmes McGuffey must

divide the laurels of authorship with his brother. We must, then, con sid er the "McGuffey Readers” to be

a series of readers with a composite author, William Holmes McGuffey, Alexander McGuffey, Winthrop B. Smith,

and the various editors and collaborators In revision make up the total picture of the author of the "McGuffey

R eaders,"

"Series," the second of the terms to be defined, w ill refer to the group of readers composed of the

McGuffey Primer. First Readey. Second Reader. Third Reader

Fourth Reader, Fifth Reader and Sixth Reader* It is often necessary to refer to all of these books by using the

collective word "series." It always refers to the entire

list of books named above provided they have been written by the time referred to. In 1836 the "series" was com­ posed of the First and Second Readers, In 1837 the Primer

Third and Fourth Readers were added. In 1844 the Fifth

Reader, and In 1857 the Sixth were added. The series was

complete in 1857 and no new Readers were added after that date. Later revisions were extensive, however. The last of the three words we set out to define Is

"rhetoric," This word has had many Interpretations from the time of Plato to the present. I doubt that there has ever been, at any orie time, a single universally accepted definition of rhetoric. We feel'free, therefore, to lean heavily on the classical interpretations of the term, modified by the widely accepted modern interpretation of the ends of rhetoric which received the influence of

Campbell# For the piirposes of this thesis, then, rhetoric

w ill include three areas which apply to the McGuffey

Readers: (1) the three ends of rhetoric, (2) the five

classical canons of rhetoric, and (S) the four constit­ uents of the speech situation.

The first of these divisions of the term "rhetoric,”

the three ends of rhetoric, includes persuasion, infor­ mation, and entertainm entThe end or aim of persuasion

has been one element in the definition of rhetoric of

every reputable rhetorician in history. Until Campbell’s

Philosophy of Rhetoric was published in 1776, persuasion was the only end of rhetoric. Campbell established to the

satisfaction of most Americans since his time that the ends

of speaking are to inform, to entertain, to persuade to belief, and to persuade to action. We frequently combine

the last two into one end of "persuasion,” While looking for the rhetorical aspects of the McGuffey Readers, we w ill consider rhetoric to have the three ends of per­ suasion, entertainment, and information.

The second of the divisions of the term ’’rhetoric” includes the five classical canons. The five canons are 10 , x 1 2 3 4 (1) inventio, (2) dispositio, (3) style, (4) delivery, 5 and (5) memory. It should be noted that the McGuffey

Readers develop in detail the fourth of the canons of classical rhetoric.

The third of the divisions of "rhetoric," as it is used in this study, includes the three constituents of the

The term "inventio" is used in this study to mean ". • . engendering and handling the thoughts later to be clothed in language. . . .,f See in this connection—Hoyt H. Hudson, "DeQuincev on Rhetoric and Public Speaking." S tu dies in Honor of James A lbert Winans. (New York: Century Co., 192577 PP« 141-42. g Dispositio ,T. . .i s concerned with the selection, evaluation, and adaptation of arguments, as well as with their mechanical arrangement. u Douglas Wagner Ehninger, ’’Selected Theories of Invention In English Rhetoric: 1759-1828." Abstracts of Doctoral Dissertations, No. 60, The Ohio State University Press, 1950, p. 99. 3 Style (Elocutio) is ". . • always conceived in two aspects: . . . the choice of words, including Tfigures of speech*; and . , . the arrangement of words in clauses and sentences, Including rhythm and harmony—in a word, sentence-movementCharles Sears Baldwin, Ancient Rhetoric and Poetic. (New York: MacMillan, 19847, p. 67.

^Delivery (Pronunciatio and actio) "... cover the whole field of delivery, including all that Is now often called ’elocution, '* from the placing of the voice to the handling of the body." Ibid.

Memory (Memoria) "... ranges far beyond memo­ rizing. It embraces the speaker's whole command of his material In the order of his constructive plan and in relation to rebuttal, and was most stressed for speeches unwritten." Ibid. IX speech situation. These are (1) the speech, or in thi3 case the series of Readers, (2) the speaker or author, and (3) the audience. These are four main considerations in the analysis or criticism of any rhetorical product*

For this reason, this part of the definition of the term

’’rhetoric1' is taken as the four part division of the study. In summarizing the definition of the term "rhetoric,” we might say that, for this study, the meaning of the term has three parts. It includes (l) the modern ends of speaking and writing, (2) the five classical canons of rhetoric, and (3) the three constituents of the speech s itu a tio n .

Problem. We know that the McGuffey Readers have some historical, literary and educational significance.

Do they have any rhetorical significance? Did the author deal with delivery, momory, style, or any of the other canons of rhetoric? Can his own invention, arrangement, style, delivery, or memory be analyzed? What were the premises of his thinking? Did he analyze his audience?

What effect did the audience, toward which his product was directed, have on its success or failure? What was the effect of his product on the hearers or readers?

For further information on this classification, see Thonssen and Baird, Speech Criticism, p. 15. 12

These unanswered questions reveal a rhetorical problem concerning the McGuffey Readers« Xn an attempt to answer these questions, the problem under consideration has been organized in three parts. They are (l) the influences of the authors and editors on the composition of the

Readers; (2) the selection and arrangement of the contents of the R.eader3; and (3) the audience at which the Readers were aimed and the effect of the Readers on that audience. CHAPTER I I I

INFERENCES CONTRIBUTING TO W. H. MCGUFFEY'8 PREPARATION

FOR THE COMPOSING OF THE READERS

Now that we have explained the rhetorical possi­ b ilities of the study of the McGuffey Readers, defined the

terms, and stated the problem, let us consider the first

part of the three parts of the problem. The first part of this problem is to consider the influences contributing to the preparation of the authors and editors for composing the Readers.

This brings us to the people who produced the

McGuffey Readers. Our interest in them is not in biography a lo n e, but in th ose d e t a ils which in some way contrib uted to their rhetorical Influence in the making of the series.

William Holmes McGuffey - Rhetorician

One of these people is William Holmes McGuffey. He is responsible for writing the first four readers of the series. The direction he gave them was never abandoned.

Since his name became synonymous with that of the Readers, he has naturally received much acclaim for this connection.

Let us consider his contribution as the most Important and treat his preparation first* 13 I. Childhood, William Holmes McGuffey’s childhood environment had a direct bearing on his preparation for composing the Readers. This environment determined the type of rhetorical product he would be capable of creating.

Some of the factors of this environment which seem to have acted on his preparation are (l) his early home life, (2) the hardships of the frontier, (3) the absence of free schools, and (4) the ideals of his parents and the community. Let us consider these factors of his childhood environment to see how they acted on his preparation for composing the series of Readers which represent his rhetorical product.

He was born in 1800 on the western frontier of what was then considered to be the Northwest, His birthplace was in West Finley Township, Washington County, Pennsyl­ vania.^ In 1802 his parents moved the family to Trumbull

County, Ohio, in the section which later became Mahoning County, This area was a wilderness, and Ohio was not yet a state in the Union. Conditions were very similar to th ose under which Abraham L incoln grew u p , McCuffey was nine years older than Lincoln, and although he lived in an area which was in a similar stage of development as

^Harvey C. Minnich, William Holmes McGuffey and his Readers (C in cin n a ti: American Book Company, 1936), p . 7 , 15

Lincoln's Kentucky, McGuffey did not have the parental difficulties which handicapped Lincoln, McGuffey's parents

evidently were willing for him to get an education although they could not afford to pay his expenses.

Very little specific information is available about

McG-uffey's childhood. It is fair to assume that his life was similar to that of the other boys of the frontier. As the oldest boy and second oldest child in a family of 2 eleven children, he probably had to do a fair share of the work around the farm. This'part of his preparation could

account for his views toward work which he included in the

lessons in the Readers. Examples of this view that

children should do some work are Lesson III, "The Idle Boy,"’ and Lesson IV, "The Idle Boy Reformed," in the Second

Reader.^

We might expect an author who was raised among the pioneers to be Influenced by this life. McGuffey knew what hardship was. Trumbull County was still relatively unsettled. Wild game lived in the woods. Howe relates a story, which he says was told him by an elderly woman who

2I b id .

®Vtf. H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838), pp. 11-13. p«sf*',vses^i‘

16

remembered, co n d itio n s in 1804, th a t "For meat we o fte n had

game, namely, wild turkey, vension, and occasionally bear 4 meat. Howe gives us more details to add to the picture of

the type of surroundings in which McGuffey spent his early

years. He says that in 1800 Warren "... contained but

two log cabins • • • •" This was only two years before

the McGuffeys moved into the county. Howe also says of the

population of the county in 1800, ,fThe whole settlements of

whites within and about the settlement of Warren, consisted

of sixteen settlers*” A note on the Sesquicentennial map of Ohio describes the roads of the day as follows:

The few roads . . . were only horse or wagon paths over the plains and through the forests. Where there were trees on the roadway they were reduced to stumps not more than a foot high, and swampy spots in the roads were covered with timber which, in turn was covered with earth.

We might expect McGuffey to be influenced by these

early hardships to include stories about the Indians and some of the pioneer heroes. He ignores this part of his

life so carefully that its Influence is evident. He worked to obliterate, rather than to perpetuate, much of

- Ibid., p. 660. 6Ibid., p. 660. 7 O fficial 1955 Ohio Highway Map, Department of Highways, State of Ohio, Columbus. 17

the life he knew as a child. One of his descendants called him 11 * . . a missionary laboring to correct the wretched

frontier vernacular (prefacing elementary Readers with

admonitions to fUtter each word distinctly. Do not say Ole for Old, Heerd for Heard, Turrlble for Terrible, Harrer 8 fo r Harrow, Canady fo r Canada . . , His av ersio n to

drinking, lying, and swearing might also be traced to these early associations.

There was an absence of free schools in McGuffeyfs g early days. Cubberly says that between 1806 and 1816 organization of schools was permitted, but the only means

of support was through rents of school lands and rate- b ills. Parents paid a certain amount for each child they

sent to the school under this system. Property of the

school district was made taxable in 1821. The building of

schoolhouses was permitted in 1825 if the site was- donated. A county tax of one half mill was required to be levied in

1825. This county tax was increased to one and one half m ills in 1836. This was the year the First and-Second' Readers were published. . The first state school tax of one half mill was levied in 1838, but the rate b ill was not

SAli ce McGuffey Ruggles, The Story of the McGuffeys (Hew York: American Book Company,' 19"5'07, pp. 'W-9WI 9 Ellwood P. Cubberly, Public Education in the United States (Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company, 1919*77 P» 134. 18 abolished and schools were not made free until 1853. This was eight years after McGuffey left Ohio to teach at the

University of Virginia.

McGuffey did not inherit wealth or position. His lack of money for an education and the attendant struggle

to pay for an education may have prompted his interest in

the fight for public or "common schools." His speeches before the Western Literary Institute and College of Pro­

fessional Teachers show his interest in these developing

free schools. Statements in the Readers show that they were written with the common schools in mind. This lends

crfedence to the belief that his preparation for writing the Readers was influenced by the-absence of free schools. In the Preface to the Fourth Reader McGuffey says, "...

there Is nothing to be met with, in the following pages, but what an intelligent teacher of a ’common school’ might be expected to know , . . h10

The absence of an adequate public school system in Ohio and later In Virginia drew his attention. He expended considerable effort in campaigning for such schools in both states. His Readers were tools for the use of such sc h o o ls.

lOWilliam H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837, Stereotyped E d itio n ), p. v . 19

The ideals of his parents and of the community were an influence on his preparation for composing the Readers.

It has already been noted that those undesirable ideals of some frontiersmen drew the fire of the Readers in lessons on drunkenness, honesty, lying, and swearing.-The more admirable ideals of the community and of his religious parents also had their effect. Robinson studied a large number of readers printed over a long period of time. He says of the McGuffey Readers, "These readers, especially the early editions, devoted a larger allotment.of space to religious 'material than was found in the readers of the same period and more than was found in the prominent readers of the preceding twenty-five years." 11 Both the religious and the moral ideals of the Readers find their origin in the Galvinistic principles of the Presbyterian religion of the Scotch family and community of McGuffeyTs childhood. His preparation for writing the Readers could, then, be said to have been influenced by these ideals.

Education. McGuffey»s educational experience con­ tributed to his preparation for composing the Readers.

William Holmes McGuffey received his elementary education

■^R. R. Robinson, "Two C enturies of Change in the Content of School Readers," (Unpublished doctoral disser­ tation, George Peabody College, 1930, p. 153. 1 p at home, learned Latin from Rev, Wick in Youngstown and traveled to Darlington (then called Greershurg), Pennsyl­ vania, to attend the Greershurg Academy to prepare to enter Washington College (now called Washington and Jefferson) at Washington, Pennsylvania, He worked his way through 13 this academy hy doing chores for his hoard and room* He is thought to have taught school to earn his way through

Washington College. After a period of preparation such as

McGuffey’s in the schools of the day, we might expect a sensitive man to he influenced hy the conditions which he faced. He showed that he remembered some of the details of his early education when he said,

Time was, when the log school-house, with gable- end chimney, clap-board door, and long, narrow windows, papered and greased, was a ll that could he looked for, in a country that was still a wilderness, 4

He had not forgotten the physical condition of the schools, g.nd there is no evidence that he had forgotten the intel­ lectual conditions in the schools. The whole form and content of the Readers reflects this part of his

^Minnich, 0£. Cit., p. 5. 13Ibid., p. 12,

^W. H, McGuffey, "Lectures on the Relative Duties of Teachers and Parents." Transactions of the Western literary Institute and College for Professional Teachers. Vol.V., p. 140, 1935. 21 preparation* He suited his readers to the conditions in the schools in a way which was superior for his day.

McGuffey had faith in education, Only a person with a strong desire for, and a strong faith in, education could go to so much trouble for an education. One of the stories in the Readers which reflects this faith begins:

"We must educate ! We must educate ! or we must perish by _ TC our own prosperity," This is strong language and represents the strong feelings of the segment of the popu­ lation to which McGuffey belonged.

McGuffey’s educational experiences contributed to his preparation for composing the Readers by helping to show him the need for common schools. The Readers were written for these common schools. We have mentioned

McGuffey's connection with the common school movement in the discussion of the influence of his early childhood environment on his preparation. Since influences are com­ plex and interrelated, we do not feel that it is out of place to mention such an important factor as the common schools again, McGuffey was so interested in the problem of establishing a unified system of schools under state supervision that he participated in the agitation to get

■^Beecher, "Necessity of Education," quoted in W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader, (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1840), pp. 57-61. 22 his friend, Samuel Lewis, elected as the first State

Commissioner of Common S ch ools, March 30, 1837, th ree months prior to the election of Horace Mann as Secretary of the State Board of Education for Massachusetts. It was during the height of this agitation that he wrote his first two Readers. It Is little wonder that they were aimed at the common sc h o o ls.

McGuffey's educational experiences pointed out at least three inadequacies of the existing schools which influenced his preparation for writing the Readers. These three inadequacies included a need for (l) ". . • cheerful­ ness and taste of that which Is connected with their children's early mental efforts . . . ." (2) 11. . . uniform sets of suitable class books." and (3) the student’s moral foundations being started at home and not changed at a later time by the teacher without the cooperation of the p a ren• ts. 16

The first of these three inadequacies of existing schools Is the necessity for cheerfulness and taste of that which Is connected with the child’s early mental efforts.

McGuffey showed that he recognized this inadequacy when he sa id ,

Children are creatures of association and habit; and much depends upon the cheerfulness and taste

16 Transactions of the Western Literary Institute, op. c it., pp. 140-144. 23

of that which is connected with their early mental efforts, as to whether they shall become attached to study, and take a delight in thought; or shall contract a disgust for every thing like literature and science,-*-”

He showed that the realization of the existence of this inadequacy influenced his preparation for writing the

Readers, He tried to make the child's experiences with his Primer, and First and Second Readers such that pupils would take a delight in thought. These lower Readers of the series accomplished this aim by the use of pictures, uncrowded pages, short stories, short sentences, one and two syllable words, and content interesting to children.

In the First Reader, McGuffey Includes from one to four pictures on each page. The first picture is one with three children in it. They are sitting outside on the grass reading a book. This should give them the feeling of familiar and pleasant surroundings. The second lesson includes four small pictures. The first is of a boy with a bird in his hand, the second of a dog, the third of two boys running, and the fourth of a dog running with a hat in his mouth. All of these and those which follow should attach a "delight in thought" to their early study.

The pages were printed so that there was sufficient blank space on each page to make reading look less dif­ ficult than the full page of type which faced the users

17I b i d ., p . 140. of other readers of the day.

The stories and sentences were short. In Lesson

Two, for example, a three sentence story accompanied each of the four pictures mentioned above. The longest of these sentences Included seven words. Typical of the stories in the first part of the First Reader is this one: The dog barks. Do you hear the dog bark? Boys play with the dogs.

The second inadequacy of the schools which affected

McCuffey's preparation for composing the Readers was the need for a uniform set of class books. One problem facing the schoolmen of that day was the custom for the child to use whatever schoolbook he happened to have around the house. As Me,Guffey sa id , "No teach er can in s tr u c t suc­ cessfully when the variety of books Is nearly equal to the 19 whole number of sch o la rs." T his was a widespread problem which even bothered educators in the East where one might think that some of these problems should have been solved.

The year after McGuffey’s speech on the subject an article

1 R W. H. McGuffey, First Reader ( Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr. 1838), p. 6~l (I'he ab b reviation "pr." w ill be used for "printed" when an edition which has been copyrighted in one year is printed in another. 19 W, H. McGuffey, "Relative Duties of Teachers and P arents," 0 £. cit., p. 140. 25 on conditions in Massachusetts shows the same difficulty.

For the purpose of teaching reading and spelling, then there are in use in the schools of Massachu­ setts no less than 100 different hooks; of Grammars, there are 28; of Histories, 24; of Arithmetics, 22; of Geographies, 20; of Dictionaries, 9; of Natural Philosophies, 4; or Astronomies, 4; of Chemistries, 3; of Geometries, 5; and of Composition, 2* We can see from this statement that the situation in reading and s p e llin g was much more se rio u s than in the other studies.

McGuffey’s preparation for composing the Readers was influenced in such a way that the McGuffey Readers were designed to do something about this situation. They provided a series of Readers which started with the ABC’s in the Primer and developed in progressively harder steps through the best literature for high school use. They made it possible to purchase books which were all written on the same p a tte rn . Most previous authors had w r itte n a beginning book, an intermediate book or an advanced book. Few had written a book for each stage. It was necessary to change authors and even publishers, many times, to get into the next step in reading until the McGuffey Readers and books like them appeared.

20 "Schools in Massachusetts," American Annals of Education and I n s tr u c tio n , VII (Marcti, 1'837T'101. 26

McGuffey saw in the Readers a system of grading the

schools. He was familiar with the difficulties of learning under a system in which everyone is in the same grade. In

the absence of a first grade, second grade, etc., it was possible to use the First Reader, Second Reader, etc. to

classify the students and, in a sense, grade the schools.

With regard to the importance of this kind of classifying,

McGuffey said, And nothing is more desirable to a conscientious instructor, than to be able to devote a large proportion of his time to every individual under his care. But this cannot be done without classification, which classification is impossible without a uniformity of class books. As we value improvement of our children, then we ought not only to permit, but to encourage the instructors whom we employ, to introduce as rigid a system of classification, and as great ^.uniformity of books, into the schools as possible.

We have just seen, then, how McGuffey's preparation

showed him that the lack of a uniform set of class books was an inadequacy of the schools. He expressed his opinion publicly and ivrote the series of Readers to satisfy the need which he presented. The third inadequacy of the schools which influenced

McGuffey’s preparation for writing the Readers was the need for teaching which did not undermine the beliefs parents

^McGuffey, nRelative Duties of Teachers and Parents,” op. cit., pp. 140-141. 27

had instilled at home. The early school, with its compar­

atively homogeneo^^s pupil population, did not have this problem. At first, the Scotch settled in groups with their

friends. They had their own church and their own school. They all had similar beliefs. There were also settlements

of Germans and other n a tio n a lity and r e lig io u s groups. Ohio

grew rapidly. With growth came school populations with

mixed b e l i e f s . The year McGuffey was born (1800) Ohio had a population of just over 45,000. In ten years (1810), it

grew to well over 230,000. It almost doubled its popu­

lation in each of the next two ten year periods (1820 and

1830). Four years after the first McGuffey Readers appeared (1840), Ohio had a population of over one and one- 22 half million.

These years of rapid population increase were also the years of McGuffey's preparation to write the Readers.

He saw the need for discontinuing the old sectarian teaching in order to protect the individual in the mixed

group. His Readers are an attempt to eliminate from the school book the religious teachings which are restricted to

certain sects without eliminating religious teaching

altogether. Evidently there was not serious disagreement

op World Almanac (New York: New York World Telegram, 1947), p. 185. 28 among the members of the various religious groups over the religious aspects of MeGuffey’s Readers> There is no evidence of objection from the members of any faith to the religious elements of the Readers.

McGuffey's professional experience contributed to his preparation for writing the series of Readers. He had two kinds of professional experience. The first was ■as a teacher in the common schools. The second was as a p ro fesso r in Miami U n iv e r sity and a lead er in p r o fe ssio n a l activity in the state.

McGuffey’s experience as a teacher in the common schools was a great help in preparing him to compose the

Readers. It prepared him to adapt to these schools.

Although records are not available to show where he received all of his experience it is certain that he taught in at least two common schools. The first of these posi­ tions was at West Union, now called Calcutta, in Colum­ biana County, Ohio. His first teacher's contract reads as follows: Master W, H. McGuffey w ill hold a four months session of school in lot four west union and will tutor all Scholars listed below at two dollars for term commencing first Monday of Sept 1817 Ani Domini

23 M S S in McGuffey Museum, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. 29

He was only seventeen years old at the time and had not yet

attended the academy where he became a student a year later.

. The county history supports the information in this

contract* Along with interesting sidelights on McGuffeyfs

predecessors, it gives the following discription of

McGuffey*s school:

. . • William H. McGuffey taught in a frame building in Calcutta, now occupied as a residence by Robert Bradley.24

The other p o s itio n which he i s known to have h eld

was in a private school at Paris, Kentucky, Vail says, Dr, McGuffey was obliged to suspend his col­ legiate course for a year to earn more money for his support. He taught a private school at Paris, Ky., in 1823 and 1824.25

McGuffey i s known to have been in te r e s te d in

securing a position in the common schools at other times

than these. He tried unsuccessfully to secure the head- 26 mastership of a school in Warren, Ohio, in 1820.“ After this experience in teaching in the common

schools, and his .later experience in teaching in Miami

24Horace Mack, H istory o f Columbiana County (P h ila­ delphia: D. W. Ensign & Co., 187977''p'«' 234’."

2®Kenry H. Vail, A History of the McGuffey Readers (Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers Co., 1911), p. 24. 26 Minnich, op. oit., p. 12. 30

University, coupled with his active part in the Western

Literary Institute, he was well qualified for the task of

writing a series of readers. An advertisement in one of the early Readers calls the attention of prospective buyers

to these qualifications McGuffey had for writing the

R eaders.

Professor M’Guffey’s experience in teaching, and his special attention, in early life, to the de­ partment of Reading and Spelling; his peculiar acquaintance with the wants of the young mind, and his enthusiastic interest in the promotion Common Schools, render him most admirably qualified for his undertaking. 7

McGuffey's experience in these common schools

influences his preparation for the composition of the

Readers in two ways: (1) Realizing that many teachers were unprepared for their positions, he Included "Suggestions to Teachers" in his Readers, and (2) Understanding the

child in the common school, he suited his material to that

child. His "Suggestions to Teachers" could only have been written by one who had struggled through the same process, since there were no teacher training schools to give the information. His understanding of the teacher’s problems is demonstrated by the following instruction:

Let all who clip their words or pronounce indistinctly be put in another class, and practise

27W. H. McGuffey, Third Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837 pr. 1838), p. 1. 31 on those rules in the hook intended to correct this fault.

Let all who read too fast, and disregard the stops, he put in a class and especial attention he paid to this fault.

The great maxim of good teach in g in reading i s , to take one thing at a time, and to persevere in repitition, till the object aimed at is attained.

We have already mentioned how McGuffey suited the

Readers to the pupils, and since the subject will he fully developed later, it w ill he only mentioned here to note its connection.

Intellectual Habits. McGuffey’s intellectual habits influences his preparation for composing the Readers. He

/ believed that everyone should study a little every day regardless of one's occupation. He said,

No man, who does not employ a part of every day of his life in systematic study, need hope for eminence, or even respectability, in literary society, whatever may have been his early education.29

He is speaking of the opportunity for study when he says of n o n -p ro fessio n a l men:

The leisure enjoyed by our merchants, mechanics, and farmers, is actually greater than that which

H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p. xi. 29 Judge James H a ll, e d ito r , "General Education," Western Monthly Magazine, 1834, p. 4. Hall attributes this article to McGuffey in his personal copy now in the library of the Miami University. 32

is at the disposal of professional men. 1 Their general acquisitions, therefore, might be g r e a te r.

McGuffey did not exempt himself from these injunctions.

He led an active intellectual life and was writing a four

volume philosophy at the time of his death.

The belief that everyone should seek knowledge

influenced McGuffeyss preparation to compose the Readers.

Tia<3 Readers reflect this belief. The first story in the

First Reader has John, Ann and Jane looking over a new

book. The seventeenth lesson in the same Reader tells of

the happiness James Smith and his mother got out of his

learning to read. Lesson twenty-four, ftThe Diligent

Scholar,’1 in the Second Reader is an example of the

extremes to which, he carried this belief. Part of the

story says, Learning is his delight; and he loves those who teach him as he loves the knowledge which he gains from them. He looks upon them as fathers, from whom he receives that instruction, which has been wisely called the "life of the soul."

These are just samples of the many lessons devoted entirely,

or in part, to the importance of knowledge.

Moral and Rellvious Influences on McGuffeyfs Preparation McGuffey’s preparation to write the Readers was

30 Hall, p. 1.

3%. H.'McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati; Truman and Smith, 1838), pp. 46-47. 33

Influenced by two related forces. The first was the general influence of the religious atmosphere of the com­ munity in which he lived. The second was the specific in flu e n c e o f the people he knew w e ll.

The general influence of the community was in force from the time William H. McGuffey was born into the Scotch Presbyterian group which had settled in western Pennsylvania. They had written down their strict beliefs and McGuffey’s parents had signed their names to this compact. A sample of it follows: We, . . . considering the many abounding evils in our own hearts and lives, . . . such as dis­ obedience to parents, backbitings, entertaining bad thoughts, and receiving groundless evil reports of others, lascivious songs, filthy discourse, promiscuous dancing, drunkenness, defraud, deceit, over-reaching in bargains, . . . lying, covetousness, discontent, fretting against the dispensations of God’s providence, unfaithfulness for God (in suffering sin to remain on our neighbor unreproved), . . . which we d e sir e to acknowledge w ith shame and sorrow of heart before God . . • .

Although little Is known about the immediate com­ munity life of the McGuffey’s during their early years In Ohio, the Scotch Presbyterians often settled in little groups as they had In Pennsylvania. The community where McGuffey taught in Columbiana County vrns such a settlement.

The more specific religious influences of the people

McGuffey knew well is striking in that he was constantly

32Minnich, 0 £. cit., pp. 10-11. 34

associated with, people of strong Scotch Presbyterian

beliefs. His parents have already been mentioned in this respect. All of his schooling, about which we are informed,

was from ministers. This procession includes Rev, Wick

of Youngstown, Rev. Thomas Hughes of G-reersburg Academy,

and Rev. Andrew W ylie of Washington C o lleg e . Hughes was a veteran of the early tent revival meetings in Ohio.and

% lie was one of the outstanding preachers of his day. President Bishop of Miami University, who first hired '^cGuffey to teach in college, was a leader in the Presby­

terian church. He came to Ohio from Transylvania College

in Kentucky with a strong church background.

These general and specific influences were so strong that McGuffey took an unusually active part in Presbyterian affairs of the day. He became an ordained minister. He is

said to have preached over 3,000 sermons. He split with

President Bishop over church doctrine. He considered taking a church in Dayton instead of going to Virginia to te a c h .

We do not intend to examine the content of the Readers very closely here, since Part IX of this thesis w ill deal with the selection and arrangement of the material. Let us consider only a few of the many examples of the Influences of McGuffey’s religious preparation which are available to us. 35 33 The ’’Preface" to the Third Reader says that the

compiler alms to combine "piety" with "simplicity" and

"sense." The word "piety" is set off by special type. In 34 the Second Reader. the very religious lessons include:

Lesson XIII, "Who Made the World;" Lesson XIV, "Who Made

Man?" Lesson XXVIII, "Story about King Solomon;" Lesson

XXIX, "More about King Solomon;" Lesson XXXIII, "Praise to

God" and several others. McGuffey's religious experiences

had a distinct influence on his preparation for composing

his Readers. This influence is obvious In the composition of the Readers..

In this chapter, we have studied the early experi­ ences of McGuffey, In so far as they could have contributed

to shaping his preparation to compose the Readers. We have

studied the contributions of his childhood experiences, his educational experiences, his professional experiences, his

intellectual habits, and his religious experiences In this

connection.

33W. H. McGuffey, Third Reader {Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838), Preface. 34 W. H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838)• CHAPTER IV

EARLY INFDJENCES CONTRIBUTING TO ALEXANDER H. MCGUFFEY'S

PREPARATION FOR COMPOSING THE FIFTH READER

Continuing with our announced plan of considering

the influences contributing to the preparation of the

authors and editors for composing the Readers, let us

consider the influences on the preparation of Alexander H* McGuffey. He, also, will be treated as one of the people who

produced the McGuffey Readers* Our interest in him, as It was in his brother, is not in biography alone, but in those details which in some way contributed to his rhetor­ ical Influence in the amking of the series*

Next to his brother, William H. McGuffey, Alexander was the most important contributor to the series* Alexander followed his brother's plan and added the Rhetorical Guide which became the Fifth Reader* Much of the Rhetorical

Guide was also used in the Sixth Reader, as well. Let us

consider his contribution as next to his brother’s in importance and treat his pieparation In this chapter following the consideration of his brother's preparation.

Alexander H. McGuffey's childhood environment had a direct bearing on his preparation for writing the

36 37 Rhetorical Guide or the Fifth. Reader. This environment

determined the type of rhetorical product he was capable

of producing# The factors of this environment are the same

in general as those Just mentioned in the environment of his brother# They are altered by the existence of this

brother, however, and- by the sixteen years difference

between their ages# Some of the factors of this environ­ ment which seem to have acted on his preparation are

(1) his early home life, (S) the passing of frontier conditions, (3) the absence of free schools, and (4) the

ideals of his parents and the community# Let us consider

these factors of his childhood environment to see how they acted on his preparation for composing the Rhetorical Guide

or Reader.

Alexander's early home life influenced his preparation

He was born August 13, 1816, in Trumbull County, Ohio#'*' His family had been settled there for fourteen years when he was born. Indiana was admitted as a state in 1816, so Ohio

could no longer be called the frontier. Emigration from

New England to this "New Connecticut" increased ih 1816-

1817, partly because of the extremely cold winters along 2 the seaboard. During these years the population in Ohio

^Vail, p. 36.

^See Howe, o£# c it., II, 666. 38 had increased from the 45,000 of 1800, to between the

230,000 of 1810 and the 581,000 of 1820• Conditions had improved somewhat over those of William’s first years.

Many who were horn at about the same time as

Alexander McGuffey were to influence the history of our country in diverse fields. A few were Horace Greeley, newspaperman (1811); John C. Freemont, explorer (1813);

Stephen A. Douglas, statesman (1813); Henry Ward Beecher, preacher (1813); Elizabeth C. Stanton, suffragist (1816);

John Godfrey Saxe, poet (1816); Stephen J. Field, jurist

(1816); Nathaniel Banks, soldier (1816); August Belmont, banker (1816); Henry D. J‘horeau, naturalist (1817); Richard J. Gatting, gun inventor (1818); Cyrus W. Field,

Atlantic Cable (1819); William T. G. Morton, anesthesia

(1819). The course of these peoples’ lives indicates that people in the United States were not just struggling for survival during Alexander’s lifetim e. They were beginning to advance in the arts medicine, and mechanical invention. Alexander McGuffey was able to participate in the more cultural life available to some.

From th e s t a r t , A lexander's l i f e must have been a bit easier than William’s had been. Alexander was the eighth of eleven children. William had been the second child. Alexander was sixteen years younger than his brother. William must have given him considerable help with his 39 problems. William took the ten year old Alexander with him to Miami University to live. Much of Alexander’s early life was guided by his brother instead of by his parents.

The University life of Oxford provided very different surroundings from the rustic farm in Trumbull County.

Alexander’s entire life reflects hi3 association with the more "elegant11 surroundings. The title page of his Reader has a sub-title,'"Elegant Extracts in Prose and Poetry."

His daughter said that he had expensive tastes and cared 4 nothing for what anything cost.

Schools in general# were not considerably improved during Alexander’s early life over what they had been in William’s early days. Alexander was not handicapped by the absence of free schools, however, since he went to live with William at the age of ten. William, then, supervised his education. Alexander was a lifetime supporter of public schools, although he was not as active an advocate as his brother. He was also Recording Secretary of the 1837

3A. H. McGuffey, Rhetorical Guide, (Cincinnati: W. B. Smith and Company, 184¥) . ^Anna McGuffey M orrill, "A Daughter of the McGuffeys," edited by Alice Morrill Ruggles, Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly, XIII, (July, 1933), pp. 269.

See The Western Literary Institute and College for Professional~1ireachers~?r'an3actions. Cincinnati. 1837. 40

meeting of the Western Literary Institute where much of the

discussion was for "bettering the public schools.

The influence of the absence of free schools on his

preparation to write a reader Is important although rather involved. Had there been free schooling near his home, he might not have been sent to live with William in order to

receive an education. Had this been the case, he might

not have received the influence of his brother and would

probably not have been asked to extend the series with

another reader even if he had been qualified to do so.

The id e a ls of parents and community were th e same

ideals which influenced William McGuffey. These have

already been mentioned. They were probably magnified for

Alexander, since his brother William was a very ardent and

vocal supporter of these Ideals and beliefs. As we have intimated, Alexander may have been influenced somewhat more

toward a desire for elegance by his early life at Oxford

than William had been in his frontier surroundings.

The influences of this preparation of Alexander for composing the Rhetorical Guide or Fifth Reader result In less obvious persuasion toward high moral standards, than

is found in the earlier Readers, although this subtle

persuasive force is present in his reader. No moral is pointed out to the student at the end of any lesson.

However, Lesson IV is entitled ’'Industry necessary to form the Orator.” Alexander’s reader emphasized the informative

and inspirational ends of' discourse found in such stories

as "Description of a Storm," and "Unwritten Music." Alexander’s educational experience contributed to his preparation for composing the Rhetorical Guide or

Fifth Reader. He received an education in classical

literature at Miami University. His brother undoubtedly supervised and tutored when necessary. The Alumni Cata- 7 logue says that he "Attended Miami Univ., 1826-1831."

He is not listed among the graduates, however. During the years in which he attended Miami U n iv e r sity , the pu blished O course of study indicates that those who were there

studied the following subjects in classical literature and rhetoric: Sallust, Roman antiquities, English grammar,

composition, declamation, the Bible, Horace’s Satires, extracts from Herodotus and Isocrates, Odes and Epistles of Horace, extracts from Xenophon’s Memorabilia, extracts from Thucydides, extracts from Lysias, Plato, Polyaenus and Aelian, Hedge’s Logic, extracts from Aristotle and

^McGuffey’s, Rhetorical Guide or Fifth Reader. (Cincinnati; Sargent, Wilson & Hinkle, 1853), p. 66.

The Alumni and Former Student Catalogue of Ml ami University, 1808-1892 (Oxford, Ohio, June 1892), p. 163. Q °Laws Relating to the Miami University (Cincinnati: F. S. Benton, 1833), pp. W^98. 42

Theophrastus, Homer’s Odyssey, Grecian antiquities,

Blair’s Lectures, Horace’s De Arte Foetica, V irgil’s

Georgies, extracts from Homer’s Iliad, philosophy of the mind, orations of Demosthenes and Aeschines, Longinus, Cicero’s De Oratore, Medea of Euripidus,.and other Greek

and Roman classics* Anyone who studied these courses

should have a good start towards being prepared to compile a reader Including selections of outstanding literary m e r it,

Alexander’s attitude' toward education influenced his preparation for composing the readers* He believed in

education, but as we have said, he believed in cultural education* We might say that he agreed with what is called a ’’Liberal Arts” education today* His devotion to edu­

cation is indicated by his fifty-one years of service to the Board of Trustees of Cincinnati College as Secretary and Treasurer*^ His reader reflects his attitudes* He included only the highest type of literature in the advanced reader* His lessons in prose included selections from the work of such people as‘D’Israeli, Fox, Pitt,

Addison, Shakespeare, Irving, Wirt, Everett, Scott, and

Webster. His "Poetical Lessons” include selections from

Q See Memorial of Alexander Hamilton McGuffey, adopted by the Trustees of Cincinnati College^ (Cincinnati: The Robert Clarke Company, 1896), p. 15. 43 Southey, Longfellow, Shakespeare, Pope, Milton, Halleck, and Byron.

Alexander McGuffey's professional experience con­ tributed to his preparation to write the reader# His only teaching experience was in Woodward College# This was really a high school by today’s standards. It was the right kind of experience for■preparing him to write a reader for high school aged children.

His position as Professor of Belles Lettres per­ mitted him to broaden his English literature background to supplement his broad classical preparation* He included, in addition to the authors mentioned above, excerpts from the writings of the popular contemporary authors of his day. Some of these are remembered today and others are not.

The average person reco g n izes th e names of D ickens, Long­ fellow, Macaulay, and Whittier although most of them were not so w e ll known in 1841. Others have not survived th e test of time so well. Pew people recognize the names

Grinke, Hemens, Sigourney. Alexander was selecting material for use in his day, not ours. He happens to have chosen a large proportion of enduring selections which attests to the soundness of his preparation for compiling such a Reader.

It is possible that the status of his new law prac­ tice influenced Alexander's preparation for composing the 44 Rhetorical Guide. Vail says that, "The work probably occupied his leisure time in a law office before he acquired 1 0 remunerative practices in his profession." Alexander's daughter tells us that, "He always spoke of his part in the Readers as a bit of youthful hack work, and in the later editions asked to have his name removed from the t it le page."’*''1'

Alexander sought help in his preparation for com­ posing the Rhetorical Guide. He probably consulted his brother William, although there is no evidence of this.

He gives credit to T. S. Finneo whose contribution w ill be mentioned later. The Preface of the Fifth Reader of 1853 says, "The compilor has also received much valuable assist­ ance from an able and experienced teacher, who has devoted 12 much time and study to the subject of Elocution. He also says that, "Free use has been made, therefore, of the works of Bell, Graham, Ewing, Pinnock, Scott, Wood, McCul- lock, Eufield, Mylius, Sheridan Knowles, Walker, and

10 Vail, op. oit., p. 37. ■^Anna McGuffey M orrill, "A Daughter of the McGuffeys," ojd. oit., p. 252.

12A. H. McGuffey. Fifth Reader (Cincinnati: Sargent, W ilson and Hinkle, 1853), p. 5. A' footnote identifies th is man as "T. S. Pinneo, M.A., M.D. A graduate of Yale College late Professor in the Charlotte Hall Institute; and more recently, Professor In Marietta College. 45 others More will be said, of these men in Part II of this thesis. It is sufficient to say here that they influenced his preparation.

Alexander had two intellectual habits which were part of his preparation'for writing the Reader, First, was his love of literature. This is reflected in the adequacy of his choices. Vail mentions his affection for literature when he speaks of Alexander’s teaching at Woodward College. In this field of labor his knowledge of English literature was broadened and he acquired.a love for the classic English writers that lasted through life.

Second, was Alexander’s habit of systematic and thorough research. In his law work he was expert in cases Involving contracts and w ills and in administering estates. : In religion he was expert in canon law. These activities require the type of intellectual activity needed in the process of compiling a reader by using the best sources available without original contribution to any great extent. . He found the elocutionary writings which suited his purposes, and he found the prose and poetry selections to go with these instructions. The Rhetorical Guide is an excellent compilation of the better writings on the subject resulting from such preparation as Alexander had acquired.

13 Ibid., p. 5.

14V a il, 0 £. cit., pp. 36-37. Moral and religious influences were important in

Alexander McGuffey's preparation to compose the Rhetorical

Guide or Fifth Reader. At least the first fifteen years of his life were spent in a severely Presbyterian surrounding. His parents have already been mentioned as strong adherents to the Scotch Presbyterian faith. He had the same parental influence William once had until he went to liv e w ith W illiam in Miami at th e age of ten . In Miami

University he lived with the strongly religious William and was taught by professors who were also ministers In the Presbyterian Church. It is not surprising that he formed a strict code of morals which are reflected In the Reader he compiled. His selections reflect parts of this moral code.

An example is "Effects of Universal Benevolence." A short statement from this selection should illustrate the strict moral influences on his preparation.

Were the divine principle of benevolence in full operation . . . every debt would be punctually paid; every comodity sold at Its just value; every article of merchandise exhibited in its true character; every promist faithfully performed; every dispute amicably adjusted; every man's character held In estimation; every rogue and cheat banished from society; and the whole world transformed into the abode of honesty and peace.16

15A. H. McGuffey, "Effects of Universal Benevolence, Fifth Reader,(Cincinnati: Sargent, Wilson and Hinkle, 1853) pp. 84-85.

16I b i d ., p. 84. 47 Alexander was not Influenced in Ms preparation to compose the Rhetorical Guide by his later shift from the

Presbyterian to the Protestant Episcopal Church, The memorial written after Ms death describes his shift of faith as follows: One side of his nature responded to the stern discipline of Calvin, but on the other he was drawn to the historic dignity and richness of the English liturgy. 7

In his Reader he Is religious, moral and non-sectarian. There is evidence of religious influence on his preparation to be found in the Rhetorical Guide. There are several selections from the Bible and from religious i authorities. Some of those from the Bible are "Paul’s Defense before King Agrippa," "Elijah," and "The Approach of a Devasting Army." Religious authorities are repre­ sented by selections of Dr. Beecher, Dr. Spring, Bishop Heber, and Taylor. It is obvious that the compiler was a r e lig io u s man.

In this Chapter, we have studied the early experi­ ences of Alexander H. McGuffey, in so far as they have con­ tributed to shaping Ms preparation to compose the

Rhetorical Guide or Fifth Reader. We have studied the contributions of Ms childhood experiences, his recourse to aid, his intellectual habits, and the moral and religious influences in this connection.

1 7 Memorial, op. cit., p. 10. CHAPTER V

INFUJENCE OP WINTER OP B. SMITH ON THE PREPARATION AND

' SUCCESS OP THE MCGUFFEY READERS

Now that we have finished considering rhetorical influences on the preparation of William Holmes McGuffey

and Alexander Hamilton McGuffey to compose the McGuffey

Readers, let us consider the Influences of Wintrhop B.

Smith, the publisher, on their publication and success. He, also, w ill be treated as one of the people who produced the McGuffey Readers. Although his influence had several rhetorical aspects, we will be especially con­

cerned with the rhetoric of his salesmanship which helped to make the McGuffey Readers famous. We have come to think of salesmanship as part of the offerings of the commerce department of the school or college. We must not forget that it is a form of persuasion which required the use of rhetorical principles. Bryant elaborates on this view when he sa y s,

. . . the rhetoric of advertising, a rhetoric whose dominating principles must be recognized as adaptations of a portion of the fundamentals of any rhetoric. One need only compare a textbook or handbook of advertising methods with standard, conventional rhetorics—textbooks in public speaking and persuasion—especially in the handling 48 49

of such topics as interest, suggestion, and. motivation, to be convinced of the coincidence of method if not of philosophic outlook*

Although Smith did not compile any part of the Readers,

he was no less a rhetorician than either of the McGuffeys. 2 Biography. Winthrop B. Smith was born on Sep­ tember 28, 1808 in Stamford, Connecticut, He was the son. of Anthony and Rebecca (Clarke) Smith. He received a common school education, and was employed in a book-house in New Haven in his youth. He went to Cincinnati when he was eighteen vowing not to return to Connecticut until he had earned his fortune. Smith was an attendant at Dr*

Lyman Beecher’s Second Presbyterian Church. He, married

Mary Sargent in C in cin n ati on November 4, 1834. Smith died in P h ila d elp h ia , December 5 , 1885, when he was seventy-eight years old. His son became a banker in Philad elphi a•

Smith’s influence on the preparation of the Readers.

Winthrop B. Smith influenced the preparation of the

McGuffey Readers in two ways. First, he invented the plan

0;f> ■kk*3 Be le c tio Series of school textbooks, and secondly, he chose competent compilers and editors to do the writing for him.

•^■Donald C. Bryant, ’’Rhetoric: Its Functions and Its Scope." Quarterly Journal of Speech, XXXIX, (December, 1953) ^ 41T T ^ — ------

2V a il, 0 £. cit., pp. 36-40. 50 Looking back after all these years on the textbooks

Smith published, he seems to have had a plan in mind. He

published A rith m etics, Reader's, S p e lle r s , Grammars, and Algebras. These books covered the basic common school

curriculum of reading, writing, and arithmetic• He

needed a distinctive and attractive name for his proposed

books. The name, "Eclectic Series,” served this purpose.

I t was d iffe r e n t from the commonly used n a tio n a l names like "United States," and "American.” It was not so

local in appeal as the frequently used state names like

"New England," and "New York." It did not duplicate the patriotic use of names like "Franklin,” "Webster," and

"Washington.” It had the added advantage of the conno­ tation of having been "chosen from the best available."

Webster defines "eclectic” as "Selecting; choosing, as doctrines or methods, from various sources, systems, etc." An introductory page in the Third Reader indicates a foreign influence on the use of the term. The publisher

says, "The Eclectic System of Instruction now predominates in Prussia, Germany and Switzerland.”4 Smith goes on to

3 - Web3ter's Collegiate Dictionary. (Springfield: G. & C. Merriam Co., 1948), p. 316.

4W. H. MeGuffey, Third Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837 pr. .1838), p. 1. 5 1

define the term as follows:

The Eclectic System, ’aims at embodying all the valuable principles of previous systems, without adhering slavishly to the dictates of any master, or the views of any party. It rejects the undue predilection for the mere expansion of mind, to the n e g le c t of po s it iv e knowledge and p r a c tic a l application.

The MeGuffey Readers were the second part of his

over-all plan for a series of school books. Ray’s first

arithmetic entitled Introduction to Ray’s Eclectic

Arithmetic was the first school.book copyrighted by t= ( Smith in 1834. Me Guffey had already started to work on

a reader at Miami, It is probable that Smith and .W, H.

McGuffey were introduced by mutual friends, the Beechers

or Daniel Drake, Minnich says that, "It was to Miss

Catherine Beecher that Smith first turned with his propo- g sition that she assume authorship of his Eclectic Readers.

Since Smith was looking for someone to write such a series

as McGuffey had already started to work on, it is probable that each deserve some of the. credit of the series’ plan.

Smith’s second contribution to the preparation of the McGuffey Readers was in his choice of competent com­

pilers and editors for these books. We can see from

Chapter II that his choice of William Holmes McGuffey was

5Vail, op. cit., p* 40.

^Minnich, o j d . cit., p. 31. 52

a good one, William was experienced and respected. His

choice of Alexander was another excellent one. We have mentioned Alexander's qualifications in Chapter III, He

also chose such men as Dr. Pinneo, Wilson, Vail, Harvey and others who will be mentioned in more detail in Chapter V.

Smith's contribution to the success of the Readers

after their preparation. Possibly Smith's greatest con­

tribution to the McGuffey Readers was his salesmanship. We are concerned with the rhetoric of his sales

activities, Alexander McGuffey testified to the impor­

tance of Smith's contribution through the memory of his daughter when she said, My father always thought the original success of the series was owing more to the business acumen and push of Winthrop B. Smith, the publisher, than to the inherent merits of the books themselves.

Among the rhetorical aspects of Smith's salesman­

ship, three stand-out clearly. First, he appealed to the wants of his audience; secondly, he built the ethical appeal of his main compiler; and thirdly, he refuted attacks adroitly,

''Anna McGuffey M orrill, "A Daughter of the McGuffeys," edited by Alice Morrill Ruggles, Ohio Archaeological and Historical Quarterly. July, 1933, XIII, Ho. 3, p. 250. 53 Winthrop B. Smith appealed to the wants of his

audience in his attempts to sell the McGuffey Headers.

Cicero gave him ample rhetorical precedent for doing this when he said:

For men decide far more problems by hate, or love, or lust, or rage, or sorrow, or joy, or hope, or fear, or illusion, or some, other inward emotion, than by reality, or authority, or any legal „ standard, or judicial precedent, or statute.

Aristotle supports this approach when he says that the

constituents of happiness are the "... premises from g which he must argue in exhorting or dissuading. ..."

Smith appealed to the financial desires (wealth) of his audience when he printed two pages of advertising in

his First Reader saying that muslin is ". . • much more

durable than the thin tender leather usually put upon books of this class."’^ Since whole families used these

books, durability was an essential.

Smith appealed to his audience’s desire to belong to the group (honor or many friends). The title page of each Reader carried the number of copies sold up to that

Q Cicero, De Oratore, Loeb Classical Library (London William Heinemann Ltd., 1948), II. x lii, 178, g Land Cooper, The Rhetoric of Aristotle (New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1932), pp. 23-24, 10Vail, o£. cit., p. 47. 54

edition. The First Reader of 1840 carries the notation “SEVENTEENTH EDITION . . . 80,000 COPIES.1111 T his was

only four years after this Reader* s original appearance.

Such a large number of e d itio n s and co p ies in so short a

time should lead a prospective buyer to think that every­ one else was buying these Readers. He appealed to this

same desire through testimonials from prominent school men, which were printed In the front' and in the back of the books. Although this type of advertising Is relatively common now, It was rather unusual then. The quotation attributed to “Samuel Dickinson, Superintendent of Public Schools for the city of Louisville" is representative of

Smith's use of this appeal:

I consider it a misfortune that there is so great a variety of school books; they all have many excellencies; but are deficient in proper arrangement and adaptation. I have no hesitancy in giving my most unqualified preference to the Eclectic Series, by" President McGuffey and others, and shall introduce them into all the city schools, as far as my influence extends. Smith went so far as to print catalogues of these testi­ monials organized according to the professional duty of the user and according to geographical location. One such

l l F jr s t Reader, 1840, Truman and Smith, T it le Page. 12 W. H. McGuffey, F ir s t Reader (C in cin n ati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr. 1840). 55 13 pamphlet for Indiana lists pages of superintendents, te a c h e r s, and sch ool board members who say that th ey have used and approved these Readers,

Smithfs methods of supplying books to his customers also appealed to the wants of his buying audience. He had salesmen In the field. This type of personal attention appealed to the desire for importance (honor) on the part o f th e purchaser. Some of the e x ec u tiv es of th e company got their start with the organization as this type of salesman. Obed J, Wilson was one of these salesmen. He ' later became a partner,^ Mr, Robert Quincy Beer,"^ and 16 Mr, Caleb S, Bragg were other salesmen who became partners in the company in i t s la te r y e a rs. T his type of salesmen could appeal to a prospective purchaser’s t d e s ir e s .

These same salesm en were ab le to appeal to expe­ diency or the convenience of the purchaser. McGuffey

Readers were kept in stock by booksellers instead of

13 „ ”The la t e s t Good Words fo r McGuffey's Readers from—-Indiana.M 14 The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. (New York: James White and Co. 16:74, 1918). 16 Vail, o£, cit., p. 53. "^Vail, 0£. cit., p. 54. 56 being sold by agents alone. In this way, the agents helped Introduce the books and the booksellers took care of furnishing a constant supply during the years to follow. Many other publishers depended on initial sales only and did not attempt to follow these sales on a permanent selling basis, Vail tells of Smith's methods when he says, ’’Booksellers, meanwhile, kept the McGuffey

Readers in stock, and whenever new readers were desired these were easily obtained,”^

Agents and booksellers alike were aided In making it convenient to buy the McGuffey Readers by Smith's arrangements for duplicate sets of plates to be shipped to various parts of the country. This made it possible for a local publisher to produce the books. The trans­ portation problem was circumvented with dividends in 18 convenience and lowered costs.

Smith's salesmanship increased the success of the

McGuffey Readers in another way. He’built the ethical appeal of the main compiler, William Holmes McGuffey, in his advertising. He identified McGuffey, in the early readers, by giving his title, "Professor in Miami Uni­ versity, Oxford." In subsequent editions he Is identified

■^Vail, op. cit., p. 63,

18Vail, op. cit., p. 51, 57 as "President of Cincinnati College—Late professor in

Miami University, Oxford." In a way, this note attests to the character and intelligence of the author, and makes use of the goodwill which people in education had for Miami University as a leading educational institution in th e West*

William H. McGuffey is advertised elsewhere as a person well qualified to compile such a series* Smith includes two pages of advertising in an early printing of the Third Reader. One sentence portrays McGuffey as f o llo w s :

Professor M'Guffey's experience in teaching, and his special attention, in early life, to the department of Reading and Spellingj his peculiar acquaintance with the wants of the young mind, and his enthusiastic interest in the promotion of Common Schools, render him most admirably qualified for his undertaking. The final contribution of Smith's rhetoric through his salesmanship was in the adroitness with which he refuted attacks upon the Readers. Vail tells of one such a tta ck : i On October 1st of that year 1838 Benjamin F. Copeland and Samuel Worchester brought suit in the court of the United States against Truman & Smith and William H* McGuffey for infringement of copyright, alleging that material had been copied

19 W. H. McGuffey, Third Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837 pr. 1838(, p. 1, 58

from Worchester’s Second, Third, and Fourth Readers and that even the plan of the two latter readers had been pirated.20

The audience which is important in this case' is not the

court, since the case was settled out of court. We are

concerned, however, with Smith’s approach to his buying s. audience after Worche^ter’s Readers were shipped in to

take over the territory of the McGuffey Readers.

Quintilian’s advice for those who are to refute a charge

was,

. . . justify the facts, raise the question of competence, make excuses, plead for mercy, soften,■ extenuate, or divert the charge, express contempt or derision.

Smith took Quintilian’s advice. He chose to soften the

charge. In a two page explanation and defense which he

included in each Reader printed late in 1858 he said that sim ilarities .between the two series were ’’few and immaterial.” He stated that all elements claimed by

Worchester had been replaced by better material. He

attacked Worchester by attributing to him the motive of trying to force his books on this audience. He said, ’’The public never choose schoolbooks to please compilers.”22

20Vail, p. 42. 2^Quintilian, V. xiii. 2 Institutio Oratoria, H. E. Butler, translator (London: WlTliam Heinemann Ltd., 1953), V. xiii. 2. 22W. H. McGuffey, Third Reader (C in cin n a ti: Truman and Smith, 1838). ------59

He went on to appeal to the sectional interests of these western people with a plea for the support of Western e n te r p r is e . A lthough th e in c id e n t c o st Smith some money to make h i3 settlement with Worchester, he lost few, if any, customers over the incident*

Another instance of Smith's versatility at refutation is shown hy the way he met the advertising in Pickett's Readers. Pickett printed a recommendation of his readers hy William Holmes McGuffey which was written before the McGuffey readers were compiled. McGuffey had said that he considered them superior to any other works he had seen. Smith countered by publishing a strong recommendation by Mr. Albert Pickett of one of Smith's books. Although he might gain no advantage by this minor incident, he could be expected to netitralize Pickett *s g a in .

Summary. Winthrop B. Smith in flu e n c ed the pre­ paration of the McGuffey Readers in two ways: (1) by having a part in the invention of the plan of the Eclectic

Series; and (2) through his choice of competent compilers and editors like the McGuffeys, Pinneo, Wilson, Vail and

Harvey. He contributed to the success of the Readers through the rhetoric of his salesmanship in at least three ways. They were (1) his appeal to the wants of his audience; (2) his use of the ethical appeal of his main compiler, W. H. McGuffey; and (3) his adroit refutation of attacks on the eaders, It is probable that he deserves more credit than he is generally given for the success of the Readers, CHAPTER VI

INFHJENCES OP THOSE WHO REVISED THE MCGUFFEY READERS ON THEIR CONTINUED SUCCESS

Now that we have considered the Influences of the original compilers and of the original publisher on the

McGuffey series, let us turn to those who made the later revisions so successful* There are ten of these people who changed the McGuffey Readers to meet the changing demands of the public. The first such person was Timothy Stone Pinneo

(1804-1893). He graduated from Yale and taught in

Charlotte Hall Institute before moving to Marietta College to teach for a year. He studied medicine and received a degree from the Ohio Medical College in 1843. During

Pinneofs years of active connection with, the revision of the McGuffey Readers (1843-1856), he was the author or three successful books of his own. They were Pinneo’s

Primary Grammar (1854), Pinneo1s Analytical Grammar (1850), and The Homans’ Reader (before 1853). Smith also pub­ lished Pinneo’s books in addition to the McGuffey Readers. Pinneo made four contributions to the revision of the McGuffey Readers. Pirst, he revised the Third and 61 62

Fourth Readers which were published in 1844. This part of his work was approved by W. H. McGuffey before it was printed. Secondly, he helped Alexander McGuffey with the

Fifth Reader. Parts of previous editions of the Third and Fourth Readers were used in the Fifth Reader. Part of Pinneo’s duties in connection ifith his revisions of the

Third and Fourth Readers probably included consultation with Alexander McGuffey about which selections should be moved in to th e F if t h Reader. The Preface of th e F ifth

Reader gives some credit to Pinneo for his assistance.

It says, "The compiler has also received much valuable assistance from an able and experienced teacher,, who has devoted much time and study to the subject of Elocution."1 Thirdly, Vail says that the entire revision of 1853 2 passed through Pinneo*s hands. W« H. McGuffey also approved the revision. This was probably the last time

McGuffey’s approval was requested. After 1853 the McGuffey Readers were completely guided by hands other than McGuffey's. Fourthly, Pinneo's latest work was done on the Readers in 1856, It was during this time that the Sixth Reader was being prepared for addition to the series

^A. H, McGuffey, Fifth Reader (Cincinnati: Sargent, Wilson and Hinkle, 1853), p. 5. 2Vail, op. cit.. p. 49. 65 in 1857. Since Pinneo had done work on the Third and

Fourth Reader, helped with the compiling of the Fifth. Reader, and revised the entire series, it is probable that he was asked to use his experience with the higher readers in the compiling of an even more advanced one. It is also probable that Pinneo was restricted in what he could do to the Readers. As Vail said, "He was employed, for moderate amounts, to prepare revisions which were satisfactory to both publisher and author."^

The second person to help with revisions of the

McGuffey Readers was Daniel G, Mason, a teacher in the

Cincinnati schools. His only connection with the Readers seems to have been his revision of the First and Second Readers published in 1844.^

The third person who did work on the revisions of 5 the Readers was Obed J. Wilson (1826-1914). Wilson was educated in the public schools and at Bloomfield Academy in Maine. He taught in the public schools of Cincinnati for five years while he studied law. In 1851, failing

3I b id .

^Tbid.

3The National Cyclopedia of American Biography (New York: James T. White and Company, T9'l"8), 16:74. 64 eyesight forced a cessation of these activities. He

joined Winthrop B, Smith and Company as a traveling book agent. He took an inside position with the company about

1853, u, • • first as correspondent and literary referee, and later as editor-in-chief of its publications *” He became a member of the firm, which owned the McGuffey Readers, when Smith retired. This firm was Sargent,

Wilson and Hinkle, Later he was senior member of Wilson, Hinkle and Company which continued to own the Readers,

Wilson had a wide range of experience with the McGuffey Readers in his successive positions as book agent, editor, and publisher. His influence on the Readers in his positions of editor and publisher covered the approximate period from 1853 to 1877, During this time he had some connection with the revisions of 1853, 1857, and 1864,

Minnich says of him, nMr* Wilson was of scholarly tastes and fine literary appreciations, a poet himself. He and

Mrs, Wilson rearranged the McGuffey materials and added prose and poetry creating the edition of 1857, six readers 7 instead of five,” Wilson was one of the publishers during the Civil War and during the reconstruction period

6I b id ,

^Minnich, 0 £, cit., p, 86, ! 65

which followed. His company, unlike many others,

prospered during these times.

Mrs. Amanda Wilson was the fourth person to have a

part in the revisions of the McGuffey Readers. She was

the wife of Obed J. Wilson, mentioned above. Mrs. Wilson had been an elementary school teacher in Cincinnati. Vail

says of her v/ork w ith th e R eaders, "Mrs. W ilson was

responsible for a revision of the McGuffey First Reader made in 1863. She also at that time corrected the plates Q of the higher numbers of the series." Minnich says,

"She contributed most to the first three readers of 1857 .

Henry and Fanny, Mary and Florence, were nieces of Mrs. Wilson as were also W illie, Katie, and Carrie in ’At the S e a s id e .’"^ * Henry H. Vail was the fifth person to have a part

in the revisions of the McGuffey Readers. He was trained

fo r h is d u tie s w ith the company by Obed J. W ilson. During

this time William Holmes McGuffey died* Xt is to Vail’s

memory and his History of the McGuffey Readers that we turn for many of the details of what went on in Smith’s

p u b lish in g company and in the su c c e ssiv e r e v isio n s of the

Readers. Vail gives only a little information about his

_ Vail, o£. cit., p. 50.

% in n ich , o j d . cit., p. 86. 66

own activities. He does say that in 1871, ". . . Henry H. V a il and Robert F . Leaman, who had fo r some years been

employees, were each given an interest in the profits

although not admitted as full partners until three years later. This places Vail-in connection with the Readers

some time prior to 1871. Vail was one of the partners in

Van Antwerp, Bragg and Company, which owned th e Readers from 1877 to 1890 when the copyrights and plates were sold

to the American Book Company. V a il then went to New York

as e d ito r in c h ie f o f the American Book Company. V a il i s

speaking of himself when he says of Wilson’s retirement in

1877, "But in the meantime he Wilson had carefully trained a successor Vail in the editorial work, and from

1877 u n t i l 1907 the r e s p o n s ib ilit y f e l l upon hira."'*^

Vail's main influence on the revisions of the

Readers is on the revisions of 1879and 1901. The 1879

revision is one of the most important inthe history of

the Readers. The Appleton Readers, published in 1877, were

furnishing such strong competition that something had to be done if the McGuffey Readers were to hold their

position. This was a fight for survival. Vail says,

■^Vail, ojo. cit., p. 54. i:LVail, op. cit., p. 57. 67

MIt was war; and like every war was carried on for victoiy 1 P and not for profit*” Vail was given four expert edu­ cators as assistants. They re-wrote the Readers during the summer, Vail then re-wrote the First Reader again and finished the technical details for publication. New features of this revision included the use of "a phonic- word method11 of teaching in the First Reader; almost entirely new material in the first four Readers; only the best of literature was retained in the Fifth and

S ix th R eaders; and nThe F ift h and S ixth readers furnish ed brief biographies of each author and contained notes explanatory of .the text. These were new features • , , ,

Vail might be said to be the compiler of the Reader which most of us today know to be the McGuffey Reader.

The sixth throughthe ninth persons who had a part in the revisions of the McGuffey Readers were those who have been mentioned as having helped Vail with the revision of 1879, They were all outstanding schoolmen of the day. Thomas W, Harvey was the author of Harvey's

Grammars which were extremely popular. He was a frequent speaker at the teachers' institutes of the day. Hinsdale says that Harvey contributed more than any other man to

12 Ibid., op. cit ., p. 60.

■’■^Ibid., op. cit., p. 60. 6 8 14 education In Ohio, President Edwin C. Hewitt, of the

State Normal University, Normal Illin ois, collaborated with Harvey in revising the three higher Readers* Robert

W. Stevenson> Superintendent of Schools of Columbus, Ohio, and Miss Amanda Punnelle, professor of primary methods in 15 the Indiana State Normal School collaborated on the three lower Readers. The tenth person to revise the McGuffey Readers was Dr* James Baldwin* He worked under V ail’s super­ vision to make the revision of 1901, Baldwin was the "• * . author of the Harper Readers and of Baldwin’s

Readers• " This edition brought back many of the original selections of the McGuffeys which had been discarded by the other people who had revised the Readers* This was the final revision of the Readers *

Summary. Ten people took the McGuffey Readers through five major revisions in fifty-eight years. These people were: Timothy Stone Pinneo, teacher and author;

Daniel G-. Mason, Teacher; Obed J. Wilson, teacher, sales­ man, editor, publisher; Mrs. Amanda Wilson, teacher;

14 B. H. Hinsdale, "McGuffey,1' Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, VI, (Columbus,’ 18'98), 43. 15 Minnlch, op. cit., p. 86,

16Vail, op. cit., p. 57. • 69 Henry H, Vail, editor, publisher; Thomas W. Harvey, author and educator; Edwin C. Hewitt, normal school presi­ dent; Robert W, Stevenson, school superintendent; Miss

Amanda Funnelle, normal school professor of primary methods; and Dr. James Baldwin, author. These people altered the Readers to meet changing conditions for an unprecedented length of time* i

CHAPTER V II

INFLUENCES AFFECTING THE SELECTION OF MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS IN THE MCGUFFEY READERS

This chapter Is a rhetorical approach to the com­ posite compilation of (l) the selections in the Readers

(2) to the method of instruction included; and (3) to the

influences guiding, to some extent, McGuffey and the other e d ito r s . There were four sources of influence that these compilers had to face* First was the passing of the private

school system in favor of the creation of a public school system* Second was the influence of the status of elocutionary learning. Third was the influence of classical rhetoric* Fourth was the influence of Pestalozzi’s theories of education.

The old system of e ducation was passing out of the picture during the period from 1828 to 1860. The Latin

school was losing its importance* The academy was at the peak of Its development. It presented an opportunity for a broad education, but it was a private school where tuition must be paid. For this reason It was replaced during the last half of the century by the publicly con­ trolled and supported high school* None of these types of 70 71 schools appeared or disappeared In an Instant. They evolved slowly and McGuffey's Readers appeared in the midst of this evolutionary process.

That the compilers wrote the Readers for the common schools, Is shown by a brief mention in the 1837 edition c£ the Fourth Reader. William H. McGuffey said, ,r. . . there is nothing to be met with in the following pages,- but an intelligent teacher of a 'common school’ might be expected to know . . • • " ^ McGuffey was a member of an inspired minority which was behind the public school movement. As a member of the Western Literary institute and- College of

Professional Teachers, he helped to secure the passage of the general school law 1828 under which the common schools of Ohio were first organized. He helped establish the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction with Samuel Lewis as Its head. The state legislature agreed to a statewide tax for schools of one-haIf mill in

1828, three-fourths of a mill in 1829 and two mills In

1838. The appearance of the First and Second Readers in 1836 puts them right at the beginning of the common schools in Ohio. They were written for these schools.

W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: T rum an and Smith, 1837), p. v. 72

What, then, was the influence of the development of

this new system on the thinking of the composers of the

series? The growing common school movement influenced the

compilers of the McGuffey Readers in at least four ways:

(1) to suit the Readers to the.abilities of the teachers,

( 2 ) to suit the Readers to the child, (3) to suit the need

of the schools for organization by furnishing uniform and

graded books, (4) to suit the growing heterogeneity of the

community in areas of religion, national customs, degrees of wealth, and social position.

The first influence of the public school movement

was to bring about the adaptation of McGuffey’a Readers to the abilities of the teachers. McGuffey has just been

quoted as having said that the Readers were not too d iffi­

cult for the teachers. He included aids to teachers

throughout the Readers. Each of the early editions con­

tained several pages of "Suggestions to Teachers." The

questions at the end of each lesson were designed to illu s­

trate the type of questions a teacher should ask. The teacher was to go on with his own questions. William H.

McGuffey knew that many teachers needed help. He had been a teacher before he had an academy education. This was before the time of Normal Schools and was even before the time of the teachers’ summer institutes. Anyone who could get a teaching position could teach regardless of his 73 qualifications for the job*

I’he second 3.nfluence of the pu blic sch o ol movement

on the compilation of the McGuffey Readers was to suit the Readers to the child. We have already mentioned McGuffeyTs

belief that the child should have "cheerful” surroundings

in school and attach "pleasant” thoughts to his early 2 education. Besides making his Readers cheerful, McGuffey changed the standard methods of teaching reading to one

better suited to the child. Instead of the method of

learning to read by first learning to spell, McGuffey com­

bined learning to read with learning to spell. The content of McGuffeyfs Readers w ill be considered in detail later in this part of the thesis.

The third influence of the public school movement on the compilation of the McGuffey Readers was to suit the

need of the schools for organization by furnishing uniform .

and graded books. The need for graded books was great.

Until interested and influential groups began taking an

interest In the schools, there were no grades. The teacher

handled the problem of separating the more from the less advanced students according to his own make-shift plan if at a l l . The development of fr e e 'schools made th e s itu a tio n worse. School enrollments increased, one room schools

^See Chapter III. 74

expanded into "beginning" and r,more advanced” groups, there

was probably a greater intelligence variation than could be

expected in a private school, there were probably more

discipline problems than in private schools. The McGuffey Readers were graded in difficulty. The Second Reader was

more difficult than the First Reader had been and followed

the same pattern. In the absence of school grades of "First,” "Second," "Third" etc., the teacher might say that

certain students ivere in the First Reader, etc. The later

grading of the schools did not correspond to McGuffey’s d iv is io n s , and some people make the m istake of thin king

that the Sixth Reader, for example, was used for twelve

year olds like those in our sixth grades today. This

Reader was used for pupils like our high school students. This misunderstanding is partly responsible for statements

that the McGuffey Readers were not adapted to the age of the ch ild ren .

In a d d itio n to fu rn ish in g graded books, th e McGuff^- Readers furnished uniform books. "Uniform books" meant to

McGuffey that each student had the same book to study. In

order to use a uniform set, it v/as necessary that the

series furnish all of the materials a child needed in

learning to read. When other books than McGuffey's were

used it was usimlly necessary to resort to various authors and publishers, who used various methods, in order to get

t >I 75 the increasingly difficult materials which were needed.

For example, Murray’s readers were advanced books. Anyone using his reader had to learn in some other book. The con­ fusion was increased when the teacher could not specify the books to be used, McGuffey pointed out this difficulty in a speech before the Western Literary Institute when he s a id ,

We must furnish or compensate the teachers for furnishing uniform sets of suitable class books. No teacher can instruct successfully when the variety of books Is nearly equal to the whole number of sc h o la r s,

McGuffey made a plea for classifying students and for the use of a uniform set of class books when he said, As we value Improvement of our children, then we ought not'only'to permit, but to encourage the Instructors whom we employ, to Introduce as rigid a system of classification, and as great a 4 uniformity of books, Into the schools as possible.

He made these remarks to an audience which was deeply interested In the common school movement.

The fourth influence of the public (or common) school movement on the compilation of the McGuffey Readers was to suit the growing heterogeneity of the community in

3 Proceedings; Western Literary Institute and College of Professional Teachers. 1836, p. 140,

4Ibid., p. 141. 76 areas of religion, national customs, degrees of wealth and

social position* With the growth in population and the

development of the common schools came the inevitable

mixing of children from home backgrounds of widely

differing beliefs. The problem of securing non-sectarian

books had not bothered the private schools. The compilers

of books for the developing public schools had to take

these home interests into account. McGuffey*s speech indi­

cates, and his books should reflect his belief, that it is not the duty of the school to change the teachings given

the child at home. In McGuffey's words,

. . . it was not the province of the teacher, to oppose, what must be presumed to be the deliberate arrangement of the family circle, in relation to children. Teachers must not only take their children as they are; but must permit them to remain as they were, in the respects just noticed. For where is the parent, that w ill patiently permit any teacher to obliterate those impressions; or change those characteristics; or to interfere with the formation of thos habits, in his children, which he has been so solicitous to secure?®

Now that we have considered the four influences of

the common school movement on the compilation of the

McGuffey Readers, let us consider the influences of the

elocu tion ary movement which had some bearing on the com­ pilation of the Readers. Thi3 is the second of the influences affecting the reading selections and instruc­ tional materials of the McGuffey Readers. This movement

5Ibid., p. 142, 77 haa two aspects which it is necessary to mention in connection with McGuffey’s Headers. They are (a) classical elocutionary theory, and (b) elocutionary practices of the tim es. Elocutionary theory has a classical background.

• * This theory is characterized by an emphasis on pronunciatto, the art of delivery, one of the five canons or part of classical rhetoric. The ancient rhetoricians mentioned pronunclatlo, but gave it only a limited development.

Aristotle mentioned only voice as part of delivery, but both Cicero and Quintilian included voice and gesture as its parts. Discussions of delivery have included these two parts ever since.

Since the ancient Greeks and Romans only gave us a skeleton for the study of delivery, it has been left to the modern rhetoricians to elaborate on the ancient beginnings. The English rhetoricians turned their attention to the study of delivery with such an intensity that the period from 1760 to 1828 has been called the time of the elocu- 6 tionary movement in England,. McGuffey was familiar with the work of many of these writers on elocution. They influenced his Readers by elaborating for him the details

^William Phillips Sandford, English Theories of Public Address, 1530-1828 (Columbus, H. 1. Hedrick. 1931), pTTOTT.------78 of the art of delivery. Some of their contributions

in clu d ed :

1 , The natu ral mode of d e liv e r y (Sheridan)

2 , The mechanistic mode of delivery (Walker) 3, The attempt to correct pronunciation (Sheridan and Walker-) a, both dictionary makers. In the opening pages of the Rhetorical Guide of

1844, later to become the Fifth Reader, Alexander McGuffey says under the page-heading "To Educators"

Preparatory to its compilation, all the most approved elocutionary works used in the first ^ seminaries of Great Britain were obtained ....

Numerous qu otation s from Walker, some a page in len g th , and

notice in the Preface of the free use of such English works

as those of William Scott, WiIlian Enfield, Sheridan Knowles, and John Walker, attest to the Influence of the English school of elocutionary thought. The breadth of

this list is significant, Enfield’s The Speaker followed

the "Natural" method of delivery as advocated by Thomas Sheridan, while Scott and Walker favored the "Mechanistic" method credited in Its origin to Walker,

In America the English elocutionary theories were adapted by the many teachers and writers on elocution in

7A. H, McGuffey, Rhetorical Guide (Cincinnati: W, B, Smith and Company, 1844 j~T 79 the nineteenth century. Bell and Graham published American elocution books which are mentioned as sources of infor­ mation in the Fifth Reader of 1844. Two Americans made significant contributions to elocutionary theory. James Rush contributed an exhaustive technical treatment of the subject of "voice," and Gilbert Austin contributed an equally exhaustive treatment of "gesture and bodily action. " Rush’s book The Philosophy of th e Human Voice was published in 1827. This was nine years before W. J-I. McGuffey’s

First Reader was published. Rush's name is mentioned in the

Preface of the Rhetorical Guide. Austin’s Chironomla, although i t in flu en ced the e lo c u tio n movement in America, does not seem to have had much influence on the McGuffey

Readers. McGuffey does not mention Austin.

The adaptation of the theories of the English and American elocutionists to the McGuffey Readers w ill be developed elsewhere in this thesis. It is sufficient to note here that the elocution movement in England and

America from the 1750’s to the present was partly respon­ sible for the make-up and success of the McGuffey Readers.

The in flu en ce o f the e lo c u tio n movement on public address was considerable. Sandford rated it with classical rhetoric as one of the two great influences on the teaching of public speaking in three hundred years when he said,

"Classical rhetoric, and the elocutionary movement, were 80

the two greatest influences on the modern teaching of 8 public speaking.”

Not only elocutionary theory, but also elocutionary

practices, had their infliiences on the compilers of the

McGuffey Readers. Although it would be Impossible to describe all of these influences of elocutionary practice

here, it ' is possible to look briefly at four of the more

important ones. First among these practices is that of ■

reading aloud. All reading taught in the schools in the

nineteenth century was oral reading. Silent reading is an

innovation of the twentieth century. With so much oral

reading, it is not surprising that delivery received con­

siderable attention. Instructions for pausing, articula­ tion, volume, and pronunciation are easily incorporated in

Readers which center their attention on the oral performance.

The second elocutionary practice of McGuffey’s time was for people generally to believe that the study of elocution was essential to good citizenship and good government. This was a part of the belief that the people should take an active part in government.

The third elocutionary practice of McGuffey’s time is closely related to the last. Speech-making in our

8 Sandford, op. clt., p. 143. 8 1

country was very popular In the early days. People were fond of taking their troubles to court where many gathered to hear the arguments. Holidays were always occasions for

speech-making. The speaking at the lyceum, political rally, and revival meeting drew large crowds. Graduation exercises included many speeches. . Some of the speeches could be given over a number of times before different audiences with opportunity to polish the delivery. This was espe­ cially true of sermons and speeches in the lyceums.

A book or series of books published in an atmosphere of speech-making which centered heavily on the occasional type could quite understandably be influenced by an emphasis on delivery.

The th ir d movement which in flu en ced the McGuffey Readers was classical rhetoric. The rhetoric of ancient

Greece and Rome had at least four influences on the McGuffey

Readers. First, the omission of a detailed development in classical rhetoric of the canon of pronunciatlo, or delivery, produced speakers whose delivery was so poor that intensive study of delivery seemed desirable to Americans during McGuffey’s time. Secondly, the Socratic method of using questions to teach, as illustrated so well in

Plato’s dialogues, had a profound influence on William Holmes McGuffey’s directions "To Teachers" printed in the

Readers. Thirdly, the classical idea of teaching speech 82 by using good models of oratory was copied in the McGuffey

H eaders. F ou rth ly, th e r e -w r itin g from memory, but in different words, good examples.

The first of these influences (inadequate classical development of delivery) is more a negative contribution than a positive one. The absence of a detailed classical theory of delivery Influenced McGuffey and the other followers of the elocutionary movement to supply these missing details. ■ Had Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian written more adequately concerning delivery there would have been no elocutionary movement. It is probable that under these conditions the McGuffey Readers would have been quite different in their method* This Is especially true of the Fourth. Fifth and Sixth Readers. i The second influence of classical rhetoric on the

McGuffey Readers is in the use of questions to teach the pupils to think independently. This Influence comes originally from Plato. McGuffey had the training to receive this influence. He had the classical education of the colleges of his day, and taught ancient languages when he first went to Miami University as a professor. He must have been familiar with Plato’s dialogues. He probably read them in the Greek text. He demonstrated his 83 Q familiarity with the dialogue in an article which illustrated a way to teach the meaning of words. The method he employed is not the commonly used catechism of question and answer in which the material that has heen read or received in a lecture is repeated to the teacher. Instead, it Is the method used by Socrates in Plato’s writings. McGuffey’s questions burst the bubble of the students’ false impressions, and carefully led the pupils to new discoveries by drawing out new associations from familiar ideas and understandings. This shows that McGuffey not only knew about Plato’s use of the dialogue, but was able to use It himself* Plato's method is Inter** preted for us by Edman when he says of the dialogues:

The dialogues* then, are meant • • . to be renditions of that conjoint co-operative thinking of younger spirits awakened by a great teacher to a spirit of independent personal thinking and search. The archtype of such a teacher . . . is S o c r a te s.

The influence of the Socratic method on the Readers, themselves, Is most obvious In the sections entitled

"Suggestions to Teachers’1 found in the beginning of each

9 W. H. McGuffey, "Conversations in a Schoolroom" Monthly Chronicle of Interesting and Useful Knowledge'. (Cincinnati, March 1839), pp. 147*149. 10 Irw in Edman, e d ito r , The Works of P la to . Modern Library (New York: Random House, 1928), p. mii. 84

Reader. In the Fourth Reader, McGuffey says, "But no 1 1 teacher can give Instruction without asking questions*”

This statement.Is the key to his emphasis on this method.

He presents questions at the end of each lesson for the use

of the teacher and the pupils. He cautions the teacher against limiting himself totals list, however. He Is opposed to the question and answer method of the catechism, as only training the memory, and excluding development of the ability to think* He explains what he expects the questioning to do for the student. Notice the similarity between McGuffey’s statement in the Reader, and Edman’s interpretation of Plato. McGuffey said, All he knows, and, not unfrequently, more than he knows, w ill be put in requisition by the questions appended to the lessons here presented. It is deliberately intended to lead the mind of the pupil as often as practicable, beyond the pages of the book in his hands.T2

It is safe to assume that the McGuffey Readers were influenced by the dialogues of Plato when we see that

McGuffey’s training was conducive to acquaintance with the dialogues, his writings demonstrate an ability to write in the dialogue form of Plato, and his Instructions to

w. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p . v .

12Ib id 85 4 teachers in' the Readers, as regards the use of questions, matches Plato’s purpose in using the dialogues. The third influence of classical rhetoric was In the use of good models. Cicero gave instructions for the type of teaching which McGuffey included in the Readers.

. ,' . the control and training of voice, breathing, gestures and the tongue Itself, call for exertion rather than art; and in these matters we must carefully consider whom w@ to take as patterns, whom we w ish to be l ik e .

McGuffey seems to have accepted at least part of this advice. He recognized the need for perseverance. He cautions teachers in the Fourth Reader that ’’The great maxim of good teaching in reading is, to take one thing at a time, and to persevere in repitition, till the object aimed at is attained.”"'"^ He accepted another part of

Cicero’s advice by choosing selections for the pupils to read which were good models. The back cover of the First

Reader the publisher shows us McGuffey’s intentions in this regard.

The Lessons and Stories which he had adopted in the First and Second Books, are probably the most simple, and yet the.most instructive, amusing and beautiful for the young mind that

13 ^Cicero, De Oratore, Loeb Classical Library, (London: Heinemann Ltd., 1948) I, xxxiv, 156. 14W, H..McGuffey, Fourth Reader ' (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p. xi. can be found in our language. The Third and Fourth Books, being in regular gradation above th e F ir s t and Second, are made up o f b e a u tifu l and chaste selections from prose and poetry: the whole forming a progressive series (of excellent moral tendency) peculiarly adapted to the purpose of instruction.1

The Fifth Reader included such standard examples as Fox’s "A Political Pause,” Patrick Henry’s ’'Speech before the

Virginal Convention,” Sir Robert Walpole's "Speech in

reproof of Mr. P itt,” P itt’s "Reply to Sir Robert Walpole "Paul’s Defense before King Agrippa" from the Bible,

Grimke’s "LaFayette and Robert Raikes," Hayne’s "South

Carolina,” Webster’s "Massachusetts and South Carolina,” Burke'q "Speech on th e t r i a l of Warren H a stin g s,” and

Lord Chatham's "On the American War.” These are only a

sample of the 234 prose selections in the book.

McGuffey's Readers received at least one other

influence from classical rhetoric. That was the practice

of having the pupils read or listen to a selection and

then re-write it in their own words from memory. Cicero tells of doing something like this.

. . . to set myself some poetry, the most im­ pressive to be found, or to read as much of some speech as I could keep in my memory, and then to declaim upon the actual subject-matter

TE W. II. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati* Truman and Smith, 1936 pr. 1840) Publishers remarks on the Back-outside-cover. 87

of my reading, choosing as far as possible different words.

Cicero was an advocate of writing to develop eloquence. He sa id , "... write as much, as possible. The pen Is the

• best and most eminent author and teacher of eloquence . • 17 . McGuffey advises the teachers to do almost the same thing with their classes when he writes In the Readers, Let. the teacher sometimes read aloud a lesson to his class, having previously removed every means of taking notes while he reads—and then let him require each pupil within a given, but sufficient time, to render in writing and from recollection, an abstract of what he has read.

This exercise improves the attention, practices the pen, gives fluency of expression, and a readiness of employing the Ideas gained in reading, as capital of our own; and w ill be found highly interesting to the pupils and highly Improving in a greater variety of ways than many other highly approved methods of recitation.^-®

These four Influences of classical rhetoric on the

McGuffey Readers are not the only such influences.

Incidentally, they do Indicate, however, that the Readers are not outside the rhetorical continuum.

The fourth influence on the selection of instruc­

tional methods used in the Readers was that of the theories

C icero, 0 £. eft., I, xxxiv, 154.

^Cicero, Ibid., I, xxxiii, 150.

18W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p. x ii. 8 8 19 of education advanced by Pestalozzi. It is not necessary for us to analyze Pestalozzi's theories completely. We can see his influence on the Readers by noticing nine of Ms ideas which are found in their entirely or in part in the

Readers. Let us look at each of these ideas contributed by Pestalozzi and see their corresponding influence on the H eaders.

The first of Pestalozzi’s ideas which we find reflected in the instructional methods which McGuffey chose to advocate in his Readers is a substitution of observation, investigation and discussion for memorization-as a method of learning. As Warfel says of Pestalozzi, ” He . . .

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi (1776-1827) was a Swiss reform er and ed u cation al t h e o r is t . (Edward and Richey give the following brief description of his work: “Through his writings and through the schools that he organized and taught at Burgdorf and Yverdon, Pestalozzi attempted to define and demonstrate his educational principles.) He was primarily concerned with freeing education from the deadly formalism that had long dominated it—from the teaching of facts and words that, had little or no meaning to those who learned them. For the memo­ rization of a body of formally organized content Pesta­ lozzi would substitute the development of the instincts, capacities, and faculties of the growing child. He made sense impression the most important principle of instruc­ tion. He would have children observe, discuss, think; he would build up concepts and understandings by pro­ ceeding from the concrete to the abstract.” Nev/ton Edwards, and Herman Cf. Richey, The School in the American Social Order (Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company, 1947), p . W . 89 redirected educational activity toward observation, inves- tigation and discussion rather than memorization.”''' This influence is found in McGuffey’s "Suggestions to Teachers" in the Second Reader. He said,

Nothing can be more fatiguing to the Teacher, nor irksome to a pupil, than a recitation con­ ducted on the plan of ’verbatim answers, to questions not always the most pertinent nor perspicuous. ’ And even If the questions found in the book were the most pertinent, still it would be but little more than an exercise of memory, to the neglect of the other faculties, ■ confine the examinations exclusively to these,"2"1

Rhetorically, this is significant since "memory" Is one of the five canons of classical rhetoric.. The fact that.

McGuffey put less emphasis on memory than had been the custom of teachers In the past shows that he was keeping abreast of the rhetorical trends of his day, Blair, Campbell, and Whately had made little mention of memory in their writings or rhetoric. Their work was influencing

Americans during McGuffey’s time.

Second, Pestalozzi "... tried instead to reduce the educational process to a well-organized routine, based

20 Harry R, Warful, Dictionary of American History, V ol. V, James Truslow Adams, e d ito r "(New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1942), p, 40, 21 ■W. h , McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836), p. vii. 90 on natural and orderly development of the Instincts, 22 capacities, and powers of the growing child." McGuffey tried to organize his series of Readers around a well- ordered routine, hased on the natural and orderly develop­ ment of the powers of the growing child. In the Preface of the Fourth Reader, McGuffey discloses this agreement with the Pestalozzian theory,

The selections for the present volume, are of a higher, grade of literary and intellectual excellence. The mind of the pupil is presumed to have improved, and expanded, as he advanced through the preceding numbers of the "Series,'1 or its equivalent in other books. In this, therefore, he is to expect, that higher claims w ill be made upon his powers of thought; and larger contributions be levied upon what he may, (or ought to) have learned- from other sou rces. ^

Third, Cubberly, in explaining Pestalozzi’s theories says, "Real education must develop the child as a whole—■ 24 mentally, physically, morally--," If McGuffey was following Pestalozzi, he shows the "eclectic" nature of his adaptation of Pestalozzi *s theories by his acceptance of the "mental" and "moral" aspects of the child to be taught without continuing Pestalozzi’s emphasis on the "physical."

22Ellwood P. Cubberly, Rib lie Education in the United States (Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company, 1919), p. 264. 23 W. H, McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p, v. 24Cubberly, op. c it., p, 264. 91

McGuffey did not ignore the physical well-being of the child, as we have been in previous chapters* His teachings on temperance and his agitation for more comfortable schools coiild be taken as signs of his interest in developing the child physically. He was interested in temperance for moral reasons and in comfortable schools as a means to better mental development, however* The quotation from his

Fourth Reader, jxist noted, shows his interest in ’’mental1' development of the child. The entire series is famous for its concentration on the "moral” development of the child*

In the Fourth Reader, McGuffey makes this interest clear when he says, "in a Christian country, that man Is to be pitied, who at this day, can honestly object to imbuing the minds of youth with the language and spirit of the Word of God.”25

Fourth, Cubberly says that Pestalozzi thought, "The only proper means for developing the powers was use . . . It would be difficult to prove that McGuffey advocated

"use” as the only means for developing the powers. All of his directions for teaching reading fall into this cate­ gory, however. None of his directions advise the teacher

25 W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (C in cin n ati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p. vii.

Cubberly, o£. cit., p. 264. 92 to tell the student how to read and to stop there. A typical sample of his directions on correcting a fault in reading is a3 follows? “Let all who read in a low and feeble voice be put in one ’class and practised with

0*7 reference to this fault till it is conquered."'0 Since all reading taught in McGuffey’s time was oral reading, leariiing by doing could be expected to be the means used.

Some of the critics of modern educational methods might be surprised to learn that these methods are not so new as they think they are.

Fifth, Cubberly,said of Pestalosxi*s theories, "Education, too, . . . must observe the proper progress of 28 child development and must be graded . . . As we have observed previously, one of McGuffey’s most important con­ tributions to the teaching of reading was his emphasis on grading of books to suit child development. McGuffey expresses his views on the subject of grading material for child development when he says, ,

The lessons are short, and generally composed of words of one, and two syllables. Great care has been taken to render them as progressive as possible, so that the child may not meet with

27 W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati* Truman and.Smith, 1837), p. xi. 28Cxibberly, op. c it., pp. 264-265. many expressions which are strange to his and none that are above his comprehension.

Sixth, Cubberly says that Pestalozzi believed

. education must proceed- largely by doing instead of I by words . . . ." This is somewhat similar to number i four above. We have already said that McGuffey!s instruc­ tions to the teachers included many directions for "learning by doing.1' However, "doing" includes the use of words when reading is the subject being 'taught. This part

of PestalozziTs belief is not so much a concern over the use of words as it is for "experience." .McGuffey believed in the value of experience in education, too. He believed in experience in the use of words. The last part of an article on education by an author who until recently was not known to be W. H. McGuffey sa y s, "... the b est was to acquire information on this, or any other, subject, is to go rightly to work. Necessity may be the mother of invention, but wisdom must ever be the result of experience."3^

2%. H. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr. 1840), p. 4.

^Cubberly, 0 £. cit., p. 265. "1 W. H. McGuffey, "General Education," Judge James Hall, editor. Western Monthly Magazine, 1834. 94

Seventh, Cubberly says that Pestalozzi believed,

. the organization and correlation of what is learned 32 must be looked after by the teacher,” McGuffey tells the teachers who read his books how to go about accomplishing this belief of Pestalozzi*s, McGuffey said, Let Teachers strive to fix the attention of their pupils upon every thing found on the page assigned for recitation. Let them call for answers and explanations; and let them never refuse or delay to give such answers, and to make such explanations, as shall not only render intelligible, but make interesting, every picture, every story, and every Spelling-Lesson in the book. ^

Eight, Cubberly says that Pestalozzi believed,

• not only the intellectual qualities of perception,

judgment, and reasoning ne'eded exercise, but the moral 34. powers as w ell,” W. H, McGuffey makes a similar state­ ment in giving his aims in the Preface to the Third

Header when he sa ys,

. , . the Compiler begs leave to state, that he has aimed to combine simplicity with sense; elegance with sim plicity, and ^TSPY, with both, so far as these qualities can be combined with that which is transfered to a printed page,5*3

rto Cubberly, o jd . cit., p. 265, 33W, H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836), p* vii,

3^Cubberly, ojd, oit., p. 265, t55W. H, McGuffey, Third Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838), Preface, 95

line, Cubberly says, ’'Pestalozzi also resented the

brutal discipline which for ages had characterized all school instruction.” McGuffey suggests a method of

teaching which makes such brutality unnecessary when he

sa y s,

Let his faults be pointed out to him, xvith such simplicity, and clearness of illustration as shall make him sensible of what is meant,—and with such kindness, as shall secure his gratitude for the corrections made: and those Teachers who have not before tried the experiment, w ill, it is believed, be surprised at its results.

McGuffey could have developed his version of these same ideas independently of Pestalozzi, but it is probable that he got some of them from his associations in the

Western L iterary I n s t it u t e . The members in v e stig a te d

European systems of education and the methods were dis­

cussed in their meetings. An advertisement in the Third Reader testifies to the familiarity of the compilers of

kk® Readers with the theories of Pestalozzi when McG-uffey says,

The Eclectic System of Instruction now predomi­ nates In Prussia, Germany and Switzerland. *It is in these countries that the subject of education has been deemed of paramount importance. The art of teaching, particularly, has there been most ably and minutely Investigated.38

17 £• ■Cubberly, ojc. c i t . , p. 265. 37 W. H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1336), p. vii. 38W. H. McGuffey,.Third Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837 pr. 1838), p. '1.' Pestalozai’s theories of education were being tried in these countries at the time.

In this chapter, we have studied four rhetorical Influences affecting the selection of materials and instructional methods of the McGuffey Readers. These in clu d ed :

1. The contemporary educational influence of the passing of the old type of education and the coming of the new educational system.

2. The influence of elocutionarj7, learning. 3. The influence of classical rhetoric,

4. The influence of Pestalozzi’s theories of education. CHAPTER VTII

WILIIAM HOLMES MCGUFFEY > S PLAN OF SELECTION AM) REJECTION

OF THE PROSE AND POETRY MATERIALS FOR THE READERS.

The compilers of the McGuffey Readers all had at le a s t one th in g In common. They had In mind the id e n tic a l

objectives for choosing and for rejecting prose and poetry

selections for the Readers« As Henry Vail, one of the

publishers said,

In each one of these revisions the marked charac­ t e r i s t i c s of the o r ig in a l s e r ie s leave been most scrupulously retained, and the continued success of the series is doubtless owing to this fact. There has been a continuity of spirit.

It is from remarks like this one by Vail, from hints In the preface to the Readers, or from some mention in an

occasional advertisement that we get this impression that the objectives remained constant. Observation of the material in the Readers bears out this belief.

Among the objectives of McGuffey and the compilers who followed him there are three which seem most obvious. They are that (1) the needs of the prospective students must be met, (2) the materials must be the best of their

type available for use, and (3) adaptation must be made

^Henry H, V a il, A H istory of the Mc'Guffey Readers, (Gleveland: The Burrows Brothers &o.f 1911)', ~p, 4,

97 98 to the general trends of the day in other competitive school readers*

Let us consider the methods used by the compilers to meet these objectives. Although they did not list the needs -of the students any more than they listed the objectives of the Readers, these needs are apparent from the scattered comments of Y/illiam PI. McGuffey and those others who were influential in the composing of the

■Readers. These needs which. McGuffey seemed to have in mind are as follows: (1) the need for an appreciation of literature, (2) the need for moral virtues, (3) the need for religious instruction, (4) the need for reading instruction, (5) the need for spelling instruction, (6) the need for the development of the ability to think, (7) and the need for development of concepts of economic values.

William Holmes McGuffeyrs methods of suiting the materials in the Readers to the child is explained on the outside back cover of the First Reader as follows:

In preparing the two first books, President M'Guffey has taken a class of young pupils into his own house, and has taught them spelling and reading for the express purpose of being able to judge with the greatest accuracy of the best method of preparing the ’'Readers.1' The Lessons and S to r ie s which he has adopted in the F ir st and Second Books, are probably the most simple, and yet the most instructive, found In our language. The Third and Fourth Books, being In regular gradation above the First and Second, are made up of beautiful and chaste selections from prose 99

and poetry: the whole forming a progressive series (of excellent moral tendency) peculiarly adapted to the purpose of instruction.

T his q u o ta tio n is probably the foundation for the many

S to rie s in circulation about his use of children in testing selections fo r ttse.

It might be well to recoil here* that any method of

selection of prose and poetry materials to suit student needs, or our thoughts about them, changes. Even today, with our reading readiness tests, intelligence tests, and

work on words and their difficulty, as studied by Lorge,® 4 5 6 Dale, Thorndike, and Flesch, it is necessary to revise

readers from time to time to Improve them, because of the

speculative nature of their original compilation. In

McGuffeyVs day, without the advantage of these more recently developed aids for suiting materials to the child, It was

H. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr. 1840TJ Outside "Back Cover* *2 Irving Lorge, HPredicting Reading D ifficulty of Selections for Children,” Elementary English Review, XVI (October, 1939), pp. 229-33, 4 Edgar Dale and Jeanne S. Chall, 11A Formula for Predicting Readability,” Educational Research Bulletin. XXVII (January 21, 1948), pp. 11-20, 28.

Edward L. Thorndike, A T eacher's Word Book of Twenty Thousand Words (New York? TeacherV "College, Columbia University, 193l7^

6Rudolph Flesch, Marks of Readable Style (New York: Teacher's College, Columbia University, 1943)» 1 0 0 an even more problematical task* McGuffey could only use his experience with children and his rough experimental method of trying proposed selections on the neighbor children to increase the probability that his choices were the best for the age group for which each Reader of the

series was intended. Even if he suited the Reader to an age group, the effectiveness of his grading was contingent upon such variable factors as regular attendance at school on the part of the students. Children were permitted to start to school at any age from three years to probably twenty 37 -ears * They had varied capacities for learning and preparation for school. All these conditions militated against accuracy in selecting the material to meet the selector’s objectives.

In order to meet the students’ needs for an appre­ ciation of literature, McGuffey provided high caliber

\ selections for the students to read* He may have been following the same procedure that Cicero and Quintilian used in furnishing good models for the student to study.

On this subject Quintilian says,

. . . as we are discussing the elementary stages .of a rhetorical education, I think I should not fail to point out how greatly the rhetorician will contribute to his pupils’ progress, if he imitates the teacher of literature whose duty it is to expound the poets, and gives the pupils 1 0 1

whom ho has undertaken to train, instruction in the reading of history and still more of the orators.

McGuffey could also have been reflecting Blair's Belles Lettres approach, since some of the Readers contained cuttings from Blair's writings

9 ’ Davis has analyzed the McGuffey Readers together with many of their contemporaries and compared the per­ centages of literary selections. Davis shows that the

McGuffey Readers compared favorably with other readers of the period in their literary content. McGuffey and the other compilers seem to have been successful in providing the literature necessary for satisfying the students’ needs for such appreciation.

It Is only necessary'that we mention a few of the authors- of selections in the McGuffey Readers to call attention to the high literary quality of their offerings*

^Quintilian, The Institutlo Oratorla, Translated by H. E. Butler (Lond on:”"Wi 111 am Heinemann Ltd., 1953), IX, v.

^Lesson LVXXX of McGuffey’s Fourth. Reader of 1853, pp* 146-47, is called "Homer and. Virgi l" and signed "Blair.11 This Is an exact copy of the last paragraph, of Hugh Blair's Lecture XIXII, pp. 300-301 In his Lectures on Rhetoric and Belies Lettres, Philadelphia: Manning and Morse, 1804, II, Q Vincent A. Davis, "The Literature of Advanced School Readers in the United States, 1785-1900," (Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1934) pp, 151- 154. 1 0 2

Some of these authors were Irving, Hawthorne, Addison,

Dr* Johnson, Shakespeare, Rousseau, Jefferson, Milton,

Byron, Southey, and Bryant, Both English and American. authors were included, as were the new and the well-

established* Those authors who now detract from the

literary rating of some of the Readers were very popular In their day, but have not stood the test of time* Among

these authors are Mrs. Sigourney, Miss Edgeworth, Mrs.

Hemans, Mary Howitt, and Mrs. Barbauld. Much of their writing was excellent for children although we might not call It literature. Mary Howitt *s poem of ,!The Spider and

the Ply” is an example. Most of us have enjoyed, this poem which starts ” TWm you walk into my parlor1?} said a spider 10 to a f l y f . . . ”

In meeting the need of the student for moral

virtues, McGuffey was a master. His home and school envi­ ronment made his attitude toward morality almost a

certainty. His experience as a minister also tended in this direction. Most of those today who have heard of

McGuffey or his Readers realise that he Included numerous

stories with a moral. The lesson entitled "Don’t Take Strong Drink” Is an example. It ends with the statement that "Whisky makes the happy m iserab le, and i t causes the

10W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Wilson, Hinkle & Co., 1853), p. 5^ ■ -.-rir c-r-i^rr'ir/-,*;,.^^.^-....-^- ;-.,.'-|-:'.^?^f^.':^-»r’‘- ■ -■ •%* ^ \V :* r^ '''.r ,f^ .—■ v,-- ~ 'r - •.•>...... ry, ..

103 1 T rich to become poor,11 This is a rhetorical syllogism or enthymeme which aims a t in flu e n c in g human conduct through appeal t-o; the students’ desire for happiness and wealth. Topos #13, Simple Consequences, (?Spurious?) .

Hughes analy2 ed the"Fourth, Fifth and Sixth McGuffey Readers and came to the following conclusion concerning their moral content:

The fact that 20 per cent of all lessons in all revisions and editions of these three readers was of a moral nature proves convincingly that the compilers and editors, unlike the editors of most other readers, never surrendered the concept that one of the first functions 'of edxication is to make children ’’good," that is, to build character.1*

Hughes* breakdown of the subject matter of these three 13 Readers shows the emphasis on the moral virtues. Of the

2090 lessons in the eight revisions of the Fourth, Fifth i and Sixth Readers, 411 were devoted to the moral virtues, 411 were devoted to the moral virtues, 302 to religion, and only 77 to b ird s and anim als, and 27 to myths and

X1W. H» McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838), p* 67. 12 Raymond Grove Hughes, "An Analysis of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth McGuffey Readers.” (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Pittsburg) 1943, p, 153.

15Ibid., p. 149. 104 fablea• The emphasis here is clear*

Althoxigh Hughes' analysis of the upper three Headers shows the trend in the Readers toward teaching morals, an analysis of the First, Second and Third Readers might make this trend even more pronounced. Of the first seventeen 14 lessons in the First Reader of 1836, ten were moral in their teaching, McGuffey had more latitude of choice in the selections he used in the lower Readers, since most of the selections are not signed by the authorTs. name• He could adapt the selection to his purpose, or even write his own story. II© was under no compulsion in the lower Readers to provide examples of the best literature, so he could again use whatever suited his purpose in teaching morality.

William Holmes McGuffey's method of suiting the materials to the child's need for religious instruction is similar to that used in providing moral instruction. He included numerous religious selections to be read, McGuffey explains his position in the preface to the Fourth Reader of 1837 as follows:

From no source has the author drawn more copiously, in his selections, than from the sacred Scriptures. For this, he certainly apprehends no censiire. In a Christian country, that man is to be pitied, who at this day, can honestly object to Imbuing the minds of youth with the language and spirit of the Word of God.

■^William H. McGuffey, First Reader {Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr.. 1 8 3 pp"^ 5-ST, 105 The student of the Bible will, it Is believed, be pleased_to find a specimen of the elegant labors of Bishop Jebb, and some specimens of sacred poetry as arranged by Dr. Coit, in which the exact words of our authorized translation are preserved, while the poetic order of the original is happily restored.

In the lower Readers, McGuffey gave a religious explanation to some of the questions that all young

children ask. Examples of such lessons were those entitled

"Who made the World?"^ and "Who Made Man?"^ Although his answers were religious, they might be expected to satisfy the members of any s e c t .

Some of the religious selections were stories from the Bible. The "Story about King Solomon,"'*'® the "Story about Joseph,"^ and "The Ten Commandments"^ fa ll In this category. These were relatively simple in the First,

W, H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837) p. vii.

H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838), p. 25. 17 Ibid., p. 26.

1 SW. H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1838), p. 52. Ibid., p. 139. 20 Ibid., p. 160. 106 Second and Third Readers. In the Fourth Reader, passages 21 such as the "Death of Absalom" and "Christ and the Blind 22 Man" were copied directly from the Bible and proper notation was made as to the source of the selection.

The pupil was also Introduced to religion through' the excerpts written by some of the outstanding religious authorities of the day. Examples of such selections are 23 Channing’s "Religion the only basis of Society," Sprague’s "The Winged Worshipers,"2^ and Jebb’s "The Pall of

Babylon."25 Another of the needs of the student which the McGuffey

Readers were designed to supply was for reading instruction. Vail says concerning this objective: . . . the chief aim of the school readers must be to teach the chi.Id to apprehend thought from the printed page and convey this thought to theA attentive listener with precision .... The McGuffey Readers were well designed to aid In the teaching of reading. The pupils before McGuffey's day were

21 W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Wilson Hinkle and Company, 1853), p. 109, 22Ibjd., p. 181. 23I b id ., p. 244.

Ibid., p. 82.

25Ibid., p. 254. 26 V a il, 0 £. eft., p. 2. 107

taught to read by first learning to spell lists of words*

Minnich recalls his own childhood experiences when he says,

"The writer remembers that he reached ’indefatigability* 27 before a reader was placed in his hands." This was the

tradition before McGuffey introduced his method of com­ bining reading’ with spelling and McGuffey did not entirely

overcome this old method. McGuffey*s first lesson in the pp First Reader reveals his method. This lesson includes a

story in seven simple sentences about "The New Book."

After the story he lists twelve words from the story. Th^r

are to be used as spelling words. He makes this clear in

the introductory page entitled "To Teachers" when he says,

The Spelling Lessons are composed of words derived from the Reading Lessons .... When reading and spelling are thus blended, the advance of the pupil is much more rapid.22

The method of teaching reading used by the McGuffey

Readers remained constant until the 1879 edition edited by

Henry Vail, In this edition, the "Phonic Method" of teaching reading was adopted. Vail says that either

McGuffey’s method, which he calls the "Word Method," the

P*7 M innich, ojd. cit., p. 61, Op „ W. H. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr. 1838), p. 5.

2%. H. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pre. 1840), p. 4. 108 "Phonic Method" or a combination of the two may be used with the Readers. Fe describes the "Phonic Method" as fo llo w s:

First teach the- elementary sounds and their representatives, the letters marked with dia- criticals, as they occur in the lessens; then, the formationggf words b y the combination of these sounds.

All of the instructions to teachers and all of the Lessons for the pupils in the Readers assume that the reading w i l l

,be done orally.

The fifth need of the pupil,' which seems to have had its effect on the Readers, was for spelling instruction.

:7o have already mentioned the emphasis on spelling in early

systems of the teaching reading. To many Americans in the

1800's spelling was more than an aid to the pupils'

learning how to read. To McGuffey it was a way to purify the language of those in this part of the country. To

others it was an end-in itself, for the ability to spell was highly prized even though .the speller might not know what the word meant. Spelling contests were popular. The

spelling words in the Readers served the purposes of the people who held all of these ideas about the place of

spelling in their lives.

The sixth need of the student was met by the attempts, on the part of the compilers of the Readers to develop the

30 W. H. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati; American Book Company, 1879 pr. 1920), P» ii. students1 ability to think* This is an aspect of the

McGuffey Readers which has received less attention from writers than some other aspects. In fact, we might easily get the Impression from some "Oldtimers" that the Readers were designed to develop the memory alono. C e rta in ly many poor teachers probably taught them In such a way as to exclude as much thinking, on the part of the students, as possible. This happens under any system when the teacher

Is untrained, because it Is much easier for the teacher to drill constantly on a narrow body of material which has a fixed answer for Mm to follow in the book, than to get Into the relatively difficult task of allowing the students to think and question. The answers are often not in the book for the teacher who encourages thinking. He may have to admit that he doesn't knov/ the answer. This is hard for the untrained teacher to face, when he already feels his inadequacy. Mc'Guffey's Intention, whether it was followed or not, was for teachers to use the questions at the end of the lessons to stimulate the students-to inquire further into the material of the lesson. McGuffey advised the teacher quite specifically as to the method of questioning v/hich he favored when he said the following In "SUGGESTIONS

TO TEACHERS:"

The questions found at the end of the Lessons, are intended merely as hints to the Teacher, of the way in which he may exercise the mind 110

of the learner on every subject that is brought b efo re him* '

I n the Fourth Reader of 1837.McGuffey emphasized again the importance of meeting this need of the pupils for the ability to think, and he gave some inkling as tohow the

Readers were designed, to satisfy this need. McGuffey wrote as follows:

But this book is designed for other purposes than merely to teach the pupil to read. The selections have been made with a constant reference to the improvement of the mind as well as to the cultivation of the voice. Many of the lessons require thought, in order to be appreciated, and before they can be comprehended. Some require an extensive range of reading and deep reflection, to enable the reader fully to understand the allusions, to enter into the • spirit,and to realize the excellence of the extracts* *

We can see from this statement of McGuffey's that he intended for the Readers to have some influence on the child's development of thinking. His interests along this line continued throughout his lifetime. The four volume set of books on Mental Philosophy, which he was preparing which he was preparing for the printers at the time of his death, included probably as much psychology as any other subject. His students testify that he set aside part of

31 W. H. McGuffey, Second Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836), p. vii.

32W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1837), p. xii. I l l

the class period each day for them to question him on the

lesson in order to clarify any doubtful points in that

lesson. McGuffey, himself, reveals this part of his

technique In the manuscript to his Mental Philosophy when

he,talks of his aims'as a teacher.* He said,

The author in his profession of teacher has striven more to excite inquiry, or even to provoke discussion, than to dogmatize—and he shall be surprised,,if this should not be the effect of his Book.03

The seventh need of the student, which seems to have

had its effect on the Readers, was for the development of

concepts of economic values. * There are evidences that

McGuffey was not an especially capable financial administa­

tor. At least, Ohio University and Cincinnati College’did

not prosper financially under his direction. His personal

finances were not always in the best condition either.

However, the Readers seem to have contained about the same

amount of material dealing with economic factors that more

recent readers have included. Estenser compared the

McGuffey Readers with readers used in the schools in 1930

and decided that both contained about twenty-five percent 34 economic motivational material. The story of "The Poor

H. McGuffey, Mental Philosophy, Unpublished manuscript, Preface dated May 26, 1871, p. v-.

V. Estensen, "McGuffey—A Statistical Analysis," Journal of Educational Research, 39:454, (February, 1946), 112

fZ C Old Man” v Is an example of such material in the McGuffey

Readers, This story ends as follows:

We should be kind to the poor. We may be as poor as this old man, and need as much as he. Shall I give him some cents to buy a pair of shoes? No; you may give him a pair of shoes. It is hard for the poor to have to beg from house to house. Poor boys and girls some times have to sleep out of doors all night* 'When it snows they are yery cold, and when It rains, they get quite wet.0

Other stories In these Readers are lessons on saving, care

of property, Industry, and being helpful around the house

In doing many of the' things we pay for today.

Some of the questions at the end of the lessons brought out economic problems. For example, at the end of

the first lesson In the Fourth Reader of 1853 we find these

two q u estio n s among th e o th e rs . ”What was th e e ffe c t upon his business? What circumstance led to his becoming

acquainted with the fact that he was heir to a large

p ro p e rty ? ”37

Although It Is probable that these seven needs of the

pupils of McGuffey1 s day is not a complete list, it is

33W. H. McGuffey, First Reader (Cincinnati: Truman and Smith, 1836 pr, 1838), pp. 1'2'-T5T

36Ibid., p. 13.

37W. H. McGuffey, Fourth Reader (Cincinnati: Wilson, Hinkle and Company, 1853), p. 37. 113 enough to show that McGuffey's method of selection of

'materials and teaching methods for the Readers was influenced by what he thought the pupils' personal needs ware*

How that we have considered in some detail the method of selection and rejection of materials used to meet the first objective of McGuffey and the other compilers of the McGuffey Readers, let us turn to a similar treatment of the second objective of these same compilers. Their second aim, as listed earlier in this chapter,’was to select the best materials of their type which were available for use. William Holmes McGuffey started this tradition for those who were to compile and revise McGuffey Readers.

He and publisher Winthrop B. Smith gathered many "readers" and "speakers" in a search for teaching materials and reading selections, Prom these books he gathered in.

"eclectic" fashion many of his ideas for the Readers.

Alexander McGuffey chose the elocution material for instructing the teachers and students, using the Fifth

Reader, in oral reading from some of the best modern author­ ities available at the time. He chose from such a broad field that all were not the most outstanding, but it was, in general, a respectable group of authorities. He lists them as "Bell, Graham, Ewing, Pinnock, Scott, Wood,

McCulloch, Enfield, Mylius, Sheridan Knowles, Walker and 114’ others. Later editions added Rush and changed ^yHias" to ,,Mylins.,, William Holmes McGuffey used some of the same references. Others influenced both of these men as we have shown previously.

As we have mentioned In the earlier part of this chapter, the McGuffey Readers contained many selections of lasting literary content. In this sense, the selections were generally the hest of their type. These literary selections combined with, the elocutionary teachings gleaned from the outstanding writers In the field, as we have ju 3t mentioned, and with William Holmes McGuffey1s advice to teachers from his own experience produced a series of

Readers which Included the best materials of their type available for use during their time.

Since we have considered the first two objectives of the compilers of the McGuffey Readers, it Is only necessary for us to mention the third of these objectives to complete our discussion of their objectives. These compilers tried to adapt their Readers to the general trends of the day in other competitive school readers. The success of the

McGuffey series demonstrates the effectiveness of their adaptation to contemporary trends. It would be a mistake,

7 Q A. H. McGuffey, Fifth Reader (Cincinnatii Sargent, wilson & Hinkle, 1853), p. 5. of course, to imagine that the Readers merely copied or followed the trends blindly* They followed and adapted where they did not lead the others. In general, they followed the newest ideas and what has been handed down to us as the lasting elements of these trends. This is the reason for the use of the Y/ord ,,Eclectic,t in the title , of the series.

The' trend toward less religious content in school readers had been growing for almost a century when

McGuffey's Readers were published. Dilworthds A New Guide to the English Tongue, which appeared in 1740, was some­ what less religious in content that The New England Primer, which was the first of the readers to be printed In America.

Noah Webster had continued this trend and had also followed

Dillworth’s policy of using short sayings concerning social conduct. Mc^uffey stayed with the trend to the extent that he did not return to a completely religious reader. He did, however, include more religious material than did his contemporaries. McGuffey also included the moral precepts as Webster had done. In this way McGuffey followed his contemporaries enough to be accepted, but added something which made his books a leader in the field.

The Bible and the spelling books had, along with the

New England Primer, been the main texts for use in teaching pupils to read when Webster published his three part 116

Grammatical Institute of the English Language. The first part was a speller (1783), the second was a grammar (1784) and the third was a reader. These books had three charac­ teristics which started trends in addition to the one just mentioned. They started the trend to adjust the curriculum to the child. We have shown previously how McGuffey carried

on this trend. Webster's bool -3 were in a sense a ’'series'* of school texts. This also was one of McGuffey*s selling points. Webster Included the alphabet, words and syllables, along with some reading material in his spellers. McGuffey*s use of similar material was, then, part of the trend.

its we have Intimated, there were few readers and prim ers b e fo re 1825* Next of Importance a f t e r Webster in this period, came Caleb Bingham's American Preceptor in

1794, his Columbian Orator in 1797, and The Young Lady' s

Accidence In 1821 or before. The Columbian Orator combined public speaking and reading. The popularity and Influence of this book may have been partly responsible for McGuffey's inclusion of so many speeches In his Readers.

Lindley Murray '3 English Reader (1800) was one of the most popular readers of the period. It was for ad­ vanced students and contained selections of high literary merit. It was outstanding in the trend in readers toward literary content and a wise compiler like McGuffey could hardly overlook the necessity for adapting Murray's key to 117 success in his "Eclectic” undertaking.

C, W, Saunder's readers were popular about the same time as Murray's, The First Easy Book for Children,

Vol. I , was pu b lish ed in 1809. Then came a flood of books competing for the increasing market for school reading texts. Among the better ones which were to be superceded by the McGuffey Readers were John Pierpont's American

First Class Book (1823), Ebenezer Porter's Rhetorical

Delivery as Applied in Reading and Speaking (1827), and

Samuel Worchester’s series of readers (1828). In general, these books were either speakers or readers. McGuffey com­ bined the two. Only a few of these were a series. As in

Worchester's, however, some were In series form, so

McGuffey’s "Series" was not original,

Lyman Cobb's The North American Reader (1835), and

S. G. Goodrich's "Peter Parley's" series (1839) were extremely popular about the time of HeCuffey*s first publi­ cation of his Readers. They were patriotic books which did not have McGuffey*s emphasis on religion, morals, and speaking. Both were published in the East although they had considerable sale In the West, and Goodrich, at least, had his books printed from plates shipped to St. Louis and other western points,

McGuffey's Readers, then, were truly "Eclectic." l’hey included to some extent the strong selling point of 118

each of the competitors mentioned above, In addition, they

included McGuffeyfs own special points of emphasis, such as

an especially high moral and religious emphasis, special

adaptation to the pupil, elocution Instruction, and sug­

gestions for the inexperienced teacher. The McGuffey

Readers also had the advantage of the rhetoric of Winthrop

B, Smith’s salesmanship, which we have already mentioned.

In this chapter, we have studied William Holmes

McGuffey*s plan of selection and rejection of the prose and

poetry materials for the Readers. In so doing, we have

taken note of the objectives of McGuffey, himself which

were kept In mind by the other compilers of these Readers#

Then we have considered the methods used to meet these

objectives: (1) the necessity for meeting the needs of the

students, (2) the selection of materials which were the

belles let.tres of their type, and (3) adaptation to the

general trends of the day in other competitive school

readers. The general iaethod of meeting these objectives

was to include in the Readers excepts and methods from

sundry works whenever they seemed popular and worthwhile#

This was the reason for the word "Eclectic11 in the title of

the series. CHAPTER IX

THE COMPOSITION OP THE AUDIENCE OF TIIE MCGUFFEY READERS

AND THE RHETORICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF THE READERS

ON THAT AUDIENCE

In our definition of rhetoric, which was explained in Chapter I, the audience was listed as one of the con­ stituents of the speech situation. The other constitutents which include the "author" and the "series'1 of Readers, or their equivalent terras of "speaker" and "speech," have been discussed previously. This third constituent, the audience remains for us to consider* We will notice the composition of the audience of the McGuffey Readers and the. rhetorical effectiveness of the Readers on that audience.

There were three groups of people who used the

Readers most often. These were (1) the pupils, (2) the parents, and (3) the teachers. Let us look at each of these groups to see something of their position as parts of the audience of the McGuffey Readers,

Of course, a series of school texts would be lost without an audience of pupils, What kind of pupils were these for whom McGuffey wrote? They were children from four or five years of age to their early twenties* Most of them lives -west, of the Allegheny Mountains,. The McGuffey

119 120

Readers were less successful In the East, especially In

New England. These pupils often attended school at

Irregular intervals, since such attendance was not com­ pulsory* . T h e y also usually attended at some, expense to their parents, since the schools were not entirely free when the McGuffey Readers were first published* In the early days of the Readers, the majority of the pupils came from small communities or farms. Much'of the popularity of these Readers comes from their use in the small one-room schools. Many of these early schools were ungraded, and the Readers furnished much of their curriculum.

Pupils such as were found in these schools had relatively few amusements as compared with those of children in more recent years. Their parents restricted, them more than parents do today and gave them work to do around the farm. The compilers of the Readers built the lessons around things which were familiar to these children. The lessons included stories about animals, birds, flowers, the weather, and the rales of conduct which their parents set for them at home. These Readers supplied scarce reading material of an entertaining and familiar nature to these pupils. The pictures and spacing of the printing on the pages was attractive in comparison with that of other such books* It is not surprising that these pupils retained fond memories of these books. 121

V/e might think at first that the parents were not really a part of the audience of the McGuffey Readers, but they were a most important part of this audience. Lessons were often read aloud in the evening to the entire family*

The.parents listened and enjoyed the stories, too. IJany of them could not read. The fact that a large segment of the population was illiterate may have been one of the reasons that most reading was done orally. As all of tho child.ren in the large families read these stories aloud in the evening, it would seem natural that many would be memorized without any conscious attempt being made to do so. This would tend to fix the popularity of these Readers in these areas where they had .been used for some time.

The parents had another important place in the audience of the McGuffey Readers« They were the ones who purchased the books for the schools. School books are written mainly for the pupils, but it is the adult who does the buying, Many of the school-examihers or board members, as we call them today, had little schooling themselves*

They had often not been inside the school for years. Yet they were the ones who picked the books if any uniform books were chosen. Even the teacher was often not consulted.

The publishers did everything possible to appeal to this part of their audience. If the stories in the lessons were for the pupils, the advertisements and excerpts-from 122 letters written by respected men were addressed to this adult parent audience. Even the title page played its part in appealing to this audience. The numbers of books sold and editions printed were listed to show that others were buying the McGuffey Readers. The ethical appeal of the author was emphasized by printing his titles as "Professor in Miami University" and "President of Cincinnati College" under his name. Winthrop B, Smith's salesmen also spoke to this audience face-to-face to sell and to re-sell these

R eaders.

The third group of people who comprised the audience of the McGuffey Readers was the teachers. They would be understandably interested in the suitability of the lessons for the pupils, and in the same factors which were addressed to the parents. The special part of the Readers which was directed to the teachers, however, was usually entitled

"Suggestions to Teachers." Several people who used and taught the McGuffey Readers have told me that these sitg- gestions in the Readers were ignored by the teachers. This is probably true in many cases. The teachers were usually untrained for their jobs. This was true throughout the entire history of the McGuffey Readers. Many untrained teachers probably taught the way they had been taught, using their own teachers as models. Since many were intel­ ligent people who were interested in giving their pupils the best education possible under the circumstances, it is reasonable to believe that some read these suggestions and put them to use. It would be a mistake to'think that teachers in MeGuffey’s day were so different from teachers today that they would not attempt to use whatever aid was available to improve'their methods of teaching.

Aristotle discussed types of speaking in terms of the type of audience the speeches were directed toward.

For example, a deliberative speech was to be given to an audience seeking advice. Let us look at the different audiences of the Me Guffey Readers in similar fashion. As we have explained In our definition of rhetoric,- which has been given earlier, we recognise the ends of speaking to be "informative" and "entertaining," In addition to

Aristotle’s single end-of "persuasion." It Is, therefore, appropriate to discuss the aims of the audience of the

McGuffey Readers in this rhetorical light as (l) audiences seeking Inforraation, (2) audiences seeking advice, and

(3) audiences seeking entertainment.

The pupils, teachers and parents in McGuffey’s audience were seeking information. In the McGuffey Readers they were seeking a certain kind of information which we might call "general knowledge." It Is this information in the field of "general knowledge" or "general behavior" which is the main concern of rhetoric. McGuffey and his audience were familiar with the saying that "Knowledge is power."

McGuffey knew, however, that the acquisition of knowledge without relating it to e xperience and without the ability to use that knowledge was not "power," but was a form of gymnastics. He has been quoted as saying, "To memorize the dictionary is no better than cracking nuts with your teeth."^ -L'he most important knowledge to be gained from the Readers, then, is not special knowledge, like the names of states and their capitals, but general knowledge of the type that Aristotle mentions in his Rhetoric.

The pupiIs who used the McGuffey Readers wanted information on how to read orally; on such subjects as how 2 to achieve happiness, including honor, virtue, and wealth; on forms of government; and on the accepted goods such as justice, courage, temperance, magnanimity, reputation, and 4 power, The selections in the Readers covered such a variety of subject matter as economics, war and peace, 5 defense of the country, tariffs, and legislation. All of

^Minnich, o£. cit., p. 182, p Aristotle, Rhetoric, Lane Cooper, Translator, op. c it., pp. 24-26.

3I b i d ., p. 44. 125

Since we have quoted from selections which are based on this type of information throughout the previous chapters it is not necessary to repeat examples here. All of these con­ siderations are covered in A ristotle!s discussion of the audience.

The pupils in Mc^uffey’s audience welcomed advice, information, and entertainment. In this sense, the

McGuffey Readers follow the ideas of Cicero and Quintilian, who thought that each speech should entertain and inform during the process of .persuading. Many of the stories are entertaining, although we should understand that only a very few were humorous.entertainment types* McGuffey was quite serious about most of his sohool~worlc, so we might expect him to include serious selections in his Readers,

He could have had a twinkle in his eye now and then when he made some of his choices, however.

The teachers in McGuffey!s audience sought informa­ tion and advice in the field of general knowledge just as the students did. In addition, however, the teachers sought information and advice on methods of teaching.this general knowledge. As we have mentioned previously, the teachers often had little more education than some of the students. Since they lacked much of the information necessary to undertake their task, MeGuffey attempted to supply it by his introductory suggestions to teachers* 126

The parents, which included the school examiners, were seeking information and advice on the best texts for their teachers and pupils to use. The publishers supplied

some of this advice and information, although much of it might be classed as propaganda. Many of the parents were entertained by the stories in the Readers as they read them

or as the children read them to the family. We find, therefore, that all three parts of McGuffeyfs audience had the aims of advice, information, and entertainment in mind as they used the McGuffey Readers,

The period from 1836 to 1900, which roughly con­ tained the successful years of the McGuffey Readers, was one of change in the United States, It was apparent by this time that the United States would remain a free and Inde­ pendent republic, A strong central government had been established, and the country was entering a period of expansion and development. The people throughout the entire country were beginning to establish more refined and perma­ nent Institutions In social, political, religious and economic realms* This was especially true in the area west of the Allegheny Mountains where the McGuffey Readers were most influential. It was Inevitable that after a period of confusion, there should be a slow evolution of some sort of order and system in this expanding western part of the country. McGuffey spoke for the development of some such 127 system in education* As has been mentioned previously, there v/as no highly developed public school system in the

Ohio country in the 1830’s and IS-iO’s, Such a system began to emerge, however, as the population made rapid increases.

McGuffey spoke for public education in speeches before the Western Literary Institute and College of Pro­ fessional Teachers In Cincinnati and In speeches throughout the state* His Readers gave some organization to what elementary and secondary education was provided In the com­ munities where his Readers were used. Since the schools were ungraded at this time, the McGuffey Readers could and did furnish a way of classifying the pupils in his audience.

They were in the First Reader or the Second Reader instead of in the first grade or the second grade. Rhetorically this gave the Readers an increased ethical appeal for their audience*

The rapid shift in population gave the audience In the West a different social outlook from that found In more settled areas. Social classes did not exist. Settlers of all ranks of life had come over the mountains to escape the restrictions of life In the growing industrial centers of the Bast, or in search of cheap land and a better living In' this fertile wilderness. This migration mixed people of all ranks and classes, of all religions, and of all polit­ ical views. To meet these social views of his audience, 128

McGuffey announced, as we have said previously, that his

Readers were for the common schools. They were religious without "being sectarian, so that the followers of any sect might use them without being offended, The children in

the stories did the things that children on the frontier were accustomed to doing. They worked, played and read books among other things. The early pictures in the

Reader^ looked more British than American, but this was caused by a scarcity of suitable cuts. This difficulty was

soon remedied, so that the scenes in the pictures were more familiar to the pupi1s,'

A nationalistic spirit was full-grown in the country when the Mc&uffey Readers were published. The words,

’‘national11 and "United States," were to be found in the titles of many of the schools books of the day. One of

Cobb’s famous readers was the North American Reader, and

Wilson wrote the American Class Reader. McGuffey was less obvious than 3ome of his contemporaries in meeting this nationalistic spirit of the audience with the content of his Readers« This is a sign of true artistry in rhetoric, however. In his Second Reader, he included the story about th e "Young S o ld ie r," two s to r ie s about George Wash­ ington, the "Story about Lafayette," and the "Settlement 129 r» of America."0 The Fourth Header Included the word a to

"America—National Hymn" by S. F, Smith, All of these have patriotic connotations, Alexander continued his brother’s patriotic tendencies in the Fifth Header, Titles suggestive of this are Lord Chatham’s "On the American Way," Beecher’s

"The Memory Of Our F a th e rs ," and

American Flag. There were other signs of growing nationalism which occupied the minds of Lie Cuff ey ’ s audience, and which were reflected In the Readers. The Web a t er -Kayne s d eb ates in the Congress brought out the Issue of just how much power the Federal government had over the states. This dispute ended eventually in the Civil War. In the meantime, the

Fifth Reader contained an excerpt from Hayne's speech.

Alexander McGuffey gave this excerpt the title of "South

Carolina.The next selection In the same Reader was from

Webster*3 reply and was entitled "Massachusetts and South

Carolina."^ If each of these excerpts Is considered as a

^William H. McGuffey, Second Reader,(Cincinnati; Truman and Smith, 1838)* 7 W. II. McGuffey, Fourth Reader, 1853, p. 327.

^Alexander McGuffey, Fifth Reader, (Cincinnati: Sargent, Wilson & Hinkle, 1853).

9Ibid., p. 140.

•*-°lbld., p. 141. 130 complete sppech, it would, be classed as a speech of praise.

The Readers did not enter into the controversy by printing part of the line of reasoning involved* They did take advantage of the audience's interest in the subject and of the excellence of the speaking in as conservative a manner as possible. Both of the Mc^uffeys were probably Whigs in 11 politics, opposed war, opposed slavery without being abolitionists, and generally took the conservative view which they presented in the Readers concerning the Webster-

Hayne debates.

The views of the MeGuffey’s on the subject of war are indicated by examples of selections from the Readers.

William H. McGuffey included "The Horrors of War” by

Robert Hall in the Fourth Reader and Alexander McGuffey included "Evils of War" by an anonymous author in the

Fifth Reader, The Civil War must have distressed both of the brothers considerably, since in addition to their aversion to war in general, they were living in opposing sections of the country at the time. Alexander was practicing law in the northern city of Cincinnati, while

William was a professor in the southern University of

Virginia, The fact that William McGuffey was able to remain in his position throughout this controversy without

Alice McGuffey Ruggles, The Story of the McGuffeys, New York: American Book Company, 1950, p. 115, 131 suffering any indignity may be attributed to his conser­ vative position mentioned above. The pupils, teachers and parents in his northern and southern audiences continued to use his Readers during the war. The Methodist Book

Concern of Nashville, Tennessee, printed these hooks in the

South and supplien this -part of the audience.

Reform movements were so widespread during the life of the McGuffey Readers that this might be called the period of reform. Although we have said that the MeGuffeys were conservative in most things, this might not be true in the fields of morals and education. In these areas, at , least, the McGuffey’s were not content to support things as they were, or to suppress their desires for a change.

The Readers took a part in some of the reform movements#

In one way or another they mentioned the plight of the

Indians, the faults of Imprisonment for debt, the neces­ sity for education, the folly of intoxication and intem­ perance in general, the importance of religion, the' criminality of dueling, and the effects of gambling.

It is difficult to determine the effect of the

McGuffey Readers on their audience In these reform move­ ments. We can say that the Readers Included selections on these various topics at the same time that other people In the audience were advocating similar jjroposals. We can see what the outcome has been over the period of years, but we 132

cannot establish any cause and effect relationship between

the Readers and the resulting course of action which has been adopted* The subject is in the area of probability,

however, ancl this is the concern of rhetoric*

Among the several selections dealing with the plight

of the Indians In the series of McGuffey Readers, three In

the Fifth Reader are typical. These are "The Lone Indian11 by Miss Francis, ’’Prospects of the Cherokees” by Sprague,

and ’’North American Indians” also by Sprague, The living

conditions of the Indians has not improved substantially,

and the problem is still with us, We might-say that the

Readers failed in this reform.

We have frequently mentioned the concern of the compilers of the Readers with the necessity for education*

The Fourth Reader of 1853 contains Beecher’s essay on

’’The Necessity of Education,” and the Fifth Reader of the

same year includes the ’’Objects of Education” by Taylor and the ’’Advantages of a Well-educated Mind” by Bigland.

The Readers advocated the type of education which developed during the popularity of these Readers. Whether this developing system of education made the Readers popular, or the Readers aided the development of the system Is open to disagreement. It is jjrobablo that our system would have developed without the Readers. They may have hurried the process along, however. Their timeliness in this respect did not hurt their popularity with their

audience in any event.

Imprisonment for debt was a condition which.many

reformers attacked with the help of the McGuffey Readers.

The Rifth Reader of 1855 included the '’Ironical Eulogy on

on Debt” by an anonymous author, and the poem,■"Prisoner

for Debt,” by W hittier* Imprisonment for debt has been

abolished In this country, but It is doubtful whether the

Readers did more than add support to the public’s growing

attitude s.gainst such a practice,

The folly of Intoxication and intemperance In

general was a strong belief of the McGuffey’s. Drinking had always been excessive In the wilderness. Corn whisky was made and consumed in large quantities. Rum, brandy

and wine were popular everywhere. Ministers kept supplies

of liquors, and "spirits” were served after the revival meetings* William Holmes McGuffey Included such selec­ tio n s In th e F o urth Reader of 1853 as "The Venomous Worm" by John Russel, and "The Intemperate Husband" by Mrs.

Sigourney. In the first of these the "worm" is a part of a still although we are led to believe that It is a snake until the closing lines* "The Intemperate Husband" deals with intemperance in general. Alexander McGuffey includes such selections, in his Fifth Reader of 1853, as "The

Folly of Intoxication" by Shakspeare and "Death of the Drunkard,” an anonymous poem* These selections appeared rather early in the temperance movement. The first organ­ ization for abstinence was in 1826 in Boston* We cannot say that the Readers had any great effect on the audience in urging temperance, but these stories take the same direction which later efforts took. ■ The eventual result was prohibition of the use of Intoxicants for a time*

Even since its repeal, we do not have the conditions which disturbed the McGuffeys.

We have mentioned the emphasis of the Readers on the Importance of religion so many times that it is

■unnecessary to belabor the point by developing It in any detail here* The effect on the audience was probably to satisfy their desire for such instruction.

Among the selections having to do with reform in morals, we have the examples in the Fourth Reader of 1853 of "The Criminality of Dueling” by Nott, and "Effects of

Gambling" by Timothy Flint. D ueling has since disappeared from our list of problems. This can be traced more to the event described in the story than to Its publication In the

Readers* -Alexander Hamilton’s death In his duel with Aaron

Burr is the subject of that story. The effects of gambling are with us still. Many localities are even legalizing gambling. Those who oppose the practice use the same arguments to be found in the above mentioned story from the Headers , however.

In this chapter, we have tried to get a glimpse of

the composition of the audience of the McGuffey Readers and

of the rhetorical effectiveness of the Readers on that

audience. We have noted the three groups of people who used the Readers. They were the pupils, the parents and

the teachers. We have tried to ascertain the aims of this

audience, and found that it sought information, advice and

entertainment in varying degrees. Since we felt that the major conditions which absorbed the interest and attentions

of the audience would have Important Influences on that audience, and on any rhetorical product addressed to that audience, we have Included a brief analysis of these conditions» CHAPTER X.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

There is justification for considering our approach to the McGuffey Readers a 3 a rhetorical study* The study of a writer may be as rhetorical as the study of a speaker.

The study of a series of books written by that author is

* as rhetorical as the study of a series of speeches delivered by a speaker. Modern authorities, such as

Bryant, Griffin, Thonasen and Baird., point to the rhetorical qualities of such an ar. proach as this one.

We know that the McGuffey Readers have some his­ torical, literary and educational significance. Our inten­ tion has been to discover whether or not they have any rhetorical aspects. Much of the instruction in the Readers dealt with delivery, which is one of the five canons of rhetoric. Such aspects as the compilers* invention, arrangement and views on memory are also rhetorical.aspects of the Readers, as is McGuffey*s analysis of his audience and his adaptation of material to that audience.

In an attempt to reveal the rhetorical aspects of the McGuffey Readers, the problem under consideration has been organized in three parts. They are ( 1 ) the personal

13.6 137 influence of the authors and editors on the composition of the Readers; (2 ) the selection and arrangement of the contents of the Readers; and (3) the audience at which the

Readers were aimed and the effect of the Readers on that audience.

In determining the influences of the authors and editors on the composition of the Readers, we have studied the early experiences of McGuffey, in so far as they could have contributed to shaping his preparation to compose the

R eaders» We have studied the contributions of his child­ hood experiences, h is educational experiences, h is i n t e l ­ lectual habits, and his religious experiences in this connection.

Since others besides William Holmes McGuffey had a part In the composition of the Readers, It was necessary for us to consider the early oxperiences which shaped their preparation to compose the Readers. Alexander II. McGuffey compiled the Rhetorical Guide or fifth Reader. We have studied the contributions of his childhood experiences, his recourse to the experience of other authorities, his intel­ lectual habits, and the moral and religious Influences in this connection.

Another of the composite authors of the McGuffey

Readers was Wlnthrop B. Smith, who influenced the prepa­ ration of the Readers in two ways: (1) by having a part 138 in the invention of the plan of the Eclectic Series; and

(2 ) through .his choice of competent compilers and editors like the MeGuffeya, Pinneo, Wilson, Vail and Harvey. He contributed, to the success of the Headers through the rhetoric of his salesmanship in at least three ways. They were (l) his appeal to the ivants of his audience; (2 ) h is use of the ethical appeal of his main compiler, W. H.

McGuffey; and (3) his adroit refutation of attacks on the

Readers. It Is probable that he deserves more credit than he Is generally given for the commercial and educational success of the Readers.

Ten people took th e Heduffey Readers through five major revisions in fifty-eight years. These people were:

Timothy Stone Flnneo, teacher an d authoi-; Daniel G. Mason, teacher; Obed J. Wilson, teacher, salesman, editor, publisher; hrs, Amanda Wilson, teacher; Henry II. V ail, e d ito r , p u b lis h e r; Thomas W, Harvey, au th o r and educator;

Edwin G. Hewitt, normal school president; Robert W.

Stevenson, school superintendent; Miss Amanda Funnelle, normal school professor of primary methods; and Dr. James

Baldwin, author. These people altered the Readers to meet changing conditions over an unusually long period of time.

Turning from the influences of the authors and editors on the composition of the Readers to the selection and arrangement of the contents of the Readers, we find IS 9

that at least four rhetorical influences affected the

selection of materials and instructional methods of the

McGuffey Readers.. These included:

1. The contemporary educational influence of the passing of the old type of education and the coming of the new educational system.

2. The influence of elocutionary learning.

3. The influence of classical rhetoric.

4. The influence of Pestalozzi's theories of ed u catio n .

In addition to these general rhetorical influences

which affected the selection of materials and instructional

methods of the McGuffey Readers, we find that William

Holmes McGuffeyTs more specific plan of selection and

rejection of the prose and poetry materials for the Readers

is of rhetorical importance. We have taken note of the

objectives of McGuffey which were kept in mind by the other

compilers who succeeded him. Then we have considered the methods used to meet those objectives: ( 1 ) the necessity

for meeting the needs of the students, (2 ) the selection of materials which conformed to belles lettres standards, and

(3) adaptation to the general trends of the day as found in other competitive school readers. The general method of meeting these objectives was to include in the Readers excerpts and methods from sundry works whenever they seemed popular and worthwhile. This was the reason for the word 140

"Eclectic" in the title of the series.

After studying the influences of the authors and editors on the composition of the Readers, and the selec­ tion and arrangement of the contents, we studied the audience at which the Readers were aimed and the effect of the Readers on that audience. There were three groups of people who used the Readers. They were the pupils, the parents, and the teachers. We have tried to ascertain the aims of this audience, and found that it sought information, advice, and entertainment in varying degrees. Since we felt that the major conditions which absorbed the interest and attentions of the audience would have important influences on that audience, and on any rhetorical product addressed to that audience, we have included a brief analysis of these conditions.

Certain conclusions might be made from this study.

1. Many aspects of the McGuffey Readers should be of interest to the rhetorician as well as to the person in the field of speech education.

2. The importance of such men as William Holmes .

McGuffey in the integration of rhetorical theory and practice throughout our history has not been thoroughly investigated and evaluated. Among the others who deserve some such attention are Noah Webster, Lindley Murray,

Samuel Goodrich, Lyman Cobb, Caleb Bingham, and Ebeneaer P o rte r. 141

5. W illiam H. McGuffey and th e other* com pilers of the McGuffey Readers may have done an even better job of furthering education than they are given credit for doing.

Eastern educators such as Mann, Barnard and Page have received considerable publicity from eastern■authors and publishers who have given les 3 attention to McGuffey,

Harvey, and Drake,

4. William Holm.es McGuffey may have had some qualities which are not worthy of praise. Without attempting to detract from his fame, it must be noted that he was human. He was not a successful administrator, although he was evidently an outstanding teachers. He seems to have been quite argumentative, and was sometimes difficult to get along with unless he was given the top position in his field. He must have been willing to adapt to the situation, at times, even when it required some compromise on his part. His ability to live through the

Givil War in the South even though he opposed slavery is an indication of this.

5. W. H. McGuffey1s ideas are misinterpreted by some who use him as an authority- for memorizing readings in a mechanical way. He was a strong e^onent of reading with understanding, and of using reading as a point of departure for further thought and discu,ssion.

6 . It is probable that the success of the Readers was mainly due to the following:

a. Host reading in the 1800*s was oral reading*

Silent reading did not become popular until about the time of World War I.

b. The general quality of the Readers was high.

This quality was achieved by the "eclectic '1 method of adapting the most successful or most promising parts of other similar books and methods.

c. The Readers were particularly adapted to the we stern aud i ence.

d. The attractive composition of the Readers included such things as pictures, and spacing of the reading material with sufficient blank space on each page,

e. They were adapted to the child.

f . The publishers of the Readers were unusually adept in the field of salesmanship.

g« The Readers furnished a means of grading the early ungraded schools.

7, It is probable that the Readers lost their popu­ larity for some of the following reasons:

a. Their religious appeal may have become too obvious for their audience by 1900.

b. The advent of silent reading probably out­ moded all books based strictly on an oral approach. 143

c. By 1900, most of the schools were graded

according to a system which did not match that of the

McGuffey Readers* Pupils in the Fifth Reader were not in

the the fifth grade in school, but were in high school*

The Readers retained .their popularity in the one-room

schools through the early 1900 ls.

d. The competing readers were, by 1900, being written by schoolmen who wore using more scientific methods to adapt their texts to the child than McGuffey had been able to use*

e* Most p u b lish e rs had adopted w hatever was attractive in the McGuffey Readers for use in their own

"eclectic" fashion.

f. Other publishers had also adapted the sales techniques of the publishers of the McGuffey Readers. BIBIIOOrRAPHY BIBIIOGRAPBY

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Shreve, Joseph, The Spellers Guide. 1824, n.p.

Smith, Nila B«, American Reading Instruction. New York: SiIver-Burde'Ft and' ’C'oTi 1934.

Sullivan, Mark, Our Times. New York: Charles Scribners and Sons, 1927, 5 Vols.

Sweet, William Warren, Religion on the American Frontier: the Presbyterians. New York":“TTarper and Brothers, 1936, 2 Vols".

______, Religion on the American Frontier: The Baptists. New Ybrkb HenryniolTand gompa'ny, "1931, 3~Tols.

Swett, John, American Public Schools History and Peda­ g o g ic s. New York: American Book Company, TUU01------

Thonssen, Lester, and A. Craig Baird, Speech Criticism, New York: The Ronald Press Company7l9?3J. ’ 151 Thorndike, Edward L., A Teacher’s Word Book of Twenty Thousand Words. New York:' Teachers CoTTege, Columbia University, 1931.

Tope, Melancthon, A Biography of William Holmes MeGuffey, Bowers town: Phreno logical Era- Print, 1929.

, The McGuffey School Books, Bowerstown: Phreno­ logical Era Print, 1927.

Trevelyan, George M., The Life of John Bright. Boston: Houghton M ifflin Company, l ’§13.

Trustees of Cincinnati College, Memorial of Alexander H. McCuffey, Cincinnati: Robert~Clarke Co.,’'TQ'9'6.

TJpham, Alfred H., Old Ml ami--The Yale of the Ear ly We s t. Hamilton, Ohio; The Republican Publishing~Dompany, 1909.

Vail, Henry H., A History of the MeGuffey Readers» Cleve­ land.: The Burrows" B rothers Co;, 1911.

Venable, W. H., A Buckeye Boyhood, Cincinnati; The Robert Clark Company,~TSTT.

, Beginnings of Literary Culture'’’in the Ohio Valley. Cincinnati: Robert Clark and Co., 1391.

Warfel, Harry R., Dictionary of American History, James Trudow Adams, e d i t o f , ‘"ITew~Yorkk' 0har 1 as" S crib n er ’s Sons, 1942, Vol. V.

Watson, P o ste r, The E n g lish Grammar Schools to 1660; Their Curriculum and Practice. Cambridge: University Pfe as , ~T9’08 •

, The Old Grammar Schools. New York: G. B. Putnam’s Sons, 1916.

Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield: G. and 0 , Merriam Co., 1948.

Weisneberger, Francis P., History of the State of Ohio. Columbus: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical S o ciety , 1941*

The Western Primer. Cincinnati: Corey and Fairbank, 1833* 1 5 2

Wilson, Samuel, The New American Rational Spelling Book. Lexington; WV W. Wo'rsley, H5l<57

World Almanac. Now York: New York World Telegram, 1947,

B. PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Beecher, Catherine, ,fMoral Assassination," Cincinnati Journal and Western Luminary, IX, December 15, 1836.

Black, P. L., "Bibliography of the McGuf.fey Readers," Colophon, n.s., 1:597-603, Spring, 1936.

Booth, George, "William McGuffey," Miami Student, January, 1936, 4.

Bryant, Donald C», "Some Problems of Scope and Method in Rhetorical Scholarship," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 23:187, April, 1937.

______, "Rhetoric: Its I'bnctlons and Its Scope," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 39:417, December, 1953,

C aldw ell, J. W,, "W illiam McCuffey," Miami Journal, 1:115 ff. March, 1888.

Chamberlain, J,, "McGuffey and His Readers," School and Society, 35:324-327, March 21, 1942.

, "Colonial Era," School and Society, 21:231, March, 1943,

Chidlaw, B. W,, "William M eGuffey," Miami Jo u rn a l, 1:115 ff., March, 1888.

Dale, Edgar, and Jeanne S. Chall, "A Formula for Predicting Readability," Education Research Bulletin, 27:11-20, January 21, 1948.

"Death of Edward McGuffey," Miami U n iv e rsity B u lle tin . 27:16, July, 1929. '

Dolch, E. 17., "How Hard Were the McGuffey Readers?" Elementary School Journal, 46:97-100, October, 1945,

Edwards, George J., "Eclectic Readers," Miami Student, January, 1936, 5. 153

Estensen, E. V., "McGuffey—A Statistical Analysis" Journal of Educational Research, 39:454- February, 1946.

Fenner, K. S., and J. G. Soule, "William Holmes McGuffey and His Common School Readers," national Education Association Journal, 35:300-301, September, 1940.

Ford, Henry, "The McCuffey Readers," Colophon, 1:587, n.s., Spring, 1936.

Fritz, 0. A., "From Sheridan to Rush: The Beginnings of English Elocution," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 16:75-88, February, 1930.

Fullerton, Hugh, "Two Jolly Old Pedagogues," Evening Post, June 14, 1941, 27 ff*

, "That Guy McGuffey," Saturday Evening' Post. 33$: 14-16, November 26, 1927.------

.Griffin, Inland I;., "The Rhetoric of Historical Movements, " Q u arte rly Jo u rn al of Speech, 28:187, A p ril, 1952*

Hinsdale, 3. H., "McGuffey," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, 6:43, 1898.

Horst, John, "Presentation of McGuffey’s Readers," Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, 36:157-lETO, I9'27.

Hosic, James F., "The Contents of School Reading Books," School and Society, 11:179-180, February, 1920,

Hughes, Raymond, "McGuffey and His Peerless Readers," West Virginia Review, September, 1931.

King, Edgar W., "The McGuffey Readers," Publishers Weekly, 130:1153, September, 1936.

■Laub, Desmond Kenneth, "Jolly Old Pedagogue," Colophon, n.s., 1:588-596, Spring, 1936.

Lorge, Irving, "Predicting Reading Difficulty of Selections for Children," Elementary English Review, 16:229-233, October, 1939.

Mahoney, J. J., "Readers of the Good Old Days," Educational Review, 52:' 217, October, 1916. “ *“

"McGuffey," Elementary School Journal. 24: 8-9, September, 1928, 154 "McGuffey,” Pennsylvania School Journal, 83:119, November7 1954.

"McGuffey Building," Miami University Bulletin, 22:8, February, 1924.

"The McGuffey Maple," Miami University Bulletin, 25: 12, November, 1926.

"McGuffey Memorial," Miami University Bulletin; 28: 9, March, 1930.

"McGuffey sesquicentennial will feature life and contri­ butions of pioneer educator," Ohio Schools, 28:255, September, 1950.

"The McGuffey Society of Columbus," Archaeological and Historical Society, 36: 157-180,“ 9277 "

McGuffey, William Holmes, "Conversations in a Schoolroom," Monthly Chronical of Interesting and Useful Knowledge, 6: 147-149, March, 1839.

McGuffey, William Holme3, "General Education," Western Monthly Magazine, 1834, p. 4.

McGuffey, William II., "Lecture on the Relative Duties of Parents and Teachers," Western Literary Institute and College of Professional Teachers. Transactions, 5:129-251, 1855*; “

McGuffey, W. H., "Letter to Chidlaw," Miami University Alumni Bulletin, Series 27, No, 9, March, 1929, p. 4.

McGuffey, William Holmes, "Remarks on the Study of the Classics," Western Literary Institute and College for Professional Teachers. Transactions, 4: 203-205*

McGuffey, William Holmes, "Report on the Most Effective Method of Conducting Examinations in Common Schools, High Schools, and Academies," Western Literary Institute and College for Professional Teachers. Transactions, 6: 239-243.

"Memorial to McGuffey," Miami U n iv e rsity B u lle tin , 29: 1 1 - 1 2 , January, 1 9 3 1 ,

"Memorial to McGuffey," Nations Schools. 13: 15, Februarv, 1934. 1 5 5

" Miami and. the McGuffey Readers,” Miami University Bulletin, 17: 26, May, 1936.

Mlnnich, Harvay C., “McGuffey Gavel Presentation,” Ohio Schools, March, 1927, 67.

M orrill, Anna McGuffey, “A Daughter of the McCuffey 1 s, ” Ohio Archaeological and. Historical Quarterly, 42: 246-340, 1933..

"Ohio University, the History of the College of the Old Northwest,” Ohio University Bulletin, 7: 430, October, 1910.

"Presentation of McGuffey Readers,” Ohio Archaeological and H is to r ic a l Q uarterly, ” 36: 157-180, 1927'.'

R ightm ire, George Washington, "Ohio in McGuffeyfs T im e,” Ohio State Archaeologj ca1 and H is to r ic a l Q uarterly. 50:114-129, 1941,

Robbins, L, Ii., "About M cGuffey,” New York TImea Magazine, September 1, 1944, 16.

Rodabaugh, Janies, "McGuffey, A Revised Portrait,” Oxford Criterion, 53-64, 1934.

______, "Robert Hamilton Bishop," Ohio State Archaeo­ logical and Historical Quarterly, 83-96, 1935.

Ross, H. T., "The Education of an Orator," Quarterly Journal of Speech, 18:70, February, 1932.

Smith, W. E., "American Mind in the Making,” Vital Spoeches, 121:721-4, September 15, 1946,

Soule, C, D., "McCuffey Taught More than Reading,” Christian Century, 61: 1197-8, October 18, 1944.

Spinning, Marv Louise, "Biography of Mrs. Harriet Spinning McGuffey, Miami University Bulletin, 27:6, January, 1929.

S u lliv a n , Mark, "McGuffey ha R ig h tfu l Place in Am ericars Hall of Fame,” School Life, 17:169, May 1932. Thorton, W, T., "The Life and Services of William Holmes McGuffey,” Alumni Bulletin of the University of Virginia, 10: 237-258, July, 1917. 156

Tousey, Gail Jordan, "Me Guffey ' a Elocutionary Teachings, " Quarterly Journal of Speech, 34:80-87, February, 1948,

Woody, Clifford R., "The Overlapping of the Content in Fifteen Second Grade Readers," Journal of Educational Research, 2:465-474, January, 1928*

Wood, Eugene, "The Old Red School House," McClure's, 24: 390-400, February, 1904*

C. TJNHTBUSHED MATERIALS

Blanks, Anthony Faulkner, "An Introductory Study in the History of the Teaching of Public Speaking in the United States." 'Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, Leland Stanford Junior University, 1927*

Coulton, Thomas E., "Trends in Speech Education in American Colleges, 1835**1935." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation Hew York University, 1935,

Davidson, Frank S., "The Life and Moral Influence of William McGuffey•" Unpublished Master ’a thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1935.

Davis, Vincent A., "The Literature of the Advanced School Readers in the United States, 1785-1900." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Chicago, 1934*

Ehninger, Douglas Wayner, "Selected Theories of Inventlo in English Rhetoric: 1759-1828." Abstracts of Doctoral dissertations, No. 60, The Ohio State University Press, 1950.

Farma, William Joseph, "A Study in Comparative Speech Forms of Delivery with Special Reference to Interpre­ tative Reading. " Unpublished Doctor's dissertation University of Wisconsin, 1946.

Fritz, Charles Andrew, "The Content of the Teaching of Speech in American Colleges Before 1850: With Special Reference to Its Influence on Current Theories." Unpublished Doctor’s dissertation, New York University, 1938.

Graham, Mary W hiteford, "The Lyceum in Ohio from 1840-1860" Unpublished Doctor’s dissertation, The Ohio State University, Columbus, 1950. 157

Guthrie,■Warren, “The Development of Rhetorical Theory in America, 1635-1850.Unpublished. Doctor's dissertation Northwestern University, 1940.

Hale, Lester Leonard, “A Re-Evaluation of the Vocal Philo­ sophy of Dr* James Rush as Based on a Study of His Sources*“ Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, Louisiana State University, 1942.

Hughes, Raymond Grove, “An Analysis of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth McGuffey Readers.’* Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, University of Pittsburg, 1943.

Logan, Virgil Glen, “A Survey of the Method's of Teaching Gesture as Found in the Speech Texts of the Nineteenth C entury•“ U npubli s hed Ma s t er 's the sis , Alabama University, 1941.

McGuffey, Alexander, Letters: Jordan Collection, Cincinnati, Ohi o

McGuffey, W illiam Holm.es, L e tte rs; McGuffey Museum C o llec­ tion, Oxford, Ohio.

- , Mental Philosophy, Manuscript, McGuffey Museum Collection, Oxford, Ohio, 1871.

Moe,,Alice, “The Changing Aspects of Speech Education In the United States from 1636 to 1836.*’ Unpublished Master's thesis, Marquette. University, 1936*

Perkins, Madison Love, “Historical Development of the Moral Element in American School Readers.“ Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Chicago, 1921.

Robinson, Roscoe R ., “Two C enturies of Change in the Con­ tent of School Readers." Unpublished Doctor's disser­ tation, George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, 1930,

Rodabaugh, James II., “A H istory of Miami U n iv e r sity from It3 Origin to 1845." Unpublished Master’s thesis, Miami University, Oxford, 1933.

Tingelstad, Oscar Adolph, “The Religious Element in American School Readers up to 1830.“ Unpublished Doctor’s dissertation, University of Chicago, 1925,

\ 158

Tousoy, Gail Jordan, "The Elocutionary Teachings of 'William Holmes McGuffey,,r Unpublished Master's thesis, Louisiana State University, 1946.

Weintraub, Stanley A,, Comparison of Textbooks in Oral Interpretation of Literature, 1760-1952 with Reference to Principles and Methods." Unpublished Doctor's dissertation, 1S53.

D. MISCELLANEOUS

T'he Alumni and Former Student Catalogue of Miami Univer­ s i t y , 1809**1892, Oxford, Ohio, June 1892.

Manuscript of W. II.; McGuffey's Contract, McGuffey Museum, Miami U n iv e r sity , Oxford, Ohio

O fficial 1953 Oh....- Highway Man, Department of Hiahwavs. -----gt^te“5r"0hi^;', (TSb.mtbus,

"The latest Good Words for McGuffey’s Readers from. * * Indiana," 1867. AUTOBIOGRAPHY

I, John Thomas Rickey, was born In Cambridge, Ohio, April 17, 1920. I received my secondary school education, in the public schools of Ravenna, Ohio. My undergraduate training was obtained at Kent State University, from which

I received the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education

In 1942. After serving in the Navy during World War II, I taught in the secondary schools of Ohio for six years. Prom Kent State University, I received the degree of'

Master of Arts in 1951. In June of 1952 I entered Ohio State University to work for the degree of Doctor of

Philosophy. In September 1952 I received an Assistantship - in tho Department of Speech, where I specialized in Rhetoric and Public Address. I held this position for three years while completing the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.