The LION.

opens with certain religious admonitions such as "Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." This is followed by three pages showing the alphabet and syllables, and three pages of lists of words for spelling. These words are arranged in groups of one, two, three, four, five, and six syllables. Then comes the famous picture alphabet with a rime for each letter, the initial rime being

A

The Lion ranges round the Wood,
Ard makes the leffer Beafts bis Food.
The WHALE.

Wise son makes a glad Father, but a foolish Son is the heaviness of his Mother.

etter is a little with the Fear of the Lord, than great Treasure and

Better is a little with

Then follow in order the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, various religious verses, the names of the books in the Bible; "the numeral Letters and Figures.

which serve for the ready finding of any Chapter, Psalm, and Verse in the Bible"; the picture of John Rogers being burned at the stake; eight pages of verses supposed to have been written by Rogers to his children. This was followed

by "The Shorter Cate-
chism agreed upon by
the Reverend Assem-
bly of Divines at West- .
minster," which began:

Quest. What is the chief
End of man?

Answ. Man's chief End
is to Glorify God and to
enjoy Him for ever.

The catechism filled some forty pages and concluded the book. Catechisms considered most important part of the primers. Other primers, either modifications of the English primers or of "The New England Primer," also circulated in the colonies. One of the most pop

ular of these was Emerson's "The Evangelical Primer." This was recommended by Noah Webster, by the geographer Morse, and by the president of Yale College. Like the other primers it was full of religious material and contained a minor doctrinal catechism, a minor historical catechism based on Bible history, the Westminster Assembly's Shorter Catechism, and a few hymns. Here are some quotations from the doctrinal catechism:

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

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

If you should go to hell, how long must you continue there? For ever and ever. (2: 94.)

The catechisms were considered the most important part of the primers. They were drilled into the children in school and at home. In some communities it was the practice to

set apart certain Sundays for public recitation of the catechism before the whole congregation, when each child was asked a few questions by the minister. "In short, this humble little primer was a chief tool for making sure that the children, or, as Jonathan Edwards called them, 'young vipers and infinitely more hateful than vipers to God,' should grow up into sober Christian men and women." (2: 99.)

Primers replaced by spelling books (1740-1800). The first competitors of the primers as elementary reading books

were what came to be known as "spellers" or spelling books. These books were more practical, and hence not so exclusively

THE

ENGLISH

SCHOOL-MASTER.
Teaching all his Scholars, of what
age foever, the most eafy, fhort, and perfect or-
der of diftinct Reading, and true Writing our
English-tongue, that hath ever yet been
known or published by any.

And further alfo, teacheth a direct courfe, how any
unskilful perfon may easily both understand any hard English
words which they fhall in Scriptures, Sermons, or elfe-where
hear or read, and alfo b: made able to use the fame aptly themfelres;
and generally whatsoever is neceffary to be known for the English
Speech; fo that he which hath this Book only, needeth to buy no
other to make his fit from his Letters to the Grammar-School,
for an Apprentice, or any other private ufe, fo far as concerneth
English. And therefore it is made not only for Children,
though the first Book be mere childish for them; but
alfo for all other, especially for thofe thit

are ignorant in the Latin Tongue.

In the next Page the Sebeol-Mafter hangeth forth his Table
to the view of all beholders, fetting forth fome of the
chief Commodities of his Profeffion.

Devifed for thy fake that wanteft any part of this skill, by
Edward Coote, Mafter of the Free-School
in Saint Edmonds-Bury.

Perufed and approved by publick Authority, and now the 47
time Imprinted with certain Copies to Write by,
at the end of this book, added.

Printed by R. Roberts for the Company of Stationers. 1692.

TITLE-PAGE OF COOTE'S " ENGLISH SCHOOL-MASTER

The first edition appeared in 1596 and contained more secular and practical material than the primers

religious in character. One of the first was published by Edmund Coote as early as 1596 and bore the title, "The English Scholemaister, teaching all his schollars of what

19

Of reading
THE GRAMMAR SCHOOLE.

nounce their

Eng life speedily. your minde when I heard it firft. Yet fetting my felfe to 6. To teach lit make fome triall of it, for the reuerence I bare to him of the ones to prowhom I heard it and forthat he fhewed me experience of it letters, and to in a child notfowreyeeres olde; I found it the cafieft, plea- fpell before fanteft and shortest way of all, where one would begin in a they know a priuate house with little ones playing. The manner is thus, letter, is the 1. You must teach them, as I sayde, to call their fiuevowpleasantest way els, and to pronounce them right: Which they will pre- How little ones fently learne, if you do but only cause them to repeat them will prelently oft ouer, after you, diftinctly together thus ; a, e, i, o,, pronounce after the manner of fiue bels, or as we say ; one, two, three, their fiuc vow fowre, fiue.

cls.

2 Then teach them to put the confonants in order be- To put the cofore euery vowell, and to repeate them oft ouertogether; fonants in or as thus: to begin with6, and to fay ba, be,bi, bo,bu. So d. der before the da, de, di, do, du. f. fa, fe, fi, fo, fu. Thus teach them to rowelles profay all the reft, as it were finging them together, la,le, li,lo, noucing them. lu; The hardest to the last, as ca, ce, ci, co, cu. and ga, ge, gi,go,gu. In which the found is a little changed in the fe condand third fyllables. When they can do all these, then teach them to spell them in order, thus, Whatfpelsb-a? If To teach to the child cannot tell, teach him to lay thus;b-a, ba: fo put- fpell thefe thus, ting first. before euery vowell,to fay b-a ba, b-ebe, b-ibi, putting the b-obo,b-ubu. Then aske him againe what fpels b-a, and first, he will tell you, fo all the reft in order. By oft repeating before him he will certainly do it, After this if you aske him, how he fpels b-a, he will anfwere b-a ba. So in all others.

confonants

Next thefe teach them to put the vowels first, as to fay, ab,eb,ib, ob,ub. Then thus,a-bab, e-bcb, i-b ib, o-bob, u-bub. After what fpelles a-b,e-b, &c. Thus to goe with them backward and forward, croise, in and out vntill they can fpell any word of two letters. Then you may adioine thofe of three letters: Afterwards, all the hard fyllables, to tell what any of them fpels,til they be perfect in al,or as you fhall thinke meete. By this meanes, and by a lntlerepea Repeating th ting of the letters of the Alphabet ouer before them, by Alphabet,by three or fowre letters together, as they ftand in order, fo as route.

D 2

they

letters of thee

AN IMPROVED METHOD OF TEACHING READING FROM

JOHN BRINSLEY'S ". THE GRAMMAR SCHOOLE

One of the most important pedagogical works of the seventeenth century