NewEnglandPrimerFORD1897.pdf

 SPECIAL ED. REFERENCE ' na NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES 3 3333 05823 6056.  THE BOOK LOVERS' LIBRARY OF EARLY AMER...

 SPECIAL ED. REFERENCE ' na NY PUBLIC LIBRARY THE BRANCH LIBRARIES 3 3333 05823 6056.  THE BOOK LOVERS' LIBRARY OF EARLY AMERICAN LITERATURE Four hundred and twenty-five copies of this book were printed on American hand- made paper and fifty-seven copies on Imperial Japan paper, in the month of June, 1897- No./  Tbe ProtefAtit Tutor for roath. A/TR- John Rogers, Minifter of rteGofpel, was the *-'* tirft Martvr in Queen Mary's Reign, and was burnt in Smithfidd, February 14, 1554. His Wife, with nine fmall children, and one at her.Breafr, fol- low'd him to the frake, with which forro'.vful light he was not in the leaft daunted but with wonderful pa- ; tience dy'd coura^ioufly for the Gofpel of Tefiis Chrifr Soroe few Days before his Death, he writ the following to his children. ^xhortation G Tve ear, Whom mv Children, to my Words, God hath dearly bought,. Lav up his Laws within your hearts, and pt int them in your Thoughts \ Ileave you here a little Bpok, for you t > look upon, That you may fee your father s Face, when he is dead and gone. Afho for the nope of heav'uly while he did here remain, lave over all his golden years to prifon and to pain : Vhere I among my Iron Baiids, inclofed in the dark, iot many days before my death 1 did compofe this Work, N I BURNING OF JOHN ROGERS From the Protestant Tutor. London : 1716 PLATE I  THE NEW-ENGLAND PRIMER A HISrORT OF ITS ORIGIN4ND DEVELOPMENT WITH A REPRINT OF THE UNIQUE COPY OF THE EARLIEST KNOWN EDITION AND MANY FAC-SIMILE ILLUS- TRATIONS AND REPRODUCTIONS. EDITED BY PAUL LEICESTER FORD, '. 5 ** * /, _ - PRINTED FOR DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, AND SOLD BY THEM AT 149 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK ANNO DOMINI ONE THOU-... SAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND NINETY-SEVEN. < p i THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY ASTOR LENOX AND TILDCN FOUNDATIONS O.. COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY  DEDICATED TO MR. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF COURTESIES TO THE EDITOR IN THE USE OF HIS COLLECTION OF NEW ENGLAND PRIMERS. ,......  CONTENTS PAGE INTRODUCTION i REPRINT OF THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER.. 55 APPENDICES I Reprint of the New English Tutor.. 137 II Reprint of Rogers's Exhortation Unto His Children 249 III Cotton Mather's Plea for Catechising.. 261 IV Clarke's Saying the Catechism... 275 V Reprint of the Holy Bible in Verse.. 283 VI Bibliography of the New England Primer 297 VII Variorum of the New England Primer. 321 INDEX 347  ILLUSTRATIONS PLATE PAGE I Burning of John Rogers. Frontispiece From the Protestant Tutor, London 1716..... : II Burning of John Rogers i From the New England Primer, Boston : 776.2. Ill The Royal Primer, title page.. 6 London, circa 175060. A IV page London : 1725......... Guide For the Child and Youth, title 10 V First Mention of the New England Primer 16 From Newman's Neivs from the Stars, Boston.... : l6go. VI Bradford Fragment 22 Facsimile offour pages, circa 1688-1700. VII Rhymed From a Guide For Alphabet the Child.... and Youth, London 1725. 26.... : VIII Rhymed Alphabet 30 From the New England Primer, Boston : 1762. IX Alphabet Cuts 46 From the New England Primer, Boston : [n. d. ]. X The Queen 5 From the New England Primer, Boston : 1737 '. x Illustrations PLATE PAGE XI King George the Second.. -53 From the Nciv England Primer, Boston : /7J7- XII King George the Third From the Neiu England Primer, Boston.... : 78.... 776.2. XIII King George the Third 104 From the Neiu England Primer, Providence : /775- XIV Binding of New England Primer (inside) 136 From the Ne w England r Primer, Boston : 1762. XV The Protestant Tutor, title page.. 137 London : B. Harris, Ijl6* XVI The President of the United States, (Wash- ington) 176 From the Neiu England Primer, Boston : [. d. ] XVII The Hon. John Hancock From the American Primer, Boston... 208 : Ifj6. XVIII The Hon. Samuel Adams, Esquire. 226 From the Neiu England Primer , Hartford : IJfJ. XIX The From Pope the or Man of Sin Neiv England Primer, Boston....: I'J^'J- 248 XX Burning of John Rogers From the Neiu England Primer, Boston... 251 : IffO. XXI Cotton's Milk for Babes, title page. 261 London : 1646. XXII The Shorter Catechism, title page. 275 Printed by B. Harris, Boston : l6qi. XXIII The New England Primer, title page. 299 Boston : /7J7- XXIV The New England Primer, title page. 300 Boston : 1^62. XXV The American Primer, title page.. 303 Boston : /77 and Henry the "proclamations" * 1 and "injunctions" against these, in an endeavor to keep his people true to Catholicism. Very soon, however, he exper- ienced a change of heart not merely towards his wedded wife, 1 De Vinne's " Invention of Printing," 2.90. 3 "The Prymer of Salysbury use." Paris : 1490.  Introduction but incidentally as well, towards his mother church, and in 1534, as one method of fighting the Pope, he allowed to be Henry " Reform ry me am prepared and issued what is known as the Primer ",' designed to teach his people what they should believe. In this however, his desire to have done with the Church of Rome, led him to act too hastily, for in less than a year, he varied his belief and licensed the issue to his " 1 people of a Goodly Prymer in Englysshe" that they might know the only true and revised to date religion. Yet a a third time new light came to the head of the English " church, and in a third primer, known as the Henry Vlllth Primer", the King marked out a new and only 3 path to heaven for his subjects. All these primers con- " tained portions intended for children, such as a fruitful and very Christian instruction for children ", and since the Romish Church had a preliminary book to its Prymer, so Henry had his, called "The A B C",4 the earliest known copy of which contains the alphabet, the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Creed, various Graces for before and " " " " ten com- after dyner and for fysshe dayes ", and the aundements ". The distinction between the two was well 1 "A Prymer in Englyshe with certeyne prayers and goodly meditations, very necessary for all people that understonde not the Latyne tongue. Cum privilegio Regali." [London, 1634.] 2 "A goodly Prymer in Englysshe, newly corrected and printed, with certeyne godly Meditations and Prayers added to the same, very necessarie and profitable for all them that ryghte assuredly understande not ye Latine and Greke tongues. Cum privilegio regali." [London, 1535.] 3 "The Primer set forth by the King's Majesty, and his Clergy to be taught, learned, and read and none other be used throughout all his dominions. 1545- Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum." * " The ABC bothe in Latyn and in Englysh." [London, 1538.]  Introduction indicated by a little poem at the end of the ABC 1 printed in black letter in 1636 : This little Catechisme learned by heart {for so it ought) The Primer next commanded is for Children to be taught, As was not surprising, many of the King's subjects be- spreadofdu- came sornew hat unsettled in their belief, and even de- wrsity of veloped a tendency to form one not ordained by his Primers majesty. Furthermore these wayward people declined to "~|T^J use the prymers printed " cum privilegio regali " but pur- chased heretical books put forth without authority, so that Henry in the preface of his later primers, took notice in " of evident disgust the diversitie of primer books that ar now abrod, whereof ar almost innumerable sortes, which mynister occasion of contentions and vain disputations, " ratherthen to edify to end this difficulty he com- ; " manded one uniforme ordre of al such bookes throughout al our dominions, both to be taught unto children and also to be used for ordinary prayers of all our people not learned " in the latyn tong ; and for that purpose, "set furth thys Primer or boke of prayers in Englysh to be fre- Henry VUlths quented and used in and throughout all places of oure said realmes injunction ancj dominions, as well of the elder people, as also of the youth, for their common and ordinary prayers, willing, commaundyng and streghtly chargyng that for the better bringing up of youth in the 1 "The ABC. The Catechism : That is to say, An Introduction to be taught and learned of every Childe, before he be brought to be confirmed by the Bishop." [London? 1636.]  THE Royal Primer; Or, an eafy j^nd pleafant Guide to the Art of Reading. AothorisM by HU MAJSSYT King GSQRGE II. To be ofcd throughout His MAJESTY** DOMINIONS^ Cv-ft. s ftr 7. Pfeivltery, at the in St. fe*?t Church ysrd, end Colliwt af Satijkiirf. ( Price bound 3 d. ) PI.ATF III  Introduction 7 knowledge of theyr duty towardes God, their prince, and all others in their degre, every Scholemaster and bringer-up of yong beginners in lernyng nexte after their ABC now bi us also set furthe, do teache this primer or boke of ordinary prayers unto them in Eng- lyshe, and that the youth customably and ordinarily use the same until thei be of competant understanding and knowledge to perceive it in Latyn. At which time they may at their libertie either use this primer in Englishe, or that whiche is by oure authoritie likewyse made in the Latyn tong, in all poinctes correspondent unto this in 1 Englysche." This injunction itneedless to say was little heeded. is The English King could depose the vicegerent of Heaven, Multiphca- even though the latter was infallible, but he could not ana cate- overcome the common people. Faiths and Creeds mul- tiplied until the famous Council of Trent complained of " the " number of the " '" infinite little books and stated that there had come to be " as many catechisms as there are prov- inces in Europe, nay, almost as many as the cities, are circu- lated, all of which abound with heresies, whereby the minds of the simple are deceived." Their majesties Henry, Edward, Mary, Elizabeth and James, though each having a different faith, successively forbade, seized and burned these unauthor- ized books and whipped, imprisoned or burned preachers ; and printers, but it was all unavailing, and a little over a cen- tury and a half from the time that Henry changed the religion of his people, the people decided that it was easier to change their King than to conform in their religion. With the flight of James II. ended all attempts to prevent the people from having such primers and catechisms as "The Prymer both in Englishe and Latin." [London, 1545.] 1 8 Introduction they chose, leaving behind nothing but a restriction in the printing of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, which to this day are monopoly books in Great Britain. "A HE authorized primers were not school books Authorized and unauthor- ized Primers I being rather primary hence "primer" manuals of church service, and indeed the forerunners " Book and A B Cs of the of Common Prayer ". Moreover they were handsomely printed, and thus were expensive. The authorized ABC which sold at a moderate price contained but the most elementary matter. It must have very quickly occurred to booksellers that to combine the two into one work would be a good idea, but as they were both monopoly books most printers were debarred from doing it and to the privileged printers there was no object in producing them at a low price. It was therefore, to the publishers of Separatist per- left, suasion, to take advantage of the larger sale that could be obtained, and very quickly they were producing at low prices, books which contained the sum of both, and no doubt this cheapness and convenience played a prominent part in the spread of dissent. It was this union of the A B C and the Primer, which led to children's books being called by the latter title. The earliest of this combination of school book and Union of the f catechism, so far discovered, was Bastingius' Catechisme of Primer and ABC Christiane Religion, taught in scholes ", which had the A B C prefixed to it, and was printed in Edinburgh in 1591.  Introduction In 1631 Bishop Bedell's catechism was printed in Dublin, in the same manner. " The The Catechism ABC. : That to say, an instruction to be taught and learned of is " every Childe was printed in 1636. Ten years later the " Catechism for young Children appointed by act of the " Church of Scotland was issued with the probably ABC, in Edinburgh. In England more care had to be taken, for as late as 1666, one Benjamin Keach was tried for writing"The Child's Instructor,or a New and Easy Primer", which contained a catechism with leanings towards anabap- tism but though the author was sentenced to the pillory, ; the book was constantly republished. A little later, in 1670 George Foxe issued his "Primer and Catechism' "with several delightful Things" intended to make a Quaker of the student. One of the gravestthe early Separatists in difficulties to both Old and New England, was the question of what The early catechtsing catechism to teach their children. During the voyage of the Arbella the Puritans were catechised by ' their clergy- J Englanders man on Sunday, while no sooner were they landed than the Colony of Massachusetts Bay made a contract with sundry " intended ministers " for " catechising, as also in teaching, or causing to be taught the Companyes servants & their children, as also the salvages and their children ",' and in thissame year (1629) they voted the sum of three shillings for " 2 dussen and ten catechismes ". z It cannot certainly be known what particular catechism these allusions refer, to but it was probably the one composed by " that famous 1 " Records of the Massachusetts Bay," i., 376. * Ibid, i., 37 h. IO Introduction ' divine William Perkins, preacher of St. Andrews Church in Cambridge, catechist for some time of Christ college, and one of the most distinguished Calvinists of the period. First printed in 1590,' this catechism ran through many editions in England, was republished with additions by John Robinson for the use of the pilgrims, and later was reprinted in New England. Very quickly Puritan settling in America a after the Neglect of the tendency developed towards the individualism implied by all Catechism Dissent anc| especially by Congregationalism. As a result New Eng- land of this diversity of belief, Lechford states that catechising was generally abandoned in many of the New England " General churches, and to meet this woeful condition the Corte" in 1641 "desired that the elders would make a Catechisme for the instruction of youth in the grounds of " howe farr the magistrates as well as to consider religion ",* are bound to interfere for the preservacon of that vniformity & peace of the churches ". The request was only too readily responded to and in 1 Multiplica- the period of 1641-1684 the reverend "teachers' John tion of Catechisms Davenport, John Cotton, John Eliot, Thomas Shepard, Richard Mather, John Fiske, John Norton, Seaborn Cotton, James Fitch, James Noyes, and Samuel Stone, each pre- pared one or more catechisms. In fact it is probable that every New England minister formulated his own faith in this manner, and at first thought it would seem to have been not a little trying to a congregation, on the the death 1 "The Foundations of Christian Religion, gathered into sixe Principles. Printed by Thomas Orwin for John Porter, 1590." 3 "Records of Massachusetts Bay," I., 328.  A GUIDE. FOR THB Child and Youth \ In Two Parts. Tie Hrjt, fir CHILDREN: Containing plain and pleafant Directions co read ENGLISH. With Prayers, Graces, and Icflrafticns fitted to the Capacity of Children. 7be SecenJ, for YOUTH: Teaching to Write, Caft Account, and Read more pcrfe&y* With feveraf other Varieties, both plea fant and profitable. by T.H. M. A.Teacbercf'a private School t Printed by / Xotert?t for the Company of Stationers, 1725. PLAT! IV  Introduction 1 1 of a trusted shepherd who had properly inducted them in his own belief, to get accustomed to the doctrines of a new in- cumbent. This difficulty was for the most part avoided by the general knowledge of what each clergyman thought, so that only one in fairly close accord with the congregation was considered. When a mistake occurred, and the clergyman was found to run counter to his church, they hastened to get ridof him, which resulted in the innumerable church quarrels and the schism with which New England so abounded. Long after Cotton Mather asserted with evident pride " few that pastors of mankind ever took such pains at cate- Resulting ^ uarrels and chising as have been taken by our New England divines........., schisms until. Now, let any man living read the most judicious and {hg a jopt ton - elaborate catechisms published, a lesser and a larger by Mr. Ofthe shorter Norton, a lesser and a larger by Mr. Richard Mather, Catechism several by Mr. Cotton, one by Mr. Davenport and sundry others, and say whether true divinity were ever better han- dled". 1 Ashowever, this very multiplicity of catechisms a fact, tended only to increase the schism and the New English clergy spent their energies in preparing catechisms and quar- them " reling over rather than in attempting the instruction " " of youth and the vniformity and peace of the churches ". John Cotton though responsible himself for so much of the " the excellent disputation, was forced to acknowledge that and necessary use of catechising young men, and novices,... we willingly acknowledge But little benefit have : wee seene reaped from set forms of questions, and answers by one Church, and imposed by necessity on another ".* 1 Mather's " Magnalia." Cotton's " A Modest and Cleere Answer 2 to Mr. Ball's Discourse." London, 1642. I 2 Introduction Not the great Westminster Assembly formulated its till longer and shorter catechisms, did the New England Churches find a common faith, and even then, as the work of Presbyterians and not Congregationalists, they were ac- cepted only by degrees, not because they were generally approved, but because they were the only escape from a tendency that threatened to break each congregation into fractions too small for existence as a church. was the condition of school books and cate- The New chisms, when the New England Primer was first England SUCH published. Its authorship and date of issue have Primer hitherto been mysteries that have resisted the research of all antiquarians, but it is at last possible to give the main facts concerning origin.its " merrie ' In the reign of King Charles of memory, " at the Benjamin one Benjamin Harris began printing in London Harris, Stationers Arms in Sweethings Rents, near the Royal Ex- Printer " the Stationers Arms change ", otherwise described as under the Piazza in Cornhill ". Here he issued, between the years 1676 and 1681 many tracts and broadsides of so little moment that his name finds no mention in any bio- graphical dictionary or history of printing. But aside from his calling, Harris deserves notice as a confirmed scrib- bler, resembling Mr. Wegg, in his tendency to drop into verse. To this was added an ardent love for the protestant religion, and an equal hatred of the Pope and all that he implied.  Introduction 1 3 So long as the printer limited his activity to the writing and printing of ballads and tracts against the Pope and the Harris " The Grand " rous Jesuits under such titles as Imposter and ,... trial "The Mystery of Iniquity", all went well with him, but in.x-*-^ " ' Rye House : 1679, in connection with the Plot he issued "An Appeal from the Country to the City, for the Preserva- tion of His Majesties Person and the Protestant Religion ". The King's government did not take the same view of the question that Mr. Harris had, and as a result he was " " brought to trial for the printing and vending of this tract. The courtly tendency towards Catholicism gave chance for the printer, and the chief justice, after little remarking that if he had his wish, the printer should be whipped, ordered him to find security for his good behavior 1 for three years. Unwarned by his experience, Harris in 1681 printed a " Protestant Petition and was once more haled before the Sentenced to ", court and this time the judge fined him hundred pounds five the P lllory and ordered him put in the pillory. This meant that he was to be stoned by the crowd which always gathered, but from that fate he was saved, for " his Wife (like a Kind Rib) stood by him to defend her Husband against the Mobb ".* For this act, his enemies promptly turned their abuse " The upon the woman, and scurrilous ballads entitled " and the " Protestant Cuckold " Saint turned Courtezan endeavored to bring discredit upon her. The printer apparently did not recover from the mulct, for he seems to have ceased printing from that time. 1 " A short account of the tryal of B. Harris," London : 1679. 2 Dunton's "Letters from New England," 143.  Introduction Upon the death of Charles II. and the succession of Removes " Old " to Catholic James England wrote John Dunton from Boston " is now so uneasie a Place for honest Men, that Ne-iv Eng- iand those that can will seek out for another Countrey And this : ^^^-^N^J I suppose is the Case of Mr. Benjamin Harris and the two Mr. Hows, whom I hear are coming hither, and to whom I wish a good Voyage. Mr. Ben Harris, you know, has been a noted Publick Man in England, and I think the Book of English Liberties was done him Nofor... wonder then that in this Reign they meet with Enemies ".' Come to Boston Harris did and late in 1686 he set " " Sets upa book- U p a book and Coffee, Tee and Chucaletto shop,* by the and shop cof- T O wn-Pump near the Change ". year later his imprint A fee-house reads at the London Coffee House and he was employ- ing the printers of the town to print pamphlets and broad- sides for him. Here too he was quickly involved with the 1690 he issued, without permission, the authorities, for in first newspaper printed in America, under the title of " Public " Occurrences which was promptly suppressed by ; proclamation. In 1691 he formed a partnership with John Allen, and seems to have set up a press of his own. A year later he became " Printer to His Excellency the Governor and Council ", and removed his business to a " Shop, over against the Old-Meeting House ", making another remove in 1694 to a place which he called " The Sign of the Bible, over against the Blew-Anchor ", having ended his relations with Allen. In the meantime the English people had stood firm to their religion and had rid themselves of their king, so that 1 Dunton's " Letters from New * " Boston Town England," 144. Records," 204.  Introduction 1 5 now Old England was once more safe to haters of popery. Returns to Better still, King William, whose advent Harris hailed in a Enpland and poem beginning o & : resumtspnnt- " God SAVE THE KING, that King that savd inS the land, When JAMES your Martyr's Son, your LAWS had shamm'd" 1 had freed the press from the worst features of governmental restraint.Accordingly, Harris returned to London towards the end of 1695, and opened a new printing office at the " Maiden-Head-Court in Great East and later Dun- Cheap", " continu'd Ben Harris and now ton writes that he still ; is both Bookseller and Printer, in Grace-church Street, as we find by his London Post ; so that his conversation is general (but never Impertinent) and his Wit pliable to all Inven- tions. But yet his vanity (if he has any) gives no Alloy to his Wit, and is no more than might justly Spring from conscious Vertue; and Ido him but Justice in this part of his Character, for in once travelling with him from Bury Fair, found him to be the most Ingenious and Innocent I Companion that I had ever met with ". When Harris died cannot be discovered, but it was after 1708. 1686 to Boston (according to his flight in " Mr. Harris I think also Printed the Dunton) BEFORE Protestant Tutor, a Book not at all relish'd by the Popish Party, because it is the design of that little Book Tutor 1 " Monthly Observations," Boston: 1692. 1 6 Introduction to bring up Children in an Aversion to Popery 'V No copy of this first English edition is known to exist, but from a its character proves it to be the later edition* legitimate predecessor of the New England Primer, for it contains the Alphabet, followed by the Syllabarium, the "Al- phabet of Lessons the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten ", Commandments, the Poem of John Rogers with the picture of his burning, the " figures and numeral Letters ", and the " Names of the Books of the Bible all of which were ", embodied in the New England Primer. On his arrival in Boston it was obviously the interest of LsuestheNew Harris to get out a new edition of this little book, for its chance England Q f success was even greater among the popery-hating New Englanders, than that it had already met with in Old Eng- land. The poverty of the people made prudent an abridge- " ment of the " Tutor and thus it was reduced to smaller bulk ; to make it the more saleable the school book char- acter was increased, while to give it an even better chance for success by an appeal to local pride, it was rechristened and came forth under the now famous title. No copy of this first edition of the New England Date of pub- p r mer j is known and thus the exact date of appearance its a "*.' cannot be given. Harris did not arrive in Boston till near advertisement of the second the end of 1686, and the only publication he issued in that impression year was an almanac for 1687, which Sewall bought on December 6, 1686. Between that time and Jan. 5, 1688, Harris a trip to England, and on Nov. 22, made 1688, he again sailed for London. 5 It was between 1687 and 1690 " 1 Dunton's "Letters from New England," 144. Edition of 1716. 3 Sewall's " 200, 237. Diary," I.,  DECEMBER hath 3 1 D-ays Laft quart, i day 2* mln. paft 4 morn. New Moon 9 day 21 min. paft 9 raotn. Firffc quart. 17 day 13 mm. paft 1 Afrern. Full Moon 25 day 39 min palt 10 night. Laft quart- 31 day 59 min. paft it morn Of Stars vbicb baw appeared heretofore, and now Time out of mind there has feven Stars bin obferved in the pleiades, and at Prefent there { is to be feen but fix, a yery probable fign thac one of them is retired and become invifible* One of thefeof the Conftellatipn of the Lir- ttf w, which was formerly vifible, doth not now appear. Another alfo in the Confteilati* on of Andromeda hath alfo dtfappeared. Licensed According to Order. ADVERTISEMENT. There is now in the Prefs, and will fuddenty be extant, a Second Imprefiion of The New-Eng- Und Pnmer enlarge^ to which is added, more Din ttiws for Spelling : the.Prayer of K Edward the 6rb. and Vtrfa made by- Mr. Rogers 'be M*r a Legacy to his Children, r^ hfe as Sold by Benj&nin /&rr/V, at the London Cofet- fioufcm Boflo* j K.jl >. + " n.i I.,. i" 'n ^r.i f!MS FIRST MENTION OF NEW ENGLAND PRIMER From Ne--j;man s Ne%=: L7 '!* VJ " *^ "OS X O "T3 ^- c^o ,5 ^ iclg ^i 09 ** i ^ oJ o jg-c J /5 ( "*2 SL S 2 w J3 3 -s S E 1 9 o.0 c t o o a c 1* *, QS 4. V 3 - -a *w rt * s a s It g II c Vs0 -O '73 JCC ll 2 ^ ea fel w K 2 tj.2 Q C3 Vi K ^o _ >> 5 tCH hh WP3 w O a e. K 2 s 1  Introduction 3 1 " Uriah's " Vashti beauteous Wife, for Pride Made David seek bis life." Was set aside" Much the present century when children's books later, in began to cater to what a child would like, a reactionary The Rhymed Alphabet. 11-1-1 spirit reversed this evangelization and stanzas of worldly tendency were actually inserted in place or them in some r i modernized * -^^_.T "> ^- * editions. These substitution verses were : K. "'7w Youth's delight To fly their kite" H. " Wrote hand by the Great works do stand" R. " The Rose in bloom Sheds sweet perfume" U. " Urns we see hold, Coffee and Tea." 1 The Puritan however did not approve these changes, and they were rarely used. Nor were the evangelized rhymes ever adopted in Great Britain. Other and noticeable changes were made, of which less the following are the most important that have been found Minor changes : in the Rhymed " The " The Alphabet Eagle's flight Egytian host Is out of sight." was in the red sea lost"* " to mend " Heaven to Thy life find This Book attend."* The Bible mind."* 1 "New England Primer." New York : 1819. a Ibid. Wilmington : 1812 3 "New English Tutor." 4U< New England Primer," 1762.  Introduction u tjhteen Esther came " )ueen Esther sues in royal State, And saves the Jews"* To save the Jews from dismal Fate" 1 " Youth's forward " Youth onward slips, slips Death soonest nips" 1 Death soonest nips" " While 11 No Youth we youth do chear see Death may be near." 4 From death is free"* " Xerxes the great did dye " Xerxes did die, And so must you and 7." 6 And so must I." 7 There were some few other variations of wording, but of such slight difference as not to need notice. VEN more famous than the rhymed alphabet, is the Apocryphal John Rogers* Exhortation unto his E poem of John Rogers, with the picture of the martyr burning at the Nine small Children, and one at her Breast looking on. stake, and " his " Wife, with children Much sadness this poem and print must have cost the Puritan mind, and even now, it is capable of producing a sigh, no longer because one feels so keenly for the man, who regardless of wife and children, insisted on being burnt, and really forced the court against its will to make a martyr of him, but because a study of the facts shows that the use 1 "New English Tutor." 1 "New England Primer", 1762. 3 "New English Tutor." 4 "New England Primer", 1761. 6 "New England Primer.' Brattleboro : 1825. 6 "New English Tutor." 7 "New England Primer", 1762.  Introduction 3 3 of this poem and was nothing but a piece of sectarian story, garbling and falsehood, and that all the pity spent upon it by millions of readers was no more deserved than that lavished upon the unfortunate heroes and heroines of fiction. The history of the poem so far as can be learned is as follows. In the sixteenth century there lived a man of whom Foxe, in his "Book of Martyrs," wrote: " Robert Smith gave himself to service in the house of sir Thomas Smith, knight, being then provost of Eaton from thence he was: Foxe''s account preferred toWindsor, having there in the college a clerkship of ten f mlt pounds a year. Of stature he was tall and slender, active about many things, but chiefly delighting in the art of painting, which many times rather for his mind's sake, than for any gain, he did practice and In religion he was fervent, after he had exercise. once tasted the truth ; wherein he was much confirmed by the preaching of Mr. Turner, of Windsor, and others. Whereupon at the coming of Queen Mary he was deprived of his clerkship by her visitors and not long after he was apprehended, and brought ; to examination before Bonner." At this point Foxe inserts an account of the trial where Smith : " vailantly stood in defence of his master's cause : and as thou seest him here boldly stand in examination before the bishop and doctors ; Trial and sowas he no less comfortable also in the prison among his com- Prison Life panions : which also is to be observed no less in his other fellow- prisoners, who being together in room in Newgate, the outward had godly conference with themselves, with daily praying and public reading, which they to their great comfort used in that room together; 34 Introduction amongst whom Smith was the chief; whose industry was always solicitous, not only for them of his own company, but also his diligence was careful for other prisoners, whom he ceased not to dissuade from their old accustomed iniquity ; and many he converted to his religion. " The said Robert Smith, the valiant and constant martyr of Burning at Christ, being thus replenished as ye have heard, with the fortitude the Stake of God's Spirit, was condemned at London by Bonner their bishop, on the 1 2th of July ; and suffered at Uxbridge the 8th day of August ; who as he had been before a comfortable instrument of Good to all them that were in prison with him : so now also being at the stake, he did no comfort the people, there stand- less ing about him, willing them to think well of his cause, and not to doubt but that his body dying in the quarrel, should rise again to life. And, said he, I doubt not but God will show you some token thereof. At length he being well nigh half burnt, and all black with fire, clustered together as in a lump like a black coal, all men thinking him dead, suddenly rose upright before the people, lifting up the stumps of his arms, and clapping the same together, declaring a rejoicing heart unto them ; and so bending down again, and hang- ing over the fire, slept in the Lord, and ended this mortal life." To a skill in painting, Mr. Smith added one in letters, " while in Robert Smith and Foxe states that prison he wrote several as a ^writer letters to his friends, some in verse, and others in prose ". These poetical letters were nearly all in the same metre, part of one to a friend reading : "And now became I know the goal Poetical Letter That thou dost most desire to a Friend I send thee here a paper full, As fined in the fire  Introduction 3 5 In hope thou wilt accept it well Although it be but small Because I have no other good To make amends withal" 1 To his brother he also wrote, bespeaking his care for his wife and "Also my daughter dear Whom I bequeath to thee Poetical Letter To be brought in fear to his Brother up And learn the ABC --nr^J That she may grow in grace And ruled by the rod To learn and lead her life Within the fear of God." Far surpassing these poems in popularity, however, was " Exhortation vnto his children " which he the penned at Writing and Written in the year in which he was burned P ubl"btngf this same time. / (i \ JJJ/ \ CCO,3 it seems to have been printed 11 1 f first in jjy when icco bis t. Exhorta- tion unto his ,. " the Stationers Company directed that Owyn Rogers hath children lycense to prynte the Instruction for Chyldren ".* It was ac- cordingly issued in that year, in a little tract of Puritan writings, on the title of which it was termed " An exhorta- cion of Mathewe Rogers, vnto his children," in the body of the work it was retitled " The instruction of a Father to his Children, which he wrote a few days before his burnynge ", and at the end it was signed "Finis quod Mathewe Rogers ". J It apparently proved a work of some popularity for in 1577 1 Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." 2 Arber's "Stationers' Register", i., 96. 3 See Appendix II. 3 6 Introduction the Stationers Company "Licensed vnto" John Arnold the issuing of another edition of the tract. Why the name of Mathewe Rogers was substituted for Substitution of th a t of the true writer can not be discovered, unless, Rogers Rogers' Name ^^g ^g ear li est) an d therefore the best known of the " re- ^"J " formed Martyrs, the printer reasoned that his name would cause a greater sale. The change of his true cognomen John to Mathew, is more easily explained, for under the pen name of Thomas Mathew, Rogers had helped Tyndale in translat- often called Mathew ing the scriptures, and thus he was Rogers. But this foisting of the poem of Smith on to Rogers by NewEngland no mea ns ended the garbling. In the New England Primer, Primer ac- count of John ^ sno rt sketch of Rogers was inserted, as follows : " Mr. Rogers John Rogers Minister of the Gospel in London, was the -^"~"|T\3 First Martyr in Queen Mary's Reign, and was burnt in Smithfield, February the 14-th, 1554. His Wife with nine small Children, and one at her Breast, follow'd him to the Stake, with which sor- rowful Sight, he was not in the least daunted, but with wonderful Patience, Dyed couragiously for the Gospel of Jesus Christ." This is more remarkable for misstatement than for fact. True account R O g ers was a priest sworn to celibacy, who becoming con- verted, broke his vow and took unto himself a wife. When, Rogers on the accession of Mary, he refused to put the woman away, he was condemned to death, and was burned at the stake on February 4th, 1555, ("old style" February the 14, 1554) being, as Foxe said "the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in Queen Mary's time, that gave the first adventure upon the fire 'V Furthermore, his 1 Foxe's "Book of Martyrs."  Introduction 37 wife and children did not see him burned, for Foxe merely " His wife and stated that : children, being eleven in num- ber, ten able to go, and one sucking at her breast, met him by the way as he went towards Smithfield this sorrowful : sight of his and blood could nothing move him, own flesh but he constantly and cheerfully took his death with wonder- ful patience, in the defence of the gospel of Christ ". Worth noting in this connection is one question over which there has been much controversy, being the exact num- The number ber of children thus left fatherless. The Primer, as will be of John " nine small children and one at the breast" ogers seen, gave him but printers read this differently, sometimes giving nine, and... , sometimes ten, in the picture. At his trial, Rogers said dis- 1 tinctly that he had ten children, while Foxe speaks of his " eleven in ten able to and one children, being number, go, sucking". The explanation of this discrepancy is probably due Rogers was held in prison for over a year, to the fact that and debarred during that period from all news of his wife, in which time it is obvious the eleventh child was born, since at the time of his burning it was still unweaned. greater importance than the Roger verses but of OF far less popularity was the Catechism, which us- The ually followed close upon the poem. In all eight- Cate- cbismsaftbt eenth century J Primers examined this consisted of either the Primer Westminster Assembly's "Shorter Catechism"or John Cot- " " ton's Milk for Babes and in a number of edi- Spiritual 1 Foxe's "Book of Martyrs." 38 Introduction tions both were included. Several nineteenth century edi- tions of the New England Primer contained besides the Assembly's Catechism, the Episcopal as well, but no early edition found containswhat was so alien to all the rest of the work. The Shorter Catechism was framed by the great West- Historyofthe minster Assembly, which was called together by the Round- ate- j-f eacj Parliament and was composed of one hundred and. twenty-one clergymen or presbyters, thirty or the laity, chiefly of the nobility, and five special commissioners from Scotland, and Baxter claimed " that the Christian since world, the days of the Apostles, never had a Synod of more excel- lent divines". This assembly met first on July 10, 1643, and dissolved itself on March 3, 1649, having held in the six years no less than eleven hundred and sixty-three ses- sions. to Herbert's catechism entitled " The Careful Compared Length and Father and Pious Child" (London, 1648) which contained consequent over twelve hundred questions and answers, the as- " sembly's catechism might well be termed shorter ". As a fact however was given merely to distinguish it from this title the larger catechism put forth by this Assembly, and its one hundred and seven questions, the answers to which ranged in length from eight to one hundred words, made it a night- mare to children. Rev. Heman Humphreys, though a con- gregational clergyman and the president of Amherst college, " acknowledged that his recollection accords with the experi- ence of thousands, who like myself, once loathed the As- sembly's Catechism ",' and when it is considered that child- "New England Primer", Worcester: [1850?] 1  Introduction 3 9 ren of four and five years of age were expected to repeat, with absolute verbal correctness, the terrible answers defin- ing "justification", "sanctification", and "glorification", or stand disgraced in the eyes of the whole congregation, the word seems by no means too strong. Another clergyman acknowledged that "when the Venerable Assembly composed this form of Instruction, it seems that few of themselves tho't it design'd or fitted for Babes, some answers being so long and so full of great sense that tho' they might recite the Words, that can be of little Benefit, till they also apprehend the meaning ".' None the less the children were drilled in this catechism unsparingly. In church and at school was almost a daily A daily task it task. As if this were not sufficient Cotton Mather even ad- f r CMdren vised mothers to catechise their children *-*""**'^ "every day", " adding you may be continually dropping something of the Catechism upon them Some Honey out of the Rock /" and : he told parents that : " The of your Children made a Cry in your Ears, Souls Par- O ents; acry enough to break an Heart of Adamant. They are Born Mr. Cotton Children of Wrath; and when they grow up, you have no way to Mather: his Save them from the dreadful Wrath of God, if you do not Catechise them in the Way of Salvation. They cry to you ; O our dear Par- ents; with the Great God, and His Glorious Christ, that Acquaint us so Good may co?ne unto us ! Let us not go from your Tender Knees, down to the Place of Dragons. Oh Not Parents, but Ostriches : ! Not Parents, but Prodigies ! What, but more cruel than the Sea- Monsters are the Parents, who will not be moved by such Thoughts as these, to Draw out the Breasts of the Catechism, unto their Young 1 Noble's "Beginners' Catechism." London: 1707.  Introduction Ones ! One would think, Parents, Your own Bowels, if you have not Monstrously lost them, would Suggest enough to persuade you unto the Pleasant Labours of the Catechism" Yet even Mather acknowledged that the Shorter Catechism had difficulties for very young children, by preparing a briefer and simpler one, that instead of taxing children of " the Youngest and Lowest Capacities," with the catechism of the Assembly, " This little Watering Pot may be quickly so used upon the little Olive Plants about our tables, that, not a drop of the heavenly dew contained in it shall escape them 'V Nor was the catechism used only for the catechising of Sermonizing the younger generation, for it was frequently made the sub- on the Cate- chism ject of sermons to the elder portions of the congregation, Mather relating that Rev. John Fiske "chose the Assem- bly's Catechism for his public expositions, wherewith he twice went over it, in his discourses before his afternoon sermons." The largest book printed in New England before the nine- teenth century, was Samuel Willard's " Complete Body of Divinity in Two Hundred and Fifty Expository Lectures " on the Assembly's Shorter Catechism a mammoth folio of over nine hundred pages, of such popularity that before publication more than five hundred subscribers were ob- tained, many of whom bespoke more than one copy, and some 1 as many as sixteen. has been questioned whether the Assembly's Catechism It appeared in the veryJ earliest editions of the New England of the Primer *\ and the Primer, but from the fact that Harris printed a separate Catechism See Appendix III. See Appendix IV.  Introduction edition of the catechism in the same year that the second impression of the Primer was issued, and from the fact that it formed part of the Bradford edition, which is thought to be the earliest Primer fragment known, the evidence seems far more in favor of its inclusion than against it. popular at first in America was John " Milk for American Babes," Cotton's Spiritual cotton's EQUALLY Mather being authority for the statement that in Spiritual Milk Babes 1697 "the children of New England are to this day most for 1 usually fed with this excellent catechism" and he called it " New peculiarly, The Catechism of England." Of the author Mather wrote : " Were I master of the pen, wherewith Palladius embalmed his Cbrysostom, the Greek patriark, or Posidonius eternized his Austin,. the Latin oracle, among the ancients; or, were I owner of the quill f Mr. O Cotton wherewith among the moderns, Beza celebrated his immortal Catvin, or Fabius immortalized his venerable Beza ; the merits of John Cotton would oblige me to employ it, in the preserving his famous memorv It is sufficient to say that 1585, went through he was born in Cambridge University and became successively fellow of Trinity College, Dean of Emmanuel College, and minister at Boston Becoming while there a non-con- in Lincolnshire. " silenced " for a formist, he was while, but eventually was allowed once more to preach, and in his twenty years pas- 1 Mather's " Magnalia." Ibid. 42 Introduction torate at Boston " he went over the body of divinity thrice in a catechistical way, and besides his 'Lord's day' sermons" " his gave ordinary lecture every week, on the week days, namely on Wednesdays and 'Thursdays, early in the morning, and on Saturdays, at three in the afternoon ", with such re- sults toBoston that " religion was embraced, and practiced among the body of the people; yea the mayor, with most part of the magistrates, were now called Puritans, and the Sat anical party was become insignificant". Finally the High Commission Court, popularly known Flies to Amer- as tne Star Chamber began proceedings against him, and comes a changing name and garb, Cotton took ship , r for New England &. Leader with two other clergymen, the three lightening the tedium of the passage by daily sermons " all the while they were aboard, yea they had three sermons, or expositions, for the most part every day of Mr. Cotton in the morning, Mr. : Hooker in the afternoon, Mr. Stone after supper in the even- ing ". Upon arriving at Boston he was promptly made " teacher " of the first church there, and very quickly came to wield a power theocratic settlement akin to that in that now exercised by a political boss. He was invited to re- turn to England when the Puritans gained the upper hand, to take part in the "Westminister Assembly" but declined. Nothing perhaps better typifies the man than when on "be- ing asked why days he indulged in nocturnal in his latter studies more than formerly, he pleasantly replied, Because I love to sweeten my mouth with a piece of Calvin before I go to sleep 'V Cotton presumably prepared the Milk for Babes in 1641, 1 Mather's "Magnalia."  Introduction 43 at the time the "General Corte" asked the elders to prepare a catechism, as already recorded, and probably it was printed at PreparesMllk Cambridge by Daye, between 1641 and 1645. No copy of for Babes *"*"' ^ this edition is known however, and the first edition of which a copy is now extant is one printed in London in 1646. It was again printed there in 1648, and in 1668, and in 1656 an edition was issued at Cambridge in New Eng- land. After 1690 its inclusion in many editions of the New England Primer somewhat checked the printing of separate editions but an edition in the Indian tongue was printed at Boston in 1691, and this was reprinted in 1720. In 1702 Mather abridged and combined it with the Assembly's catechism and one of his own and issued it under the title " Maschil, or The Faithful Instructor", and other edi- 1 of tions of this form of the work were issued with the title of "The Man of God Furnished" 1 and "The Way of Truth laid out 'V In these, Mather asserted that Milk for Babes "will be valued and studied and improved until New Eng- land cease to be New England." While by no means as popular as Mr. Cotton's meta- phorical title would lead one to expect, it must be confessed Milk for Babes com ~ that it is a decided improvement on the Shorter Catechism, ' ifnot in soundness of doctrine, at least in length. In place of one hundred and seven questions, there were but sixty- Catechism 1 " The Maschil, or Faithful Instructor. Offering Memorials of Christianity in Twenty- Six Exercises Upon the New English Catechism." Boston: 1702. 2 "The Man of God Furnished. The Way of Truth, Laid out, with a Threefold Catechism." Boston: 1708. 3 "The Way of Truth, laid out. A Catechism which, as with Supplies from the Tower of David, Arms Christians of all Ages to Refute the Errors which most commonly as- sault the Cause of Christianity." Boston: 1721. 44 Introduction four and instead of replies ranging in length from eight to one hundred words, one answer was a single word, and the longest only contained eighty-four. f ~-^HE last pieceof any importance which can be con- Dialogue be- sidered an integrant of the New England tween Christ, JL Primer, is what was called "A Dialogue between Christ,Youth and the Devil ", a poem relating to a tempted of his Redeemer succumbs youth, who despite the warning to the wiles of the horny footed tempter, and makes an effective exit at the end of the dialogue without the assist- ance of any stage directions, but with, presumable, the it is glare of subterranean regions, in place of the more profes- sional calcium light. This dialogue form was a favorite medium of the seven- Popularity of teenth century. In 1671 Thomas Sherman issued a tract " Youth's Dialogue called Tragedy, drawn up by way of Dialogue be- form tween Youth, the Devil, Wisdom, Time, Death, the Soul, and the Nuncius ", which was many times reprinted. So too, an anonymous poem entitled "An Excellent Example to all young Men, being a Dialogue betwixt Youth and Con- science and Satan" was issued in London in 1684. Still a " The Youth's Looking Glass, being a divine third, called Dialogue between a young Man, Satan, and our Saviour Jesus Christ ", was printed without a date. Authorship of tne...... None of these were the same as the Dialogue used in r P nm er, and as no printing of it can be found pre-datmg. Dialogue its appearance in that publication, it seems probable that it  Introduction 45 was composed by the man whom Dunton described as " the neat and poetical Ben Harris ". It is proper to note that un- it was not like the portions already described always included in the New England Primer, but as it is contained in the " New English Tutor ", Bradford fragment, and in Harris' as well as in nine editions of the Primer printed in the eighteenth century, it has seemed best to treat it as one of of the true pieces that went to mark the little book. V9@9^ $$ v^@ were the main contents of the Primer, but many smaller pieces, in which far greater variation was Minor Varia- SUCH shown, were used by the printers to fill in between the more important portions, and to pad out at the end so as to complete the last signature. Few of these minor pieces can be positively identified, but as they go to make a history of the book, and as their chronology is of some value in settling the approximate decade of imperfect copies 1 of the Primer, they deserve some attention. In the second edition of the Primer, as the advertisement states, the Prayer of Edward VI, taken from Foxe's "Book Prayer of Ed ard VIth of Martyrs" was given, and this prayer appears in the "New English Tutor ", but no Primer extant contains it. The New English Tutor, The Protestant Tutors of 1715, and 1716, and the New England Primer of 1727 Text of Ear- contain the ten commandments, the " Names and Orders of hest Edltlons the Books of the Old and New Testament" and "Numeral Letters and Figures, which may serve for the ready finding 1 See Appendices VI. and VII. 46 Introduction of any Chapter and Verse in the Bible ". None of these were included in the later eighteenth century editions. In the edition of 1737 a longish "Verses for Children" " " Textofedition beginning Though I am but a little one appeared for the first time, and was included in many subsequent editions. This edition also gave a part of the "Duty of Children to- wards their Parents" which had been given in the " New English Tutor ". The only other edition with this was one printed in London in 1781. Most remarkable of all in this edition was its printing of the lines : 11 Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep If I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take" The author of these famous lines is unknown, and this is their first appearance in print, so far as can be discovered. They were included in almost every subsequent edition of the Primer. With the evangelization of the Primer between 1740 and 1760, besides the change in the rhymed alphabet other ma- Text of the E lution, to change his frontispiece, and in 1776 the portrait of the Royal George was merely relabelled, and came forth as the "John Hancock," the likeness between republican these two, being it is needless to say, very extraordinary con- sidering that they were representatives of such opposite parties. In the Boston edition of 1777 a correct portrait of Hancock was achieved, and in an edition printed in Hart- ford in the same year a portrait of Samuel Adams, another hero of the hour, was given. At the end of the revolution, the standard portrait became that of Washington, and the only exception to the use of his features, when any portrait was given in subsequent editions, is one of Isaac Watts issued about 1850. printed in a Worcester edition The change in the rhymed alphabet cuts have already been described. One important fact however, is the use of The Rhymed AlP ha tCuts some of the " little pictures in a work written by Harris en- ^ titled The Holy Bible In Verse." Harris advertised this book as early as 1701, and in an edition printed in 1717 all of the cuts are clearly taken from his edition of the New Eng- 1 land