Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-07-02
THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER.
THE CURIOUS LITTLE TEXT BOOK WHICH
TAUGHT OUR FOREFATHERS SPELLING
4ND THEOLOGY At THE SAME TIME.

AND THEOLOGY At THE SAME TIME.
The horn-book, which was the simplest
form of the primer, was in use in New
England down to the time of George H.,
and it is but reasonable to suppose that the
Puritans and Pilgrims brought over their
horn-books with other scant parapharna-
liza of education.
But the printing press that was set up in
Cambridge in 1G49 was too busy in produc-
ing books to allow the single page of the
horn-book to hold its place as the chief
source of the elementary knowledge OF the
English language, and the Prlmer,or PrI-
mer. as the people of New England used to
call it, as many of the people of Old Eng
land call it still-soon came in to take It's
place. There was no education OF children
of the kind that is now called secular, tor
the little learner took in his literature and
theology at the same time, for the creed
was printed alongside of the alphabet:
The New England Primer was the leglt-
innate successor of the primers that the Pur-
itans and their fathers and grandfathers to
England. No one knows when the hrst
New England Primer was published or by
whom it was compiled, or by what artist
it was first "adorned with cuts" There is
single copy eXtant of the Indian Primer
in the Natick language, compiled by John
Eliot and printed at Cambridge in 1869,
and the contents of this, Dr.>J. Hammond
Trumbull thinks, 'are substantially the
same as those of the earliest New England
primers in the English language before they
had been 'enlarged,' or 'improved, or
adorned with cuts" The Indian, Primer
gives the first six pages to the alphabet,
and spelling and reading lessons, the words
being divided into syllables, and then comes
the Lords Prayer with an exposition in the
form of catechism the Apostles Creed,
with catechritical exposition; Christian
Duties for Second States, collected out of the
HOLY Scripture; the Large Catechism; a
Short Catechism the Numeral Letters and
Figures, and the Names and Order of the
Books of the Old and New Testament.
The oldest known fragment OF New
which made part of the original binding OF a
book printed by VIM. Bradford in 1858.
These were discovered by DR.. Trumbull in
1881, and Philadelphia reprint of Bos-
ton edition of the Primer, which must have
been published at least as early as 1857.
In Newman's Boston Almanac for 169l is
the following advertisement:
,"rhere is now in the Press and suddenly
to be extant Second Impression OF the
New England Primer enlarged, to which Is
added more Directions for Spelling; the
ses made by Mr.. Rogers, the Martyr, left as
a legacy to his Children. Sold by Benja-
min Harris at the London Coffee House."
No COPY of this edition is supposed to be
in existence. The "Verses made by Mr..
John Rogers, martyr in Queen Mares
reign" had already been printed at Boston
in 1855. They were, in fact, written by
Robert Smith, a contemporary of Rogers,
and later a martyr, also. DR.: Irumbull
saws he has not been able to identify the
prayer of Edward W., but suggests that 1t
children before they study their lesson at
school," which was first printed in English
at the end of King Edwards Short Cate
chism in 1853. 1t was omitted from subse-
quent editions of the Primer.
So far as known the oldest complete copy
of the Primer that has been preserved was
printed in Boston, by Thomas Fleet, in 1877.
1t is entitled "The New England Primer
Enlarged. For the more Easy attaining the
True Rending of English: 10 which IS
added, The Assembly of Divines Cate
chism." On the inside of the first leaf,
before the title, is wood cut of liking
ghastly image labelled "The Pope, or Man
of Sim" The book contained "The Great
Capital Letters" "The Small Letters"
'Easie Syllables for Children" "Words
of One Syllable" and upwards to those
terrible "Words of Six Sylables," begin
nsng with "A-bo-mi-na-ti-On" and ending
with "Qual-i-fi-ca-ti-on." Then come the
chief attractions of the primer, the rude
wood cuts and their associated rhymes, from
SIN Adams fall,
We sinned ALL
Down through the alphabet to
'Zaccheus he
Did climb the Tree
Our Lord to see."
These are followed by "The Dutiful Child's
Promises" which in later editions are omit
ted to give room for the Scripture questions
beginning with: "Who was the first man ?"
Then come an "Alphabet of Lesson for
Youth" in verses, or parts of verses, from
the Bible; the Lords Prayer, the Creed, the
Ten Commandments, texts showing the
"Duty of Children towards their Parents"
and two pages of verses, portion of which
every child was directed to ''learn by heart"
One of these was the familiar little prayer:
"Now lay me down to sleep,
pray the Lord my soul keep;
If should die before wake,
pray the Lord my soul to take.'
Which every child did learn by heart, and
it became more familiar to English-speak-
ing Protestants than any other prayer IN
the language, the Lords Prayer only ex-
cepted. Only short time before his death
the venerable John Quincy Adams said that
he had never layed his head on his pillow
without saving this prayer, as his mother
had taught him to do in childhood.
After the short verses, prayers at laying
down and for the morning follow the "Names
and Orders of the Books of the Old and New
Testament" "Verses for Little Children"
beginning:
"Though I am young, a little one,'
And the hymn
Lord if thou lengthen out my days
Turning the leaf we come upon the rude
type-metal cut of Mr.. John Rodgers being
burnt at Smithfeld, "his wife with nine
small children and one at her breast, fol-
lowing him to the stake" Thisstatement as
to the martyrs progeny is not quite correct,
whether The youngest child be reckoned as
included in the nine or in addition. The
true number, verified by the genealogical
record, is given by Foxe, who, in 1862, pub
lished the first account of the martyrdom in
his "Acts and Monuments" He says that
Mr.. Rogers "wife and children, being
eleven in number, ten able to 60, and one
sucking at the breast met him on the way
as he went toward Smithfeld," Mr.: Rogers
was not 'burned at Smithteld, February
the l4th, 1554," as the Primer has it in
every one of its innumerable editions, but
on the 4th of February, 800. The verses
accompanying the illustration are the same
mentioned in the advertisement of the
edition of 1861. The remaining half OF the
primer of 1877 is occupied by the Assem-
bly's Shorter Catechism.
Between this time and 17GS, when the
next edition of which we have any kn0Wl-
edge was printed, the great revival or re-
ligion had taken place in New England
and the Primer became distinctly evangeli-