Before McGuffey, the schoolbook which had educated generations of American youth had been the old New England Primer. Reflecting the stern Calvinism of colonial times, it began the teaching of the alphabet with "A is for Adam" and followed with a sobering couplet: "In Adam's fall, we sinned all." It closed with a funereal poem: "Give ear my children to my words / Build not your house too high. / But always have before your eye, / That you were born to die." From the experiences of his front-...
