(September 23, 1800\u2013May 4, 1873), was an American educator. He was the president of Ohio University, professor at the University of Virginia and the department chairman at the Miami University of Ohio. He was responsible for forming the first teachers\u2019 association in that part of the nation. <\/p>\n
Considered the \u201cSchoolmaster of the Nation,\u201d McGuffey published the first edition of his McGuffey\u2019s Reader<\/i> in 1836. This book was the mainstay in public education in America till 1920. As of 1963, 125 million copies had been sold, making it one of the most widely used and influential textbooks of all times. Millions of American children learned to read and write from it.<\/p>\n
In the foreword of McGuffey\u2019s Reader,<\/i> 1836, William H. McGuffey wrote:<\/p>\n
The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our prevalent notions of the character of God, the great moral governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free institutions.2149<\/p>\n
The Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus are not only basic but plenary.2150<\/p>\n
McGuffey\u2019s Eclectic First Reader<\/i> included a lesson \u201cEvening Prayer\u201d:<\/p>\n
At the close of the day, before you go to sleep, you should not fail to pray to God to keep you from sin and from harm. \u2026 You should ask your God for those things which he can give you, and which no one else can give you. You should ask him for life, and health, and strength; and you should pray to him to keep your feet from the ways of sin and shame. You should thank him for all his good gifts; and learn, while young, to put your trust in Him; and the kind care of God will be with you.2151<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson XIII, \u201cRespect for the Sabbath Rewarded\u201d:<\/p>\n
In the city of Bath, not many years since, lived a barber who made a practice of following his ordinary occupation on the Lord\u2019s day. As he was on the way to his morning\u2019s employment, he happened to look into some place of worship just as the minister was giving out his text\u2014\u201cRemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.\u201d He listened long enough to be convinced that he was constantly breaking the laws of God and man by shaving and dressing his customers on the Lord\u2019s day. He became uneasy, and went with a heavy heart to his Sabbath task. \u2026 <\/p>\n
He discontinued his Sabbath work, went constantly and early to the public services of religion, and soon enjoyed that satisfaction of mind which is one of the rewards of doing our duty, and that peace which the world can neither give nor take away. \u2026 <\/p>\n
Providence had now thrown him in his way in a most extraordinary manner, and he had great pleasure in transferring a great many thousand pounds to a worthy man, the rightful heir of the property. Thus was man\u2019s extremity God\u2019s opportunity.2152<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson XXIII, \u201cKing Charles II and William Penn\u201d by Mason L. Weems:<\/p>\n
King Charles: How then will you get their lands?<\/p>\n
William Penn: I mean to buy their lands of them.<\/p>\n
King Charles: Buy their lands of them? Why, man, you have already bought them of me! \u2026 <\/p>\n
William Penn: \u2026 How can I, who call myself a Christian, do what I should abhor even in the heathen? No. \u2026 I will buy the right of the proper owners, even of the Indians themselves. By doing this, I shall imitate God himself in his justice and mercy, and therby insure His blessing on my colony, if I should ever live to plant one in North America.2153<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson CII, \u201cThe Character of a Happy Life\u201d by Sir Henry Woton:<\/p>\n
5. Who God doth late and early pray,<\/p>\n
More of His grace than gifts to lend;<\/p>\n
And entertains the harmless day<\/p>\n
With a religious book or friend;<\/p>\n
6. This man is freed from servile bands,<\/p>\n
Of hope to rise, or fear to fall;<\/p>\n
Lord of himself, though not of lands;<\/p>\n
And having nothing, yet hath all.2154<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson CI, \u201cLittle Victories,\u201d by Harriet Martineau:<\/p>\n
1. O Mother, now I have lost my limb, I can never be a soldier or a sailor; I can never go round the world! And Hugh burst into tears, now more really afflicted than he had ever been yet. His mother sat on the bed beside him, and wiped away his tears as they flowed \u2026 <\/p>\n
3. Hugh sighed, and his mother went on. \u201cDid you ever hear of Beethoven? He was one of the greatest musical composers that ever lived. His great, his sole delight was in music. It was the passion of his life. When all his time and all his mind were given to music, he suddenly became deaf, perfectly deaf; so that he never more heard one single note from the loudest orchestra. While crowds were moved and delighted with his compositions, it was all silence to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
6. \u201cThe pleasure of rousing the soul to bear pain, and of agreeing with God silently, when nobody knows what is in the breast. There is no pleasure like that of exercising one\u2019s soul in bearing pain, and of finding one\u2019s heart glow with the hope that one is pleasing God. \u2026 Every time you can willingly give up your wish to be a solider or a sailor, or any thing else you have set your mind upon, you will feel that pleasure\u201d<\/p>\n
17. \u201cYou will be a better scholar for your lameness, I have no doubt. You will read more books, and have a mind richer in thoughts. You will be more beloved by us all, and you yourself will love God more for having given you something to bear for his sake. God himself will help you to bear your trials. You will conquer your troubles one by one, and by a succession of LITTLE VICTORIES will at last completely triumph over all.\u201d2155<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson LXVI, \u201cControl Your Temper\u201d by John Todd:<\/p>\n
No one has a temper naturally so good, that it does not need attention and cultivation, and no one has a temper so bad, but that, by proper culture, it may become pleasant \u2026 <\/p>\n
3. Look at Roger Sherman, who rose from a humble occupation to a seat in the first Congress of the United States, and whose judgment was received with great deference by that body of distinguished men. He made himself master of his temper, and cultivated it as a great business in life. \u2026 <\/p>\n
4. One day, after having received his highest honors, he was sitting and reading in his parlor. A roguish student, in a room close by, held a looking-glass in such a position as to pour the reflected rays of the sun directly in Mr. Sherman\u2019s face. He moved his chair, and the thing was repeated. A third time the chair was moved, but the looking-glass still reflected the sun in his eyes. He laid aside his book, went to the window, and many witnesses of the impudence expected to hear the ungentlemanly student severely reprimanded. He raised the window gently, and then\u2014shut the window-blind!<\/p>\n
5. I can not forbear adducing another instance of the power he had acquired over himself. \u2026 Mr. Sherman was one of those men who are not ashamed to maintain the forms of religion in their families.2156<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson XCIII, \u201cReligion The Only Basis of Society\u201d by William Ellery Channing:<\/p>\n
1. Religion is a social concern; for it operates powerfully, contributing in various ways to its stability and prosperity. Religion is not merely a private affair; the community is deeply interested in its diffusion; for it is the best support of the virtues and principles, on which the social order rests. Pure and undefiled religion is, to do good; and it follows, very plainly, that if God be the Author and Friend of Society, then, the recognition of him must enforce all social duty, and enlightened piety must give its whole strength to public order. \u2026 <\/p>\n
2 \u2026 How powerless conscience would become without the belief of a God \u2026 <\/p>\n
5. Erase all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man. Appetite, knowing no restraint, and suffering, having no solace or hope, would trample in scorn on the restraints of human laws. Virtue, duty, principle, would be mocked and spurned as unmeaning sounds. A sordid self-interest would supplant every feeling; and man would become, in fact, what the theory in atheism declares him to be,\u2014a companion for brutes.2157<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson CXIII, \u201cA Picture of Human Life\u201d by Samuel Johnson:<\/p>\n
14. \u201cBut temptation succeeds temptation, and one compliance prepares us for another; we, in time, lose the happiness of innocence, and solace our disquiet with sensual gratifications. By degrees we let fall the remembrance of our original intention, and quit the only adequate object of rational desire. We entangle ourselves in business, immerse ourselves in luxury, and rove through the labyrinths of inconstancy till darkness of old age begins to invade us, and disease and anxiety obstruct our way. We then look back upon our lives with horror, with sorrow, and with repentance; and wish, but too often vainly wish, that we had not forsaken the paths of virtue.\u201d2158<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson CXVI, \u201cThe Bible The Best of Classics\u201d by Thomas S. Grimk\u00e9:<\/p>\n
1. There is a classic, the best the world has ever seen, the noblest that has ever honored and dignified the language of mortals. If we look into its antiquity, we discover a title to our veneration unrivaled in the history of literature. If we have respect to its evidences, they are found in the testimony of miracle and prophecy; in the ministry of man, of nature, and of angels, yea, even of \u201cGod, manifest in the flesh,\u201d of \u201cGod blessed forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
2. If we consider its authenticity, no other pages have survived the lapse of time that can be compared with it. If we examine its authority, for it speaks as never man spake, we discover that it came from heaven in vision and prophecy under the sanction of Him who is Creator of all things, and the Giver of every good and perfect gift.<\/p>\n
3. If we reflect on its truth, they are lovely and spotless, sublime and holy as God himself, unchangeable as his nature, durable as his righteous dominion, and versatile as the moral condition of mankind. If we regard the value of its treasures, we must estimate them, not like the relics of classic antiquity, by the perishable glory and beauty, virtue and happiness, of this world, but by the enduring perfection and supreme felicity of an eternal kingdom.<\/p>\n
4. If we inquire who are the men that have recorded its truths, vindicated its rights, and illustrated the excellence of its scheme, from the depth of ages and from the living world, from the populous continent and the isles of the sea, comes forth the answer: \u201cThe patriarch and the prophet, the evangelist and the martyr.\u201d<\/p>\n
5. If we look abroad through the world of men, the victims of folly or vice, the prey of cruelty, of injustice, and inquire what benefits, even in this temporal state, the great and the humble, the rich and the poor, the powerful and the weak, the learned and the ignorant reply, as with one voice, that humility and resignation, purity, order, and peace, faith, hope, and charity are its blessings upon earth.<\/p>\n
6. And if, raising our eyes from time to eternity; from the world of mortals to the world of just men made perfect; from the visible creation, marvelous, beautiful, and glorious as it is, to the invisible creation of angels and seraphs; from the footstool of God to the throne of God himself, we ask, what are the blessings that flow from this single volume, let the question be answered by the pen of the evangelist, the harp of the prophet, and the records of the Book of Life.<\/p>\n
7. Such is the best of classics the world has ever admired; such, the noblest that man has ever adopted as a guide.2159<\/p>\n
William Holmes McGuffey, in McGuffey\u2019s Fifth Eclectic Reader<\/i> (Cincinnati and New York: Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co., revised edition, 1879), included lesson CXVII, \u201cMy Mother\u2019s Bible\u201d by George P. Morris:<\/p>\n
1. This Book is all that\u2019s left me now,<\/p>\n
Tears will unbidden start,<\/p>\n
With faltering lip and throbbing brow<\/p>\n
I press it to my heart.<\/p>\n
For many generations past<\/p>\n
Here is our family tree;<\/p>\n
My mother\u2019s hand this Bible clasped,<\/p>\n
She, dying, gave it me.<\/p>\n
2. Ah! Well do I remember those<\/p>\n
Whose names these records bear;<\/p>\n
Who round the hearth-stone used to close,<\/p>\n
After the evening prayer,<\/p>\n
And speak of what these pages said<\/p>\n
In tones my heart would thrill!<\/p>\n
Though they are with the silent dead,<\/p>\n
Here are they living still!<\/p>\n
3. My father read this Holy Book<\/p>\n
To brothers, sisters, dear;<\/p>\n
How calm was my poor mother\u2019s look,<\/p>\n
Who loved God\u2019s Word to hear!<\/p>\n
Her angel face, -I see it yet!<\/p>\n
What thronging memories come!<\/p>\n
Again that little group is met<\/p>\n
Within the walls of home!<\/p>\n
4. Thou truest friend man ever knew,<\/p>\n
Thy constancy I\u2019ve tried;<\/p>\n
When all were false, I found thee true,<\/p>\n
My counselor and guide.<\/p>\n
The mines of earth no treasures give<\/p>\n
That could this volume buy;<\/p>\n
In teaching me the way to live,<\/p>\n
It taught me how to die.2160<\/p>\n
In 1837, In the preface of his Eclectic Third Reader,<\/i> McGuffey wrote:<\/p>\n
Selections, [have been] drawn from the purest fountains of English literature. \u2026 Copious extracts made from the Sacred Scripture.2161<\/p>\n
Upon a review of the work \u2026 an apology may be due for not having still more liberally transferred to pages the chaste simplicity, the thrilling pathos, the living descriptions, and the matchless sublimity of the Sacred Writings.2162<\/p>\n
From no source has the author drawn more copiously than from the Sacred Scriptures. \u2026 This certainly apprehends no censure. 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.2163 <\/p>\n
McGuffey\u2019s Eclectic Third Reader,<\/i> in Lesson 21, stated:<\/p>\n
The morality of Jesus Christ was purer, sounder, sublimer and more perfect than had ever before entered into the imagination, or preceded from the lips of man.2164<\/p>\n
In McGuffey\u2019s Newly Revised Rhetorical Guide,<\/i> 1853, William Holmes McGuffey wrote:<\/p>\n
If you can induce a community to doubt the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures; to question the reality, and obligations of religion; to hesitate, undeciding, whether there be any thing as virtue and vice; whether there be an eternal state of retribution beyond the grave; or whether there exists any such being as God, you have broken down the barriers of moral virtue, and hoisted the flood-gates of immorality and crime.2165<\/p>\n
On August 7, 1873, upon William Holmes McGuffey\u2019s death, the National Education Association, Elmira, New York, stated:<\/p>\n
In the death of William H. McGuffey, late Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Virginia, the Association feels that they have lost one of the great lights of the profession. \u2026 in offices as teacher of common schools, college professor and college president, and as author of text books; his almost unequalled industry; his power in the lecture room; his influence upon his pupils and community; his care for the public interests of education; his lofty devotion to duty; his conscientious Christian character\u2014all these have made him one of the noblest ornaments of our profession in this age, and entitled to the grateful remembrance of this Association and of the teachers of America.2166<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(September 23, 1800\u2013May 4, 1873), was an American educator. He was the president of Ohio University, professor at the University of Virginia and the department chairman at the Miami University of Ohio. He was responsible for forming the first teachers\u2019 association in that part of the nation. Considered the \u201cSchoolmaster of the Nation,\u201d McGuffey published … Continue reading “MCGUFFEY,
\nWILLIAM HOLMES”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15865\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}