The Project Gutenberg EBook of McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader by William Holmes McGuffey

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Title: McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader

Author: William Holmes McGuffey

Release Date: September 26, 2005 [EBook #16751]

Language: English

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MCGUFFEY'S SIXTH ECLECTIC READER ***

Produced by Don Kostuch

[Transcriber's Notes:
Welcome to the schoolroom of 1900. The moral tone is plain.
"She is kind to the old blind man."

The exercises are still suitable, and perhaps more helpful than some contemporary alternatives. Much is left to the teacher. Explanations given in the text are enough to get started teaching a child to read and write. Counting in Roman numerals is included as a bonus in the form of lesson numbers.

The form of contractions includes a space. The contemporary word "don't" was rendered as "do n't".

The author, not listed in the text, is William Holmes McGuffey.

Passages using non-ASCI characters are approximately rendered in this text version. See the PDF or DOC versions for the original images.

The section numbers are decimal in the Table of Contents but are in
Roman Numerals in the body.

Page headings are removed, but section titles are followed by the page on which they appear.

Many items include a preceding biography of the author. This is ended with three pound symbols. ###

Don Kostuch end transcriber's notes]

[Illustration: Picture of a young woman and a trunk.]

She sits, inclining forward as to speak,
Her lips half-open, and her finger up,
As though she said, "Beware!"

(Item XCV. Ginevra)

ECLECTIC EDUCATIONAL SERIES.

McGUFFEY'S SIXTH ECLECTIC READER.

REVISED EDITION.

McGuffey Editions and Colophon are Trademarks of

JOHN WILEY & SONS. INC.

NEW YORK-CHICHESTER-BRISBANE-SINGAPORE-TORONTO

SUPPLEMENTARY READING FOR GRAMMAR AND HIGH SCHOOL GRADES ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS.

Arnold's (Matthew) Sohrab and Rustum
Burke's Conciliation with the American Colonies
Carlyle's Essay on Burns
Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Defoe's History of the Plague in London
De Quincey's Revolt of the Tartars
Emerson's The American Scholar, Self-Reliance and Compensation
Franklin's Autobiography
"George Eliot's" Silas Marner
Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield
Irving's Sketch Book (Ten Selections)
Irving's Tales of a Traveler
Macaulay's Second Essay on Chatham
Macaulay's Essay on Milton
Macaulay's Essay on Addison
Macaulay's Life of Johnson
Milton's L'Allegro, Il Penseroso, Comus Lycidas,
Milton's Paradise Lost, Books I and. II
Pope's Homer's Iliad, Books I, VI, XXII, XXIV,
Scott's Ivanhoe
Scott's Marmion
Scott's Lady of the Lake
Scott's The Abbot
Scott's Woodstock.
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Shakespeare's Twelfth Night
Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare's Midsummer-Night's Dream
Shakespeare's As You Like It
Shakespeare's Macbeth
Shakespeare's Hamlet,
Sir Roger de Coverley Papers (The Spectator),
Southey's Life of Nelson
Tennyson's The Princess,
Webster's (Daniel) Bunker Hill Orations,
——-
Sent, postpaid on receipt of price.

COPYRIGHT, 1879, BY VAN ANTWERP, BRAGG & COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1896, BY AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. COPYRIGHT, 1907 AND 1921, BY HENRY H. VAIL.

M'G REV. 6TH EC. EP 118

Preface (3)

In the SIXTH READER, the general plan of the revision of McGUFFEY'S SERIES has been carefully carried out to completion.

That plan has been to retain, throughout, those characteristic features of McGUFFEY'S READERS, which have made the series so popular, and caused their widespread use throughout the schools of the country. At the same time, the books have been enlarged; old pieces have been exchanged for new wherever the advantage was manifest; and several new features have been incorporated, which it is thought will add largely to the value of the series.

In the revision of the SIXTH READER, the introductory matter has been retained with but little change, and it will he found very valuable for elocutionary drill. In the preparation of this portion of the work, free use was made of the writings of standard authors upon Elocution, such as Walker, McCulloch, Sheridan Knowles, Ewing, Pinnock, Scott, Bell, Graham, Mylins, Wood, Rush, and many others.

In making up the Selections for Reading, great care and deliberation have been exercised. The best pieces of the old book are retained in the REVISED SIXTH, and to the these been added a long list of selections from the best English and American literature. Upwards of one hundred leading authors are represented (see "Alphabetical List. of Authors," page ix), and thus a wide range of specimens of the best style has been secured. Close scrutiny revealed the fact that many popular selections common to several series of Readers, had been largely adapted, but in McGUFFEY'S REVISED READERS, wherever it was possible to do so, the selections have been compared, and made to conform strictly with the originals as they appear in the latest editions authorized by the several writers.

The character of the selections, aside from their elocutionary value, has also been duly considered. It will be found, upon examination, that they present the same instructive merit and healthful moral tone which gave the preceding edition its high reputation.

Two new features of the REVISED SIXTH deserve especial attention—the explanatory notes, and the biographical notices of authors. The first, in the absence of a large number of books of reference, are absolutely necessary, in some cases, for the intelligent reading of the piece; and it is believed that in all cases they will add largely to the interest and usefulness of the lessons.

The biographical notices, if properly used, are hardly of less value than the lessons themselves. They have been carefully prepared, and are intended not only to add to the interest of the pieces, but to supply information usually obtained only by the separate study of English and American literature.

The illustrations of the REVISED SIXTH READER are presented as specimens of fine art. They are the work of the best artists and engravers that could be secured for the purpose in this country. The names of these gentlemen may be found on page ten.

The publishers would here repeat their acknowledgments to the numerous friends and critics who have kindly assisted in the work of revision, and would mention particularly President EDWIN C. HEWETT, of the State Normal University, Normal, Illinois, and the HON. THOMAS W. HARVEY, of Painesville, Ohio, who have had the revision of the SIXTH READER under their direct advice.

Especial acknowledgment