PUBLIC LIBRARY ASTOR, LENOX AND Eastern District of Pinsylvania, to wit unit o L BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-fourth day of March, in the forty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, A. D. 1824, Jesse Torrey, Jr. of the said district, hath deposited in this office the title of a book the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit: A Pleasing Companion for little Girls and Boys: blending Instruction with Amusement. Being a selection of Interesting Stories, Dialogues, Fables and Poetry. Designed for the use of primary schools and domestic nurseries. By Jesse Torrey, Jr. To secure the perpetuation of our republican form of government to future generations, let Divines and Philosophers, Statesmen and Patriots, unite their endeavours to renovate the age, by impressing the minds of the people with the importance of educating their little boys and girls. S. Adams. In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned;"-And also to the Act, entitled, “An Act supplementary to an Act, entitled, "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies during the times therein mentioned," and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints." D. CALDWELL, Clerk of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Report of the Committee of the Philadelphia Academy of Teachers: Adopted Nov. 6, 1824. THE Committee to whom was referred Mr. Jesse Torrey's "Pleasing Companion for Little Girls and Boys," beg leave to report, That they have perused the "Pleasing Companion," and have much pleasure in pronouncing as their opinion, that it is a compilation much better calculated for the exercise and improvement of small children in the art of reading, and especially in the more rare art of understanding what they read, than the books in general use. All which is respectfully submitted. J..IRVINE HITCHCOCK, Committee. CHARLES MEAD, C. B. TREGO, Sec'y. A true copy from the minutes of the Academy. November 22, 1824. A. CONTENTS. 1. William and Thomas; or, the contrast between Industry 2. Mischief its own punishment, exemplified in the history of 11. Crazy Lemuel and the Mischievous Boys, 12. Anthony and Augustus; or, a rational Education preferable Selections from Maria Edgeworth's Early Lessons. 1. The little boy that was whipped for not telling the truth, The Story of the people who were overwhelmed in a vast 6. Henry and Thomas overtaken in a snow storm, while taking 5. Description of the tremendous eruption of the Volcano of Mount Vesuvius, in October, 1822, 104 6. General Putnam and the Wolf, 106 7. An Indian convinced of the necessity and duty of industry, by the examples of fishes and birds, 108 8. A Dialogue between two School Boys on Dancing, 110 9. The Vicar of Wakefield's account of the Adventure of his son Moses, when he sent him to the fair to sell his colt, 112 10. The story of Ali Cogia, merchant of Bagdad, 11. Story of a cheat caught in a trap of his own invention. From "The Adventures of Hajji Baba," CHAPTER V. FAB. 1. The Vain Jackdaw, 115 119 3. The Dog and the Wolf, 6. Æsop at play, 4. The Lion and the Mouse, 5. Hercules, the fabulous god of strength, and the Carter, 122 123 ib. 124 ib. 125 ib. 126 ib. 127 1. The Idle Boy, 128 2. The Industrious Boy, ib. 3. The Robin, 9. The last Dying Speech and Confession of poor Puss, 44 PREFACE. Ir is more difficult probably, to compose or compile a book suited to the feelings and capacities of children from six to ten years of age, than for persons in any other stage of life. About the commencement of this period, it is time to throw aside the insipid mental aliment which might have been proper and palatable during earlier infancy: and still we should be careful for some time yet, not to present them with such as they cannot relish nor digest.** It has been remarked by many instructors, that the most of the compilations designed for the primary reading classes, contain many pieces on subjects too abstract and complex for young children to understand. The same defect may be observed in some of the reading lessons in spelling books, even although the sentences consist of monosyllables of easy pronunciation. It cannot be expected that children of six or eight years, can comprehend profound figurative expressions, or read with propriety, what is as unintelligible to them as if expressed in Latin. Reading lessons for young beginners ought to embrace subjects which are calculated to interest their feelings and sympathies, captivate their attention and curiosity, and at the same time, as far as possible, to implant in their yielding hearts the seeds of benevolence and virtue. M. Berquin has perhaps combined all these intentions as happily as any writer who has devoted his time and talents to juvenile instruction. The compiler of the "Pleasing Companion," recollects the gratification he enjoyed in the early perusal of his ingenious and instructive stories. Berquin's * Instruction should always be rendered agreeable, in order to be beneficial to those that are to learn. The skill of a preceptor consists in gaining the affections of his pupils, and conveying knowledge in so gradual and clear a manner, as to adapt it to the strength of the young student's capacity. Many a poor child has been disgusted with books and learning, by the heavy laborious tasks that have been given it to learn by heart, before it was capable of understanding them. [MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. Most people would probably become readers, if furnished with suitable books at a proper time of life. It is only necessary to offer instruction to the voluntary acceptance of children, in a proper manner, to produce an ardent appetite for it, [MORAL INSTRUCTOR. The interest children generally take in the society of those of their own age, is such, that every thing, in print, which is like a picture of themselves. and the society they associate with, will be interesting. [LANCASTER, "Children's Friend," from which a considerable part of the Companion is derived, is too expensive for general use, and not adapted to the state of society in the United States. The language has therefore been a little modified in several of the articles from that work. The compiler also recollects the pleasure and instruction which he derived from the early perusal of Thomas Day's "History of Sandford and Merton," and, judging of the feelings and sympathies of the present rising generation by those of his own childhood, he has drawn pretty freely upon the ample fund of juvenile instruction which that production affords, in filling up the following pages. Maria Edgeworth has contributed much to the stock of materials of infantine education, but her works are too prolix and costly for universal circulation, and, as well as those of Mrs. Barbauld, seem to be designed for the more opu-. lent circles of society, both in respect to cost and cha racter. The design of the compiler of the present little volume is to prepare a convenient and cheap class-book, from various juvenile publications, avoiding, as far as he is able, the defects which have been attributed to the former compilations of this description. Philadelphia, March 26, 1824. |