Moral Tales for Children From McGuffey’s Readers: True Courage

This is the 14th installment in our McGuffey Readers series, in which we reproduce some of the best moral tales from the classic 1800s schoolbooks that sold an estimated 122 million copies by 1960, the largest circulation of any book in the world next to the Bible and Webster’s Dictionary. McGuffey’s readers played an important part in American history. They taught children reading and grammar and teaching them how to behave and be moral. Share this with your kids!

True Courage

One cold winter day three young men passed a schoolhouse. One of the boys was an alcoholic. The oldest was always troubled and tried to cause trouble for others. George was the youngest boy and he was very kind.

George wished to be right but was lacking in courage. Henry and James were the other two boys. They talked like this as they moved along:

Henry. What fun it would be to throw a snowball against the schoolroom door, and make the teacher and scholars all
jump!

James. If you want to jump, the teacher will whip you. You would be whipped if the teacher didn’t catch you.

Henry. We would be so far away, before the teacher could get to the door that he couldn’t tell us who we were. George will throw a snowball as fast as ice at the door.

James. Let him have it, and he will see. It would be a shame to throw.

Illustration of “True Courage” from “McGuffey’s Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition,” 1879. (Public Domain)

Henry. Are you convinced George is a cowardly man? He doesn’t know you as well as me. George, please take the snowball and prove to James that you’re not as cowardly as he believes.

George. It is not something I fear to throw, but it is not something I want to do. It is not something I see as being useful or entertaining.

James. There! He said he wouldn’t dare throw it.

Henry. George, why are you becoming a coward? You said you didn’t fear any thing. Save your credit and then throw it. You aren’t afraid, I am sure.

George. I’m not afraid of throwing. I’ll take the snowball. It would be as easy to throw as it is not.

Whack! The snowball smashed against the doors and the boys ran for it. Henry laughed as hard as he could to laugh at George’s foolishness.

George received a whipping as punishment for his folly. He was so cowardly that he was scared of being called coward. Henry instructed him to follow his lead, and he was afraid he’d be ridiculed.

If he had been really a brave boy, he would have said, “Henry, do you suppose that I am so foolish as to throw that
Snowball, because I want you to? You can throw your snowballs !”

Henry might have laughed at him and called him coward.

But George said that he didn’t care about your laughter. It is not right for me to throw the snowball. I
If 1 believes that something is wrong, the entire town will join you in laughing .”

This would have represented true courage. Henry would know that it was not a good idea to make fun of a boy with such a bold heart. This fearlessness is essential if you want to avoid trouble and be disliked by everyone.

This story is reproduced from McGuffey’s Third Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition, published in 1879.

The McGuffey Readers, first published in the 1830s, were a series of illustrated readers for elementary schoolchildren written by U.S. educator and clergyman William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873). They were widely used as textbooks in U.S. schools from the mid-1800s up until the early 20th century. Some schools still use them today, particularly homeschools that focus on raising morally-minded children and classical education.