He graduated in 1826 and began his labor at Oxford, Ohio, at the opening
of the fall session. He at once took high rank in a faculty consisting
of strong men, and, young as he was, won the respect and homage of the
students. In 1832 he was transferred to the chair of Mental Philosophy.
To make this subject interesting and valuable to beginners requires, on
the part of the teacher, wide reading, clearness of thought, and
simplicity and directness of speech. These qualities Dr. McGuffey had.
He had become well read in philosophy, especially of the Scottish
school, Brown being his favorite author. But he had fully assimilated
the matter and had thought independently. He also had a fund of fresh
and suggestive illustrations coming within the daily experience of men,
which brought his lectures close to the minds of the students. Whatever
positions of honor or of trust his pupils held in their later careers,
they never ceased to feel the impulse which came from Dr. McGuffey as a
teacher.

On March 29, 1829, he was licensed as a preacher in the Presbyterian
church, and from that date he became a frequent public speaker. He never
had charge of a parish as minister, but usually preached on Sunday in
the college chapel to the students and to such of the public as could
obtain space to sit or to stand. The preacher's unassuming manner, the
clearness of his thought, and the simplicity of his language produced
impressions that were enduring. He never wrote his sermons. He simply
thought them out rigorously, and his mind worked so logically and in
such definite lines that he could repeat on request a sermon, preached
years before, in a form recognized by his hearers as substantially the
same.

[Cincinnati College]