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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 20
1,906 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 20 of 40.
State of the Union Addresses
Rutherford Birchard Hayes
These annual reports document the stability and growth of a nation recovering from civil conflict, detailing a presidency defined by economic consolidation and the struggle to protect newly won constitutional rights.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 09, No. 56, June, 1862: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
A vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of the American mind at a pivotal moment, this collection captures a nation struggling to define itself through the lens of nature, art, and the furnace of civil conflict.
The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner
Charles Dudley Warner
A collection of witty, observant essays and travel sketches that find profound charm in gardening failures, domestic pets, and the eccentricities of rural Nova Scotia.
The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 6, February, 1835
Various
This vibrant window into 1835 captures the intellectual pulse of the American South, blending historical inquiry, literary critique, and the era’s restless pursuit of progress and moral self-improvement.
The World's Great Sermons, Volume 06: H. W. Beecher to Punshon
Unknown
These sermons capture the cadence and conviction of late nineteenth-century pulpit oratory, exploring the intersection of human nature, moral accountability, and the promise of the divine.
Canterbury Pieces
Samuel Butler
HOOK These early essays and letters capture the intellectual awakening of a colonial immigrant as he grapples with the explosive implications of evolutionary theory in the distant wilds of New Zealand.
Godey's Lady's Book, Philadelphia, Volume 48, March, 1854
Various
This volume serves as a comprehensive time capsule of 1854, capturing the intricate intersection of domestic industry, social expectation, and Victorian aesthetic standards for the American reading public.
On the art of writing fiction
Unknown
Hook A chorus of established Victorian authors gathers to demystify the novelist’s craft, offering a timeless apprenticeship in the discipline, observation, and character-driven patience required to breathe life into the written word.
Peking Dust
Ellen N. (Ellen Newbold) La Motte
In a city of shifting dust and crumbling empires, a traveler observes the slow, suffocating collision between a proud, ancient culture and the predatory ambitions of foreign powers.
The Complete Writings of Charles Dudley Warner
Charles Dudley Warner
This collection brings together the sharp, humorous observations of a nineteenth-century American essayist alongside his critical, investigative look at the foundational myths of colonial history.
The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, January 1844: Volume 23, Number 1
Various
This anthology captures the spirit of mid-nineteenth-century literary life, blending whimsical essays, travelogues, and social commentary into a vibrant portrait of an era in transition. It serves as a window into the intellectual pursuits of a bygone American audience.
A World of Wonders, with Anecdotes and Opinions Concerning Popular Superstitions
Unknown
The human mind often clings to old errors like winged seeds, spreading superstitions that modern science struggles to eradicate. This wide-ranging exploration of historical oddities invites the reader to replace fear with rational inquiry.
An Essay on the Lyric Poetry of the Ancients
John Ogilvie
This scholarly exploration of ancient lyric poetry serves as a thoughtful, mid-eighteenth-century guide to the origins and aesthetics of the Ode. It invites readers to look beyond the mere technical structure of verse to understand how early poets sought to capture the sublime.
Concerning Cats: My Own and Some Others
Helen M. (Helen Maria) Winslow
This observational study of feline character and history celebrates the cat not as a submissive pet, but as an individual companion worthy of dignity, affection, and scholarly attention.
Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No 3, September 1863: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
This collection serves as a vibrant, immediate dispatch from the heat of the American Civil War, capturing the urgent political anxieties and literary ambitions of the Union in 1863.
Gleanings by the Way
John A. (John Alonzo) Clark
An observant clergyman travels across 1840s America, recording the quiet beauty of the frontier while fervently documenting the rise of new, controversial religious movements.
Many furrows
A. G. (Alfred George) Gardiner
The humble, observant essayist finds the extraordinary within the ordinary, transforming simple encounters and daily routines into profound reflections on human nature. These pages offer a quiet, contemplative retreat into a world of thoughtful inquiry.
The Celtic Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, December 1875: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to the Literature, History, Antiquities, Folk Lore, Traditions, and the Social and Material Interests of the Celt at Home and Abroad
Various
A vibrant, scholarly preservation of Highland heritage, this periodical serves as a bridge between the living traditions of the nineteenth-century Celt and the ancient, often misunderstood, roots of his ancestors.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 6, December 1863: Devoted to Literature and National Policy
Various
This collection captures the fervent spirit and anxious pulse of a nation mid-conflict, documenting a pivotal moment where political resolve, literary ambition, and daily survival collide on the American frontier.
The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad
Prophet Muhammad
This collection gathers the foundational oratory and private sayings of the Arab prophet, bridging the gap between historical figure and legendary icon through his own reported words. It serves as an accessible, non-academic introduction to the core tenets of a faith that changed the course of history.
A New Atmosphere
Gail Hamilton
A stifling moral climate stunts the growth of the individual, but a deliberate change in perspective can purify the air. By choosing self-culture over societal pressure, every person may claim the dignity of an authentic life.
Bunyan Characters (2nd Series)
Alexander Whyte
This examination of John Bunyan’s classic allegory serves as a series of devotional lectures, peering into the hidden lives and spiritual struggles of the travelers who populate the pages of The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Joyous Gard
Arthur Christopher Benson
The search for inner serenity is a deliberate act of construction, requiring one to build a private stronghold of the soul amidst the noise and drudgery of a busy life.
The Peak in Darien, With Some Other Inquiries Touching Concerns of the Soul and the Body: An Octave of Essays
Frances Power Cobbe
This collection of essays offers a measured, contemplative defense of spiritual hope against the rising tides of Victorian pessimism, materialism, and the scientific secularism of the late nineteenth century.
A Little Book for Christmas
Cyrus Townsend Brady
Christmas transcends race, creed, and circumstance, serving as a universal invitation to set aside life’s burdens and embrace the fundamental, transformative power of good will toward men. This collection of stories and meditations captures that enduring spirit through the eyes of those who seek to share it.
A Watcher in The Woods
Dallas Lore Sharp
A naturalist leads the reader into the quiet, often overlooked corners of the American countryside to observe the hidden lives of birds, rodents, and nocturnal creatures in their natural habitats.
Critiques and Addresses
Thomas Henry Huxley
The pursuit of truth requires both the rigour of a laboratory and the courage to challenge long-held dogmas, whether they reside in the halls of government or the deep strata of the earth.
Old Fashioned Flowers, and other out-of-door studies
Maurice Maeterlinck
To walk through a garden is to engage in a silent dialogue with the infinite, where every petal holds a secret about the nature of existence. This meditation invites readers to reconsider the profound relationship between human consciousness and the natural world.
Our Revolution: Essays on Working-Class and International Revolution, 1904-1917
Leon Trotsky
The Russian Revolution was not merely a local collapse of the Czarist state, but a fundamental collision between an emergent, disciplined proletariat and a crumbling, centuries-old autocratic order.
Speeches, Addresses, and Occasional Sermons, Volume 3 (of 3)
Theodore Parker
Public discourse serves as a moral compass in times of national crisis, where the demands of justice must outweigh the shifting loyalties of political parties. These collected sermons and addresses document a fierce, articulate struggle for the soul of mid-nineteenth-century America.
A Guide to Men: Being Encore Reflections of a Bachelor Girl
Helen Rowland
Marriage is a comedy of errors where men are reluctant participants and women are the architects of the ceremony, navigated with sharp wit and relentless, cynical observation.
In Times Like These
Nellie L. McClung
This is a spirited and sharp-witted manifesto for women’s equality, written at the height of the suffrage movement in Canada. It serves as a call to justice, demanding that society replace exclusionary chivalry with a fair deal for all human beings.
State of the Union Addresses
Jimmy Carter
The state of the union is a reflection of the nation’s soul, a document that charts a course through the turbulence of history toward a future defined by both strength and human rights.
The Colored Girl Beautiful
E. Azalia (Emma Azalia) Hackley
To shape a generation of noble, purposeful lives, one must cultivate the mind and spirit as diligently as one attends to the outward appearance.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 5, No. 4, April, 1864
Various
This collection captures the urgent, multifaceted pulse of American intellectual and political life during the height of the Civil War, weaving together scientific inquiry, social criticism, and the search for spiritual grounding.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
Various
Great Britain in 1843 stands at the summit of imperial power, a nation of both profound responsibility and restless internal critique. These collected pages offer a vital, unfiltered portrait of a society at a turning point.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 66, No 409, November 1849
Various
This nineteenth-century periodical offers a fascinating, unfiltered window into the Victorian mind, balancing urgent political debates on crime and empire against sophisticated, spirited literary criticism of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies.
Rambles in Germany and Italy in 1840, 1842, and 1843, vol. 1 of 2
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
An aging English writer retraces her youth across Europe, finding solace in mountain passes, lake waters, and the quiet dignity of a changing continent.
The Grey Brethren, and Other Fragments in Prose and Verse
Michael Fairless
A collection of quiet, observant fragments, this work illuminates the intersection of everyday suffering and the eternal, finding grace in both the humblest creatures and the mystery of the divine.
Female Suffrage: A Letter to the Christian Women of America
Susan Fenimore Cooper
A defense of traditional female roles argues that true social elevation stems from moral influence and Christian duty rather than the political ballot.
Magna Carta, and Other Addresses
William D. (William Dameron) Guthrie
A collection of legal, political, and commemorative addresses presents a vigorous defense of American constitutionalism, individual liberty, and judicial independence against the tide of early twentieth-century political reform.
Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII (of 8)
John Henry Newman
A soul called by God finds that true obedience requires no grand worldly spectacle, only the quiet, steady surrender of the human will.
The Law's Lumber Room (Second Series)
Francis Watt
A bloody, bizarre journey through obsolete legal practices, where the gallows ends every story and the mob takes the place of justice.
The uses of astronomy
Edward Everett
A collection of mid-nineteenth-century speeches and historical records captures a turning point in American science, celebrating how astronomical observation elevates human culture while quietly laying the foundation for modern navigation, commerce, and national expansion.
Those Other Animals
G. A. (George Alfred) Henty
A satirical re-examination of nature flips the human perspective on its head, arguing that humanity's favorite animals are often overrated parasites while its most despised pests are marvels of efficiency, character, and quiet industry.
Selected Speeches on British Foreign Policy 1738-1914
Unknown
Across nearly two centuries of parliamentary debate, British statesmen argue over the duties of an imperial power, balancing national interest against international law.
Slavery Ordained of God
F. A. (Frederick Augustus) Ross
A Southern minister builds an aggressive scriptural defense of American slavery, insisting God ordained human inequality to preserve social order and keep the Union intact.
The World's Great Sermons, Volume 09: Cuyler to Van Dyke
Unknown
A series of powerful voices wrestles with the weight of existence, offering a steady anchor for the human spirit across changing times.