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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 21
1,469 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 21 of 31.
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.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 439: Volume 17, New Series, May 29, 1852
Various
This mid-19th-century periodical invites readers into a diverse world of Victorian intellectual curiosity, blending rigorous moral instruction with lighthearted anecdotes and global scientific observation. It captures a moment of rapid transition, where steam-navigation, colonial expansion, and industrial progress…
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 450: Volume 18, New Series, August 14, 1852
Various
A wide-reaching Victorian miscellany, this periodical blends practical social philosophy, scientific inquiry, and human-interest storytelling to educate and entertain a mid-nineteenth-century public.
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.
Why we are at war
Woodrow Wilson
A nation shifts from reluctant neutrality to total war, tracing the solemn intellectual and political journey of a president forced to abandon his hopes for international arbitration.
An Address to Men of Science: Calling Upon Them to Stand Forward and Vindicate the Truth
Richard Carlile
A call to arms for scientists to challenge superstition and religious dogma, advocating for a rational and enlightened society.
An Essay towards Fixing the True Standards of Wit, Humour, Railery, Satire, and Ridicule (1744)
Corbyn Morris
A rigorous mid-eighteenth-century attempt to categorize the mechanics of comedy shows how distinct rhetorical devices shape human laughter and literary craft.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3), Essay 1: On Popular Culture
John Morley
Cultivating the human intellect requires a disciplined commitment to sound reasoning, historical perspective, and accessible learning for all.
From a Girl's Point of View
Lilian Bell
A sharp, humorous broadside against male ignorance and social hypocrisy, this 1890s feminist essay collection anatomizes the absurdities of romantic courtship and the quiet genius of the modern woman.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 13, No. 79, May, 1864: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
This May 1864 issue of the premier American monthly offers a vivid snapshot of mid-nineteenth-century intellectual life, moving seamlessly between Arctic travel, Civil War history, agrarian philosophy, and cutting-edge industrial technology.
Woman in the golden ages
Amelia Gere Mason
For centuries, male historians ignored the inner lives of women or reduced them to footnotes, yet women repeatedly shaped the intellectual and moral heights of human civilization.
A Ride on Horseback to Florence Through France and Switzerland. Vol. 2 of 2: Described in a Series of Letters by a Lady
Augusta Macgregor Holmes
Crossing steep Alpine ledges and flooded Italian riverbeds on horseback, an intrepid 19th-century Englishwoman transforms a challenging Continental trek into a rich, detailed study of European landscapes, local cultures, and mountain travel.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 363, January, 1846
Various
A broad, combative panorama of mid-nineteenth-century British intellectual life, where Tory politics, dramatic history, legal biography, and military adventures collide across a single issue.
Companionable Books
Henry Van Dyke
Reading is more than passive leisure; at its best, it becomes a living dialogue where the author’s spirit speaks directly to your own.
Memories of Canada and Scotland
Argyll, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Duke of
A collection of formal addresses, celebratory verse, and ancient Gaelic lore bridges the Old World and the New through the vision of a nineteenth-century statesman.
'Of Genius', in The Occasional Paper, and Preface to The Creation
Aaron Hill
In born aptitude and careful study must align to achieve true creative brilliance, standardizing artistic rules only suffocates the imagination, and poetic imagery demands vital, unadorned strength to touch the human heart.
The letters of Richard Ford, 1797-1858
Richard Ford
An observant heart, a lively pen, and a taste for local truths combine to yield an unusually vivid mirror of nineteenth-century Europe.
The Life of the Fields
Richard Jefferies
Looking beyond the hedge, a keen observer discovers that the quietest corner of the countryside holds a constant, quiet drama of growth, predation, and human labor.
Essays on Darwinism
Thomas Roscoe Rede Stebbing
Nature reveals its deepest secrets not to those who demand instant certainty, but to those willing to trace the quiet, steady work of time across mountain ranges, animal instincts, and the unhurried fossil records of the earth.
In a Green Shade: A Country Commentary
Maurice Hewlett
A retired man of letters sits in his Wiltshire garden, reflecting on the altered world after the First World War.
Post-Prandial Philosophy
Grant Allen
Civilisation relies entirely on the practical arts, yet society's rules are routinely set by men who merely hunt and fight.
The Comforts of Home
Ralph Bergengren
Domestic absurdities become quiet comedy when a writer turns his eye upon cellar stairs, stubborn bureaus, and the unfeeling monster lurking in the furnace room.
The Inner Life: Part 3 from The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume VII
John Greenleaf Whittier
To pierce the veil of existence, one must look past the terrifying illusions of human sin and recognize the quiet, enduring light that dwells within every soul.
Gleanings from Maeterlinck
Maurice Maeterlinck
In a world defined by the shadow of mortality, these essays offer a quiet, reasoned defense of life, urging us to greet the end not with terror, but with a steady, tranquil understanding.
Handbook of Home Rule: Being Articles on the Irish Question
Unknown
A collection of political essays from the late nineteenth century, this volume gathers intellectual arguments in favor of granting Ireland self-governance. It serves as a window into a pivotal moment of constitutional debate.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 12, No. 29, August, 1873
Various
This August 1873 issue of a prominent literary periodical offers a multifaceted time capsule, blending serialized fiction, travelogues, and cultural commentary for the Victorian reader. It functions as a mirror of its era’s intellectual and social preoccupations.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 15, No. 85, January, 1875
Various
This diverse collection captures the mid-Victorian intellectual spirit, blending travelogues, romantic fiction, and scientific curiosity into a vibrant mosaic of nineteenth-century life and thought.
Lost Leaders
Andrew Lang
This collection of essays serves as a gentle, erudite bridge to the nineteenth-century mind, capturing the fleeting pleasures of a world that valued leisure, literature, and the quiet observation of human habits. It invites the reader to step out of the rush of modern life and into the steady, observant gaze of a…
State of the Union Addresses
Benjamin Harrison
These annual reports serve as a direct window into the administrative ambitions and national anxieties of the United States during the final years of the nineteenth century.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 37, November, 1860: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
A vibrant, panoramic snapshot of mid-nineteenth-century intellectual life, capturing the era’s literary ambitions, social tensions, and the restless, inquisitive spirit of the American mind on the brink of profound change.