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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 23
1,315 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 23 of 28.
Vignettes of San Francisco
Almira Morey
This collection of evocative prose sketches captures the spirit of a city caught between its frontier heritage and the dawn of the machine age. With a keen eye for the peculiar, the author maps the soul of San Francisco through its bustling markets, fog-drenched mornings, and the quiet dignity of its diverse…
Walking-Stick Papers
Robert Cortes Holliday
A wandering, inquisitive mind captures the small, overlooked curiosities of daily life in these lighthearted, observant essays. They transform the mundane—a walk down the street or a stroll past a shop window—into a deliberate, meditative art.
A First Year in Canterbury Settlement
Samuel Butler
A young man leaves the comforts of Victorian England to seek his fortune as a sheep farmer in the rugged, untamed wilderness of New Zealand.
A way of life
Osler, William, Sir
Living for the day alone, this quiet philosophy offers a practical framework for steadying the mind, silencing the ghosts of yesterday, and abandoning the paralyzing anxieties of tomorrow. It is a simple, enduring guide for navigating the inevitable stresses of a busy life.
Letters from England, 1846-1849
Elizabeth Davis Bancroft
The diplomat’s wife moves through the drawing rooms of Victorian London with a keen eye for the quiet, human details hidden beneath the rigid formalities of a world in flux.
Post-Impressions: An Irresponsible Chronicle
Simeon Strunsky
A sly, light-hearted collection of early twentieth-century sketches exposes the absurdities of modern urban life through sharp-witted commentary on popular culture, academia, and social reform.
Sermons on Evil-Speaking
Isaac Barrow
The tongue is a small instrument that wields the power to either build or destroy, requiring the constant, disciplined vigilance of a thoughtful mind to avoid the ruinous pitfalls of malice and profanity.
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1837
Various
This volume presents a curated miscellany of nineteenth-century intellectual life, offering readers a window into the varied tastes, literary preoccupations, and cultural anxieties of the 1830s through essays, travel sketches, and critical reviews.
Advice to young men and boys: A series of addresses delivered by B. B. Comegys to the pupils of Girard College
B. B. (Benjamin Bartis) Comegys
Character is not inherited, but forged through daily obedience to small duties, honest speech, and steady labor.
The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, June, 1880
Various
A vigorous nineteenth-century journal confronts the rising tides of secularism and dogmatic tradition, calling readers back to reason, evidence, and historical Christian faith.
A Candid Examination of Theism
George John Romanes
A rigorous, analytical mind dismantles every traditional argument for God's existence, tracing how modern scientific laws reduce the divine to a cold mechanical necessity.
Cambridge Pieces
Samuel Butler
Irreverent, sharp, and intensely observational, these early writings capture a brilliant young mind gleefully picking apart the absurdities of mid-Victorian university life, pious grandstanding, and the pompous art of writing itself.
Critical Remarks on Sir Charles Grandison, Clarissa, and Pamela (1754)
Unknown
A sharp mind pulls back the curtain on mid-eighteenth-century literary sensations, exposing the moral hypocrisies hiding behind popular prose.
In our first year of war
Woodrow Wilson
When a nation enters global conflict, its leader must forge a scattered population into a single, purposeful force while articulating a moral vision for a turbulent world.
Little Masterpieces of Science: Health and Healing
Unknown
Modern medicine transformed human existence not by vanquishing death, but by systematically dismantling the preventable terror and pain of living.
The Arena, Volume 4, No. 21, August, 1891
Various
A late-nineteenth-century reform periodical captures a nation wrestling with the human cost of rapid industrialization, state power, and the unfolding struggle for individual liberty.
The works of Richard Hurd, volume 2 (of 8)
Richard Hurd
A eighteenth-century critic untangles the principles of poetry, drama, and imitation, offering a lucid framework for why imaginative literature moves the human mind.
Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, June 1885
Various
A mosaic of nineteenth-century thought, this issue spans imperial clashes on the Afghan border, radical theories of land reform, the origins of biological form, and the grueling early days of George Sand.
Four Minute Essays, Volume X
Frank Crane
A spirit of indomitable endurance shines brightest not in times of quiet luxury, but when human lives are thoroughly broken and crushed.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 03, No. 18, April, 1859: A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics
Various
A perpetual tug-of-war between property and poverty shapes human history, leaving every generation to negotiate its own boundaries between wealth, civil order, and personal freedom.
The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. 10
Unknown
To build a new nation on paper requires far more than winning battles in the field; it demands the relentless, exhausting art of backroom diplomacy.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol 2 of 3), Essay 1: Vauvenargues
John Morley
A quiet, luminous life cuts through the harsh cynicism of eighteenth-century philosophy to restore faith in human nature.
Paradoxes of Catholicism
Robert Hugh Benson
The Catholic Church claims to be the divine presentment of Christ on earth, yet it operates through fallible human hands. This inherent dual nature produces a series of stark, unavoidable paradoxes that define its role in the world.
The Faith of the Millions (2nd series)
George Tyrrell
Hungry for certainty, human thought repeatedly swings between dry intellectual systems and vital spiritual experience. The essays collected here explore how ancient faith adapts to modern knowledge, arguing that religion thrives by answering the soul's deepest practical and emotional needs.
The Spell of the Rockies
Enos A. Mills
A firsthand journey through the rugged wilderness of the American West reveals a world of untamed beauty, where high alpine storms, vast forests, and quiet animal societies shape the grand landscape.
Theological Essays and Other Papers
Thomas De Quincey
A fierce intellect dissects 19th-century church schisms, ancient wardrobes, world-conquerors, and Alexander Pope's malicious satires with devastating precision.
Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 09 (of 20)
Charles Sumner
A lawmaker's moral clarity meets the constitutional friction of a nation at war with itself, revealing how legislative precision can be wielded as an instrument of human liberation.
Italian Backgrounds
Edith Wharton
A escape across snowy border passes reveals an Italy hidden behind popular tourist routes, where quiet hill-towns, neglected masterpieces, and forgotten centuries reward the patient traveler.
The Lights of the Church and the Light of Science: Essay #6 from "Science and Hebrew Tradition"
Thomas Henry Huxley
Science and religion clash over whether ancient Scriptural accounts of physical events can withstand the rigorous standards of modern historical and scientific criticism.
The scrap book, Volume 2, No. 2
Various
A single room holds George Washington’s advice, a New Zealand suffragist, a blind traveler in Siberia, and a mysterious immortal who haunts London drawing rooms.
In the Oregon Country: Out-Doors in Oregon, Washington, and California Together with some Legendary Lore, and Glimpses of the Modern West in the Making
George Palmer Putnam
This is an evocative, turn-of-the-century travelogue that captures the untamed spirit of the American West, blending rugged outdoor exploration with local legend and the rapid, often jarring transformation of the frontier.
Old Scores and New Readings: Discussions on Music & Certain Musicians
John F. Runciman
This collection of critical essays serves as a sharp, opinionated tour through the history of Western music, stripping away stale traditions to reveal the living pulse of genius.
Seeing Europe with Famous Authors, Volume 4: France and the Netherlands, Part 2
Unknown
Wandering through sunlit French vineyards and winding Dutch canals, a traveler observes the quiet rhythm of local life before the shadow of a grand medieval fortress alters the horizon.
The steps of life: further essays on happiness
Karl Hilty
To live well, one must learn to see the shifting landscape of human experience from the heights of a chastened will and a responsive, steady mind.
Inaugural Presidential Address, Official Transcript
Barack Obama
These dual addresses capture a pivotal moment in American history, framing the challenges of a modern nation through the lens of its enduring, if imperfect, founding ideals.
The Colour of Life
Alice Meynell
The true colour of life is found in the modest, secret blood—not the violent red of display, but the soft, pale hues that define our common existence. This collection of essays invites readers to look past the obvious and attend to the nuances of the world.
The Old Humanities and the New Science
Osler, William, Sir
A celebrated physician argues that the bridge between classical scholarship and modern science is the essential, often overlooked foundation for a truly liberal education.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 65, No. 402, April, 1849
Various
A sophisticated literary review from 1849, this collection offers a window into the intellectual climate of Victorian Britain through critical essays, scientific appreciation, and serialized fiction.
On reading in relation to literature
Lafcadio Hearn
True reading is not the passive consumption of words, but an active, disciplined exercise of the intellect that transforms the reader as much as it reveals the text. Mastering this art requires patience, discrimination, and the courage to engage only with the best.
The Balladists
John Geddie
The Scottish ballad is a voice without a name, a vessel of history and folklore that reveals the heart of a people through song. It survives as a testament to the enduring power of oral tradition.
The Little Review, January 1915 (Vol. 1, No. 10)
Various
This periodical serves as a vibrant, combative arena for early twentieth-century modernism, gathering poetry, social critique, and theatrical dialogue into a single, defiant manifesto for the avant-garde.
The Lyric: An Essay
John Drinkwater
This essay is a quiet, rigorous meditation on the nature of poetry, stripping away common misconceptions to reveal the "poetic energy" that drives the greatest literature. It is a thoughtful companion for any reader who wants to understand why certain verses strike the spirit with such lasting, inexplicable force.
A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part I. 1792: Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners
Charlotte Biggs
A sharp-eyed witness chronicles the crumbling of French society from 1792 to 1795, providing a harrowing, intimate look at the daily anxieties of living under the shadow of the guillotine.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 364, February 1846
Various
This collection offers a kaleidoscopic view of the mid-Victorian intellectual landscape, blending sharp political analysis, historical retrospection, and the serialized fiction that defined the era’s literary appetite.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 63, No. 392, June, 1848
Various
This collection offers a visceral window into the political anxieties and cultural preoccupations of the mid-nineteenth century, capturing a world in the throes of seismic change. It is a vital primary record of how a prominent British periodical viewed the volatile landscape of 1848, from the collapse of European…
Letters Concerning Poetical Translations: And Virgil's and Milton's Arts of Verse, &c
William Benson
An articulate defense of the English language’s inherent musicality, this work argues that the secret to great poetry lies not in mere meaning, but in the sophisticated architecture of sound and rhythm.
Reflections of a Bachelor Girl
Helen Rowland
The path to a man’s heart is a winding, treacherous road; fortunately, the guide to navigating it is as sharp as a tailor’s needle. This collection of cynical, witty observations serves as a satirical manual for surviving the skirmishes of courtship and the long, wearying stalemate of marriage.
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 06, No. 34, August, 1860: A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics
Various
This collection serves as a vibrant, multifaceted snapshot of the intellectual landscape on the eve of the American Civil War, blending literary criticism, scientific inquiry, and historical narrative.