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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 31
1,728 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 31 of 36.
International Weekly Miscellany of Literature, Art and Science - Volume 1, No. 6, August 5, 1850
Various
A rich array of nineteenth-century thought unfolds across these pages, where literary criticism, biographical sketches, gothic romance, and reflective poetry converge to capture a world in rapid transition.
Joy and Power: Three Messages with One Meaning
Henry Van Dyke
Choosing the path of integrity and spiritual purpose over fleeting worldly ambition offers the only true foundation for happiness. These reflections urge a life of active, joyful devotion to the common good.
Letters written in France, to a friend in London, between the month of November 1794, and the month of May 1795
Watkin Tench
A captured British officer observes the daily life, political shifts, and naval realities of Revolutionary France from inside a prison ship.
Playwrights on playmaking
Brander Matthews
A play must win over its living audience, or it dies forever.
State of the Union Addresses
John Tyler
A nation's Chief Executive navigates volatile foreign disputes, severe domestic monetary panics, and territorial expansion while maintaining that constitutional limits and public credit form the true bedrock of American liberty.
The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 02, July 11, 1840
Various
Deep within the precipitous, green-sloped face of Kish-Corran, hidden doorways carved into tabular limestone lead to unfathomable subterranean depths.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 332, September 20, 1828
Various
A rustic home in Shottery stands untouched by modern hands, holding the simple furnishings that once framed the quiet romantic life of a world-renowned playwright.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 730: December 22, 1877
Various
Different minds hold radically opposing views on human life, turning even a joyful season like Christmas into either a painful battlefield of domestic vexations or a genuinely heartening celebration of goodwill.
Conflict of Northern and Southern Theories of Man and Society: Great Speech, Delivered in New York City
Henry Ward Beecher
Two conflicting worldviews are locked in a struggle over the true nature of humanity, determining whether society exists to foster individual spiritual potential or to maintain an oppressive, power-driven hierarchy.
England and the War
Raleigh, Walter Alexander, Sir
A wartime observer turns a scholar’s eye on the clash of national temperaments, measuring the strength of a nation not by its military machinery, but by the quiet endurance of its people.
The Bible, King James version, Book 50: Philippians
Anonymous
Written from a Roman prison cell, this brief letter turns confinement into an radiant manifesto on joy, humility, and unwavering spiritual resilience.
The Copyright Question: A Letter to the Toronto Board of Trade
George N. (George Nathaniel) Morang
This sharp, polemical open letter defends the integrity of international copyright, urging Canadian commerce to reject restrictive, isolationist policies that threaten the rights of authors and the standing of the nation’s publishing industry.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX, No. 1017, June 24, 1899
Various
A serene look into the habits and concerns of Victorian girlhood, this periodical offers a window into an era where nature, etiquette, and education were woven into the daily life of young women.
What Peace Means
Henry Van Dyke
Finding lasting tranquility in a world defined by conflict requires turning inward to faith and outward to the rigorous demands of justice.
A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part IV., 1795: Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners
Charlotte Biggs
An Englishwoman documents the fraying edges of the French Revolution, capturing the chilling instability and pervasive dread that defined the final days of the Reign of Terror and the uncertainty that followed.
A Short Essay Toward the Improvement of Psalmody
Isaac Watts
The act of singing in worship should be an expression of the heart, yet it is often stifled by the rigid insistence on singing ancient texts that no longer reflect the speaker's own faith.
Hypatia
Dora Russell
This polemic functions as a sharp, unapologetic manifesto for the modern woman, arguing that the true path to equality lies not in imitating men, but in reclaiming bodily autonomy and embracing the scientific realities of sex and motherhood. It remains a vital document for its fierce rejection of Victorian…
Notes and Queries, Number 24, April 13, 1850
Various
This mid-nineteenth-century repository of historical inquiry and literary debate serves as a collaborative archive for curious minds, bridging the gap between scholarly research and the shared knowledge of the reading public.
Parish Papers
Norman Macleod
A collection of thoughtful, earnest sermons and reflections, these writings bridge the gap between rigorous theological inquiry and the personal, everyday anxieties of the Victorian soul. They offer a quiet, steadfast guide for anyone grappling with the complexities of faith in a changing world.
The Morning of Spiritual Youth Improved, in the Prospect of Old Age and Its Infirmities: Being a Literal and Spiritual Paraphrase on the Twelfth Chapter of Ecclesiastes. In a Series of Letters
J. (John) Church
This is a series of pastoral letters examining the spiritual significance of the aging process through a detailed, verse-by-verse meditation on the final, allegorical chapter of Ecclesiastes.
A Book Without a Title
George Jean Nathan
A sharp edge cuts through human pretension in seventy-four brief fables, exposing the illusions people hold about love, art, fame, and vanity.
A rough sketch of modern Paris
J. G. (John Gustavus) Lemaistre
A curious English traveler captures the fragile, restless atmosphere of Paris during the brief, uneasy peace of 1801.
"Colony,"--or "Free State"? "Dependence,"--or "Just Connection"? "Empire,"--or "Union"?
Alpheus Henry Snow
This investigation provides a rigorous philosophical framework for the American government to interact with its newly acquired overseas territories, aiming to avoid the pitfalls of traditional imperialism.
Is the Morality of Jesus Sound?: A Lecture Delivered Before the Independent Religious Society
M. M. (Mangasar Mugurditch) Mangasarian
Is the moral teaching of Jesus sound? By examining the historical, social, and psychological foundations of the Gospel narratives, this analytical lecture argues that Christianity is a system of profound, systemic instability.
Letter from Monsieur de Cros: (who was an embassador at the Treaty of Nimeguen and a resident at England in K. Charles the Second's reign) to the Lord ----
Du Cros, Simon, active 17th century
This blistering 1693 rebuttal exposes the inner workings of European diplomacy, stripping away the self-serving veneer of a famous statesman’s memoirs to reveal the chaotic reality of seventeenth-century power.
Lippincott's Magazine, September, 1885
Various
Lippincott’s Magazine offers a vibrant, eclectic window into the intellectual and social preoccupations of 1885, blending travelogue, social critique, and domestic narrative. It captures the distinct, often rigid, cultural sensibilities of the late nineteenth century.
Men in the Making
Ambrose Shepherd
The choice between passive drift and deliberate integrity determines the shape of a man's future.
Some Causes of the Prevailing Discontent
Charles Dudley Warner
A society that measures its success entirely by material accumulation creates the very unrest it fears, driving rich and poor alike to chase physical indulgence over the deeper cultivations of the human mind.
State of the Union Addresses
James Madison
These addresses chart the precarious evolution of a young republic, documenting the transition from fragile neutrality to the crucible of the War of 1812 and the subsequent pursuit of national stability.
"A Most Unholy Trade," Being Letters on the Drama by Henry James
Henry James
This collection of private correspondence offers an intimate, sharp-witted window into the mind of a master novelist grappling with the unforgiving mechanics of the professional stage.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 434: Volume 17, New Series, April 24, 1852
Various
This mid-nineteenth-century miscellany offers a panoramic window into the Victorian mind, blending biting social satire with earnest scientific inquiry and the quiet, melancholic reflections of a rapidly industrializing age.
Correspondence, between the late Commodore Stephen Decatur and Commodore James Barron, which led to the unfortunate meeting of the twenty-second of March
Stephen Decatur
A bitter war of words between two high-ranking naval officers spirals into a lethal confrontation, revealing how pride and perceived slights can dismantle the lives of men who once served the same flag.
Letters on an Elk Hunt
Elinore Pruitt Stewart
In this epistolary chronicle of a Wyoming elk hunt, a woman homesteader traverses the frontier, encountering the rugged, poignant, and often difficult lives of those who share the vast, unforgiving landscape.
Some War Impressions
Jeffery Farnol
The struggle of a civilization in total war reveals the quiet, iron-willed resolve of those left behind and the grim endurance of those at the front. This chronicle captures the heartbeat of a nation mobilized for survival.
Tantalus
F. C. S. (Ferdinand Canning Scott) Schiller
HOOK Humanity stands at a crossroads, possessing the dangerous knowledge of gods but trapped by the biological and social instincts of primitive savages.
Address of President Roosevelt on the Occasion of the Laying of the Corner Stone of the Pilgrim Memorial Monument, Provincetown, Massachusetts, August 20, 1907
Theodore Roosevelt
Standing at the site where history began for many, a leader challenges a modern nation to balance its hard-won comforts with the unyielding, disciplined sense of duty that defined its earliest settlers.
Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of John Fiske
John Fiske
These volumes represent the collected intellectual output of a nineteenth-century polymath whose interests spanned the evolution of the human spirit, the origins of folklore, and the messy, vital growth of the American colonies.
The Editor's Relations with the Young Contributor (from Literature and Life)
William Dean Howells
The relationship between those who write and those who publish is often imagined as a battlefield, but it is more accurately a quiet, often difficult, partnership of shared artistic devotion.
Willis's Current Notes, No. 14, February 1852
Unknown
This collection of Victorian correspondence acts as a lively, fragmented window into the intellectual preoccupations of 1852, documenting a world where scholarship, antiquarianism, and folklore collide in the pages of a small monthly periodical.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 4, part 1: William Henry Harrison
Unknown
This archival record captures the abrupt transition of power following the sudden death of a President, illuminating the early constitutional uncertainties of the American Republic.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 425: Volume 17, New Series, February 21, 1852
Various
This collection offers a panoramic view of the Victorian world, blending travelogue, industrial history, geopolitical critique, and scientific inquiry into a single, vibrant record of mid-nineteenth-century life.
State of the Union Addresses
Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel) Harding
An executive outlines a plan to stabilize a nation emerging from world war, balancing industrial expansion at home with moral duties abroad.
The Children
Alice Meynell
The child is a traveler through a world of its own, an "uncovenanted" being whose joys and sorrows exist in a climate entirely separate from the hurried, rationalized life of the adult.
The Ingenious and Diverting Letters of the Lady ---- Travels into Spain: Describing the Devotions, Nunneries, Humours, Customs, Laws, Militia, Trade, Diet and Recreations of That People
Madame d' (Marie-Catherine) Aulnoy
Through a winter landscape of snowy mountain passes and rugged roads, a sharp-witted French noblewoman travels south toward Madrid, recording every custom, scandal, and striking personality she encounters along the way.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 479, March 5, 1831
Various
This collection offers a vibrant, eclectic mosaic of early nineteenth-century life, blending historical antiquarianism, scientific inquiry, and emotive verse into a singular weekly digest.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 480, March 12, 1831
Various
A nineteen-century London periodical captures the world through an eclectic mix of colonial reports, literary essays, biographical sketches, and playful social commentary.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 701: June 2, 1877
Various
A gentleman rides a white pony down a quiet Scottish road, oblivious to the fact that his leisurely journey belongs to a world already vanishing into history.
Commercialism and Journalism
Hamilton Holt
Modern journalism stands at a precarious crossroads, torn between its noble calling as the guardian of public opinion and the heavy, commercial demands of advertising revenue.