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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 32
1,728 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 32 of 36.
Essays Literary, Critical and Historical
Thomas O'Hagan
A defense of the Catholic tradition in history and literature, these essays challenge modern secular interpretations of the past and advocate for a more spiritually grounded approach to scholarship.
Lars Porsena
Robert Graves
This essay examines the cultural function and decline of profanity in early 20th-century England, arguing that swearing is a vital psychological release that loses its power when stripped of genuine religious or social taboo.
Sermons: Selected from the Papers of the Late Rev. Clement Bailhache
Clement Bailhache
A vibrant, compassionate heart animates this structured journey through evangelical Christian theology, proving that deep faith must express itself through everyday duty, genuine humility, and active love.
Studies and Essays: Concerning Letters
John Galsworthy
This collection explores the lonely, essential calling of the artist, arguing that true creation requires an unflinching, selfless commitment to portraying life as it is rather than as the public wishes it to be.
The cairn
Nicolas, Sarah Davison, Lady
A Victorian miscellany of reflection, history, and verse, this collection gathers the fragments of a life lived through both deep joy and abiding sorrow.
The first essay on the political rights of women
Condorcet, Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de
The fundamental right to self-governance belongs to every rational human being, and the exclusion of women from citizenship is a violation of natural law that defies logical defense.
Varia
Agnes Repplier
This collection of essays serves as a sharp, spirited defense of the reader’s right to find pleasure in literature without the interference of moralizing critics or self-important trends. It is a witty, erudite invitation to prioritize enjoyment over instruction.
Women Workers in Seven Professions: A Survey of Their Economic Conditions and Prospects
Unknown
A survey of the economic landscape for women in Edwardian Britain, this detailed study examines the obstacles, rewards, and systemic inequalities defining professional life for the educated woman at the dawn of the twentieth century.
His Majesties Declaration Defended
John Dryden
This polemical work serves as a sharp, unapologetic defense of Charles II, written to dismantle the arguments of a Whig opponent who challenged the King’s authority to dissolve Parliament. It functions as a masterclass in 17th-century political rhetoric, capturing the intense, high-stakes atmosphere of a nation…
Three Addresses to Girls at School
J. M. (James Maurice) Wilson
These three speeches capture a pivotal moment in Victorian education, offering a timeless meditation on the purpose of learning, the grace of simple pleasures, and the profound responsibility of an educated life.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 445: Volume 18, New Series, July 10, 1852
Various
A single weekly issue of a Victorian journal serves as a surprisingly rich window into 1852, connecting everyday economic waste with high-seas tragedy and literary salons.
Ebooks: Neither E, Nor Books: Paper for the O'Reilly Emerging Technologies Conference, 2004
Cory Doctorow
Electronic books are not a futuristic curiosity or a death knell for literature; they are a pervasive, misunderstood medium already woven into the fabric of our daily reading lives. This argument challenges the industry’s fear-based approach to digital text, suggesting that embracing open distribution, rather than…
Studies in Mediæval Life and Literature
Edward T. (Edward Tompkins) McLaughlin
Traversing forgotten landscapes of chivalric folly, rural brawls, and tragic scholastic passion, these essays reveal the human heart behind the distant veil of the Middle Ages.
The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 30, January 23, 1841
Various
This Victorian-era periodical captures the varied intellectual pulse of 1841 Ireland, blending historical inquiry, folklore, and moral observation. It offers a rare window into the curiosities and preoccupations of a nineteenth-century public.
The Philistine
Various
The Philistine is a defiant, whimsical, and sharply opinionated literary magazine from the late nineteenth century. It serves as a pugnacious manifesto for independent thought, rejecting the stuffy academic conventions of its era.
Book-Lovers, Bibliomaniacs and Book Clubs
Henry Howard Harper
Collecting fine books is a refined pursuit, yet it often descends into the absurdity of mania. This guide explores the delicate balance between genuine literary appreciation and the eccentric traps set for the unwary collector.
Letters from France
Isaac Alexander Mack
These dispatches from the front lines of the Great War capture the daily reality of a young officer, moving from the excitement of deployment to the gritty, repetitive exhaustion of trench warfare. They offer an unvarnished look at a soldier's life, ending abruptly with his final letter before the Somme.
Letters to Persons Who Are Engaged in Domestic Service
Catharine Esther Beecher
Navigating the unseen labor and quiet dignity of mid-nineteenth-century households, a compassionate guide reframes domestic service as an honorable calling rooted in Christian duty and mutual respect.
Levels of Living: Essays on Everyday Ideals
Henry Frederick Cope
Life is not a lonely conflict against hidden foes, but an invitation to cultivate serene character, find strength in everyday service, and awaken to the unseen spiritual realities surrounding us.
Speech of the Right Honourable William Pitt, in the House of Commons, Thursday, January 31, 1799: On offering to the House the resolutions which he proposed as the basis of an union between Great Britain and Ireland: Fifth Edition
William Pitt
In this formal legislative address, the British government makes its case for the political absorption of Ireland. The orator argues that a unified parliament is the only way to ensure imperial security against foreign enemies.
State of the Union Addresses
James Monroe
The early American republic stands confident and expanding, navigating delicate foreign treaties, public debt reduction, and the complexities of continental growth.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 481, March 19, 1831
Various
A quiet mirror to the nineteenth-century mind, this miscellany captures the literary curiosities, historical anecdotes, and moral reflections that instructed and amused readers in the spring of 1831.
Anti-slavery catechism
Lydia Maria Child
Through a rigorous dialogue of questions and answers, a nineteenth-century reformer exposes the daily realities of American slavery and challenges the moral complicity of the entire nation.
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.
The Conflict with Slavery: Part 1 from The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, Volume VII
John Greenleaf Whittier
An unyielding moral and political crusade demands the immediate abolition of human bondage, rejecting compromise and declaring that man can never hold property in man.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 269, August 18, 1827
Various
A fleeting window into early nineteenth-century British culture, this miscellany captures a world balancing classical architectural elegance with the oddities of everyday life.
Vignettes: A Miniature Journal of Whim and Sentiment
Hubert Crackanthorpe
A collection of essays and reflections on travel, art, and life in Europe.
A Seasonable Warning and Caution against the Insinuations of Papists and Jacobites in favour of the Pretender: Being a Letter from an Englishman at the Court of Hanover
Daniel Defoe
Standing at a dangerous crossroads after decades of costly war, a nation faces the ultimate betrayal: welcoming back the very tyranny it fought so hard to banish.
Address of President Roosevelt on the occasion of the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, Hodgenville, Ky., February 12, 1909
Theodore Roosevelt
This address honors the legacy of Abraham Lincoln, presenting him as a man of profound moral balance who navigated the fire of civil war with unwavering courage and a heart free from malice.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 433: Volume 17, New Series, April 17, 1852
Various
A diverse collection of mid-Victorian journalism, this volume captures the intellectual curiosity and moral earnestness of 1852 through a wide-ranging survey of the world’s curiosities and hardships.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 457: Volume 18, New Series, October 2, 1852
Various
This issue of a Victorian periodical functions as a nineteenth-century digest, blending intellectual inquiry, historical narrative, and moral reflection to satisfy the curiosity of an educated, inquisitive middle-class readership.
Five Sermons
Henry Benjamin Whipple
A steady voice of nineteen-century Anglican faith calls the American republic and the global church back to their founding principles. Through five historical addresses, an early Minnesota bishop frames Christian unity, historical remembrance, and social responsibility as urgent remedies for a changing world.
Letters to Children
E. C. (Elijah Coleman) Bridgman
These letters offer a rare, firsthand window into the social customs and religious life of 1830s China as observed through the eyes of a persistent missionary. They bridge two vastly different cultures with the intimacy of a personal narrative.
The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 4, October 1843
Various
This volume captures the mid-nineteenth-century American literary zeitgeist, blending travelogue, social commentary, and fiction into a singular, sprawling mosaic of the era’s intellectual life. It serves as a time capsule for those curious about the preoccupations, anxieties, and aesthetic tastes of 1843.
The Red Man's Rebuke
Simon Pokagon
HOOK This searing indictment of American expansionism serves as a profound, spiritual protest against the displacement of Indigenous peoples, written by a leader who bore witness to the total erasure of his ancestral lands.
Toronto by Gaslight: The Night Hawks of a Great City: As Seen by the Reporters of "The Toronto News"
Toronto News
Shadows of a sprawling city conceal the struggles of its most desperate residents, where the flicker of gaslight reveals a hidden world of thieves, outcasts, and the ruined.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents. Volume 8, part 1: James A. Garfield
Unknown
This volume preserves the official record of a pivotal transition in American leadership, documenting the high ideals of a brief presidency and the solemn national mourning that followed its abrupt end.
Address of President Coolidge before the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America: Washington, D. C., May 1, 1926
Calvin Coolidge
This address offers a window into the 1920s American psyche, where a sitting president champions the moral and civic necessity of organized youth programs to preserve the nation’s foundational character.
Address of President Roosevelt at the laying of the corner stone of the office building of the House of Representatives, Saturday, April 14, 1906
Theodore Roosevelt
The prosperity of a nation relies not on the sensationalism of its critics, but on the steady, sober application of justice to both the powerful and the common citizen.
Aesthetic Poetry
Walter Pater
This analysis explores a fleeting, spectral mode of artistic expression that seeks to transcend both history and reality, finding its voice in the uneasy tension between medieval mysticism and the clarity of the pagan past.
Anecdotes & Incidents of the Deaf and Dumb
W. R. (William Robert) Roe
Through a mosaic of real-world reports, news clippings, and moral vignettes, a century-old educator reveals how structured instruction transforms those isolated by total silence from misunderstood burdens into skilled, creative, and spiritually fulfilled members of society.
"Bear ye one another's burdens." A Plain Sermon on the Lancashire Distress
James Galloway Cowan
The Lancashire Cotton Famine of the 1860s brought unprecedented hardship to thousands of English factory workers. This urgent sermon serves as both a moral appeal and a practical guide for those tasked with alleviating that suffering.
The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 1, October 1922)
Various
This artifact of 1922 campus life offers an unfiltered glimpse into the intellectual anxieties and aesthetic ambitions of a generation defining itself against the fading shadows of the Victorian era.
An Essay on Papal Infallibility
John Sinclair
The quiet, earnest search for religious certainty often drives the anxious soul toward the promise of an infallible guide, yet that very search may be the beginning of a profound intellectual awakening.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 2 of 3), Essay 4: Joseph de Maistre
John Morley
This intellectual portrait explores the life and reactionary philosophy of Joseph de Maistre, a diplomat who sought to rebuild a shattered Europe through the restoration of absolute papal and monarchical authority.
Notes and Queries, Number 43, August 24, 1850
Various
This mid-nineteenth-century periodical functions as a bustling intellectual crossroads, where Victorian scholars and curious amateurs trade obscure facts, solve literary puzzles, and preserve disappearing fragments of folklore.
Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 109, November 29, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A nineteenth-century repository of curiosity, this periodical functions as a scholarly bridge, connecting researchers, antiquaries, and literary minds through the communal pursuit of obscure facts and historical inquiry.
Reflections on the Operation of the Present System of Education, 1853
C. C. (Christopher Columbus) Andrews
Education fails its highest purpose if it prioritizes the intellect over the character of the youth. A dedicated call for reform, the text argues that moral instruction is the essential, yet neglected, foundation of a free society.