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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 34
1,782 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 34 of 38.
The Hero in Man
George William Russell
The Hero in Man is a luminous mystical essay exploring how divine love and ancient heroism persist within human suffering, casting an equal radiance upon both the master and the outcast.
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.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 364, April 4, 1829
Various
A brass-bound horn filled with traditional ale, a poet's crumbling Gothic tomb, and the dramatic abdication of an emperor all share space in this miscellany.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 706: July 7, 1877
Various
This issue of a Victorian-era miscellany presents a diverse snapshot of nineteenth-century curiosity, weaving together industrial biography, sentimental fiction, historical inquiry, and technical reportage. It captures the intellectual appetite of a reading public eager for both practical knowledge and moral…
Discoveries and Inventions: A lecture by Abraham Lincoln delivered in 1860
Abraham Lincoln
Humanity’s relentless drive to improve its lot is a fundamental, unfolding story of intellectual triumph. This lecture explores the history of how we moved from a state of nature to a world of complex craftsmanship.
Letters on International Copyright
Henry Charles Carey
A vigorous defense of open knowledge, this work argues that international copyright serves only to consolidate wealth among a few powerful publishers while restricting the intellectual growth of the reading public.
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.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 385, August 15, 1829
Various
This collection of articles and anecdotes captures the wide-ranging curiosity of an early nineteenth-century audience, offering a curated snapshot of history, geography, and cultural trivia. It serves as a fascinating lens into the intellectual preoccupations of 1829.
The Relations of the Federal Government to Slavery: Delivered at Fort Wayne, Ind., October 30th 1860
Joseph K. (Joseph Ketchum) Edgerton
The survival of the American republic hinges on leaving local domestic choices to the people, rather than yielding to federal overreach or partisan zeal on the question of human bondage.
The Sea Fogs
Robert Louis Stevenson
This evocative account captures a writer’s intimate confrontation with the natural world, documenting how the shifting, encroaching California mist transforms a rugged landscape into an ethereal, silent ocean.
The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. I, No. 6, August 1836)
Various
This snapshot of nineteenth-century collegiate life captures the intellectual earnestness, romantic sensibilities, and spirited camaraderie of students testing their voices on the threshold of adulthood.
Socialism and the family
H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
Socialism stands as a blueprint for a reconstructed society, shifting the weight of child-rearing from the private, burdened family to the state. This vision seeks to replace chaotic individualist struggle with organized, purposeful order.
State of the Union Addresses
Franklin Pierce
These annual messages offer a rare, direct window into the mind of a president standing at the precipice of the American Civil War. They reveal how a leader interpreted the gathering storm of sectional conflict through the rigid, legalistic lens of the mid-19th century.
Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 13, July 17, 1858
Unknown
The fierce, self-mythologizing voice of a nineteenth-century New York provocateur echoes through this erratic, pugnacious, and singular relic of American political journalism.
Where the Sabots Clatter Again
Katherine Shortall
The earth of Northern France, once torn by the machinery of war, quietly reclaims its own as wildflowers surge through the trenches and the resilient rhythm of civilian life begins to pulse again.
A Woman and the War
Warwick, Frances Evelyn Maynard Greville, Countess of
This collection of essays offers a piercing, urgent look at the moral and social upheavals of World War I, written by a prominent voice who refuses to accept the state’s demand for uncritical patriotism.
Inaugural Presidential Address
Bill Clinton
This address marks a turning point in American history, calling a new generation to rise above political division and economic uncertainty. It invites the nation to reinvent itself through collective service and bold, persistent experimentation.
Notes and Queries, Number 82, May 24, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A mid-nineteenth-century repository of collective wisdom, this periodical invites readers to bridge the gaps in human knowledge through shared inquiry and meticulous documentation.
Remarks upon the First Report of the Royal Commission on Ritual in connection with the integrity of the Book of Common Prayer: A lecture delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Brighton Branch of the English Church Union, Nov. 27, 1867
Mayow Wynell Mayow
The Church of England stands at a crossroads, where the survival of its historic identity depends upon resisting the legislative dismantling of its foundational ritual law.
Some Essentials of Religion
Unknown
This collection serves as a foundational guide for the layperson, offering theological clarity on the core tenets of the Christian faith through the lens of early twentieth-century Anglican thought.
The Preface to Aristotle's Art of Poetry
André Dacier
This foundational text reclaims the rigid structural integrity of classical drama, arguing that the true purpose of tragedy is to refine human passions through reason and moral instruction. It serves as a vigorous defense of the ancient rules of poetry.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 23, Vol. I, June 7, 1884
Unknown
Step into a late-Victorian periodical where neighborhood gossips thrive, industrial experiments clash with stubborn unions, and a humble London clerk harbors a curious midnight secret.
Meditations and Moral Sketches
François Guizot
A century of intellectual and spiritual unrest finds its voice as a veteran statesman examines the fragile balance between human liberty and eternal faith.
The Altar of Freedom
Mary Roberts Rinehart
As the shadow of a great conflict falls across the nation, mothers stand ready to offer their sons to the service of a higher ideal.
The danger and immodesty of the present too general custom of unnecessarily employing men-midwives: Being the letters which lately appeared under the signature of a man-midwife. With an introduction, a treatise on the milk, and an appendix
Anonymous
A passionate argument against the use of male midwives, advocating for the safety and modesty of female midwives.
The Ultimate Criminal
Archibald Henry Grimké
America condemns a race for its crimes while systematically manufacturing the very conditions that breed them. Who bears the true guilt for the nation's cycle of violence and oppression?
Mornings in the College Chapel: Short Addresses to Young Men on Personal Religion
Francis Greenwood Peabody
A collection of brief chapel talks delivered to university students, this volume translates traditional spiritual principles into practical guides for personal integrity and daily academic life.
The Future of English Poetry
Edmund Gosse
Poetry will endure, yet future bards must navigate the exhaustion of simple language through increasing symbolic subtlety and isolation.
Brief for the higher education of the negro
Kelly Miller
True liberation requires more than the mastery of manual labor; it demands the cultivation of the mind and spirit to bridge centuries of development.
A Jolly by Josh
Unknown
An older uncle translates national ideals into a strict financial audit, deciding an eighteen-year-old nephew deserves a Colorado pony after all.
Doctors: An Address delivered to the Students of the Medical School of the Middlesex Hospital, 1st October, 1908
Rudyard Kipling
This address offers a poignant, bracing look at the medical profession, framing the doctor’s life as a perpetual, frontline battle against mortality. It captures the heavy expectations placed upon those who choose to heal.
Life Everlasting
John Fiske
This philosophical inquiry bridges the gap between Darwinian evolution and the human soul, arguing that our deepest hope for survival is a fundamental byproduct of our development as a species.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. XX. No. 1023, August 5, 1899
Various
A Victorian periodical offers a window into the intellectual and domestic lives of young women at the turn of the century, blending moral guidance, fiction, and practical advice. It serves as both a cultural artifact and a mirror of late nineteenth-century expectations.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 12, No. 349, Supplement to Volume 12
Various
Blending popular science, contemporary curiosity, and a rich biographical portrait of poet Thomas Moore, this periodical volume captures the literary vitality of late-1820s Britain.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 542, April 14, 1832
Various
A miscellany of nineteenth-century British curiosities gathers landscape reviews, African exploration, American social critiques, and rural superstitions into a single continuous stream. It captures an expanding world through the lens of a newly literate, deeply inquisitive public.
A line o' gowf or two
Bert Leston Taylor
The obsession of the links is captured here with the biting wit of a newspaperman who knows that, while golf is a game of skill, it is practiced primarily as a religion of frustration.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 8, Vol. I, February 23, 1884
Various
This Victorian periodical serves as a wide-ranging digest of late-nineteenth-century life, blending earnest public health advocacy with serialized fiction and reports on industrial innovation.
Civilization the Primal Need of the Race, and The Attitude of the American Mind Toward the Negro Intellect: The American Negro Academy. Occasional Paper No. 3
Alexander Crummell
True liberation requires more than manual training or material wealth; it demands the cultivation of the high intellect, scientific rigor, and artistic achievement through a dedicated leadership of scholars.
Memoranda Sacra
J. Rendel (James Rendel) Harris
True faith is not a static refuge, but a path of progressive enlargement where the soul expands to mirror the nature of its Creator.
Some Winter Days in Iowa
Frederick John Lazell
The quiet observation of the Iowa landscape during the final, frozen months of the year reveals a vibrant, living world beneath the snow. This meditation on winter’s stillness invites readers to look beyond the surface of the natural world to find profound, enduring beauty.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 365, April 11, 1829
Various
This collection of weekly dispatches preserves a vivid snapshot of 1829, blending architectural history, social commentary, and the whimsical obsessions of a public eager for knowledge and entertainment.
The Past and the Present Condition, and the Destiny, of the Colored Race:: A Discourse Delivered at the Fifteenth Anniversary of the Female Benevolent Society of Troy, N. Y., Feb. 14, 1848
Henry Highland Garnet
This discourse serves as a powerful testament to the resilience of the human spirit, weaving historical evidence and moral urgency into a vision of liberation for African Americans in the mid-19th century.
How Members of Congress Are Bribed
J. Hampton (Joseph Hampton) Moore
The corruption of public officials is not merely a matter of secret handshakes; it is an organized, business-like enterprise that treats the machinery of government as a commodity to be bought and sold. This account of Gilded Age political rot serves as a stark, evidence-based exposure of how private monopolies…
How Shakspere Came to Write the Tempest
Rudyard Kipling
The enchantment of the stage is often born not from high-flown inspiration, but from the gritty, prosaic observations of daily life. This investigation reveals how the most iconic works of literature emerge from the most unlikely and mundane origins.
Notes and Queries, Number 68, February 15, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A fascinating mosaic of nineteenth-century erudition unfolds through concise notes, queries, and replies, preserving the intellectual debates, folk traditions, and literary discoveries of the era.
Our Women in the War
Francis Warrington Dawson
The Southern women of the Civil War are remembered here as the enduring soul of a lost cause, whose quiet sacrifices in hearth and hospital sustained the Confederate soldier through four years of deprivation and ultimate defeat.
The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Volume 1, November 1864
Unknown
This collection of essays and documents offers a window into the intellectual and spiritual preoccupations of the mid-nineteenth-century Irish Catholic Church. It serves as both a historical record and a forum for theological discourse.
Trotwood's Monthly, Vol. I, No. 6. March, 1906
Various
This collection captures the fading echoes of a turn-of-the-century American South, blending agricultural ambition, equestrian lore, and the lingering, often heavy, weight of Civil War memory.