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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 35
1,782 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 35 of 38.

Trotwood's Monthly, Vol. II, No. 3, June, 1906
Various
This periodical captures the spirit of the early twentieth-century American South, blending historical reflection, agricultural pride, and regional storytelling into a singular, voice-driven portrait of a changing landscape.

Avril: Being Essays on the Poetry of the French Renaissance
Hilaire Belloc
These essays recover the lost vitality of the French Renaissance, tracing a vibrant lineage of poets from the medieval shadows of the fifteenth century to the rigid, polished brilliance of the classical era.

Notes and Queries, Number 73, March 22, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A weekly Victorian journal transforms minor curiosities into serious debate, weaving Shakespearean textual analysis, folklore, and antiquarian preservation into a lively exchange of ideas.

The Court of the King, and Other Studies
Margaret Benson
An exploration of the threshold between the tangible world and the hidden, luminous realms of spirit, this collection finds deep meaning in the quiet corners of Egypt and the landscape of the human soul.

Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 38, Vol. I, September 20, 1884
Various
This collection of essays and narratives offers a vivid, multifaceted portrait of Victorian life, ranging from the triumphs of medical science to the curiosities of traditional English fairs. It captures the intellectual curiosity and shifting social landscape of late nineteenth-century Britain.

Lord Roberts' Message to the Nation
Roberts, Frederick Sleigh Roberts, Earl
A decorated military leader issues a desperate call to his countrymen, arguing that voluntary service is a dangerous fantasy in an era of encroaching global war.

Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 732: January 5, 1878
Various
This Victorian miscellany offers a sweeping view of nineteenth-century life, blending serialized fiction with essays on natural history, sport, and contemporary global affairs. It captures the curiosity and moral earnestness of a period defined by rapid change and expanding horizons.

On Singing and Music
Society of Friends
True worship, according to the Quaker tradition, requires absolute stillness of the heart and mind. This text explores the spiritual dangers of relying on external performances, such as music or song, to reach the Divine.

The Philistine
Various
A rebellious little periodical of the late nineteenth century takes sharp, witty aim at pretentious literature, contemporary criticism, and the absurdities of modern society.

Wise or Otherwise
Lydia Leavitt
A collection of aphorisms and moral fables, this volume traverses the landscape of Victorian social critique, offering sharp, cynical, and occasionally tender observations on the human condition. It serves as an artifact of late-19th-century thought.

Discourses on Various Subjects, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Jacob Duché
An eighteenth-century Philadelphia pulpit echoes with a single demand: strip away hollow religious forms, meet the living Christ within, and turn every earthly trial into spiritual sovereignty.

Life's Enthusiasms
David Starr Jordan
A vital life requires storing up pure passions early, before time and cynicism wear them away.

Stephen H. Branch's Alligator, Vol. 1 no. 20, September 4, 1858
Unknown
Imprisoned for the crime of speaking truth to power, a defiant editor issues a fierce weekly sheet from the heart of nineteenth-century New York.

The Pilgrim, and the American of Today—(1892)
Charles Dudley Warner
Across a vast and prosperous continent, a nation risks trading its moral soul for mere material splendor unless its citizens reclaim their civic duty.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 471, January 15, 1831
Various
This collection offers a vibrant, eclectic window into the intellectual and cultural landscape of early nineteenth-century Britain, blending historical analysis with whimsical observations and scientific curiosities.

Albyn
Hugh MacDiarmid
This bracing manifesto envisions a radical cultural and political awakening for Scotland, demanding a return to ancient intellectual traditions to secure a sovereign future. It rejects the passivity of modern assimilation in favor of a bold, nationalist resurgence.

Counter-currents
Agnes Repplier
The American spirit is currently drifting, seduced by a shallow sentimentality that mistakes passivity for peace and indulgence for progress. This collection of essays interrogates the erosion of national character at the brink of global upheaval.

Divine Mercy
George Bryan
A working-class perspective on the necessity of the Sabbath, this earnest Victorian essay argues that a day of rest is essential to the physical, social, and spiritual well-being of the laboring population.

Notes and Queries, Number 188, June 4, 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This Victorian periodical serves as a sprawling, collaborative clearinghouse for historical, linguistic, and literary trivia. It invites educated readers to trade specialized knowledge, turning intellectual curiosity into a communal, ongoing research project.

Notes and Queries, Number 79, May 3, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This mid-Victorian periodical serves as a collaborative clearinghouse for historical, linguistic, and antiquarian research. It captures the intellectual curiosity of its era by inviting readers to trade specialized knowledge through open inquiry and communal discourse.

Sermons at Rugby
John Percival
The moral life is a delicate, deliberate act of cultivation, demanding that we nurture the seeds of integrity within ourselves before they are choked by the apathy or the fashions of the world.

Trotwood's Monthly, Vol. I, No. 3, December 1905
Various
This collection of writing captures the specific pulse of the American South in 1905, blending instructional agricultural advice, local lore, and romanticized regional identity. It serves as both a practical manual and a cultural snapshot of a society transitioning into the new century.

A Lecture on Physical Development, and its Relations to Mental and Spiritual Development, delivered before the American Institute of Instruction, at their Twenty-Ninth Annual Meeting, in Norwich, Conn., August 20, 1858
S. R. (Samuel Robert) Calthrop
A passionate nineteenth-century plea for physical culture, this lecture argues that true intellectual and spiritual greatness requires a healthy, vigorous body.

Address to the First Graduating Class of Rutgers Female College
Henry M. (Henry Miller) Pierce
This document captures a pivotal moment in the history of American education, articulating the Victorian-era arguments for the intellectual equality of women. It serves as a rare primary record of the intellectual aspirations held for women in the mid-19th century.

Autographs for Freedom, by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Thirty-five Other Eminent Writers
Unknown
Names are but breath; deeds, deeds alone are things. This collection serves as a vibrant, urgent testament to the human struggle for emancipation in a fractured nation.

Letters and discussions on the formation of Colored regiments and the duty of the Colored people in regard to the Great Slaveholders' Rebellion, in the United States of America
Alfred M. Green
This collection of letters and public addresses captures a vital, urgent debate among Black Americans in 1861 regarding their role in the Civil War. It stands as a primary record of the intellectual struggle to define freedom and citizenship during the nation's darkest hour.

Notes and Queries, No. 209, October 29 1853: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
This mid-Victorian periodical serves as a sprawling, decentralized clearinghouse for the collective curiosities of nineteenth-century scholars, antiquarians, and lay researchers. It functions as a printed forum where historical, linguistic, and scientific enigmas are presented for communal resolution.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 359, March 7, 1829
Various
A vibrant, eclectic collection of Victorian-era miscellany, this volume offers a window into the intellectual appetites of 1829, balancing technical instruction with whimsical storytelling and social observation.

A Letter to the Bishop of Exeter
Alderson, Edward Hall, Sir
A legal mind dissects a volatile church trial, arguing that a flawed judicial ruling need not threaten the theological integrity of the institution it purportedly regulates.

Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 443: Volume 17, New Series, June 26, 1852
Various
This mid-nineteenth-century periodical serves as a vital bridge between the rigid intellectualism of the past and the rapid, industrializing pulse of the Victorian age. It offers a singular window into how a society balanced the preservation of high-minded poetry with the relentless march of technological and…

Interludes: being Two Essays, a Story, and Some Verses
Horace Smith
The thoughtful observations and gentle fiction of a Victorian observer remind us that the art of judging is a difficult, essential, and often deeply human endeavor.

Speeches of His Majesty Kamehameha IV. To the Hawaiian Legislature
King of the Hawaiian Islands Kamehameha IV
The crown of Hawaii stands at a precarious crossroads, balancing between ancestral tradition and the overwhelming influence of foreign powers. These formal addresses reveal a monarch navigating the fragile survival of his people.

State of the Union Addresses
Millard Fillmore
This collection of annual messages provides a direct window into the mid-nineteenth-century American executive branch, chronicling the administrative priorities and diplomatic anxieties of a nation rapidly expanding across a continent.

The Cornhill Magazine (Vol. XLI, No. 241 new series, July 1916)
Various
This mid-war literary journal captures the vanished atmosphere of 1916, blending fictional serials, historical sketches, and eyewitness accounts of a world in the throes of radical upheaval.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 537, March 10, 1832
Various
This miscellany captures the restless curiosity and burgeoning Victorian spirit of early nineteenth-century England, serving as a gateway to the diverse intellectual landscape of 1832. It offers a unique window into a world balancing scientific discovery, social agitation, and romantic literary sentiment.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 19, No. 546, May 12, 1832
Various
This collection offers a panoramic window into the early nineteenth-century British mind, blending local history, social critique, and the curious debris of the everyday. It is a time capsule of intellectual curiosity and cultural manners.

The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 9, June 1923)
Various
This snapshot of 1923 campus life captures the earnest, often turbulent transition from undergraduate idealism to the looming realities of the wider world. It serves as a time capsule for a specific era of collegiate ambition.

Decadence: Henry Sidgwick memorial lecture, 1908
Arthur James Balfour
Progress is often taken for granted, but civilizations may harbor an inherent, inevitable tendency toward decay. This lecture explores why great societies decline and whether modern humanity can truly avoid that ancient, shadowy fate.

Speech of John Hossack, Convicted of a Violation of the Fugitive Slave Law: Before Judge Drummond, Of The United States District Court, Chicago, Ill
John Hossack
This impassioned courtroom address captures the defiant stance of an immigrant farmer who risked his life and livelihood to uphold the dictates of his conscience against the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

The Philistine
Various
This is a spirited collection of protest and wit, capturing the restless, self-conscious energy of American literary life at the end of the nineteenth century. It serves as a defiant manifesto for the independent mind.

Trotwood's Monthly, Vol. I, No. 1, October 1905
Various
This inaugural issue of a turn-of-the-century Southern magazine serves as a vibrant, multifaceted portrait of rural life, blending practical agricultural science with horse-racing lore and deeply sentimental literary expression.

Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, fifth series, no. 118, vol. III, April 3, 1886
Various
This issue of a Victorian-era miscellany captures the breadth of nineteenth-century curiosity, blending social commentary, colonial drama, and technical instruction into a single, cohesive window onto the past.

Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, fifth series, no. 151, vol. III, November 20, 1886
Various
This collection of Victorian-era periodical writing offers an eclectic window into the nineteenth-century mind, blending sober scientific inquiry, light-hearted anecdotal fiction, and the earnest moralizing of a rapidly industrializing society.

The Fly Leaf, No. 4, Vol. 1, March 1896
Various
This periodical serves as a spirited, idiosyncratic manifesto for the independent literary mind, championing high ideals against the encroaching commercialism of the late nineteenth century. It is a defiant, intimate call to arms for readers who reject the "muck-heaps" of popular fiction in favor of wit, honesty,…

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 17, No. 485, April 16, 1831
Various
This collection serves as a Victorian-era scrapbook, offering a curious, eclectic mixture of geographical reports, historical inquiries, and lighthearted anecdotes designed to amuse and inform the inquisitive reader of 1831.

The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 20, No. 564, September 1, 1832
Various
A lively panoramic window into 1832, this periodical issue captures a society balancing architectural pride, scientific curiosity, and the cultural shifts of early industrial Britain.

The Real Question as to Altar Lights: Christ's Body Present by Consecration, and Offered in the Sacrament of the Altar: A Letter to the Rev. John W.H. Molyneux
Edward James Phipps
This urgent appeal argues that the physical symbols and rituals of the Church of England are essential vessels for profound, immutable theological truths. It serves as both a legal defense of traditional practice and a manifesto for reclaiming sacramental reverence.

The Unity of the Church Essential to the Conversion of the World: A Sermon, Preached Before the Directors and Friends of the London Missionary Society, During Their Anniversary in May, 1846, in the Church of St. Mary, Spital Square, London
James Henry Alexander Gwyther
A plea for Christian unity as the indispensable catalyst for global transformation, delivered as a stirring call to action before a nineteenth-century missionary assembly.