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Essays, Letters & Speeches — page 39
1,906 public-domain essays, letters & speeches books, summarised. Page 39 of 40.
The World's Great Sermons, Volume 02: Hooker to South
Unknown
This collection gathers seminal discourses from influential preachers and theologians spanning the late sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries, capturing the rigorous intellectual and spiritual fervor of the era. It serves as a window into how the profound themes of faith, judgment, and human fallibility were…
A Letter to the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby: on the cruelty and injustice of opening the Crystal Palace on the Sabbath
Benjamin Parsons
The Victorian era’s moral anxieties regarding public recreation and the sanctity of the Sabbath reach a boiling point in this spirited, uncompromising polemic. It serves as a direct confrontation between the traditional religious establishment and the rising tide of commercial modernization.
Address delivered at the quarter-centennial celebration of the admission of Kansas as a state
John Alexander Martin
The story of a state is often a story of survival. This address traces the transformation of a territory once dismissed as a desert into a thriving, agricultural heartland.
The Disadvantages and Opportunities of the Colored Youth
Reverdy C. (Reverdy Cassius) Ransom
This collection of addresses serves as a clarion call for African American youth in the post-Reconstruction era, urging them to overcome systemic barriers through education, moral fortitude, and unwavering civic engagement. It functions as both a manifesto for self-improvement and a fierce defense of political rights.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 13, No. 368, May 2, 1829
Various
A window into early nineteenth-century British popular culture, this periodical issue captures the curiosities, architectural histories, news summaries, and poetic sentimentality that captivated reader imaginations in May 1829.
The Philistine
Various
A sharp-tongued, irreverent periodical, this collection serves as a lively snapshot of late nineteenth-century American literary culture, captured through the eyes of a self-styled band of nonconformists.
Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3), Essay 8: France in the Eighteenth Century
John Morley
The collapse of a nation is rarely the work of a single book or a rogue idea, but rather the final tremor in a long-shifting tectonic plate of social decay. Understanding that rupture requires looking beyond the page to the crumbling institutions that made a revolutionary spark so devastatingly effective.
Slavery: What it was, what it has done, what it intends to do: Speech of Hon. Cydnor B. Tompkins, of Ohio
Cydnor Bailey Tompkins
Confronting the aggressive expansion of the slave power, an Ohio congressman marshals the foundational ideals of the American Revolution to defend free soil.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 685: February 10, 1877
Various
This Victorian periodical offers a mosaic of mid-1870s life, blending quiet domestic fiction with sharp reportage on the shifting tides of the industrial world and the complexities of the British Empire. It is a time capsule of an era transitioning into modernity.
Nine O'Clock Talks
Frederic B. Kellogg
These reflections bridge the gap between ancient theological principles and the urgent, practical anxieties of a world emerging from global conflict. They serve as a guide for finding purpose amidst the disorientation of modern life.
Sphinx Vespiformis: An Essay
Edward Newman
The elusive Sphinx vespiformis serves as the unlikely anchor for a grand inquiry into the nature of order, proving that even the most mysterious specimen has a rightful place in the architecture of the living world.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 279, October 20, 1827
Various
This volume captures the intellectual pulse of 1827, blending romantic ruins, scientific discovery, and the bittersweet brevity of human life through a mosaic of essays, poems, and curious reports.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 286, December 8, 1827
Various
The printed word serves as a vessel for the curiosities of the nineteenth century, gathering history, natural science, and gothic storytelling into a single, modest weekly collection.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 374, February 26, 1887
Various
Step into a late-nineteenth-century weekly where household economy, natural history, music, and serial fiction meet to guide the Victorian girl.
Considerations on Religion and Public Education: With remarks on the speech of M. Dupont delivered in the National Convention of France, together with an address to the ladies, &c. of Great Britain and Ireland
Hannah More
An impassioned English moralist confronts the rising tide of revolutionary atheism, urging her countrymen to defend their spiritual heritage against the destructive illusions of radical politics.
Essays on horse subjects
F. C. (Frederick Clement) Grenside
Practical horsemanship relies as much on understanding the delicate anatomy of a horse's mouth and hoofs as it does on daily conditioning.
Our Sabbaths in Danger: A Sermon, deprecating the contemplated opening of the Crystal Palace on the Lord's-Day
Daniel Moore
The sacred quiet of the weekly day of rest faces a modern threat from the proposed Sunday opening of a grand exhibition, stirring urgent moral questions for the nation.
The Philistine
Various
Beneath the quiet surface of a nineteenth-century periodical, an eclectic chorus of essayists, poets, and satirists debates the burdens of labor, the myths of tradition, and the freedom of individual expression.
Brief Reflections relative to the Emigrant French Clergy
Fanny Burney
Driven from revolutionary France by their refusal to renounce their faith, thousands of destitute clergy find themselves cast onto British shores in desperate need of immediate sustenance.
Symptoms of being 35
Ring Lardner
Aging is no tragedy when greeted with a dry eye, a comfortable armchair, and an aversion to late-night parties.
Some Remains (hitherto unpublished) of Joseph Butler, LL.D
Joseph Butler
Private letters, rugged theological fragments, and quiet acts of architectural devotion reveal the deeply scrupulous mind of an eighteenth-century bishop wrestling with moral duty.
The Bible, King James version, Book 54: 1 Timothy
Anonymous
An apostolic letter written to guide a young leader in Ephesus, outlining church order, moral duty, and the defense of sound doctrine against false teachers.
Address by Honorable William C. Redfield, Secretary of Commerce at Conference of Regional Chairmen of the Highways Transport Committee Council of National Defense
United States. Council of National Defense. Highways Transport Committee
This address captures a pivotal moment in American infrastructure, arguing that the modern nation must integrate its waterways, railways, and highways into a single, seamless trinity to function efficiently.
Notes and Queries, Number 48, September 28, 1850
Various
Curious minds assemble across distance to dissect historical oddities, linguistic roots, and textual errors in an early Victorian miscellany.
Petunia again
S. Elizabeth (Sarah Elizabeth) Jackson
Life in a small South Australian township unfolds through quiet community rituals, humor, drought, and affectionate observations of everyday neighbors and pets.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 388, September 5, 1829
Various
Stepping into an 1829 weekly periodical reveals a fascinating mosaic of London landmarks, literary pilgrimages, natural history, and lost indigenous histories.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 14, No. 391, September 26, 1829
Various
This Victorian-era miscellany captures the restless curiosity of 1829, blending mechanical ingenuity, antiquarian wonder, and the polite social commentary of a rapidly industrializing England.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, No. 749, May 4, 1878
Various
Across essays on urban poverty, tales of frontier danger, and Victorian serialized drama, a nineteenth-century periodical captures the anxious pulse of its changing world.
The Believer Not Ashamed of the Gospel
Edward Hoare
Human beings routinely boast of wealth, ancestry, and intellect, yet they hesitate to display the far greater gift of divine grace working within their souls.
An Humble Address and Earnest Appeal to Those Respectable Personages in Great-Britain and Ireland, Who, by Their Great and Permanent Interest in Landed Property, Their Liberal Education, Elevated Rank, and Enlarged Views, Are the Ablest to Judge, and the Fittest to Decide, Whether a Connection with, Or a Separation from the Continental Colonies of America, Be Most for the National Advantage, and the Lasting Benefit of These Kingdoms
Josiah Tucker
A separation from the American colonies is not a loss, but an economic liberation and the only salvation for the British constitution.
A Letter to the Rev. C. N. Wodehouse, Canon of Norwich
Charles Green
This public response serves as a firm, principled defense of the Church of England’s existing standards, challenging the notion that mandatory adherence to religious doctrine is a moral failure or a dishonor to the clergy.
Quotations from the PG Collected Works of Gilbert Parker
Gilbert Parker
A tapestry of human frailty, frontier harshness, and quiet moral reckoning unfolds across a vast canvas of northern wilderness, colonial outposts, and restless hearts.
Chambers's Journal of Popular Literature, Science, and Art, Fifth Series, No. 15, Vol. I, April 12, 1884
Various
Hidden gems of natural beauty wait just outside the reach of London’s smoke. These observations anchor a wide-ranging collection of nineteenth-century wisdom, from the secrets of the hedgerow to the ethics of human labor.
The Fly Leaf, No. 3, Vol. 1, February 1896: A Pamphlet Periodical of the New—the New Man, New Woman, New Ideas, Whimsies and Things
Various
The February 1896 issue of this "pamphlet periodical" serves as a defiant, witty manifesto for the literary avant-garde, urging young American writers to abandon stale traditions in favor of bold, individual expression.
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.
The Slavery Question: Speech of Hon. John M. Landrum, of La., Delivered in the House of Representatives, April 27, 1860
John M. (John Morgan) Landrum
The encroaching shadows of the American Civil War find their voice here, as a representative from Louisiana pleads for the preservation of his state’s interests against a rising tide of sectional political antagonism.
The World English Bible (WEB): 2 Thessalonians
Anonymous
True faith survives the fires of persecution and the confusion of false teaching. This letter offers urgent counsel to a community struggling to reconcile their present suffering with their hope for a divine future.
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.
Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 92, August 2, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A scholarly community gathers here to archive the trivial and the profound, turning the act of inquiry into a collective, living record of human knowledge. It is a quiet, persistent pursuit of clarity in a world of fragmented information.
Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 94, August 16, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Various
A vibrant Victorian marketplace of erudition opens up when readers submit their strangest historical, literary, and genealogical puzzles for collective resolution.
The Coming Night: A Sermon Preached in Cromer Church, on Friday, June 12, 1857, on occasion of the death of Anna Gurney
Edward Hoare
This sermon serves as a meditative bridge between the sudden silence of a death and the urgent, active call of a Christian life. It transforms a local loss into a universal reflection on the stewardship of time.
Bilingualism: Address delivered before the Quebec Canadian Club: At Quebec, Tuesday, March 28th, 1916
N. A. (Napoléon-Antoine) Belcourt
The Canadian school crisis of 1916 finds a fierce, reasoned advocate in this address, which challenges the morality and legality of policies designed to silence a minority language.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction. Volume 10, No. 277, October 13, 1827
Various
The nineteenth-century appetite for curiosity finds its perfect home in these pages, offering a sprawling, eclectic snapshot of public knowledge, travel, and moral philosophy. It serves as a fascinating lens through which to view the intellectual preoccupations of 1827.
The Spirit Proper to the Times: A Sermon preached in King's Chapel, Boston, Sunday, May 12, 1861
James Walker
In a nation fractured by the early tremors of the Civil War, this sermon offers a stirring defense of public spirit, arguing that the true measure of a citizenry is its willingness to sacrifice for the common good.
A Discourse for the Time, delivered January 4, 1852 in the First Congregational Unitarian Church
William Henry Furness
A impassioned call to collective responsibility, this sermon argues that individual indifference is a dangerous illusion in a world where personal freedom is inextricably bound to the fate of others.
A Letter to Sir Richard Ford and the Other Police Magistrates: Upon the Prevalancy of Gaming, and the Infamous Practices of Common Informers
Holloway, Robert, active 1771-1808
A blistering open letter exposing how corrupt informants exploit anti-gambling laws to blackmail citizens, turning the machinery of justice into a tool for state-sanctioned extortion.
Out of Doors—California and Oregon
J. A. (Jackson Alpheus) Graves
HOOK This travelogue captures the vanishing wilderness of early twentieth-century California, inviting readers to trade the "follies of social conditions" for the dust, mountain air, and simple mechanical triumphs of the open road.
The Christian Foundation, Or, Scientific and Religious Journal, Volume 1, Index, 1880
Various
Scientific inquiry and religious faith are often presented as natural adversaries, but this 1880 journal asserts they are fundamentally compatible. By bridging the gap between Victorian-era scientific discourse and traditional Christian theology, the periodical seeks to defend the Bible against the rising tide of…