Choice Specimens of American Literature, And Literary Reader | Page 2

the labor which this treatise has involved, I am indebted to the co-operation of my brother, Mr. William T. Martin, whose acquaintance with our literature has not often been surpassed, and whose valuable aid and counsel have been freely afforded me.
The hours which have been spent in culling extracts from so many able and entertaining writers, though laborious, have been to the editor full of interest, and often of delight. He trusts that these fruits of his labor will be useful, in imparting, especially to his youthful readers, not only an acquaintance with the best of our national authors, but a taste for literature, and a good ideal of literary excellence, than which few things in intellectual education are more to be esteemed. If successful in these respects, he will be abundantly satisfied; and in this hope, he submits his work to the judgment of the public.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
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=_1._= RELIGIOUS WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.
Roger Williams, 1598-1683 1. True Liberty defined.
Cotton Mather, 1663-1728 2. Preservation of New England Principles.
Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758 3. Meaning of the Phrase Moral Inability.
Samuel Davies, 1725-1761 4. Life and Immortality revealed through the Gospel.
Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840 5. Rule of Private Judgment.
=_2._= HISTORICAL WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.
Cadwallader Colden, 1688-1776 6. The Five Nations assert their Superiority.
William Stith, 1689-1755 7. The rule of Powhatan. 8. Pocahontas in England.
William Smith, 1728-1793 9. Manners of the People of New York.
=_3._= MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.
John Winthrop, 1587-1649 10. True Liberty defined. 11. Proposed Treatment of the Indians.
William Byrd, 1674-1744 12. The Ginseng and Snakeroot Plants.
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790 13. Good Resolutions.--The Croaker. 14. Franklin's Electrical Kite. 15. Motion for Prayers in the Convention. 16. The Ephemeron. An Emblem.
=_4._= LATER RELIGIOUS WRITERS AND DIVINES.
John Woolman, 1730-1772 17. Remarks on Slavery and Labor.
John M. Mason, 1770-1829 18. Grandeur of the Bible Society. 19. The Right of the State to Educate.
Timothy Dwight, 1752-1817 20. The Wilderness reclaimed. 21. The Glory of Nature, from God.
John Henry Hobart, 1775-1830 22. The Divine Glory in Redemption.
Lyman Beecher, 1775-1863 23. The Being of a God.
William Ellery Channing, 1780-1842 24. Character of Napoleon. 25. Grandeur of the prospect of Immortality. 26. The Duty of the Free States.
Edward Payson, 1783-1827 27. Natural Religion.
Joseph S. Buckminster, 1784-1812 28. Necessity of Regeneration.
Nathaniel W. Taylor, 1786-1858 29. Proof of Immortality from the Moral Nature of Man.
Edward Hitchcock, 1793-1864 30. Geological Proof of Divine Benevolence.
John P. Durbin, 1800- 31. First Sight of Mount Sinai.
Leonard Bacon, 1802- 32. The Day approaching. 33. The Benefits of Capital.
James W. Alexander, 1804-1859 34. The Church a Temple.
Martin J. Spaulding, 1810-1872 35. Trials of the Pioneer Catholic Clergy in the West.
James H. Thornwell, 1811-1862 36. Evil tendencies of an act of Sin.
Charles P. McIlvaine, 1799-1873 37. Attestations of the Resurrection.
George W. Bethune, 1805-1862 38. Aspirations towards Heaven. 39. The Prospects of Art in the United States.
William R. Williams, 1804- 40. Lead us not into Temptation.
George B. Cheever, 1807- 41. Sin distorts the judgment. 42. Mont Blanc.
Horace Bushnell, 1804- 43. Unconscious Influence. 44. The True Rest of the Christian.
Alfred T. Bledsoe, about 1809- 45. Moral Evil consistent with the Holiness of God.
Richard Fuller, 1808- 46. The Desire of all Nations shall come. Haggai ii. 7.
Henry Ward Beecher, 1813- 47. A Picture in a College at Oxford. 48. Frost on the Window. 49. Nature designed for our enjoyment. 50. Life in the Country. 51. The Conception of Angels, Superhuman.
John McClintock, 1814-1870 52. The Christian the only true Lover of Nature.
Noah Porter, 1811- 53. Science magnifies God.
William H. Milburn, 1823- 54. The Pioneer Preachers of the Mississippi Valley.
=_5._= ORATORS, AND LEGAL AND POLITICAL WRITERS, OF THE ERA OF THE REVOLUTION.
John Dickinson, 1732-1808 55. Aspect of the War in May, 1779.
John Adams, 1735-1826 56. Character of James Otis. 57. The Requisites of a Good Government.
Patrick Henry, 1736-1799 58. The Necessity of the War. 59. The Constitution should be amended before Adoption.
John Rutledge, 1735-1826 60. An Independent Judiciary the Safeguard of Liberty.
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826 61. Essential Principles of American Government. 62. Character of Washington. 63. Geographical Limits of the Elephant and the Mammoth. 64. The Unhappy Effects of Slavery.
John Jay, 1745-1829 65. An Appeal to Arms.
=_6._= ORATORS, AND LEGAL AND POLITICAL WRITERS, OF THE ERA SUBSEQUENT TO THE REVOLUTION.
Alexander Hamilton, 1757-1804 66. Nature of the Federal Debt. 67. The French Revolution.
Fisher Ames, 1758-1808 68. Obligation of National Good Faith.
Gouverneur Morris, 1752-1816 69. Qualifications of a Minister of Foreign Affairs.
William Pinkney, 1764-1820 70. Responsibility for Slavery. 71. American Belligerent Rights.
James Madison, 1751-1836 72. Value of a Record of the Debates on the Federal Constitution. 73. Inscription for a Statue of Washington.
John Randolph, 1773-1832 74. Change is not Reform. 75. The Error of Decayed Families.
James Kent, 1763-1847 76. Law of the States.
Edward Livingston, 1764-1836 77. The Proper Office of the Judge.
John Quincy Adams, 1767-1848 78. The Right of Petition