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

to which they
respectively belong, as Essayists, Novelists, Poets, &c.
I should be claiming a merit which does not belong to me, should I fail
to say, that, for much of 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
.
=_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