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| [John Smith]—(Born in 1579, died in 1631.) |
| | [His Story of Pocahontas.] |
| | (From the "General History of Virginia") | [3] |
| [William Bradford]—(Born in 1590, died in 1657.) |
| | [The Pilgrims Land and Meet the Indians.] |
| | (From the "History of Plymouth") | [11] |
| [Samuel Sewall]—(Born in 1652, died in 1730.) |
| | [How He Courted Madam Winthrop.] |
| | (From his "Diary") | [19] |
| [Cotton Mather]—(Born in 1663, died in 1728.) |
| | [In Praise of John Eliot.] |
| | (From the "Magnalia Christi Americana") | [33] |
| [William Byrd]—(Born in 1674, died in 1744.) |
| | [At the Home of Colonel Spotswood.] |
| | (From "A Visit to the Mines") | [38] |
| [Jonathan Edwards]—(Born in 1703, died in 1758.) |
| | [Of Liberty and Moral Agencies.] |
| | (From the "Freedom of the Will") | [44] |
| [Benjamin Franklin]—(Born in 1706, died in 1790.) |
| I | [His First Entry into Philadelphia.] |
| | (From the "Autobiography") | [51] |
| II | [Warnings Braddock Did Not Heed.] |
| | (From the "Autobiography") | [55] |
| III | [How to Draw Lightning from the Clouds.] |
| | (From a letter to Peter Collinson) | [59] |
| IV | [The Way to Wealth.] |
| | (From "Poor Richard's Almanac") | [61] |
| V | [Dialog with the Gout] | [68] |
| VI | [A Proposal to Madame Helvetius.] |
| | (A letter to Madame Helvetius) | [76] |
| [George Washington]—(Born in 1732, died in 1799.) |
| I | [To His Wife on Taking Command of the Army.] |
| | (A letter written on June 18, 1775) | [79] |
| II | [Of His Army in Cambridge.] |
| | (A letter to Joseph Reed) | [81] |
| III | [To the Marquis Chastellux on His Marriage.] |
| | (A letter of April 25, 1788) | [84] |
| [John Adams]—(Born in 1735, died in 1826.) |
| I | [On His Nomination of Washington to Be Commander-in-Chief.] |
| | (From his "Diary") | [87] |
| II | [An Estimate of Franklin.] |
| | (From a letter to the Boston Patriot) | [90] |
| [Thomas Paine]—(Born in 1737, died in 1809.) |
| | [In Favor of the Separation of the Colonies from Great Britain.] |
| | (From "Common Sense") | [94] |
| [Thomas Jefferson]—(Born in 1743, died in 1826.) |
| I | [When the Bastile Fell.] |
| | (From his "Autobiography") | [98] |
| II | [The Futility of Disputes.] |
| | (From a letter to his nephew) | [106] |
| III | [Of Blacks and Whites in the South.] |
| | (From the "Notes on the State of Virginia") | [108] |
| IV | [His Account of Logan's Famous Speech.] |
| | (From the "Notes on Virginia") | [114] |
| [Gouverneur Morris]—(Born in 1752, died in 1816.) |
| I | [The Opening of the French States-General.] |
| | (From a letter to Mrs. Morris) | [117] |
| II | [Of the Execution of Louis XVI.] |
| | (From a letter to Thomas Jefferson) | [120] |
| [Alexander Hamilton]—(Born in 1757, died in 1804.) |
| I | [Of the Failure of Confederation.] |
| | (From The Federalist) | [123] |
| II | [His Reasons for not Declining Burr's Challenge.] |
| | (From a statement written before the day of the duel) | [129] |
| [John Quincy Adams]—(Born in 1767, died in 1848.) |
| I | [Of His Mother.] |
| | (From the "Diary") | [133] |
| II | [The Moral Taint Inherent in Slavery.] |
| | (From the "Diary") | [135] |
| [William E. Channing]—(Born in 1780, died in 1842.) |
| | [Of Greatness in Napoleon.] |
| | (From a review of Scott's "Life of Napoleon") | [139] |
| [John James Audubon]—(Born in 1780, died in 1857.) |
| | [Where the Mocking Bird Dwells.] |
| | (From the "Birds of America") | [144] |
| [Washington Irving]—(Born in 1783, died in 1859.) |
| I | [The Last of the Dutch Governors of New York.] |
| | (From "Knickerbocker's History of New York") | [147] |
| II | [The Awakening of Rip Van Winkle.] |
| | (From the "Sketch Book") | [151] |
| III | [At Abbotsford with Scott.] |
| | (From the "Crayon Miscellany") | [161] |
| [Fenimore Cooper]—(Born in 1789, died in 1851.) |
| I | [His Father's Arrival at Otsego Lake.] |
| | (From "The Pioneers") | [170] |
| II | [Running the Gantlet.] |
| | (From "The Last of the Mohicans") | [178] |
| III | [Leather-Stocking's Farewell.] |
| | (From "The Pioneers") | [185] |
| [William Cullen Bryant]—(Born in 1794, died in 1878.) |
| | [An October Day in Florence.] |
| | (From a letter) | [194] |
| [William H. Prescott]—(Born in 1796, died in 1859.) |
| I | [The Fate of Egmont and Hoorne.] |
| | (From "Philip II") | [198] |
| II | [The Genesis of Don Quixote.] |
| | (From the "Miscellanies") | [209] |
| [George Bancroft]—(Born in 1800, died in 1891.) |
| | [The Fate of Evangeline's Countrymen.] |
| | (From the "History of the United States") | [217] |
| [Ralph Waldo Emerson]—(Born in 1803, died in 1882.) |
| I | [Thoreau's Broken Task.] |
| | (From the "Funeral Address") | [223] |
| II | [The Intellectual Honesty of Montaigne.] |
| | (From "Representative Men") | [229] |
| III | [His Visit to Carlyle at Craigen-puttock.] |
| | (From "English Traits") | [231] |
| [Nathaniel Hawthorne]—(Born in 1804, died in 1864.) |
| I | [Occupants of an Old Manse.] |
| | (From "Mosses from an Old Manse") | [235] |
| II | [Arthur Dimmesdale on the Scaffold.] |
| | (From "The Scarlet Letter") | [242] |
| III | [Of Life at Brook Farm.] |
| | (From "The Blithedale Romance") | [248] |
| IV | [The Death of Judge Pyncheon.] |
| | (From "The House of the Seven Gables") | [252] |