New Century Speaker and Writer: Being a Standard Work on Composition and Oratory

by Henry Davenport Northrop

Never consider it too much trouble to prepare yourself thoroughly to write your compositions. If you would have nuggets of gold you must dig for them. Success is worth all it costs, however much that may be. Remember Bulwer Lytton’s saying, “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

HISTORICAL SUBJECTS.

• The Landing of the Pilgrims.
• Captain John Smith and Pocahontas.
• The French and Indian War.
• The Siege of Quebec.
• King Philip’s War.
• Washington at Valley Forge.
• The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
• The Discovery of the Mississippi River.
• Sir Walter Raleigh in Virginia.
• The Pequod War.
• Witchcraft at Salem, Massachusetts.
• The Old Charter Oak at Hartford.
• Destruction of Tea in Boston Harbor.
• The Battles of Lexington and Concord.
• The Famous Ride of Paul Revere.
• The Siege of Boston.
• The Battle of Long Island.
• The Battle of the Brandywine.
• The Murder of Miss McCrea.
• The Battle of Monmouth.
• The Surrender of Burgoyne’s Army.
• The Siege of Savannah.
• Washington Crossing the Delaware.
• The Massacre of Wyoming.
• The Treason of Benedict Arnold.
• The Execution of Major André.
• The Duel Between Hamilton and Burr.
• The Battle of Monterey.
• The Battle of Chapultepec.
• The Siege of Vicksburg.
• General Sherman’s March to the Sea.
• Jackson’s Victories in Virginia.
• The Death of “Stonewall Jackson.”
• The Story of Cuban Insurrections.
• The Great Naval Battle at Manila.
• The Great Naval Battle at Santiago.
• The Exploits of the “Rough Riders” at San Juan.
• The Execution of John Brown.
• The Massacre at Fort Dearborn.
• The Discovery of Gold in California.
• The Opening of the Pacific Railroad.
• The Discovery of Gold in Alaska.
• The Massacre of General Custer.
• The Indian Wars in the Northwest.
• The World’s Fair at Chicago.
• The Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.
• The Story of the Old Liberty Bell at Philadelphia.
• The Great Flood at Johnstown, Pa.
• The Destruction of the Battleship Maine.
• The Invention of Printing.
• Magna Charta, the Charter of Rights.
• Constantinople Taken by the French.
• The Moors Driven Out of Spain.
• The Reformation in England.
• The Invasion of Peru by Pizarro.
• The Battle of Trafalgar.
• The Spanish Armada.
• The Battle of Balaklava.
• The Gunpowder Plot (1605).
• The Atrocities of the Paris Commune.
• The Execution of Charles I.
• The Bursting of the South Sea Bubble.
• The Battle of Waterloo.
• The Dismemberment of Poland.
• The Great Mutiny in India.
• The French Revolution.
• The Martyrdom of Joan of Arc.
• The Crusades.
• The Siege of Troy.
• The Great Plague in London.
• The Battle of the Boyne.
• The Imprisonment of James I. of Scotland.
• The Story of Mary, Queen of Scots.

BIOGRAPHICAL SUBJECTS.

• Miles Standish.
• Cotton Mather.
• Benjamin Franklin.
• John Jay.
• Samuel Adams.
• Fisher Ames.
• George Washington.
• William Penn.
• Marquis de Lafayette.
• Count Pulaski.
• General Israel Putnam.
• General Anthony Wayne.
• General Ethan Allen.
• Thomas Jefferson.
• Andrew Jackson.
• Martha Washington.
• Commodore Perry.
• Commodore Decatur.
• Daniel Webster.
• Henry Clay.
• Patrick Henry.
• John Hancock.
• General Winfield Scott.
• Zachary Taylor.
• The Indian Chief Tecumseh.
• William Henry Harrison.
• John C. Fremont.
• Abraham Lincoln.
• Robert E. Lee.
• Ulysses S. Grant.
• James A. Garfield.
• General William T. Sherman.
• Mary Lyon.
• Frances E. Willard.
• Susan B. Anthony.
• Clara Barton.
• Henry W. Longfellow.
• William Cullen Bryant.
• The Cary Sisters.
• Washington Irving.
• James Fenimore Cooper.
• Francis Scott Key.
• John Howard Payne.
• Daniel Boone.
• David Crockett.
• General Sam Houston.
• Lord Nelson.
• The Duke of Wellington.
• Napoleon Bonaparte.
• The Duke of Marlborough.
• Robert Bruce.
• Robert Burns.
• John Bright.
• William E. Gladstone.
• Alfred Tennyson.
• Daniel O’Connell.
• Robert Emmet.
• Florence Nightingale.
• John Knox.
• Julius Cæsar.
• Demosthenes.
• Cicero.
• Hannibal.
• Alexander the Great.
• Socrates.
• Xantippe.
• Queen Elizabeth.
• Oliver Cromwell.
• William Pitt.
• Frederick the Great.
• Captain Kidd.
• Ferdinand de Soto.
• Hernando Cortez.
• Sir John Franklin.
• Elisha Kent Kane.
• Cyrus W. Field.
• Professor Samuel B. F. Morse.
• Alexander T. Stewart.
• Peter Cooper.
• John Jacob Astor.
• William H. Vanderbilt.

SUBJECTS FOR NARRATION AND DESCRIPTION.

• A New England Thanksgiving.
• The Puritan Sabbath.
• The Deserted Farm.
• The Dangers of Frontier Life.
• Natural Resources of the United States.
• Social Customs of the Last Century.
• A Spanish Bull Fight.
• The Falls of Niagara.
• The Hudson River.
• Mount Washington.
• A Western Prairie.
• The Cotton Fields of the South.
• The Orange Groves of Florida.
• “The Father of Waters.”
• The Rapid Growth of Western Cities.
• A Ranch in the South-West.
• The Cowboys of the Plains.
• The Great Trees of California.
• The Geysers of the Yellowstone Park.
• The Instinct in Animals.
• Some Recent Invention.
• Some Public Institutions.
• The Physical Characteristics of your State.
• A Country Farm.
• Your Home Enjoyments.
• Fresh Air and its Uses.
• Town and Country Schools.
• Some Out Door School Games.
• The Beauties of Summer.
• The Remarkable Instinct of Birds.
• An Arctic Expedition.
• A Railway Station.
• A Picture Gallery.
• Electric Lights.
• Winds and Clouds.
• The Pastime of Fishing.
• The Pastime of Skating.
• Agricultural Implements.
• Habits of Domestic Animals.
• A Flower Garden.
• Singing Birds.
• Migration of Birds.
• The American Eagle.
• The Uses of Cats and Dogs.
• The Game of Foot Ball.
• The Game of Base Ball.
• Your Favorite Book.
• The County in which your School is Situated.
• School Life: its Joys and Difficulties.
• Castles in the Air.
• The Pleasures of Christmas.
• Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• The Vatican at Rome.
• St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
• The Capitol at Washington.
• The White House at Washington.
• The Suspension Bridge between New York and Brooklyn.
• Bunker Hill Monument.
• Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
• Independence Hall in Philadelphia.
• An Ocean Steamship.
• An American Battleship.
• Coal Mines of Pennsylvania.
• A Seaside Watering Place.
• A Country Picnic.
• A Clam Bake by the Sea-shore.
• A Sleigh Ride.
• A Century Run on Bicycles.
• Your Favorite Walk.
• The Value of Sunshine.
• A Thunder Storm.
• A Summer Vacation.

POPULAR PROVERBS.

• More Haste, Less Speed.
• Necessity is the Mother of Invention.
• What Can’t be Cured must be Endured.
• Well Begun is Half Done.
• All that Glitters is not Gold.
• Evil Communications Corrupt Good Manners.
• Honesty is the Best Policy.
• A Stitch in Time Saves Nine.
• Prevention is Better than Cure.
• A Rolling Stone Gathers no Moss.
• Make Hay while the Sun Shines.
• Birds of a Feather Flock Together.
• Knowledge is Power.
• Take Care of the Pennies and the Dollars will take Care of Themselves.
• A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush.
• The Longest Way Around is the Shortest Way Home.
• The Proof of the Pudding is in the Eating.
• If you would Shoot High you must Aim High.
• Marry in Haste and Repent at Leisure.
• People who Live in Glass Houses should not Throw Stones.
• Be Sure you are Right, then Go Ahead.
• It is an Ill Wind that Blows Good to no One.
• Every Crow Thinks her own Little Crows the Blackest.
• You Cannot Make a Silk Purse out of a Sow’s Ear.
• The Least Said, the Soonest Mended.
• Speech is Silver, Silence is Golden.
• Manners Make the Man.

SUBJECTS TO BE EXPOUNDED.