American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

William Cullen Bryant (November 3, 1794-June 12, 1878) was an American poet and editor. He known as the "Father of American Poets," and wrote such titles as: Thanatopsis; To a Waterfowl; The Death of the Flowers; and To the Fringed Gentian. He was the editor in chief of the New York Evening Post for 50 years, lending its support in the formation of the Republican Party and the fight against slavery. William Cullen Bryant wrote: <The sacredness of the Bible awes me, and I approach it with the same sort of reverential feeling that an ancient Hebrew might be supposed...

Edward Everett (April 11, 1794-January 15, 1865) was an American diplomat, educator, orator and clergyman. He was Governor of Massachusetts, 1836-40; U.S. Minister to Britain, 1841-45; Secretary of State under President Fillmore, 1852-53; and U.S. Senator, 1853-54. He was the president of Harvard, 1846-49, and dedicated the national cemetery at Gettysburg, November 19, 1863, with President Abraham Lincoln. Edward Everett stated: <All the distinctive features and superiority of our republican institutions are derived from the teachings of Scripture.> 1794EE001 In an address at the opening of the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York, Edward Everett remarked: <I do not wonder...

Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794-March 4, 1858) was the U.S. Navy Commodore who opened Japan to world trade through a dramatic show of force on July 8, 1853 and again in February 1854. His brother was Captain Oliver Hazard Perry, who won fame in the war of 1812. Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry stated: <I have just finished the Bible; I make it a point to read it through every cruise. It is certainly a wonderful Book-a most wonderful Book....From boyhood I have taken a deep interest in Christianizing the heathen, and in imparting a knowledge of God's revealed truth...

Vermont Constitution (July 9, 1793): <CHAPTER 1, ARTICLE 1. That all men are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent, and unalienable rights, amongst which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety: therefore, no male person born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person as a servant, slave, or apprentice, after he arrives to the age of twenty one years, nor female in like manner, after she arrives to the age of eighteen...

Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans (September 25, 1793-May 16, 1835) was an English poet. She was noted for her naturalness and simplicity. Sir Walter Scott wrote the epilogue for her play, The Vespers of Palermo. Felicia Hemans is best known to American readers for her work, The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, in which she penned: <What sought they thus afar? Bright jewels of the mine? The wealth of seas, the spoils of war? They sought a faith's pure shrine! Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where they first trod! They have left unstained what there they found - Freedom to worship...