American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

John Pory (1572-September 1635) was an author, geographer and the Secretary of State for the Virginia Colony, being appointed by the London Council. He arrived in Virginia on April 19, 1619, and served as member of the Governor's council. On July 30, 1619, when the first legislative assembly in the new world met at Jamestown, John Pory was elected as its Speaker. In the summer of 1622, he left aboard the Discovery and visited Plymouth. The ship was driven off course and wrecked on the Azores Islands. He was captured by the Spaniards and almost hanged, but was able to...

John Donne (1572-March 31, 1631) was one of England's greatest poets. He was the chaplain to King James I, 1615, and dean of St. Paul's, London. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, his works have inspired many writers. With imagery being drawn from Scholastic philosophy and 17th-century scientific thought, his most famous works include: Songs and Sonnets; Holy Sonnets; and Sermons and Devotions. Ernest Hemingway's novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940, was inspired by John Donne's line in Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, 1624, "...send not to know for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for thee." John Donne wrote: <No...

Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571-November 15, 1630) was the German founder of physical astronomy. An attack of smallpox when he was four-years-old left him with crippled hands and poor eyesight. Overcoming those handicaps, he studied Copernicus' works and at age 23 became a professor of astronomy. He discovered the laws governing planetary motion and pioneered the discipline of celestial mechanics, known as Kepler's Laws, which aided Newton in his formulation of the theory of gravitation. He advanced Copernicus' heliocentric theory of the solar system, with the planets revolving around the sun instead of the earth. His publishing of the ephemeris...

William Brewster (1567-April 1644) was a founder of the Plymouth Colony in New England. He helped lead the Separatist movement in England, 1606, allowing the nonconformists to meet for worship at his home in Scrooby, England. He escaped religious persecution by fleeing with the Separatists to Holland, 1608. There he taught at the University of Leiden, Holland, and published religious books which were banned in England. Sailing with the Pilgrims on the Mayflower, he signed of the Mayflower Compact, 1620. Elected a ruling elder of the Plymouth Colony, he performed a major role in the civil and religious affairs of...

Pedro Fernandez de Quiros (1565-1615) was a Spanish explorer. In 1606, he sailed the Pacific Ocean, from Callao, Peru as far as the New Hebrides. In search of a reported southland, he landed on an island, planted a large cross and read the proclamation from which Australia got its name: <I, Captain Pedro Fernandez de Quiros...hoist this emblem of the Holy Cross on which His person was crucified and whereon He gave His life for the ransom and remedy of all the human race.... On this Day of Pentecost, 14 May 1606....I take possession of all this part of the South...