American Quotations by William J. Federer 2024

Richard Rich (fl.1610) was an Englishman who traveled to Virginia with Captain Christopher Newport. He recounted his voyage in a narrative poem, consisting of twenty-two eight- line verses, titled, Newes from Virginia: The Lost Flock Triumphant, published in London, October 1, 1610, by Edw. Allde. The poem contained the account of their shipwreck on the "Bermoothawes" (Bermudas), which is the probable inspiration for Shakespeare's play, The Tempest. In Newes from Virginia-The Lost Flocke Triumphant, Richard Rich wrote: <With the happy Arrivall of that famous and worthy Knight Sr. Thomas Gates: and the well-reputed and valiant Captaine Mr Christopher Newport, and others, into...

Sir Matthew Hale (November 1, 1609-December 25, 1676) was Lord Chief-Justice of the King's Bench, a position of high influence in England. He testified: <There is no book like the Bible for excellent wisdom and use.> 1609MH001 <Every morning read seriously and reverently a portion of the Holy Scriptures, and acquaint yourselves with the history and doctrine thereof; it is a Book full of light and wisdom, and will make you wise unto eternal life. Who was it that thus suffered? It was Christ Jesus, the eternal Son of God, clothed in our flesh; God and Man united in one person;...

New Jersey History (1609) from The Original 13-A Documentary History of Religion in America's First Thirteen States (Amerisearch, 2009): <On September 4, 1609, explorer Henry Hudson, sailing for the Dutch East India Company, dropped anchor in Cape May and went ashore with 20 men to explore. The first European explorers to view the coast of New Jersey were Italian John Cabot in 1497 and Giovanni da Verrazano in 1524. In 1610, English Captain Samuel Argall named the river and the land southwest of it "Delaware," after the Governor of Virginia Thomas West, 3rd Baron De la Warr. In 1620, Dutch Captain...

Second Charter of Virginia (May 23, 1609) granted by King James I, stated: <James, by the Grace of God, King of England...Defender of the Faith...Greeting. Whereas, at the humble...Request of sundry our loving and well disposed Subjects, intending to deduce a Colony, and to make Habitation and Plantation of sundry our People in that Part of America, commonly called VIRGINIA, and other Parts...not actually possessed of any Christian Prince or People... Now, forasmuch as divers and sundry of our loving Subjects...which have already engaged themselves in furthering the Business of the said Colony...intend, by the Assistance of Almighty God, to prosecute...

John Milton (December 9, 1608-November 8, 1674) was an English poet and political writer. His blank-verse epic, Paradise Lost, 1667, considered a masterpiece of English literature, detailed Lucifer's revolt against God and the fall in the garden of Adam and Eve. Milton aggressively defended the Puritan cause, writing: Pro Populo Anglicano, 1651; The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates, 1649; The Tetrachordon, 1645; and The Reason of Church Government, 1642, which declared that governments should exert no control over the local churches. In his middle forties, John Milton went blind, followed by his wife dying in childbirth. He continued creating by dictating his...