sary to treat the female writers as a distinct class;
they are, therefore, arranged under the departments to which they
respectively belong, as Essayists, Novelists, Poets, &c.

I should be claiming a merit which does not belong to me, should I fail
to say, that, for much of the labor which this treatise has involved, I
am indebted to the co-operation of my brother, Mr. William T. Martin,
whose acquaintance with our literature has not often been surpassed, and
whose valuable aid and counsel have been freely afforded me.

The hours which have been spent in culling extracts from so many able
and entertaining writers, though laborious, have been to the editor full
of interest, and often of delight. He trusts that these fruits of his
labor will be useful, in imparting, especially to his youthful readers,
not only an acquaintance with the best of our national authors, but a
taste for literature, and a good ideal of literary excellence, than
which few things in intellectual education are more to be esteemed. If
successful in these respects, he will be abundantly satisfied; and in
this hope, he submits his work to the judgment of the public.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

=_1._= RELIGIOUS WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.

Roger Williams, 1598-1683
1. True Liberty defined.

Cotton Mather, 1663-1728
2. Preservation of New England Principles.

Jonathan Edwards, 1703-1758
3. Meaning of the Phrase Moral Inability.

Samuel Davies, 1725-1761
4. Life and Immortality revealed through the Gospel.

Nathaniel Emmons, 1745-1840
5. Rule of Private Judgment.

=_2._= HISTORICAL WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH
CENTURIES.

Cadwallader Colden, 1688-1776
6. The Five Nations assert their Superiority.

William Stith, 1689-1755
7. The rule of Powhatan.
8. Pocahontas in England.

William Smith, 1728-1793
9. Manners of the People of New York.

=_3._= MISCELLANEOUS WRITERS OF THE SEVENTEENTH AND
EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES.

John Winthrop, 1587-1649
10. True Liberty defined.
11. Proposed Treatment of the Indians.

William Byrd, 1674-1744
12. The Ginseng and Snakeroot Plants.

Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790
13. Good Resolutions.--The Croaker.
14. Franklin's Electrical Kite.
15. Motion for Prayers in the Convention.
16. The Ephemeron. An Emblem.

=_4._= LATER RELIGIOUS WRITERS AND DIVINES.

John Woolman, 1730-1772
17. Rem