TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9 Goodness of the Deity displayed in the Beauty of Creation. Dwight. Surprise and Destruction of the Pequod Indians. Reflections on the Death of Adams and Jefferson. Escape of Harvey Birch and Captain Wharton. Influence of Female Character. The Stout Gentleman. A Stage-coach Romance. Patriotism and Eloquence of John Adams. Description of the Speedwell Mine in England. Climate and Scenery of New England. Posthumous Influence of the Wise and Good. Difficulties encountered by the Federal Convention. Reflections on the Battle of Lexington. Declaration of American Independence. Mementos of the Instability of human Existence. Description of the Preaching of Whitfield. Conclusion of "Observations on the Boston Port Bill." Destruction of a Family of the Pilgrims by the Savages. Melancholy Decay of the Indians. Speech of the Chief Sa-gu-yu-what-hah, called by the white People Extract from a Speech on the British Treaty. Appeal in Favour of the Union. AMERICAN COMMON-PLACE BOOK OF PROSE. Goodness of the Deity displayed in the Beauty of WERE all the interesting diversities of colour and form to disappear, how unsightly, dull, and wearisome, would be the aspect of the world! The pleasures, conveyed to us by the endless varieties, with which these sources of beauty are presented to the eye, are so much things of course, and exist so much without intermission, that we scarcely think either of their nature, their number, or the great proportion which they constitute in the whole mass of our enjoyment. But, were an inhabitant of this country to be removed from its delightful scenery to the midst of an Arabian desert, a boundless expanse of sand, a waste, spread with uniform desolation, enlivened by the murmur of no stream, and cheered by the beauty of no verdure; although he might live in a palace, and riot in splendour and luxury, he would, I think, find life a dull, wearisome, melancholy round of existence; and, amid all his gratifications, would sigh for the hills and valleys of his native land, the brooks, and rivers, the living lustre of the Spring, and the rich glories of the Autumn. The ever-varying brilliancy and grandeur of the landscape, and the magnificence of the sky, sun, moon, and stars, enter more extensively into the enjoyment of mankind, than we, perhaps, ever think, or can possibly apprehend, without frequent and extensive investigation. This beauty and splendour of the objects around us, it is ever to be remembered, is not necessary to their existence, nor to what we commonly intend by their usefulness. It is, therefore, to be regarded |