Letters on Practical Subjects to a Daughter

by W.B. Sprague

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

268 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1850

About the author

William Buell Sprague (October 16, 1795 Andover, Connecticut - May 7, 1876 Flushing, New York) was an American Congregational and Presbyterian clergyman and compiler of Annals of the American Pulpit (nine volumes, 1857–1869), a comprehensive biographical dictionary of the leading American Protestant Christian ministers who died before 1850.

He was educated at Yale under Timothy Dwight IV, graduating in 1815, then studied at Princeton Theological Seminary under Dr. Archibald Alexander. He became assistant to Rev. Joseph Lathrop at the West Springfield, Massachusetts, Congregational church in 1819. The following year, when Lathrop died after sixty years as pastor there, Sprague became senior minister and served there nine more years. Thereafter, he accepted a call to pastor the Second Presbyterian Church, Albany, New York, where Edward Norris Kirk had been an assistant, and where Sprague ministered for forty years. Sprague wrote numerous books, including Lives of Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, D. D, (1838), Timothy Dwight (1845), and Rev. Jedidiah Morse (1874), his greatest contribution to literature being his Annals of the American Pulpit, an invaluable compilation of Trinitarian Congregationalist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Unitarian Congregationalist, and other biographies. Although no edition of his collected works ever was published, Sprague's published individual sermons, discourses, and addresses in pamphlet form exceed 150 in number.

Sprague was also a collector of historical documents and pamphlets and became the first person ever to gather a complete set of the autographs of the signers of the United States Declaration of Independence. He completed this task by February, 1833, according to correspondence with friend Jared Sparks at about that time. He also gathered a collection of the signatures of all of the members of the Convention which framed the Constitution of the United States in 1787, and a complete set of the autographs of the Presidents of the United States and all the officers of the United States government during the administrations of Presidents Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe and John Quincy Adams. This latter collection included signatures of the Presidents, Vice Presidents, all the members of the President’s Cabinet, and all of the Justices of the United States Supreme Court and all of the foreign ministers. Further, he collected the signatures of all the military officers involved in the American revolutionary war, from all nations, during the whole war. He collected signatures of great men of the Reformation and great skeptics. He even owned a copy of the autograph of Saint Augustine. He was America's foremost philographer by the time of his death. His autographs, numbering nearly 100,000, probably the largest private collection in the world at that time, were left to his son.

He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1846.

He was married three times and left a number of children. After his retirement from the Albany pulpit in 1870 he and his wife lived with his son Edward Everett Sprague, a lawyer, in Flushing, New York, where he died in 1876. He was buried in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, New York.

Reviews

[Kelly Sapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archaic language, but exceptional content, and I rather enjoy the archaic language--a much better grasp on English than we now have in modern America.

This book is worth it's weight in gold.

[Dane Jöhannsson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Apparently young girls in the 1800's were more vigorously masculine and christian than most men today. Do not let this book's title deceive you, its contents are just as applicable to a 40 year old man in 2020 as they were for this teenage girl in the mid 1800's. I have read few books with more profit. Sprague seems to set the standard for Christian living very high, but in fact he is just laying out the very basics of Christian living. A great antidote to the effeminacy of 21st century men.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I'd read this 10 - 15 years ago! It's a thoughtfully written little book. Each chapter is a letter from William Sprague to his daughter entailing wisdom on education, marriage, time, reading, friendships, and more. Originally published in 1831. I look forward to revisiting this book again and again.

[Holly M · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an excellent “tutor” to women both young and middle-aged. I wish I had read it in my early teens, as it might have warned me against some bad habits in my use of time and mental powers. The author has an incredible grasp of theology — nothing jarring at all with reformed theology. I was convicted and inspired and will keep this on my shelf to read again.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a phenomenal and practical book! This should be the graduation gift for every godly young woman. Prudent, Christian advice for practical subjects, all presented with the affection and earnest concern of a father for a grown daughter.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a precious book. I return to some of the letters often.