Letters of Major Jack Downing, of the Downingville Militia

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Seba, 1792-1868

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"Letters of Major Jack Downing, of the Downingville Militia" by Seba Smith is a collection of satirical letters written in the early 19th century. The book revolves around the character of Major Jack Downing, who provides humorous commentary on current events, society, and politics during the Civil War era, particularly focusing on his correspondence with President Abraham Lincoln. Through Downing's light-hearted yet critical perspective, the text explores themes of democracy, governance, and the complexities of war. The opening portion introduces Major Jack Downing, who has recently resumed writing after a period of absence, and expresses his views on the current political landscape. He writes to President Lincoln, addressing the troubles facing the nation and offering advice on military appointments. Downing's reflections highlight his friendship with Lincoln, coupled with his tongue-in-cheek observations about the state's political machinations and societal issues surrounding the war. Throughout the letters, there's an undertone of irreverence toward the political figures and sentiments of the time, with Downing stressing the importance of sticking to core democratic principles while humorously lamenting the state of affairs and political entanglements. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)

Notes:

Reading ease score: 86.0 (6th grade). Easy to read.

Release date is 2011-05-20