| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: <15> The many unanimous resolves of the Assembly--
what date?-- [Marg. note.]
I had agreed with Captain Morris, of the paquet at New York,
for my passage, and my stores were put on board, when Lord Loudoun
arriv'd at Philadelphia, expressly, as he told me, to endeavor
an accommodation between the governor and Assembly, that his
majesty's service might not be obstructed by their dissensions.
Accordingly, he desir'd the governor and myself to meet him, that he
might hear what was to be said on both sides. We met and discuss'd
the business. In behalf of the Assembly, I urg'd all the various
arguments that may be found in the public papers of that time,
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: should modestly have accepted my defeat; but, outraged at the glowing
appearance of the heroine who had vowed to die for love, and who had
scoffed at the woman who was really dead, I resolved to meet insolence
with insolence. She knew very well the misfortunes of Lady Brandon; to
remind her of them was to send a dagger to her heart, though the
weapon might be blunted by the blow.
"Madame," I said, "I am sure you will pardon my unceremonious
entrance, when I tell you that I have just arrived from Touraine, and
that Lady Brandon has given me a message for you which allows of no
delay. I feared you had already started for Lancashire, but as you are
still in Paris I will await your orders at any hour you may be pleased
The Lily of the Valley |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: by us, filling our lungs with heat, scorching our faces
as the breath of a furnace. Thus was brought to our
minds what, in the excitement of a new country, we
had forgotten,--that we were at last on the eastern slope,
and that before us waited the Inferno of the desert.
[1] In all Spanish names the final e should be pronounced.
That evening we lay in the sweet ripe grasses of
Madulce, and talked of it. Wes had been across it
once before and did not possess much optimism with
which to comfort us.
"It's hot, just plain hot," said he, "and that's all
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