| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes: and the pun ordered to be burned by the sheriff. The bound volume
was forfeited as a deodand, but not claimed.
People that make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the
railroad tracks. They amuse themselves and other children, but
their little trick may upset a freight train of conversation for
the sake of a battered witticism.
I will thank you, B. F., to bring down two books, of which I will
mark the places on this slip of paper. (While he is gone, I may
say that this boy, our land-lady's youngest, is called BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN, after the celebrated philosopher of that name. A highly
merited compliment.)
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Collected Articles by Frederick Douglass: and the discovery of the papers in possession of the wrong man
would imperil both the fugitive and his friend. It was, therefore,
an act of supreme trust on the part of a freeman of color thus to
put in jeopardy his own liberty that another might be free. It was,
however, not unfrequently bravely done, and was seldom discovered.
I was not so fortunate as to resemble any of my free acquaintances
sufficiently to answer the description of their papers.
But I had a friend--a sailor--who owned a sailor's protection,
which answered somewhat the purpose of free papers--describing his person,
and certifying to the fact that he was a free American sailor.
The instrument had at its head the American eagle, which gave
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Miracle Mongers and Their Methods by Harry Houdini: Ling Soo.--Fire-eaters employed by magicians:
The Man-Salamander, 1816.-Mr. Carlton,
Professor of Chemistry, 1818.--Miss Cassillis, aged
nine, 1820. The African Wonder, 1843.--Ling
Look and Yamadeva die in China during Kellar's
world tour, 1877.--Ling Look's double, 1879.--
Electrical effects, The Salambos.--Bueno Core.--Del
Kano.--Barnello.--Edwin Forrest as a heat-resister
--The Elder Sothern as a fire-eater.--The Twilight
of the Art
VI. The Arcana of the fire-eaters: The formula of
Miracle Mongers and Their Methods |
