| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne: how;--and at the last, when he did stop his beast, 'twas done with such an
explosion of mud, that Obadiah had better have been a league off. In
short, never was a Dr. Slop so beluted, and so transubstantiated, since
that affair came into fashion.
Chapter 1.XXXV.
When Dr. Slop entered the back parlour, where my father and my uncle Toby
were discoursing upon the nature of women,--it was hard to determine
whether Dr. Slop's figure, or Dr. Slop's presence, occasioned more surprize
to them; for as the accident happened so near the house, as not to make it
worth while for Obadiah to remount him,--Obadiah had led him in as he was,
unwiped, unappointed, unannealed, with all his stains and blotches on him.-
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Eryxias by Platonic Imitator: unhandsome treatment which is exhibited towards Prodicus is quite unlike
the urbanity of Plato.
Yet there are some points in the argument which are deserving of attention.
(1) That wealth depends upon the need of it or demand for it, is the first
anticipation in an abstract form of one of the great principles of modern
political economy, and the nearest approach to it to be found in an ancient
writer. (2) The resolution of wealth into its simplest implements going on
to infinity is a subtle and refined thought. (3) That wealth is relative
to circumstances is a sound conception. (4) That the arts and sciences
which receive payment are likewise to be comprehended under the notion of
wealth, also touches a question of modern political economy. (5) The
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Lucile by Owen Meredith: (Because, without some such precaution, I fear
You might fail to distinguish, them each from the rest
Of the world they belong to; whose captives are drest,
As our convicts, precisely the same one and all,
While the coat cut for Peter is pass'd on to Paul)
I resolve, one by one, when I pick from the mass
The persons I want, as before you they pass,
To label them broadly in plain black and white
On the backs of them. Therefore whilst yet he's in sight,
I first label my hero.
III.
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