| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini: has M. Necker been called to the ministry, to be twice dismissed
when his insistent counsels of reform threatened the privileges of
clergy and nobility. For the third time now has he been called to
office, and at last it seems we are to have States General in spite
of Privilege. But what the privileged orders can no longer prevent,
they are determined to stultify. Since it is now a settled thing
that these States General are to meet, at least the nobles and the
clergy will see to it - unless we take measures to prevent them - by
packing the Third Estate with their own creatures, and denying it
all effective representation, that they convert. the States General
into an instrument of their own will for the perpetuation of the
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Bureaucracy by Honore de Balzac: which added an element of usefulness to the ceremonies. When the
festival day came, the presents were offered with much pomp and an
accompaniment of flowers,--silk stockings or a fur cap for old
Saillard; gold earrings and articles of plate for Elisabeth or her
husband, for whom, little by little, the parents were accumulating a
whole silver service; silk petticoats for Madame Saillard, who laid
the stuff by and never made it up. The recipient of these gifts was
placed in an armchair and asked by those present for a certain length
of time, "Guess what we have for you!" Then came a splendid dinner,
lasting at least five hours, to which were invited the Abbe Gaudron,
Falleix, Rabourdin, Monsieur Godard, under-head-clerk to Monsieur
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Octopus by Frank Norris: towards the ditch. Whether acting upon signal or not, the
Leaguers in the ditch could not tell, but it was certain that one
or two of the posse had moved considerably forward. Besides
this, Delaney had now placed his horse between Magnus and the
ditch, and two others riding up from the rear had followed his
example. The posse surrounded the three ranchers, and by now,
everybody was talking at once.
"Look here," Harran called to Annixter, "this won't do. I don't
like the looks of this thing. They all seem to be edging up, and
before we know it they may take the Governor and the other men
prisoners."
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