| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Tour Through Eastern Counties of England by Daniel Defoe: writers, I need say little of it. It is strong by situation, and
may be made more so by art. But it is many years since the
Government of England have had any occasion to fortify towns to the
landward; it is enough that the harbour or road, which is one of
the best and securest in England, is covered at the entrance by a
strong fort and a battery of guns to the seaward, just as at
Tilbury, and which sufficiently defend the mouth of the river. And
there is a particular felicity in this fortification, viz., that
though the entrance or opening of the river into the sea is very
wide, especially at high-water, at least two miles, if not three
over; yet the Channel, which is deep, and in which the ships must
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Psychology of Revolution by Gustave le Bon: When, in his book on democracy in America, Toqueville spoke of
the general aspiration towards equality he did not realise that
the prophesied equality would end in the classification of men
founded exclusively on the number of dollars possessed by them.
No other exists in the United States, and it will doubtless one
day be the same in Europe.
At present we cannot possibly regard France as a democratic
country save on paper, and here we feel the necessity, already
referred to, of examining the various ideas which in different
countries are expressed by the word ``democracy.''
Of truly democratic nations we can practically mention only
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Gambara by Honore de Balzac: reflecting on Italian sensuality, seems to me to lean towards German
idealism, which is no less fatal heresy. If men of imagination and
good sense, like you, desert one camp only to join the other; if they
cannot keep to the happy medium between two forms of extravagance, we
shall always be exposed to the satire of the sophists, who deny all
progress, who compare the genius of man to this tablecloth, which,
being too short to cover the whole of Signor Giardini's table, decks
one end at the expense of the other."
Giardini bounded in his seat as if he had been stung by a horse-fly,
but swift reflections restored him to his dignity as a host; he looked
up to heaven and again nudged the Count, who was beginning to think
Gambara |
