| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Contrast by Royall Tyler: and independence, they demand every attention which
gratitude can pay. For my own part, I never meet
an officer, but I embrace him as my friend, nor a pri-
vate in distress, but I insensibly extend my charity to
him.--I have hit the Bumkin off very tolerably.
[Aside.
MANLY
Give me your hand, Sir! I do not proffer this hand
to everybody; but you steal into my heart. I hope I
am as insensible to flattery as most men; but I declare
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: you that looks suspicious. It is severe work; but you will find it,
even at first, interesting, and at last endlessly amusing. And the
general gain to your character, in power and precision, will be
quite incalculable.
Mind, this does not imply knowing, or trying to know, Greek or
Latin, or French. It takes a whole life to learn any language
perfectly. But you can easily ascertain the meanings through which
the English word has passed; and those which in a good writer's work
it must still bear.
And now, merely for example's sake, I will, with your permission,
read a few lines of a true book with you, carefully; and see what
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: riding boots. When they appeared, he started forward with open
mouth and eyes, and stared wildly in their faces. They gathered
around the poplar-trunks, and waited with some uneasiness to see
what would follow.
Slowly and gravely, with the half-broken ban of silence still
hanging over them, the people issued from the house. The strange
man stood, leaning forward, and seemed to devour each, in turn,
with his eager eyes. After the young men came the fathers of
families, and lastly the old men from the gallery seats. Last of
these came Henry Donnelly. In the meantime, all had seen and
wondered at the waiting figure; its attitude was too intense and
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