| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: face somewhat; but the sole indication of any strength of character
lay in the bushy eyebrows which retained their blackness, and in the
brilliant coloring of his skin. These signs were in some respects not
misleading, for the worthy gentlemen, though simple and very gentle,
was Catholic and monarchical in faith, and no consideration on earth
could make him change his views. Nevertheless he would have let
himself be arrested without an effort at defence, and would have gone
to the scaffold quietly. His annuity of three thousand francs kept him
from emigrating. He therefore obeyed the government /de facto/ without
ceasing to love the royal family and to pray for their return, though
he would firmly have refused to compromise himself by any effort in
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Meno by Plato: the style in which he himself answers all comers; and any Hellene who likes
may ask him anything. How different is our lot! my dear Meno. Here at
Athens there is a dearth of the commodity, and all wisdom seems to have
emigrated from us to you. I am certain that if you were to ask any
Athenian whether virtue was natural or acquired, he would laugh in your
face, and say: 'Stranger, you have far too good an opinion of me, if you
think that I can answer your question. For I literally do not know what
virtue is, and much less whether it is acquired by teaching or not.' And I
myself, Meno, living as I do in this region of poverty, am as poor as the
rest of the world; and I confess with shame that I know literally nothing
about virtue; and when I do not know the 'quid' of anything how can I know
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: Round with the Sun-illumined Lantern held
In Midnight by the Master of the Show.
But "the Master of the Show," in this case, was Dr. Fu-Manchu!
I have been asked many times since the days with which these records deal:
Who WAS Dr. Fu-Manchu? Let me confess here that my final answer must
be postponed. I can only indicate, at this place, the trend of my reasoning,
and leave my reader to form whatever conclusion he pleases.
What group can we isolate and label as responsible for the overthrow
of the Manchus? The casual student of modern Chinese history will reply:
"Young China." This is unsatisfactory. What do we mean by Young China?
In my own hearing Fu-Manchu had disclaimed, with scorn, association with the
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
