| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Prince Otto by Robert Louis Stevenson: confident to-day, that no hereditary trifler has the power to
shatter that alliance.'
'I, born to command!' she said. 'Do you forget my tears?'
'Madam, they were the tears of Alexander,' cried the Baron. 'They
touched, they thrilled me; I, forgot myself a moment - even I! But
do you suppose that I had not remarked, that I had not admired, your
previous bearing? your great self-command? Ay, that was princely!'
He paused. 'It was a thing to see. I drank confidence! I tried to
imitate your calm. And I was well inspired; in my heart, I think
that I was well inspired; that any man, within the reach of
argument, had been convinced! But it was not to be; nor, madam, do
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Agesilaus by Xenophon: and his whole power, into the hands of Agesilaus. Cotys[2] also, the
ruler of Paphlagonia, had refused to obey a summons from the king,
although he sent him the warrant of his right hand;[3] then fear came
upon him lest he should be seized, and either be heavily fined or die
the death; yet he too, simply trusting to an armistice, came to the
camp of Agesilaus and made alliance, and of his own accord chose to
take the field with Agesilaus, bringing a thousand horsemen and two
thousand targeteers. Lastly, Pharnabazus[4] himself came and held
colloquy with Agesilaus, and openly agreed that if he were not himself
appointed general-in-chief of the royal forces he would revolt from
the king. "Whereas, if I do become general," he added, "I mean to make
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: out of the rental, and I shall take good care to look out for
something cheap, so that you may lose nothing by this mortgage,
which is indispensable.
"Oh! my dear Leopold, no gambler with the last remains of his
fortune in his pocket, bent on staking it at the Cercle des
Etrangers for the last time one night, when he must come away rich
or ruined, ever felt such a perpetual ringing in his ears, such a
nervous moisture on his palms, such a fevered tumult in his brain,
such inward qualms in his body as I go through every day now that
I am playing my last card in the game of ambition. Alas! my dear
and only friend, for nearly ten years now I have been struggling.
Albert Savarus |
