| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: last, in Battle Abbey roll--and side by side the almost ubiquitous
Brown, whose ancestor was probably some Danish or Norwegian house-
carle, proud of his name Biorn the Bear, and the ubiquitous Smith or
Smythe, the Smiter, whose forefather, whether he be now peasant or
peer, assuredly handled the tongs and hammer at his own forge. This
holds true equally in New England and in Old. When I search through
(as I delight to do) your New England surnames, I find the same
jumble of names--West Saxon, Angle, Danish, Norman, and French-
Norman likewise, many of primaeval and heathen antiquity, many of
high nobility, all worked together, as at home, to form the Free
Commoners of England.
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Frances Waldeaux by Rebecca Davis: facts. I want no disclosures after----"
"After marriage?" said Jean, rising suddenly. "Then you
have decided?"
"I have not said that I had decided," replied Lucy
calmly.
Jean laughed. "He will not be scared by the saddler.
Europeans of his order take no account of our American
class distinctions. They look upon us as low-born
parvenues, all alike. They weigh and value us by other
standards than birth."
"I have money, if you mean that, Jean," said Lucy
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Touchstone by Edith Wharton: those who couldn't "see" Alexa Glennard's looks; and Mrs.
Touchett's claims to consideration were founded on that
distribution of effects which is the wonder of those who admire a
highly cultivated country. The third lady of the trio which
Glennard's fancy had put to such unflattering uses, was bound by
circumstances to support the claims of the other two. This was
Mrs. Dresham, the wife of the editor of the Radiator. Mrs.
Dresham was a lady who had rescued herself from social obscurity
by assuming the role of her husband's exponent and interpreter;
and Dresham's leisure being devoted to the cultivation of
remarkable women, his wife's attitude committed her to the public
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