| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from The Atheist's Mass by Honore de Balzac: to formulate an accusation and so to pass sentence on them. If,
subsequently, the proceedings thus attacked are crowned with
success, showing the correlations of the preliminaries and the
results, a few of the vanguard of calumnies always survive. In
our day, for instance, Napoleon was condemned by our
contemporaries when he spread his eagle's wings to alight in
England: only 1822 could explain 1804 and the flatboats at
Boulogne.
As, in Desplein, his glory and science were invulnerable, his
enemies attacked his odd moods and his temper, whereas, in fact,
he was simply characterized by what the English call
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Pierrette by Honore de Balzac: The speech is evidently not his own. His health is failing, which
allows Madame Rogron to hope she may soon marry the General Marquis de
Montriveau, peer of France, who commands the department, and is paying
her attentions. Vinet is in his element, seeking victims; he never
believes in the innocence of an accused person. This thoroughbred
prosecutor is held to be one of the most amiable men on the circuit;
and he is no less liked in Paris and in the Chamber; at court he is a
charming courtier.
According to a certain promise made by Vinet, General Baron Gouraud,
that noble relic of our glorious armies, married a Mademoiselle
Matifat, twenty-five years old, daughter of a druggist in the rue des
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: him wondering, wondering beyond measure.
A practical idea came into that confusion. Had any one heard the
gun?
I reloaded.
After a time I felt securer, and gave my mind again to the dead I
had killed. What must I do?
It occurred to me that perhaps I ought to bury him. At any rate,
I ought to hide him. I reflected coolly, and then put my gun
within easy reach and dragged him by the arm towards a place
where the mud seemed soft, and thrust him in. His powder-flask
slipped from his loin-cloth, and I went back to get it. Then I
|
