| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Barlaam and Ioasaph by St. John of Damascus: overcome the world.' Wherefore, rejoice in the Lord alway; for
he hath chosen and separated thee out of the world, and set thee,
as it were before his countenance. The Master, who hath called
thee with a holy calling, is alway near. Be careful for nothing,
but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let thy requests be made known unto God. For he himself hath
said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." So, by the
hardness of thy life, and by scorn of its rigours, win such
thoughts as these, and rejoice, remembering our Lord God, for he
saith, `I remembered God and was glad.'
"But when the adversary, seeking another fashion of war,
|
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: of which do we now possess, being used for baking "pyes."
At the Great Fire of London in 1666, the number of books burnt was enormous.
Not only in private houses and Corporate and Church libraries were priceless
collections reduced to cinders, but an immense stock of books removed from
Paternoster Row by the Stationers for safety was burnt to ashes in the vaults
of St. Paul's Cathedral.
Coming nearer to our own day, how thankful we ought to be for
the preservation of the Cotton Library. Great was the consternation
in the literary world of 1731 when they heard of the fire at
Ashburnham House, Westminster, where, at that time, the Cotton MSS.
were deposited. By great exertions the fire was conquered, but not
|
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: part sprung, these innumerable small bodies, instead of uniting
their class, only served to split it up more and more; and when the
Revolution broke them up, once and for all, with all other
privileges whatsoever, no bond of union was left; and each man stood
alone, proud of his "individuality"--his complete social isolation;
till he discovered that, in ridding himself of superiors, he had rid
himself also of fellows; fulfilling, every man in his own person,
the old fable of the bundle of sticks; and had to submit, under the
Consulate and the Empire, to a tyranny to which the Ancien Regime
was freedom itself.
For, in France at least, the Ancien Regime was no tyranny. The
|
