| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Chronicles of the Canongate by Walter Scott: fellow," thought I. "If I lost the estate, I at least spent the
price; and Mr. Treddles has lost his among paltry commercial
engagements."
"Wretch!" said the secret voice within, "darest thou exult in
thy shame? Recollect how thy youth and fortune was wasted in
those years, and triumph not in the enjoyment of an existence
which levelled thee with the beasts that perish. Bethink thee
how this poor man's vanity gave at least bread to the labourer,
peasant, and citizen; and his profuse expenditure, like water
spilt on the ground, refreshed the lowly herbs and plants where
it fell. But thou! Whom hast thou enriched during thy career of
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe: the wall there hung a shield of shining brass with this legend
enwritten--
Who entereth herein, a conquerer hath bin;
Who slayeth the dragon, the shield he shall win;
and Ethelred uplifted his mace, and struck upon the head of the
dragon, which fell before him, and gave up his pesty breath, with
a shriek so horrid and harsh, and withal so piercing, that
Ethelred had fain to close his ears with his hands against the
dreadful noise of it, the like whereof was never before heard."
Here again I paused abruptly, and now with a feeling of wild
amazement--for there could be no doubt whatever that, in this
The Fall of the House of Usher |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: the word 'symmetry,' as if intending to express measure conceived as
relation. He then proceeds to regard the good no longer in an objective
form, but as the human reason seeking to attain truth by the aid of
dialectic; such at least we naturally infer to be his meaning, when we
consider that both here and in the Republic the sphere of nous or mind is
assigned to dialectic. (2) It is remarkable (see above) that this personal
conception of mind is confined to the human mind, and not extended to the
divine. (3) If we may be allowed to interpret one dialogue of Plato by
another, the sciences of figure and number are probably classed with the
arts and true opinions, because they proceed from hypotheses (compare
Republic). (4) The sixth class, if a sixth class is to be added, is
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