| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose
that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the
providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued
through his appointed time, he now wills to remove, and that he
gives to both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due
to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any
departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a
living God always ascribe to him? Fondly do we hope--fervently
do we pray--that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away.
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by
the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil
Second Inaugural Address |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from The Life of the Spider by J. Henri Fabre: the unfailing patience of the Epeira, but it soon wears out mine.
And it has happened to me sometimes to collaborate with the Spider.
I pick up the floating loop with a straw and lay it on a branch, at
a convenient height. The foot-bridge erected with my assistance is
considered satisfactory, just as though the wind had placed it. I
count this collaboration among the good actions standing to my
credit.
Feeling her thread fixed, the Epeira runs along it repeatedly, from
end to end, adding a fibre to it on each journey. Whether I help
or not, this forms the 'suspension-cable,' the main piece of the
frame-work. I call it a cable, in spite of its extreme thinness,
The Life of the Spider |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost: conduct for the other scholars. Not that I made any
extraordinary efforts to acquire this reputation, but my
disposition was naturally tractable and tranquil; my inclinations
led me to apply to study; and even the natural dislike I felt for
vice was placed to my credit as positive proof of virtue. The
successful progress of my studies, my birth, and some external
advantages of person, made me a general favourite with the
inhabitants of the town.
"I completed my public exercises with such general approbation,
that the bishop of the diocese, who was present, proposed to me
to enter the church, where I could not fail, he said, to acquire
|
