| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Royalty Restored/London Under Charles II by J. Fitzgerald Molloy: Mallett, daughter of Lord Hawley of Donamore. Now this
gentlewoman had a fortune of two thousand five hundred a year, a
considerable sum in those days, and one which gained her many
suitors; amongst whom Lord Hinchingbrook was commended by her
family, and Lord Rochester by the king. Now the latter nobleman,
having but a poor estate, was anxious to obtain her wealth, and
fearful of losing his suit: and being uncertain as to whether he
could gain her consent to marry him by fair means, he resolved to
obtain it by execution of a daring scheme.
This was to carry her off by force, an action which highly
commended itself to his adventurous spirit. Accordingly he
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The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: haughty nature, so little in accord with the ardour which is the
foundation of a young maid's dreams of happiness. How things would,
of necessity, alter if she were to marry, she was afraid to think.
All told, the prospect was not happy for her, and she had a secret
longing that something might occur to upset the order of things as
at present arranged.
When Lilla received a note from Edgar Caswall asking if he might
come to tea on the following afternoon, her heart sank within her.
If it was only for her father's sake, she must not refuse him or
show any disinclination which he might construe into incivility.
She missed Mimi more than she could say or even dared to think.
 Lair of the White Worm |
The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from Euthyphro by Plato: by the act of being pious, not by the act of being loved; and therefore
piety and the state of being loved are different. Through such subtleties
of dialectic Socrates is working his way into a deeper region of thought
and feeling. He means to say that the words 'loved of the gods' express an
attribute only, and not the essence of piety.
Then follows the third and last definition, 'Piety is a part of justice.'
Thus far Socrates has proceeded in placing religion on a moral foundation.
He is seeking to realize the harmony of religion and morality, which the
great poets Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Pindar had unconsciously anticipated,
and which is the universal want of all men. To this the soothsayer adds
the ceremonial element, 'attending upon the gods.' When further
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