"Promise, my dear, you will do nothing
rash, "said Benjamin, as he opened the door for me.
"I am the
Rash Act," was the sepulchral reply; "you may commit me."
You shall not be involved in any
rash proceedings on my part.
The first part of his history had not yet reached him, for, had he read it, the amazement with which his words and deeds filled him would have vanished, as he would then have understood the nature of his madness; but knowing nothing of it, he took him to be rational one moment, and crazy the next, for what he said was sensible, elegant, and well expressed, and what he did, absurd,
rash, and foolish; and said he to himself, "What could be madder than putting on a helmet full of curds, and then persuading oneself that enchanters are softening one's skull; or what could be greater rashness and folly than wanting to fight lions tooth and nail?"
He hoped she had not acted upon her
rash impulse; and he begged her to consider first, foremost, and above all else, what people would say.
But being upheld by powers, to which the human mind cannot reach, I shall speak no more of them, because, being exalted and maintained by God, it would be the act of a presumptuous and
rash man to discuss them.
Hunt upon his guard: still, as there was no knowing how far his plans might have succeeded, and as any
rash act might blow the mere smouldering sparks of treason into a sudden blaze, it was thought advisable by those with whom Mr.
Some persons possessed this power for life, others only for a particular time or particular purpose, as the people of Mitylene elected Pittacus to oppose the exiles, who were headed by Antimenides and Alcaeus the poet, as we learn from a poem of his; for he upbraids the Mitylenians for having chosen Pittacus for their tyrant, and with one [1285b] voice extolling him to the skies who was the ruin of a
rash and devoted people.
I would not be understood to suppose that the proceedings of the unhappy scapegrace, with his few profligate companions I have here introduced, are a specimen of the common practices of society - the case is an extreme one, as I trusted none would fail to perceive; but I know that such characters do exist, and if I have warned one
rash youth from following in their steps, or prevented one thoughtless girl from falling into the very natural error of my heroine, the book has not been written in vain.
Nor does it appear to be a
rash conjecture that its young swarms might often be tempted to gather honey in the more blooming fields and milder air of their luxurious and more delicate neighbors.
It would be
rash to predict how Passepartout's lively nature would agree with Mr.
It must always remain the great curiosity of history--a whim, a fantasy, an apparition, a thing unexpected and undreamed; and it should serve as a warning to those
rash political theorists of to-day who speak with certitude of social processes.