I recognize your right to make explorations as well as ourselves, and I
presume you have not fallen so low that you will not recognize the unwritten law in a case of this kind--the law which says the right of discovery belongs to the one who first makes it.
None of them, I
presume, had ever read a page of my inditing, or would have cared a fig the more for me if they had read them all; nor would it have mended the matter, in the least, had those same unprofitable pages been written with a pen like that of Burns or of Chaucer, each of whom was a Custom-House officer in his day, as well as I.
They were obsequious and servile and did not
presume to talk to their masters as if they were their equals.
In your adopted country, I
presume, I cannot do better than address you as a young English lady, Miss Manette?
I had two or three shillings of my week's money in my pocket - from which I
presume that it must have been on a Wednesday night when we held this conversation - and I hastily produced them, and with heartfelt emotion begged Mrs.
And respecting language, I willingly hold communication in that spoken by my respected grandmother, Hilda of Middleham, who died in odour of sanctity, little short, if we may
presume to say so, of her glorious namesake, the blessed Saint Hilda of Whitby, God be gracious to her soul
My master, in a few words, made me a very gracious reply; allowed me the space of two months to finish my boat; and ordered the sorrel nag, my fellow-servant (for so, at this distance, I may
presume to call him), to follow my instruction; because I told my master, "that his help would be sufficient, and I knew he had a tenderness for me.
I revered our theology, and aspired as much as any one to reach heaven: but being given assuredly to understand that the way is not less open to the most ignorant than to the most learned, and that the revealed truths which lead to heaven are above our comprehension, I did not
presume to subject them to the impotency of my reason; and I thought that in order competently to undertake their examination, there was need of some special help from heaven, and of being more than man.
Unless we
presume at the same time that the powers of the general government will be worse administered than those of the State government, there seems to be no room for the presumption of ill-will, disaffection, or opposition in the people.
I
presume it is the better part of wisdom that we bow to our fate with as good grace as possible, Dejah Thoris; but I hope, nevertheless, that I may be present the next time that any Martian, green, red, pink, or violet, has the temerity to even so much as frown on you, my princess.
Monte Cristo regarded the person who durst
presume to doubt his words with the look of one equally surprised and displeased.
Farewell, monseigneur; should I not receive a reply in the space of fifteen days, I shall
presume my letter will have miscarried.
