| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells: urged various facetious interrogations upon her, as, for example,
where the witness had acquired his prose style. She controlled
herself, and answered meekly, "No."
"Well, Ann Veronica Smith," the magistrate remarked when the case
was all before him, "you're a good-looking, strong, respectable
gell, and it's a pity you silly young wimmin can't find something
better to do with your exuberance. Two-and-twenty! I can't
imagine what your parents can be thinking about to let you get
into these scrapes."
Ann Veronica's mind was filled with confused unutterable replies.
"You are persuaded to come and take part in these outrageous
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: cried. "Dost forget that I be a low born knave, knowing
not my own mother and questioning even the identity
of my father? Could a De Montfort face the world
with such a man for husband?"
"I know what I say, perfectly," she answered. "Were
thou born out of wedlock, the son of a hostler and a
scullery maid, still would I love thee, and honor thee,
and cleave to thee. Where thou be, Norman of Torn,
there shall be happiness for me. Thy friends shall be
my friends; thy joys shall be my joys; thy sorrows,
my sorrows; and thy enemies, even mine own father,
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: several military districts. Secretary Seward, while approving the
measure, suggested that it would better be postponed until it
could be given to the country after a victory, instead of issuing
it, as would be the case then, upon the greatest disasters of the
war. "The wisdom of the view of the Secretary of State struck me
with very great force," Mr. Lincoln's recital continues. "It was
an aspect of the case that, in all my thought upon the subject, I
had entirely overlooked. The result was that I put the draft of
the proclamation aside, as you do your sketch for a picture,
waiting for a victory."
The secrets of the administration were well kept, and no hint
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: of his assassination.
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, given November 19, 1863
on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
#STARTMARK#
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . .
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place
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