| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: magnificence, Monsieur and Madame Vervelle reached the moment of their
grand theatrical effect,--the opening of the picture gallery
illuminated by lamps, the reflections of which were managed with the
utmost care. Three neighbours, also retired merchants, an old uncle
(from whom were expectations), an elderly Demoiselle Vervelle, and a
number of other guests invited to be present at this ovation to a
great artist followed Grassou into the picture gallery, all curious to
hear his opinion of the famous collection of pere Vervelle, who was
fond of oppressing them with the fabulous value of his paintings. The
bottle-merchant seemed to have the idea of competing with King Louis-
Philippe and the galleries of Versailles.
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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 Psychology of Revolution by Gustave le Bon: 3. The role of the leader in Revolutionary Movements
CHAPTER V. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE REVOLUTIONARY ASSEMBLIES
1. Psychological characteristics of the great Revolutionary
Assemblies
2. The Psychology of the Revolutionary Clubs
3. A suggested explanation of the progressive exaggeration
of sentiments in assemblies
PART II
BOOK I
THE ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
CHAPTER 1. THE OPINIONS OF HISTORIANS CONCERNING THE FRENCH
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Youth by Joseph Conrad: my youth, my common-sense, and my seamanship, and
made a point of showing it in a hundred little ways. I
dare say he was right. It seems to me I knew very little
then, and I know not much more now; but I cherish a
hate for that Jermyn to this day.
"We were a week working up as far as Yarmouth
Roads, and then we got into a gale--the famous October
gale of twenty-two years ago. It was wind, lightning,
sleet, snow, and a terrific sea. We were flying light, and
you may imagine how bad it was when I tell you we had
smashed bulwarks and a flooded deck. On the second
Youth |
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 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin: It was the third. I had never before seen any of them. I bought it,
read it over and over, and was much delighted with it. I thought
the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it.
With this view I took some of the papers, and, making short hints
of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days, and then,
without looking at the book, try'd to compleat the papers again,
by expressing each hinted sentiment at length, and as fully as it
had been expressed before, in any suitable words that should
come to hand. Then I compared my Spectator with the original,
discovered some of my faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted
a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and using them,
The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin |
