| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Love and Friendship by Jane Austen: tenderly enquired after their Health, expressing my fears of the
uneasiness of their situation. At first they seemed rather
confused at my appearance dreading no doubt that I might call them
to account for the money which our Grandfather had left me and
which they had unjustly deprived me of, but finding that I
mentioned nothing of the Matter, they desired me to step into the
Basket as we might there converse with greater ease. Accordingly I
entered and whilst the rest of the party were devouring green tea
and buttered toast, we feasted ourselves in a more refined and
sentimental Manner by a confidential Conversation. I informed them
of every thing which had befallen me during the course of my life,
Love and Friendship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Forged Coupon by Leo Tolstoy: senters also came in their dirty sheepskin coats.
After the service Missael delivered a sermon,
admonishing the dissenters to return to the bosom
of their mother, the Church, threatening them
with the torments of hell, and promising full for-
giveness to those who would repent.
The dissenters kept silent at first. Then, be-
ing asked questions, they gave answers. To the
question why they dissented, they said that their
chief reason was the fact that the Church wor-
shipped gods made of wood, which, far from be-
The Forged Coupon |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Tom Grogan by F. Hopkinson Smith: throughout the day on the unprotected dock, a man's sou'wester
covering her head, a rubber waterproof reaching to her feet. She
directed every boat-load herself, and rushed the materials to the
shovelers, who stood soaking wet in the driving rain.
Lathers avoided her; so did McGaw. Everybody else watched her in
admiration. Even the commandant, a bluff, gray-bearded naval
officer,--a hero of Hampton Roads and Memphis,--passed her on his
morning inspection with a kindly look in his face and an aside to
Babcock: "Hire some more like her. She is worth a dozen men."
Not until the final cargo required for the completion of the wall
had been dumped on the platforms did she relax her vigilance.
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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 Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: really find in the lias at Lynn in Dorsetshire. But they are not
that; and all we can say is, that a long time ago, before the
chalk began to be made, there was a shallow sea in England, the
shore of which was so covered with dead animals, that the bone-
earth (the phosphate of lime) out of them crusted itself round
every bone, and shell, and dead sea-beast on the shore, and got
covered up with fresh sand, and buried for ages as a mine of
wealth.
But how many millions of dead creatures, there must have been!
What killed them?
We do not know. No more do we know how it comes to pass that this
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