| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Sesame and Lilies by John Ruskin: elsewhere, "Visible governments are the toys of some nations, the
diseases of others, the harness of some, the burdens of more."
But I have no words for the wonder with which I hear Kinghood still
spoken of, even among thoughtful men, as if governed nations were a
personal property, and might be bought and sold, or otherwise
acquired, as sheep, of whose flesh their king was to feed, and whose
fleece he was to gather; as if Achilles' indignant epithet of base
kings, "people-eating," were the constant and proper title of all
monarchs; and the enlargement of a king's dominion meant the same
thing as the increase of a private man's estate! Kings who think
so, however powerful, can no more be the true kings of the nation
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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 Mountains by Stewart Edward White: but water-grasses of large bulk but small nutrition;
while apparently barren tracts often conceal small but
strong growths of great value. You must differentiate these.
Fifth, you must possess the ability to pare a hoof,
fit a shoe cold, nail it in place. A bare hoof does not
last long on the granite, and you are far from the
nearest blacksmith. Directly in line with this, you
must have the trick of picking up and holding a
hoof without being kicked, and you must be able to
throw and tie without injuring him any horse that
declines to be shod in any other way.
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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 Philosophy 4 by Owen Wister: saved. He had sent himself to college, where most of the hours not
given to education and more education, went to toiling and more toiling,
that he might pay his meagre way through the college world. He had a
cheaper room and ate cheaper meals than was necessary. He tutored, and
he wrote college specials for several newspapers. His chief relaxation
was the praise of the ladies in Newbury Street. These told him of the
future which awaited him, and when they gazed upon his features were put
in mind of the dying Keats. Not that Oscar was going to die in the
least. Life burned strong in him. There were sly times when he took
what he had saved by his cheap meals and room and went to Boston with
it, and for a few hours thoroughly ceased being ascetic. Yet Oscar felt
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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 Lysis by Plato: this Romance of Heavenly Love requires a strength, a freedom from passion,
a self-control, which, in youth especially, are rarely to be found. The
propriety of such friendships must be estimated a good deal by the manner
in which public opinion regards them; they must be reconciled with the
ordinary duties of life; and they must be justified by the result.
Yet another question, 10). Admitting that friendships cannot be always
permanent, we may ask when and upon what conditions should they be
dissolved. It would be futile to retain the name when the reality has
ceased to be. That two friends should part company whenever the relation
between them begins to drag may be better for both of them. But then
arises the consideration, how should these friends in youth or friends of
Lysis |
