| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from De Profundis by Oscar Wilde: little cup that is made to hold so much can hold so much and no
more, though all the purple vats of Burgundy be filled with wine to
the brim, and the treaders stand knee-deep in the gathered grapes
of the stony vineyards of Spain. There is no error more common
than that of thinking that those who are the causes or occasions of
great tragedies share in the feelings suitable to the tragic mood:
no error more fatal than expecting it of them. The martyr in his
'shirt of flame' may be looking on the face of God, but to him who
is piling the faggots or loosening the logs for the blast the whole
scene is no more than the slaying of an ox is to the butcher, or
the felling of a tree to the charcoal burner in the forest, or the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be
framed with a provision specifically applicable to every question which may
occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate,
nor any document of reasonable length contain, express provisions
for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered
by national or State authority? The Constitution does not expressly say.
May Congress prohibit slavery in the Territories? The Constitution does not
expressly say. MUST Congress protect slavery in the Territories?
The Constitution does not expressly say.
From questions of this class spring all our constitutional controversies,
and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. If the minority
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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 Tono Bungay by H. G. Wells: pocket; and afterwards my eye caught the missile of good fortune
lying, it or its fellow, most obviously mislaid, behind the
umbrella-stand in the hall....
The whole business was much more absurd, more incoherent, more
human than I had anticipated, but I was far too young and serious
to let the latter quality atone for its shortcomings. I am so
remote from this phase of my youth that I can look back at it all
as dispassionately as one looks at a picture--at some wonderful,
perfect sort of picture that is inexhaustible; but at the time
these things filled me with unspeakable resentment. Now I go
round it all, look into its details, generalise about its
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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 A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain: and never any change, never any variety--always the same
tiresome thing.
Next, the butter--the sham and tasteless butter; no salt
in it, and made of goodness knows what.
Then there is the beefsteak. They have it in Europe, but they
don't know how to cook it. Neither will they cut it right.
It comes on the table in a small, round pewter platter.
It lies in the center of this platter, in a bordering
bed of grease-soaked potatoes; it is the size, shape,
and thickness of a man's hand with the thumb and fingers
cut off. It is a little overdone, is rather dry,
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