| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Maitre Cornelius by Honore de Balzac: "Pasques-Dieu! and such treasure!" cried the king.
"Where is it?" asked Cornelius, who, by a singular provision of
nature, heard the remarks of the king and his physician, while
continuing himself almost torpid with thought and the shock of this
singular misfortune.
"Ha!" cried Coyctier, bursting into a diabolical, coarse laugh,
"somnambulists never remember on their waking what they have done when
asleep."
"Leave us," said the king.
When Louis XI. was alone with his silversmith, he looked at him and
chuckled coldly.
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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 Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: fourth estate. That was true at the time, no doubt. But at the
present moment it really is the only estate. It has eaten up the
other three. The Lords Temporal say nothing, the Lords Spiritual
have nothing to say, and the House of Commons has nothing to say
and says it. We are dominated by Journalism. In America the
President reigns for four years, and Journalism governs for ever
and ever. Fortunately in America Journalism has carried its
authority to the grossest and most brutal extreme. As a natural
consequence it has begun to create a spirit of revolt. People are
amused by it, or disgusted by it, according to their temperaments.
But it is no longer the real force it was. It is not seriously
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