| 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: not yet decorated.) The minister of the Interior ordered two church
pictures of Fougeres.
This Salon of 1829 was to Pierre Grassou his whole fortune, fame,
future, and life. Be original, invent, and you die by inches; copy,
imitate, and you'll live. After this discovery of a gold mine, Grassou
de Fougeres obtained his benefit of the fatal principle to which
society owes the wretched mediocrities to whom are intrusted in these
days the election of leaders in all social classes; who proceed,
naturally, to elect themselves and who wage a bitter war against all
true talent. The principle of election applied indiscriminately is
false, and France will some day abandon it.
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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 Crisis in Russia by Arthur Ransome: getting those things done which that political party considers
should be done. In a country fighting, literally, for its life,
no man can call his soul his own, and we have seen how this
fact-a fact that has become obvious again and again in the
history of the world, whenever a nation has had its back to
the wall-is expressed in Russia in terms of industrial
conscription; in measures, that is to say, which would be
impossible in any country not reduced to such extremities; in
measures which may prove to be the inevitable
accompaniment of national crisis, when such crisis is
economic rather than military. Let us now see what the
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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 Madam How and Lady Why by Charles Kingsley: great bed of dust and ashes which have been hurled far and wide
out of ancient volcanos, happy homesteads, rich crops, hemp and
flax, and wheat, tobacco, lucerne, roots, and vineyards laden with
white and purple grapes, you would have begun to suspect that the
lava streams were not, after all, such very bad neighbours. And
when I tell you that volcanic soils (as they are called), that is,
soil which has at first been lava or ashes, are generally the
richest soils in the world--that, for instance (as some one told
me the other day), there is soil in the beautiful island of
Madeira so thin that you cannot dig more than two or three inches
down without coming to the solid rock of lava, or what is harder
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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 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: that Albert resided in the aforesaid street, appeared every
day on the fashionable walk, and dined frequently at the
only restaurant where you can really dine, that is, if you
are on good terms with its frequenters. Signor Pastrini
remained silent a short time; it was evident that he was
musing over this answer, which did not seem very clear.
"But," said Franz, in his turn interrupting his host's
meditations, "you had some motive for coming here, may I beg
to know what it was?"
"Ah, yes; you have ordered your carriage at eight o'clock
precisely?"
The Count of Monte Cristo |
