| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Legend of Montrose by Walter Scott: castle and the doors of his apartment, were precautions adequate
to prevent Allan from seeking out the very persons to whom he was
peculiarly obnoxious. He made his escape by night from the
window of the apartment, and laughing at his father's vain care,
produced on one occasion the head of one, and upon another those
of two, of the Children of the Mist. At length these men, fierce
as they were, became appalled by the inveterate animosity and
audacity with which Allan sought out their recesses. As he never
hesitated to encounter any odds, they concluded that he must bear
a charmed life, or fight under the guardianship of some
supernatural influence. Neither gun, dirk, nor dourlach
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: We are encamped upon an island, and therefore we can only be
rescued by sea."
"But do you suppose that any of our friends are still alive?"
asked Ben Zoof.
"Oh, I think we must indulge the hope that this catastrophe has not
extended far. We must trust that it has limited its mischief to some small
portion of the Algerian coast, and that our friends are all alive and well.
No doubt the governor general will be anxious to investigate the full
extent of the damage, and will send a vessel from Algiers to explore.
It is not likely that we shall be forgotten. What, then, you have to do,
Ben Zoof, is to keep a sharp lookout, and to be ready, in case a vessel
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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 Blix by Frank Norris:
"But, Condy," she complained, "why in the world did you get so
many crackers? There's hundreds of them here--enough to feed a
regiment. Why didn't you ask me?"
"Huh! what? what? I don't know. What's the matter with the
crackers? You were dickering with the cheese, and the man said,
'How many crackers?' I didn't know. I said, 'Oh, give me a
quarter's worth!'"
"And we couldn't possibly have eaten ten cents' worth! Oh, Condy,
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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 Phaedo by Plato: of the best' he is unable to explain; and therefore takes refuge in
universal ideas. And are not we at this day seeking to discover that which
Socrates in a glass darkly foresaw?
Some resemblances to the Greek drama may be noted in all the Dialogues of
Plato. The Phaedo is the tragedy of which Socrates is the protagonist and
Simmias and Cebes the secondary performers, standing to them in the same
relation as to Glaucon and Adeimantus in the Republic. No Dialogue has a
greater unity of subject and feeling. Plato has certainly fulfilled the
condition of Greek, or rather of all art, which requires that scenes of
death and suffering should be clothed in beauty. The gathering of the
friends at the commencement of the Dialogue, the dismissal of Xanthippe,
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