| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ebb-Tide by Stevenson & Osbourne: usher marshalling them and reading as he walked in a great
book. He was installed in a villa, semi-detached; the name,
Rosemore, on the gateposts. In a chair on the gravel walk, he
seemed to sit smoking a cigar, a blue ribbon in his buttonhole,
victor over himself and circumstances, and the malignity of
bankers. He saw the parlour with red curtains and shells on the
mantelpiece--and with the fine inconsistency of visions, mixed
a grog at the mahogany table ere he turned in. With that the
Farallone gave one of the aimless and nameless movements
which (even in an anchored ship and even in the most profound
calm) remind one of the mobility of fluids; and he was back again
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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 Cavalry General by Xenophon: superior force, never to leave a difficult tract of ground in the rear
of your attack, since there is all the difference in the world between
a stumble in flight and a stumble in pursuit.
There is another precaution which I feel called upon to note. Some
generals,[12] in attacking a force which they imagine to be inferior
to their own, will advance with a ridiculously insufficient force,[13]
so that it is the merest accident if they do not experience the injury
they were minded to inflict. Conversely, in attacking any enemy whose
superiority is a well-known fact, they will bring the whole of their
force into action.
[12] Or, "one knows of generals," e.g. Iphicrates at Oneion, 369 B.C.
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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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: everything they come across, birds and rabbits and chipmunks."
"Tattine," said Grandma Luty, with her dear, kindly smile "your Mother has
told me how disappointed you have been this summer in Betsy and Doctor and
little Black-and-white, and that now Barney has fallen into disgrace, since he
kept you so long in the ford the other day, but I want to tell you something.
You must not stop loving them at all because they do what you call cruel
things. You have heard the old rhyme:--
"Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
For God has made them so:
Let bears and lions growl and fight,
For 'tis their nature to."
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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 King of the Golden River by John Ruskin: grass, after he had got over, and began to climb the hill just in
the hottest part of the clay. When he had climbed for an hour, he
got dreadfully thirsty and was going to drink like his brothers,
when he saw an old man coming down the path above him, looking very
feeble and leaning on a staff. "Why son," said the old man, "I
am faint with thirst; give me some of that water." Then Gluck
looked at him, and when he saw that he was pale and weary, he gave
him the water. "Only pray don't drink it all," said Gluck. But
the old man drank a great deal and gave him back the bottle two
thirds empty. Then he bade him good speed, and Gluck went on again
merrily. And the path became easier to his feet, and two or three
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