| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from In Darkest England and The Way Out by General William Booth: people, that by giving the old, second-hand material a new lease of
life it will be said that we shall diminish the demand for new
material, and so curtail work and wages at one end while we are
endeavouring to piece on something at the other. This objection reminds
me of a remark of a North Country pilot who, when speaking of the
dulness in the shipbuilding industry, said that nothing would do any
good but a series of heavy storms, which would send a goodly number of
ocean-going steamers to the bottom, to replace which, this political
economist thought, the yards would once more be filled with orders.
This, however, is not the way in which work is supplied. Economy is a
great auxiliary to trade, inasmuch as the money saved is expended on
In Darkest England and The Way Out |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Soul of the Far East by Percival Lowell: the exceeding richness and the amazing number of the silk cloths and
lacquered boxes in which they are so religiously kept. As you gaze
thus, amid the soul-satisfying repose of the spot, at some
masterpiece from the brush of Motonobu, you find yourself wondering,
in a fanciful sort of way, whether Buddhist contemplation is not
after all only another name for the contemplation of the beautiful,
since devotees to the one are ex officio such votaries of the other.
Dissimilar as are these two glimpses of Japanese existence, in one
point the bustling street and the hushed temple are alike,--in the
nameless grace that beautifies both.
This spirit is even more remarkable for its all-pervasiveness than
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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 A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare: And I will purge thy mortall grossenesse so,
That thou shalt like an airie spirit go.
Enter Pease-blossome, Cobweb, Moth, Mustardseede, and foure
Fairies.
Fai. Ready; and I, and I, and I, Where shall we go?
Tita. Be kinde and curteous to this Gentleman,
Hop in his walkes, and gambole in his eies,
Feede him with Apricocks, and Dewberries,
With purple Grapes, greene Figs, and Mulberries,
The honie-bags steale from the humble Bees,
And for night-tapers crop their waxen thighes,
A Midsummer Night's Dream |
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 Pellucidar by Edgar Rice Burroughs: and he, too, was sprawled upon the sward with a round
hole between his eyes. It had been a rather good shot.
I glanced over the edge again. Dian was almost at
the bottom. I could see Juag standing just beneath her
with his hands upstretched to assist her.
A sullen roar from the warriors recalled my attention
toward them. They stood shaking their fists at me and
yelling insults. From the direction of the village I saw
a single warrior coming to join them. He was a huge
fellow, and when he strode among them I could tell
by his bearing and their deference toward him that he
Pellucidar |
