| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: anxious uncertainty as he remembered the period of deception upon
which Susan was entering. He keenly watched his father's face when
they arrived, and was a little relieved when he saw that his wife
had made a good first impression.
"So, this is my new housekeeper," said the old man. "I hope you
will suit me as well as your husband does."
"I'll do my best, sir," said she; "but you must have patience
with me for a few days, until I know your ways and wishes."
"Mr. Flint," said Sally, "shall I get supper ready?"
Susan looked up in astonishment at hearing the name.
"Yes," the old man remarked, "we both have the same name. The fact
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rewards and Fairies by Rudyard Kipling: rough, oblong stone pan, rather like a small kitchen sink, which
Phillips, who never wastes anything, had found in a ditch and had
used for his precious hens.
'That?' said Dan and Una, and stared, and stared, and stared.
Mr Culpeper made impatient noises in his throat and went on.
'I am at these pains to be particular, good people, because I
would have you follow, so far as you may, the operations of my
mind. That plague which I told you I had handled outside Wallingford
in Oxfordshire was of a watery nature, conformable to
the brookish riverine country it bred in, and curable, as I have
said, by drenching in water. This plague of ours here, for all that it
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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 The Deputy of Arcis by Honore de Balzac: idea; but no matter,--we'll vote for you all the same."
I think the man is right; this chance resemblance is likely to have
great weight in the election. You must remember, madame, that, in
spite of the fatal facts which cling about his memory, Danton is not
an object of horror and execration in Arcis, where he was born and
brought up. In the first place time has purged him; his grand
character and powerful intellect remain, and the people are proud of
their compatriot. In Arcis they talk of Danton as in Marseilles they
talk of Cannebiere. Fortunate, therefore, is our candidate's likeness
to this demigod, the worship of whom is not confined to the town, but
extends to the surrounding country.
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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 Lock and Key Library by Julian Hawthorne, Ed.: us in relief upon the frosty blue sky; and still it seemed never to
increase. Such was the complaint of my little sister Mariamne.
Most innocent child! would that it never had increased for thy
eyes, but remained forever at a distance! That same hour began the
series of monstrous indignities which terminated the career of my
ill-fated family. As we drew up to the city gates, the officer who
inspected the passports, finding my mother and sisters described as
Jewesses, which in my mother's ears (reared in a region where Jews
are not dishonored) always sounded a title of distinction, summoned
a subordinate agent, who in coarse terms demanded his toll. We
presumed this to be a road tax for the carriage and horses, but we
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