| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin by Robert Louis Stevenson: accompanied the triumphs of France all over the world, and that the
red flag had only been dipped in the blood of the citizens. For
sixty hours he has been quieting the people: he is at the head of
everything. Don't be prejudiced, Frank, by what you see in the
papers. The French have acted nobly, splendidly; there has been no
brutality, plundering, or stealing. . . . I did not like the
French before; but in this respect they are the finest people in
the world. I am so glad to have been here.'
And there one could wish to stop with this apotheosis of liberty
and order read with the generous enthusiasm of a boy; but as the
reader knows, it was but the first act of the piece. The letters,
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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 Apology by Xenophon: [50] {omologoumenos}. For the use of the word L. Dind. cf. Diog.
Laert. vii. 87, {dioper protos o Zenon en to peri anthropou
phuseos telos eipe to omologoumenos te phusei zen} (Cicero's
"naturae convenienter vivere," L. and S.), whereas the regular
Attic use is different. Cf. "Oec." i. 11, {kai omologoumenos ge o
logos emin khorei} = "consentanea ratione." "Our argument runs on
all-fours." Plat. "Symp." 186 B, {to nasoun omologoumenos eteron
te kai anomoion esti}, "ut inter omnes convenit."
And when he perceived those who followed by his side in tears, "What
is this?" he asked. "Why do you weep now?[51] Do you not know that for
many a long day, ever since I was born, sentence of death was passed
The Apology |
| 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]: first like a drink," so downstairs she went, and putting some milk in a
shallow tea-cup, she dipped Bunny's nose in it, and it seemed to her as though
he did take a little of it. Then she trudged up to the garret for a box, and,
putting a layer of cotton-batting in the bottom, laid Bunny in one corner.
Then she went to the garden and pulled a leaf or two of the youngest, greenest
lettuce, and put it right within reach of Bunny's nose, and a little saucer of
water beside it. Then she went down to tell the gardener's little boy all
about the sorrowful thing that had happened.
The next morning Bunny was still breathing, but the lettuce was un-nibbled; he
had not moved an inch, and he was trembling like a leaf. "Mamma," she called
upstairs, "I think I'll put BUN in the sun" (she was trying not to be too
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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 Vailima Letters by Robert Louis Stevenson: young man died from her favours last month - so we said on
this side of the island; on the other, where he died, it was
not so certain. I, for one, blame it on Madam SAUMAI-AFE
without hesitation.
Example of the farmer's sorrows. I slipped out on the
balcony a moment ago. It is a lovely morning, cloudless,
smoking hot, the breeze not yet arisen. Looking west, in
front of our new house, I saw, two heads of Indian corn
wagging, and the rest and all nature stock still. As I
looked, one of the stalks subsided and disappeared. I dashed
out to the rescue; two small pigs were deep in the grass -
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