| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Symposium by Plato: have descanted in prose on the virtues of Heracles and other heroes; and,
what is still more extraordinary, I have met with a philosophical work in
which the utility of salt has been made the theme of an eloquent discourse;
and many other like things have had a like honour bestowed upon them. And
only to think that there should have been an eager interest created about
them, and yet that to this day no one has ever dared worthily to hymn
Love's praises! So entirely has this great deity been neglected.' Now in
this Phaedrus seems to me to be quite right, and therefore I want to offer
him a contribution; also I think that at the present moment we who are here
assembled cannot do better than honour the god Love. If you agree with me,
there will be no lack of conversation; for I mean to propose that each of
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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 When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: repairs, etc., say œ150,000, on which sum it may pay a net two
and a half per cent, not more.
This œ3,700 odd I have always devoted to the upkeep of the
place, which is therefore in first-rate order. The rest I live
on, or save.
These arrangements, with the beautifying and furnishing of the
house and the restoration of the church in memory of my father,
occupied and amused me for a year or so, but when they were
finished time began to hang heavy on my hands. What was the use
of possessing about œ20,000 a year when there was nothing upon
which it could be spent? For after all my own wants were few and
When the World Shook |
