| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving: constructed of logs; the windows partly glazed, and partly
patched with leaves of old copybooks. It was most ingeniously
secured at vacant hours, by a *withe twisted in the handle of the
door, and stakes set against the window shutters; so that though
a thief might get in with perfect ease, he would find some
embarrassment in getting out, --an idea most probably borrowed by
the architect, Yost Van Houten, from the mystery of an eelpot.
The schoolhouse stood in a rather lonely but pleasant situation,
just at the foot of a woody hill, with a brook running close by,
and a formidable birch-tree growing at one end of it. From hence
the low murmur of his pupils' voices, conning over their lessons,
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: Cumulative sentences, 253--Uncorrected or incorrigible criminals,
254--Cellular prisons, 256--Solitary confinement, 257--The
progressive system of imprisonment, 257--The evils of cellular
imprisonment, 260 --The cell does not secure separation, 262--
Costliness of the cellular system, 263--Labour under the cellular
system, 264--Open-air work the best for prisoners, 265--The
treatment of habitual criminals, 266--The treatment of occasional
criminals, 267--The treatment of young offenders, 268--
Futility of short sentences, 268--Substitutes for short sentences,
269--Compulsory work without imprisonment, 271 --Conditional
sentences, 271--Conditional sentences in Belgium, 273--Conditional
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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 Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: law and--put an end to the divisions which--appear--to exist--between
yourself and Mademoiselle, your daughter,--on the subject--of--her--
marriage with Monsieur Luigi Porta."
This speech, pedantically delivered, probably seemed to Monsieur
Roguin so fine that his hearer could not at once understand it. He
paused, and looked at Bartolomeo with that peculiar expression of the
mere business lawyer, a mixture of servility with familiarity.
Accustomed to feign much interest in the persons with whom they deal,
notaries have at last produced upon their features a grimace of their
own, which they take on and off as an official "pallium." This mask of
benevolence, the mechanism of which is so easy to perceive, irritated
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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 Madame Firmiani by Honore de Balzac: love for him we love, when he loves us--ah! that may be; but even when
we are certain of being loved forever, believe me, monsieur, it is an
effort for us, and a reward to him. To say to another!--"
She did not end her sentence, but rose, bowed to the old man, and
withdrew into her private apartments, the doors of which, opening and
closing behind her, had a language of their own to his sagacious ears.
"Ah! the mischief!" thought he; "what a woman! she is either a sly one
or an angel"; and he got into his hired coach, the horses of which
were stamping on the pavement of the silent courtyard, while the
coachman was asleep on his box after cursing for the hundredth time
his tardy customer.
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