| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: "Citizens of the United States, the president and the secretary of
the Weldon Institute are again in my power. In holding them prisoners
I would but be exercising my natural right of reprisal for the
injuries they have done me. But the passion and resentment which have
been roused both in them and you by the success of the 'Albatross,'
show that the souls of men are not yet ready for the vast increase of
power which the conquest of the air will bring to them. Uncle
Prudent, Phillip Evans, you are free."
The three men rescued from the balloon leaped to the ground. The
airship rose some thirty feet out of reach, and Robur recommenced:
"Citizens of the United States, the conquest of the air is made; but
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: or to contract it to any conceivable extent, so long as Mulinuu was
still included; Knappe offered (if the others liked) to include
"the whole eastern end of the island," but quite fixed upon the one
point that Mulinuu should be left out; the English willing to meet
either view, and singly desirous that Apia should be neutralised.
The conclusion was foregone. Becker held a trump card in the
consent of Mataafa; Blacklock and Leary stood alone, spoke with all
ill grace, and could not long hold out. Becker had his way; and
the neutral boundary was chosen just where he desired: across the
isthmus, the firm within, Mulinuu without. He did not long enjoy
the fruits of victory.
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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 Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: "Yes," he answered. Then he bit his lip. "No, I don't mean that.
I didn't go to the club. I walked about. I forget what I did.
. . . How inquisitive you are, Harry! You always want to know what
one has been doing. I always want to forget what I have been doing.
I came in at half-past two, if you wish to know the exact time.
I had left my latch-key at home, and my servant had to let me in.
If you want any corroborative evidence on the subject, you can ask
him."
Lord Henry shrugged his shoulders. "My dear fellow, as if I cared!
Let us go up to the drawing-room. No sherry, thank you, Mr. Chapman.
Something has happened to you, Dorian. Tell me what it is.
The Picture of Dorian Gray |
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 An Old Maid by Honore de Balzac: existed in the department of the Orne a professor of anthropology, or
even had she read Ariosto, the frightful disasters of her conjugal
life would never have occurred. She would probably have known why the
Italian poet makes Angelica prefer Medoro, who was a blond Chevalier
de Valois, to Orlando, whose mare was dead, and who knew no better
than to fly into a passion. Is not Medoro the mythic form for all
courtiers of feminine royalty, and Orlando the myth of disorderly,
furious, and impotent revolutions, which destroy but cannot produce?
We publish, but without assuming any responsibility for it, this
opinion of a pupil of Monsieur Ballanche.
No information has reached us as to the fate of the negroes' heads in
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