| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Marriage Contract by Honore de Balzac: francs; total, forty-six thousand two hundred francs a year. Item: the
patrimonial mansion at Bordeaux taxed for nine hundred francs. Item: a
handsome house, between court and garden in Paris, rue de la
Pepiniere, taxed for fifteen hundred francs. These pieces of property,
the title-deeds of which I hold, are derived from our father and
mother, except the house in Paris, which we bought ourselves. We must
also reckon in the furniture of the two houses, and that of the
chateau of Lanstrac, estimated at four hundred and fifty thousand
francs. There's the table, the cloth, and the first course. What do
you bring for the second course and the dessert?"
"Our rights," replied Solonet.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Malbone: An Oldport Romance by Thomas Wentworth Higginson: and then I never should end it, because I should die. And there
would be nobody left to read it, because each reader would have
been dead long before."
"But the book amused you!" interrupted Kate. "I know it did."
"It was so absurd that I laughed till I cried; and it makes no
difference whether you cry laughing or cry crying; it is
equally bad when your glasses come off. Never mind. Whom did
you see on the Avenue?"
"O, we saw Philip on horseback. He rides so beautifully; he
seems one with his horse."
"I am glad of it," interposed his aunt. "The riders are
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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 An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: Massena has committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; it
is very doubtful if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reduced
to his own resources.'
"'Who gave you that news?' asked Carnot.
"'It is sure,' replied Fouche. 'You will have the courier when the
Bourse opens.'
"Those men didn't mince their words," said de Marsay, smiling, and
stopping short for a moment.
"'Remember,' continued Fouche, 'it is not when the news of a disaster
comes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people,
and change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be prepared
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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 Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: I must return to prison whence I came.
CHARLES.
Return? I hope thou wilt not;
What bird that hath escaped the fowler's gin,
Will not beware how she's ensnared again?
Or, what is he, so senseless and secure,
That, having hardly past a dangerous gul,
Will put him self in peril there again?
VILLIERS.
Ah, but it is mine oath, my gracious Lord,
Which I in conscience may not violate,
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