| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Off on a Comet by Jules Verne: Servadac had saved Ben Zoof's life in Japan; Ben Zoof had rendered
his master a like service in the Soudan. The bond of union thus
effected could never be severed; and although Ben Zoof's achievements
had fairly earned him the right of retirement, he firmly declined all
honors or any pension that might part him from his superior officer.
Two stout arms, an iron constitution, a powerful frame, and an
indomitable courage were all loyally devoted to his master's service,
and fairly entitled him to his _soi-disant_ designation of "The Rampart
of Montmartre." Unlike his master, he made no pretension to any gift of
poetic power, but his inexhaustible memory made him a living encyclopaedia;
and for his stock of anecdotes and trooper's tales he was matchless.
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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 Virginian by Owen Wister: I was not called by my name after the first feeble etiquette due
to a stranger in his first few hours had died away. I was known
simply as "the tenderfoot." I was introduced to the neighborhood
(a circle of eighty miles) as "the tenderfoot." It was thus that
Balaam, the maltreater of horses, learned to address me when he
came a two days' journey to pay a visit. And it was this name and
my notorious helplessness that bid fair to end what relations I
had with the Virginian. For when Judge Henry ascertained that
nothing could prevent me from losing myself, that it was not
uncommon for me to saunter out after breakfast with a gun and in
thirty minutes cease to know north from south, he arranged for my
The Virginian |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: bodily vigour; and if we are right, Polus, in our previous conclusions,
they are in a like case who strive to evade justice, which they see to be
painful, but are blind to the advantage which ensues from it, not knowing
how far more miserable a companion a diseased soul is than a diseased body;
a soul, I say, which is corrupt and unrighteous and unholy. And hence they
do all that they can to avoid punishment and to avoid being released from
the greatest of evils; they provide themselves with money and friends, and
cultivate to the utmost their powers of persuasion. But if we, Polus, are
right, do you see what follows, or shall we draw out the consequences in
form?
POLUS: If you please.
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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 Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: commingling their races; but as long as the American democracy
remains at the head of affairs, no one will undertake so
difficult a task; and it may be foreseen that the freer the white
population of the United States becomes, the more isolated will
it remain. *s
[Footnote r: This opinion is sanctioned by authorities infinitely
weightier than anything that I can say: thus, for instance, it is
stated in the "Memoirs of Jefferson" (as collected by M.
Conseil), "Nothing is more clearly written in the book of destiny
than the emancipation of the blacks; and it is equally certain
that the two races will never live in a state of equal freedom
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