| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: But in the morning she arose very much afraid, and went about her
duties in momentary fear of her father's coming. As the day wore
along, however, she began to recover her spirits. John Fox,
soundly berating McLean and McTavish for some petty dereliction of
duty, helped her to pluck up courage. She tried not to let him go
out of her sight, and when she followed him into the huge cache and
saw him twirling and tossing great bales around as though they were
feather pillows, she felt strengthened in her disobedience to her
father. Also (it was her first visit to the warehouse, and Sin
Rock was the chief distributing point to several chains of lesser
posts), she was astounded at the endlessness of the wealth there
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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 Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: they had been once, and always ought to be. We smile now at Sevres
and Dresden shepherdesses; but the wise man will surely see in them
a certain pathos. They indicated a craving after something better
than boorishness; and the many men and women may have become the
gentler and purer by looking even at them, and have said sadly to
themselves: "Such might have been the peasantry of half Europe, had
it not been for devastations of the Palatinate, wars of succession,
and the wicked wills of emperors and kings."
LECTURE III--THE EXPLOSIVE FORCES
In a former lecture in this Institution, I said that the human race
owed more to the eighteenth century than to any century since the
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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 International Episode by Henry James: On the morrow, their first thought was that they would re-embark that day
for England; and then it occured to them that they might find an asylum
nearer at hand. The cave of Aeolus became their ideal of comfort,
and they wondered where the Americans went when they wished to cool off.
They had not the least idea, and they determined to apply for information
to Mr. J. L. Westgate. This was the name inscribed in a bold hand on the back
of a letter carefully preserved in the pocketbook of our junior traveler.
Beneath the address, in the left-hand corner of the envelope,
were the words, "Introducing Lord Lambeth and Percy Beaumont, Esq."
The letter had been given to the two Englishmen by a good friend
of theirs in London, who had been in America two years previously,
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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 Charmides by Plato: the Parmenides; and, above all, of the Rev. Professor Campbell of St.
Andrews, and Mr. Paravicini, late Student of Christ Church and Tutor of
Balliol College, with whom I had read over the greater part of the
translation. I was also indebted to Mr. Evelyn Abbott, Fellow and Tutor of
Balliol College, for a complete and accurate index.
In this, the Third Edition, I am under very great obligations to Mr.
Matthew Knight, who has not only favoured me with valuable suggestions
throughout the work, but has largely extended the Index (from 61 to 175
pages) and translated the Eryxias and Second Alcibiades; and to Mr Frank
Fletcher, of Balliol College, my Secretary. I am also considerably
indebted to Mr. J.W. Mackail, late Fellow of Balliol College, who read over
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