| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Concerning Christian Liberty by Martin Luther: bitter than the words of the prophets? The ears of our generation
have been made so delicate by the senseless multitude of
flatterers that, as soon as we perceive that anything of ours is
not approved of, we cry out that we are being bitterly assailed;
and when we can repel the truth by no other pretence, we escape
by attributing bitterness, impatience, intemperance, to our
adversaries. What would be the use of salt if it were not
pungent, or of the edge of the sword if it did not slay? Accursed
is the man who does the work of the Lord deceitfully.
Wherefore, most excellent Leo, I beseech you to accept my
vindication, made in this letter, and to persuade yourself that I
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: moreover, that from first to last, 'he merely threw out as matter
for speculation the vague impressions of his mind; for he gave
nothing as the result of sufficient consideration, or as the settled
conviction, or even probable conclusion at which he had arrived.'
The gist of this communication is that gravitating force acts in
lines across space, and that the vibrations of light and radiant
heat consist in the tremors of these lines of force. 'This notion,'
he says, 'as far as it is admitted, will dispense with the ether,
which, in another view is supposed to be the medium in which these
vibrations take place.' And he adds further on, that his view
'endeavours to dismiss the ether but not the vibrations.' The idea
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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 Lady Susan by Jane Austen: compare, superior to Reginald--superior in everything but the power of
being with me! Poor fellow! he is much distracted by jealousy, which I am
not sorry for, as I know no better support of love. He has been teazing me
to allow of his coming into this country, and lodging somewhere near
INCOG.; but I forbade everything of the kind. Those women are inexcusable
who forget what is due to themselves, and the opinion of the world.
Yours ever,
S. VERNON.
XVII
MRS. VERNON TO LADY DE COURCY
Churchhill.
Lady Susan |
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 Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: - viz. Friday and I - were two heavenly spirits, or furies, come
down to destroy them, and not men with weapons. This, he said, he
knew; because he heard them all cry out so, in their language, one
to another; for it was impossible for them to conceive that a man
could dart fire, and speak thunder, and kill at a distance, without
lifting up the hand, as was done now: and this old savage was in
the right; for, as I understood since, by other hands, the savages
never attempted to go over to the island afterwards, they were so
terrified with the accounts given by those four men (for it seems
they did escape the sea), that they believed whoever went to that
enchanted island would be destroyed with fire from the gods. This,
Robinson Crusoe |
