| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: Half an hour later, the fog had surmounted all the ridge on
the opposite side of the gap, though a shoulder of the
mountain still warded it out of our canyon. Napa valley and
its bounding hills were now utterly blotted out. The fog,
sunny white in the sunshine, was pouring over into Lake
County in a huge, ragged cataract, tossing treetops appearing
and disappearing in the spray. The air struck with a little
chill, and set me coughing. It smelt strong of the fog, like
the smell of a washing-house, but with a shrewd tang of the
sea salt.
Had it not been for two things - the sheltering spur which
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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 Dynamiter by Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Van De Grift Stevenson: right had conquered his alarms. Challoner, at least, had
scarce set foot upon the pavement when he was arrested by the
sound of the withdrawal of an inner bolt; one followed
another, rattling in their sockets; the key turned harshly in
the lock; the door opened; and there appeared upon the
threshold a man of a very stalwart figure in his shirt
sleeves. He was a person neither of great manly beauty nor
of a refined exterior; he was not the man, in ordinary moods,
to attract the eyes of the observer; but as he now stood in
the doorway, he was marked so legibly with the extreme
passion of terror that Challoner stood wonder-struck. For a
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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 Augsburg Confession by Philip Melanchthon: sins. Aforetime satisfactions were immoderately extolled; of
faith and the merit of Christ and the righteousness of faith
no mention was made; wherefore, on this point, our churches
are by no means to be blamed. For this even our adversaries
must needs concede to us that the doctrine concerning
repentance has been most diligently treated and laid open by
our teachers.
But of Confession they teach that an enumeration of sins is
not necessary, and that consciences be not burdened with
anxiety to enumerate all sins, for it is impossible to recount
all sins, as the Psalm testifies, 19,13: Who can understand
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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 Beauty and The Beast by Bayard Taylor: Now the reason I write--and I suppose I must hurry to the end, or
you will be out of all patience--is to beg, and insist, and implore
my sisters in other States to lose no more time, but at once to
coax, or melt, or threaten the men into accepting their claims. We
are now so isolated in our rights that we are obliged to bear more
than our proper share of the burden. When the States around us
shall be so far advanced, there will be a chance for new
stateswomen to spring up, and fill Mrs. Whiston's place, and we
shall then, I firmly believe, devise a plan to cleanse the great
Augean stable of politics by turning into it the river of female
honesty and intelligence and morality. But they must do this,
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