| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mansion by Henry van Dyke: like
a shallow vase, and circled with hills of amethyst. A broad,
shining river flowed through it, and many silver threads of water
were woven across the green; and there were borders of tall trees
on the banks of the river, and orchards full of roses abloom
along
the little streams, and in the midst of all stood the city,
white and wonderful and radiant.
When the travelers saw it they were filled with awe and joy.
They passed over the little streams and among the orchards
quickly and silently, as if they feared to speak lest the city
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Treatise on Parents and Children by George Bernard Shaw: it; and the Father is the father of all children, the mother the
mother of all mothers and babies, and the Son the Son of Man and the
Savior of his brothers: one whose chief utterance on the subject of
the conventional family was an invitation to all of us to leave our
families and follow him, and to leave the dead to bury the dead, and
not debauch ourselves at that gloomy festival the family funeral, with
its sequel of hideous mourning and grief which is either affected or
morbid.
Family Mourning
I do not know how far this detestable custom of mourning is carried in
France; but judging from the appearance of the French people I should
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