| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mistress Wilding by Rafael Sabatini: penniless. The pious, nonconformist soul of Sir Geoffrey Lupton - the
wealthy uncle from whom he had had great expectations - had been so
stirred to anger by Richard's vicious and besotted ways that he had left
every guinea that was his, every perch of land, and every brick of
edifice to Richard's half-sister Ruth. At present things were not so bad
for the worthless boy. Ruth worshipped him. He was a sacred charge
to her from their dead father, who, knowing the stoutness of her soul
and the feebleness of Richard's, had in dying imposed on her the care
and guidance of her graceless brother. But Ruth, in all things strong,
was weak with Richard out of her very fondness for him. To what she
had he might help himself, and thus it was that things were not so bad
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: the administration of the township is brought before it, it
always acts as a judicial body, and in some few cases as an
official assembly.
[Footnote p: We shall hereafter learn what a Governor is: I shall
content myself with remarking in this place that he represents
the executive power of the whole State.]
[Footnote q: See the Constitution of Massachusetts, chap. II.
sect. 1. Section 9; chap. III. Section 3.]
[Footnote r: Thus, for example, a stranger arrives in a township
from a country where a contagious disease prevails, and he falls
ill. Two justices of the peace can, with the assent of 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 The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: drew the bolts, closed the curtains, and examined every
corner of the room. Then, when he had assured himself that
he could neither be seen nor heard, and was consequently
relieved of doubts, he said, -- "Thanks, madame, -- thanks
for your punctuality; "and he offered a chair to Madame
Danglars, which she accepted, for her heart beat so
violently that she felt nearly suffocated.
"It is a long time, madame," said the procureur, describing
a half-circle with his chair, so as to place himself exactly
opposite to Madame Danglars, -- "it is a long time since I
had the pleasure of speaking alone with you, and I regret
The Count of Monte Cristo |
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 The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: our two mountains. The night has strange effects on
the hills. A moment before they had menaced black
and sullen against the sky, but at the touch of the
moon their very substance seemed to dissolve, leaving
in the upper atmosphere the airiest, most nebulous,
fragile, ghostly simulacrums of themselves you could
imagine in the realms of fairy-land. They seemed
actually to float, to poise like cloud-shapes about to
dissolve. And against them were cast the inky silhouettes
of three fir-trees in the shadow near at hand.
Down over the stones rolled the river, crying out
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