| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Second Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great
contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies
of the nation, little that is new could be presented. The progress
of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known
to the public as to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory
and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no prediction
in regard to it is ventured.
On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts
were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it--
all sought to avert it. While the inaugural address was being delivered
from this place, devoted altogether to saving the Union without war,
Second Inaugural Address |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Selected Writings of Guy De Maupassant by Guy De Maupassant: rises spontaneously in the minds of those who have studied
closely the history of literature. The absolute silence about
himself, preserved by one whose position among us was that of a
Tourgenief, or of a Merimee, and of a Moliere or a Shakespeare
among the classic great, reveals, to a person of instinct, a
nervous sensibility of extreme depth. There are many chances for
an artist of his kind, however timid, or for one who has some
grief, to show the depth of his emotion. To take up again only
two of the names just cited, this was the case with the author of
"Terres Vierges," and with the writer of "Colomba."
A somewhat minute analysis of the novels and romances of
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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 From London to Land's End by Daniel Defoe: eight miles of the sea, is very large; and the tide flows ten or
twelve feet at the bridge. Here we had the diversion of seeing
them catch fish with the assistance of a dog. The case is this:-
On the south side of the river, and on a slip, or narrow cut or
channel made on purpose for a mill, there stands a corn-mill; the
mill-tail, or floor for the water below the wheels, is wharfed up
on either side with stone above high-water mark, and for above
twenty or thirty feet in length below it on that part of the river
towards the sea; at the end of this wharfing is a grating of wood,
the cross-bars of which stand bearing inward, sharp at the end, and
pointing inward towards one another, as the wires of a mouse-trap.
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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 Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn: mosquitoes of any locality by covering with a film of kerosene all stagnant
water surfaces therein. The larvae die on rising to breathe; and the adult
females perish when they approach the water to launch their rafts of eggs.
And I read, in Dr. Howard's book, that the actual cost of freeing from
mosquitoes one American town of fifty thousand inhabitants, does not exceed
three hundred dollars!...
I wonder what would be said if the city-government of Tokyo -- which is
aggressively scientific and progressive -- were suddenly to command that
all water-surfaces in the Buddhist cemeteries should be covered, at regular
intervals, with a film of kerosene oil! How could the religion which
prohibits the taking of any life -- even of invisible life -- yield to such
Kwaidan |
