| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Smalcald Articles by Dr. Martin Luther: that then faith and the Holy Ghost has departed from them
[they cast out faith and the Holy Ghost]. For the Holy Ghost
does not permit sin to have dominion, to gain the upper hand
so as to be accomplished, but represses and restrains it so
that it must not do what it wishes. But if it does what it
wishes, the Holy Ghost and faith are [certainly] not present.
For St. John says, 1 Ep. 3, 9: Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin,... and he cannot sin. And yet it is also the
truth when the same St. John says, 1 Ep. 1, 8: If we say that
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in
us.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: vices 'specially, except smoking--and I'm practically cutting that out, by the
way. And I belong to the church, and play enough golf to keep in trim, and I
only associate with good decent fellows. And yet, even so, I don't know that
I'm entirely satisfied!"
It was drawled out, broken by shouts from the neighboring tables, by
mechanical love-making to the waitress, by stertorous grunts as the coffee
filled him with dizziness and indigestion. He was apologetic and doubtful, and
it was Paul, with his thin voice, who pierced the fog:
"Good Lord, George, you don't suppose it's any novelty to me to find that we
hustlers, that think we're so all-fired successful, aren't getting much out of
it? You look as if you expected me to report you as seditious! You know what
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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 A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: sky grew blue again, the evening was glorious. And ingenious writer of
plays as he is, he never so much as saw that his wife had buried a
trouble out of sight.
" 'Such is life, my dear fellow,' he said to me, 'ups and downs and
contrasts.'
" 'Especially life off the stage,' I put in.
" 'That is just what I mean,' he continued. 'Why, but for these
violent emotions, one would be bored to death! Ah! that woman has the
gift of rousing me.'
"We went to the Varietes after dinner; but before we left the house I
slipped into du Bruel's room, and on a shelf among a pile of waste
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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 St. Ives by Robert Louis Stevenson: worthy man was stopped by Forbes. 'Sir,' said he, 'in the name of
the Senatus of the University of Cramond, I confer upon you the
degree of LL.D.,' and with the words he bonneted him. Conceive the
predicament of St. Ives, committed to the society of these
outrageous youths, in a town where the police and his cousin were
both looking for him! So far, we had pursued our way unmolested,
although raising a clamour fit to wake the dead; but at last, in
Abercromby Place, I believe - at least it was a crescent of highly
respectable houses fronting on a garden - Byfield and I, having
fallen somewhat in the rear with Rowley, came to a simultaneous
halt. Our ruffians were beginning to wrench off bells and door-
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