| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Men of Iron by Howard Pyle: "Nor am I afraid for thee, Myles," said the Prince, heartily,
putting his arm, as he spoke, around the young man's shoulder;
"for truly, wert thou a knight of forty years, instead of one of
twenty, thou couldst not bear thyself with more courage."
As the time for the duel approached, the days seemed to drag
themselves along upon leaden feet; nevertheless, the days came
and went, as all days do, bringing with them, at last, the
fateful 3d of September.
Early in the morning, while the sun was still level and red, the
Prince himself, unattended, came to Myles's apartment, in the
outer room of which Gascoyne was bustling busily about arranging
Men of Iron |
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 Democracy In America, Volume 2 by Alexis de Toqueville: it over the mind of each member of the community; but the
foundations of that influence do not rest upon it. They must be
sought for in the principle of equality itself, not in the more
or less popular institutions which men living under that
condition may give themselves. The intellectual dominion of the
greater number would probably be less absolute amongst a
democratic people governed by a king than in the sphere of a pure
democracy, but it will always be extremely absolute; and by
whatever political laws men are governed in the ages of equality,
it may be foreseen that faith in public opinion will become a
species of religion there, and the majority its ministering
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