| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: meeting?
The audience quickly forgot these questioning doubts. They had
but time to note Mr. Lincoln's unusual height, his rugged,
strongly marked features, the clear ring of his high-pitched
voice, the commanding earnestness of his manner. Then they became
completely absorbed in what he was saying. He began quietly,
soberly, almost as if he were arguing a case before a court. In
his entire address he uttered neither an anecdote nor a jest. If
any of his hearers came expecting the style or manner of the
Western stump-speaker, they met novelty of an unlooked-for kind;
for such was the apt choice of words, the simple strength of his
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Reminiscences of Tolstoy by Leo Tolstoy: Turgénieff's novel "On the Eve," which had just come out,
and at the end added a postscript: "What is the price of a set of
the best quality of veterinary instruments? And what is the price
of a set of lancets and bleeding-cups for human use?"
In another letter there is a postscript:
"When you are next in Oryol, buy me six-hundred weight of
various ropes, reins, and traces," and on the same page: "'Tender
art thou,' and the whole thing is charming. You have never done
anything better; it is all charming." The quotation is from Fet's
poem:
The lingering clouds' last throng flies over us.
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