| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: because they are collections of lions, but they are not strictly and
exclusively fashionable. They remind me in their composition from
various circles of Mrs. Otis's parties in Boston. We have in this
respect an advantage over the English themselves, as in our position
we see a great variety of cliques.
For instance, last evening, the 31st, I took Louisa, at half-past
seven, to the house of Mr. Hawes, an under Secretary of State, to
see a beautiful children's masque. It was an impersonation of the
"Old Year" dressed a little like LEAR with snowy hair and draperies.
OLD YEAR played his part inimitably, at times with great pathos, and
then introducing witty hits at all the doings of his reign, such as
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ball at Sceaux by Honore de Balzac: prejudice and narrow-mindedness ever sowed in a human soul. Her face,
but just now fresh and velvety, was streaked with yellow lines and red
patches; the paleness of her cheeks seemed every now and then to turn
green. Hoping to hide her despair from her sisters, she would laugh as
she pointed out some ridiculous dress or passer-by; but her laughter
was spasmodic. She was more deeply hurt by their unspoken compassion
than by any satirical comments for which she might have revenged
herself. She exhausted her wit in trying to engage them in a
conversation, in which she tried to expend her fury in senseless
paradoxes, heaping on all men engaged in trade the bitterest insults
and witticisms in the worst taste.
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