| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Profits of Religion by Upton Sinclair: tell of happenings against the interests of "the great mass of
American wealth". The cynical reader will find amusement in
following its narrative of the affairs of the New Haven during
the five years subsequent to the publication of the Baxter
article.
First came the collapse of the road's service; a series of
accidents so frightful that they roused even clergymen and
chambers of commerce to protest. A number of the "Outlook's"
subscribers are New Haven "commuters", and the magazine could not
fail to refer to their troubles. In the issue of Jan. 4th, 1913,
three years and ten days after the Baxter rhapsody, we read:
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Father Sergius by Leo Tolstoy: 'Pashenka, please listen to what I am going to tell you as to a
confession made to God at my last hour. Pashenka, I am not a
holy man, I am not even as good as a simple ordinary man; I am a
loathsome, vile, and proud sinner who has gone astray, and who,
if not worse than everyone else, is at least worse than most very
bad people.'
Pashenka looked at him at first with staring eyes. But she
believed what he said, and when she had quite grasped it she
touched his hand, smiling pityingly, and said:
'Perhaps you exaggerate, Stiva?'
'No, Pashenka. I am an adulterer, a murderer, a blasphemer, and
|
