| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Mother by Owen Wister: to do it for him. Nor did I then know anything about the lands in
Michigan--though this would have made no difference. Ethel had been
accustomed to a house several stories high, with hot and cold water in
most of them, and somebody to answer the door-bell."
"The door-bell!" exclaimed Ethel. "I could have gone without hearing
that."
"Yes, Ethel, only to hear the welkin ring would have been enough for you.
I know that you are sincere in thinking so. And the ringing welkin is all
we should have heard in Michigan. But the more truly a man loves a girl,
the less can he bear taking her from an easy to a hard life. I am sure
that all the men here agree with me."
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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 Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg by Mark Twain: Go, and reform."' [Murmurs: "Amazing! what can this mean?"] This
one," said the Chair, "is signed Thurlow G. Wilson."
"There!" cried Wilson, "I reckon that settles it! I knew perfectly
well my note was purloined."
"Purloined!" retorted Billson. "I'll let you know that neither you
nor any man of your kidney must venture to--"
The Chair: "Order, gentlemen, order! Take your seats, both of you,
please."
They obeyed, shaking their heads and grumbling angrily. The house
was profoundly puzzled; it did not know what to do with this curious
emergency. Presently Thompson got up. Thompson was the hatter. He
The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: services is truly honoured. And for my part I can but offer my
congratulations to him. "God bless him," say I, perceiving that so far
from being the butt of foul conspiracy, he is an object of anxiety to
all, lest evil should betide him; and so he pursues the even tenour of
his days in happiness exempt from fears and jealousy[17] and risk. But
the current of the tyrant's life runs differently. Day and night, I do
assure you, Simonides, he lives like one condemned by the general
verdict of mankind to die for his iniquity.
[14] Lit. "Honours would seem to be the outcome and expression of
conditions utterly remote from these, in fact their very
opposites."
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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 Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: fellow-men of that which God has given to them and to their
ancestors; and let God, not man, be judge of how much the Red Indian
or the Polynesian, the Caffre or the Chinese, is capable of
receiving and of using.
Moreover, in history there is no record, absolutely no record, as
far as I am aware, of any savage tribe civilising itself. It is a
bold saying. I stand by my assertion: most happy to find myself
confuted, even in a single instance; for my being wrong would give
me, what I can have no objection to possess, a higher opinion than I
have now, of the unassisted capabilities of my fellow-men.
But civilisation must have begun somewhen, somewhere, with some
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