| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Westward Ho! by Charles Kingsley: once it shall become the fashion of our preachers to bid every man,
as the Jesuits do, take care first of what they call the safety of
his soul. Every man will be afraid to die at his post, because he
will be afraid that he is not fit to die. Amyas, do thou do thy
duty like a man, to thy country, thy queen, and thy God; and count
thy life a worthless thing, as did the holy men of old. Do thy
work, lad; and leave thy soul to the care of Him who is just and
merciful in this, that He rewards every man according to his work.
Is there respect of persons with God? Now come in, and take the
letters, and to horse. And if I hear of thee dead there at
Smerwick fort, with all thy wounds in front, I shall weep for thy
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Adventure by Jack London: than the Melanesian. The world is only so large, you know, and it
is filling up--"
"And the unfit must perish?"
"Precisely so. The unfit must perish."
In the morning Joan was roused by a great row and hullabaloo. Her
first act was to reach for her revolver, but when she heard Noa
Noah, who was on guard, laughing outside, she knew there was no
danger, and went out to see the fun. Captain Young had landed
Satan at the moment when the bridge-building gang had started along
the beach. Satan was big and black, short-haired and muscular, and
weighed fully seventy pounds. He did not love the blacks. Tommy
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Faith of Men by Jack London: and the adventure became iridescent-hued, splendid. That eggs
would sell at Dawson for five dollars a dozen was a safe working
premise. Whence it was incontrovertible that one thousand dozen
would bring, in the Golden Metropolis, five thousand dollars.
On the other hand, expense was to be considered, and he considered
it well, for he was a careful man, keenly practical, with a hard
head and a heart that imagination never warmed. At fifteen cents a
dozen, the initial cost of his thousand dozen would be one hundred
and fifty dollars, a mere bagatelle in face of the enormous profit.
And suppose, just suppose, to be wildly extravagant for once, that
transportation for himself and eggs should run up eight hundred and
|
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 Mrs. Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw: looks round apprehensively Seeing no one within earshot he
plucks up courage to boom again, but more subduedly]. You are
taking an ungentlemanly advantage of what I confided to you for
your own good, to save you from an error you would have repented
all your life long. Take warning by your father's follies, sir;
and dont make them an excuse for your own.
FRANK. Did you ever hear the story of the Duke of Wellington and
his letters?
REV. S. No, sir; and I dont want to hear it.
FRANK. The old Iron Duke didnt throw away fifty pounds: not he.
He just wrote: "Dear Jenny: publish and be damned! Yours
|
