| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Heart of the West by O. Henry: waving above a lost cause. I found him profitable; and so may you.
When you do look for him, look among the light-horse troop of Bedouins
that besiege the picket-line of the travelling potentate's guards and
secretaries--among the wild-eyed genii of Arabian Afternoons that
gather to make astounding and egregrious demands upon the prince's
coffers.
I first saw Mr. Polk coming down the steps of the hotel at which
sojourned His Highness the Gaekwar of Baroda, most enlightened of the
Mahratta princes, who, of late, ate bread and salt in our Metropolis
of the Occident.
Lucullus moved rapidly, as though propelled by some potent moral force
Heart of the West |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moran of the Lady Letty by Frank Norris: "Now, son," began Kitchell, "I natch'ly love you so that I'm goin'
to do you a reel favor, do you twig? I'm goin' to allow you to
berth aft in the cabin, 'long o' me an' Charlie, an' beesides you
can make free of my quarterdeck. Mebbee you ain't used to the
ways of sailormen just yet, but you can lay to it that those two
are reel concessions, savvy? I ain't a mush-head, like mee dear
friend Jim. You ain't no water-front swine, I can guess that with
one hand tied beehind me. You're a toff, that's what you are, and
your lines has been laid for toffs. I ain't askin' you no
questions, but you got brains, an' I figger on gettin' more outa
you by lettin' you have y'r head a bit. But mind, now, you get
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: sumptuous, under which the very board groaned. But the mirth was
not in proportion to the good cheer. The lower end of the table
were, for some time, chilled by constraint and respect on finding
themselves members of so august an assembly; and those who were
placed around it had those feelings of awe with which P. P.,
clerk of the parish, describes himself oppressed, when he first
uplifted the psalm in presence of those persons of high worship,
the wise Mr. Justice Freeman, the good Lady Jones, and the great
Sir Thomas Truby. This ceremonious frost, however, soon gave way
before the incentives to merriment, which were liberally
supplied, and as liberally consumed by the guests of the lower
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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 On Revenues by Xenophon: Phocians and to occupy the sacred shrine. Make it but evident that you
intend to establish a general peace by land and sea, and, if I mistake
not, your efforts will find a response in the hearts of all. There is
no man but will pray for the salvation of Athens next to that of his
own fatherland.
[16] "Autonomy."
[17] See Thuc. v. 18, clause 2 of the Treaty of Peace, B.C. 422-421.
[18] Reading, with Zurborg, {peironto}. Or, if the vulgate
{epeironto}, transl. "against those who sought to step."
Again, is any one persuaded that, looking solely to riches and money-
making, the state may find war more profitable than peace? If so, I
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