| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson: long time, when all at once, up he got, as pale as death, and
came close up to me, to my great terror. But I had no cause to
be afraid of him.
"You were not here before?" he asked.
"No, sir," said I."
"There was another boy?" he asked again; and when I had answered
him, "Ah!" says he, "I thought that," and went and sat down,
without another word, except to call for brandy.
You may think it strange, but for all the horror I had, I was
still sorry for him. He was a married man, with a wife in Leith;
but whether or no he had a family, I have now forgotten; I hope
Kidnapped |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Woman of No Importance by Oscar Wilde: can't legitimise Gerald. But I can leave him my property.
Illingworth is entailed, of course, but it is a tedious barrack of
a place. He can have Ashby, which is much prettier, Harborough,
which has the best shooting in the north of England, and the house
in St. James Square. What more can a gentleman require in this
world?
MRS. ARBUTHNOT. Nothing more, I am quite sure.
LORD ILLINGWORTH. As for a title, a title is really rather a
nuisance in these democratic days. As George Harford I had
everything I wanted. Now I have merely everything that other
people want, which isn't nearly so pleasant. Well, my proposal is
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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 Charmides by Plato: and is of a nature to be a science of something?
Yes.
Just as that which is greater is of a nature to be greater than something
else? (Socrates is intending to show that science differs from the object
of science, as any other relative differs from the object of relation. But
where there is comparison--greater, less, heavier, lighter, and the like--a
relation to self as well as to other things involves an absolute
contradiction; and in other cases, as in the case of the senses, is hardly
conceivable. The use of the genitive after the comparative in Greek,
(Greek), creates an unavoidable obscurity in the translation.)
Yes.
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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 The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: chosen champion of freedom in the great Lincoln-Douglas debates
of 1858. It was the great moral victory won in those debates
(although the senatorship went to Douglas) added to the title
"Honest Old Abe," won by truth and manhood among his neighbors
during a whole lifetime, that led the people of the United States
to trust him with the duties and powers of President.
And when, at last, after thirty years of endeavor, success had
beaten down defeat, when Lincoln had been nominated, elected and
inaugurated, came the crowning trial of his faith and constancy.
When the people, by free and lawful choice, had placed honor and
power in his hands, when his name could convene Congress, approve
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