| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Honore de Balzac: might meet with a love like this! Yes, it is a sweet, a precious
triumph for women like ourselves to end our woman's life in this way;
to rest in an ardent, pure, devoted, complete and absolute love; above
all, when we have sought it long."
"Why do you ask me to be faithful to my dearest friend?" said Madame
d'Espard. "Do you think me capable of playing you some villainous
trick?"
"When a woman possesses such a treasure the fear of losing it is so
strong that it naturally inspires a feeling of terror. I am absurd, I
know; forgive me, dear."
A few moments later the marquise departed; as she watched her go the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: and do they seek to improve the citizens by their speeches, or are they
too, like the rest of mankind, bent upon giving them pleasure, forgetting
the public good in the thought of their own interest, playing with the
people as with children, and trying to amuse them, but never considering
whether they are better or worse for this?
CALLICLES: I must distinguish. There are some who have a real care of the
public in what they say, while others are such as you describe.
SOCRATES: I am contented with the admission that rhetoric is of two sorts;
one, which is mere flattery and disgraceful declamation; the other, which
is noble and aims at the training and improvement of the souls of the
citizens, and strives to say what is best, whether welcome or unwelcome, to
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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 Enemies of Books by William Blades: and is as follows:--
"In June, 1844, a pedlar called at a cottage in Blyton and asked an
old widow, named Naylor, whether she had any rags to sell. She answered,
No! but offered him some old paper, and took from a shelf the `Boke
of St. Albans' and others, weighing 9 lbs., for which she received 9_d_.
The pedlar carried them through Gainsborough tied up in string, past a
chemist's shop, who, being used to buy old paper to wrap his drugs in,
called the man in, and, struck by the appearance of the `Boke,' gave
him 3_s_. for the lot. Not being able to read the Colophon, he took it
to an equally ignorant stationer, and offered it to him for a guinea,
at which price he declined it, but proposed that it should be exposed
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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 Tattine by Ruth Ogden [Mrs. Charles W. Ide]: depths of a glass fruit-dish a beautiful pile of Fall-pippins towered up to a
huge red apple at the top.
"Indade, thin, but we'll do our best," said Mrs. Kirk, "to make it as
different from what you be calling a city 'At Home' as possible, and now
suppose you let Patrick take you over our bit of a farm, and see what you
foind to interest you, and I'm going wid yer, while ye have a look at my
geese, for there's not the loike of my geese at any of the big gentlemin's
farms within tin miles of us."
And so, nothing loth, the little party filed out of the house, and after all
hands had assisted in unharnessing Barney and tying him into his stall, with a
manger-full of sweet, crisp hay for his dinner, they followed Mrs. Kirk's lead
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