| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Enemies of Books by William Blades: somewhat of my experience. You say that the discovery of printing has made
the destruction of anybody's books difficult. At this I am bound to say that
the Inquisition did succeed most successfully, by burning heretical books,
in destroying numerous volumes invaluable for their wholesome contents.
Indeed, I beg to state to you the amazing fact that here in Holland exists an
Ultramontane Society called `Old Paper,'which is under the sanction of the six
Catholic Bishops of the Netherlands, and is spread over the whole kingdom.
The openly-avowed object of this Society is to buy up and to destroy
as waste paper all the Protestant and Liberal Catholic newspapers,
pamphlets and books, the price of which is offered to the Pope as
`Deniers de St. Pierre.' Of course, this Society is very little known
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain: The new creature eats too much fruit. We are going to run short,
most likely. "We" again--that is its word; mine too, now, from
hearing it so much. Good deal of fog this morning. I do not go
out in the fog myself. The new creature does. It goes out in
all weathers, and stumps right in with its muddy feet. And talks.
It used to be so pleasant and quiet here.
Sunday
Pulled through. This day is getting to be more and more trying.
It was selected and set apart last November as a day of rest. I
already had six of them per week, before. This morning found the
new creature trying to clod apples out of that forbidden tree.
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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 Call of the Wild by Jack London: belligerent fear. So terrible was his appearance that Spitz was
forced to forego disciplining him; but to cover his own
discomfiture he turned upon the inoffensive and wailing Billee and
drove him to the confines of the camp.
By evening Perrault secured another dog, an old husky, long and
lean and gaunt, with a battle-scarred face and a single eye which
flashed a warning of prowess that commanded respect. He was
called Sol-leks, which means the Angry One. Like Dave, he asked
nothing, gave nothing, expected nothing; and when he marched
slowly and deliberately into their midst, even Spitz left him
alone. He had one peculiarity which Buck was unlucky enough to
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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 Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: kind heart, and really desired to serve her. Was it not pride
that prevented her from accepting his offer? Did she not feel too
proud to place herself under obligations to the servant? She felt
rebuked at her presumption; for what right had she to make such
distinctions? If she had been a lady, like Mrs. Gordon, she might
have been excusable for cherishing such pride; but she was a poor
girl; she was actually in want.
"Michael, you are so good, that I will tell you my story," said
she, conquering her repugnance.
"Just come in the house, then;" and he led her into the
sitting-room; being, in the absence of the mistress, the lord and
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