| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia by Samuel Johnson: characters which have come to my knowledge, and I have yet found
none so worthy as thyself.'"
CHAPTER XLIII - THE ASTRONOMER LEAVES IMLAC HIS DIRECTIONS.
"'HEAR, therefore, what I shall impart with attention, such as the
welfare of a world requires. If the task of a king be considered
as difficult, who has the care only of a few millions, to whom he
cannot do much good or harm, what must be the anxiety of him on
whom depends the action of the elements and the great gifts of
light and heat? Hear me, therefore, with attention.
"'I have diligently considered the position of the earth and sun,
and formed innumerable schemes, in which I changed their situation.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Episode Under the Terror by Honore de Balzac: the house, you are safer here than anywhere else in France. Do not go
out. Pious souls will minister to your necessities, and you can wait
in safety for better times. Next year, on the 21st of January,"--he
could not hide an involuntary shudder as he spoke,--"next year, if you
are still in this dreary refuge, I will come back again to celebrate
the expiatory mass with you----"
He broke off, bowed to the three, who answered not a word, gave a last
look at the garret with its signs of poverty, and vanished.
Such an adventure possessed all the interest of a romance in the lives
of the innocent nuns. So, as soon as the venerable abbe told them the
story of the mysterious gift, it was placed upon the table, and by the
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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 Mother by Owen Wister: that drew such crowds in the Art Building at the World's Fair."
While Richard was saying this, his wife had possessed herself of the
newspaper, and he now observed how eagerly she was scanning its pages.
"It is the financial column, Ethel, that recalls my story."
Ethel, after a hopeless glance at this, resumed her seat near the sofa by
Mrs. Davenport.
"There were many paintings," continued Richard, "in that Art Building, of
merit incomparably greater than 'Breaking Home Ties'; and yet the crowd
never looked at those, because it did not understand them. But at any
hour of the day, if you happened to pass this picture, it took you some
time to do so. You could pass any of John Sargeant's pictures, for
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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 Message by Honore de Balzac: our blushes, as we met each other's eyes, were expressive with an
eloquence, a boyish charm, which I have ceased to feel. One must
remain young, no doubt, to understand youth.
Well, we understood one another to admiration on all the
essential points of passion. We had laid it down as an axiom at
the very outset, that in theory and practice there was no such
piece of driveling nonsense in this world as a certificate of
birth; that plenty of women were younger at forty than many a
girl of twenty; and, to come to the point, that a woman is no
older than she looks.
This theory set no limits to the age of love, so we struck out,
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