| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Silverado Squatters by Robert Louis Stevenson: accuracy of his shape. He must have been built somewhat
after the pattern of Jack Sheppard; but the famous
housebreaker, we may be certain, was no lout. It was by the
extraordinary powers of his mind no less than by the vigour
of his body, that he broke his strong prison with such
imperfect implements, turning the very obstacles to service.
Irvine, in the same case, would have sat down and spat, and
grumbled curses. He had the soul of a fat sheep, but,
regarded as an artist's model, the exterior of a Greek God.
It was a cruel thought to persons less favoured in their
birth, that this creature, endowed - to use the language of
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Girl with the Golden Eyes by Honore de Balzac: feeling. Two creatures who love one another weakly feel nothing
similar. The effect of this crisis can even be compared with that
which is produced by the glow of a clear sky. Nature, at the first
view, appears to be covered with a gauze veil, the azure of the
firmament seems black, the intensity of light is like darkness. With
Henri, as with the Spanish girl, there was an equal intensity of
feeling; and that law of statics, in virtue of which two identical
forces cancel each other, might have been true also in the moral
order. And the embarrassment of the moment was singularly increased by
the presence of the old hag. Love takes pleasure or fright at all, all
has meaning for it, everything is an omen of happiness or sorrow for
The Girl with the Golden Eyes |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: a position to make a will for reasons best known to myself.'
" 'One moment!' said he, holding up his hand as though to gain
silence. 'Allow me, monsieur, allow me! I am informed that you
sometimes go to walk in the garden of la Grande Breteche.'
" 'Yes, monsieur.'
" 'One moment!' said he, repeating his gesture. 'That constitutes a
misdemeanor. Monsieur, as executor under the will of the late Comtesse
de Merret, I come in her name to beg you to discontinue the practice.
One moment! I am not a Turk, and do not wish to make a crime of it.
And besides, you are free to be ignorant of the circumstances which
compel me to leave the finest mansion in Vendome to fall into ruin.
La Grande Breteche |
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 Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: and that he should be abandoned at his birth, in order that he should
become King of Rome and founder of the fatherland. It was necessary
that Cyrus should find the Persians discontented with the government
of the Medes, and the Medes soft and effeminate through their long
peace. Theseus could not have shown his ability had he not found the
Athenians dispersed. These opportunities, therefore, made those men
fortunate, and their high ability enabled them to recognize the
opportunity whereby their country was ennobled and made famous.
Those who by valorous ways become princes, like these men, acquire a
principality with difficulty, but they keep it with ease. The
difficulties they have in acquiring it rise in part from the new rules
The Prince |
