| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: been in war in Germany, in Spain, in Russia, in France; I've certainly
carried my carcase about a good deal, but never have I seen anything
like the desert. Ah! yes, it is very beautiful!'
" 'What did you feel there?' I asked him.
"'Oh! that can't be described, young man! Besides, I am not always
regretting my palm trees and my panther. I should have to be very
melancholy for that. In the desert, you see, there is everything and
nothing.'
" 'Yes, but explain----'
" 'Well,' he said, with an impatient gesture, 'it is God without
mankind.' "
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Shadow out of Time by H. P. Lovecraft: made me shudder. Never before, if my mad dreams held anything
of truth, had human feet pressed upon those immemorial pavements.
Of the particular goal of my insane racing, my conscious mind
held no hint. There was, however, some force of evil potency pulling
at my dazed will and buried recollection, so that I vaguely felt
I was not running at random.
I came to a downward incline and
followed it to profounder depths. Floors flashed by me as I raced,
but I did not pause to explore them. In my whirling brain there
had begun to beat a certain rhythm which set my right hand twitching
in unison. I wanted to unlock something, and felt that I knew
Shadow out of Time |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Hiero by Xenophon: lion's share of toil or peril, or do outpost duty, keeping watch and
ward while others sleep, brave mercenaries.
[7] The author is perhaps thinking of some personal experiences. He
works out his theory of a wage-earning militia for the protection
of the state in the "Cyropaedia." See esp. VII. v. 69 foll.
And what will be the effect on the neighbour states conterminous with
yours?[8] Will not this standing army lead them to desire peace beyond
all other things? In fact, a compact force like this, so organised,
will prove most potent to preserve the interests of their friends and
to damage those of their opponents.
[8] Or, "that lie upon your borders," as Thebes and Megara were "nigh-
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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 Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: "hero." "heroism," "heroic," which is becoming too common, namely,
applying them to mere courage. We have borrowed the misuse, I
believe, as we have more than one beside, from the French press.
I trust that we shall neither accept it, nor the temper which
inspires it. It may be convenient for those who flatter their
nation, and especially the military part of it, into a ruinous
self-conceit, to frame some such syllogism as this: "Courage is
heroism: every Frenchman is naturally courageous: therefore
every Frenchman is a hero." But we, who have been trained at once
in a sounder school of morals, and in a greater respect for facts,
and for language as the expression of facts, shall be careful, I
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