| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lesser Bourgeoisie by Honore de Balzac: prosecution by the authorities which hangs above the head of our
estimable friend. You have a noble cause to defend, monsieur.
Habituated as I am, through my labors as a member of the reading
committee of the Odeon, to judge of works of intellect, and with my
hand upon my conscience, I declare that after reading the incriminated
passages, I can find nothing in the tone of that pamphlet which
justifies the severe measures of which it is the object. Between
ourselves," added the great citizen, lowering his voice, "I think the
government has shown itself petty."
"So I think," said la Peyrade, "but I am not employed for the defence.
I have advised Thuillier to engage some noted lawyer."
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe: accepted, without examination, Eliza's statement, that she "was
going on a little piece, to spend a week with her friends,"--all
which she hoped in her heart might prove strictly true.
An hour before sunset, she entered the village of T----,
by the Ohio river, weary and foot-sore, but still strong in heart.
Her first glance was at the river, which lay, like Jordan, between
her and the Canaan of liberty on the other side.
It was now early spring, and the river was swollen and
turbulent; great cakes of floating ice were swinging heavily to
and fro in the turbid waters. Owing to the peculiar form of
the shore on the Kentucky side, the land bending far out into
Uncle Tom's Cabin |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: and the art of riding, are of all arts most befitting to a freeman; for
they only who are thus trained in the use of arms are the athletes of our
military profession, trained in that on which the conflict turns. Moreover
in actual battle, when you have to fight in a line with a number of others,
such an acquirement will be of some use, and will be of the greatest
whenever the ranks are broken and you have to fight singly, either in
pursuit, when you are attacking some one who is defending himself, or in
flight, when you have to defend yourself against an assailant. Certainly
he who possessed the art could not meet with any harm at the hands of a
single person, or perhaps of several; and in any case he would have a great
advantage. Further, this sort of skill inclines a man to the love of other
|
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 Breaking Point by Mary Roberts Rinehart: Suddenly she bent down and kissed him.
"Oh, do you think so?" she asked, breathlessly. "I love him so
much, Doctor David. And I feel so unworthy."
"So you are," he said. "So's he. So are all of us, when it comes
to a great love, child. That is, we are never quite what the other
fellow thinks we are. It's when we don't allow for what the
scientist folk call a margin of error that we come our croppers.
I wonder" - he watched her closely - "if you young people ever
allow for a margin of error?'
"I only know this," she said steadily. "I can't imagine ever
caring any less. I've never thought about myself very much, but I
The Breaking Point |
