| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Bickerstaff-Partridge Papers by Jonathan Swift: to bring your debates to a short issue; and even custom will
restrain you from taking the oyster, and leaving only the shell
to your client.
O ye physicians, (who in the figure of old women are to clean the
tripe in the markets) scour it as effectually as you have done
that of your patients, and the town will fare most deliciously on
Saturdays.
I cannot but congratulate human nature, upon this happy
transformation; the only expedient left to restore the liberties
and tranquillity of mankind. This is so evident, that it is
almost an affront to common sense to insist upon the proof: If
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: broken railways and other lumber which had been lying about
the rock. After landing these at Arbroath, she took on board
James Craw, with his horse and cart, which could now be spared
at the workyard, to be employed in carting the stones from
Edinburgh to Leith. Alexander Davidson and William Kennedy,
two careful masons, were also sent to take charge of the
loading of the stones at Greenside, and stowing them on board
of the vessel at Leith. The writer also went on board, with a
view to call at the Bell Rock and to take his passage up the
Firth of Forth. The wind, however, coming to blow very fresh
from the eastward, with thick and foggy weather, it became
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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 Rivers to the Sea by Sara Teasdale: Oh, more profound than the moving sea
That never has shown myself to me!
Oh, fathomless as the sky is far,
Hold forever your tremulous star!"
But out of the woods as night grew cool
A brown pig came to the little pool;
It grunted and splashed and waded in
And the deepest place but reached its chin.
The water gurgled with tender glee
And the mud churned up in it turbidly.
The star grew pale and hid her face
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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 Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: to come into your own court and perform for her and her little
friends for half an hour, the cost of which was the modest sum of
five cents, what would you do?
You would do as I did, no doubt, go out with the little girl,
call in the passing showman and allow him to perform, which would
serve the triple purpose of furnishing relaxation and instruction
for yourself, entertainment for the children, and business for
the showman.
This however proved to be not the monkey show but Punch and Judy,
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