| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Collection of Antiquities by Honore de Balzac: the six following inquiries:--
"Was the signature on the bill alleged to be a forgery in your
handwriting?--Had you previously done business with M. le Comte
d'Esgrignon?--Was not M. le Comte d'Esgrignon in the habit of drawing
upon you, with or without advice?--Did you not write a letter
authorizing M. d'Esgrignon to rely upon you at any time?-- Had not
Chesnel squared the account not once, but many times already?--Were
you not away from home when this took place?"
All these questions the banker answered in the affirmative. In spite
of wordy explanations, the magistrate always brought him back to a
"Yes" or "No." When the questions and answers alike had been resumed
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe: However, I called a servant, and got him a little glass of rum
(which is the usual dram of that country), for he was just
fainting away. When he was a little recovered, I said to him,
'This story, you may be sure, requires a long explanation, and
therefore, have patience and compose your mind to hear it out,
and I'll make it as short as I can'; and with this, I told him
what I thought was needful of the fact, and particularly how
my mother came to discover it to me, as above. 'And now,
my dear,' says I, 'you will see reason for my capitulations,
and that I neither have been the cause of this matter, nor could
be so, and that I could know nothing of it before now.'
Moll Flanders |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Records of a Family of Engineers by Robert Louis Stevenson: time a widower. As he was still but thirty-three years old,
prospering in his affairs, newly advanced in the world, and
encumbered at the time with a family of children, five in
number, it was natural that he should entertain the notion of
another wife. Expeditious in business, he was no less so in
his choice; and it was not later than June 1787 - for my
grandfather is described as still in his fifteenth year - that
he married the widow of Alan Stevenson.
The perilous experiment of bringing together two families
for once succeeded. Mr. Smith's two eldest daughters, Jean
and Janet, fervent in piety, unwearied in kind deeds, were
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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 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane: eagerness and sympathy. As the last distressing sentiment of the
piece was brought forth, it was greeted by that kind of applause
which rings as sincere.
As a final effort, the singer rendered some verses which
described a vision of Britain being annihilated by America, and
Ireland bursting her bonds. A carefully prepared crisis was
reached in the last line of the last verse, where the singer threw
out her arms and cried, "The star-spangled banner." Instantly a
great cheer swelled from the throats of the assemblage of the
masses. There was a heavy rumble of booted feet thumping the
floor. Eyes gleamed with sudden fire, and calloused hands waved
Maggie: A Girl of the Streets |
