| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Vendetta by Honore de Balzac: poison than escape death by eating that last morsel of bread that was
left in his home.
He wandered wildly about Paris; amid the gorgeous equipages, in the
bosom of that flaunting luxury that displays itself everywhere; he
hurried past the windows of the money-changers where gold was
glittering; and at last he resolved to sell himself to be a substitute
for military service, hoping that this sacrifice would save Ginevra,
and that her father, during his absence, would take her home.
He went to one of those agents who manage these transactions, and felt
a sort of happiness in recognizing an old officer of the Imperial
guard.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Across The Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson: age.
The fact of its great and special beauty further recommends this
country to the artist. The field was chosen by men in whose blood
there still raced some of the gleeful or solemn exultation of great
art - Millet who loved dignity like Michelangelo, Rousseau whose
modern brush was dipped in the glamour of the ancients. It was
chosen before the day of that strange turn in the history of art,
of which we now perceive the culmination in impressionistic tales
and pictures - that voluntary aversion of the eye from all
speciously strong and beautiful effects - that disinterested love
of dulness which has set so many Peter Bells to paint the river-
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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 A Daughter of Eve by Honore de Balzac: touch. Eugenie's blue eyes and the brown eyes of Angelique had an
expression of artless indifference, of ingenuous surprise, which was
rendered by the vague manner with which the pupils floated on the
fluid whiteness of the eyeball. They were both well-made; the rather
thin shoulders would develop later. Their throats, long veiled,
delighted the eye when their husbands requested them to wear low
dresses to a ball, on which occasion they both felt a pleasing shame,
which made them first blush behind closed doors, and afterwards,
through a whole evening in company.
On the occasion when this scene opens, and the eldest, Angelique, was
weeping, while the younger, Eugenie, was consoling her, their hands
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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 Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther: 10. [85] Item. Cur Canones penitentiales re ipsa et non usu iam
diu in semet abrogati et mortui adhuc tamen pecuniis redimuntur
per concessionem indulgentiarum tanquam vivacissimi?
11. [86] Item. Cur Papa, cuius opes hodie sunt opulentissimis
Crassis crassiores, non de suis pecuniis magis quam pauperum
fidelium struit unam tantummodo Basilicam sancti Petri?
12. [87] Item. Quid remittit aut participat Papa iis, qui per
contritionem perfectam ius habent plenarie remissionis et
participationis?
13. [88] Item. Quid adderetur ecclesie boni maioris, Si Papa,
sicut semel facit, ita centies in die cuilibet fidelium has
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