| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Alcibiades I by Plato: possessed of a three-hundred acre patch at Erchiae, and he has a mind to go
to war with your son--would she not wonder to what this Alcibiades trusts
for success in the conflict? 'He must rely,' she would say to herself,
'upon his training and wisdom--these are the things which Hellenes value.'
And if she heard that this Alcibiades who is making the attempt is not as
yet twenty years old, and is wholly uneducated, and when his lover tells
him that he ought to get education and training first, and then go and
fight the king, he refuses, and says that he is well enough as he is, would
she not be amazed, and ask 'On what, then, does the youth rely?' And if we
replied: He relies on his beauty, and stature, and birth, and mental
endowments, she would think that we were mad, Alcibiades, when she compared
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Mirror of the Sea by Joseph Conrad: mysterious like the constellations of the sky.
The first impulse of navigation took its visible form in that
tideless basin freed from hidden shoals and treacherous currents,
as if in tender regard for the infancy of the art. The steep
shores of the Mediterranean favoured the beginners in one of
humanity's most daring enterprises, and the enchanting inland sea
of classic adventure has led mankind gently from headland to
headland, from bay to bay, from island to island, out into the
promise of world-wide oceans beyond the Pillars of Hercules.
XXXIX.
The charm of the Mediterranean dwells in the unforgettable flavour
The Mirror of the Sea |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: the natural manufactory of this country. It is the best money we can lay out.
A navy when finished is worth more than it cost. And is that nice point
in national policy, in which commerce and protection are united. Let us build;
if we want them not, we can sell; and by that means replace our paper currency
with ready gold and silver.
In point of manning a fleet, people in general run into great errors;
it is not necessary that one fourth part should he sailors.
The Terrible privateer, Captain Death, stood the hottest engagement
of any ship last war, yet had not twenty sailors on board,
though her complement of men was upwards of two hundred.
A few able and social sailors will soon instruct a sufficient number
Common Sense |
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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: eyes.
On Sunday we dined with out own party; on Monday some diplomatic
people, the Lisboas and one of Mr. Bates's partners, and on Tuesday
we came home. I must not omit a visit while we were there from Mr.
Taylor (Van Artevelde), who is son-in-law of Lord Monteagle, and
lives in the neighborhood. He has a fine countenance and still
finer voice, and is altogether one of those literary persons who do
not disappoint you, but whose whole being is equal to their works.
I hope to see more of him, as they spoke of "CULTIVATING" us, and
Mr. Taylor was quite a PROTEGE of our kind and dear friend, Dr.
Holland, and dedicated his last poem to him. This expression, "I
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