| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Gorgias by Plato: curable or incurable, and sends him away to Tartarus, whither he goes and
receives his proper recompense. Or, again, he looks with admiration on the
soul of some just one who has lived in holiness and truth; he may have been
a private man or not; and I should say, Callicles, that he is most likely
to have been a philosopher who has done his own work, and not troubled
himself with the doings of other men in his lifetime; him Rhadamanthus
sends to the Islands of the Blessed. Aeacus does the same; and they both
have sceptres, and judge; but Minos alone has a golden sceptre and is
seated looking on, as Odysseus in Homer declares that he saw him:
'Holding a sceptre of gold, and giving laws to the dead.'
Now I, Callicles, am persuaded of the truth of these things, and I consider
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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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: speaking of heavenly grace, and no of Grace Armstrong. Poor man,
I am very doubtfu' o' his condition; but I am sure he is as kind
to me as if I were his son, and a queer-looking father I wad hae
had, if that had been e'en sae."
Hobbie now relieved his benefactor of his presence, and rode
blithely home to display his treasure, and consult upon the means
of repairing the damage which his fortune had sustained through
the aggression of the Red Reiver of Westburnflat.
CHAPTER XI.
Three ruffians seized me yester morn,
Alas! a maiden most forlorn;
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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 Poor and Proud by Oliver Optic: the physician's art seemed powerless to soothe her. All night
long the devoted daughter, like an angel of mercy, hovered around
the bed, and did all he could in vain attempts to ease the
sufferer's pain.
Poor Katy! The sun of prosperity had set, and the night of
adversity was coming on.
CHAPTER XVIII.
KATY STRUGGLES BRAVELY THROUGH A SERIES OF TRIALS.
The morning sun rose clear and bright, casting a flood of light
into the chamber of the sick mother, watched over by the beloved
child. It was Christmas, and all over the Christian world arose
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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 Charmides and Other Poems by Oscar Wilde: I hear her hurrying feet, - awake, awake,
Thou laggard in love's battle! once at least
Let me drink deep of passion's wine, and slake
My parched being with the nectarous feast
Which even gods affect! O come, Love, come,
Still we have time to reach the cavern of thine azure home.'
Scarce had she spoken when the shuddering trees
Shook, and the leaves divided, and the air
Grew conscious of a god, and the grey seas
Crawled backward, and a long and dismal blare
Blew from some tasselled horn, a sleuth-hound bayed,
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