| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: for Sparta, and conducive to her interests, to obey the laws which he
had framed. And not until the divine answer came: "Better will it be
in every way," did he deliver them, laying it down as a last ordinance
that to refuse obedience to a code which had the sanction of the
Pythian god himself[8] was a thing not illegal only, but profane.
[7] See Plut. "Lycurg." 5, 6, 29 (Clough, i. 89, 122); Polyb. x. 2, 9.
[8] Or, "a code delivered in Pytho, spoken by the god himself."
IX
The following too may well excite our admiration for Lycurgus. I speak
of the consummate skill with which he induced the whole state of
Sparta to regard an honourable death as preferable to an ignoble life.
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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 Alkahest by Honore de Balzac: rumors she had taken so much pains to deny. The experience of her
youth had taught her to understand the polite pity of the world.
Resolved not to undergo it a second time, she withdrew more and more
into the privacy of her own house, now deserted by society and even by
her nearest friends.
Among these many causes of distress, the negligence and disorder of
Balthazar's dress, so degrading to a man of his station, was not the
least bitter to a woman accustomed to the exquisite nicety of Flemish
life. At first Josephine endeavored, in concert with Balthazar's
valet, Lemulquinier, to repair the daily devastation of his clothing,
but even that she was soon forced to give up. The very day when
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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 Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: hiemi navigationem subiciendam non existimabat. Ipse idoneam tempestatem
nactus paulo post mediam noctem naves solvit, quae omnes incolumes ad
continentem pervenerunt; sed ex iis onerariae duae eosdem portus quos
reliquae capere non potuerunt et paulo infra delatae sunt.
Quibus ex navibus cum essent expositi milites circiter CCC atque in
castra contenderent, Morini, quos Caesar in Britanniam proficiscens
pacatos reliquerat, spe praedae adducti primo non ita magno suorum numero
circumsteterunt ac, si sese interfici nollent, arma ponere iusserunt. Cum
illi orbe facto sese defenderent, celeriter ad clamorem hominum circiter
milia VI convenerunt; Qua re nuntiata, Caesar omnem ex castris equitatum
suis auxilio misit. Interim nostri milites impetum hostium sustinuerunt
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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 Riverman by Stewart Edward White: Rough Red--from going back and "cleaning out" this impertinent band
of hangers-on. One day two of the latter, conducting the jam of the
miniature drive astern, came within reach of the Rough Red. The
latter had lingered in hopes of rescuing his peavy, which had gone
overboard. To lose one's peavy is, among rivermen, the most
mortifying disgrace. Consequently, the Rough Red was in a fit mood
for trouble. He attacked the two single-handed. A desperate battle
ensued, which lasted upward of an hour. The two rivermen punched,
kicked, and battered the Rough Red in a manner to tear his clothes,
deprive him to some extent of red whiskers, bloody his face, cut his
shoulder, and knock loose two teeth. The Rough Red, more than the
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