| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Wrong Box by Stevenson & Osbourne: may be deep; but I'll be hanged if you're vivacious!'
'What makes you think me deep?' asked Morris with an air of
pleased simplicity.
'Because you won't compromise,' said the lawyer. 'You're deep
dog, Morris, very deep dog, not t' compromise--remarkable deep
dog. And a very good glass of wine; it's the only respectable
feature in the Finsbury family, this wine; rarer thing than a
title--much rarer. Now a man with glass wine like this in cellar,
I wonder why won't compromise?'
'Well, YOU wouldn't compromise before, you know,' said the
smiling Morris. 'Turn about is fair play.'
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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 Village Rector by Honore de Balzac: "It shall be done."
"You conceive the possibility of this great work," he went on; "but
you cannot execute it. Neither you nor I have the necessary knowledge
to accomplish an idea which might have come to all, but the execution
of which presents immense difficulties; for simple as it may seem, the
matter requires the most accurate science with all its resources.
Seek, therefore, at once for the proper human instruments who will
enable you within the next dozen years to get an income of six or
seven thousand louis out of the six thousand acres you irrigate and
fertilize. Such an enterprise will make Montegnac at some future day
the most prosperous district in the department. The forest, as yet,
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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 Crito by Plato: am to die?
CRITO: No, the ship has not actually arrived, but she will probably be
here to-day, as persons who have come from Sunium tell me that they have
left her there; and therefore to-morrow, Socrates, will be the last day of
your life.
SOCRATES: Very well, Crito; if such is the will of God, I am willing; but
my belief is that there will be a delay of a day.
CRITO: Why do you think so?
SOCRATES: I will tell you. I am to die on the day after the arrival of
the ship?
CRITO: Yes; that is what the authorities say.
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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 An Historical Mystery by Honore de Balzac: The jealous girl threw a disdainful look at her twin lovers, which
humiliated them while it rejoiced the heart of Adrien, who made a
gesture of admiration and gave her one proud look, which said plainly
that /he/ thought only of her,--of Laurence.
"I told you," said the abbe in a low voice, "that love would some day
cause her to forget her animosity."
It was the first, last, and only reproach the brothers ever received
from her; but certainly at that moment their love, which could still
be distracted by national events, was inferior to that of Laurence,
which, absorbed her mind so completely that she only knew of the
amazing triumph at Austerlitz by overhearing a discussion between
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