| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Paz by Honore de Balzac: nature, and nature is pitiless. She has no sooner risen than she makes
an elaborate morning toilet, and thinks of the one which she means to
wear in the afternoon. The moment she is dressed she has to receive
and make visits, and go to the Bois either on horseback or in a
carriage. She must practise the art of smiling, and must keep her mind
on the stretch to invent new compliments which shall seem neither
common nor far-fetched. All women do not succeed in this. It is no
surprise, therefore, to find a young woman who entered fashionable
society fresh and healthy, faded and worn out at the end of three
years. Six months spent in the country will hardly heal the wounds of
the winter. We hear continually, in these days, of mysterious
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Eryxias by Platonic Imitator: to circumstances is a sound conception. (4) That the arts and sciences
which receive payment are likewise to be comprehended under the notion of
wealth, also touches a question of modern political economy. (5) The
distinction of post hoc and propter hoc, often lost sight of in modern as
well as in ancient times. These metaphysical conceptions and distinctions
show considerable power of thought in the writer, whatever we may think of
his merits as an imitator of Plato.
ERYXIAS
by
Platonic Imitator (see Appendix II above)
Translated by Benjamin Jowett
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