| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Reign of King Edward the Third by William Shakespeare: But call them cowards, that they ran away,
Having so rich and fair a cause to stay.--
Art thou there, Lodowick? Give me ink and paper.
LODOWICK.
I will, my liege.
KING EDWARD.
And bid the Lords hold on their play at Chess,
For we will walk and meditate alone.
LODOWICK.
I will, my sovereign.
[Exit Lodowick.]
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lysis by Plato: more than in the Charmides to the question, 'What is Temperance?' There
are several resemblances in the two Dialogues: the same youthfulness and
sense of beauty pervades both of them; they are alike rich in the
description of Greek life. The question is again raised of the relation of
knowledge to virtue and good, which also recurs in the Laches; and Socrates
appears again as the elder friend of the two boys, Lysis and Menexenus. In
the Charmides, as also in the Laches, he is described as middleaged; in the
Lysis he is advanced in years.
The Dialogue consists of two scenes or conversations which seem to have no
relation to each other. The first is a conversation between Socrates and
Lysis, who, like Charmides, is an Athenian youth of noble descent and of
Lysis |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Master of the World by Jules Verne: been killed, the death of men is but a detail, not considered of
great importance in that astonishing country of America.
Naturally the excitement became more intense as one approached the
finishing line near Milwaukee. There were assembled the most curious,
the most interested; and there the passions of the moment were
unchained. By ten o'clock it was evident, that the first prize,
twenty thousand dollars, lay between five machines, two American, two
French, and one English. Imagine, therefore, the fury with which bets
were being made under the influence of national pride. The regular
book makers could scarcely meet the demands of those who wished to
wager. Offers and amounts were hurled from lip to lip with feverish
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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 Country Doctor by Honore de Balzac: represent the three principal elements necessary to the existence of
society--conscience, property, and health. At one time the first, and
at a later period the second, was all-important in the State. Our
predecessors on this earth thought, perhaps not without reason, that
the priest, who prescribed what men should think, ought to be
paramount; so the priest was king, pontiff, and judge in one, for in
those days belief and faith were everything. All this has been changed
in our day; and we must even take our epoch as we find it. But I, for
one, believe that the progress of civilization and the welfare of the
people depend on these three men. They are the three powers who bring
home to the people's minds the ways in which facts, interests, and
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