| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Secret Places of the Heart by H. G. Wells: "But you've not waited--"
"I've had a mouthful of soup." Lady Hardy rang the bell.
"I've done some work at last," said Sir Richmond, astride on
the hearthrug.
"I'm glad," said Lady Hardy, without gladness. "I waited for
three hours."
Lady Hardy was a frail little blue-eyed woman with uneven
shoulders and a delicate sweet profile. Hers was that type of
face that under even the most pleasant and luxurious
circumstances still looks bravely and patiently enduring. Her
refinement threw a tinge of coarseness over his eager
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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 Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: like those which are hewn out with an axe on the poles at bridge-
ends;" the rat-skin coats, which they wore till they rotted off
their limbs; their steaks of meat cooked between the saddle and the
thigh; the little horses on which "they eat and drink, buy and sell,
and sleep lying forward along his narrow neck, and indulging in
every variety of dream." And over and above, and more important
politically, the common councils "held on horseback, under the
authority of no king, but content with the irregular government of
nobles, under whose leading they force their way through all
obstacles." A race--like those Cossacks who are probably their
lineal descendants--to be feared, to be hired, to be petted, but not
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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 Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: enjoyment after earning the right to be happy!--Of how many men
has this been the fate!
"But there surely is a moment when Tantalus rebels, crosses his
arms, and defies hell, throwing up his part of the eternal dupe.
That is what I shall come to if anything should thwart my plan;
if, after stooping to the dust of provincial life, prowling like a
starving tiger round these tradesmen, these electors, to secure
their votes; if, after wrangling in these squalid cases, and
giving them my time--the time I might have spent on Lago Maggiore,
seeing the waters she sees, basking in her gaze, hearing her voice
--if, after all, I failed to scale the tribune and conquer the
Albert Savarus |
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 Black Dwarf by Walter Scott: wastes, were now reduced to a very few herds, which, sheltering
themselves in the most remote and inaccessible recesses, rendered
the task of pursuing them equally toilsome and precarious. There
were, however, found many youth of the country ardently attached
to this sport, with all its dangers and fatigues. The sword had
been sheathed upon the Borders for more than a hundred years, by
the peaceful union of the crowns in the reign of James the First
of Great Britain. Still the country retained traces of what it
had been in former days; the inhabitants, their more peaceful
avocations having been repeatedly interrupted by the civil wars
of the preceding century, were scarce yet broken in to the habits
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