| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Main Street by Sinclair Lewis: from one to another. Always, west of Pittsburg, and often,
east of it, there is the same lumber yard, the same railroad
station, the same Ford garage, the same creamery, the same
box-like houses and two-story shops. The new, more conscious
houses are alike in their very attempts at diversity: the same
bungalows, the same square houses of stucco or tapestry brick.
The shops show the same standardized, nationally advertised
wares; the newspapers of sections three thousand miles apart
have the same "syndicated features"; the boy in Arkansas
displays just such a flamboyant ready-made suit as is found
on just such a boy in Delaware, both of them iterate the same
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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 Tapestried Chamber by Walter Scott: All who were present showed surprise, and Lord Woodville
immediately replied "Post horses, my good friend! What can you
possibly want with them when you promised to stay with me quietly
for at least a week?"
"I believe," said the General, obviously much embarrassed, "that
I might, in the pleasure of my first meeting with your lordship,
have said something about stopping here a few days; but I have
since found it altogether impossible."
"That is very extraordinary," answered the young nobleman. "You
seemed quite disengaged yesterday, and you cannot have had a
summons to-day, for our post has not come up from the town, and
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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 Frances Waldeaux by Rebecca Davis: air. You sing it morning, noon, and night," he grumbled.
"Yes," she whispered, laying the child in its crib. "One
never knows how much HE understands, and he may
remember, I thought. Some day when he is a great boy, he
may hear it and he'll think, `My mother sang that hymn.
She must have been a good woman!'"
"Nonsense, Lisa," said George kindly. "You'll teach him
every day, while he is growing to be a great boy, that
you are a good woman."
She said nothing, but stood on the other side of the crib
looking at him.
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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 Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: His career in Congress, while adding little to his fame at the
time, proved of great advantage to him in after life, for it gave
him a close knowledge of the workings of the Federal Government,
and brought him into contact with political leaders from all
parts of the Union.
V. THE CHAMPION OF FREEDOM
For four or five years after his return from Congress, Lincoln
remained in Springfield, working industriously at his profession.
He was offered a law partnership in Chicago, but declined on the
ground that his health would not stand the confinement of a great
city. His business increased in volume and importance as the
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