| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: one of those men who is so good all round that he became
preeminent-eminent in nothing. A classic of the first water, a very
respectable mathematician, an expert in theology, a student of
sundry foreign languages and literature in his lighter moments,
an inquirer into sociology, a theoretical musician though his
playing of the organ excruciated most people because it was too
correct, a really first-class authority upon flint instruments
and the best grower of garden vegetables in the county, also of
apples--such were some of his attainments. That was what made his
sermons so popular, since at times one or the other of these
subjects would break out into them, his theory being that God
When the World Shook |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Vicar of Tours by Honore de Balzac: Tours seek his company, had steadily opposed, though secretly and with
much judgment, the elevation of the Abbe Troubert. He had even
adroitly managed to prevent his access to the salons of the best
society. Nevertheless, during Chapeloud's lifetime Troubert treated
him invariably with great respect, and showed him on all occasions the
utmost deference. This constant submission did not, however, change
the opinion of the late canon, who said to Birotteau during the last
walk they took together: "Distrust that lean stick of a Troubert,--
Sixtus the Fifth reduced to the limits of a bishopric!"
Such was the friend, the abiding guest of Mademoiselle Gamard, who now
came, the morning after the old maid had, as it were, declared war
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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 Soul of a Bishop by H. G. Wells: plain and tragic issue that involved every one in a common call
for devotion. For a great number of men and women who had been
born and bred in security, the August and September of 1914 were
the supremely heroic period of their lives. Myriads of souls were
born again to ideas of service and sacrifice in those tremendous
days.
Black and evil thing as the war was, it was at any rate a great
thing; it did this much for countless minds that for the first
time they realized the epic quality of history and their own
relationship to the destinies of the race. The flimsy roof under
which we had been living our lives of comedy fell and shattered
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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 Wrecker by Stevenson & Osbourne: won't say; I guess I'll be properly full by then. But now I'm the
soberest man in all Big Muggin."
"It won't do," retorted Wicks. "Not for Joseph, sir. I can't have
you piling up my schooner."
"All right," said Dobbs, "lay and rot where you are, or take and
go in and pile her up for yourself like the captain of the Leslie.
That's business, I guess; grudged me twenty dollars' pilotage,
and lost twenty thousand in trade and a brand new schooner;
ripped the keel right off of her, and she went down in the inside
of four minutes, and lies in twenty fathom, trade and all."
"What's all this?" cried Wicks. "Trade? What vessel was this
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