| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: the monastery, and obliged the prior that then was to go to the
governor, and get leave for me personally, with the captain and one
more, besides eight seamen, to come on shore, and no more; and this
upon condition, absolutely capitulated for, that we should not
offer to land any goods out of the ship, or to carry any person
away without licence. They were so strict with us as to landing
any goods, that it was with extreme difficulty that I got on shore
three bales of English goods, such as fine broadcloths, stuffs, and
some linen, which I had brought for a present to my partner.
He was a very generous, open-hearted man, although he began, like
me, with little at first. Though he knew not that I had the least
Robinson Crusoe |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Virginian by Owen Wister: "I'm not," said I.
"No. But I'd 'most caught a-hold." And Scipio muttered to himself
again, "He wasn't sorry enough." Presently he swore loud and
brilliantly. "Tell yu'!" he cried. "What did he say to Trampas
after that play they exchanged over railroad improvements and
Trampas put the josh on him? Didn't he say, ' Trampas, I thought
you'd be afraid to do it?' Well, sir, Trampas had better have
been afraid. And that's what he meant. There's where he was
bringin' it to Trampas made an awful bad play then. You wait.
Glory, but he's a knowin' man! Course he wasn't sorry. I guess he
had the hardest kind of work to look as sorry as he did. You
The Virginian |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Soul of Man by Oscar Wilde: beautiful, and woke to such a vivid consciousness of the
hideousness and vulgarity of what the public had previously wanted,
that they simply starved the public out. It would be quite
impossible at the present moment to furnish a room as rooms were
furnished a few years ago, without going for everything to an
auction of second-hand furniture from some third-rate lodging-
house. The things are no longer made. However they may object to
it, people must nowadays have something charming in their
surroundings. Fortunately for them, their assumption of authority
in these art-matters came to entire grief.
It is evident, then, that all authority in such things is bad.
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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 Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: temple, and the Secretary, who was by my side, observing it, told me
that the Grand Duke Constantine, when he came a few days before,
made, as he entered, a most profound and reverential bow. This was
one of my most delightful mornings, and I left the Antiquities with
a stronger desire to see them again than before I had seen them at
all.
Sunday, June 27th
. . . I went on Wednesday to dine at Lord Monteagle's to meet Father
Mathew, and the Archbishop of Dublin (Dr. Whately) also dined there.
Father Mathew spoke with great interest of America and of American
liberality, and is very anxious to go to our country. He saw Mr.
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