| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: ernor that the Russian might be placated even while
made to realize that to loiter longer in California
waters would be but a waste of precious time.
XVIII
There was no performance after all in the Presidio
square that night, for the bear brought in from the
hills to do honor to the Russians died of excitement,
and it rained besides. Rezanov made the storm his
excuse for not dining and dancing as usual at the
house of the Commandante. But the relations be-
tween the Presidio and the Juno during the next
Rezanov |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln: on the battlefield near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, USA
#STARTMARK#
Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth
upon this continent a new nation: conceived in liberty, and
dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war. . .testing whether
that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated. . .
can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war.
We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place
for those who here gave their lives that this nation might live.
It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
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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 The Talisman by Walter Scott: terminated, while in another corner a corresponding stair was
seen to continue the ascent. In a third angle was a Gothic door,
very rudely ornamented with the usual attributes of clustered
columns and carving, and defended by a wicket, strongly guarded
with iron, and studded with large nails. To this last point the
hermit directed his steps, which seemed to falter as he
approached it.
"Put off thy shoes," he said to his attendant; "the ground on
which thou standest is holy. Banish from thy innermost heart
each profane and carnal thought, for to harbour such while in
this place were a deadly impiety."
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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 Lady Baltimore by Owen Wister: other effect ever came from John's mouth, of course. One result I had not
looked for, though it was a natural one: if the old ladies had felt
indignation at Hortense for her determination to marry John Mayrant, this
indignation was doubled by her determination not to! I fear that few of
us live by logic, even in Kings Port; and then, they had all called upon
her in that garden for nothing! The sudden thought of this made me laugh
alone in my bed of sickness; and when I came out of it, had such a thing
been possible, I should have liked to congratulate Miss Josephine St.
Michael on her absence from the garden occasion. I said, however, nothing
to her, or to any of the other ladies, upon this or any subject, for I
was so unlucky as to find them not at home when I paid my round of
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