| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass: decrees, the liberty and person of every man are <357>put in
peril. Your broad republican domain is a hunting-ground for
_men_. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely,
but for men guilty of no crime. Your law-makers have commanded
all good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. Your
president, your secretary of state, your lords, nobles, and
ecclesiastics, enforce as a duty you owe to your free and
glorious country and to your God, that you do this accursed
thing. Not fewer than forty Americans have within the past two
years been hunted down, and without a moment's warning, hurried
away in chains, and consigned to slavery and excruciating
My Bondage and My Freedom |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Outlaw of Torn by Edgar Rice Burroughs: "And under which standard does My Lord Norman
expect to fight?" asked Father Claude.
"Under the black falcon's wing," laughed he of Torn.
"Thou be indeed a close-mouthed man, my son," said
the priest, smiling. "Such an attribute helpeth make a
great statesman. With thy soldierly qualities in addi-
tion, my dear boy, there be a great future for thee in
the paths of honest men. Dost remember our past talk?"
"Yes, father, well; and often have I thought on't. I
have one more duty to perform here in England and
then it may be, that I shall act on thy suggestion, but
The Outlaw of Torn |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Polity of Athenians and Lacedaemonians by Xenophon: obligation to cultivate the whole virtue of a citizen. Provided they
duly performed the injunctions of the law, the city belonged to them,
each and all, in absolute possession and on an equal footing. Weakness
of limb or want of wealth[5] was no drawback in his eyes. But as for
him who, out of the cowardice of his heart, shrank from the painful
performance of the law's injunction, the finger of the legistlator
pointed him out as there and then disqualified to be regarded longer
as a member of the brotherhood of peers.[6]
[5] But see Aristot. "Pol." ii. 9, 32.
[6] Grote, "H. G." viii. 81; "Hell." III. iii. 5.
It may be added, that there was no doubt as to the great antiquity of
|
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 Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories by Alice Dunbar: come."
Philip was bending ostentatiously over the girl in the next box.
Papa and Aunt Nina consented to be dragged behind the scenes.
Annette was well known, for, in hopes of some day being an
occupant of one of the dressing-rooms, she had made friends with
everyone connected with the opera.
Eleazar received them, still wearing his brown garb and
patriarchal beard.
"How you deceived me!" she laughed, when the greetings and
introductions were over.
"I came to America early," he smiled back at her, "and thought
The Goodness of St. Rocque and Other Stories |
