| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: as the Object for Attention is the DOCTRINE ITSELF, not the MAN. Yet it may
not be unnecessary to say, That he is unconnected with any Party, and under no
sort of Influence public or private, but the influence of reason and principle.
Philadelphia, February 14, 1776
OF THE ORIGIN AND DESIGN OF GOVERNMENT IN GENERAL.
WITH CONCISE REMARKS ON THE ENGLISH CONSTITUTION
Some writers have so confounded society with government,
as to leave little or no distinction between them;
whereas they are not only different, but have different origins.
Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness;
the former promotes our POSITIVELY by uniting our affections,
Common Sense |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from An Unsocial Socialist by George Bernard Shaw: perception of the foibles of others, and no reverence for her
seniors, whom she thought dull, cautious, and ridiculously
amenable by commonplaces. But she was subject to the illusion
which disables youth in spite of its superiority to age. She
thought herself an exception. Crediting Mr. Jansenius and the
general mob of mankind with nothing but a grovelling
consciousness of some few material facts, she felt in herself an
exquisite sense and all-embracing conception of nature, shared
only by her favorite poets and heroes of romance and history.
Hence she was in the common youthful case of being a much better
judge of other people's affairs than of her own. At the
|
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Marie by H. Rider Haggard: martyr; but I hope one will only have to wear it on Sundays, as I never
could bear anything heavy on my hair; moreover, it would remind me of a
Kaffir's head-ring done in gold, and I shall have had enough of Kaffirs.
Then there will be the harp," she went on as her imagination took fire
at the prospect of these celestial delights. "Have you ever seen a
harp, Allan? I haven't except that which King David carries in the
picture in the Book, which looks like a broken rimpi chair frame set up
edgeways. As for playing the thing, they will have to teach me, that's
all, which will be a difficult business, seeing that I would sooner
listen to cats on the roof than to music, and as for making it--"
So she chattered on, as I believe with the object of diverting and
Marie |
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 Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu by Sax Rohmer: How did Sir Crichton die?"
"He died of the Zayat Kiss. Ask me what that is and I reply
'I do not know.' The zayats are the Burmese caravanserais,
or rest-houses. Along a certain route--upon which I set eyes,
for the first and only time, upon Dr. Fu-Manchu--travelers who use
them sometimes die as Sir Crichton died, with nothing to show
the cause of death but a little mark upon the neck, face, or limb,
which has earned, in those parts, the title of the `Zayat Kiss.'
The rest-houses along that route are shunned now.
I have my theory and I hope to prove it to-night, if I live.
It will be one more broken weapon in his fiendish armory,
The Insidious Dr. Fu-Manchu |
