| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from On Horsemanship by Xenophon: crowds, and to make him familiar with all sorts of sights and noises;
and if the colt shows sign of apprehension at them,[9] he must teach
him--not by cruel, but by gentle handling--that they are not really
formidable.
[9] Or, "is disposed to shy."
On this topic, then, of training,[10] the rules here given will, I
think, suffice for any private individual.
[10] Or, "In reference to horsebreaking, the above remarks will
perhaps be found sufficient for the practical guidance of an
amateur."
III
On Horsemanship |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: freely offer his sentiments. That if his majesty, in
consideration of your services, and pursuant to his own merciful
disposition, would please to spare your life, and only give
orders to put out both your eyes, he humbly conceived, that by
this expedient justice might in some measure be satisfied, and
all the world would applaud the lenity of the emperor, as well as
the fair and generous proceedings of those who have the honour to
be his counsellors. That the loss of your eyes would be no
impediment to your bodily strength, by which you might still be
useful to his majesty; that blindness is an addition to courage,
by concealing dangers from us; that the fear you had for your
Gulliver's Travels |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An International Episode by Henry James: the steamer, and were deterred only by an amiable modesty from dispensing
with his attendance and starting on a hasty scramble to the wharf.
But when at last he appeared, and the carriage plunged into the
purlieus of Broadway, they jolted and jostled to such good purpose
that they reached the huge white vessel while the bell for departure
was still ringing and the absorption of passengers still active.
It was indeed, as Mr. Westgate had said, a big boat, and his leadership
in the innumerable and interminable corridors and cabins, with which
he seemed perfectly acquainted, and of which anyone and everyone appeared
to have the entree, was very grateful to the slightly bewildered voyagers.
He showed them their stateroom--a spacious apartment, embellished with
|
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 Kenilworth by Walter Scott: and a full purse. A pize on it! send it off to those who have
their legs swathed with a hay-wisp, their heads thatched with a
felt bonnet, their jerkin as thin as a cobweb, and their pouch
without ever a cross to keep the fiend Melancholy from dancing in
it. Cheer up, sir! or, by this good liquor, we shall banish
thee from the joys of blithesome company, into the mists of
melancholy and the land of little-ease. Here be a set of good
fellows willing to be merry; do not scowl on them like the devil
looking over Lincoln."
"You say well, my worthy host," said the guest, with a melancholy
smile, which, melancholy as it was, gave a very pleasant:
Kenilworth |
