| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin: we feel the insignificance of his boasted power.
It has been said, that the love of the chase is an inherent
delight in man -- a relic of an instinctive passion. If so, I
am sure the pleasure of living in the open air, with the sky
for a roof and the ground for a table, is part of the same
feeling, it is the savage returning to his wild and native
habits. I always look back to our boat cruises, and my land
journeys, when through unfrequented countries, with an extreme
delight, which no scenes of civilization could have
created. I do not doubt that every traveller must remember
the glowing sense of happiness which he experienced, when
The Voyage of the Beagle |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: recognition of their never failing attachment.
The additions and alterations which have been made, both in the
Introductions and in the Text of this Edition, affect at least a third of
the work.
Having regard to the extent of these alterations, and to the annoyance
which is naturally felt by the owner of a book at the possession of it in
an inferior form, and still more keenly by the writer himself, who must
always desire to be read as he is at his best, I have thought that the
possessor of either of the former Editions (1870 and 1876) might wish to
exchange it for the present one. I have therefore arranged that those who
would like to make this exchange, on depositing a perfect and undamaged
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