| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: convinced that this must be done. War with England must certainly
be avoided; and Captain Wilkes, by allowing the Trent to proceed
on her voyage, instead of bringing her into port with the
prisoners, had put it out of the power of his Government to
prove, under international law, that the capture was justified.
Besides all else, the President's quick mind saw, what others
failed to note, that by giving up the prisoners as England
demanded, the United States would really gain an important
diplomatic victory. For many years England had claimed the right
to stop and search vessels at sea when she had reason to believe
they carried men or goods hostile to her interests. The United
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy: diameter. Shepherd Oak, Jan Coggan, Moon, Poor-
grass, Cain Ball, and several others were assembled
here, all dripping wet to the very roots of their hair,
and Bathsheba was standing by in a new riding-habit --
the most elegant she had ever worn -- the reins of her
horse being looped over her arm. Flagons of cider
were rolling about upon the green. The meek sheep
were pushed into the pool by Coggan and Matthew
Moon, who stood by the lower hatch, immersed to their
waists; then Gabriel, who stood on the brink, thrust
them under as they swam along, with an instrument
Far From the Madding Crowd |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Master of Ballantrae by Robert Louis Stevenson: read the letter from Troyes: in revenge for which this cruel jest
was perpetrated on Mr. Burke in his extreme necessity. The Master,
for all his wickedness, was not without some natural affection; I
believe he was sincerely attached to Mr. Burke in the beginning;
but the thought of treachery dried up the springs of his very
shallow friendship, and his detestable nature appeared naked. - E.
McK.)
CHAPTER VIII. - THE ENEMY IN THE HOUSE.
It is a strange thing that I should be at a stick for a date - the
date, besides, of an incident that changed the very nature of my
life, and sent us all into foreign lands. But the truth is, I was
|
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 Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne: had ever been gathered or solitary Christian prayed. Whither,
then, could these holy men be journeying so deep into the heathen
wilderness? Young Goodman Brown caught hold of a tree for
support, being ready to sink down on the ground, faint and
overburdened with the heavy sickness of his heart. He looked up
to the sky, doubting whether there really was a heaven above him.
Yet there was the blue arch, and the stars brightening in it.
"With heaven above and Faith below, I will yet stand firm against
the devil!" cried Goodman Brown.
While he still gazed upward into the deep arch of the firmament
and had lifted his hands to pray, a cloud, though no wind was
Mosses From An Old Manse |
