| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Domestic Peace by Honore de Balzac: severest punishment. That, my dear fellow, is the way in which those
sweet faces, in appearance so tender and so artless, would have formed
a coalition against the stranger, and that without a word beyond the
question, 'Tell me, dear, do you know that little woman in blue?'--
Look here, Martial, if you care to run the gauntlet of more flattering
glances and inviting questions than you will ever again meet in the
whole of your life, just try to get through the triple rampart which
defends that Queen of Dyle, or Lippe, or Charente. You will see
whether the dullest woman of them all will not be equal to inventing
some wile that would hinder the most determined man from bringing the
plaintive stranger to the light. Does it not strike you that she looks
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Passion in the Desert by Honore de Balzac: always impresses me favorably. He was without doubt one of those
troopers who are surprised at nothing, who find matter for laughter in
the contortions of a dying comrade, who bury or plunder him quite
light-heartedly, who stand intrepidly in the way of bullets;--in fact,
one of those men who waste no time in deliberation, and would not
hesitate to make friends with the devil himself. After looking very
attentively at the proprietor of the menagerie getting out of his box,
my companion pursed up his lips with an air of mockery and contempt,
with that peculiar and expressive twist which superior people assume
to show they are not taken in. Then, when I was expatiating on the
courage of M. Martin, he smiled, shook his head knowingly, and said,
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Master Key by L. Frank Baum: "I think so," said the President, slowly; "yet since your invention
has shown me that many men I have considered honest are criminally
implicated in this royalist plot, I hardly know whom to depend upon."
"Then please wear these spectacles during your interview with the
minister of police," said the boy. "You must say nothing, while he
is with us, about certain marks that will appear upon his forehead;
but when he has gone I will explain those marks so you will
understand them."
The President covered his eyes with the spectacles.
"Why," he exclaimed, "I see upon your own brow the letters--"
"Stop, sir!" interrupted Rob, with a blush; "I don't care to know what
The Master Key |
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 First Inaugural Address by Abraham Lincoln: Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise
their CONSTITUTIONAL right of amending it, or their REVOLUTIONARY right
to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact
that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the
national Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of
amendments, I fully recognize the rightful authority of the people
over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed
in the instrument itself; and I should, under existing circumstances,
favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people
to act upon it. I will venture to add that to me the convention mode
seems preferable, in that it allows amendments to originate with
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