| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Red Inn by Honore de Balzac: place, a virtuous lie; in the next, I might only be opening the way to
some painful experience; I might lose the heart of a girl who loves
society, and balls, and personal adornment, and ME for the time being.
Some slim and jaunty officer, with a well-frizzed moustache, who can
play the piano, quote Lord Byron, and ride a horse elegantly, may get
her away from me. What shall I do? For Heaven's sake, give me some
advice!"
The honest man, that species of puritan not unlike the father of
Jeannie Deans, of whom I have already told you, and who, up to the
present moment hadn't uttered a word, shrugged his shoulders, as he
looked at me and said:--
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: day, from the lake of Hallstatt down to Ischl.
There was one part of the river, near Laufen, where the current was
very strong and waterfally, broken by ledges of rock. Below these
it rested in long, smooth reaches, much beloved by the grayling.
There was no difficulty in getting two or three of them out of each
run.
The grayling has a quaint beauty. His appearance is aesthetic,
like a fish in a pre-raphaelite picture. His colour, in midsummer,
is a golden gray, darker on the back, and with a few black spots
just behind his gills, like patches put on to bring out the pallor
of his complexion. He smells of wild thyme when he first comes out
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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 Roads of Destiny by O. Henry: to give offence." He sank into his chair, and the film came again over
his eyes.
"First," said the duke, "I will read you the letter he brought:
"'To-night is the anniversary of the dauphin's death. If he goes,
as is his custom, to midnight mass to pray for the soul of his
son, the falcon will strike, at the corner of the Rue Esplanade.
If this be his intention, set a red light in the upper room at the
southwest corner of the palace, that the falcon may take heed.'
"Peasant," said the duke, sternly, "you have heard these words. Who
gave you this message to bring?"
"My lord duke," said David, sincerely, "I will tell you. A lady gave
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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 Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: eminences, in nearly all cases lifted others to an almost equal
height. And so it is with the discoveries of Faraday. As a general
rule, the dominant result does not stand alone, but forms the
culminating point of a vast and varied mass of inquiry. In this
way, round about his great discovery of Magneto-electric Induction,
other weighty labours group themselves. His investigations on the
Extra Current; on the Polar and other Condition of Diamagnetic
Bodies; on Lines of Magnetic Force, their definite character and
distribution; on the employment of the Induced Magneto-electric
Current as a measure and test of Magnetic Action; on the Revulsive
Phenomena of the magnetic field, are all, notwithstanding the
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