| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Albert Savarus by Honore de Balzac: heard the sound of a piano and the tones of an exquisite voice. He
made the boatman stop, and gave himself up to the pleasure of
listening to an Italian air delightfully sung. When the singing
ceased, Rodolphe landed and sent away the boat and rowers. At the cost
of wetting his feet, he went to sit down under the water-worn granite
shelf crowned by a thick hedge of thorny acacia, by the side of which
ran a long lime avenue in the Bergmanns' garden. By the end of an hour
he heard steps and voices just above him, but the words that reached
his ears were all Italian, and spoken by two women.
He took advantage of the moment when the two speakers were at one end
of the walk to slip noiselessly to the other. After half an hour of
Albert Savarus |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Criminal Sociology by Enrico Ferri: summarily is due in part to new infractions, created by special
legislation, and especially by the Education Act of 1873, under
which there were more than forty thousand infractions in 1878, and
more than sixty-five thousand in 1886.
In regard to this delinquency in England (wherein are included,
over and above real offences, certain infractions corresponding to
the police contraventions of the Italian, French, Belgian and
Austrian codes) it is to be observed that the increase of 76 per
cent. in thirty years is due rather to contraventions than to
offences. And this would establish a remarkable difference
between the variations of delinquency in England and in France.
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