| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from King Henry VI by William Shakespeare: REIGNIER.
Why ring not out the bells aloud throughout the town?
Dauphin, command the citizens make bonfires
And feast and banquet in the open streets,
To celebrate the joy that God hath given us.
ALENCON.
All France will be replete with mirth and joy,
When they shall hear how we have play'd the men.
CHARLES.
'Tis Joan, not we, by whom the day is won;
For which I will divide my crown with her;
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: metropolis; to have prophesied, as an old Hebrew might have done,
that the despotism which he saw around him would end in a violent
revolution. It is something to have combined the highest Christian
morality with a hearty appreciation of old Greek life; of its
reverence for bodily health and prowess; its joyous and simple
country society; its sacrificial feasts, dances, games; its respect
for the gods; its belief that they helped, guided, inspired the sons
of men. It is something to have himself believed in God; in a
living God, who, both in this life and in all lives to come,
rewarded the good and punished the evil by inevitable laws. It is
something to have warned a young prince, in an age of doctrinal
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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 Salammbo by Gustave Flaubert: At last she descended the galley staircase. The priests followed her.
She advanced into the avenue of cypress, and walked slowly through the
tables of the captains, who drew back somewhat as they watched her
pass.
Her hair, which was powdered with violet sand, and combined into the
form of a tower, after the fashion of the Chanaanite maidens, added to
her height. Tresses of pearls were fastened to her temples, and fell
to the corners of her mouth, which was as rosy as a half-open
pomegranate. On her breast was a collection of luminous stones, their
variegation imitating the scales of the murena. Her arms were adorned
with diamonds, and issued naked from her sleeveless tunic, which was
Salammbo |
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 The Profits of Religion by Upton Sinclair: help, of course; but the main sources of growth are, first, the
subsidies of industrial exploiters, the majority of whom are
non-Catholic, and second, the privilege of public plunder granted
as payment for votes by politicians who are creatures and puppets
of Big Business.
King Coal
The proof of these statements is written all over the industrial
life of America. I will stop long enough to present an account of
one industry, asking the reader to accept my statement that if
space permitted I could present the same sort of proof for a
dozen other industries which I have studied--the steel-mills of
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