| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The $30,000 Bequest and Other Stories by Mark Twain: from a letter from a New York publisher who is a stranger to me.
I humbly endeavor to make these bits toothsome with the remark that
the article they are praising (which appeared in the December GALAXY,
and PRETENDED to be a criticism from the London SATURDAY REVIEW
on my INNOCENTS ABROAD) WAS WRITTEN BY MYSELF, EVERY LINE OF IT:
The HERALD says the richest thing out is the "serious critique"
in the London SATURDAY REVIEW, on Mark Twain's INNOCENTS ABROAD.
We thought before we read it that it must be "serious," as everybody
said so, and were even ready to shed a few tears; but since perusing it,
we are bound to confess that next to Mark Twain's "Jumping Frog"
it's the finest bit of humor and sarcasm that we've come across in many
|
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker: Sir Nathaniel took the lead.
"I understand, Adam, that your uncle has posted you regarding the
relationships of the Caswall family?"
"Partly, sir; but I understood that I was to hear minuter details
from you--if you would be so good."
"I shall be delighted to tell you anything so far as my knowledge
goes. Well, the first Caswall in our immediate record is an Edgar,
head of the family and owner of the estate, who came into his
kingdom just about the time that George III. did. He had one son of
about twenty-four. There was a violent quarrel between the two. No
one of this generation has any idea of the cause; but, considering
Lair of the White Worm |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: along this line as through ordinary glass. It will not be doubly
refracted. From the symmetry of the liquid figures, known to be
produced in the planes of freezing, when radiant heat is sent
through ice, we may safely infer symmetry of aggregation, and hence
conclude that the line perpendicular to the planes of freezing is a
line of no double refraction; that it is, in fact, the optic axis of
the crystal. The same remark applies to the line joining the
opposite blunt angles of a crystal of Iceland spar. The arrangement
of the molecules round this line being symmetrical, the condition of
the ether depending upon these molecules shares their symmetry; and
there is, therefore, no reason why the wavelength should alter with
|
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 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: Latin, Euclid, and History; and, if possible, not quarrel. Far
from man, sir, in the virgin forest. Thence, as my strength
returns, you may expect works of genius. I always feel as if I
must write a work of genius some time or other; and when is it more
likely to come off, than just after I have paid a visit to Styx and
go thence to the eternal mountains? Such a revolution in a man's
affairs, as I have somewhere written, would set anybody singing.
When we get installed, Lloyd and I are going to print my poetical
works; so all those who have been poetically addressed shall
receive copies of their addresses. They are, I believe, pretty
correct literary exercises, or will be, with a few filings; but
|
