| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Red Seal by Natalie Sumner Lincoln: to use just before he died was found to contain two or more broken
capsules."
Helen sat immovable for over a minute, then she bowed her head and
burst into dry tearless sobs which wracked her body. Kent laid a
tender hand on her shoulder, then concluding it was better for her
to have her cry out, he wandered aimlessly about the office waiting
for her to regain her composure.
He stopped before one of the windows facing south and stared moodily
at the Belasco Theater. That playhouse had surely never staged a
more complicated mystery than the one he had set himself to unravel.
What consolation could he offer Helen? If he encouraged her belief
The Red Seal |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Rezanov by Gertrude Atherton: consent to your marriage with my daughter."
"Thank you," said Rezanov. And their hands
clasped across the table.
But this was far too simple for the taste of a
Governor. So important an occasion demanded
official dignity and many words.
"Your excellency," he said severely, sitting very
erect, with one white hand on the table and the
other on the hilt of his sword (yet full of courtesy,
and longing to enjoy the cheer and conversation of
his host); "the peaceful monotony of our lives has
Rezanov |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Cratylus by Plato: or when he describes himself as inspired or maddened by Euthyphro, with
whom he has been sitting from the early dawn (compare Phaedrus and Lysias;
Phaedr.) and expresses his intention of yielding to the illusion to-day,
and to-morrow he will go to a priest and be purified, we easily see that
his words are not to be taken seriously. In this part of the dialogue his
dread of committing impiety, the pretended derivation of his wisdom from
another, the extravagance of some of his etymologies, and, in general, the
manner in which the fun, fast and furious, vires acquirit eundo, remind us
strongly of the Phaedrus. The jest is a long one, extending over more than
half the dialogue. But then, we remember that the Euthydemus is a still
longer jest, in which the irony is preserved to the very end. There he is
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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 Caesar's Commentaries in Latin by Julius Caesar: novis rebus studere et ad bellum mobiliter celeriterque excitari, omnes
autem homines natura libertati studere et condicionem servitutis odisse,
prius quam plures civitates conspirarent, partiendum sibi ac latius
distribuendum exercitum putavit.
Itaque T. Labienum legatum in Treveros, qui proximi flumini Rheno
sunt, cum equitatu mittit. Huic imandat, Remos reliquosque Belgas adeat
atque in officio contineat Germanosque, qui auxilio a Belgis arcessiti
dicebantur, si per vim navibus flumen transire conentur, prohibeat.
P. Crassum cum cohortibus legionariis XII et magno numero equitatus in
Aquitaniam proficisci iubet, ne ex his nationibus auxilia in Galliam
mittantur ac tantae nationes coniungantur. Q. Titurium Sabinum legatum
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