| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Essays of Francis Bacon by Francis Bacon: and not fall to work, but be lazy, and do mischief,
and spend victuals, and be quickly weary, and
then certify over to their country, to the discredit
of the plantation. The people wherewith you
plant ought to be gardeners, ploughmen, laborers,
smiths, carpenters, joiners, fishermen, fowlers,
with some few apothecaries, surgeons, cooks, and
bakers. In a country of plantation, first look about,
what kind of victual the country yields of itself to
hand; as chestnuts, walnuts, pineapples, olives,
dates, plums, cherries, wild honey, and the like;
Essays of Francis Bacon |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Door in the Wall, et. al. by H. G. Wells: not sunken and red after the common way of the valley, but lay as
though they might open again at any moment; and she had long
eyelashes, which were considered a grave disfigurement. And her
voice was weak and did not satisfy the acute hearing of the valley
swains. So that she had no lover.
There came a time when Nunez thought that, could he win her,
he would be resigned to live in the valley for all the rest of his
days.
He watched her; he sought opportunities of doing her little
services and presently he found that she observed him. Once at a
rest-day gathering they sat side by side in the dim starlight, and
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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 From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne: and others, transmitted their good wishes; the rest maintained
a prudent silence, quietly awaiting the result. As for the
observatory at Greenwich, seconded as it was by the twenty-
two astronomical establishments of Great Britain, it spoke
plainly enough. It boldly denied the possibility of success,
and pronounced in favor of the theories of Captain Nicholl.
But this was nothing more than mere English jealousy.
On the 8th of October President Barbicane published a manifesto
full of enthusiasm, in which he made an appeal to "all persons
of good will upon the face of the earth." This document,
translated into all languages, met with immense success.
From the Earth to the Moon |
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 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift: lifted up the lappets of my coat; which it seems he thought to be
some kind of covering that nature had given me. He blew my hairs
aside to take a better view of my face. He called his hinds
about him, and asked them, as I afterwards learned, whether they
had ever seen in the fields any little creature that resembled
me. He then placed me softly on the ground upon all fours, but I
got immediately up, and walked slowly backward and forward, to
let those people see I had no intent to run away. They all sat
down in a circle about me, the better to observe my motions. I
pulled off my hat, and made a low bow towards the farmer. I fell
on my knees, and lifted up my hands and eyes, and spoke several
Gulliver's Travels |
