| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, etc. by Oscar Wilde: her whole life into Lord Arthur's hands, and nothing that Lady
Julia could say could make her waver in her faith. As for Lord
Arthur himself, it took him days to get over his terrible
disappointment, and for a time his nerves were completely unstrung.
His excellent common sense, however, soon asserted itself, and his
sound, practical mind did not leave him long in doubt about what to
do. Poison having proved a complete failure, dynamite, or some
other form of explosive, was obviously the proper thing to try.
He accordingly looked again over the list of his friends and
relatives, and, after careful consideration, determined to blow up
his uncle, the Dean of Chichester. The Dean, who was a man of
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Timaeus by Plato: who am the speaker, and you, who are the judges, are only men; to
probability we may attain but no further.
SOCRATES: Excellent, Timaeus, I like your manner of approaching the
subject--proceed.
TIMAEUS: Why did the Creator make the world?...He was good, and therefore
not jealous, and being free from jealousy he desired that all things should
be like himself. Wherefore he set in order the visible world, which he
found in disorder. Now he who is the best could only create the fairest;
and reflecting that of visible things the intelligent is superior to the
unintelligent, he put intelligence in soul and soul in body, and framed the
universe to be the best and fairest work in the order of nature, and the
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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 Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis: hadn't the habit, and people who carried cigarette-cases he regarded as
effeminate.
Last, he stuck in his lapel the Boosters' Club button. With the conciseness of
great art the button displayed two words: "Boosters-Pep!" It made Babbitt feel
loyal and important. It associated him with Good Fellows, with men who were
nice and human, and important in business circles. It was his V.C., his
Legion of Honor ribbon, his Phi Beta Kappa key.
With the subtleties of dressing ran other complex worries. "I feel kind of
punk this morning," he said. "I think I had too much dinner last evening. You
oughtn't to serve those heavy banana fritters."
"But you asked me to have some."
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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 My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: youth that the boy of ten years old does to the man of (by'r
Lady!) some fifty-six years. The old lady's invariable costume
has doubtless some share in confirming one in the opinion that
time has stood still with Aunt Margaret.
The brown or chocolate-coloured silk gown, with ruffles of the
same stuff at the elbow, within which are others of Mechlin lace;
the black silk gloves, or mitts; the white hair combed back upon
a roll; and the cap of spotless cambric, which closes around the
venerable countenance--as they were not the costume of 1780, so
neither were they that of 1826; they are altogether a style
peculiar to the individual Aunt Margaret. There she still sits,
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