| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Theaetetus by Plato: for us and is always present to us, and of which we carry about the
materials in our own bosoms. We can observe our minds and we can
experiment upon them, and the knowledge thus acquired is not easily
forgotten, and is a help to us in study as well as in conduct.
The principal subjects of Psychology may be summed up as follows:--
a. The relation of man to the world around him,--in what sense and within
what limits can he withdraw from its laws or assert himself against them
(Freedom and Necessity), and what is that which we suppose to be thus
independent and which we call ourselves? How does the inward differ from
the outward and what is the relation between them, and where do we draw the
line by which we separate mind from matter, the soul from the body? Is the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Letters from England by Elizabeth Davis Bancroft: is a sketch of children, a boy driving his two little sisters as
horses. One of the little girls is very like Susie, her size, hair,
and complexion. How I longed to be rich enough to order a copy, but
his pictures cost a fortune. I paid also a visit this week to the
Duchess of Inverness, whom I found in the prettiest, cosiest morning
boudoir looking onto the gardens of the Palace. In short, I do, or
see, every hour, something that if I were a traveller only, I could
make quite a story of.
LETTER: To W.D.B. and A.B.
LONDON, January 1, 1847
My dear Sons: . . . I wrote my last sheet on the 19th and your
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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 Little Rivers by Henry van Dyke: or conquering warrior? We should be wiser if we gave less glory to
the men who have been successful in forcing their fellow-men to
die, and more glory to the men who have been successful in teaching
their fellow-men how to live.
But the Festa of Cortina did not remain all day on this high moral
plane. In the afternoon came what our landlady called "allerlei
Dummheiten." There was a grand lottery for the benefit of the
Volunteer Fire Department. The high officials sat up in a green
wooden booth in the middle of the square, and called out the
numbers and distributed the prizes. Then there was a greased pole
with various articles of an attractive character tied to a large
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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 Democracy In America, Volume 1 by Alexis de Toqueville: institutions spread with an increasing territory, whilst the
virtues which maintain their dignity do not augment in the same
proportion. The ambition of the citizens increases with the
power of the State; the strength of parties with the importance
of the ends they have in view; but that devotion to the common
weal which is the surest check on destructive passions is not
stronger in a large than in a small republic. It might, indeed,
be proved without difficulty that it is less powerful and less
sincere. The arrogance of wealth and the dejection of
wretchedness, capital cities of unwonted extent, a lax morality,
a vulgar egotism, and a great confusion of interests, are the
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