| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: be dissatisfied with the words 'utility' or 'pleasure': their principle of
right is of a far higher character--what or where to be found they cannot
always distinctly tell;--deduced from the laws of human nature, says one;
resting on the will of God, says another; based upon some transcendental
idea which animates more worlds than one, says a third:
on nomoi prokeintai upsipodes, ouranian
di aithera teknothentes.
To satisfy an imaginative nature in any degree, the doctrine of utility
must be so transfigured that it becomes altogether different and loses all
simplicity.
But why, since there are different characters among men, should we not
|
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 Chouans by Honore de Balzac: your report to that Virgin of yours. Didn't he shout in our faces,
'Vive le roi!' when we thought him cooked?"
"Here are his papers, commandant," said Beau-Pied.
"Ho! ho!" cried Clef-des-Coeurs. "Come, all of you, and see this minion
of the good God with colors on his stomach!"
Hulot and several soldiers came round the body, now entirely naked,
and saw upon its breast a blue tattooing in the form of a swollen
heart. It was the sign of initiation into the brotherhood of the
Sacred Heart. Above this sign were the words, "Marie Lambrequin," no
doubt the man's name.
"Look at that, Clef-des-Coeurs," said Beau-Pied; "it would take you a
The Chouans |
