| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Lesser Hippias by Plato: for this reason is not false, as has been admitted.
HIPPIAS: True.
SOCRATES: Once more--let us examine a third case; that of the astronomer,
in whose art, again, you, Hippias, profess to be a still greater proficient
than in the preceding--do you not?
HIPPIAS: Yes, I am.
SOCRATES: And does not the same hold of astronomy?
HIPPIAS: True, Socrates.
SOCRATES: And in astronomy, too, if any man be able to speak falsely he
will be the good astronomer, but he who is not able will not speak falsely,
for he has no knowledge.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Little Britain by Washington Irving: The children, too, lavish all their holiday money in toys and
gilt
gingerbread, and fill the house with the Lilliputian din of
drums, trumpets, and penny whistles.
But the Lord mayor's Day is the great anniversary. The Lord
Mayor is looked up to by the inhabitants of Little Britain as the
greatest potentate upon earth; his gilt coach with six horses as
the summit of human splendor; and his procession, with all the
Sheriffs and Aldermen in his train, as the grandest of earthly
pageants. How they exult in the idea that the King himself
dare not enter the city without first knocking at the gate of
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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 King James Bible: DAN 10:18 Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance
of a man, and he strengthened me,
DAN 10:19 And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto
thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was
strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened
me.
DAN 10:20 Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and
now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone
forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.
DAN 10:21 But I will shew thee that which is noted in the scripture of
truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things, but
King James Bible |
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 Euthyphro by Plato: would be more than a match for him. He is quite sincere in his prosecution
of his father, who has accidentally been guilty of homicide, and is not
wholly free from blame. To purge away the crime appears to him in the
light of a duty, whoever may be the criminal.
Thus begins the contrast between the religion of the letter, or of the
narrow and unenlightened conscience, and the higher notion of religion
which Socrates vainly endeavours to elicit from him. 'Piety is doing as I
do' is the idea of religion which first occurs to him, and to many others
who do not say what they think with equal frankness. For men are not
easily persuaded that any other religion is better than their own; or that
other nations, e.g. the Greeks in the time of Socrates, were equally
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