| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Prince by Nicolo Machiavelli: given above; for his ministers, being all slaves and bondmen, can only
be corrupted with great difficulty, and one can expect little
advantage from them when they have been corrupted, as they cannot
carry the people with them, for the reasons assigned. Hence, he who
attacks the Turk must bear in mind that he will find him united, and
he will have to rely more on his own strength than on the revolt of
others; but, if once the Turk has been conquered, and routed in the
field in such a way that he cannot replace his armies, there is
nothing to fear but the family of this prince, and, this being
exterminated, there remains no one to fear, the others having no
credit with the people; and as the conqueror did not rely on them
The Prince |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: from Solomon, misinterpreted at that, is made to count for more than all the
many promises of all the Scriptures.
If our opponents are so uncertain about their status with God, and even go so
far as to say that the conscience ought to be kept in a state of doubt, why is
it that they persecute us as vile heretics? When it comes to persecuting us
they do not seem to be in doubt and uncertainty one minute.
Let us not fail to thank God for delivering us from the doctrine of doubt. The
Gospel commands us to look away from our own good works to the promises
of God in Christ, the Mediator. The pope commands us to look away from the
promises of God in Christ to our own merit. No wonder they are the eternal
prey of doubt and despair. We depend upon God for salvation. No wonder that
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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 The Beasts of Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs: so many perils unscathed, and that somewhere out in the
faraway world a little child was doubtless at that very moment
crying for her, filled her with determination to make
the effort to accomplish the seemingly impossible and cross
that awful land of horror in search of the sea and the remote
chance of succour she might find there.
Rokoff's tent stood almost exactly in the centre of the boma.
Surrounding it were the tents and shelters of his white
companions and the natives of his safari. To pass through
these and find egress through the boma seemed a task too
fraught with insurmountable obstacles to warrant even the
The Beasts of Tarzan |
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 Laches by Plato: that Lysimachus, the friend of Sophroniscus, has never heard of the fame of
Socrates, his son; they belong to different circles. In the Meno their
want of education in all but the arts of riding and wrestling is adduced as
a proof that virtue cannot be taught. The recognition of Socrates by
Lysimachus is extremely graceful; and his military exploits naturally
connect him with the two generals, of whom one has witnessed them. The
characters of Nicias and Laches are indicated by their opinions on the
exhibition of the man fighting in heavy armour. The more enlightened
Nicias is quite ready to accept the new art, which Laches treats with
ridicule, seeming to think that this, or any other military question, may
be settled by asking, 'What do the Lacedaemonians say?' The one is the
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