| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from My Aunt Margaret's Mirror by Walter Scott: mansion and a pining spouse.
At length, inconvenienced in his money affairs, and tired even of
the short time which he spent in his own dull house, Sir Philip
Forester determined to take a trip to the Continent, in the
capacity of a volunteer. It was then common for men of fashion
to do so; and our knight perhaps was of opinion that a touch of
the military character, just enough to exalt, but not render
pedantic, his qualities as a BEAU GARCON, was necessary to
maintain possession of the elevated situation which he held in
the ranks of fashion.
Sir Philip's resolution threw his wife into agonies of terror; by
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Laches by Plato: questions: for, as he has well said, we are deliberating about the most
important of our concerns. I hope that you will see fit to comply with our
request.
NICIAS: I see very clearly, Lysimachus, that you have only known Socrates'
father, and have no acquaintance with Socrates himself: at least, you can
only have known him when he was a child, and may have met him among his
fellow-wardsmen, in company with his father, at a sacrifice, or at some
other gathering. You clearly show that you have never known him since he
arrived at manhood.
LYSIMACHUS: Why do you say that, Nicias?
NICIAS: Because you seem not to be aware that any one who has an
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