| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Protagoras by Plato: possible, and is not granted to man; God only has this blessing; 'but man
cannot help being bad when the force of circumstances overpowers him.' Now
whom does the force of circumstance overpower in the command of a vessel?--
not the private individual, for he is always overpowered; and as one who is
already prostrate cannot be overthrown, and only he who is standing upright
but not he who is prostrate can be laid prostrate, so the force of
circumstances can only overpower him who, at some time or other, has
resources, and not him who is at all times helpless. The descent of a
great storm may make the pilot helpless, or the severity of the season the
husbandman or the physician; for the good may become bad, as another poet
witnesses:--
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Economist by Xenophon: hardly let me utter a syllable[9] while you laid down the law: if a
man did not know how to handle horses, horses were not wealth to him
at any rate; nor land, nor sheep, nor money, nor anything else, if he
did not know how to use them? And yet these are the very sources of
revenue from which incomes are derived; and how do you expect me to
know the use of any of them who never possessed a single one of them
since I was born?
[9] Cf. Aristoph. "Clouds," 945; "Plut." 17; Dem. 353; and Holden ad
loc.
Crit. Yes, but we agreed that, however little a man may be blest with
wealth himself, a science of economy exists; and that being so, what
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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 Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner: bottom, but all through."
The lady in Tant Sannie's bedroom was a gorgeous creature from a fashion-
sheet, which the Boer-woman, somewhere obtaining, had pasted up at the foot
of her bed, to be profoundly admired by the children.
"It would be very nice," said Em; but it seemed a dream of quite too
transcendent a glory ever to be realized.
At this instant there appeared at the foot of the kopje two figures--the
one, a dog, white and sleek, one yellow ear hanging down over his left eye;
the other, his master, a lad of fourteen, and no other than the boy Waldo,
grown into a heavy, slouching youth of fourteen. The dog mounted the kopje
quickly, his master followed slowly. He wore an aged jacket much too 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 The Cavalry General by Xenophon: commande en serre-file. C'est chez nous le capitaine en second."
[8] Or, "the rest of the squadron." Lit. "his own tribesmen."
An even number of file-leaders will admit of a greater number of equal
subdivisions than an odd.
The above formation pleases me for two good reasons: in the first
place, all the front-rank men are forced to act as officers;[9] and
the same man, mark you, when in command is somehow apt to feel that
deeds of valour are incumbent on him which, as a private, he ignores;
and in the next place, at a crisis when something calls for action on
the instant, the word of command passed not to privates but to
officers takes speedier effect.
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