| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Theaetetus by Plato: which is called consciousness, or, when in excess, self-consciousness: (f)
of the distinction of the 'I' and 'Not I,' of ourselves and outward
objects. But when we attempt to gather up these elements in a single
system, we discover that the links by which we combine them are apt to be
mere words. We are in a country which has never been cleared or surveyed;
here and there only does a gleam of light come through the darkness of the
forest.
(2) These fragments, although they can never become science in the ordinary
sense of the word, are a real part of knowledge and may be of great value
in education. We may be able to add a good deal to them from our own
experience, and we may verify them by it. Self-examination is one of those
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne: did not care to recognise the historic towns and villages which,
along its borders, raised their picturesque outlines against the sky;
and betrayed no fear of the dangers of the Arabic Gulf, which the old
historians always spoke of with horror, and upon which the ancient
navigators never ventured without propitiating the gods by ample sacrifices.
How did this eccentric personage pass his time on the Mongolia? He made his
four hearty meals every day, regardless of the most persistent rolling
and pitching on the part of the steamer; and he played whist indefatigably,
for he had found partners as enthusiastic in the game as himself.
A tax-collector, on the way to his post at Goa; the Rev. Decimus Smith,
returning to his parish at Bombay; and a brigadier-general of the English army,
Around the World in 80 Days |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Historical Lecturers and Essays by Charles Kingsley: of the Wampanong Indians. He was going back to Greenland, perhaps
for reinforcements, finding, he and his fellow-captain, Thorfinn,
the Esquimaux who then dwelt in that land too strong for them. For
the Norsemen were then on the very edge of discovery, which might
have changed the history not only of this continent but of Europe
likewise. They had found and colonised Iceland and Greenland. They
had found Labrador, and called it Helluland, from its ice-polished
rocks. They had found Nova Scotia seemingly, and called it
Markland, from its woods. They had found New England, and called it
Vinland the Good. A fair land they found it, well wooded, with good
pasturage; so that they had already imported cows, and a bull whose
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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 Sanitary and Social Lectures by Charles Kingsley: and every grade of civilisation. It is happening round us now in
every region of the globe. Always and everywhere, it seems to me,
have poor human beings been tempted to eat of some "tree of
knowledge," that they may be, even for an hour, as gods; wise, but
with a false wisdom; careless, but with a frantic carelessness;
and happy, but with a happiness which, when the excitement is
past, leaves too often--as with that hapless pair in Eden--
depression, shame, and fear. Everywhere, and in all ages, as far
as I can ascertain, has man been inventing stimulants and
narcotics to supply that want of vitality of which he is so
painfully aware; and has asked nature, and not God, to clear the
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