| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Mountains by Stewart Edward White: on horseback caught a cow by the horns and one
hind leg, and promptly upset her. The old brand
was obliterated, the new one burnt in. This irritated
the cow. Promptly the branding-men, who were of
course afoot, climbed to the top of the corral to be
out of the way. At this moment, before the horsemen
could flip loose their ropes, Sang appeared.
"Hol' on!" he babbled. "I take him off;" and
he scrambled over the fence and approached the cow.
Now cattle of any sort rush at the first object they
see after getting to their feet. But whereas a steer
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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 Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: In the autumn of that year Lincoln was asked to speak in Ohio,
where Douglas was again referring to him by name. In December he
was invited to address meetings in various towns in Kansas, and
early in 1860 he made a speech in New York that raised him
suddenly and unquestionably to the position of a national leader.
It was delivered in the hall of Cooper Institute, on the evening
of February 27, 1860, before an audience of men and women
remarkable for their culture, wealth and influence.
Mr. Lincoln's name and words had filled so large a space in the
Eastern newspapers of late, that his listeners were very eager to
see. and hear this rising Western politician. The West, even at
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