| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from A Footnote to History by Robert Louis Stevenson: with Mataafa. They began the war relying upon German help; they
now see and say that "E FAAALO SIAMANI I PERITANIA MA AMERICA, that
Germany is subservient to England and the States." It is grimly
given to be understood that the despatch is an ultimatum, and a
last chance is being offered for the recreant ally to fulfil her
pledge. To make it more plain, the document goes on with a kind of
bilious irony: "The two German war-ships now in Samoa are here for
the protection of German property alone; and when the OLGA shall
have arrived" [she arrived on the morrow] "the German war-ships
will continue to do against the insurgents precisely as little as
they have done heretofore." Plant flags, in fact.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Astoria by Washington Irving: were stout, robust, active, and good looking, and the women
handsomer than those of the tribes nearer to the coast.
It was the plan of Mr. Clarke to lay up his boats here, and
proceed by land to his place of destination, which was among the
Spokan tribe of Indians, about a hundred and fifty miles distant.
He accordingly endeavored to purchase horses for the journey, but
in this he had to contend with the sordid disposition of these
people. They asked high prices for their horses, and were so
difficult to deal with, that Mr. Clarke was detained seven days
among them before he could procure a sufficient number. During
that time he was annoyed by repeated pilferings, for which he
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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 Across The Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson: assume in our regard. It seemed miles in length, and either end of
it within but a step of the horizon. Even my own body or my own
head seemed a great thing in that emptiness. I note the feeling
the more readily as it is the contrary of what I have read of in
the experience of others. Day and night, above the roar of the
train, our ears were kept busy with the incessant chirp of
grasshoppers - a noise like the winding up of countless clocks and
watches, which began after a while to seem proper to that land.
To one hurrying through by steam there was a certain exhilaration
in this spacious vacancy, this greatness of the air, this discovery
of the whole arch of heaven, this straight, unbroken, prison-line
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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 Wheels of Chance by H. G. Wells: remark toppled him headlong. What the precise remark was need not
concern us. It was a casual piece of such satire as Strephon
delights in. Should you be curious, dear lady, as to its nature,
you have merely to dress yourself in a really modern cycling
costume, get one of the feeblest-looking of your men to escort
you, and ride out, next Saturday evening, to any public house
where healthy, homely people gather together. Then you will hear
quite a lot of the kind of thing Mr. Hoopdriver heard. More,
possibly, than you will desire.
The remark, I must add, implicated Mr. Hoopdriver. It indicated
an entire disbelief in his social standing. At a blow, it
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