| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Cromwell by William Shakespeare: And therefore must you take your solemn oaths,
That you heard Cromwell, the Lord Chancellor,
Did wish a dagger at King Henry's heart.
Fear not to swear it, for I heard him speak it;
Therefore we'll shield you from ensuing harms.
SECOND WITNESS.
If you will warrant us the deed is good,
We'll undertake it.
GARDINER.
Kneel down, and I will here absolve you both.
This Crucifix I lay upon your head,
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Alexandria and her Schools by Charles Kingsley: righteousness, could reside in any but in a person, or be manifested
except by a person. And among the earlier of them the belief may have
been, that the ancient unseen Teacher of their race would be their
deliverer: but as they lost the thought of Him, the expected Deliverer
became a mere human being: or rather not a human being; for as they
lost their moral sense, they lost in the very deepest meaning their
humanity, and forgot what man was like till they learned to look only
for a conqueror; a manifestation of power, and not of goodness; a
destroyer of the hated heathen, who was to establish them as the tyrant
race of the whole earth. On that fearful day on which, for a moment,
they cast away even that last dream, and cried, "We have no king but
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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 A Start in Life by Honore de Balzac: d'Argent. After which manoeuvre, which was purely preparatory,
Pierrotin gazed up the rue d'Enghien and then disappeared, leaving the
coach in charge of the porter.
"Ah ca! is he subject to such attacks,--that master of yours?" said
Mistigris, addressing the porter.
"He has gone to fetch his feed from the stable," replied the porter,
well versed in all the usual tricks to keep passengers quiet.
"Well, after all," said Mistigris, "'art is long, but life is short'
--to Bichette."
At this particular epoch, a fancy for mutilating or transposing
proverbs reigned in the studios. It was thought a triumph to find
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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 Four Arthurian Romances by Chretien DeTroyes: does not dare to address her lord, who often threatens and chides
at her and charges her to hold her peace. She is distracted
between two courses to pursue, whether to speak or to hold her
peace. She takes counsel with herself, and often she prepares to
speak, so that her tongue already moves, but the voice cannot
issue forth; for her teeth are clenched with fear, and thus shut
up her speech within. Thus she admonishes and reproaches
herself, but she closes her mouth and grits her teeth so that her
speech cannot issue forth. At strife with herself, she said: "I
am sure and certain that I shall incur a grievous loss, if here I
lose my lord. Shall I tell him all, then, openly? Not I. Why
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