| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Kenilworth by Walter Scott: brother Ambrose of Warwick and I do carry the ancient cognizance
your Highness deigns to remember, I nevertheless desire nothing
but fair play on all sides; or, as they say, 'fight dog, fight
bear.' And in behalf of the players, I must needs say that they
are witty knaves, whose rants and jests keep the minds of the
commons from busying themselves with state affairs, and listening
to traitorous speeches, idle rumours, and disloyal insinuations.
When men are agape to see how Marlow, Shakespeare, and other play
artificers work out their fanciful plots, as they call them, the
mind of the spectators is withdrawn from the conduct of their
rulers."
Kenilworth |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from When the World Shook by H. Rider Haggard: way, Lord Oro?"
"Once only in many years; the number is my secret, Bickley," he
replied.
"Then there is every reason to hope that it will not trouble
us," remarked Bickley with a suspicion of mockery in his voice.
"Do you think so, you learned Bickley?" asked Oro. "If so, I do
not. Unless my skill has failed me and my calculations have gone
awry, that Traveller of which I tell should presently be with us.
Hearken now! What is that sound we hear?"
As he spoke there reached our ears the first, far-off murmurs
of a dreadful music. I cannot describe it in words because that
When the World Shook |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from La Grande Breteche by Honore de Balzac: street, you will see a large gate, with a round-arched top; the
children have made many holes in it. I learned later that this door
had been blocked for ten years. Through these irregular breaches you
will see that the side towards the courtyard is in perfect harmony
with the side towards the garden. The same ruin prevails. Tufts of
weeds outline the paving-stones; the walls are scored by enormous
cracks, and the blackened coping is laced with a thousand festoons of
pellitory. The stone steps are disjointed; the bell-cord is rotten;
the gutter-spouts broken. What fire from heaven could have fallen
there? By what decree has salt been sown on this dwelling? Has God
been mocked here? Or was France betrayed? These are the questions we
La Grande Breteche |
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 Chinese Boy and Girl by Isaac Taylor Headland: self-propelling by some mysterious spring secreted within,
because, forsooth, they know nothing about making the spring.
There are some principles, however, which, though they
may not understand, they are nevertheless able to utilize;
such, for instance, as the expansion of air by heat, and the
creation of air currents. This principle is utilized in
lanterns. In the top of these is a paper wheel attached to a
cross-bar on the ends of which are suspended paper men
and women together with animals of all kinds making a
very interesting merry-go-round. These lantern-figures
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