| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Ancient Regime by Charles Kingsley: unable to learn. And this must have been still more the case when
the races were more strongly separated in blood and habits. So the
Teutonic chief, with his gesitha, comites, or select band of
knights, who had received from him, as Tacitus has it, the war-horse
and the lance, established himself as the natural ruler--and
oppressor--of the non-riding populations; first over the aborigines
of Germany proper, tribes who seem to have been enslaved, and their
names lost, before the time of Tacitus; and then over the non-riding
Romans and Gauls to the South and West, and the Wendish and
Sclavonic tribes to the East. Very few in numbers, but mighty in
their unequalled capacity of body and mind, and in their terrible
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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 Elixir of Life by Honore de Balzac: that shall endure as long as the principle of evil existing in
the heart of man shall produce a few copies from century to
century. Sometimes the type becomes half-human when incarnate as
a Mirabeau, sometimes it is an inarticulate force in a Bonaparte,
sometimes it overwhelms the universe with irony as a Rabelais;
or, yet again, it appears when a Marechal de Richelieu elects to
laugh at human beings instead of scoffing at things, or when one
of the most famous of our ambassadors goes a step further and
scoffs at both men and things. But the profound genius of Juan
Belvidero anticipated and resumed all these. All things were a
jest to him. His was the life of a mocking spirit. All men, all
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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 The Heritage of the Desert by Zane Grey: "Jack, come round here," said Naab at length. "I've been telling them
about you. These Indians do not like the whites, except my own family.
I hope you'll make friends with them."
"How do?" said the chief whom Naab had called Eschtah, a stately,
keen-eyed warrior, despite his age.
The next Navajo greeted him with a guttural word. This was a warrior
whose name might well have been Scarface, for the signs of conflict were
there. It was a face like a bronze mask, cast m the one expression of
untamed desert fierceness.
Hare bowed to each and felt himself searched by burning eyes, which were
doubtful, yet not unfriendly.
The Heritage of the Desert |
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 Astoria by Washington Irving: further loss as possible to Mr. Astor.
A large stock of valuable furs was collected at the factory,
which it was necessary to get to a market. There were twenty-five
Sandwich Islanders also in the employ of the company, whom they
were bound, by express agreement, to restore to their native
country. For these purposes a ship was necessary.
The Albatross was bound to the Marquesas, and thence to the
Sandwich Islands. It was resolved that Mr. Hunt should sail in
her in quest of a vessel, and should return, if possible, by the
1st of January, bringing with him a supply of provisions. Should
anything occur, however, to prevent his return, an arrangement
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