| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Familiar Studies of Men and Books by Robert Louis Stevenson: received, and even begin to look back again to their place of
exile with regret. "My First Blast," he writes ruefully,
"has blown from me all my friends of England." And then he
adds, with a snarl, "The Second Blast, I fear, shall sound
somewhat more sharp, except men be more moderate than I hear
they are." (1) But the threat is empty; there will never be
a second blast - he has had enough of that trumpet. Nay, he
begins to feel uneasily that, unless he is to be rendered
useless for the rest of his life, unless he is to lose his
right arm and go about his great work maimed and impotent, he
must find some way of making his peace with England and the
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Common Sense by Thomas Paine: every occasion as at first, when their number was small,
their habitations near, and the public concerns few and trifling.
This will point out the convenience of their consenting to leave
the legislative part to be managed by a select number chosen
from the whole body, who are supposed to have the same concerns
at stake which those who appointed them, and who will act in the
same manner as the whole body would act, were they present.
If the colony continues increasing, it will become necessary
to augment the number of the representatives, and that the interest
of every part of the colony may be attended to, it will be found
best to divide the whole into convenient parts, each part sending
Common Sense |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Extracts From Adam's Diary by Mark Twain: broke loose in war and death, and I had to flee for my life.
"There," she said, with triumph, "that is just it; the Serpent
mentioned that very jest, and called it the First Chestnut, and
said it was coeval with the creation." Alas, I am indeed to blame.
Would that I were not witty; oh, would that I had never had that
radiant thought!
Next Year
We have named it Cain. She caught it while I was up country
trapping on the North Shore of the Erie; caught it in the timber
a couple of miles from our dug-out--or it might have been four,
she isn't certain which. It resembles us in some ways, and may
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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 Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: It is the operation of a mind filled with thoughts of this profound,
strange, and subtle character that we have to take into account in
dealing with Faraday's later researches. A similar cast of thought
pervades a letter addressed by Faraday to Mr. Richard Phillips,
and published in the 'Philosophical Magazine' for May, 1846. It is
entitled 'Thoughts on Ray-vibrations,' and it contains one of the
most singular speculations that ever emanated from a scientific
mind. It must be remembered here, that though Faraday lived amid
such speculations he did not rate them highly, and that he was
prepared at any moment to change them or let them go. They spurred
him on, but they did not hamper him. His theoretic notions were
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