| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Boys' Life of Abraham Lincoln by Helen Nicolay: him. In spite of his confession to Speed that "being elected to
Congress, though I am very grateful to our friends for having
done it, has not pleased me as much as I expected," this must
have been flattering. But there were many able young men in
Springfield who coveted the honor, and they had entered into an
agreement among themselves that each would be content with a
single term. Lincoln of course remained faithful to this promise.
His strict keeping of promises caused him also to lose an
appointment from President Taylor as Commissioner of the General
Land Office, which might easily have been his, but for which he
had agreed to recommend some other Illinois man. A few weeks
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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 Ruling Passion by Henry van Dyke: after that the fun would be impromptu.
The impromptu part of the programme began earlier than it was
advertised. Some whisper of the plan had leaked through the chinks
of the wall between the shanty and the stable. When the crowd came
shambling into the cabin, snickering and nudging one another, Jean
and Pierre were standing by the stove at the upper end of the long
table.
"Down with the canaille!" shouted Jean.
"Clean out the gang!" responded Pierre.
Brandishing long-handled frying-pans, they charged down the sides of
the table. The mob wavered, turned, and were lost! Helter-skelter
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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 Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: to them:--
"The King has given me an order for the Museum of Versailles."
Madame de Fougeres adores her husband, to whom she has presented two
children. This painter, a good father and a good husband, is unable to
eradicate from his heart a fatal thought, namely, that artists laugh
at his work; that his name is a term of contempt in the studios; and
that the feuilletons take no notice of his pictures. But he still
works on; he aims for the Academy, where, undoubtedly, he will enter.
And--oh! vengeance which dilates his heart!--he buys the pictures of
celebrated artists who are pinched for means, and he substitutes these
true works of arts that are not his own for the wretched daubs in the
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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 Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens: played upon, or perceived the secretary's drift of himself, he came
in his blunt way to the point at once.
'Here!' he said, stretching out his hand and taking it back; 'never
mind the bill, or what it says, or what it don't say. You don't
know anything about it, master,--no more do I,--no more does he,'
glancing at Dennis. 'None of us know what it means, or where it
comes from: there's an end of that. Now I want to make one against
the Catholics, I'm a No-Popery man, and ready to be sworn in.
That's what I've come here for.'
'Put him down on the roll, Muster Gashford,' said Dennis
approvingly. 'That's the way to go to work--right to the end at
Barnaby Rudge |
