| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Betty Zane by Zane Grey: upright for a second, his head slowly bowing and his body swaying perceptibly.
Then he plunged forward like a log, his face striking the sand. He never moved
again. He was dead even before he struck the ground.
Blank silence followed this tragic denouement. Wingenund, a cruel and
relentless Indian, but never a traitor, pointed to the small bloody hole in
the middle of Miller's forehead, and then nodded his head solemnly. The
wondering Indians stood aghast. Then with loud yells the braves ran to the
cornfield; they searched the laurel bushes. But they only discovered several
moccasin prints in the sand, and a puff of white smoke wafting away upon the
summer breeze.
CHAPTER XII.
Betty Zane |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Jerusalem Delivered by Torquato Tasso: LIX
And thus he said, "Some one of you declare
Your fortunes, whether good or to be blamed,
And to assist us with your valors rare
In so great need, how was your coming framed?"
They blush, and on the ground amazed stare,
For virtue is of little guilt ashamed,
At last the English prince with countenance bold,
The silence broke, and thus their errors told:
LX
"We, not elect to that exploit by lot,
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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 Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger: attention to the biological nature of humanity. Yet there is too
great a tendency among the thinkers of this school, to restrict their
ideas of sex to its expression as a purely procreative function.
Compulsory legislation which would make the inevitably futile attempt
to prohibit one of the most beneficent and necessary of human
expressions, or regulate it into the channels of preconceived
philosophies, would reduce us to the unpleasant days predicted by
William Blake, when
``Priests in black gowns will be walking their rounds And binding
with briars our joys and desires.''
Eugenics is chiefly valuable in its negative aspects. It is
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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 The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum: inquired earnestly.
"I'm afraid you must, dear," he answered; "for the poor have nothing
else with which to amuse themselves. You have your pony to ride, your
servants to wait on you, and every comfort that money can procure."
"But I want toys!" cried Bessie, wiping away the tears that forced
themselves into her eyes. "If I can not have them, I shall be
very unhappy."
Claus was troubled, for her grief recalled to him the thought that his
desire was to make all children happy, without regard to their
condition in life. Yet, while so many poor children were clamoring
for his toys he could not bear to give one to them to Bessie
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus |
