| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Pierre Grassou by Honore de Balzac: on Delacroix, on Ingres, contributed no less to their fame than the
praises and fanaticism of their adherents. To-day, neither the crowd
nor the criticism grows impassioned about the products of that bazaar.
Forced to make the selection for itself, which in former days the
examining jury made for it, the attention of the public is soon
wearied and the exhibition closes. Before the year 1817 the pictures
admitted never went beyond the first two columns of the long gallery
of the old masters; but in that year, to the great astonishment of the
public, they filled the whole space. Historical, high-art, genre
paintings, easel pictures, landscapes, flowers, animals, and water-
colors,--these eight specialties could surely not offer more than
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Persuasion by Jane Austen: it will do very well. My cousin Anne shakes her head.
She is not satisfied. She is fastidious. My dear cousin"
(sitting down by her), "you have a better right to be fastidious
than almost any other woman I know; but will it answer?
Will it make you happy? Will it not be wiser to accept the society
of those good ladies in Laura Place, and enjoy all the advantages
of the connexion as far as possible? You may depend upon it,
that they will move in the first set in Bath this winter,
and as rank is rank, your being known to be related to them
will have its use in fixing your family (our family let me say)
in that degree of consideration which we must all wish for."
Persuasion |
