| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Lily of the Valley by Honore de Balzac: Saint-Eloy, crossed the bridges of Saint-Sauveur, reached Poncher
whose every house I examined, and took the road to Chinon. For the
first time in my life I could sit down under a tree or walk fast or
slow as I pleased without being dictated to by any one. To a poor lad
crushed under all sorts of despotism (which more or less does weigh
upon all youth) the first employment of freedom, even though it be
expended upon nothing, lifts the soul with irrepressible buoyancy.
Several reasons combined to make that day one of enchantment. During
my school years I had never been taken to walk more than two or three
miles from a city; yet there remained in my mind among the earliest
recollections of my childhood that feeling for the beautiful which the
The Lily of the Valley |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Montezuma's Daughter by H. Rider Haggard: upon the portent that flared and blazed in the east. Presently
Montezuma himself came out, attended by his great lords, and in
that ghastly light I saw that his lips worked and his hands writhed
over each other. Nor was the miracle done with, for anon from the
clear sky that hung over the city, descended a ball of fire, which
seemed to rest upon the points of the lofty temple in the great
square, lighting up the teocalli as with the glare of day. It
vanished, but where it had been another light now burned, for the
temple of Quetzal was afire.
Now cries of fear and lamentation arose from all who beheld these
wonders on the hill of Chapoltepec and also from the city below.
Montezuma's Daughter |
| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall: Volta's theory of metallic contact was so clear, so beautiful, and
apparently so complete, that the best intellects of Europe accepted
it as the expression of natural law.
Volta himself knew nothing of the chemical phenomena of the pile;
but as soon as these became known, suggestions and intimations
appeared that chemical action, and not metallic contact, might be
the real source of voltaic electricity. This idea was expressed by
Fabroni in Italy, and by Wollaston in England. It was developed and
maintained by those 'admirable electricians,' Becquerel, of Paris,
and De la Rive, of Geneva. The Contact Theory, on the other hand,
received its chief development and illustration in Germany.
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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 Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson by Robert Louis Stevenson: Meiklejohn, Leslie Stephen, Lang, Gosse, and a very shaky one from
Hamerton.
Grant is an elector, so can't, but has written me kindly. From
Tulloch I have not yet heard. Do help me with suggestions. This
old chair, with its 250 pounds and its light work, would make me.
It looks as if we should take Cater's chalet after all; but O! to
go back to that place, it seems cruel. I have not yet received the
Landor; but it may be at home, detained by my mother, who returns
to-morrow.
Believe me, dear Colvin, ever yours,
R. L. S.
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