| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Charmides by Plato: meaning for another--is resented by us equally with the repetition of
words. Yet on the other hand the least difference of meaning or the least
change of form from a substantive to an adjective, or from a participle to
a verb, will often remedy the unpleasant effect. Rarely and only for the
sake of emphasis or clearness can we allow an important word to be used
twice over in two successive sentences or even in the same paragraph. The
particles and pronouns, as they are of most frequent occurrence, are also
the most troublesome. Strictly speaking, except a few of the commonest of
them, 'and,' 'the,' etc., they ought not to occur twice in the same
sentence. But the Greek has no such precise rules; and hence any literal
translation of a Greek author is full of tautology. The tendency of modern
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Edingburgh Picturesque Notes by Robert Louis Stevenson: running mill-streams; there were corners that smelt like
the end of the country garden where I spent my Aprils;
and the people stood to gossip at their doors, as they
might have done in Colinton or Cramond.
In a great measure we may, and shall, eradicate this
haunting flavour of the country. The last elm is dead in
Elm Row; and the villas and the workmen's quarters spread
apace on all the borders of the city. We can cut down
the trees; we can bury the grass under dead paving-
stones; we can drive brisk streets through all our sleepy
quarters; and we may forget the stories and the
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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 The White Moll by Frank L. Packard: headquarters; he had given no sign, but that did not mean he had
lost interest in Gypsy Nan. There was the death of the real Gypsy
Nan, which was pregnant with possibilities; and though the
newspapers, that she, Rhoda Gray, had bought and scanned with such
tragic eagerness, had said nothing about the death of one Charlotte
Green in the hospital, much less had given any hint that the
identity Gypsy Nan had risked so much to hide had been discovered,
it did not mean that the police, with their own ends in view, might
not be fully informed, and were but keeping their own counsel while
they baited a trap.
Also, and even more to be feared, there were those of this criminal
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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 Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death by Patrick Henry: irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance
by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until
our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make
a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power.
The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a
country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy
can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will
raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the
strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir,
we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late
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