86 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



stir it will care no more for your willing, than 

 did the mules of the abbess of Androuillet for all 

 that pious old lady's pish-ing and pshaw-ing, and 

 thumping with her cane on the bottom of the chaise. 

 There are the organized muscles still; there are 

 still remaining the contractility and sensibility of 

 those muscles; and the impressing cause is still in 

 energetic operation, like the good abbess's cane. 

 But then this operation is* confined to the wrong 

 place the cane is thumping on the bottom of the 

 chaise, instead of being applied to the crupper of the 

 mule the stimulus of the will still exists, it is true, 

 but then it is in the brain only. From the muscles 

 of the arm, where its presence is required, it is 

 absent absent without leave, like the abbess's 

 muleteer ; and your arm will remain as obstinately 

 immoveable by your side, as did the mules of the 

 abbess of Androuillet at the foot of the Burgun- 

 dian hill. 



I trust, my dear John, there are now clearly de- 

 picted on the canvas of your mind four distinct 

 and well-defined ideas, representing organism, con- 

 tractility, sensibility, and stimuli ; and that you 

 plainly perceive their intimate connexion with each 

 other, and the necessary co-operation of all, in order 

 to produce the phenomena of life. As to stimuli, 



