112 LETTERS TO BROTHER JOHN. 



And is not a woman a woman for a' that ? There 

 is many a woman, neither so tall nor so well propor- 

 tioned, who would carry a bushel of potatoes on her 

 head, without resting, from Pedlar's Acre to Penny 

 Fields, and think herself well rewarded with a 

 shillino-. There must he some better reason for 



O 



this great difference, than the mere fact of one 

 being a lady, and the other a woman. The true 

 reason is, that the contractility of my lady's organs, 

 especially her muscles, has sunk exactly as much 

 below the natural standard as their SENSIBILITY has 

 been elevated above it. 



Thus, then, we have indisputable proof that 

 SENSIBILITY and CONTRACTILITY are always in an 

 inverse ratio of each other. But you must be 

 careful to observe, that it is not increased SENSI- 

 BILITY that gives rise to diminished CONTRACTILITY; 

 but it is diminished CONTRACTILITY that increases 

 SENSIBILITY \ increased SENSIBILITY being no 

 more than the proof of diminished CONTRACTILITY ; 

 that is, enfeebled health and strength. 



From this it follows, therefore, that the degree 

 of SENSIBILITY depends upon the degree of CON- 

 TRACTILITY : and this is fortunate, for we have on 

 that very account only to raise CONTRACTILITY, in 

 order to lower an irritable, acute, troublesome, and 



