WILL. 549 



duty, and so forth ; wliicli terms seem to imply that the 

 ideal motives 'per se can be annulled without energy or 

 efibrt, and that the strongest mere traction lies in the line 

 of the propensities. The ideal impulse aj)pears, in compar- 

 ison with this, a still small voice which must be artificially 

 reinforced to prevail. Eiibrt is what reinforces it, making 

 things seem as if, while the force of propensity were essen- 

 tially a fixed quantity, the ideal force might be of various 

 amount. But what determines the amount of the effort 

 when, by its aid, an ideal motive becomes victorious over a 

 great sensual resistance ? The very greatness of the resist- 

 ance itself. If the sensual propensity is small, the efibrt is 

 small. The latter is made great by the presence of a great 

 antagonist to overcome. And if a brief definition of ideal 

 or moral action were required, none could be given which 

 would better fit the appearances than this : It is action in 

 the line of tJie greatest resistance. 



The facts may be most briefly symbolized thus, P stand- 

 ing for the propensity, I for the ideal impulse, and E for 

 the effort : 



I per se < P. 

 I + E > P. 



In other words, if E adds itself to I, P immediately 

 offers the least resistance, and motion occurs in spite of it. 



But the E does not seem to form an integral part of the 

 I. It appears adventitious and indeterminate in advance. 

 AVe can make more or less as we please, and if we make 

 enough we can convert the greatest mental resistance into 

 the least. Such, at least, is the impression which the facts 

 spontaneously produce upon us. But we will not discuss 

 the truth of this impression at present ; let us rather con- 

 tinue our descriptive detail. 



PLEASURE AND PAIN" AS SPRINGS OF ACTION. 



Objects and thoughts of objects start our action, but 

 the pleasures and pains which action brings modify its 

 course and regulate it ; and later the thoughts of the pleas- 

 ures and the pains acquire themselves impulsive and in- 



