to autokineton], as Plato calls it;
whereas matter is simply passive, and has need of being impelled to act,
_agitur, ut agat_. But if the soul is active of itself (as it indeed is),
for that very reason it is not of itself absolutely indifferent to the
action, like matter, and it must find in itself a ground of determination.
According to the System of Pre-established Harmony the soul finds in
itself, and in its ideal nature anterior to existence, the reasons for its
determinations, adjusted to all that shall surround it. That way it was
determined from all eternity in its state of mere possibility to act
freely, as it does, when it attains to existence.

324. M. Bayle himself remarks aptly that freedom of indifference (such as
must be admitted) does not exclude inclinations and does not demand
equipoise. He demonstrates amply enough (_Reply to the Questions of a
Provincial_, ch. 139, p. 748 _seqq_.) that the soul may be compared to a
balance, where reasons and inclinations take the place of weights.
According to him, one can explain what passes in our resolutions by the
hypothesis that the will of man is like a balance which is at rest when the
weights of its two pans are equal, and which always inclines either to one
side or the other according to which of the pans is the more heavily laden.
A new reason makes a heavier weight, a new idea shines more brightly than
the old; the fear of a heavy penalty prevails over some pleasure; when two
passions dispute the ground, it is always the stronger which gains the
mastery, unless the other be assisted by reason or by some other [322]
contributing passion. When one flings away merchandise in order to save
oneself, the action, which the Schoolmen call mixed, is voluntary and free;
and yet love of life indubitably prevails over love of possessions. Grief
arises from remembrance of lost possessions, and one has all the greater
difficulty in making one's resolve, the nearer the approach to even weight
in the opposing reasons, as also we see that the balance is determined more
promptly when there is a great difference between the weights.

325. Nevertheless, as very often there are divers courses to choose from,
one might, instead of the balance, compare the soul with a force which puts
forth effort on various sides simultaneously, but which acts only at the
spot where action is easiest or there is least resistance. For instance,
air if it is compressed too firmly in a glass