392 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



which was an incense from its Maker, and whose 

 fragrance from that hour went forth to sanctify the 

 world. Later, long later, through the same tiny 

 and unconscious intermediary, the father's soul 

 was touched. And one day, in the love of a 

 little child. Father and Mother met. 



That this is the true lineage of love, that it 

 has descended not from Husbands and Wives but 

 through children, is proved by the simplest study 

 of savage life. Love for children is always a prior 

 and a stronger thing than love between Father and 

 Mother. The indifference of the Husband to his 

 Wife — though often greatly exaggerated by anthro- 

 pology — is all too manifest, and throughout whole 

 regions the Wife does not love but only fears 

 her Husband. For the children on the other hand 

 both parents have almost always a regard. The 

 universality of a Mother's Love is one of the reve- 

 lations of travel. Even among cannibals, where 

 the shocking treatment of Wives by their Husbands 

 is in daily evidence, a case of cruelty to children 

 from the Mother's side — apart from infanticide, 

 which has a rationale of its own — is rarely heard 

 of. The status of children if not ideal forms a 

 most striking contrast to the general moral and 

 social level : and one cannot but decide that they 

 have been unconsciously the true moral teachers 



