OBLIGA TION IN PARENTHOOD. 169 



we have sacrificed the organic possibilities of our 

 children. 



The Stream of Life. 



The most superficial consideration of the question 

 will convince us that the organic stream of life is that 

 which is of all things the most permanent. We are 

 so apt to lose sight of the ephemeral nature of rank 

 and wealth. We forget that the gold and silver is 

 constantly changing hands, the houses are being re- 

 built, the old landmarks destroyed. Our individual 

 thoughts and passions are, and are then no more; 

 whole families, even races, disappear. Yet man is 

 here to-day, he has come down from remote posterity, 

 and some of us will give our blood in large measure 

 to mankind as he will be found in future ages. In 

 this stream of life the shepherd who weds a healthy, 

 thrifty wife is of more account than an emperor who 

 destroys the chances of his posterity by marriage 

 with a sickly princess. Life is brain and muscle, 

 wealth and position are apart and accessory. In 

 marriage we must bear in mind its end and aim, for 

 the individual lives only till he has reproduced him- 

 self ; each generation lives only to produce the next. 

 If these facts are once widely understood there can 

 be little doubt that they will influence men's actions 

 in respect to marriage, and with a growing sense of 



