306 THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER. 



never visited nor knew was there, which she herself 

 dared scarce acknowledge, a Child drew forth the first 

 fresh bud of a Love which was not passion, a Love 

 which was not selfish, a Love which was an incense 

 from its Maker, and whose fragrance from that hour 

 w^ent 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 anthropology — 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 revelations 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 in- 

 fanticide 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 of the world. 

 Had the institution of the Family depended on Sex 

 and not on affection it would probably never have 

 endured for any time. Love is eternal ; Sex, tran- 

 sient. Its unbridled expression in individual natures, 



