to them as the authors of their being is open to doubt. That theory,
indeed, appears to be founded upon false premises; for, unless in the
case of an ancestral estate, I am not aware that the existence of
children is much premeditated. On the contrary, their arrival is often
looked upon, from pecuniary reasons, with much apprehension, or, at
best, till they do arrive, they may be described, in common phrase, as
'neither born nor thought of.' I am a father myself, but I wish to be
fair and to take a just view of matters. If a mother leaves her child
on a doorstep, for example, the filial bond can hardly be expected to
be very strong. In such a case, indeed, the infant seems to me to have
a very distinct grievance against its female parent, and to be under no
very overwhelming obligation to its father. 'Handsome is as handsome
does' is a principle that applies to all relations of life, including
the nearest; and if duty never absolutely ceases to exist, it is, at
all events, greatly moulded by circumstances.

Patriotism, for instance, is very commendable, but your country must be
worth something to make you love it. It is next to impossible that an
inhabitant of Monaco, for example, should be patriotic. He can at most
be only parochial. The love of one's mother is probably the purest and
noblest of all human affections; but some people's mothers are habitual
drunkards, and others professional thieves. Even filial reverence, it
is plain, must stop somewhere. That is one of the objections which,
with all humility, I feel to the religion of M. Comte. The worship of
my grandmother would be impossible to me, unless I had reason to
believe her to have been a respectable person. Her relationship, unless
I had had the advantage of her personal acquaintance, would weigh I
fear, but little with me, and that of my great-grandmother nothing at
all. The whole notion of ancestry--unless one's ancestors have been
distinguished people--seems to me ridiculous. If they have _not_ been
distinguished people--folks, that is, of whom some record has been
preserved--how is one to know that they have been worthy persons, whose
mission has been to increase the sum of human happiness? If, on the
other hand, they have been only notorious, and done their best to
decrease it, I should be most heartily ashamed of them. The pride of
birth from this point of view--which seems to me a very reasonable
one--is not only absurd, but often very reprehensible