PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

Duty 0/ Paretlts.
consciousness of their obligation, as well as other duties;
and a sense of this obligation is sometimes nec­
~ssary to assist the stimulus of parental affection;
especially in stations of life, in which the wants of
a family cannot be 8Upplied without the continual
hard labour of the father, nor without his refraining
from many indulgences and recreations, which
unmarried men of like condition are able to purcha~e.
'\There the parental affection is ~iJfficient1y
strong, or has fewer difficulties to surmount~ a principle
of duty may still be wanted to direct arid regulate
its eXErtions; for othenl'ise, it is apt to.- ~pend
and ,~aste itself in a womanish f(:;ndncss _ for the person
of tbe child; an improvident attention to his
pre~ent ease- and gratification; a pernicious facility
and {;ompliance with his hurllours; an excessive
and superfiuous care to provide the externals of'
happiness, with little or no attention to the internal
SOUI'Ces off' virtue and satisfaction. lJniversaJJy,
wherever a parent's conduct is prompted or directed
by a sense of duty, there is so much virtue.
Havillg premised thus much concerning the place
\vhich parental duties hold in the scale of human
virtues, we proceed to state and explain the duties
themsel\~es.
When moralists tell ~s, that parents are bound to
do ali they can for their children, they tell us more
than is true; for, at that rate, every expense whidJ
Plight have been spared, and every profit omitted
which _ might have been made would be criminal.
· The duty of parents has its limits, like other dutif:€
_; -~;.!d admits, if not of perfect precision, at Jea:;t
of ntles definite enough for application.
These rules may be explained!mder the sev~;ai
h-eads of mainli:llonce, education, and a reasonable prfYl)is ..
iO";1 for the child's happiness in respect if outward condition.
I. Maintenance.
The wants of children make it necessary that
spme person maintain them ; and, as no one has
~ ~·ight to barthen others by his act, it follows.;