Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/247

230 because it feels that some at least of the credit belongs to it.

In the family the reciprocal relation of rights and duties becomes clearly manifest. The relation between parents and children is one of mutual responsibility. It has been said that in the family of past time the rights of parents and the duties of children were emphasised, while in the family of the present day the rights of children and the duties of parents are prominent. Though there is some truth in this, it is truer that we are only beginning to realise the full implications of the mutual responsibilities involved in family life. We are only gradually coming to understand the extent of the duties of parents to their children and of children to their parents.

As an educative institution the family is the nurse of virtue. Goodness is taught not only by precept, but by the example of mother and father and brothers and sisters. The child learns much from the conversation that takes place in the family circle, his curiosity is stimulated, he asks questions, acquires information, and begins to take up an attitude to life. But, since the influence of the family may not be a good one, the family may also become the foster-mother of many of the vices. The early nurture that we receive in the family is probably a more potent influence for good or evil than anything else in our lives. The family teaches the preciousness of mutual affection and the value of common purposes and ideals. The relation of parents to children is so intimate that the parents ought to know far better than outsiders can in what cases the child should be encouraged to bear his own burdens,