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Often appears with: the position of women · the passions and the emotions · marriage and betrothal · religious persecution and toleration · labor, wages, and the division of work · justice as a virtue · education and the training of the young · sexuality and desire · parents and children · duty, conscience, and obligation · poetry and the poets · language, naming, and meaning
Usually: argument (23) · detachment (17) · narrative (13) · coming of age (12) · censure (11) · curiosity (10) · indignation (9) · reflection (8) · dialogue (7) · the test or trial (7)
“Perhaps I thought that Seward would not believe it the less to be mine for what I said; but I would not put it in his power to say I had owned it.” James Boswell, Boswell's Life of Johnson · insight
“Yet both chastity and innocence, if they wish to obtain anything from the gods, will not be able to do so by their own merits, except their enemies act as mediators on their behalf.” Augustine (Aurelius Augustine), Saint of Hippo, The City of God, Volume I · observation
“Time is no fast-hurrying stream, but a sportful sunlit ocean; years to the child are as ages: ah! the secret of Vicissitude, of that slower or quicker decay and ceaseless down-rushing of the universal World-fabric, from the granite mountain to the man or day-moth, is yet unknown; and in a motionless Universe, we taste, what afterwards in this quick-whirling Universe is forever denied us, the balm of Rest.” Thomas Carlyle, Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufe · insight
“I am surprised that my former name should be made a subject of reproach.” Suetonius Tranquillus, The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Volume 02: Augustus · wit
“The girls marry early and recklessly; they have neither means, time, nor opportunity to learn the ordinary duties of household life; but if they had them all, they would find no time in married life for the performance of these duties. The mother is more than twelve hours away from her child daily; the baby is cared for by a young girl or an old woman, to whom it is given to nurse.” Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 184 · observation
“As a whole, this report testifies to the gradual but sure introduction of the factory system into all branches of industry, recognisable especially by the employment of women and children.” Friedrich Engels, The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 184 · insight
“And 'tis, in my opinion, better far To bind your children to you by the ties Of gentleness and modesty, than fear.” Terence, The Comedies of Terence · precept
“For thus I reason, thus persuade myself: He who performs his duty driven to't By fear of punishment, while he believes His actions are observ'd, so long he's wary; But if he hopes for secrecy, returns To his own ways again.” Terence, The Comedies of Terence · insight
“Only by bearing in mind the mechanisms of compulsion neurosis can one explain Leonardo's account of the funeral expenses of his mother.” Sigmund Freud, Leonardo da Vinci: A Psychosexual Study of an Infant · insight
“For the love of the mother became his destiny, it determined his fate and the privations which were in store for him.” Sigmund Freud, Leonardo da Vinci: A Psychosexual Study of an Infant · insight
“We thereby gladly forget that as a matter of fact everything in our life is accident from our very origin through the meeting of spermatozoa and ovum, accident, which nevertheless participates in the lawfulness and fatalities of nature, and lacks only the connection to our wishes and illusions.” Sigmund Freud, Leonardo da Vinci: A Psychosexual Study of an Infant · insight
“Every one of us human beings corresponds to one of the infinite experiments in which these "reasons of nature" force themselves into experience.” Sigmund Freud, Leonardo da Vinci: A Psychosexual Study of an Infant · observation
This passage continues Pepys’s family biography: it details John Pepys’s will, his wife Margaret’s death at Brampton, Samuel’s birth date (place uncertain), and his schooling and Cambridge entry as a sizar.
was a citizen of London in 1650, when his son Samuel was admitted to Magdalene College, but at an earlier period he appears to have had business relations with Holland. In August, 1661, John Pepys retired to a small property at Brampton (worth about L80 per annum), which had been left to him by his eldest brother, Robert Pepys, where he died in 1680. The following is a copy of John Pepys's will: "MY FATHER'S WILL.…
Cato’s household is praised as exemplary: he admires Socrates’ temperate marriage, teaches his young son himself, enforces chastity, and trains him in reading, law, athletics, and endurance.
he admired the ancient Socrates for nothing so much as for having lived a temperate and contented life with a wife who was a scold, and children who were half-witted. As soon as he had a son born, though he had never such urgent business upon his hands, unless it were some public matter, he would be by when his wife washed it, and dressed it in its swaddling clothes. For she herself suckled it, nay, she often too g…
She says she has been shut up for ten years since her mother died, seeing only a father, a younger brother, and a wool-farmer, and she confesses that hearing about public events fueled her desire to go out.
could, and entreated her to tell them without any fear what had happened her, as they would all earnestly and by every means in their power endeavour to relieve her. “The fact is, sirs,” said she, “that my father has kept me shut up these ten years, for so long is it since the earth received my mother. Mass is said at home in a sumptuous chapel, and all this time I have seen but the sun in the heaven by day, and the…
She urges mothers to educate daughters with stronger principles rather than beauty-based constraints, argues against the idea that natural weakness should be worsened by training, and discusses how girls’ dependence is produced by overprotection.
in most of the polished nations I had seen. And the consequences are uniformly such as may be expected to proceed from such polluted sources, private misery, and public servitude. "But, Selene's education was regulated by different views, and conducted upon severer principles; if that can be called severity which opens the mind to a sense of moral and religious duties, and most effectually arms it against the inevit…
Freud claims that sexual object-finding originates in early nursing and the loss of the breastfeeding object, then returns after latency; tender child–nurse relations are treated as preparing future sexual love, which parents may unintentionally stimulate.
entrance but not at all unexcitable through the clitoris or even through other zones. Besides these erogenous causes of anesthesia there are also psychic causes likewise determined by the repression. If the transference of the erogenous excitability from the clitoris to the vagina has succeeded, the woman has thus changed her leading zone for the future sexual activity; the man on the other hand retains his from chi…
He frames the subsequent conflict as revolving around Constantinian state power: Constantine moderates Alexander and Arius, then later calls the Council of Nice, ratifies the Nicene creed, and banishes Arius.
dark and suspicious aspect; and, as if darkness were congenial to theological disputes, the Semi-Arians, who advanced to the doors of the church, assailed them with the most unrelenting fury. 67 (return) [ In Philostorgius (l. iii. c. 15) the character and adventures of Ætius appear singular enough, though they are carefully softened by the hand of a friend. The editor, Godefroy, (p. 153,) who was …
It says that, despite Constantine’s protection of Arius and persecution of Athanasius, he still treated the Council of Nicaea as the foundation of Christian faith and a chief glory of his reign.
while he protected Arius, and persecuted Athanasius, he still considered the council of Nice as the bulwark of the Christian faith, and the peculiar glory of his own reign. 84 83 (return) [ We derive the original story from Athanasius, (tom. i. p. 670,) who expresses some reluctance to stigmatize the memory of the dead. He might exaggerate; but the perpetual commerce of Alexandria and Constantinopl…
Engels argues that the minimum wage is shaped by survival needs and family labor, using the Irish immigrant as an example, while the bourgeoisie limits wages to prevent workers from becoming independent of child labor.
of industrial occupation; hence the interest of the bourgeoisie requires in this case that wages should be high enough to enable the workman to keep himself upon the required plane. The newly immigrated Irishman, encamped in the first stable that offers, or turned out in the street after a week because he spends everything upon drink and cannot pay rent, would be a poor mill-hand. The mill-hand must, therefore, hav…
Engels details diseases from poor diet and childhood practices—indigestion, scrofula, and rickets—then adds that fluctuations in work and poverty during crises worsen children’s health permanently.
by typhus are fathers of families, precisely the persons who can least be spared by those dependent upon them; and several Irish physicians whom he quotes bear the same testimony. Another category of diseases arises directly from the food rather than the dwellings of the workers. The food of the labourer, indigestible enough in itself, is utterly unfit for young children, and he has neither means nor time to get hi…
Engels connects high death rates to the vulnerability of working-class children, citing the Sanitary Condition of the Working-Class report and disease-specific comparisons to argue that urban epidemics are far more deadly.
those whose condition is good, we cannot resist the conclusion that multitudes of our fellow-creatures, _hundreds of our immediate neighbours_, are annually destroyed for want of the most evident precautions." The Report on the Sanitary Condition of the Working-Class contains information which attests the same fact. In Liverpool, in 1840, the average longevity of the upper-classes, gentry, professional men, etc., w…
He argues that machines replace adult male labor with women and children because the remaining human task is piecing threads requiring finger flexibility, and he says manufacturers deny that the real work is done by women and children.
did not know this quite as well as ourselves! But the bourgeoisie has interests at stake, and so a falsehood or two and a bit of hypocrisy won't matter much. Let us examine somewhat more closely the fact that machinery more and more supersedes the work of men. The human labour, involved in both spinning and weaving, consists chiefly in piecing broken threads, as the machine does all the rest. This work requires no…
Engels argues that women’s factory work harms family life and female morality, citing the Lancashire inquiry on early, reckless marriage, lack of childcare, dirty mill dwellings, indecent factory language, and prostitution linked to mills.
vaguest idea how to set about it. The Factories' Inquiry Commission's Report gives dozens of examples of this, and Dr. Hawkins, Commissioner for Lancashire, expresses his opinion as follows: {147c} "The girls marry early and recklessly; they have neither means, time, nor opportunity to learn the ordinary duties of household life; but if they had them all, they would find no time in married life for the perf…
Engels continues that children of factory mothers, especially those forced to work during pregnancy, are described as feeble, and he links differences in health to factory labor starting around age nine.
the twentieth year, and is often wholly wanting. {163a} Irregular menstruation, coupled with great pain and numerous affections, especially with anaemia, is very frequent, as the medical reports unanimously state. Children of such mothers, particularly of those who are obliged to work during pregnancy, cannot be vigorous. They are, on the contrary, described in the report, especially in Manchester, as very feeble; …
He turns to clothing production under the Factory Act, detailing stocking weavers in Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester and the lace industry’s child labor, night work, eye damage, and moral disorder.
We shall, therefore, merely have to record how far the factory system has succeeded in forcing its way into each branch of industry, and what other peculiarities these may reveal. The four branches comprised under the Factory Act are engaged in the production of clothing stuffs. We shall do best if we deal next with those workers who receive their materials from these factories; and, first of all, with the stocking…
Engels discusses British factory legislation and parliamentary defeats of hour limits, then argues that the factory system spreads across industries, dissolving families and harming children, illustrated by deadly glassmaking conditions.
attended Sunday school for years could not tell one letter from another, and the moral and religious education, as well as the intellectual, is on a very low plane. {207} In the manufacture of glass, too, work occurs which seems little injurious to men, but cannot be endured by children. The hard labour, the irregularity of the hours, the frequent night-work, and especially the great heat of the working place (100 …
Zeus forbids the gods to interfere further and weighs the fates of Trojans and Achaeans, tipping victory to the Trojans, who drive the Achaeans toward their wall while Diomed and Nestor maneuver in chariots.
mail-clad men. Mighty was the din as the bossed shields pressed hard on one another—death—cry and shout of triumph of slain and slayers, and the earth ran red with blood. Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning their weapons beat against one another, and the people fell, but when the sun had reached mid-heaven, the sire of all balanced his golden scales, and put two fates of death wit…
As Trojans flee toward the city, Patroclus pursues from his chariot, smashes chariots, kills multiple warriors, and challenges Sarpedon, who bids Glaucus and prepares to fight on Patroclus’ terms.
and rout; the air was darkened with the clouds of dust they raised, and the horses strained every nerve in their flight from the tents and ships towards the city. Patroclus kept on heading his horses wherever he saw most men flying in confusion, cheering on his men the while. Chariots were being smashed in all directions, and many a man came tumbling down from his own car to fall beneath the wheels…
In July 1542, Calvin writes to Viret about his wife Idelette de Bure’s premature delivery, and reports on the new Geneva ministers’ preaching results and disputes over ministerial stipends.
GENEVA, [*July 1542*.] This brother, the bearer, will tell you in how great anxiety I am at present writing to you. My wife has been delivered prematurely, not without extreme danger; but may the Lord have a care over us. All our colleagues have now made trial of their gifts.[342] The first gave a specimen of his ability to the people such as I always expected of him. Peter is much more apt to teach. The first sermo…
Freud explains how repression of mother-love drives a homosexual fixation: the person returns in adulthood to boys as substitutes for the self-mother image, and thus avoids betrayal by women.
for the Greek legend called a boy Narcissus to whom nothing was more pleasing than his own mirrored image, and who became transformed into a beautiful flower of this name. Deeper psychological discussions justify the assertion that the person who becomes homosexual in this manner remains fixed in his unconscious on the memory picture or his mother, By repressing the love for his mother he conserves the same in his u…
Freud links Leonardo’s low sexual activity and his selection and caretaking of handsome boys to a homosexual type, interpreting his diary address and expense-notes as evidence of repressed libidinous feelings.
broadest sense, the libido, has not had its share, whether the latter has withdrawn itself far from the original aim or whether it was detained from being put into execution. Anything but traces of unchanged sexual desire we need not expect in Leonardo. These point however to one direction and allow us to count him among homosexuals. It has always been emphasized that he took as his pupils only strikingly handsome b…
Freud interprets Leonardo’s burial-expense record for Caterina as a neurotic displacement of intense, erotically tinged mother-love, and extends the same mechanism to his pupil-expense notes.
old. While on this visit she fell ill and was taken to the hospital by Leonardo, and following her death she was buried by her son with such sumptuous funeral.[48] This deduction of the psychological writer of romances is not capable of proof, but it can lay claim to so many inner probabilities, it agrees so well with everything we know besides about Leonardo's emotional activity that I cannot refrain from accepting…
Freud treats the vulture phantasy’s kissing and nursing elements as memory of erotic childhood relations, then argues Leonardo could channel repressed childhood impressions into art.
it as follows: My mother has pressed on my mouth innumerable passionate kisses. The phantasy is composed of the memories of being nursed and of being kissed by the mother. A kindly nature has bestowed upon the artist the capacity to express in artistic productions his most secret psychic feelings hidden even to himself, which powerfully affect outsiders who are strangers to the artist without their being able to sta…
Freud links Leonardo’s early depiction of laughing women and beautiful children to his vulture phantasy, then reads Saint Anne of the Louvre as a fusion of Caterina, Donna Albiera, and grandmother figures.
can see an image like that of Monna Lisa defining itself from Leonardo's childhood on the fabric of his dreams, seems worthy of belief and deserves to be taken literally. Vasari mentions as Leonardo's first artistic endeavors, "heads of women who laugh."[57] The passage, which is beyond suspicion, as it is not meant to prove anything, reads more precisely as follows:[58] "He formed in his youth some laughing feminin…
Freud concludes that Saint Anne’s youthful beauty and the twin maternal smiles reflect Leonardo’s childhood story: he had Caterina until ages three to five and later a stepmother, forming the merged composition.
playing on the lips of both women, although unmistakably the same as in the picture of Monna Lisa, has lost its sinister and mysterious character; it expresses a calm blissfulness.[61] On becoming somewhat engrossed in this picture it suddenly dawns upon the spectator that only Leonardo could have painted this picture, as only he could have formed the vulture phantasy. This picture contains the synthesis of the hist…
Freud argues Leonardo’s smile in the Mona Lisa reflects early maternal love, with tenderness and a sinister threat, shaping his destiny through repressed erotic longing and rivalry.
of the head and the peculiar blissful smile of the poor peasant girl Caterina, who brought to the world the noble son who was destined to paint, investigate, and suffer. When Leonardo succeeded in reproducing in the face of Monna Lisa the double sense comprised in this smile, namely, the promise of unlimited tenderness, and sinister threat (in the words of Pater), he remained true even in this to the content of his …
Freud portrays Leonardo as infantile in play throughout life, citing Vasari’s mechanical and anatomical curiosities, and argues biographers misread his fantasies as real travel plans to the Orient.
possible that he was as little successful in his cherished art in the primary sexual sense as in his desires for mechanical matters, that both wishes were denied to him. As a matter of fact the great Leonardo remained infantile in some ways throughout his whole life; it is said that all great men retain something of the infantile. As a grown up he still continued playing, which sometimes made him appear strange and …
Freud defends the claim that parental accidents shaped Leonardo’s fate, arguing that everything in life is accident from conception onward, so one must respect how nature’s early experiences govern human development.
so obtain unheard of fame as a natural historian; it seems as if the key to all his attainments and failures was hidden in the childhood phantasy of the vulture. But may one not take offense at the results of an investigation which concede to the accidents of the parental constellation so decisive an influence on the fate of a person, which, for example, subordinates Leonardo's fate to his illegitimate birth and to …
Malthus argues Europe varies by eating habits and how hard necessity presses labourers; he insists population would rise only when funds for subsistence are prepared, and he critiques poor-law child allowances for potentially worsening distress.
population of America, the labourers will in time be much less liberally rewarded. The numbers will in this case permanently increase without a proportional increase in the means of subsistence. In the different states of Europe there must be some variations in the proportion between the number of inhabitants and the quantity of food consumed, arising from the different habits of living that prevail in each state. T…
After infancy, Augustine recounts learning to speak through imitation of elders’ naming, then describes school discipline—beatings for idleness—how he prayed to avoid punishment, and how parents mocked his suffering.
or when, was I Thy servant guiltless? But, lo! that period I pass by; and what have I now to do with that, of which I can recall no vestige? Passing hence from infancy, I came to boyhood, or rather it came to me, displacing infancy. Nor did that depart,--(for whither went it?)--and yet it was no more. For I was no longer a speechless infant, but a speaking boy. This I remember; and have since observed how I learned …
He criticizes the view that people should use demons as advocates or intermediaries to gain the favor of good gods, claiming this corrupts chastity and requires criminals of magic to mediate prayers.
18. _What kind of religion that is which teaches that men ought to employ the advocacy of demons in order to be recommended to the favour of the good gods._ In vain, therefore, have Apuleius, and they who think with him, conferred on the demons the honour of placing them in the air, between the ethereal heavens and the earth, that they may carry to the gods the prayers of men, to men the answers of the gods; for Pla…
Over talk at tea, Johnson answers questions about rearing a newborn child, favors hardiness over coddling, comments on London strength, and begins comparative remarks on Catholicism and Presbyterian worship.
be directed to thy HEAD, for THAT is the PECCANT PART.' This produced a triumphant roar of laughter from the motley assembly of philosophers, printers, and dependents, male and female. I know not how so whimsical a thought came into my mind, but I asked, 'If, Sir, you were shut up in a castle, and a newborn child with you, what would you do?' JOHNSON. 'Why, Sir, I should not much like my company.' BOSWELL. 'But woul…
After April 10 dinner with Mr. Thrale, Johnson calmly accepts that the Italy journey will not happen this year, advises waiting until grief is digested before amusement, and criticizes bringing children into company while discussing authorship worries and editorial timing.
some people, gloomy penitence is only madness turned upside down. A man may be gloomy, till, in order to be relieved from gloom, he has recourse again to criminal indulgencies.' On Wednesday, April 10, I dined with him at Mr. Thrale's, where were Mr. Murphy and some other company. Before dinner, Dr. Johnson and I passed some time by ourselves. I was sorry to find it was now resolved that the proposed journey to Ital…
Boswell and Johnson discuss biographical reflections on Goldsmith, personal routines like Lord Monboddo’s naked morning air-bath, rising early, parenting advice, then shift to water-only drinking and London/Scotland melancholy talk.
uttered by the windpipe, in the compass of a very small aperture, we may be convinced how many degrees of difference there may be in the application of a razor. We dined with Dr. Butter, whose lady is daughter of my cousin Sir John Douglas, whose grandson is now presumptive heir of the noble family of Queensberry. Johnson and he had a good deal of medical conversation. Johnson said, he had somewhere or other given a…
Upon birth, Aristotle says children’s strength depends on food and regimen—milk without wine, gradual hardening to cold, and early play—then outlines education at home until seven and rules against improper tales and pictures.
When a child is born it must be supposed that the strength of its body will depend greatly upon the quality of its food. Now whoever will examine into the nature of animals, and also observe those people who are very desirous their children should acquire a warlike habit, will find that they feed them chiefly with milk, as being best accommodated to their bodies, but without wine, to prevent any distempers: those mot…
On Sunday 15 August, Boswell introduces Samuel Johnson to Mr Scott and Sir William Forbes, praises Forbes as a banker and Christian, and mentions Johnson’s interaction with Boswell’s infant daughter Veronica.
of a general calamity; day and night his house was beset with affectionate inquiries; and, upon his recovery, Te deum was the universal chorus from the hearts of his countrymen. Mr Johnson was pleased with my daughter Veronica,[Footnote: "The saint's name of Veronica was introduced into our family through my great grandmother Veronica, Countess of Kincardine, a Dutch lady of the noble house of Sommelsdyck, of which …
A biographical section turns to Evelyn’s childhood and early education, stating he was born at Wotton on 31 October 1620 and describing his parents’ temperaments and character in detail.
compilation from an actual diary, kept in imitation of his father, from the age of 11 years onwards and down even to within one month of his death in 1706. The second son and the fourth child of Richard Evelyn of Wotton in Surrey, and of his wife Eleanor, daughter of John Stansfield ‘of an ancient honorable family (though now extinct) in Shropshire,’ he was born at Wotton on 31st. October, 1620. His father, ‘was of …
Jacob fathers sons through Leah and her maid Zilpha and through Rachel and her maid Bilha, names the children based on their meanings, and narrates the mandrake bargain leading to Jacob sleeping with Leah.
Jacob submitted to this condition, for his love to the damsel did not permit him to do otherwise; and when another seven years were gone, he took Rachel to wife. 8. Now each of these had handmaids, by their father's donation. Zilpha was handmaid to Lea, and Bilha to Rachel; by no means slaves, 35 but however subject to their mistresses. Now Lea was sorely troubled at her husband's love to her sister; and she expecte…
He distinguishes simple and solemn vows for children, arguing that before puberty vows lack force due to weak reason and dependence on guardians, yet can be annulled within limits.
as in imbeciles and madmen. Therefore just as imbeciles and madmen cannot bind themselves to anything by vow, so neither, seemingly, can children bind themselves by vow to enter religion. Obj. 2: Further, that which can be validly done by one cannot be annulled by another. Now a vow to enter religion made by a boy or girl before the age of puberty can be revoked by the parents or guardian (20, qu. ii, cap. Puella). …
It argues that children may be received into religion in a limited way: their simple vows bind only with sufficient reason, while solemn profession is effective only after the age of puberty, with prior reception for education allowed.
of fourteen ought not to be bound by oath (Decret. XXII, qu. v, cap. Pueri and cap. Honestum.). Therefore it would seem that neither should they be bound by vow. Obj. 4: Further, it is seemingly unlawful to bind a person to an obligation that can be justly canceled. Now if any persons of unripe age bind themselves to religion, they can be withdrawn by their parents or guardians. For it is written in the Decretals (X…
He traces individual and developmental changes: ages of life (childhood, youth, manhood, old age), the sexual relation leading to the family, and waking as the soul’s judgment against sleep, while addressing claims about dreams and Kant’s distinction of subjectivity/objectivity.
from dispersion into phases where it has grown hard and stiff,—a return into the general nature of subjectivity, which is the substance of those specialised energies and their absolute master. The distinction between sleep and waking is one of those *posers*, as they may be called, which are often addressed to philosophy:—Napoleon, e.g., on a visit to the University of Pavia, put this question to the class of ideolo…
Suetonius gives local traditions about Augustus’s childhood home in Velitrae, the belief that entering a small nursery is dangerous, and he explains how Augustus received and later changed surnames such as Thurinus and Augustus.
thrown out by some sudden violence, he knew not how, and was found in a state of stupefaction, with the coverlid of his bed, before the door of the chamber. VII. While he was yet an infant, the surname of Thurinus was given him, in memory of the birth-place of his family, or because, soon after he was born, his father Octavius had been successful against the fugitive slaves, in the country near Thurium. That he wa…
The corsairs who left Beritola on Ponza take her nurse and two boys to Genoa, where Messer Guasparrino d’Oria keeps them as domestic slaves; the nurse renames the elder boy and hides their true identities for years.
Beritola abode with Currado's lady in the quality of her maid, serving her well and faithfully, wearing widow's weeds, and feeding and tending her kids with assiduous and loving care. The corsairs, who, not espying Madam Beritola, had left her at Ponza when they took the ship on which she had come thither, had made a course to Genoa, taking with them all the other folk. On their arrival the owners of the galley shar…
Teufelsdröckh praises childhood’s “happy season” in Entepfuhl, describing a protective cottage world, seasons and festivals, and how play and tools prepare children for work while future hardship approaches.
"HAPPY season of Childhood!" exclaims Teufelsdrockh: "Kind Nature, that art to all a bountiful mother; that visitest the poor man's hut with auroral radiance; and for thy Nursling hast provided a soft swathing of Love and infinite Hope, wherein he waxes and slumbers, danced round (*umgaukelt*) by sweetest Dreams! If the paternal Cottage still shuts us in, its roof still screens us; with a Father we have as yet a prop…
In early childhood, Teresa describes devout parents, especially her father’s charity and truthfulness and her mother’s holiness despite illness, and how their example shaped her earliest piety.
Childhood and Early Impressions. The Blessing of Pious Parents. Desire of Martyrdom. Death of the Saint's Mother. 1. I had a father and mother, who were devout and feared God. Our Lord also helped me with His grace. All this would have been enough to make me good, if I had not been so wicked. My father was very much given to the reading of good books; and so he had them in Spanish, that his children might read t…
Hjordis gives birth to Sigurd, who is raised in King Hjalprek’s household; his foster-father Regin teaches him skills, then urges him to seek the treasure guarded by the dragon Fafnir.
The tale tells that Hjordis brought forth a man-child, who was straightly borne before King Hjalprek, and then was the king glad thereof, when he saw the keen eyes in the head of him, and he said that few men would be equal to him or like unto him in any wise. So he was sprinkled with water, and had to name Sigurd, of whom all men speak with one speech and say that none was ever his like for growth and goodliness. He…
In discussing parents and children, Bacon says parents’ joys and griefs are hidden, describes unequal parental affection, criticizes stingy allowances and sibling rivalry, and advises choosing children’s vocations early.
raisers of their houses, are most indulgent towards their children; beholding them as the continuance, not only of their kind, but of their work; and so both children and creatures. The difference in affection, of parents towards their several children, is many times unequal; and sometimes unworthy; especially in the mothers; as Solomon saith, A wise son rejoiceth the father, but an ungracious son shames the mother.…
Mysis waits outside as a midwife is being fetched for Glycerium; she worries about Lesbia’s reliability but senses danger because Pamphilus appears upset, likely due to the marriage being imminent.
*Enter MYSIS from the house of GLYCERIUM.* MYS. (*speaking at the door to Archylis within.*) I’ve heard you already, Archylis; you request Lesbia to be fetched. Really, upon my faith, she is a wine-bibbing[44] and a rash woman, and not sufficiently trustworthy for you to commit to her care a female at her first delivery; is she still to be brought? (_She receives an answer from within, and comes forward._) Do look a…
Sostrata and Canthara discuss Sostrata’s daughter’s imminent labor, lamenting they have no one at home, and hope Æschinus will come since he regularly visits.
*Enter SOSTRATA and CANTHARA, from the house of the former.* SOS. Prithee, my {dear} nurse, how is it like to end? CAN. Like to end, do you ask? I’troth, right well, I trust. SOS. Her pains are just beginning, my dear. CAN. You are in a fright now, just as though you had never been present {on such an occasion}-- never been in labor yourself. SOS. Unfortunate woman that I am! I have not a person {at home}; we ar…
Micio laments that Aeschinus and other slaves did not return, worries about his son’s safety and anxieties at home, contrasts his own controlled life with Aeschinus’s country pleasures, and argues for fatherly guidance through kindness rather than fear.
*Enter MICIO.* Ho, Storax!--AEschinus did not return Last night from supper; no, nor any one Of all the slaves who went to see for him. --'Tis commonly--and oh how truly!--said, If you are absent, or delay, 'twere best That should befall you, which your wife denounces, Or which in anger she calls down upon you, Than that which kindest parents fear.--Your wife, If you delay, or thinks that you're in love, Or lov'd, o…
Sostrata asks the nurse about the childbirth prospects for the daughter, and Canthara reassures her that everything is going well and that Aeschinus will arrive soon.
*SOSTRATA, CANTHARA.* SOS. Prithee, good nurse, how will it go with her? CAN. How go with her? Why well, I warrant you. SOS. Her pains begin to come upon her, nurse. CAN. You're as much frighten'd at your time of day, As if you ne'er was present at a labor, Or never had been brought to bed yourself. SOS. Alas, I've no soul here: we're all alone. Geta is absent; nor is there a creature To fetch a midwife, or call…
In a continued debate, Rasselas claims if marriage is best for mankind it should be best for individuals, blaming unhappiness on youthful immaturity, while Nekayah argues late marriage risks leaving children to guardians and losing the advantages of early, flexible compatibility.
THE DEBATE ON MARRIAGE (*continued*). “THE good of the whole,” says Rasselas, “is the same with the good of all its parts. If marriage be best for mankind, it must be evidently best for individuals; or a permanent and necessary duty must be the cause of evil, and some must be inevitably sacrificed to the convenience of others. In the estimate which you have made of the two states, it appears that the incommodities…
Epictetus claims preserving the community is better done by teaching happiness and freedom than by producing many children, and he adds that a Cynic must have visible health and a pure ruling faculty.
unattained pursuits, and avoidance in vain, and envy and rivalry, can the way to happiness lie there? But where rotten opinions are there must of necessity be all these things. 13. And the young man having asked whether one that hath fallen ill shall obey, if a friend desire that he will go home with him and be tended: Where, he said, will you show me the friend of a Cynic? For he himself must be even such another, …
In the Sultan’s palace, Sittah urges her young companion Recha to be calm and talk, while Recha reveals her father hates book-learning and that she fears losing her father to a new, unwanted guardian.
SITTAH *and* RECHA. SITTAH. How I am pleased with thee, sweet girl! But do Shake off this perturbation, be not anxious, Be not alarmed, I want to hear thee talk— Be cheerful. RECHA. Princess! SITTAH. No, not princess, child. Call me thy friend, or Sittah, or thy sister, Or rather aunt, for I might well be thine; So young, so good, so prudent, so much knowledge, You must have read a great d…
After the Shah’s counsel, a child of “carnal composition” is miraculously born, named Salámán, with Absál as nurse, and he is lavishly raised until his beauty and brilliance captivate many.
but droppings of his Largess. Good luck to him who under other Name Taught us to veil the Praises of a Power To which the Initiate scarce find open Door." Sat a Lover solitary Self-discoursing in a Corner, Passionate and ever-changing Invocation pouring out; Sometimes Sun and Moon; and sometimes Under Hyacinth half-hidden Roses; or the lofty Cypress, And the li…
Vincent and Laurence debate suitable leaping games, risks, exercise after dinner, and rewards, then a longer dialogue begins on “The Child’s Piety,” describing daily religious routines.
*Lau.* Then let the Victor's Reward be to go into the Town crowned with a Bur. *Vi.* Well, 'tis done, provided you'll go before playing upon a Pipe. *Lau.* It is very hot. *Vi.* That is not strange when it is Midsummer. *Lau.* Swimming is better. *Vi.* I don't love to live like a Frog, I am a Land Animal, not an amphibious one. *Lau.* But in old Time this was look'd upon to be one of the most noble Exercises. …
The “Young Man and Harlot” colloquy begins with Lucretia and Sophronius talking privately, stressing God and the angels see all, and then framing prostitution as a shameful, miserable life to be abandoned.
*Bert.* Pray relate it. I never had the Opportunity of travelling in them. *Will.* I have not Leisure now, and the Master of the Ship bid me be on board by three a Clock, unless I would lose my Passage. Another Time we shall have an Opportunity of prating our Bellies full. *The YOUNG MAN and HARLOT.* The ARGUMENT. _This is certainly a divine Colloquy, that makes even a Bawdy-House a chaste Place! God can't b…
Fabulla and Eutrapelus argue whether men are superior: the woman cites the Bible’s claims about Christ’s headship and human equality, then lists harms men cause while insisting women bear children and risk death.
*Eu.* What Tyrant prithee? *Fa.* I'll tell you in one Syllable. Custom (*Mos*). *Eu.* Alas! How many Things does that Tyrant exact beyond the Bounds of Equity? But let us go on to talk of our Crystal and our common Glass. *Fa.* I believe you judge, that a Male is naturally more excellent and strong than a Female. *Eu.* I believe they are. *Fa.* That is Mens Opinion. But are Men any Thing longer-liv'd than Women?…
After naming the boy Cornelius, the mother asks for guidance on managing the infant’s health and later forming his mind with pious principles; Erasmus promises to persuade relatives and continue next time.
*Fa.* But you on the Contrary paint better than you beget. *Eu.* It so seems meet to Nature, to act equally by all. How solicitous is Nature, that nothing should be lost! It has represented two Persons in one; here's the Nose and Eyes of the Father, the Forehead and Chin of the Mother Can you find in your Heart to entrust this dear Pledge to the Fidelity of a Stranger? I think those to be doubly cruel that can find …