Yet some have refused my
bounties; more offended with my quickness to detect their wants
than pleased with my readiness to succour them; and others, whose
exigencies compelled them to admit my kindness, have never been
able to forgive their benefactress. Many, however, have been
sincerely grateful without the ostentation of gratitude or the hope
of other favours."
CHAPTER XXVI--THE PRINCESS CONTINUES HER REMARKS UPON PRIVATE LIFE.
Nekayah, perceiving her brother's attention fixed, proceeded in her
narrative.
"In families where there is or is not poverty there is commonly
discord. If a kingdom be, as Imlac tells us, a great family, a
family likewise is a little kingdom, torn with factions and exposed
to revolutions. An unpractised observer expects the love of
parents and children to be constant and equal. But this kindness
seldom continues beyond the years of infancy; in a short time the
children become rivals to their parents. Benefits are allowed by
reproaches, and gratitude debased by envy.
"Parents and children seldom act in concert; each child endeavours
to appropriate the esteem or the fondness of the parents; and the
parents, with yet less temptation, betray each other to their
children.
Pages:
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103