Filial Duty, Of Parents' Claims And Children's Liabilities.

is in smiles—kind Avords , polite deportment , and buoyancy of spirits , apparently tbe embodiment of all that is amiable , pleasing , and good . Follow them home ( our remarks are of general application , there being of course many honourable exceptions ) , andwhen therelisten to their

, , surly answers , behold their rude demeanour to their parents , wituess their sluggish idle movements , see their frownish downcast looks . How strange is this , how opposed to nature , but so it is . It is not an unusual occurrence to meet with

young persons of both sexes who are to be regarded by strangers or acquaintances as exemplary children , but Avho are monsters to their parents , whose vile treatment is cruelly conducing to bring their parents to a premature grave . Unhappy children of unhappy fond parents , whose love

forbids utterance , of their wrongs , and their sufferings . Affection seals their lips ; they suffer mentally , and silently , hoping against hope , whilst the ungrateful child , unmindful of the generous sacrifice , nay , taking advantage of parental solicitude to conceal their waywardnesstheir brutish conduct

, , from the Avorld , cowardly pursues his evil , inhuman course , ruthlessly adding pang to pang till the heart , surcharged Avith grief , is rent , and the self-sacrificing , sorrowing parent finds solace in the grave . We envy not the feelings of the man or woman , no matter what position they

occupy in society , Avhose retrospect of the past is darkened by neglect , unkindness , or disobedience to parents . Well might such ones sigh " for a conscience harmonising Avith that of the estimable poet CoAvper , Avho , 50 years after the death of his mother , remarked , " I can truly say that

not a week passes , and perhaps I may witli equal veracity say a day , in which I do not think of her ; such Avas the impression her tenderness made upon me , though the opportunity she had of showing it Avas so short . " Well might ib be said of a child Avho could thus appreciate a parent ' s love : —

"Thy father and thy mother shall be glad , and she that bore thee shall rejoice . " HOAV tender the feeling , and rightly directed were the thoughts of this amiable , this gentle bard of Avhom . it has been observed , " Of all the persons I ever heard pray no one equalled Mr . CoAvper , "

his glance at the past draws forth the sympathetic tear anew , and affection thus plaintively records its grief .

"My mother , when I learnt that thou wast dead , Say , wast thou conscious of the tears I shed , Hover'd thy spirit o ' er thy surviving son , Wretch even then , life's journey just begun , Perhaps thou gav'st mo then an unseen kiss , Perhaps a tear , if souls can weep in bliss . I heard tho bell toll'd on thy burial day , I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away , And turning from my nursery window drew A long long sigh , and Avept a last adieu . "

We are told that the Scribes and Pharisees inculcated the abominable doctrine that children might exempt themselves from sin , consequent on neglect of their parents , if they vowed they Avould not render assistance , or else consecrated anything to holy uses ; hence the strictures of our Saviour

, " If a man say to his father or mother it is corban , that is to say , to his father or his mother a gift , by whatsoever there profitest by one , he shall be free , and ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother ; " and the frequency of the interposition of magisterial authority to

enforce performance of filial duty , although enjoined by natural reason , aud the divine ordinances , —evidences that our times are not destitute of

persons who could gladly strain at any plea , or have recourse to any means to rid themseles of chargeability in respect of indigent , infirm , or aged parents . What wonder if a just Providence punish those unworthy , unnatural members of society in their own offspring , and it is Avell for them if

they reap for themselves no greater sorrow or punishment , than having meted out to tbem like cruel neglect at the hands of their progeny—than experiencing a child ' s neglect , when adversity , sickness , ot age , afflicts him . In the Hampton Court Picture Gallery is a painting entitled the "

Grecian Daughter ; " two persons are represented in it , one is a young female , and the other an old man , who , like an infant , is sustained by the breasts of the former . Byron thus alludes to the touching incident , which is a rare illustration of filial piety .

There is a dungeon , in whose dim drear light What do I gaze on ? Nothing . Look again ! Two forms are slowly shadovv'd in my sight ; Two insulated phantoms of the brain ; It is not so ! 1 see them full , and plain : An old man , and a female , young and fair , Fresh as a nursing mother , in whose vein The blood is nectar ; bub what does she there With her unmantled neck , and bosom white and bare 2

It seems the daughter was allowed access to the father during his imprisonment , but she had to undergo theordeal of being . searched on the occasion of each of her visits , that the jailer might be satisfied she conveyed no food to him . However , as the father survived the period at Avhich . it was

expected he Avould have succumbed to starvation , she was watched , when it was discovered she was actually nourishing him with the milk from her breasts ; this remarkable circumstance being notified to the authorities , it obtained for him his liberty . Such a Avritten instance of filial piety is a worthy

subject for the poet and author , and reminds us of the story of . ZEneas . Aiichises , his father , who Avas aged and infirm , being closely pursued by his enemies , after the siege of Troy ( which was reduced to ashes ) , iEneas mounted him on his shoulders , and hurrying off with his precious freight , rescued him from imprisonment , or an ignoble death .