BOOK II PART I
tirely upon the latter. As in the society of mar-
riage, the male sex has the advantage above
the female, the husband first engages our atten-
tion; and whether we consider him directly, or
reach him by passing through related objects,
the thought both rests upon him with greater
satisfaction, and arrives at him with greater fa-
cility than his consort. It is easy to see, that this
property must strengthen the child’s relation
to the father, and weaken that to the mother.
For as all relations are nothing hut a propensity
to pass from one idea ma another, whatever
strengthens the propensity strengthens the re-
lation; and as we have a stronger propensity to
pass from the idea of the children to that of the
father, than from the same idea to that of the
mother, we ought to regard the former relation
as the closer and more considerable. This is
the reason why children commonly bear their