"filial duty, it was impossible to describe by words .but a description by words was unnecessary. It was that duty which all fett and understood, and which required not the power of language to explain. It was more properly to be called a principle than a duty. It required not the aid of memory; it needed not the exercise of understanding; it waited not the slow deliberations of reasoning; it flowed spontaneously from the fountain of our feelings; it was involuntary in our feelings; it was a quality of our being, innate and coeval with life, which, though afterwards cherished as a passion, was independent of our mental powers; it was earlier than all intelligence in our souls; it displayed itself in the earliest impulses of the heart, and was an emotion of fondness that returned in smiles of gratitude the affectionate solicitudes, the tender anxieties, the endearing attentions, experiences, before memory began, but which were not less dear for not being remembered. It was the sacrament of nature in our hearts, by which the union of parent and child wa» sealed and rendered perfect in the community of love, and which strengthening and ripening with life, acquired vigour from the understanding, and was most lively and active when most wanted; when those who had supported infancy were sinking into age, and when infirmity and decrepitude found their best solace in the affections of the children they had reared. But I am ashamed to take up so much of your lordships' time in attempting to give a picture of filial duty, when I see so many breathing testimonies in this assembly, and when I see every feature beaming and erecting itself in confession of the universal principle."
Sheridan's Speech On The Begum Charge.
