VI. THE ORIGIN OF FAMILY LIFE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO SANITARY SCIENCE
Further researches into the records of the past, and a closer study of the underlying principles upon which humanity has formulated many generally adopted customs, indicate how unexpectedly intimate is the relation between the growth of a social organisation and the origin of primitive efforts after the preservation of life and health. The world at large is so accustomed to the widespread existence of family life that curiosity is rarely aroused as to its origin, intention and worth; consequently to ignorance of its significance must be attributed the assertion that the custom is well-nigh obsolete and the proposal of some would-be reformers to abolish the institution and to instal the State in loco parentis.
Professor McDougall[102] assures us that such is the social importance of the family that all who have given serious attention to the question are agreed that the stability of the family is the prime condition of a healthy state. This opinion is supported by other writers,[103] who have emphasised their conviction that the healthful development of the individual—even the possibilities of racial progress—depend to a large degree upon maintaining intact the integrity of family life. 235 Their conclusions are based upon recent researches into the sciences of biology, sociology, and economics.
The origin of this relation is apparently traceable to one of the many forms of human association which have proved advantageous in the struggle for existence, when the value to a man and his wife of so protecting their offspring during childhood that there should be later on an array of lusty sons and industrious daughters thrust itself on their notice. The division of strenuous work, for instance, the pursuit and preparation of food, the effective defence of their rude shelters against the depredations of their foes, were substantial advantages to be derived in primitive times from the possession of a large group of children. Upon the youthful vigour and strength of their family the parents could rely also when overtaken by the weakness of old age or by accident or disease.
These economic and sociological advantages were so early appreciated and are so widely adopted that traces of family life are to be detected in the history and customs of every tribe or community hitherto investigated. The bond thus formed, even amongst the lowest savages, first developed, then strengthened the ties of natural affection between a mother and her children and prolonged its emotional existence. In the case of the paternal parent, it is probable that the motives which incited him to make the efforts necessary for the protection of his helpless infants might more 236 probably be found in the desire to leave an avenger on individual enemies and a feeling that funeral rites would be duly performed after his death, as well as his tribe strengthened in war.
The gradual development of the human home has been admirably described by more than one writer, who has associated its evolution with the gregarious instinct, recognised in many of the higher forms of animal life.[104] Within reason, associated numbers represent power—power to preserve the progeny, therefore to maintain the numbers, which again in reason make for social support and independence. Power for defence, power to secure an adequate supply of food and ability to differentiate occupations, thus dividing labour, so that while the men of a family group were engaged in war or the chase, their womenkind devoted their attention to the creature comforts which promote health and efficiency—these are all factors which make for progress.
VII. WOMAN’S VOCATION IN HOME AND FAMILY LIFE
And so it came about that to some extent woman’s special and privileged vocation as a home-maker began even in prehistoric times. Upon her it devolved to rear the children she bore; to cook, to mend, to make, to spin and dye and weave; to prepare a welcome for the victor and to minister to the sick or wounded. No sense of menial 237 limitation in their duties was apparent among the notable women of the past. They were skilled workers, capable and respected managers, under whose direction men as well as women carried out the details of daily work, to whose care in later centuries castle and garrison were entrusted in the absence of their lords, and who most evidently assumed this responsibility with confidence and success.
The changing conditions of the last three centuries, however, reacted in many ways to the detriment of women’s domestic energies and sapped their pride in the vocation of housewife. Industrial developments took much occupation out of their hands, and they were not apparently concerned to undertake others more in consonance with modern life. As concentration of the population in large centres undermined the last survival of feudal conditions, the strong conservative instinct of women made it hard for them to adapt themselves and their households to revised methods:—to substitute “new lamps for old,” so that gradually it seems women became split up into two parties, somewhat out of sympathy one with the other. Adherence to the traditions of the past and the attractions of social life distinguished the one party; a restless desire to give scope to their whole nature and to work out their own salvation on unconventional lines possessed the other. In the one case there was no desire for domestic reformation. What methods could be better than their great-grandmother’s! 238 In the other, glimpses of what seemed a far wider and more intellectual life than that of the ordinary housewife diminished interest in the physical needs of human nature, which it was thought made no claims on mental faculties, and of which the daily care was constantly associated with irksome restrictions and a position of financial dependence.
It is not possible here even to outline the numerous social and commercial innovations which have modified every side of daily life for the last two hundred years; but, when inclined harshly to rebuke women for some of their now almost inexplicable blindness to these changes, it is well to remember that the flood of new discoveries, new inventions, new modes of transit, new forms of occupation and amusement, new means of money-making and fresh excitements imposed an enormous strain upon nervous systems, still but slowly adapting themselves to the stir and stress of the modern world. That eyes should be temporarily dazzled by the brilliance of the “wonderful century”; that the first results of freedom from a period of unnatural restraint should be intoxication with liberty, is not surprising. Full of encouragement is, however, the fact that an increasing number of women of all ranks are engaged to-day in efforts to direct the light of modern knowledge to the betterment of human life; the movement speaks for the innate soundness of their womanhood and for their realisation of their imperial responsibilities. Many of these efforts are still unsystematised, many good intentions 239 are held to be of equal worth with organised practical knowledge; many women are alive only to the needs of the least favoured of the community and are dead to the urgent calls for intelligent reforms in their own domiciles. But if the willing mind be there, the direction of the work into desirable channels will slowly though surely follow. It is most certainly unnecessary to pour every girl into the mould of a conventional German hausfrau in order that she may perceive the inner meaning of family life. God fulfils Himself in many ways, and diversity of training and of interests is as beneficial as it is desirable. Neither can the women of a country single-handed conserve this great institution of family life. The loyalty of boys and the co-operation of men are imperative to its preservation. They as well as their mothers, wives, and sisters must realise its responsibilities and opportunities, and must maintain the dignified position of those who preside over this unit of community life; they also must respond to the crying need for its adaptation to the requirements of modern civilisation.