"MOTHER ! MOTHER ! "
[To THE EDITOR OP THE " SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—Even to the uttermost parts of the earth you dissemi- nated knowledge and entertainment when some months ago you published a. series of letters illustrative of the fervour with which man appeals in tragic moments to his mother•. Is it that when in mortal dread, when all hope is lost, faith as of a little child in the shelter of the maternal bosom becomes supreme? Does the mind of man, hard beset by Fate, leap over the intervening years to the scene of first consciousness ? It is not for me to discuss the point at present, but to offer yet another example in support of the argument that man, primitive as well as civilized, becomes once again an infant in moments of imminent peril. I quote from "Life in the Forests of the Far East, or Travels in Northern Borneo," by Spenser St. John, vol. ii., p. 317 :-
" I will tell an anecdote of one of the very oldest of the chiefs, to show the apparently stubborn materials which had to be moulded. The man, relating the story himself, said that about thirty-five years ago he was cruising near Datu Point when he observed a small trading boat passing out to sea. lie immediately gave chase, and when near her noticed the crew were all armed, and preparing to defend themselves, so his own followers advised him to sheer off, but he made them push alongside, and, springing on board the trading prahu with a drawn kris, so effectually alarmed the hostile crew that they all ran below. There were six of them, but he killed them all, and added, one only did he pity, as in their distress five called on their mothers, but one only begged mercy of God."
Brammo Bay, Dunk Island, N.Q. January 7th, 1913.
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