Sentence:  The affections which these exposed or <WSD>derelict</WSD> children bear to their mothers, have no grounds of nature or assiduity but civility and opinion. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  Abandoned, forsaken; given up by the natural owner or guardian; (of a ship) abandoned at sea, dilapidated, neglected; (of a spacecraft) abandoned in outer space.