I Suffer an harde father.

The hardnesse of a fa∣ther, is many tymes profitable for the sonne: cocklyng is al∣wayes to be condemned▪ and the tongue is not only to be v∣sed, but also there must be no spare of the rod, as the learned haue geuen counsayle: And by these twaine, is al the direction of young wits ordered, which yf they be vsed in vayne, then to grea∣ter griefes we must geue stronger medicines, as banishment, and imprisonment, yea and moreouer, according to the order of the olde Romanes. extreame punishment, and death, which not only Consuls & Captaines, vnto whom publique aucthoritie gaue iu∣risdiction ouer al men, but also those priuate auntient & seuere fa∣thers, vnto whō only theyr countrey gaue them power ouer their children, haue most extreamely executed, as we reade in histories, among whom the seueritie of Cassius & Fuluius is most special∣ly renowmed. Goe thou thy wayes now, and cal thy father, that is to gentle, an harde father.

I suffer an harde father.

What maner of sonne thinkest thou did he suffer of thee Page  219when thou wast a chylde, and lykewyse afterwardes when thou wast a young man? This is an harde thyng to perswade them in, that doo very muche please them selues: But beleeue me, there is nothing more payneful then to suffer the vnruly manners of that age.

I suffer an harde father.

What if thou be an harde sonne? Harde thynges by harde thyngs are more effectuously mollified, and often times the scarre of a gentle Surgion is more euyll fauoured.

I haue an harde father.

If he be a true father in deede he loueth thee, and yf he loue thee, he thynketh vpon the thynges that may profite thee, and not flatter thee.

I haue an extreame harde father.

Those thynges that seeme very harde vnto thee, perhappes seeme profitable vnto hym, whose iudgement is more certayne, and affection more in∣corrupt. Youth measureth nothyng but that whiche lyeth before theyr eyes, ryper age foreseeth many thynges.

I haue a very harde father.

See that thou be not harde vnto hym, so that whylest he resisteth thy shame, thou dis∣quiet his lyfe with thyne vnthrifcie demeanure.

My father is very hard.

He that neclecteth the good estate of his sonne, the same is to be counted an harde father, al∣though in shewe he appeare very gentle: but he that by aduice and counsayle draweth his sonne the ryght way, prouokyng hym forwarde also, some tymes by word, and some tymes by deede, or els when he seeth him backwarde blameth hym, or vnwillyng compelleth him, and although in outwarde shew he seemeth some∣what sharpe, yet is he not a hard father. The seueritie of a father is commonly more profitable for the sonne then his gentlenesse.

My father is hard.

Zeale, sorowe, feare, and age, do excuse a fathers frowning.

I do paynfully a∣byde an hard father.

What yf that happen vnto thee which hath worthily hapned vnto many of thy mynde, to wit, that thou be constrayned to abide the hardnesse of another? What yf it shoulde chaunce thee thy selfe to begin to be the father of a stub∣berne sonne? Then shouldest thou knowe how pleasant a thyng the yoke of a father were, and howe ryght is his aucthoritie: Now vnderstandest thou but only one thyng that delighteth thee, Page  [unnumbered]and in the same one thyng thy iudgement hath no delight of the mynde, but is deceyued with the delyght of the senses.

I haue an harde father.

Admit he be harde, nature hath made hym thy iudge, and not thee his: whiche order the Ci∣uyl lawe foloweth, and is ashamed to see the sunne to correct and chasten the father? Thou oughtest to be ashamed to enterpryse that whiche the lawe is ashamed to lycence any sonne to doo: suf∣fer thou, and let hym iudge of thee that begate thee, and brought thee vp, commit thou the iudgement of hym to other, and yf thy father haue not deserued true prayse, yet at the leastwyse reue∣rence hym with duetifull silence.

My father vseth harde behauiour.

The behauiour of thy father is not to be blamed, but to be borne with: There is no greater re∣proche to Alexander, then that he woulde seeme to attempt, I wyll not say to speake euyl of his father, but enuie his fathers commendations: Thou oughtest eyther to speake worshypfully of thy father, or els to holde thy peace altogeather.

I haue an harde father.

Thou hast a meane to shewe thy loue, to shewe thy honestie, to shewe thy pacience, and to shew thine obedience. In al the world there is none more iust then the empyre of a father, no seruice more honest then of a sonne. There is nothyng so muche a mans owne, as the sonne is the fathers, there can nothyng be more vniustly taken from hym then his sonne: But you with a headlong and intemperate desire, beyng borne to be subiect, desyre to be Soueraigne, and thus you both withdrawe your selues from your father, and also vsurpe the go∣uernment whiche your fathers ought to baue ouer you, where∣in is a double mischiefe: Whereby it commeth to passe, that the rashnesse of youth disturbeth the dueties of all thynges. Nowe hereof it proceedeth, that when perhappes you be restray∣ned from this, then you complayne of the sharpenesse of your father, beeyng woorthie your selues, in your owne iudgement, that it shoulde be lawfull for you to doo all thynges, only in this respect, for that you be sonnes: and ye haue learned also to please your selues at lookyng Glasses, whiche you shall then at length perceyue, when yee begynne to perceyue howe shameful∣ly you haue wyshed for it before your tyme.

I Page  220haue a rough father.

What yf his roughnesse be fa∣therly? For the father oweth a rough carefulnesse vnto his sonne, and the sonne a reuerent duetifulnesse, obedience, and humble∣nesse vnto his father. Concernyng Manlius Torquatus thou hast read in Histories, and also in Marcus Tullius, that as he was very louyng vnto his father, so was he bitterly seuere vn∣to his sonne, perhaps woorthyly blamed by iudgement of the common people for the one, but hyghly commended by vpryght deemers for them both: suche diuersitie is there in mens opini∣ons.

I haue an harde father.

To late it is or euer you knowe your good, O yee mortall men. But when you begynne to knowe it, then doo you acknowledge it to muche: and thus yee loath the thynges that be present, and lament for them when they be lost. The one of these tasteth of to muche pryde, the other of ouer much humilitie, both where yee ought to geue thankes, and where you shoulde geue example of pacience, but in both yee complayne, and in neyther beare your selues indifferent: is this your thankefulnesse towardes God and men?

I haue an harde father.

The tyme wyll come when thou shalt sygh and wyshe for this thy father, and shalt cal hym, and he wyl not answere thee. And he that nowe seemeth vnto thee more harde then stone, shal then seeme vnto thee that he was more soft then downe.

I haue an harde father.

Thou knowest not what it is to haue a father, as long as thou hast hym.