Secondly freedome from all other persons and it is the freedom of both parties frō any other for if any man take a woman who is either espoused or wedded to another man is it not plaine that he takes his neighbours wife and therefore in shew liues in marriage but indeed liues in adulterie The Lord would haue men and women enter into matrimonie as it were leasurely and with deliberation and for this cause it is his ordinance that the couenant should bee perfected betwixt them in two degrees the one is Espousall or betrothment which they call Making sure and is nothing else but a giuing the right of each others bodies by a solemne and serious promise of marriage hereafter to be consummated the other is Wedding called also by the name of Marriage and is nothing but a giuing of the possession of each others bodies by a solemne and serious promise to liue together during life Now the Scripture in the two and twentieth Chapter of Deuteronomie Deut. 22.22 23 24. doth as well call the betrothed woman a wife of him that betrothed her as the wedded woman of him that wedded her and doth appoint a betrothed maide to die for violating her espousals by lying with another man afterwards as well as the wedded wife for violating wedlocke so it is manifest that if any man or woman haue betrothed him or her selfe to any one person it is become now vtterly vnlawful for them to marrie with any other person vnlesse the contract be lawfully dissolued by the falling out or reuealing of some thing after the contract which may disanull it as Ioseph supposing Marie to haue been with child by some other before his espousing her now that he found her to be big-bellyed resolued to put her away And it is much more manifest that he or she which haue been married to another person are bound by the Law so long as such person liueth so that if they marrie any other they shal commit adulterie as the Apostle tels vs in expresse termes But thirdly Rom. 17.2.3 Identitie of Religion no man or woman of the true Religion may lawfully marrie together with those of a false 1. Cor. 7. last as Christians with Turkes or Pagans as Paul also telleth the woman whose husband is dead that she is at libertie to marrie whom shee will but onely in the Lord and she marries not in the Lord if she marrie one that is not of the true Religion of our Lord. 2. Cor. 6.14 Yea Saint Paul doth absolutely forbid the being vnequally yoked with Infidels asking What communion the Temple of God can haue with Idols Which prohibition if it bee not to be vnderstood onely of being yoked with them in matrimonie yet at least as a generall must include that particular and principally that as being the principall yoking together that is It is not good plowing with an Oxe and an Asse as also the Law did typically forewarne And these things are required in regard of the persons contracting matrimonie It is further necessarie Secondly that if they haue Pa rems they haue Parents consent that such single persons as haue Parents and are vnder their tution be matched together by their consent A sonne or daughter honour not their Parents if they presume to match themselues without the priuitie or good liking of their Parents vnlesse their Parents forfeie this part of their authoritie by abusing it in not suffering them to marrie in the Lord but offering to force them marrie against the will of God or else to abide vnmarried No gift of any thing is good vnlesse all those persons that are interessed into the thing giuen doe giue their consent as reason doth euince for no man can passe away anothers right without his liking Now the father hath interest into his child as into his goods for God allowed that the children also should bee sold to pay his debts which had been a most vniust thing if the Parents had not had as much interest into them as to any other part of their substance Therefore marriage being a contract of giuing and receiuing the childs giuing of himselfe mee thinks should be of small force without the Parents good will who haue so chiefe a right into him Surely those whom God hath not ioyned are not lawfully ioyned Now God ioyneth men alone two wayes either mediately or immediately Immediately hee ioyneth not any in our times therefore if they be not by him ioyned mediately they bee either vnioyned or ill ioyned Now vnlesse their Parents giue consent they cannot bee said to bee ioyned by God mediately for why when God hath put any person as it were in his roome as his assignes to doelany thing it is not done by him vnlesse that person doe it whom he hath so authorized And the Scripture doth manifestly giue this power to Parents when it saith to them Giue your daughters to sonnes and take daughters for your sonnes And againe You shall not giue your sonnes to their daughters nor take their daughters to your sonnes Therefore me thinkes it followes vndeniably that whom the Parents ioyne not God doth not ioyne and so their marriage is sinfull and their liuing together very filthinesse and vncleannesse vntill by submission they haue procured an after-consent to ratifie that which ought not to haue been done before the consent And these bee the things which vnmarried men and women must principally looke vnto all which we summe vp in this briefe manner A man or woman with the consent of Parents if there be any aliue marrying a free person of the same true Religion not touching him or her in too neere degrees of kindred or assinitie marrieth lawfully and may say as Paul I haue married and not sinned Thus the vnmarried haue heard their instructions CHAP. VII Containing a third vse to them that are married Vse 3 WE must say something also to those that are alreadie married To the married whom it behoueth sowel to informe themselues by this and other Scriptures of the lawfulnesse of their society that they may both holily and with good conscience enioy this ordinance and also fence themselues so much the more strongly against all wandring and inordinate desires All creatures must bee sanctified to the vsers by the Word of God and by Prayer and how sinlesse soeuer any thing is in it selfe yet doth hee sinfully abuse it that careth not in this sort to sanctifie it Now that is sanctified to a man by the word whereof his conscience is truly informed by the testimony of the Scriptures that it is warrantable welpleasing vnto God so that he can doe it with an heart resting it selfe in this assurance that God is not offended the rewith And by prayer that is sanctified for the vsing of which a man doth humbly beg the fauourable and gracious leaue of the Lord that he may not by his sinnes be excluded the comfort of Gods benefits but through the grace of
of much vnquietnes to all parties Youth and Age are so far distant in their constitutions that they wil hardly accord in their conditions and how to make the young folks so wholly resigne themselues vnto the elder as not to be discontented with their proceedings or to make the elder so much to deny themselues as to condescend vnto the wils of the younger or to make both so moderate themselues as to meete in the mid-way without one of which three things there is no maintaining of concord is a matter in the best natures most discreet persons exceeding difficult and in the common sort of people altogether impossible Wherefore as the young Bees do seek vnto thēselues another Hiue so let the young couple another house that they may learne to liue of a little to know what is their owne and how it becomes their owne and to vse their owne to their owne best aduantage that whatsoeuer come they may neuer fall into that vnhappiest of all vnhappinesses of either being tormentors of their Parents or tormented by them And for ones worldly affaires let him trust as little as is possible and then also vpon Gods assurance It is most certaine that the most of those with whom a man shall deale will alwayes bee vngodly and vnrighteous seruing themselues altogether and ready to aduantage themselues by deceite It were an vncharitablenesse to say before trial Such a man wil deceiue me therefore I will not trust him but it is wisdome to thinke before triall This man may deceiue me therefore if I may I will forbeare to trust him if not I will trust him on such termes as he may not be able if he should be willing to beguile me Boldnesse to borrow boldnesse to lend boldnesse to trust and to be trusted which likely come from this originall that men would ouer-faine either to be rich or seeme so haue plunged many families into great misery which else might haue sailed through the World with a constant tenour of prosperitie Let a man therfore bee willing to lay his foundation low to content himselfe with the imployment of his owne portion not delighting to make himselfe a seruant by making himselfe a borrower nor to hazzard himselfe more then hee must needes vpon the doubtfull honesty of such slipperie seruants as most times borrowers prooue to bee But forbearing to giue further counsell I commit the booke following to thy censure praying thee to reade it with iudgement and fauour and to be the same to the writings of another that thou wouldest another should be to thine So with my best wishes to God to make the troubles of thy marriage if thou beest or shalt be married as easie as is possible and the more easie by meanes of that aduice which this Treatise will giue thee if thou wilt vouchsafe to reade and consider it I leaue thee to the guidance of him that giueth his gifts to euery man as seemeth best to himselfe and remaine Banbury Feb. 19. 1622. A wel-willer to the peace of thine heart and house William Whately AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READER VNderstand good Reader that in a former Treatise about the duties of the married intitled A Bride bush I did occasionally deliuer two positions One this The sinne of adulterie dissolueth the bond and annihilateth the couenant of Matrimonie Another this The sinne of wilfull desertion doth likewise dissolue the bond of Matrimony Giue me leaue now to aduertise thee of such reasons as haue been obiected vnto me against these two positions Against the first thus Whatsoeuer man and woman may lawfully conuerse together in matrimoniall societie betwixt them the bond of matrimony remaineth vndissolued for vpon this bond the lawfulnesse of that societie depends as vpon the next and immediate cause thereof Now man and wife euen after the sinne of adulterie committed by one or both of them may lawfully conuerse together in matrimoniall societie For who can thinke that Dauid sinned in knowing any other of his wiues after his offence with Bathsheba Or if any man or woman hauing transgressed in this kind so secretly that none doth know of it shall after forsake the sinne and without reuealing it to the yoke-fellow continue to render due beneuolence who can say that such societie is vnlawfull Therefore betwixt man and wife euen after the sinne of adulterie the bond of marriage remaineth vndissolued and therefore the contrary position ought not to be holden Against the second thus He that puts away his wife not for whoredome and marries another is guiltie of wilfull desertion yea and of adultery too For is it not all one to depart from ones wife with a mind of neuer returning and to put away his wife from him with a mind of neuer reaccepting her Now after such putting away of a mans wife and marrying another the bond of matrimony remaineth vndissolued for our Sauiour saith That he which marries a woman so put away Mat. 19.9 commits adultery which could not be vnlesse the bond betwixt her and her former husband remained vndissolued Therefore at least after some desertion yea and adultery too the bond of matrimony remaineth vndissolued and therfore the contrary position must be denied Sweyed by these arguments to which I confesse that I cannot make a satisfying answere I depart from these opinions wishing that I had not written them and that no man by what I haue written would imbolden himselfe in such cases to take at least a doubtfull and an hazzardfull liberty So praying God to giue vs a right vnderstanding in all things I bid thee farewell A Care-cloth OR A TREATISE OF THE CVMBERS AND TROVBLES OF MARRIAGE intended to aduise them that may to shun them that may not well and patiently to beare them 1. Cor. 7.28 If thou marriest thou sinnest not and if a virgin marry she sinneth not but such shall haue trouble in the flesh CHAP. I. The opening of the Text. THe Apostle in this Chapter makes answere to some questions which the Corinths had by Letter propounded vnto him and that specially concerning matter of marriage and he giues his directions first indefinitely to the vnmarried married and all sorts of persons in the former part of the Chapter then specially and particularly to Virgins from the 26. Verse to the 39. to Widowes in the two last Verses To Virgins he addresseth his counsell in this order first in a briefe preface declaring the purport of his words viz. that hee did not giue a precise Commandement as of a thing that bound the conscience strictly but alone aduice and counsell as of a thing most fit and commodious Secondly he propoundeth his counsell in the 26. Verse which comes to this purpose That it is good for a man and woman in regard of the necessitie and distresse to which in this present life they are subiect to forbeare marriage and to continue in Virginitie Lastly he amplifieth and inlargeth this matter more fully explicating himselfe which explication hee
downe his lusts neither would abate any whit of a mans earnest endeauours to liue chastly in single life and so to continue single but I speake it to shew that if any man find his passions too strong for him and perceiue that he cannot but either marry or sin he should rather marry without sinne then sinne without marriage It is no wise course to rush vpon hell hereafter to auoyde trouble for the present But if the feare of trouble should not make a man forbeare matrimony that cannot otherwise continue chaste how much lesse should the vnwillingnesse to be confined to one person make a man continue vnyoked that he might more freely giue ouer himselfe to his wandring and vnsatiable appetite This were a notable cntempt of Gods ordinance and a selling of ones selfe ouer to worke vncleannesse with greedinesse He that of purpose forbeares the medicine because hee would not haue his disease cured must needes perish by the disease when God alloweth all men to marrie that cannot containe he that refuseth marriage because he would nor containe doth yeeld himselfe so farre at length to the power of incontinencie that euen marriage it selfe will bee vnable to represse his vnruly desires and thus he brings vpon himselfe extreme hard-hearrednesse euen so that hee is without feeling as the Apostle speaketh and by selling himselfe vp to sinne causeth God in instice to giue him wholly ouer to the lusts of his owne heart and to the effectuall working of Satans temptations till at the end his lust be beyond remedie because at first hee refused the remedie for the loue of lust O let none amongst you be so wicked as to forbeare to liue a married person for the nonc't that he may liue a beast But whosoeuer he or she be that is not of power to containe let him acknowledge and enioy the goodnesse of God and preuent sinne by that which is no sinne euen by marrying CHAP. VI. Containing the second vse Vse 2 ANd this is one vse to the vnmarried arising from the consideration of this point To the vnmarried that they may lawfully marrie from which also there followeth vnto them a secnd instruction to wit that seeing they may lawfully marry they take care to marry lawfully for euen a sinlesse action may be made sinne to him that doth it in a sinfull manner When Paul affirmeth If thou marriest thou sinnest not He meaneth this of marriage it selfe in it selfe considered nor also of the manner and other circumstances of marriage for in these whosoeuer disorders themselues doth sin grieuously though marriage it selfe be not sinne Let vs therefore propound some necessarie directions which if the vnmarried obserue in the making of their marriage they may bee sure to doe this lawfull worke lawfully And forbearing to mention those which are common to al actions viz. that the doer be in Christ doe them in faith ayme at the right end and such like let vs name alone those that doe particularly concerne this present matter Two things necessarie that a man may marrie lawfully first in the persons to be married secondly sufficient distance of blood Whosoeuer then is yet vnmarried and would be sure to marrie lawfully must haue speciall care of two things First that he marry with a fit person Secondly that if he haue parents he take their consent with him Now in the persons to be thus ioyned three properties are requisite the first two being so absolutely needfull that without them marriage is no marriage but alone in name the third in such a degree needfull that it cannot be neglected without great sinne against God Of these three the first is sufficient distance in bloud and affinitie the second entire freedome from all other persons the last agreement in the same true Religion For the first of these the Lord hath expresly prohibited men and women to come neere any the kindred of their flesh Whosoeuer therfore presumeth to be ioyned to any such doth nothing else but cloake the foule sin of Incest with the faire title of Matrimony And because affinitie is a shadow and resemblance of kindred for by marriage two become one flesh therefore also some are debarred marriage together in that respect Now this matter of consanguinitie and affinitie will be cleared by the due obseruation of these briefe and plaine rules following Rules for the clearing of the questions about affinitie and consanguinitie First No man or woman may lawfully marrie any of those that touch them in a direct line vpwards or downeward to all generations As Adam if he were aliue and a Widdower might not lawfully marry any woman in all the world neither might Euah if the were aliue and a widdow bee lawfully married to any man The reason is because in all these the same blood doth run along still vndeuided and so they are properly the kindred of their flesh Secondly No man or woman may lawfully marrie the brother or sister of any his successors or predecessors in a direct line to all generations So Abel being Seths brother of whom all the women in the world are directly proceeded might not if he were aliue marry any woman in the world So the brother of a womans father or grandfather or great grandfather may not lawfully marry that woman The roason of this is also plaine for the brother and sister of ones father or mother is to him or her in place of a father and mother And in these also the same blood remaineth vndeuided for brothers and sisters are one and the same blood Thirdly No man or woman may lawfully marrie his or her naturall brother or sister either by the whole or by the halfe blood As neither Ruben that had the same father and mother nor Ioseph that had alone the same father might lawfully marrie Dinah their sister Fourthly What man is so neere in blood to the husband that he might not lawfully marry him if the sex did serue him neither may the wife marry after her husbands death and so contrarily So I might not marrie mine vncle if I were a woman therfore if I were dead my wife might not lawfully bee married to mine vncle so my wife if she were a man might not lawfully marrie her sister therefore if my wife were dead I might not lawfully marrie her sister of which the reason is plaine husband and wife are one flesh and therefore with what persons kindred would not suffer one of them to marrie neither will affinitie suffer the other But whatsoeuer persons are not by these foure rules debarred from matrimony each with other they may lawfully marry together without scruple so farre as I can discerne Onely for this matter I referre euery man to the table of degrees authorized by our Church and publikely set vp in euerie of our Churches And so much of the first thing required in the persons that shall bee linked in wedlocke The second is likewise to be spoken of
no paines no diligence can helpe a man vnto and from trouble by these faults where they haue a being and a working no wisdome no loue no pietie can altogether free him more then from being stung by the handling of Nettles with naked hands It were good therefore for the woman that is to marrie to put her selfe in mind of these things before-hand and to demand of her selfe in these or the like questions What if mine husband should proue vnkind and disregardfull of me What if hee should bee bitter and ragefull towards me What if hee should rate me with words of disgrace more then euer my Father or Master haue done What if hee should lay vpon me with his vnmanlike fist and that when I seeke to giue him all content Or what if he should strike mee with a more paineful and mischieuous weapon though I gaue him no cause How should I beare railing taunting or cutting termes at his mouth How cruell fierce and causelesse blowes at his hand But yeeld that he proue not so mad and mankind How if it fall out yet that he be carelesse and vnkind What if hee denie me the reasonable libertie which I desire and should enioy and will not suffer me to haue my wil in things conuenient How if he shew me a lowring countenance and an estranged carriage and that also vndeseruedly How if he grumble and grudge at mine expences though farre from being lauish and immoderate What if hee bee toylesome himselfe and put me also to harder labour then euer I endured being a daughter or a seruant What if he thinke much to allow me necessarie helpes and comforts in my weakenesse sicknesses and lying in and be then most vnkind when I need most kindnes because his niggardly humour can beare no charges Or what if he bee diuers and tetchie so that nothing in the world can please him but he will still be brawling chiding and finding fault though I bee as carefull as I can to ekepe my selfe from faults Or what if he proue a voluptuarie a drunkard an epicure spending that riotously and wastefully which were better saued to prouide for me and his children What if he be an haunter of Ale-houses or Tauernes and come home half drunk halfe mad and powre forth all his rage vpon me and my innocent children What if he consume himselfe in sports pastimes and gaming and make vs all beggers by his vnthriftinesse How could I suffer all or any of these troubles in the flesh How tedious How bitter How terrible would they seeme vnto me Or What if out of an hatefull ouer-louingnesse hee make himselfe suspicious of mine honestie and in a furious and blind apprehension of I know not what slender probabilities bee euer vpbraiding mee with being such a mans whore and such a mans whore How keene How cutting How stinging How piercing would these termes be vnto me But ah what if he should become vncleane and filthie giuen to whoredome imbracing the bosome of strangers and bringing home vnto me the feare if not the feeling of loathsome diseases How should I vndergoe this heauie burden which yet I see many compeld to vndergoe without remedie Thus should the woman consider before-hand in her thoughts the euils that may be fall her in marriage So like wise should the husband bethink himselfe in his most serious thoughts What if my wife should proue carelesse and vnhuswifely wanting forecast and skill to make the best of things and so become an hindrance rather then an helper to mine estate What if she bee daintie and lauish and will not content her selfe with mine attire and my fare What if shee bee sluttish and vncleanely and worke loathing in mee by the ill ordering of those things that should giue me most comfort What if she bee froward and snappish and returne my words vnto mee with aduantage What if shee proue a blab and withall inquisitiue so that she will bee ignorant of nothing and yet can keepe no counsell What if she be sullen and sowre and will giue me no good counenance vnlesse she haue her vnreasonable will performed in all things What if she waste my goods in vaine costlinesse of attire and in idle meetings amongst her Goffips What if she be loose and wanton and discredit my family with an euill name What if she be a very harlot and defile my bed and fill mine house with bastards so that I bee faine to breed vp yâ— seed of an adulterer in stead of mine owne off-spring What if she be mischieuously iealous and thinke that I am naught with all I speake to laying whoredome to my charge when I neuer meant it and almost inforce me to bee wicked by putting that into mine head which I neuer dreamt of How should I brooke this life How should I sustaine this burden and vndergoe this trouble to the flesh And this for the vices of the mind whereby many times a bad husband or a bad wife doe vexe and torment their yoke-fellow But if the mind be not infected with these inward diseases yet may the bodie proue weake and sickly and become little lesse trouble some Wherefore of this also should the woman consider well before-hand and so should the man What if mine husband should languish away in paine and sicknesse so that my life must be spent in attending a body still dying and as it were vnder-propping a rotten house alwaies falling What if he lye thus by me groning and tossing many dayes weekes moneths and some yeeres How shal I vndergoe the watching attendance charge griefe discomfort of an husband neither dead nor aliue but betwixt both Or for mine owne part What if breeding be roublesome so that I scarce enioy an healthie day from conception to quickning from quickning to trauel What if bringing forth be so tedious and painefull that I neuer become a mother but by going thorow the torment of an hundred deaths in one besides a long weakenesse after What if God multiply my sorrowes this way and giue me an euill stomacke pale cheekes a wan counenance faint legs and a feeble body liker a carcesse then a liuing woman How shall I beare head-ach heart-ach back-ach stomack-ach etching casting longing loathing quawmes pangs swoundings and twentie deaths a day The husband also should thinke thus How if my wife become infirme and feeble lame impotent powerlesse able neither to got nor keepe to labour nor ouer-fee nor to doe any thing but groane and sigh and hold her sides and keepe her bed to mine excessiue charge and griefe without being any way able to be an help and comfort vnto mee With what patience should I heare her groanes With what quietnesse should I looke vpon her pangs and euen be sicke in her sicknesse But in conclusion death wil approach and diuorce the husband and wife each from other of which either should thinke before it come to either yea before themselues come together How can I tell may the wife say but that
if I be married to this husband hee may leaue me the mother of some children and nwo great with another and sending his soule to heauen giue me alone his cold corpse to put into the earth How shall I doe to see the breath goe out of that beloued body How shall I endure to see those eyes clozed and all those lims and ioynts now vnder the arrest of death How should I beare the desolate name of a widdow of one that had an husband where the crosse is aggrauated by the goodnesse of him whom I haue lost So must the husband thinke What if either in trauaile or otherwise the Lord do take away my deare wife from my side What if she liue with me but a few dayes and then death come and make an irrecouerable separation How shall I behold those cheekes wan those lips black those hands cold that body breathles and liuelesse and fit for none other habitation but that of wormes the darke graue the Kingdome of corruption the territorie of rottennes How shall I lay that beloued body forsaken of the more beloued soule into the bowels and entrals of the all deuouring sepulchre Indeed brethren so farre as I see now adayes men and women can well enough answer to these questions for they can burie and marrie and all in a moneth an hastinesse deseruing to bee deepely censured But if thou loue thine husband if thouloue thy wife how canst thou brooke this finall separation But we goe forward to shew you the troubles you may meete with in respect of children Sometimes barrennesse doth cloze vp the wombe and suffers not the married persons to become parents Sometimes the fruit of the bodie is granted indeed but blasted with sicknesse and with speedy death Sometimes they liue but a few dayes or a few yeeres and then leaue the parent more sorrie for the lesse then glad at the receiuing of them Sometimes they liue to mans age and out-liue the parents but onely to be their parents tormentors and murderers by their euill and lewd conditions so disquieting their hearts that they would count it an aduantage to haue been barren and doe often wish they had laid them in thier graues before euer they had vsed a tongue to speake Many a child puts his mother to after-throes more terrible then those with which shee brought him into the world at first Many a father is in trauaile of his old child that knew not the labour of his first bringing forth Sometimes they proue stubburne sometimes riotous sometimes vncleane sometimes false and sometimes bring themselues to infamous punishments and vntimely deaths Sometimes they belewd before marriage and vexe the parents with beholding a bastard of their names Sometimes they be wilfull inmarriage and wil make their owne foolish choyce against the knowledge or consent of parents Set them to learning they learne nothing but vanitie set them to labour they labour for nothing but to vndoe themselues running away from their Masters it may be also robbing them and hauing runne themselues out of breath come home ragged and miserable but not penitent ready to doe as bad againe and put their parents to extremitie of care so that they are euen distraced and at their wits ends not knowing what course in the world to take with them because both faire meanes and foule meanes haue been vsed and none will auaile Sometimes againe a child seeming towardly so wins away the parents affection that hee giues him almost his whole estate and is content to be at his finding and then loe the monstrous Viper begrudgeth his parents food and attire is wearie of his old age and counts his weakenesse ouer-cumbrous and sticketh not to shew by words and deeds that hee wisheth his death with all his heart then which I think no crosse in a child can be more stinging Thinke of these things you that are or would be married What if you prooue drie Kyes and beare no fruite How could you brooke a life wanting issue the most desireable fruit of marriage Or What if God giue thee children to looke vpon for a weeke or two or to play with for a yeere or two or to be charged withall for a doozen or a score of yeeres and then send death to fetch them to himselfe againe With what quietnese of mind couldst thoui resigne these gifts into the hand of him that gaue them How couldest thou endure to see the sicknesse of thy sonnes or daughters to see them burne toffe tumble waste consume languish and pine away to heare them grone sigh complaine crie out and roare and scritch and fill thine eares with rufull lamentations How canst thou frame thy selfe to see thy branches as it were withering halfe cut off and ready to fall from the body of thy family What shift couldst thou make to burie two three foure halfe a dozen halfe a score sonnes or daughters some at a day some at a weeke some at a yeere some at a dozen some at twentie or more yeeres old Or if thou scape these petit crosses in thy children how couldst thou brooke a stubburne rebellious son or daughter that will interchange words with thee and snap thee vp short and chide faster then thy selfe that will cast vpon thee a leering horse-like contemptuous eye and will stab thy soule with a lowring pouting scornefull looke with a dogged barking answere yea that will steale thy goods from thee and consume it in ill company whores and drunkennesse that wastes all that thou hast gotten and giuen to him and takes such vntamed courses as doe deeply threaten thine heart and eyes with that worse then deadly spectacle to see him one day preaching vpon a ladder with a rope about his necke because such a life can hardly conclude in a better death How wilt thou suffer this corzie of a wicked riotous vngracious vngratefull Viper in thine house who doth nothing else but striue with abominable words and deeds as it were with poysonfull teeth to gnaw out thy verie heart and deuoure thy bowels and entrals for whom thou canst neither eate or sleepe in quiet nor be at home nor abroad in peace a very Absalom that would kill his father to get his Kingdome With what resolution could you parents vnder-goe the burying of a good child or the liuing of a bad But let it be granted that a mans children shall proue at least indifferent and tolerable there is yet another necessarie member of a family which may make the hear of the family ake exceedingly these are seruants of both sexes men and maides Some seruants be idle and slothfull and will doe little some be hollow and deceitefull and will doe nothing but when the gouernours eye is vpon them some be rude and rebellious and will doe what they lust themselues for all their gouernours speeches some bee false and vntrustie and will purloyne their goods if they can some be carelesse and forgetfull and procure exceeding losse by their negligence some