Henry Fielding

“ The patience of Joseph, nor perhaps of Job,
could bear no longer; he interrupted the parson, saying, "It was easier
to give advice than take it; nor did he perceive he could so entirely
conquer himself, when he apprehended he had lost his son, or when he
found him recovered."--"Boy," replied Adams, raising his voice, "it doth
not become green heads to advise grey hairs.--Thou art ignorant of the
tenderness of fatherly affection; when thou art a father thou wilt be
capable then only of knowing what a father can feel. No man is obliged
to impossibilities ”

“ You are a young man, and can know but little of this world;
I am older, and have seen a great deal. All passions are criminal in
their excess; and even love itself, if it is not subservient to our
duty, may render us blind to it. Had Abraham so loved his son Isaac as
to refuse the sacrifice required, is there any of us who would not
condemn him? Joseph, I know your many good qualities, and value you for
them ”

“ CHAPTER VIII.
_A discourse which happened between Mr Adams, Mrs Adams, Joseph, and
Fanny; with some behaviour of Mr Adams which will be called by some few
readers very low, absurd, and unnatural._
The parson and his wife had just ended a long dispute when the lovers
came to the door. Indeed, this young couple had been the subject of the
dispute; for Mrs Adams was one of those prudent people who never do
anything to injure their families, or, perhaps, one of those good
mothers who would even stretch their conscience to serve their children. ”