Servants to rich and powerful persons are the most abject of all servants. On account of the great distance there is between them and those they serve, they lose all estimation, «as the shrubs and underwood, that grow near or under great trees, are observed to be the most scrubby and feeble of any in the field, the trees engrossing to themselves all the nourishment». Sirve a señor y sabras que es dolor, serve a great man, and you will know what sorrow is. Cabe Señor, ni cabe igreja no pongas teja, do not lay a tile, that is, do not build a house near a lord, nor near a church, lest they pick a quarrel with you, and dispossess you of your property.

Endeavour to acquit yourself well in whatever station or condition of life your lot may happen to be cast.

"Honour and shame from no conditions rise,
Act well your part, there all the honour lies."

The adage is of general application. Princes, nobles, bishops, lawyers, soldiers, and the meanest individuals, have each of them their distinct province; let them fill them worthily.

"Each might his several province well command,
Would all but stoop to what they understand."

"England expects that every man will do his duty," was the animated speech of Lord Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar, where that hero unfortunately fell; or not, perhaps, unfortunately for himself, as it was in the midst of victory, and crowned with glory. Had he died immediately after his unsuccessful attempt on the coast of France, or on his expedition to Denmark, he would have left his fame somewhat diminished, which by his last brilliant action was again mounted to the stars; for the victory at the Nile was not less brilliant than that off Trafalgar. Either of them would have been sufficient to immortalise his name.