esteem upon prudence, _fortitude_, _temperance_, _justice_, if we do not first know _what virtue is_; whether _one_ or _more_; or if he that has _one_, has _all_; or _how they differ_. Precepts are of great weight; and a few useful ones at hand do more toward a happy life than whole volumes or cautions, that we know not where to find. These salutary precepts should be our daily meditation, for they are the rules by which we ought to square our lives. When they are contracted into _sentences_, they strike the _affections_: whereas _admonition_ is only _blowing_ of the _coal_; it moves the vigor of the mind, and excites virtue: we have the thing already, but we know not where it lies. It is by precept that the understanding is nourished and augmented: the offices of prudence and justice are guided by them, and they lead us to the execution of our duties. A _precept_ delivered in _verse_ has a much greater effect than in _prose_: and those very people that never think they have enough, let them but hear a sharp sentence against _avarice_, how will they clap and admire it, and bid open defiance to money? So soon as we find the affections struck, we must follow the blow; not with _syllogisms_ or quirks of _wit_; but with _plain_ and _weighty reason_ and we must do it with _kindness_ too, and _respect_ for “there goes a blessing along with counsels and discourses that are bent wholly upon the good of the hearer:” and those are still the most efficacious that take reason along with them; and tell us as well why we are to do this or that, as _what_ we are to do: for some understandings are weak, and need an instructor to expound to them what is good and what is evil. It is a great virtue to _love_, to _give_, and to _follow good counsel_; if it does not _lead_ us to honesty, it does at least _prompt_ us to it. As several parts make up but one harmony, and the most agreeable music arises from discords; so should a wise man gather many acts, many precepts, and the examples of many arts, to inform his own life. Our forefathers have left us in charge to avoid three things; _hatred_, _envy_, and _contempt_; now, it is hard to avoid envy and not incur _contempt_; for in taking too much care not to usurp upon others, we become many times liable to be trampled upon ourselves. Some people are afraid of others, because it is possible that others may be afraid of them: but let us secure ourselves upon all hands; for _flattery_ is as dangerous as _contempt_. It is not to say, in case of admonition, I knew this before, for we know many things, but we do not think of them; so that it is the part of a _monitor_, not so much to _teach_ as to _mind_ us of our duties. Sometimes a man oversees that which lies just under his nose; otherwhile he is careless, or _pretends_ not to see it: we do all know that friendship is sacred, and yet we violate it; and the greatest libertine expects that his own wife should be honest.