Proverbs 17:2

A wise servant— In all troubled and disagreeing families, there is commonly some servant, or gentle friend, who, being powerful with both sides, may moderate and compose the differences which are among them; to whom, in that respect, the whole house, and the master himself, are much engaged and beholden: this servant, if he aim only at his own ends, cherishes and aggravates the divisions of the family; but if he be sincerely faithful and upright, certainly he deserveth much; so as to be reckoned as one of the brethren, or at least to receive a fiduciary administration of the inheritance. Lord Bacon.