EPIGRAMS: DIVINE AND MORAL.  
BY Sir THOMAS VRCHARD, Knight.  
LONDON: Printed by BARNARD ALSOP. and THOMAS faucet, in the year, 1641.   

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE▪ James LORD MARQVIS OF Hamilton, Earl of Arren, and Cambridge, Lord Baron of Even, and Innerdale, Lord Master of his majesty's Horses, Knight of the most noble order of the Garter, and one of his majesty's most Honourable privy counsel in both kingdoms, &c.  
MY LORD,  
BEing confident, that your gracious disposition will hold in greater account the ingenuous meaning of who gives, than the sufficiency of the present: I here tender to the favour of your honour's acceptance a bundle of Epigrams; Which though they be but flashes of wit, and such, as may with advantage receive point from your ordinary conceptions: yet for that nothing doth better recommend them, than vivacity of conce●t, I cannot figure to my fancy a fitter Patron to protect the sublimest Poems of this Nature, than your own Noble self; of whose valour, and prudence, even from your infancy, both this, and foreign Nations will afford an approbation so authentic, that by the universal consent of all, that ever knew your Lordship, the depth of experience since the memory of man was never seen wedded to fewer years: nor the splendour of heroic virtue to the astonishment of whole Armies, and Prince's Palaces, more evidently apparent, then in the magnanimity of your generous carriage.  
What formerly, by the most virtuous, and pregnant wits, could not be acquired without a long continuance of time: and was esteemed to be incompatible with youth (and much more extraordinary in young gallants, then grey hairs, or the Gout) hath been still in your Lordship, a quality concomitant to the source of all your actions: coaevall with the gentile powers of your mind: and no less natural, then to speak, or think.  
And what others, not being able to reach into (have therefore admired in the Legend of the Worthies) hath, since the years of discretion, been the constant Object of your daily exercise, and complied with your very most neglected cogitations: Which glorious, and rare endowments, out-reaching the extent of vulgar goodness, and seeming the more wonderful, that it is not long since by your birth, you did grace the World with the honour of your presence, do possess the faculties of my soul with a steadfast resolution, so unfeignedly to acknowledge the absolute right, your Lordship hath over me, and the inclinations of my mind: that, as I cannot impart that portion of the fruits thereof to any, which by a prior disposition is not already yours: so may not I (though the matter be but small) without breach of duty, devote this Dedication to another.  
Therefore (my Lord) you may be pleased, according to your accustomed manner, to vouchsafe a courteous entertainment to this testimony of my regard: till Fortune be so favourable, as to bless me with the opportunity, one day to make known my designments more effectually yours; for the best of my affections, being touched with the magnetic virtue of your good parts, are fixed on you, as on their Pol-estar which serveth to direct the course of my life in a continual progress of embracing all the occasions, whereby I may testify, how earnest I am, and always shall be, deservingly to obtain the title  
Of Yours My Lord in all humility of sincere respect, to serve your Lordship. Thomas Vrchard▪   

EPIGRAMS THE FIRST book.  

TO the KING▪  
GReat Monarch, since the world's nativity,  
No mind, nor body had so divine parts  
To grace the State of sou'rain Majesty,  
As hath your royal person, whose deserts  
Soar higher 'bove the reach of other Kings,  
Then the bright Sun transcends terrestrial things.   

2. That those of a solid wit, cannot be puffed up with applause; nor incensed by contumely.  
WHat vulgar people speak (if we be wise)  
Will neither joy, nor miscontentment breed us;  
For we ought men's opinions so to prize:  
As that they may attend us, and not lead us,  
It not being fit their praise should rule our actions:  
Or that we shun what's good for their detractions.   

3 A brave spirit disdaineth the threats of Fortune.  
NO man of resolution, will endure  
His liberty in fortune's hands to thrall;  
For he's not free, o'er whom she hath least power:  
But over whom she hath no power at all,  
Nor hath she any chain, wherewith to bind,  
The inclination of a noble mind.   

4. How to become wise.  
WHo would be truly wise, must in all haste  
His mind of perturbations dispossess;  
For wisdom is a large, and spacious guhest:  
And can not dwell, but in an empty place,  
Therefore to harbour her, we must not grudge,  
To make both vice, and passion to dislodge.   

5. The wise, and noble resolution of a truly courageous, and devout spirit, towards the absolute danting of those irregular affections, and inward perturbations, which readily might happen to impede the current of his sanctified designs: and oppose his already initiated progress, in the divinely proposed course of a virtuous, and holy life.  
MY soul shall rule my body, reign o'er it:  
And curb the pentarchy of sensual charms;  
For though they live together, 'tis not fit,  
They be compagnons upon equal terms:  
But in my mind J'l harbour such a reason,  
As strongly may o'rmaster each temptation  
Can be suggested to't: and choke the Treason  
Of all, and every will-betraying passion:  
In this judicious order the realm,  
Or little world of mine own self to guide,  
It is my whole intent, till i make calm,  
Rebellious motions, and suppress the pride  
Of flesh: then, while i breath, maintain that right,  
In spite of Satan, and all worldly might.   

6. That the fellowship of virtuous, or vicious people, contributes much to the bettering, or depraving of the mind.  
THat he must needs be bad, there is some likeness,  
Who to lewd company is much affected;  
For it is the beginning of a sickness  
T'associat with him, that is infected:  
Would you be good then, haunt the conversation  
Of them, whose actions merit estimation.   

7. Riches without further, can make no man happy.  
AS he, whose body is not well in health,  
To search for ease, from bed to bed will rise:  
So to a mind, that is diseased, wealth  
Is not the end: but change of miseries;  
And that, which made his poverty to vex him,  
Will make his riches likewise to perplex him.   

8. What man it is, that is truly wealthy.  
WHo measures poverty by nature's rules,  
And frames his mind to what he hath, is rich;  
For we can never do, but vex our souls,  
So long's we strain them to a higher pitch:  
And he, whose heart is discontented, is  
But a poor wretch, though all the world were his.   

9 How a valiant was aught to behave himself towards those, that basely offer to offend him.  
He is beyond the reach of common men,  
Who can despise an injury; for as  
The billows of the Sea insult in vain,  
Against a rock: a stout breast finds no cause,  
Of being commoved at wrongs, whereof the Dart,  
Resiles from him, as from a brazen Wall,  
On the offender, while his mighty heart,  
And noble mind, far more sublime, than all  
The Regions of the air, most bravely scorn  
Th'inferior dangers of a boisterous storm.   

10 Why the world is at variance.  
EAch man hath his own sense, and apprehension,  
And faith wherein he lives▪ but from this ill,  
That each hath his own will, springs all dissension;  
For that all men agree, their lacks but will:  
Wars never raging in so shrewd a case:  
But that, if men were pleased, would turn to peace.   

11. How to be always in repose.  
SO that desire, and fear may never jar  
Within your soul: no loss of means, nor riot  
Of cruel foes, no sickness, harm by war,  
Nor chance whats'ever will disturb your quiet;  
For in a settled, and well tempered mind,  
None can the meanest perturbation find.   

12. A wise man only may properly be said to enjoy life.  
HIs life is short, who present times neglects,  
Fears times to come, and hath pastimes forgot:  
Or rather, while he breathes his Age, he makes  
A base abode in time, but liveth not;  
For only he leads, in judicious eyes,  
The longest life, who lives, till he be wise.   

13. Who is not satisfied with his own fortune, how great soever it be, is miserable.  
THough the Septemvirat of Dutch Electors  
Jnaugurat him Caesar: and each one  
Extol his valour above that of Hector's:  
In wit, and wealth surpassing Solomon;  
Yet if he proudly soar a higher pitch:  
He's neither mighty, valiant, wise, nor rich.   

14. A certain old man's expression before his death, to his Son.  
THat i am at the period of mine age:  
Nor you, nor i, have any cause to mourn;  
For life is nothing, but a Pilgrimage;  
When we have travelled long, we must return:  
Let us be glad then, that my spirit goes,  
After so many toils, to his repose.   

15. To one of a great memory, but depraved life.  
THough many things your memory contain:  
If by your mind, to matters it be led,  
Which are less profitable to retain,  
Then to commit t'oblivion, it is bad:  
And whatsoever arts it comprehend:  
If it remember not on piety:  
Repentance for enormous sins: the end  
Of life, God judgments, and his clemency;  
Those necessary precepts while you lake,  
You but forget yourself: and it is weak.   

16. how a man should oppose adversity.  
'Gainst misadventure being resolved to fight,  
My mind shall be the bow, whence J'l apace  
Shoot back the arrows, Fortune out of spite,  
Assaults me with; and break them in her face:  
For all her sovereignties I abjure:  
Her harms I dread not: and defy her power.   

17. The expression of a contented mind in poverty.  
THat I'm not covetous, is all my land,  
From whence my thoughts new treasours daily bring:  
And the best movable, which I command  
Is, I buy no unnecessary thing:  
By these, I of true wealth possess such store,  
That all the Kings on earth can have no more.   

18. Not time, but our actions, are the true measure of our life.  
THat life is short, which measured by the span  
Of time hath been of virtuous actions scant:  
And one day's longer in a learned man,  
Then twenty lustres of an ignorant;  
For life is good, and 'tis the quality  
Of goodness, that extends its quantity.   

19 Ingratitude is such a common vice, that even those who exclaim most against it, are not freest of it.  
IT would not be an universal case,  
Nor could each man have so true cause to fall  
In railing 'gainst ingratitude; unless  
There were some reason to complain of all:  
Thus, who have with unthankfulness been met,  
May from such dealing this instruction draw,  
That if themselves did ever prove ingrate,  
They get but justice from the Talion-Law,  
To th'end they may from those their faults refrain,  
Which they so ugly see in other men.   

20 Of Negative, and Positive good.  
NOT only are they good, who virtuously,  
Employ their time (now virtue being so rare)  
But likewise those, whom no necessity,  
Nor force can in the meanest vice ensnare;  
For sin's so mainly furthered by the devil,  
That 'tis a sort of good, to do no evil.   

21. To one bewailing the death of another.  
YOU have no cause to think it strange, that he  
Hath yielded up his last, and fatal breath;  
For 'tis no wonder for a man to die,  
Whose life is but a journey into Death:  
Nor is there any man of life deprived  
For age, or sickness: but because he lived.   

22. Why covetous, and too ambitious men prove not so thankful, as others for received favours.  
WHose mind with pride, and avarice doth flow,  
Remember seldom of a courtesy,  
So well, as humbler spirits do; for who  
Lean's most on hope, yields least to memory:  
Their thoughts so far on future aims being set,  
That by-past things they purposely forget.   

23. A counsel not to use severity, where gentle dealing may prevail.  
STrive, never by constraint to cross his will,  
Whose best affection fairly may be had;  
The noble mind of man being such, as still  
Follows more heartily, than it is led:  
For there was never power, charm, nor Art,  
That could without consent, obtain the heart.   

24. That they may be alike rich, who are not alike abundantly stored with worldly commodities.  
I have of Lands, nor moneys no large portion:  
Yet, if I be content, to think, that J●  
Am not as rich, as any, were great dulness;  
For wealth not being in plenty, but proportion,  
Though vessels have not like capacity:  
They may be all of them alike in fullness.   

25. Virtue, and goodness are very much opposed by the self-conceit, that many men have of their own sufficiency.  
there's nothing hinders virtue more, than the  
Opinion of our own perfection;  
For none endeavours to do that, which he  
Imagineth he hath already done:  
And some by thinking t'have what they have not,  
Neglect the wisdom, which they might have got.   

26. How to support the contumely of defamatory speeches.  
IF men deservedly speak ill of you,  
Be angry not at them: but at the cause,  
Which you to them did furnish so to do:  
But if they still continue 'gainst the laws  
Of truth, and modesty their bad report  
(While with a valiant heart, and testimony  
Of a good conscience, you yourself comfort)  
Contemn those rascals, that insult upon ye;  
For a reproach, by honest means obtained,  
Doth full of glory to the heavens ascend.   

27. Of Lust, and Anger.  
LUst taking pleasure in its own delight,  
Communicates itself to two together:  
But far more base is anger, whose despite  
Rejoiceth at the sorrow of another;  
For th'one is kindly, th'other sows debate;  
Lust hath a smack of love: but wrath of hate.   

28. An encouragement to an impatient man in an Ague.  
WHy should you in your sickness thus enrage;  
Seeing patience doth a generous mind befit?  
You may be sure, it will not last an Age;  
For if it leave not you: you must leave it:  
Take courage then, faint not: but bravel endure  
Whats'ê● to kill the soul hath not the power.   

29 The firm, and determinate resolution of a courageous spirit, in the deepest calamities, inflicted by sinister fate.  
SEeing crosses cannot be evited, I'll  
Expose myself to Fortune, as a Rock  
Within the midst of a tempestuous Ocean:  
So to gainstand the battery of her spite,  
That though jail, sickness, poverty, exile  
Assault me all, with each a grievous stroke  
Of several misery, at the devotion  
Of misadventure, every day, and night:  
Yet with a mind, undaunted all the while,  
I will resist her blows, till they be broke  
In the rebounding, and without commotion,  
Till all her rage be spent, sustain the fight:  
So that she shall not b'able to subdue  
One thought of mine, with all that she can do;  
For when sh'hath tried her worst, I will not yield,  
Nor let her think, that she hath gained the field.   

30. That wise men, to speak properly, are the most powerful men in the world.  
THe greatest power is to wise men due:  
The power of all men else to theirs being nought;  
For wise men only, what they will, can do;  
Because they will not do; but, what they ought:  
Such being their carriage, that their reason still  
Directs their power: and informs their will.   

31. To a rich man, become poor.  
YOur poverty should be the more esteemed,  
That by the means thereof you are exemed  
From stubborn servants, lying Sycophants,  
And feigned friends: in lieu whereof, it grants  
These three of a more virtuous company,  
Ease, humble carriage, and sobriety.   

32. That if we strove not more for superfluities, then for what is needful, we would not be so much troubled, is we are.  
IF by the necessary use of things,  
The ornaments we measure of our honour,  
And not by that, which fancy doth suggest us:  
We will not need those wares, the merchant brings  
From foreign Countries: and withal exoner  
Our minds of what might otherwise molest us.   

33. The only true progress to a blessed life.  
Who hath of conscience a profound remorse  
For sins committed: and to keep his senses  
From all sinister practice, doth divorce  
His thoughts from their accustomed offences,  
Is in the way of virtue, which will tend  
(It being continued) to a happy end.   

34. That we ought not to be excessively grieved at the loss of any thing, that is in the power of Fortune.  
ALL those external ornaments of health,  
Strength, honour, children, beauty, friends, & wealth  
Are for a while concredited to men,  
To deck the theatre, whereon the scene  
Of their frail life is to be acted: some  
Of which must (without further) be brought home  
To day, and some to morrow; th'use of them  
Being only theirs, till new occasions claim  
A restitution of them all again,  
As time thinks fit, to whom they appertain;  
Though such like things therefore be taken from us,  
We should not suffer grief to overcome us:  
But rather render thanks, they have been lent us  
So long a space, and never discontent us.   

35. Wherein true Wealth consists.  
WHo's truly rich, we ought not to esteem  
By Lands, nor goods, but by the mind; the title  
Of a poor man, being far more due to him,  
That covets much, then that possesseth little;  
For he is richer, doth the world neglect:  
Then who possessing all, complains for lack.   

36. How difficult a thing it is, to tread in the paths of virtue.  
THe way to virtue's hard, uneasy, bends  
Aloft, being full of steep, and rugged Alleys;  
For never one to a high place ascends,  
That always keeps the plain, and pleasant valleys:  
And reason in each human breast ordains,  
That precious things be purchased with pains.   

37. A counsel to one oppressed with bondage, and cruel disasters.  
Whats'ever be your fortune, let your deeds  
With your affection always jump; for by  
Desiring to do that, which you must needs:  
You'll blunt the sharpness of necessity:  
And making of constraint a willingness,  
Be glad in spite of crosses, and distress.   

38. How Fortune oftentimes most praeposterously pondering the aections of men, with a great deal of injustice bestoweth her favours.  
FOrtune with wealth, and honour at her feet:  
And holding in her hand a balance, sits  
Weighing human desert, as she thinks fit:  
One of the scales whereof the learn'dest wits,  
Most virtuous, and of choicest parts contains:  
The other being appointed for such, as  
Are vicious, light, and destitute of brains.  
The light are mounted up into the place,  
Where riches, and preferment lie exposed  
To those, can reach them: while the other scale,  
By th'only weight of worth, therein enclosed  
Is more submissively depressed, than all  
That hangs on fortune's balance: and the higher,  
That hair-brained heads b'advanced above the states  
Of others in this world: so much the higher  
To want, and bondage are the wiser pates;  
Of such things then, as to the disposition  
Of Fortune do pertain, let no man wonder,  
While the most wicked gain the acquisition,  
That by their means, the good be brought at under;  
For wheresoever vice is most respected:  
The greatest virtues are the more rejected.   

39 When a true friend may be best known.  
AS the glowworm shines brightest in the dark,  
And frankincense smells sweetest in the fire:  
So cross adventures make us best remark  
A sincere friend from a dissembled liar;  
For some being friends to our prosperity,  
And not to us: when it fails, they decay.   

40. The duty of a husband to his wife.  
THough he be head, he must not tyrannize  
Over his mate in sacred bonds of marriage;  
For in the head the wit, and judgement is:  
And therefore he, with a judicious carriage,  
Should towards her behave himself, respect her,  
Instruct her, love her, and from harm protect her.   

41. Concerning those, who marry for beauty, and wealth without regard of virtue.  
HOw can such wedded people lead their lives,  
With a respect unfeignedly entire,  
Where husbands are not married to their wives:  
But money to the covetous desire:  
Where men in little estimation hold  
womens' discretion, wit, and chastity:  
But merely aim at handsomeness, and gold,  
To serve their avarice, and lechery:  
Which fashion lately is become so common,  
That first, w'espouse the money: then, the woman.   

42. The speech of a noble spirit to his adversary, whom after he had defeated, he acknowledgeth to be nothing inferior to himself in worth, wit, or valour, thereby insinuating that a wise man cannot properly be subdued: though he be orthrown in body, and worldly commodities.  
I Will not of this victory be glorious:  
Nor ought you for being vanquished to repine,  
You not being overcome: nor i victorious;  
Your fortune only is overcome by mine;  
For by the force of judgement, grace, and will:  
You have a mind, that is invincible.   

43. In how far men are inferior to many other living creatures, in the faculties of the exterior senses.  
IN touching, Spiders are the subtlest:  
The boars, in hearing: vultures, in the smell:  
In seeing, Eagles, and the Apes in taste:  
Thus beasts in all the senses men excel;  
So that, if men were not judicious creatures:  
Some brutes would be of more accomplished natures.   

44. To one, who was heavily cast down in Spirit, by reason of some scandalous speeches, blazed forth to his disadvantage.  
BE not discouraged at calumnies,  
Which are not (at the worst) but loads of wind;  
And therefore, with a strong and patient mind▪  
Most easy to support, if you be wise;  
For naturally such burdens are but light:  
Unless the Bearers weakness give them weight.  
Thus endeth the first book, of Sir THOMAS Urchard's Epigrams.    

EPIGRAMS: The second book.  

1. No cross adventure should hinder us from being good; though we be frustrate of the reward thereof.  
BY any means, with all your might endeavour  
For honesty, whats'ever be th'event:  
Although sinister fortune should dissever  
Virtue from honour, be not discontent;  
For if you be deprived of your due,  
The fault is in the time: and not in you.   

2. Those that have greatest estates are not always the wealthiest men.  
THey're richer, who diminish their desires:  
Though their possessions be not amplified,  
Then Monarchs: who in owning large Empires,  
Have minds, that never will be satisfied;  
For he is poor, that wants what he would have:  
And rich, who having nought, doth nothing crave.   

3. The courageous resolution of a valiant man.  
SEeing Nature entered me on this condition  
Into the world, that i must leav't, I vow,  
A noble death shall be my chief ambition;  
To die being th'end of all i ought to do:  
And rather gain, by a prime virtue, death:  
Then to protract with common ones my breath.   

4. How abject a thing it is, for a man to have been long in the world without giving any proof either by virtue, or learning, that he hath been at all.  
THat aged man, we should (without all doubt)  
Of all men else the most disgraceful hold:  
Who can produce no testimony, but  
The number of his years, that he is old;  
For of such men what can be testified,  
But that being borne, they lived long, then died.   

5. That a virtuous mind in a deformed body maketh one more beautiful, than a handsome body can do, endowed with a vicious mind.  
EXternal comeliness few have obtained  
Without their hurt; it never made one chaste▪  
But many'adulterers: and is sustained  
By qualities, which age, and sickness waste▪  
But that, whose lustre doth the mind adorn,  
Surpasseth far the beauty of the body;  
For that, we make ourselves: to this, we're borne▪  
This, only comes by chance: but that by study;  
It is by virtue then, that we enjoy  
Deservedly the stile of beautiful,  
Which neither time, nor Fortune can destroy;  
And the deformed body, a fair soul  
From dust to glory everlasting caries:  
While vicious souls in handsome bodies perish.   

6. To one, whom poverty was to be wished for, in so far, as he could hardly otherwise be restrained from excessive riot, and feasting.  
YOu should not be a whit the more dejected,  
That (as in former times) not being sustained,  
Your fare, and diet daily do decrease;  
For want doing what your modesty neglected:  
It is a happy thing to be constrained  
To that, which willingly you ought t'embrace.   

7. That men are not destitute of remedies, within themselves against the shrewdest accidents, that can befall them.  
IF you expect to be of toil, and care  
Sometime exeem'd, hope may your grief diminish:  
And patience comfort you, ere you despair,  
Though both those fail, Death will your troubles finish;  
Thus are you fitly served with reliefs,  
'Gainst fortune's most elaboured mischiefs.   

8. What sort of benefits one ought to bestow.  
Would you oblige to you a friend, by giving,  
Most cheerfully your favours to acquit:  
Give that, which gives content in the receiving:  
And when it is received yields delight;  
For if it fail in either of those two,  
It will impair his thankfulness to you.   

9 To one, who did glory too much in the fair, and durable fabric of a gorgeous Palace, which he had caused lately to be built.  
BOast never of the permanence of that,  
Which neither can prolong your days, nor hours;  
For that your house is stately, strong, and great:  
The praise is the artificers, not yours:  
Death cares not for your Palace, who can climb,  
Without a ladder to the tops of Towers:  
And shortly with a visage pale, and grim  
Will come, and turn you naked out of doors:  
But make your body (like a Church of Marbre)  
A Castle fit, a virtuous mind to harbour.   

10 That a contented man is rich, how little wealth soever he have.  
HE's rich who craving nothing else, doth find  
Content in the possession of his own;  
For in so much as doth concern the mind:  
Not to desire, and have is all, but one;  
For if the thoughts thereof be rich, we 're sure;  
Fortune hath not the skill to make us poor.   

6. How dangerous it is, to write, or speak of modern times.  
THough all, some errors do commit: yet few.  
Having committed them, would have them told:  
That talk then being displeasing which is true,  
Who cannot flatter, he his peace must hold:  
So hand a thing it is, to say or pen,  
Without offence, the truth of living men.   

12. That the most solid gain of any, is in the action of virtue, all other emoluments, how lucrative they so ever appear to the covetous mind, being the chiefest precipitating bushes of human frailty to an inevitable loss.  
SUch is the thin, and ragged mask of vice,  
That whosoever to peevish thoughts are pronest,  
Will know some time b'experience, that there is  
No profitable thing, which is not honest:  
Nor can there be to God a man more odious,  
Then he who leaves the good, for what's commodious.   

13. What the subject of your conference ought to be with men of judgement, and account.  
LEt the discourse be serious, you impart,  
To the grave audience of judicious ears:  
Being either of the commonwealth, some art,  
Or science, on your own, or friends affairs;  
For if it can to none of those pertain:  
It must be idle, frivolous, and vain.   

14. That a truly generous mind, had rather give a courtesy, then be resting one, after the presented opportunity to repay it.  
AS still a greater care doth men possess,  
To keep things well, then freely to bestow them:  
So to a noble spirit it is less  
Laborious to give benefits, then owe them:  
In whom brave actions are more natural,  
Then to the flame to mount, or earth to fall.   

15 To a certain Lady of a most exquisite feature, and comely presentation: but who gloried too much in the deceitful excellency of these fading, and perishable qualities.  
THough you be very handsome, do but stay  
A little while, and you will see a change;  
For beauty flieth with the time away,  
Wherewith it comes: nor must you think it strange,  
That hardly being skin deep in the most fair,  
And but a separable accident  
Of bodies, which, but living shadows are;  
(And therefore frail) it is not permanent;  
Be then not proud of that, which at the best,  
Decrepit age will spoil: or sickness wast.   

16 Who is truly rich, and who poor.  
BY the contempt, not value of the matter  
Of worldly goods, true riches are possessed;  
For our desire by seeking groweth greater:  
And by desiring, povertie's increassed:  
So that on earth there can be none so poor  
As he, whose mind in plenty longs for more.   

17 How generous a thing it is, not to succumb to pleasure, and sensuality.  
NO great exploit can be expected from  
That man, who being profoundly plunged in his  
Own sense, permits himself to be overcome  
Be a foe s'effeminat, as pleasure is;  
For mighty minds most pleasures do conceive,  
When pleasures over them no power have.   

18 That we ought not to be sorry at the loss of worldly goods.  
THose things, which are to us by fortune lent,  
We Should sequestrate, and to such a place,  
From whence she may, without our discontent,  
Fetch them away again before our face;  
For if we grudge thereat by any means:  
We do but vex ourselves, and lose our pains.   

19 What is not virtuously acquired, if acquired by us, is not properly ours.  
WHos'ever by sinister means is come  
To places of preferment, and to walk  
Within the bounds of virtue takes no pleasure:  
Provideth only titles for his tomb,  
And for the baser people prattling talk:  
But nothing for himself in any measure;  
For fortune doth with all things us befit,  
Save the sole mind of ours: and Vice kills it.   

20. Riches afford to virtue more matter to work upon, than poverty can do.  
FOr Temperance, and other qualities  
Of greater moment, men have been respected  
In riches: but in poverty there is  
This only goodness, not to be dejected;  
Whence shunning want, we means embrace, which yield,  
To virtue a more large, and spacious field.   

21. Death maketh us all alike in so far, as her power can reach.  
'MOngst all the rites, that Nature can pretend  
In Justice, this is chiefest, and a sequel,  
Which doth on mortal principles depend:  
That drawing near to death, we are all equal;  
Therefore we otherwise, then by the sense  
Should betwixt man, and man make difference.   

22 A very ready way to goodness, and true wisdom.  
Who virtuously would settle his endeavours,  
To mortify his passions, and be wise:  
Must still remember on received favours,  
Forgetting always by-past injuries;  
For that a friend should prove ingrate, is strange:  
And mercy is more Noble, than revenge.   

23. We ought not to regard the contumelies, and calumnies of liars, and profane men.  
ASpersions, which base people viciously  
Inflict upon men's credits, I contemn;  
That sentence having small authority,  
Where he, that is condemned, doth condemn:  
And to be hated by a wicked spirit,  
Doth argue oftentimes the greater merit.   

24. No man should glory too much in the flourishing verdure of his Youth.  
LEt none be proud of life: nor think, that longer  
He than another will, because he's younger,  
Enjoy his pleasures; for though old age stand  
A great way off, death always is at hand;  
Who (without taking heed to time, or years)  
No Living creature spares, when she appears.   

25. That virtue is of greater worth, than knowledge. to a speculative Philosopher.  
WHy do you study Morals, if you take  
No pains t'abate your avarice, and lust?  
For how can virtue's definition make  
You valiant, prudent, temperate, or just:  
If you industriously purge not your mind  
Of any vice, to which you are inclined?   

26 Consolation to a poor man.  
THat you are poor, it should not much disheart you;  
For poverty securely keeps your house  
From thieves, & Robbers: and makes room to virtue,  
By banishing of pride, and the abuse  
Of riches: the loss thereof, and fear of loss,  
Surfeits, and vices, that prejudge the health:  
Which being shut out of doors, strive to compose  
Your mind to quietness, more worth, than wealth;  
For without wealth you may have happiness:  
But not without tranquillity, and ease.   

27 The bad returns of ingrate men should not deter us from being liberal.  
THough you ingrate receivers daily find,  
Let not their faults make you less Noble prove;  
It not being, th'action of a generous mind  
To give and lose so, as to lose, and give;  
For that, a churl may do, in hope of gain:  
But this partakes of a heroic strain.   

28 That riches is a sickness to those, that do not possess the good thereof, so much as they are possessed thereby.  
Some people's senses wealth doth so bereave,  
That they to nothingelse their minds can frame:  
So have they wealth, as men are said to have  
The Ague, when 'tis th'ague, that hath them;  
For it afflicts them with the maladies  
Of covetous desire, and avarice.   

29. A truly liberal man never bestoweth his gifts, in hope of recompense.  
A Hearty giver, will conceive such pleasure  
In th'only action of his good intent:  
That though he be not met in the like measure,  
It never breeds him any discontent;  
For when he doth bestow a benefit,  
He merely looks to the receivers profit:  
And in the instant, that he guideth it,  
Reaps all the use, that he expected of it:  
Virtue no other recompense allowing;  
The price of honest deeds being in the doing.   

30 That the settled quiet of our mind ought not to be moved at sinister accidents.  
MAn should for no infortunate event  
Deprive himself of that, which fortune is  
Unable to restore him: the content  
Of mind, ease, and tranquilsity of his  
Reposed spirit; for who lacketh those,  
Can nothing else possess, that's worth to lose.   

31. As it was a precept of antiquity, to lean more to virtue, than Parentage: so is it a tenet of Christianity, to repose more trust on the blood of Christ, than our own merits.  
Virtue, not blood was thought of anciently;  
Yet blood, more than our virtue ought to please us:  
For we on blood, not virtue should rely;  
Not on our virtue: but the blood of Jesus,  
His blood being able to make heavenly Kings;  
Of men, plagued here for lack of Earthly things.   

32 Our inclination is so depraved, that it is apt enough of itself to run to sin, without any instigation, whereby to drive it forward.  
OUr mind's so prone to vice, it needs a bridle  
To hold it rather, than a spur, to prick it;  
For left unto itself, it hardly stands:  
But if perverse enticements find it idle,  
And push it, then, it (Running on a wicked,  
And headlong course) no reason understands,  
While at the windows of the ears, and eyes  
Temptations enter, which the soul surprise,   

33 That there is no true riches, but of necessary things.  
THe use of money, is to have the means,  
Whereby all needful things may be possessed,  
Which are, but few, and small, & got with ease:  
What we have more than that,' snot wealth, but chains,  
Or Fetters of the mind: and at the best,  
But heaps of labour, fear, and carefulness.   

34. The misery of such, as are doubtful, and suspicious of their wives chastity  
CLose Jealous men make not so evident  
In any thing the madness of their brains:  
As that, the more that they are diligent,  
They have the greater hope to lose their pains;  
For their whole care, to search that, is employed,  
Which not to find, they would be overjoyed.   

35. How deplorable the condition of most men is, who, though they attain to the fruition of their praeterit projects, by covering nevertheless the possession of future pleasures, honours, and commodities, never receive contentment (is they ought) in the present time.  
IN things, to fortune Subject, when we get  
What we did long for, we anew desire  
To have wherewith t'uphold the former state:  
Which likewise, we obtaining, more require;  
For business engendereth business:  
And hope, being th'usher of another hope,  
Our enjoyed' wishes serve but to make place  
To after aims, whose purchase to the top  
Of our ambition never reacheth; thus  
By still aspiring higher we can find  
No end in miseries, that trouble us:  
Turmoil the body: and perplex our mind,  
Although we change with great variety  
The matter, which procures our misery.   

36. The different fruits of idleness, and virtue in young men.  
AS singing grasshoppers, a fond Youth revels  
In Summer blinks: & starves when tempests rage:  
But wise men (Pismire like) enjoy the travels  
Of their young years, in th'winter of their age:  
These by their Providence have wealth in treasure:  
While those are pained for their by-gone pleasure.   

37. To a generously disposed Gentleman, who was main sorry, that he had not wherewith to remunerat the favours, by the which he was obliged to the courtesy of a friend.  
YOu have restored his kindness, if you owe  
It willingly, and doth not prove forgetful;  
For with all Mankind it would hardly go:  
If no man could with empty hands be grateful:  
And in what may concern a benefit,  
'Tis th'only mind refounds, and maketh it.   

38. The truest wealth, man hath it from himself.  
IF you from discontents have a desire  
To live exeem'd, the way is ne'er t'importune  
Your friends with suits: but always to require  
Your riches from yourself: and not from fortune;  
For your dislike, affection, and opinion  
Are things still subject to your own dominion.   

39 That the impudicity of a Lascivious Woman stains but her own, and not her husband's honour.  
THough of her sacred matrimonial Oath  
Your wife make no account: if what be due  
To a wise Husband you perform: she doth  
Bring to herself discredit: not to you;  
For others faults can no disgrace impart you:  
(Though to your loss they tend, and make you sorry)  
No more than you can by another's virtue,  
(Though it breed joy, and gain) reap any glory:  
'Tis our own vertu', & vice must praise or blame u 〈…〉  
And either make us glorious, or infamous.   

40. Who really are rich, and who poor.  
HE, that agreeth with his poverty,  
Is truly rich: while (on the other part)  
He's poor, who 'midst the superfluity  
Of wealth, in new desires consumes his heart;  
For 'tis an empty mind inflicts the curse  
Of poverty: and not an empty purse.   

41. How to oppose sinister fate.  
IF of misfortune you suppose t'exoner  
By any other means, than those of virtue,  
Your troubled spirit: you bestow upon her  
Both your own skll, and weapons to subvert you;  
For that, wherewith you' magine to resist  
Her fury, is already in her hand:  
And which she holds extended to your breast,  
To make you pliable to her command:  
It is not then great friends, nobility,  
Health, beauty, strength, nor store of worldly treasure,  
That can preserve you from her blows; for the  
Of all those things disposeth at her pleasure:  
But you, yourself must furnish with such arms,  
As may defend you against vice, and sin:  
And so you shall not need to fear her harms:  
For being so warded, you are happy in  
The tumults of the world: and she unable  
With all her might, to make you miserable.   

42. The deserved mutability in the condition of too ambitious men.  
AS is the Tortoise used by the Eagle:  
So fortune doth vainglorious men inveigle;  
Who carries them upon the wings of honour  
The higher up, that they may break the sooner.   

43. That inconveniences ought to be regarded to before hand.  
TO wait for crosses, that may happen, is  
The mean▪ whereby to bear them easily;  
They not being much unlike the Cockatrice,  
Which, if foreseen by us, dies instantly:  
While unexpected misadventures kill  
Joy in the breed, and tyrannize the will.   

44. Concerning those, who disdain to walk on their own feet, when, at any rate▪ they may have the convenience to be carried.  
WE will not see with others eyes: nor hear (so  
With borrowed ears; yet hath fond custom  
Prevailed, that we take especial care,  
Upon the feet of others still to go:  
Although our own be ne'er so strong, to bear  
The burden of our bodies? I am sure,  
That no man came into this world in chair,  
On horseback, or in Coach; our birth was poor,  
And we must die in no less poor estate:  
But twixt those abject ends such pride there is,  
And in so short a course of life, so great  
Forgetfulness of both extremities,  
As if enjoying an immortal breath,  
We could not have been borne: nor taste of death.  
Thus endeth the second book of Sir THOMAS Urchard's Epigrams,    

EPIGRAMS: The Third book,  

1. How to behave one's self in all occasions.  
NO kind of trouble to yourself procure:  
And shun as many crosses, as you can:  
Stoutly support, what you must needs endure:  
And with the resolution of a man,  
Whose spirit is affliction-proof, possess  
A joyful heart in all occurrences.   

2 That no man, to speak properly, liveth, but he, that is Wise, and virtuous.  
IF we lack virtue, and good deeds to hold  
Our life 〈…〉  
True life affords not▪ though it make us old;  
Nor lived he that lives not after death  
For in good minds, the lives of men consist:  
And they alone mortality resist▪   

3 We ought always to think upon what we are to say, before we utter any thing; the speeches and talk of solid wits, being still premeditated, and never using to forerun the mind.  
OUr tongue's the heart's interpreter, and still  
In wise discourse hath but the second place▪  
The heart▪ should end, ere th'tongue begin; for while  
The Legate speaks, the truchman holds his peace.  
Which order being inverted, we abuse  
The hearers patience: and ourselves confuse.   

4 That Lust, and drunkenness are odious vices.  
Wrath makes a man to sin courageously,  
And pride doth swell with fair appearances:  
But drunkenness, and too much lechery  
Are sloven, filthy, villainous, and base;  
For by the one God's image being exiled,  
His Temple by the other is defiled.   

5. A certain ancient philosopher did hereby insinuate, how necessary a thing the administration of justice was: and to be always vigilant in the judicious distribution of punishment, and recompense.  
SEeing by the multitude of those offend,  
The shame of sin's diminished now in such  
A measure, that a common crime, in end  
Will cease to be accounted a reproach:  
I am afraid, that (if iniquity  
Be suffered thus to propagate) it will  
With bad example safer be to stray,  
Then to prove singular in doing well:  
Nor is this grievous inconvenience (tho  
Pernicious to the state) to be withstood,  
If any the least care be wanting to  
Chastise the wicked, and reward the good:  
Which Law each Prince should in his bosom nourish;  
That Vice may be suppressed: and virtue flourish.   

6. That overweening impedeth oftentimes the perfectioning of the very same quality, we are proudest of.  
FOnd self-conceit likes never to permit  
one's mind, to see itself with upright eyes;  
Whence many men might have attained to wit,  
Had they not thought themselves already wise:  
To boast of wisdom then, is foolishness;  
For while we think, we're wise: we're nothing less.   

7. To one, who seemed to be grievously discontented with his poverty.  
LEt never want of money vex your brain;  
Seeing all contentment is in th'only mind,  
To the which money doth no more pertain,  
Then to the Hierarchies of Angel-kind:  
Thus Gold being Earthly, and the mind sublime:  
T'abase your spirit, is a sort of crime.   

8. The resolution of a proficient in virtue.  
I Hope so little to transgress the Law,  
My conscience will indite me, or be proud  
Of wealth, and pomp: as not to care a straw  
For fortune's frowns: so that my deeds be good,  
Which eternize my bliss, while she makes Kings.  
T'enjoy at best, but transitory things.   

9 That a courtesy ought to be conferred soon, and with a good will.  
NO man will from his heart owe that, which was  
Extorted by mere importunity,  
Without regard of true desert; because  
It seems to have been given unwillingly:  
Who distributes his benefits that way,  
Needs not then wait for a gratification  
From him, whom he hath dulled with delay,  
And tortured with grievous expectation;  
For we acknowledge gifts according to  
Th'intent of him, who doth the same bestow.   

10. The best wits, once depraved, become the most impious.  
THe whitest lawn receives the deepest mole:  
The purest chrisolite is soonest stained:  
So without grace, the most ingenious soul,  
Is with the greatest wickedness profaned:  
And the more edge it have, applied to sin,  
Where it should spare, it cuts the deeper in.   

11. That those employ not their occasions well, who spend the most part of their life in providing for the Instruments of living.  
SOme wasting all their life with pain, and sorrow,  
To seek the means of life no leisure give  
Their thoughts, from aiming always at to morrow;  
Whereby they live not, but are still to live;  
In their whole age the fruits, that issue from  
Their labours, being but hopes of times to come.   

12. An uprightly zealous, and truly devout man is strong enough against all temptations.  
THat man, in whom the grace of God begins,  
His soul with divine comfort to refresh,  
May the whole heptarchy of deadly sins,  
In spite of all, the devil, the World, the flesh  
Are able to suggest, enforce to yield;  
Christ, being his guide: and Christian faith, his shield.   

13. That to employ our thoughts on the study of mortality, and frailty of our nature, is a very necessary, and profitable speculation.  
BE not from death (by any means) a stranger:  
But make her your familiar friend; that if  
The cause require, it, vilipending danger,  
You may step forth t'embrace her, without grief;  
For the more boldly you intend to meet her:  
The relish of your life will prove the sweeter.   

14. The Generous speech of a Noble Cavallier, after he had disarmed his adversary at the single combat.  
THough with my Raper, for the guerdon,  
Your fault deserveth, I may pierce ye:  
Your penitence, in craving pardon  
Transpassions my revenge in mercy;  
And wils me both to end this present strife,  
And give you leave in peace t'enjoy your life.   

15. To one, who was excessively cheerful, for being recovered of a Fever, wherewith he had been for a time extreme sorely shaken.  
THat to your health you are restored, you  
May in some sort be joyful: and yet pleased  
To know your dying day is nearer now,  
Then when you were most heavily diseased;  
For to its journeys end your life still goes,  
Which cannot stay, nor slow its pace: nor hath  
it any inn, to rest in; toil, repose,  
Sickness, and health being alike steps to death:  
Let this thought than your gladness mortify,  
That once again you must fall sick, and die.   

16. That the most of our contentment, while we are upon the Earth, consisteth rather in Negatives, as not to be perplexed with meant all perturbations, outward diseases, and other such like life-tormenting crosses, than in the real fruition of any positive delight, that can befall us.  
THere being no possibility, that men  
Can here enjoy a greater delectation,  
Then to possess a body without pain,  
And mind untroubled by the meanest passion:  
Without desire of further pleasure, health,  
And a good conscience should be our chief wealth.   

17. Why we must all die.  
IT being the law of Nations to restore  
What we have borrowed, there's no remedy:  
But being engaged to a Creditor,  
Who will not lose his debt: we must needs die:  
Nor can we plead one half a terms delay;  
For when Death craves it, we are forced to pay.   

18. Of the covetous, and perverse inclination of the greatest part of Mankind.  
WHen profit goes with virtue, we respect her,  
So that her very footsteps we adore:  
But if she walk alone, than we neglect her,  
And will not wait upon her any more:  
So basely 'gainst their consciences, most men  
Descend from honour, to attend on gain.   

19 The Parallel of Nature, and Fortune.  
A Fly, which is a despicable creature  
Obtains, beside her wings, six feet from Nature:  
Yet four feet only, she is pleased to grant  
To the huge body of an Elephant:  
So Fortune doth withdraw her gifts from some,  
Whose real worth surpasseth theirs, on whom  
She hath bestowed them, as forcibly,  
As Elephants in strength exceed a fly.   

20. How we should enjoy the delights, we have: and contemn such, as we have not.  
LEt not the want of pleasures be unpleasant  
To your remembrance: and with moderation  
Make use of those contentments, which are present:  
If you would ne'er be grieved with expectation;  
For to our own, things absent to prefer,  
Frustrates our hope, when it hath bred us fear.   

21 To one, who did confide too much in the sound temperament, and goodly constitution of his bodily complexion.  
Boast not of outward health: but have a care  
Your soul be not distempered; for we find  
The case of them most dangerous, who are  
In wholesome bodies of a sickly mind,  
Vice tyrannising over flesh, and blood  
In those, whose will, and judgement are not good.   

22. A counsel to be provident, and circumspect in all our actions, without either cowardice, or temerity.  
Do nothing tim'rously, and yet b'aware,  
You be not rash: let prudence therefore guard  
Your words, and deeds; for he needs not to fear  
What's to be shunned, that shuns what's to be feared;  
Nor in the present time be vexed, who from  
Things past, discern of what is like to come.   

23. Of four things, in an epalleled way vanquished each by other.  
AS Death o'rthroweth man, and cuts his breath:  
And fame most gloriously subdueth Death:  
So gourmandizing time doth fame or'come:  
And to eternity time must succumb.   

24. A consolation to those, that are of a little stature not to be sorry thereat.  
None of a little burden should complain;  
You're clothed with flesh, and bones, and not suppressed:  
A little house a giant may contain:  
And little bulks great spirits oft invest;  
For virtue hath not such desire to find  
The stature of the body, as the mind.   

25. That too much bewailing, and grief is to be avoided at Funerals, to one lamenting the decease of a friend.  
IT were more fit, that you relinquished orrow,  
Then that you should be left by it; that may,  
What ever may be done, be done to morrow:  
And what to morrow may be done to day;  
We should therefore, as soon's we can desist  
From that, wherein we cannot long insist.   

26. The virtuous speech of a diseased man, most patient in his sickness.  
MY flesh still having been an enemy  
Unto my spirit, it should glad my heart,  
That pains, which seize now on my body, may  
Be profitable to my better part;  
For though Diseases seem at first unpleasant,  
They point us out the way, we ought to go:  
Admonish us exactly of our present  
Estate: and t'us at last this favour show,  
That they enlarge us from that ruinous,  
Close, and dark prison, which confined us.   

27. We should not be sorry, to be destitute of any thing: so long as we have judgements to persuade us, that we may minister to ourselves, what we have not, by not longing for it.  
TO want, what i should have, shall never make  
My heart less cheerful; reason still requiring,  
That i be pleased, what's' ever things i lack,  
To furnish to myself, by not desiring;  
For not to wish for things, against the grief  
Of fear, and frustrate hopes provides relief.   

28. That virtue is better, and more powerful than Fortune.  
Virtue denyeth nought, but what to grant  
Hurts the receiver, and is good to want:  
Nor takes she ought away, which would not cross  
The owner: and is lucrative to loss;  
She no man can deceive: she looks not strange:  
Nor is she subject to the meanest change:  
Embrace her then; for she can give that, which  
Will (without gold, or silver) make you rich.   

29. How magnanimous a thing it is, in adversity, patiently to endure, what cannot be evited.  
What grievous weight so ever be allowed  
By misadventrous fate, wherewith to load ye,  
shrink not thereat, but yield your shoulder to it,  
And with a steadfast mind support your body;  
For valiant spirits can not be overcome:  
Though Fortune force their bodies to succumb.   

30. That nothing more opposeth the tranquillity of life, which is proper, and peculiar to Wise-men, then to be tied to a generality of public example in all our actions.  
AMongst the causes of our evils, this  
Is one of the most ordinary, that  
We live b'example: things which are amiss  
Supplying oftentimes the place of what  
Is rightest, and most virtuous: for there's no man  
(Scarce) holds that error, which is done in common.   

31. A temperate diet, is the best physic.  
TO keep a moderation in our diet,  
Is the chief mean, to be of health assured;  
For nothing sickens so, as too much riot:  
And Feasts kill more, than Galen ever cured,  
Nor is their physic, should so fully please us;  
Others expel: but this prveens Diseases.   

32. That all our life, is but a continual course, and vicissitude of sinning, and being sorry for sin.  
WE sin with joy: and having fined, we mourn,  
Then kindle, after tears, new sinful fires;  
There being a turn perpetual, and return  
twixt our repentance, and profane desires;  
For senses to delights are wedded wholly,  
Which purchased, reason doth bewail their folly.   

33. Why our thoughts, all the while we are in this transitory world, from the hour of our nativity, to the laying down of our bodies in the grave, should not at any time exspaciat themselves in the broad way of destruction.  
SEeing the strait lodging of your mother's womb,  
Brought you to life, from whence you must depart  
To the dark entry of a little tomb:  
Betwixt your birth, and burial let your heart  
Tread virtues narrow path: till you contract  
To so strict bounds the pleasures of this wide,  
And spacious world, as that you may draw back  
The reins of covetous desire, hate, lust, and pride;  
For by so doing, you will make your death  
A blessed passage to eternal breath.   

34. It is the safest course to entertain poverty in our greatest riches.  
YOur thoughts in greatest plenty moderate,  
Lest with superfluous things you be ensnared:  
Let poverty be your familiar Mate,  
That Fortune may not find you unprepared;  
For so it will not lie into her power,  
T'inflict that cross, which you cannot endure.   

35. To a Gentleman, who was extremely offended at the defamatory speeches of a base detractor.  
AT his reproachful words do not conceive  
The meanest grudge; for curs will still be barking  
Nor take you notice of him, seeing a knave  
Is like a scabbed sheep, not worth the marking;  
And this your setting him at nought will make him  
Swell, as a Toad, till his own poison break him.   

36. Of Death, and Sin.  
Bodies, which lack the souls, did them inform,  
Turned to corruption, lose their former grace:  
And out of hearts corrupted breeds a worm  
Still gnawing upon guilty Consciences.  
As from deceased bodies, Death withdraws  
The living souls, another life t'enjoy:  
So sin, contrary to the divine laws,  
In living bodies doth the soul destroy.  
Death is not vanquished till the Resurrection  
Of bodies, testify the soul's conjunction  
And by Regeneration, sin's infection  
Is buried in a mortified compunction;  
Less than is death, than sin: the tomb, than hell:  
The more that souls the bodies do excel.   

37. The advantages of poverty.  
IF you have poverty, you have no sumptuous,  
But a most easy guest, secure, and quiet:  
Who will preserve your mind from being presumptuous,  
From prodigality, excessive riot:  
From vicious pleasures, Robbers, and the stealth  
Of thieves, which ills befall to those, have wealth.   

38. How to make all the world peaceable.  
IF so in every man the flesh would dwell  
At concord with the spirit, that it cease  
Against its sovereignty to rebel,  
The universal world would be at peace;  
For if there were no avarice, no hate:  
No pride, nor lust, there could be no debate.   

39 One, who did extremely regret, his bestowing of a great benefit upon an ingrate man.  
BY giving moneys to a thankless man,  
You lost the matter of your benefit:  
But the best part thereof doth still remain,  
Which was your willingness in giving it;  
For his repaying of your grateful action,  
Had made you gain all, that you had received  
And getting nought, you lack not satisfaction;  
It only being, to give it, that you gave it;  
Else in your gifts, a bargain we should find:  
And not the noble acts of a free mind.   

40. Of wisdom, in speech, in action▪ in reality, and reputation.  
WIsely to talk deserveth much respect:  
Yet to live wisely (without doubt) is better:  
To be accounted wise is a great matter:  
But it is most to be it in effect;  
Such as would follow wisdom then, let them  
Strive more for deeds, than words: for life, than fame.   

41. To one, who was grieved within himself, that he was not endued with such force, and vigour of body, as many others were.  
THough you be not so strong, as other men,  
If you have health, the matter is but small;  
You being reserved for tasks, more noble, than  
The labours of the body: therefore all  
You can complain of, is not of defect,  
But of imparity: Nature did grant  
Milo great strength, in whose regard you're weak:  
So was he weaker than an Elephant:  
His strength decayed: but Solon's lasted longer,  
And wise men love not, what's not durable:  
Care not for strength; seeing sickness will be stronger:  
But with your soul, as with a Sword of steel,  
Within a sheath of wool, subdue temptations;  
For the true strength of Man, being in the mind,  
He is much stronger, overcomes his passions,  
Than who can with main force a lion bind;  
And who himself thus in subjection brings,  
Surmounts the power of all Earthly Kings.   

42. An encouragement to those of mean Parentage, not to be hindered by the Obscurity of their extraction, from the undertaking of glorious enterprises.  
THe baser, that your Parents are, the greater  
Renown, and honour will to you redound;  
If all your actions be on virtue grounded:  
To give being more, then to receive, and better  
To have a noble life, than birth: to found  
A new Nobility, then find it founded   

43. We should not be troubled at the accidents of Fortune: nor those things, which cannot be eschewed.  
LEt's take in patience, sickness, banishments,  
Pain, loss of goods, death, and enforced strife;  
For none of those are so much punishments,  
As Tributes, which we pay unto this life;  
From the whole tract whereof we cannot borrow  
One dram of Joy, that is not mixed with sorrow.   

44. Age merely depending on the continual Flux of time, we have very small reason to boast of a long life, already obtained: or be proud of the hope, hereafter to attain unto it.  
THe present time doth fly away so fast,  
That one can hardly follow't with his mind:  
The Praeterit's a time already past:  
And seeing the future's still to come, we find,  
Both those being absent, that they are not ours:  
Although they breed to us no mean vexation,  
Th'one with the slippery thought of ill-spent hours:  
And th'other, with a careful expectation:  
Thus life is almost nothing, in effect,  
Whereof two parcels never are our own:  
The third being such, as e'er we can reflect  
Upon th'enjoying of it, is quite gone;  
The longest time not having bounds to measure  
A real, permanent, and solid pleasure.  
Here end the first three books of Sir THOMAS Urchard's Epigrams.    

Laud to the Father, with the Son, and Ghost TRIUN, as fore,  
And still hath been since times begun, be now, and evermore.   

The erratas.  
Page 2. line 6. for, place a: p. 4. l. 14. at Dart, blot out, l. 22. for. place a: p. 5. l. 7. for find, read find. p. 7. l. 3. for misadventure, read misadventures l. 6. at with place a: and at face a; p. 8. l. 11. at law▪ place a; p. 12. l. 25. at do, place a: & at aught, a; p. 13. l. 6. and 7. must be indented, p. 21. l. 7. at estates, place a, l. 19 before, at all, read lived, p. 31. l. 1. for guideth read giveth, l. 22 for▪ place a; line 23, blot out the; p. 35. line 16. for u, read us, and place there a: page 36. l. 5. for skll reed skill page 40. line 6, at death place a; l. 17. for. place a:   

THE Printers to the Reader.  
THough in none of the printed Copies, be all those above collected faults, yet (the form, in several sheets happening to pass divers times the press, before an exact Revise was made) many of the books are found to contain some, as the whole impression them all: therefore, thought we fit, for the ease of the more curious, in every penult page to subjoin them as they are here summed up; willing rather to insert the total, where the parts are wanting in their distinguished places, than by omitting any thing of the due count, to let an error slip uncorrected.  
What else hath escaped our animadversion, we heartily entreat the courteous, and judicious Readers to excuse, and amend: and humbly beg their favours, they may be pleased to vouchsafe an acceptance of these our endeavours with the same intention, we have offered them; the furtherance of the common good, and satisfaction of every one in particular, being all we aim at, our chief ambition, and the most approved Testimony, which our consciences afford us in the discharge of our calling.  
FINIS.   

Imprimatur.  
JOHANNES HANSLEY. March 15. 1640.