BEAR thyself with formal gait,
Be thy language all sedate;
Thy opinions take on trust,
⁠Take gold for thy only lust.

Shun belief devout or deep,
⁠Ever to the safe side keep;
Let thy hollow laugh be framed
⁠To the joke by all acclaimed.

Never for pure charity
⁠Level a disparity;
Farm thy favour to a fool,
⁠Make his gratitude thy tool.

Let thy conscience be a thing
⁠Like a clock to go, and ring
Just that time the hour doth mark.
⁠Let some other light the dark!

Friend and wife a bargain buy
⁠There where state and money lie
Claim a goodly cenotaph,
⁠Buy a lying epitaph!