184 DiV9n Nofa and Queries* There is an index book of the difiSsrent wills proved in each year, but not alphabetically arranged, and a subsequent date in point of time of ten found in this book prior to an earlier one. According to this index the first will in the Court was proved in 1591, and I searched the different bundles of wills, but could find none of an earlier date. They are generally in a good state of preservation, but not well arranged. There are a number of Act books, the first of which that I saw com- menced with the year 1582. The floor was covered ut prius. The circumstance [?] you mention concerning your worthy ancestor is certainly curious. Izaacke, however, does not notice it, though he gives his name in the list of Sheriffs for the County of Devon, A.D. 16559 and Says he was so for three years. [Sir John Copleston.] Most sincerely yours, H. James. 141. Early Gardening Book. — I find the following MS. note on the fly-leaf of the British Museum copy of John Lawrence's ^^ Gardening Improved. London, 1718. On the back of the title-page is the book-stamp of (Sir) Jos. Banks : COWLBIUS DE PLANTIS. LIB. 4. Faelix, quern misera procul ambitione remotum Parvus Agar placide parvus et Hortus alit. Prsebet Ager quicquid frugi Natura requirit Hortus habet quicquid Luxuriosa petit : Caetera sollicitse speciosa incomoda vitae Permittit stultis quasrere, habere malis. Thus translated by Mr. Parsons, heretofore Vicar of Sidbury, Devon : — Happy ye man who from Ambition free'd His little field and Garden small doth feed : His field affords all that his want requires His Garden all his Wantonnesse desires : The Cares that Gawdy Greatnesse do besett He leaves to Fools to seek, and Knaves to gett. Hen. Walrond. A.D. 1718, Elizabeth Fryer Walrond. 1781. The above vigorous translation from Cowley, as well as the original text, are both in the holograph of Hen. Walrond. The autograph of " Elizabeth Fryer Walrond " occurs on the same page, but, of course, in a much later hand. Who was *' Mr. Parsons,'* and did he translate the whole of Cowley's poem ? John Lanb.
