Says Cary[1], says he, I have been a servant this five and twenty years, come spring,
And in all the places I liv'd I never heard of such a thing.
Yes, says the steward[2], I remember when I was at my lady Shrewsbury's,
Such a thing as this happened just about the time of gooseberries.
So I went to the party suspected, and I found her full of grief;
Now, you must know, of all things in the world, I hate a thief:
However, I was resolv'd to bring the discourse slily about:
Mrs. Dukes, said I, here's an ugly accident has happen'd out:
'Tis not that I value the money three skips of a louse[3];
But the thing I stand upon is the credit of the house.
'Tis true, seven pounds, four shillings, and six pence, makes a great hole in my wages:
Besides, as they say, service is no inheritance in these ages.
Now, Mrs. Dukes, you know, and every body understands,
That though 'tis hard to judge, yet money can't go without hands.
The devil take me! said she (blessing herself) if ever I saw't!
So she roar'd like a Bedlam, as though I had call'd her all to naught.
- ↑ Clerk of the kitchen.
- ↑ Ferris, of whom, see Journal to Stella, Dec. 21, 1710.
- ↑ A usual saying of hers.
