On care, and pains, and induſtry;
And truly he muſt be ſo free,
To own he thought your airy beaux,
With powdered wigs, and dancing ſhoes,
Were good for nothing (mend his ſoul)
But prate and talk, and play the fool.
He ſaid, ’twas wealth gave joy, and mirth.
And that to be the deareſt wife,
Of one who laboured all his life,
To make a mine of gold his own,
And not ſpend ſixpence when he’d done
Was Heaven upon earth.
When theſe two blades had done, d’ye ſee,
The Feather (as it might be me)
Steps out ſir from behind the ſkreen,
With ſuch an air and ſuch a mien,
Look you, old gentleman, in ſhort,
He quickly ſpoil’d the ſtateſman’s ſport.
It prov’d ſuch ſunſhine weather,
That you muſt know at the firſt beck
The lady leapt about his neck,
And off they went together.
The reputation which Sir John gained by his comedies was rewarded with greater advantages, than what ariſe from the uſual profits of writing for the ſtage. He was appointed Clarencieux King at Arms, a place which he ſome time held, and at laſt diſpoſed of. In Auguſt 1716 he was appointed ſurveyor of the works at Greenwich Hoſpital; he was likewiſe made comptroller-general of his Majeſty’s works, and ſurveyor of the gardens and waters, the profits of which places, collectively conſidered, muſt amount to a very conſiderable ſum.
