I am of a temper fixed as a decree,
Resolv'd with myself to live happy and free;
With the cares of this world I am seldom perplex'd,
I am sometimes uneasy, but never quite vex'd;
I am neither too high nor too low in degree;
There are more that live worse than live better than me.

My life thus moves on amid freedom and ease,
I go where I will, and I come when I please;
I am plac'd below envy, and yet above spite;
I've judgment enough still to do myself right:
Some higher, some lower, I own there may be,
But ambition and want are both strangers to me.

When money comes in, pleas'd I live till 'tis gone,
I am happy when with it, contented with none;
If I spend it 'mong friends I count it but lent,
It thus goes genteelly--I never repent;
With mirth to my labour the hours sweetly pass,
Though at Saturday night I am just where I was.