The proper prelude to a state of peace?
Now industry awakes her bufy fons;
Full-charg'd with news the breathlefs hawkerruns:
Shops open, coaches roll, carts shake the ground,
And all the streets with paffing cries refound.

30

If cloth'd in black you tread the busy town,
Or if distinguish'd by the reverend gown,
Three trades avoid: oft' in the mingling prefs
The barber's apron foils the fable drefs;
Shun the perfumer's touch with cautious eye,
Nor let the baker's ftep advance too nigh.
Ye walkers too, that youthful colours wear,
Three fullying trades avoid with equal care :
The little chimney-fweeper fkulks along,
And marks with footy ftains the heedless throng:
When fmall coal murmurs in the hoarfer throat,
From fmutty dangers guard thy threat'ned coat;
The duftman's cart offends thy clothes and eyes,
When through the ftreet a cloud of ashes flies;
But, whether black or lighter dyes are worn,
The chandler's basket, on his fhoulders borne, 40
With tallow fpots thy coat; refign the way,
To fhun the furly butcher's grealy tray,
Butchers, whofe hands are dy'd with blood's foul
stain,

And always foremost in the hangman's train.
Let due civilities be strictly paid:
The wall furrender to the hooded maid;
Nor let thy sturdy elbow's hafty rage
Joftle the feeble steps of trembling age:

And when the porter bends beneath his load, 49
And pants for breath, clear thou the crowded road.
But, above all, the groping blind direct;
And from the preffing throng the lame protect.
You'll fometimes meet a fop, of nicest tread,
Whofe mantling peruke veils his empty head;
At every step he dreads the wall to lofe,
And risks, to fave a coach, his red-heel'd fhoes;
Him, like the miller, pass with caution by,
Left from his fhoulder clouds of powder fly.
But when the bully, with affuming pace,
Cocks his broad hat, edg'd round with tarnish'd
lace,

Yield not the way, defy his ftrutting pride,
And thruft him to the muddy kennel's fide;
He never turns again, nor dares oppose,

8

If drawn by business to a street unknown,
Let the fworn porter point thee through the town;
Be fure obferve the figns, for signs remain
Like faithful landmarks to the walking train.
Seek not from 'prentices to learn the way,
Thofe fabling boys will turn thy teps aftray; 70
Afk the grave tradefman to direct thee right,
He ne'er deceives-but when he profits by't.
Where fam'd St Giles's ancient limits fpread,
An inrail'd column rears its lofty head,
Here to seven streets feven dials count the day,
And from each other catch the circling ray.
Here oft' the peasant, with inquiring face,
Bewilder'd, trudges on from place to place;
He dwells on every fign with ftupid gaze,
Enters the narrow alley's doubtful maze,
Tries every winding court and street in vain,
And doubles o'er his weary fteps again.
Thus hardy Thefeus, with intrepid feet,
Travers'd the dangerous labyrinth of Crete;
But ftill the wandering pelles-force his stay,
Till Ariadne's clue unwinds the way.
But do not thou, like that bold chief, confide
Thy venturous footsteps to a female guide;
She'll lead thee with delufive fmiles along,
Dive in thy fob, and drop thee in the throng. 90
When waggish boys the stunted befom ply,
To rid the flabby pavement, pass not by [Airt
Ere thou haft held their hands; fome heedless
Will overfpread thy calves with fpattering dirt.
Where porters hogfheads roll from carts aflope,
Or brewers down steep cellars ftretch the rope,
Where counted billets are by carmen toft,
Stay thy rafh flep, and walk without the post.
What though the gathering mire thy feet be-
fmear,

The voice of industry is always near.
Hark! the boy calls thee to his destin'd stand,
And the fhoe shines beneath his oily hand,
Here let the mufe, fatigued amid the throng,
Adorn her precepts with digreffive fong;
Of shirtless youths the fecret rife to trace,
And fhow the parent of the fable race.

Like mortal man, great Jove (grown fond of
change)

Of old was wont this nether world to range,
To feek amours; the vice the monarch lov'd 109
Soon through the wide æthereal court improv'd:
And ev'n the proudeft goddess now and then
Would lodge a night among the fons of men;
To vulgar deities defcends the fashion,
Each, like her betters, had her earthly paffion.
Then Cloacina (goddess of the tide
Whose fable streams beneath the city glide)
Indulg'd the modifh flame; the town she rov'd,
A mortal scavenger the faw, fhe lov'd;
The muddy fpots that dry'd upon his face,
Like female patches, heighten'd every grace: 120

*Cloacina was a goddess, whofe image Tatius (a king of the Sabines) found in the common foore; and; not knowing what goddafs it was, be called it Cloacina, from the place in which it was found, and paid to it divine bonours.-Lactant. I 20. Minuc. Fel. O&.

Who would of Watling-freet the dangers fhare,
When the broad pavement of Cheapfide is near?
Or who that rugged street would traverse o'er,
That stretches, O Fleet-ditch, from thy black fbore
To the Tower's moated walls? Here fteams afcend
That, in mix'd fumes, the wrinkled nofe offend.
Where chandlers' cauldrons boil; where fishy prey
Hide the wet tall, long abfent from the fea; 250
And where the cleaver chops the heifer's spoil,
And where huge hogfheads fweat with trainy oil;
Thy breathing noftril hold; but how shall I
País, where in piles Carnavian + cheeses lie;
Cheese, that the table's clofing rites denies,
And bids me with th' unwilling chaplain rife?
O bear me to the paths of fair Pall-mall !
Safe are thy pavements, grateful is thy smell!
At diftance rolls along the gilded coach,
Nor fturdy carmen on thy walks encroach;
No lets would bar thy ways were chairs deny'd,
The foft fupports of laziness and pride:
Shops breathes perfumes, through fafhes ribbons
The mutual arms of ladies and the beau.
Yet ftill ev'n here, when rains the passage hide,
Oft the loose stone fpir:s up a muddy tide
Beneath thy careless foot; and from on high,
Where mansions mount the ladder, fragments fly,
Mortar and crumbled lime in showers defcend,
And o'er thy head destructive tiles impend. 270
But fometimes let me leave the noisy roads,
And filent wander in the close abodes,
Where wheels ne'er shake the ground; there

pensive stray,

260 [glow,

In ftudious thought, the long uncrowded way.
Here I remark each walker's different face,
And in their look their various business trace.
The broker here his fpacious beaver wears,
Upon his brow fit jealoufies and cares;
Bent on fome mortage (to avoid reproach)
He seeks by-ftreets, and faves th' expensive coach.
Soft, at low doors, old letchers tap their cane, 281
For fair reclufe, who travels Drury-Lane;
Here roams uncomb'd the lavish rake, to fhun
His Fleet-ftreet draper's everlasting dun.

Careful obfervers, ftudious of the town,
Shun the misfortunes that difgrace the clown;
Untempted, they contemn the juggler's feats,
Pals by the Meufe, nor try the thimble's cheats.
When drays bound high, they never crofs behind,
Where bubbling yest is blown by gufts of wind :
And when up Ludgate-hill huge carts move flow,
Far from the ftraining fteeds fecurely go, 292
Whose dashing hoofs behind them fling the mire,
And mark with muddy blots the gazing 'fquire.
The Parthian thus his javelin backward throws,
And as he flies infefts purfuing foes.

299

The thoughtless wits fhall frequent forfeits pay, Who 'gainst the fentry's box difcharge their tea. Do thou fome court or fecret corner feek, Nor flush with fhame the paffing virgin's cheek. Yet let me not defcend to trivial fong, Nor vulgar circumstance my verse prolong.

Thames-fireet. † Chefaire, anciently fo called. A cheat commonly practifed in the fireets with three thimbles and a little ball.

Why fhould I teach the maid, when torrents pour,
Her head to fhelter from the fudden fhower?
Nature will best her ready hand inform,
With her spread petticoat to fence the storm.
Does not each walker know the warning fign,
When wifps of ftraw depend upon the twine
Crofs the clofe ftreet; that then the paver's art
Renews the ways, deny'd to coach and cart? 310
Who knows not that the coachman lafhing by
Oft with his flourish cuts the heedlefs eye;
And when he takes his ftand, to wait a fare,
His horfes foreheads fhun the winter's air?
Nor will I roam where fummer's fultry rays
Parch the dry ground, and spread with dust the
ways;

With whirling gufts the rapid atoms rife,
Smoke o'er the pavenient, and involve the fkies.

Winter my theme confines; whofe nitry wind
Shall cruft the flabby mire, and kennels bind; 320
She bids the snow descend in flaky fheets,
And in her hoary mantle clothe the streets.
Let not the virgin tread these flippery roads,
The gathering fleece the hollow patten loads;
But if thy footstep flide with clotted froft,
Strike off the breaking balls against the post.
On filent wheel the paffing coaches roll;
Oft look behind, and ward the threatening pole.
In harden'd orbs the school-boy moulds the fnow,
To mark the coachman with a dext'rous throw.
Why do ye, boys, the kennel's surface spread, 331
To tempt with faithlefs pafs the matron's tread?
How can you laugh to fee the damfel spurn,
Sink in your frauds, and her green stocking mourn?
At White's the harness'd chairman idly ftands,
And fwings around his waift his tingling hands;
The fempfirefs fpeeds to change with red-tipt
nole;

The Belgian ftove beneath her footstool glows;
In half-whipt muflin needles useless lie,
And fhuttle cocks across the counter fly.
These sports warm harmless; why then will ye
prove,

Deluded maids, the dangerous flame of love?

340

Where Covent-garden's famous temple stands, That boasts the work of Jones' immortal hands; Columns with plain magnificence appear, And graceful porches lead along the fquare: Here oft my courfe I bend; when lo! from far I fpy the furies of the fost-ball war: The 'prentice quits his fhop, to join the crew, Increasing crowds the flying game pursue. Thus, as you roll the ball o'er fnowy ground, The gathering globe augments with every round. But whither fhall I run! the throng draws nigh, The ball now fkims the ftreet, now foars on high; The dext'rous glazier strong returns the bound, And jingling fathes on the pent-house found.

350

360

O, roving mufe! recal that wondrous year, When winter reign'd in bleak Britannia's air; When hoary Thames, with frosted oziers crown'd, Was three long moons in icy fetters bound. The waterman, forlorn, along the fhore, Penfive reclines upon his useless oar; See harness'd fteeds defert the ftony town, And wander roads unftable, not their own;

Wheels o'er the harden'd waters smoothly glide,
And rafe with whiten'd tracks the flippery tide;
Here the fat cook piles high the blazing fire
And scarce the fpit can turn the steer entire;
Booths fudden hide the Thames, long ftreets ap-
pear,

And numerous games proclaim the crowded fair.
So when a general bids the martial train
371
Spread their encampment o'er the fpacious plain:
Thick rifing tents a canvas city build,
And the loud dice refound through all the field.
'Twas here the matron found a doleful fate :
Let elegiac lay the woe relate,

Soft as the breath of distant flutes, at hours
When filent evening clofes up the flowers;
Lulling as falling water's hollow noife;
Indulging grief, like Philomela's voice.

380

Doll every day had walk'd thefe treacherous

roads;

Her neck grew warpt beneath autumnal loads
Of various fruit: fhe now a basket bore;
That head, alas! fhall basket bear no more.
Each booth the frequent paft, in queft of gain,
And boys with pleafure heard her fhrilling ftrain.
Ah, Doll! all mortals must refign their breath,
And industry itself submit to death!

388

The cracking cryftal yields; fhe finks, fhe dies, 'Her head, chopt off, from her loft fhoulders flies; Pippins the cry'd; but death her voice confounds; And pip- pip- pip- along the ice refounds.

So when the Thracian furies Orpheus tore, And left his bleeding trunk deform'd with gore, His fever'd head floats down the filver tide, His yet warm tongue for his loft confort cry'd; Eurydice with quivering voice he mourn'd, And Heber's banks Eurydice return'd.

But now the western gale the flood unbinds, And blackening clouds move on with warmer winds; 400

The wooden town its frail foundation leaves,
And Thames' full urn rolls down his plenteous

waves;

From every pent-house ftreams the fleeting fnow,

410

And with diffolving froft the pavements flow.
Experienc'd men, inur'd to city ways,
Need not the calendar to count their days.
When through the town with flow and folemn air,
Led by the noftril, walks the muzzled bear;
Behind him moves, majestically dull,
The pride of Hockley-hole, the furly bull.
Learn hence the periods of the week to name,
Mondays and Thursdays are the days of game.
When fishy falls with double ftore are laid;
The golden-belly'd carp, the broad-finn'd maid,
Red fpeckled trouts, the falmon's filver jowl,
The jointed lobster, and unfcaly foal,
And lufcious 'callops to allure the tastes
Of rigid zealots to delicious fafts;
Wednesdays and Fridays you'llobferve from hence,
Days when our fires were doom'd to abftinence.
When dirty waters from balconies drop,
And dext'rous damfels twirl the fprinkling mop,
And cleanse the spatter'd fafh, and scrub the stairs;

421

Succeffive cries the seasons' change declare, And mark the monthly progrefs of the year. Hark! how the streets with treble voices ring, To fell the bounteous product of the spring: Sweet-fmelling flowers, and alder's early bud, With nettle's tender fhoots, to cleanse the blood; And, when June's thunder cools the fultry skies, E'en Sundays are profan'd by mackrel cries. 432 Walnuts the fruiterer's hand in autumn stain, Blue plumbs and juicy pears augment his gain; Next oranges the longing boys entice, To truft their copper fortunes to the dice.

440

When rosemary, and bays, the poet's crown, Are bawl'd, in frequent cries, through all the town, Then judge the festival of Christmas near, Christmas, the joyous period of the year. Now with bright holly all your temples ftrow, With laurel green, and sacred misletoe. Now, heaven-born Charity! thy bleffings fhed; Bid meagre Want uprear her fickly head; Bid fhivering limbs be warm; let Plenty's bowl In humble roofs make glad the needy foul! See, fee! the heaven-born maid her bleffings fhed; Lo! meagre Want uprears her fickly head; Cloth'd are the naked, and the needy glad, While felfish Avarice alone is fad.

450

Proud coaches pafs, regardless of the moan Of infant orphans, and the widow's groan; While Charity still moves the walker's mind, His liberal purfe relieves the lame and blind. Judiciously thy halfpence are bestow'd, Where the laborious beggar fweeps the road. Whate'er you give, give ever at demand, Nor let old age long ftretch his palfy'd hand. Those who give late are importun'd each day, And ftill are teas'd because they still delay. If e'er the mifer durft his farthings fpare, He thinly spreads them through the public fquare, Where, all befide the rail, rang'd beggars lie, And from each other catch the doleful cry; With Heaven, for two-pence, cheaply wipes his fcore,

Lifts up his eyes, and haftes to beggar more.

460

Where the brafs-knocker, wrapt in flannel band, Forbids the thunder of the footman's hand; Th' upholder, rueful harbinger of death, Waits with impatience for the dying breath; 470 As vultures o'er a camp, with hovering flight, Snuff up the future carnage of the fight. Here canft thou pass, unmindful of a prayer, That Heaven in mercy may thy brother fpare? Come, Fortescue, fincere, experienc'd friend, Thy briefs, thy deeds, and ev'n thy fees fufpend; Come let us leave the Temple's filent walls, Me bufinefs to my diftant lodging calls; Through the long Strand together let us stray; With thee converfing, I forget the way. Eehold that narrow street which steep defcends, Whofe building to the flimy thore extends, Here Arundel's fam'd ftructure rear'd its frame, The ftreet alone retains the empty name. Where Titian's glowing paint the canvas warm'd, And Raphael's fair defign, with judgment, charm'd, Now hangs the bellman's fong, and pasted here

480

There oft' I enter (but with cleaner fhoes), For Burlington's belov'd by every mufe.

500

510

O ye affociate walkers, O my friends,, Upon your state what happinefs attends! What though no coach to frequent vifit rolls, Nor for your fhilling chairmen fling their poles; Yet ftill your nerves rheumatic pains defy, Nor lazy jaundice dulls your faffron eye; No wafting cough difcharges founds of death, Nor wheezing afthma heaves in vain for breath; Nor from your reftless couch is heard the groan Of burning gout, or fedentary stone. Let others in the jolting coach confide, Or in the leaky boat the Thames divide; Or, box'd within the chair, contemn the street, And trust their fafety to another's feet: Still let me walk; for oft' the sudden gale Ruffles the tide, and shifts the dangerous fail Then fhall the paffenger too late deplore The whelming billow, and the faithless oar; The drunken chairman in the kennel spurns, The glaffes fhatters, and his charge o'erturns. 520 Who can recount the coach's various harms, The legs disjointed, and the broken arms?

I've seen a beau, in fome ill-fated hour,

;

When o'er the ftones choak'd kennels fwell the fhower,

In gilded chariot loll; he with difdain
Views fpatter'd paffengers all drench'd in rain.
With mud fill'd high, the rumbling cart draws

near;

530

Now rule thy prancing fteeds, lac'd charioteer :
The duftman lathes on with fpiteful rage,
His ponderous fpokes thy painted wheel engage;
Crush'd is thy pride, down falls the fhrieking beau,
The flabby pavement crystal fragments ftrow;
Black floods of mire th' embroider'd coat difgrace,
And nud enwraps the honours of his face.
So, when dread Jove the fon of Phoebus hurl'd,
Scar'd with dark thunder, to the nether world,
The headftreng courfers tore the filver reins,
And the fup's beamy ruin gilds the plains.

If the pale walker pant with weakening ills, His fickly hand is ftor'd with friendly bills; 540 From hence he learns the feventh-born doctor's fame,

From hence he learns the cheapest tailor's name.

Shall the large mutton smoke upon your boards? Such Newgate's copious market beft affords. Would't thou with mighty beef augment thy meal?

Seek Leaden hall; St. James's fends thee veal;

560

And deep divines, to modern fhops unknown;
Here, like the bee, that on industrious wing
Collects the various odours of the spring,
Walkers' at leifure, learning's flowers may fpoil,
Nor watch the wafting of the midnight oil;
May morals fnatch from Plutarch's tatter'd page,
A mildew'd Bacon, or Stagyra's fage:
Here fauntering 'prentices o'er Otway weep,
O'er Congreve fmile, or over D'Urfey fleep;
Pleas'd fempftreffes the Lock's fam'd Rape unfold;
And Squirts read Garth, till apozems grow cold.
O Lintot! let my labours obvious lie,
Rang'd on thy stall, for every curious eye!
So fhall the poor these precepts gratis know,
And to my verse their future fafeties owe.

What walker fhall his mean ambition fix
On the falfe luftre of a coach and fix?
Let the vain virgin, lur'd by glaring show,
Sigh for the liveries of th' embroider'd beau.

See yon bright chariot on its braces fwing,
With Flanders mares, and on an arched spring.
That wretch, to gain an equipage and place,
Betray'd his fifter to a lewd embrace.

570

This coach that with the blazon'd 'fcutcheon glows,

580

Vain of his unknown race, the coxcomb shows.
Here the brib'd lawyer, funk in velvet, fleeps;
The starving orphan, as he paffes, weeps;
There flames a fool, begirt with tinfel flaves,
Who wastes the wealth of a whole race of knaves;
That other, with a clustering train behind,
Owes his new honours to a fordid mind!
This next in court-fidelity excels,
The public rifles, and his country fells.
May the proud chariot never be my fate,
If purchas'd at fo mean, so dear a rate!
Or rather give me fweet content on foot,
Wrapt in my virtue, and a good surtout !

BOOK III.

OF WALKING THE STREETS BY NIGHT.

590

O TRIVIA, goddefs! leave these low abodes,
And traverse o'er the wide etherial roads;
Celestial queen! put on thy robes of light,
Now Cynthia nam'd, fair regent of the night.
At fight of thee, the villain theathes his fword,
Nor fcales the wall, to fteal the wealthy hoard.
O may thy filver lamp from heaven's high bower
Direct my footsteps in the midnight hour!
When night first bids the twinkling stars ap-
pear.

Or with her cloudy veft inwraps the air,

* An apothecary's boy, in The Dispensary.",