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Was there a watchman took his hourly rounds
Safe from their blows, or new-invented wounds?
I pass their desp'rate deeds and mischiefs done,
Where from Snow-hill black steepy torrents run; 330
How matrons, hoop'd within the hogshead's womb,
Were tumbled furious thence; the rolling tomb
O'er the stones thunders, bounds from side to side:
So Regulus to save his country dy'd.

Where a dim gleam the paly lantern throws
O'er the mid pavement, heapy rubbish grows;
Or arched vaults their gaping jaws extend,
Or the dark caves to common sew'rs descend;
Oft' by the winds extinct the signal lies,
Or smother'd in the glimm'ring socket dies,
Ere Night has half roll'd round her ebon throne,
In the wide gulf the shatter'd coach o'erthrown
Sinks with the snorting steeds; the reins are broke,
And from the crackling axle flies the spoke.
So when fam'd Eddystone's far-shooting ray,
That led the sailor thro' the stormy way,
Was from its rocky roots by billows torn,
And the high turret in the whirlwind borne,
Fleets bulg'd their sides against the craggy land,
And pitchy ruins blacken'd all the strand.

340

350 Who then thro' night would hire the harness'd steed? And who would chuse the rattling wheel for speed? But hark, Distress with screaming voice draws nigher,~ And wakes the slumb'ring street with cries of fire.

At first a glowing red enwraps the skies,

360

And borne by winds the scatt'ring sparks arise;
From beam to beam the fierce contagion spreads;
The spiry flames now lift aloft their heads;
Thro' the burst sash a blazing deluge pours,
And splitting tiles descend in rattling show'rs.
Now with thick crowds th' enlighten'd pavement
The fireman sweats beneath his crooked arms; [swarms,
A leathern casque his vent'rous head defends,
Boldly he climbs where thickest smoke ascends;
Mov'd by the mother's streaming eyes and pray'rs,
The helpless infant thro' the flame he bears,
With no less virtue than thro' hostile fire
The Dardan hero bore his aged sire.

See forceful engines spout their levell'd streams,

To quench the blaze that runs along the beams; 370
The grappling hook plucks rafters from the walls,
And heaps on heaps the smoky ruin falls.

Blown by strong winds, the fiery tempest roars,
Bears down new walls, and pours along the floors;
The heav'ns are all ablaze, the face of Night
Is cover'd with a sanguine dreadful light;
'Twas such a light involv'd thy tow'rs, O Rome!
The dire presage of mighty Cæsar's doom,
When the sun veil'd in rust his mourning head,
And frightful prodigies the skies o'erspread.
380
Hark! the drum thunders! far, ye Crowds retire:
Behold! the ready match is tipt with fire,

The nitrous store is laid, the smutty train
With running blaze awakes the barrell'd grain;
Flames sudden wrap the walls; with sullen sound
The shatter'd pile sinks on the smoky ground.
So when the years shall have revolv'd the date,
Th' inevitable hour of Naples' fate,
Her sapp'd foundations shall with thunders shake,
And heave and toss upon the sulph'rous lake;
Earth's womb at once the fiery flood shall rend,
And in th' abyss her plunging tow'rs descend.

Consider, Reader! what fatigues I've known,
The toils, the perils of the wintry Town;
What riots seen, what bustling crowds I bor'd,
How oft' I cross'd where carts and coaches roar'd;
Yet shall I bless my labours, if mankind
Their future safety from my dangers find.
Thus the bold traveller, (inur'd to toil,
Whose steps have printed Asia's desert soil,
The barb'rous Arab's haunt, or shiv'ring crost
Dark Greenland's mountains of eternal frost,
Whom Providence in length of years restores
To the wish'd harbour of his native shores)
Sets forth his journals to the public view,
To caution, by his woes, the wand'ring crew.
And now complete my gen'rous labours lie,
Finish'd, and ripe for immortality.

Death shall entomb in dust this mould'ring frame,
But never reach th' eternal part, my fame.

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400

410

When W* and G**, mighty names! are dead,
Or but a Chelsea under custards read;
When critics crazy bandboxes repair,

And tragedies, turn'd rockets, bounce in air,

High-rais'd on Fleet-s reet posts, consign'd to fame,
This Work shall shine, and Walkers bless my name.

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Alley, not to be walked in by night,

iii, 127

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Camlet, how affected by rain,

i, 46

Coat, how to chuse one for the winter,

i, 41

Chairs and chariots prejudicial to health,

i, 69

Coachman asleep on his box, what the sign,

i, 153

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Clergy, what tradesmen to avoid,

ii, 25

Chimney-sweeper, by whom to be avoided,

ii, 33

Chandlers prejudicial to Walkers,

ii, 40

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