That’s right, sweep away there, my good little man,
And earn a few halfpence, whenever you can.
Many of the crossings in London streets are often very dirty, and some little lads, who prefer doing even a dirty job to being idle, put down a board for the passengers to walk upon, which they sweep clean continually from mud or snow. They do not forget to hold their hats to those who make use of this convenience; and good-natured people seldom fail to drop a halfpenny into them, like the gentleman in the picture.
Though some persons may be incommoded by wet weather, yet the poor little street-sweeper, the hackney-coachman, the dealer in umbrellas, and various other tradesmen in London, are much benefited by it; and in the country it is often welcome to the farmer, whose corn and grass are made to grow by the timely succession of wet and dry, heat and cold.
78. The Flower-pot Man.
Here comes the old man with his flowers to sell,
Along the streets merrily going;
Full many a year I’ve remember’d him well,
With, “Flowers, a growing, a blowing!”Geraniums, in dresses of scarlet and green;
Thick aloes, that blossom so rarely;
The long creeping cereus with prickles so keen;
Or primroses modest and early.The myrtle dark green, and the jessamine pale,
Sweet scented and gracefully flowing,
This flower-man carries and offers for sale,
“All flourishing, growing, and blowing!”
79. The Waterman, the Ticket Porter, and Fellowship Porter.
The privilege of working as a waterman on the river Thames, is only to be obtained by servitude or birth-right; and freemen only can work as porters in the city, for which they wear a ticket as a badge of privilege, and on which their names are stamped and numbered; but the privilege of bringing salt, fish, coals, fruit, and other goods on shore, from ships, boats, or barges, belongs to the Company of Fellowship Porters. All the firemen in London must be watermen or lightermen.