POOR SWEEP.

IN all the public streets and thoroughfares of the metropolis boys and women employ themselves in dirty weather in sweeping crossings, from one side to the other, at convenient distances.  The foot passenger is constantly importuned, and frequently rewards the Poor Sweep with a halfpenny, which indeed he sometimes well deserves; for in the winter after a heavy fall of snow, if a thaw should come before the scavengers have had time to remove it, many of the streets cannot be crossed without being up to the middle of the leg in dirt.  Many of these Sweepers who choose their station with judgment, reap a plentiful harvest from their labours.

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Blackfriars Bridge crosses the river from Bridge-street to Surry-street.  From the latter end the annexed view is taken.  The width and loftiness of the arches, and the whole light construction of this bridge, is uncommonly pleasing to the eye. St. Paul's cathedral, never distinctly seen as a whole, displays much of the grandeur of its extensive outline when viewed from Blackfriars-bridge.  The Temple gardens, the terrace of Somerset-house, and Westminster-bridge, give beauty to the prospect on the other side.  At each end of the bridge watermen ply with their boats.  A broad flight of steps with an iron balustrade conducts to the boats, which are neatly painted, and kept perfectly clean.  The number of the boat and the waterman's name are always painted in some conspicuous part, in default of which the waterman is liable to a heavy penalty.  This regulation prevents, or is intended to prevent, impositions and misbehaviour.