The wailing of children, the scolding
of their mothers, the miserable exhibition of ragged linens hung from
the windows to dry, spoke the wants and distresses of the wretched
inhabitants; while the sounds of complaint were mocked and overwhelmed
in the riotous shouts, oaths, profane songs, and boisterous laughter,
that issued from the alehouses and taverns, which, as the signs
indicated, were equal in number to all the other houses; and, that the
full character of the place might be evident, several faded, tinselled
and painted females, looked boldly at the strangers from their open
lattices, or more modestly seemed busied with the cracked flower-pots,
filled with mignonette and rosemary, which were disposed in front of
the windows, to the great risk of the passengers.
"_Semi-reducta Venus_," said the Templar, pointing to one of these
nymphs, who seemed afraid of observation, and partly concealed herself
behind the casement, as she chirped to a miserable blackbird, the
tenant of a wicker prison, which hung outside on the black brick
wall.--"I know the face of yonder waistcoateer," continued the guide;
"and I could wager a rose-noble, from the posture she stands in, that
she has clean head-gear and a soiled night-rail.--But here come two of
the male inhabitants, smoking like moving volcanoes! These are roaring
blades, whom Nicotia and Trinidado serve, I dare swear, in lieu of
beef and pudding; for be it known to you, my lord, that the king's
counter-blast against the Indian weed will no more pass current in
Alsatia than will his writ of _capias_.
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