NEW CHIMNEY-SWEEPING ACT. 87 



struggle betwixt the hot and cold air to injure 

 the work of the mason. Some years ago, I had 

 a fair opportunity in London of p vie wing the 

 chimney-tops, from the elevated place where I 

 stood ; and I perceived them to be much out 

 of repair as far as the eye could reach. 



The round form of the new sweeping ma- 

 chine renders it unfit to come in contact with 

 the angles of the chimney. Hence the soot 

 will remain in them ; and on the weather being 

 damp, especially when there is a high wind and 

 no fire in the grate, an extraordinary and disa- 

 greeable smell will pervade the apartment. 



Under the existing Act of Parliament, there 

 will be no remedy but patience for this unne- 

 cessary nuisance, which mistaken philanthropy 

 has most unfortunately inflicted upon us. 



To be sure, some courageous souls might 

 escape it by causing their chimneys to be 

 swept in the same manner in which our worthy 

 ancestors had caused theirs to be swept for cen- 

 turies long gone by. But then, the Act and 

 its penalties are staring them in the face, and it 

 is perilous in the extreme to transgress an Act 

 of Parliament, be it ever so preposterous in its 

 nature, when many hungry beings are interested 



