Madam, hail! Hail, Roadian! hail, Collossus! who dost stand Striding ten thousand turnpikes on the land! Oh universal Leveller! all hail! To thee, a good, yet stony-hearted man, The kindest one, and yet the flintiest going,-- To thee,--how much for thy commodious plan, Lanark Reformer of the Ruts, is Owing! The Bristol mail Gliding o’er ways, hitherto deem’d invincible, When carrying Patriots, now shall never fail Those of the most “_unshaken_ public principle.” Hail to thee, Scot of Scots! Thou northern light, amid those heavy men! Foe to Stonehenge, yet friend to all beside, Thou scatter’st flints and favours far and wide, From palaces to cots;-- Dispenser of coagulated good! Distributor of granite and of food! Long may thy fame its even path march on, E’en when thy sons are dead! Best benefactor! though thou giv’st a stone To those who ask for bread! Thy first great trial in this mighty town Was, if I rightly recollect, upon That gentle hill which goeth Down from “the County” to the Palace gate, And, like a river, thanks to thee, now floweth Past the Old Horticultural Society,-- The chemist Cobb’s, the house of Howell and James, Where ladies play high shawl and satin games-- A little _Hell_ of lace! And past the Athenæum, made of late, Severs a sweet variety Of milliners and booksellers who grace Waterloo Place, Making division, the Muse fears and guesses, ’Twixt Mr. Rivington’s and Mr Hessey’s. Thou stood’st thy trial, Mac! and shaved the road From Barber Beaumont’s to the King’s abode So well, that paviours threw their rammers by, Let down their tuck’d shirt sleeves, and with a sigh Prepared themselves, poor souls, to chip or die! Next, from the palace to the prison, thou Didst go, the highway’s watchman, to thy beat,-- Preventing though the _rattling_ in the street, Yet kicking up a row, Upon the stones--ah! truly watchman-like, Encouraging thy victims all to strike, To further thy own purpose, Adam, daily;-- Thou hast smoothed, alas, the path to the Old Bailey! And to the stony bowers Of Newgate, to encourage the approach, By caravan or coach,-- Hast strewed the way with flints as soft as flowers.