It
was general throughout Europe.
1796. Frost the most severe on Dec. 25th
that had ever been felt in the
memory of man.
1814. Severe frost, Thames frozen, and
tremendous falls of snow.
A French writer who visited England during the severe frost in the year
1688, says, (in a small volume which he published in Paris,) "that
besides hackney-coaches, a large sledge, or sledges, were then
exhibited on the frozen Thames, and that King Charles passed a whole
night upon the ice."
The following extract is also an account of this frost by an
eye-witness; which may be seen in the _Beauties of England and Wales_,
vol. x. page 83: he says, "On the 20th of December, 1688, a very
violent frost began, which lasted to the 6th of February, in so great
extremity, that the pools were frozen 18 inches thick at least, and the
Thames was so frozen that a great street from the Temple to Southwark
was built with shops, and all manner of things sold. Hackney coaches
plied there as in the streets. There were also bull-baiting, and a
great many shows and tricks to be seen. This day the frost broke up. In
the morning I saw a coach and six horses driven from Whitehall almost
to the bridge (London Bridge) yet by three o'clock that day, February
the 6th, next to Southwark the ice was gone, so as boats did row to and
fro, and the next day all the frost was gone.
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