426 
act to makea road from London to 
Tilbury; when several resolutions 
for the above purpose were proposed 
by sir Thomas H. Lennard, and car- 
ried by a large majority. A sub- 
scription was immediately opened, 
and several thousand pounds sub- 
scribed. Should the above patriotic 
proposal be carried into execution, 
it will reduce the distance from Lon- 
don to Tilbury, on the Essex side, 
eight miles, and thereby afford a 
very great accommodation to all 
persons travelling, or connected 
with the shipping interest of this 
country, particularly benefit the 
towns through which it will pass, 
and facilitate the conveyance of fish 
to the London markets. 
This day the West India dock 
company opened a new dock at 
Blackwall, appropriated for ships 
outward-bound, and the Phenix 
West Indiaman, captain Douglas, 
belonging to Messrs. Hibberts and 
Co. was warped into the bason from 
the import dock, amidst the ap- 
plauses of many thousand spectators. 
The vessel was decorated from stem 
to stern with the colours of every 
nation, surmounted with the British 
standard. 
14th. The storm which happened 
this day seems to have been one of 
the most extraordinary ever remem- 
bered in the eastern part of this 
island. From a quarter past one, 
for three hours, the sky was uni- 
formly and deeply clouded, and the 
rain and hail, with few and short, 
intervals, came down in torrents.— 
Soon after the storm began, it was 
thought advisable by the magistrates 
attending to the business of the quar- 
ter sessions in Bury St. Edmonds, 
to take down the great chandelier in 
the Shire-hall, it being deemed a 
powerful conductor; in doing this, 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 1806. 
however, mischief had very nearly 
happened, as the clerk of the peace 
narrowly escaped a fatal blow from 
the fall of part of it. In a very 
few minutes after came one of the 
strongest flashes, and a violent ex_ 
plosion, at the distance of two se- 
conds, equal to 2200 feet nearly ; 
or little more than one third of a 
mile. ‘There were three other ex- 
plosions, the most distant of which 
from the flash did not exceed eight 
seconds. The lightning was ex- 
ceedingly red and dense. On this 
day, a mare, in a pasture belong- 
ing to Mr. Beeton, of Hardwicke, 
was struck dead under a tree, which 
was also shivered to pieces. A pop-— 
lar tree, in the meadows, near 
Stamford-bridge, which stands be- 
tween two stacks of hay and clover, 
was stripped of its bark, and nearly 
splitin halves, but not thrown down, 
and most probably, by its attraction, 
preserved the stacks from fire.-—In 
some parts of Middlesex this storm 
was very violent, and particularly 
at Sunbury, where the lightning 
struck the church, and has done 
some damage to the tower.—At 
three, a hurricane took place near 
IIyde Park, when a cloud burst 
over Chesterfield-street, Curzon- 
street, and Queen-street. Thebody 
of water fell with such rapidity, as 
to fill the cellars of the inhabitants, 
and formed a complete current in 
Shepherd’s Market, and it was with 
difficulty that the gratings of the 
drains were dragged up, so as to 
admit the water, and thereby pre- 
vent great damage. 
Counr or Kine’s Bencu.—The 
King v. Dorant—This was a prose- 
cution for perjury, instituted by 
Rouvellet, the man who prosecuted 
Elizabeth Barnett, at the Old Bai- 
ley, on Saturday, for an alledged 
robbery, 
