48 



ANNUAL REGISTER, isii. 



of whom was the veteran Blucher ; 

 after which, the public orator de- 

 livered a Latin speech on the occa- 

 sion ; and recitations followed, of 

 Englisii, Latin, and Greek verses. 

 The emperor and King then went 

 to the town hall, where they re- 

 ceived the freedom of the city ; 

 after which they left Oxford for 

 Woodstock and Blenheim. 



15. About three o'clock this 

 morning, the metropolis was vi- 

 sited by a violent thunderstorm. 

 The horizon was completely il- 

 lumined by the lightning, and the 

 rain descended in torrents. The 

 tempest raged about three quarters 

 of an hour, when it subsided ; but 

 the clouds, charged with electric 

 fluid, again accumulated in the 

 south, and poured forth another 

 storm, which lasted from half-past 

 four to about five o'clock. The 

 direction of the clouds was from 

 the west, south-west, and south, 

 towards the east, and the light- 

 ning was as vivid and expansive as 

 we ever witnessed. The heat of 

 the preceding afternoon had been 

 extraordinary. About five o'clock 

 the thermometer was as high as 

 85 in the shade. 



This night, between the hours 

 of nine and ten, as Mr. WiUiam 

 Fowler, a farmer, of Chew Magna, 

 was returning from Bristol market, 

 accompanied by a young woman, 

 in his market cart, he was stopped 

 by a footpad, near the Maidenhead 

 at Dundry ; when springing from 

 the cart, as is supposed with a view 

 to protect his property, he was 

 shot through the head. The re- 

 port of the pistol frightened the 

 horse, but the young woman leap- 

 ed out of the cart, and proceeded 

 to a carpenter's shop about two 

 hundred yards from the spot, 

 wiiere she procured assistance, and. 



on her return found the deceased 

 rifled of all his property. He has 

 left a wife and four children. The 

 robber was dressed in a smock 

 frock. A tremendous storm of 

 thunder and lightning, which was 

 raging at the time, did not deter 

 the villain from the commission of 

 the crime. 



17. On this day a grand enter- 

 tainment was given to the Emperor 

 of Russia, the King of Prussia, 

 the Duchess of Oldenburgh, the 

 Duke of York, and a number of 

 distinguished persons, by the Mer- 

 chants and Bankers of London at 

 Merchant Taylors'-hall. 



18. The second civic banquet 

 in honour of our illustrious Visit- 

 ors, the Emperor of Russia, the 

 King of Prussia, &c. was given on 

 this day, by the Corporation of 

 London, in Guildhall. 



By two o'clock the streets from 

 Guildhall to Carlton-house were 

 completely lined with military, 

 consisting of the St. James's Vo- 

 lunteers, the Duke of Sussex's 

 regiment of Highlanders, the St. 

 Margaret's Volunteers, and many 

 other volunteer corps ; the Tower 

 Hamlets, London, and Stafford- 

 shire Militia ; the City Light 

 Horse ; the Westminster Light 

 Horse ; the Surrey Yeomanry ; 

 the Scotch Greys ; the 11th Light 

 Dragoons, and other regiments. 

 Parties of the Life Guards paraded 

 the streets to keep the passage 

 clear. There were about 8,000 

 troops (regulars and volunteers) 

 under arms. 



The Royal procession moved at 

 a slow pace .from Carlton house 

 soon after four o'clock, preceded 

 by parties of the 1 1 th Dragoons, 

 and of the Royal Horse Guards 

 (Blue). Tt commenced with five 

 of the prince Regent's Carriages, 



