CHRONICLE. 



273 



gardens south-west of the town. 

 Theflashes of lightning succeeded 

 in the most rapid succession ; and, 

 from the clouds being so low, the 

 air was so strongly impregnated 

 withsulphur as to becomequite of- 

 fensive. About a mile beyond Kil- 

 burn Wells, a brilliant ball of fire 

 passed rapidly along, which had a 

 sublime and awful effect. The 

 Watford coach wascoming to town 

 at the time, and the coaciiman and 

 a female passenger were struck 

 down by the lightning. The hand 

 of the woman was very mucli hurt, 

 and the ring on her finger was 

 fused. A team which was near 

 the coach had one of the horses 

 killed, and a woman in the cart 

 struck down by the lightning. An 

 aged man, working in tiie garden 

 of Mr. Sneathe, in tlie Edgware 

 road, was struck blindbythelight • 

 ning. Three men were struck by 

 thelightning onBexley-heath, one 

 of whom was killed, and his watch 

 much fused. At Uitton, a barn 

 filled with corn was burnt by the 

 lightning. At Hampstead and 

 Higligate, the claps of thunder 

 resembled the firing of heavy ar- 

 tillery. The tempest extended to 

 mostpartsof Kent, and tv/o gentle- 

 men were killed near Canterbury 

 while taking shelter under a tree. 

 But the greatest damage was pro- 

 duced by the rain : in many parts 

 the streets were impassable, and 

 the property of the inhabitants in 

 their kitchens and cellars received 

 injury. Westminster-hall present- 

 ed an unusual appearance. The 

 water overflowed the sewer at the 

 back of the Exchequer coffee- 

 house, and soon covered the lower 

 part of lliu hall. Boys were sta- 

 tioned with brooms to sweep away 

 the inundation, but the stench pro- 

 VoL. LII. 



duced by the overflow made the 

 place uncommonly disagreeable to 

 those who attended on business. 

 The coruscations, which prevailed 

 at intervals, frequently occasioned 

 a momentary suspension of the 

 proceedings in the courts, as the 

 lightning had a peculiar effect on 

 the eye-sight. We did not hear of 

 any fatal accident in town; but it 

 is highly probable that the most 

 serious misfortunes have occurred 

 in consequence of the storm. 



Sunday afternoon, the 15th inst. 

 about three o'clock there was a 

 very tempestuous storm at Wind- 

 sor, of tliunder, hail, and rain, 

 which lasted for upwards of half 

 an hour. The hailstones that fell 

 were as large as acommon marble. 

 It has beaten all the fruit off the 

 trees, and cnt the peas and beans 

 down in the gardens in Windsor 

 and its environs. 



At Wellingborough, in North- 

 amptonshire, the electric fluid de- 

 scended through the chimney of a 

 house, and, entering the bed- 

 room, killed Mr. Hornby, of that 

 place, shoemaker, who was in bed 

 with hiswife and child, but neither 

 of these sustained any injury. 



16. At the assizes held at 

 Chelmsford, James Sweeny, Rich- 

 ard Pearce, Edmund Buckley, 

 Patrick Fleming, Maurice Bren- 

 wick, and John Sullivan, were in- 

 dicted for the murder of John 

 Bolding, a publican, at Forest 

 Gate, in West Ham, on May 20. 



This crime originated in a 

 squabble between two persons 

 drinking inthehouse; oneof whom 

 was an Irishman, who went and 

 fetched a number of his country- 

 men, at least thirty ; they assault- 

 ed the house, and, not finding the 

 man first quarrelled with, they 



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