COLD WINTERS. 135 



strange but not pleasant ; it seemed to convey an uncomfor- 

 table idea of desolation : 



Ipsa silentia terrent. 



' The worst had not yet, however, been reached. On the 

 2yth much snow fell all day, and in the evening the frost 

 became very intense. At South Lambeth, for the four fol- 

 lowing nights, the thermometer fell to eleven, seven, six, six ; 

 and at Selborne to seven, six, ten ; and on the 3ist, just 

 before sunrise, with rime on the trees and on the tube of the 

 glass, the quicksilver sank exactly to zero a most unusual 

 degree of cold this for the South of England.' During these 

 four nights, the cold was so penetrating that ice formed 

 under beds ; and in the day the wind was so keen, that per- 

 sons of robust constitutions could hardly endure to face it. 

 'The Thames was at once frozen over, both above and 

 below bridge, that crowds ran about on the ice. The streets 

 were now strangely encumbered with snow, which crumbled 

 and trod dusty ; and turning gray, resembled bay salt ; what 

 had fallen on the roofs was so perfectly dry that from first 

 to last it lay twenty-six days on the houses in the city ; a 

 longer time than had been remembered by the oldest housekeepers 

 living? 



According to all appearances rigorous weather might now 

 have been expected for weeks to come, since every night in- 

 creased in severity. ' But behold,' says White, ' without any 

 apparent cause, on February i, a thaw took place, and some 

 rain followed before night, making good the observation that 

 frosts often go off as it were at once without any gradual de- 

 clension of cold. On February 2 the thaw persisted, and on 

 the 3rd swarms of little insects were frisking and sporting in 

 a court-yard at South Lambeth, as if they had felt no frost. 

 Why the juices in the small bodies and smaller limbs of 

 such minute beings are not frozen, is a matter of curious 

 inquiry.' 



Although it is manifest that the weather of January, 1776, 

 was severe, yet the remarks italicised show that such weather 



