144 ROUGH WAYS MADE SMOOTH. 



Paris and its suburbs, and numerous regiments lined the 

 Champs Elyse'es, from the early morning until two in the 

 afternoon. Every one suffered severely from the cold. 

 Soldiers and workmen, hoping to obtain warmth by drink- 

 ing brandy ' (the most chilling process they could have 

 thought of), ' were seized by the cold, and dropped down 

 dead of congestion. Several persons perished, victims of 

 their curiosity : having climbed up into the trees to see the 

 procession, their extremities, benumbed by the cold, failed 

 to support them, and they were killed by the fall.' 



The winter of 1844-45 was remarkable for the long 

 duration of cold weather. The whole of December was 

 very cold, January not so severe, but still cold, February 

 singularly cold, and the frost so severe in March that on 

 Good Friday (March 2ist) the boats, which had been frost- 

 bound for weeks in the canals, were still locked tightly in 

 ice. 



Mr. Plant omits to notice in the letter above-mentioned 

 the long winter of 1853-54, which was indeed less severe 

 (relatively as well as absolutely) in England than on the 

 Continent. Still, he is hardly right in saying, that after 

 1845 there was no winter of long and intense character until 

 January and February 1855. On the Continent the winter 

 of 1853-54 was not only protracted but severe, especially 

 towards the end of December. Several rivers were frozen 

 over. The cold lasted from March till November, with 

 scarcely any intermission. 



The winter of 1854-55 was still more severe than its 

 predecessor. The frosts commenced in the east of France 

 in October and lasted till the 28th of April. The mean 

 temperatures for January and February, in England, were 31 

 degrees and 29 degrees respectively. This year will be 

 remembered as that during which our army suffered so 

 terribly from cold in the Crimea. But our brave fellows 

 would have resisted Generals January and February (in 

 whom the Czar Nicholas expressed such strong reliance), as 

 well as the Russians themselves did, or rnaybe a trifle better 



