2 GREAT FROST. 



a year big with events of vast im- 

 portance to the nations of Europe was 

 introduced by a frost which, for its in- 

 tensity and length of duration, has not 

 been equalled in England in the memory 

 of that respectable authority the oldest 

 inhabitant. It was general throughout 

 the Island, and was accompanied in many 

 parts with a great fall of snow. Com- 

 munication by coach or carriage of any 

 sort was, on many roads, for a while 

 suspended. Even postal arrivals and 

 departures were uncertain, and the mail- 

 bags to important cities and commercial 

 towns could only be conveyed on horses 7 

 backs. 



A general holiday seemed to be esta- 

 blished in London. The Thames was 

 frozen over, and a fair held daily on 

 the ice. A bullock was roasted whole 

 near the spot where the middle arch of 

 the present bridge now stands. Crowds 



