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4tli frosty ; 5th ancl 7th it froze again in y e House. In pouring a 
mug of Water into a Bason it Ic’d instantaniously ; 8tli, 9th, and 
10th the Cold abated, and some Snow fell, tho’ it froze on y® 9th 
and 10th in y® night ; 11th and 12tli more Snow fell, so that y e 
Earth was cover’d again, yet in y® morning of y e 12th I found y e 
Water in my Bason was Ic’d, and y e same on y e 13th, 14th, and 15th ; 
and on y e 13th y e chamber-pot froze ; 16th thaw, but in y° morning 
of y® 17th there was thin Ice ; 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st frost and 
Snow; 22nd thaw; 24th and 25th it froze, with a strong east’ly 
wind; 26th and 27th froze a little, and y e Ice still strong enough 
to bear, yet I now found the Larks, Thrushes, &c. sing, and y® 
Books began to build ; 29th at night it froze sharply, and on y° 
2nd March y® Ice bear my walking upon it. I began skeating on 
y® 19th of January, (and might have done so three weeks sooner,) 
and did not miss a Day till y® 12th of Eebruary, and skeated on 
y® 25th and several Days between y® 12th and 25th, all y® same Ice 
from y® 25th of December to y® 2nd of March, when it wou’d 
bear. Tho’ y® ice now Daily wasted, yet y® season continu’d cool ; 
y® 7th, 11th, and 12th of March it snow’d, and on y® 13th most of 
y® earth was white; and on y® day before, viz. y e 12th, y® ice was 
not quite gone, from y® Christmass when it began, viz., 79 Days, 
11 weeks, and 2 Days Ice. For did y® Snow (which fell plentifully 
y® beginning of January) melt entirely till y® Frost ended. 
“ As this was tho severest season I have known, I was glad to 
gain any accounts of it in other parts of England. The following 
one was given me by my Friend Partridge, as made by himself in 
London ; a Gent, of undoubted veracity. I shall transcribe his 
words. ‘Some Particulars of the hard Frost in 1739, as observed 
in London ; and of its effects in the Country the year following. 
Tuesday, December 25th, 1739, was a wet, mizzling Day; in the 
afternoon I walked in St. George’s Fields, and observed the 
weather to clear up and grow very cold ; at night it began to 
freeze, and continued freezing all Wednesday and Thursday; 
Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and Tuesday following 
were excessive cold Days ; by Saturday the Thames was so clogged 
with Ice that no boats could pass ; and there were great Quantities 
of Ducks, Teal, and other Wild-fowl upon the River, so tame by tho 
Severity of the Weather, that several were shot from London Bridge, 
and the Houses next the Water; Sunday and Monday it snowed 
