Page:Wonderful magazine of strange adventures, singular occurrences, and remarkable incidents.pdf/8

 his enemies; while a ghost, a conjurer, or a prophesier, shall make him an arrant coward and simpleton.

DURING the greatest part of this winter, the poor had been grievously afflicted in consequence of a severe frost, which began at Christmas, and continued till the latter end of February. The river Thames was covered with such a crust of ice, that a multitude of people dwelled upon it in tents, and a great number of booths were erected for the entertainment of the populace. The navigation was entirely stopped; the watermen and fishermen were disabled from earning a livelihood; the fruits of the earth were destroyed by the cold, which was so extreme, that many persons were chilled to death; and this calamity was the more deeply felt, as the poor could not afford to supply themselves with coals and fuel, which were advanced in price, in proportion to the severity and continuance of the frost. The lower classes of labourers, who worked in the open air, were now deprived of all means of subsistence; many kinds of manufacture were laid aside, because it was found impracticable to carry them on. The price of all sorts of provisions rose almost to a dearth: even water was sold in the streets of London.

In this season of distress, many wretched families must have perished by cold and hunger,