THE MANDARIN'S DAUGHTER. CHAPTER XII.-WINTERING OF THE TROOPS IN TIEN-TSINMY RETURN IN THE SPRING TO PEKING. NOW OW that affairs were amicably settled between the Allies and the Chinese Government, it became a question of importance as to how the troops should be disposed of. At first the British envoy and generals thought of wintering the army outside the walls of Peking, but this idea was abandoned from the difficulty of forwarding supplies from Tien-tsin, where the stores and head-quarters of the commissariat had remained behind. It was resolved, therefore, that half of the forces should winter at that city, leaving only a small garrison to protect the legation at Peking, and the remainder leave for Japan and Hong Kong. The frost soon set in with a severity that is only experienced by our troops when quartered in the Dominion of Canada. Its effects told more upon their health than the sweltering heats of summer. Notwithstanding that every necessary was distributed without stint, still there was always a large number of patients in the hospital. Not only was there abundance of ration food, but game of various kinds could be bought cheap from the natives. Hares and pheasants were so plentiful that they formed a daily portion of the soldiers' mess. "Well, Bill," said one to another, in the hearing of the chaplain, have you got a good dinner for us to-day?" "No, that I haven't, lad," was the reply; "there ain't nothing but some hare soup and two or three pheasants, and what's the use of that?" In his intercourse with the natives the British soldier displayed all his John Bull contempt for the Chinese language, which brought out many comical phrases in the garrison life at Tien-tsin. It is true that they picked up a few native words which they interspersed with English, but these would be introduced with a running commentary on the Chinese text. Thus, soldier, loquitur : "I say, my man, there's no use, you see, in your talking to me, because I don't understand your language, but just you listen to what I have got to say to you. If you don't bring lots of 'sooay'- that is, plenty of water-ming tien,' that's to-morrow morning at six o'clock, I'll just knock saucepans out of you, that's all. Now 'wilo,' ie., 'go away!'" The most amusing application of a word was savey," which was used by the soldiers as if it were a Chinese term, and by John Chinaman as English, whereas it is a corruption of the Portuguese verb sabez, "to know." The chaplain had an Irish soldier and two Canton coolies, who attended to his wants, or as frequently neglected their duties. They were, however, on good terms with each other, and ate their meals together. One day he heard Paddy speaking to them in the following manner:— Do you call thim petaytees?" (contemptuously). "You never was in a country called Oirland, you savey, becase if I had you there, I'd show you what petaytees is, you savey. Sure, the people has to live on petaytees in Oirland-that's where I come from, this piecey man, you savey-but surely no one could live on the likes of them, you savey. It's all very well for you now, you savey, becase you get mate every day for your dinner, you savey; that's becase we are at war now, you savey, with the Emperor of China, this piecey country, you savey, and the innimy has to feed you, you savey; but if you were at pace, and living quiet and asy at home, in your little bit of a cabin in Oirland, you savey, do you think you'd get mate every day for your dinner? Oh! never a bit, you savey!" When the Peiho River was fairly frozen over, it became the great highway for native traffic, changing the whole aspect of the scene at Tien-tsin. As that signifies the "heavenly ferry," from a bridge of boats that crosses the river, this was no longer necessary, and those who wished to cross could do so on foot. The Chinese used small sledges, capable of carrying two people seated, and propelled by a third person behind. These were in great requisition by the soldiers, who hired them, and worked as hard at pushing them along as if they had been paid for it. Many a tumble they got, but persevered at the exercise as if it was a pleasure. Then the officers managed to get skates made after a pattern one of them had brought from England; so they selected a smooth part of the river several miles below the city to skate upon. Farther down a British gunboat was frozen in, and her deck housed for the winter. If anything, the sailors were better off for provisions than the soldiers; the deck was one long larder; whole sheep, a side of beef, strings of pheasants, grouse, wild ducks, hares, and a deer or two, were always to be seen. Thus the allied garrison passed the winter on the rigorous shores of Northern China without the slightest molestation from the Chinese army; and an amicable feeling arose between them and the inhabitants that impressed them favourably, but which, alas! did not avert the Tien-tsin massacre, which happened ten years afterwards. When spring came round the wintry aspects of Tientsin and the garrison disappeared more rapidly than they came. The ice broke up, and presented a fine sight as it went crashing down the rapid river. The snow disappeared from the wide plain under the rays of the sun, which soon became uncomfortably hot in the middle of the day, so as to induce dangerous illnesses among the troops. Nevertheless, the change in the season was right welcome to all, as it opened up navigation, and they were again in communion with the outer world. Among the first arrivals were the ministers of Great Britain and France, appointed to establish in person their respective legations at Peking, which had been only temporarily formed after the conclusion of hostilities in the autumn of the previous year. During the winter those in charge had selected suitable residences for the embassies. The building chosen for Mr. Bruce (brother to Lord Elgin) was the palace of the Duke of Leang, originally an imperial residence, and rented to the British Government, in perpetuity, at five hundred pounds a year, no rent to be paid for the first two years, owing to the extensive alterations and repairs it required. As it came within the duties of the Royal Engineers for some of them to superintend these alterations, Captain Gordon was applied to for several of his most skilled sappers. I was only too glad to volunteer my services, as it afforded the long-wishedfor opportunity of visiting the mandarin and his daughter at Peking. I took my departure from Tien-tsin with several comrades, along with the secretaries and attachés of the legations, under an escort of mounted troopers and Sikh cavalry, who preceded the ministers as far as Tung-chow. After so long an absence, I knocked at the gate | of the mandarin's house with some trepidation. The keeper promptly opened it, and in answer to the question if his master or mistress were in, he replied in the affirmative, and shortly returned with the mandarin, who received me in the same kindly manner as formerly, and invited me into his bureau, or library, where he conducted his official duties. This apartment did not differ from others in the style of architecture, but it was differently furnished. Ranges of shelves lined the walls, relieved at intervals by elaborately carved bookcases of sandalwood, sapanwood, and ebony. These were filled with books upon all subjects, ancient and modern, necessary for the literati to study in passing through the competitive examinations, which require the student to be specially learned in the classic books of Kong-footaze, whose name the Jesuits Latinized into Confucius. Like other anomalies among the Chinese as compared with Europeans, a library and its contents differ in their arrangement from ours. We print on both sides of the leaf, they only on one; we page our books at the top, they on the margin; we place our notes on the text at the bottom of the page, they at the top; we read the sentences horizontally from left to right, they perpendicularly from right to left; we mark the title of a book on the back of the binding, they on the margin of the leaf; and in our libraries we set our volumes upon edge, while they pile them on the side. After the complimentary salutations were over, Loo Meng-kee, or, as I shall in future name him, Meng-kee, proceeded to inquire how I and my brethren in arms had passed the winter at Tien-tsin. Many other questions were asked by Meng-kee, concerning the new relations between the Allies and the Chinese Government, which raised my suspicions that I was being made a tool of by an astute official to elicit secret information regarding the movements of the British forces. Among other matters he inquired particularly if any intelligence had reached them, after the opening of navigation, as to the movements of the Taipings. On this head I had no reason for withholding information, and had gleaned a good deal from the Shanghai and Hong Kong newspapers brought up by the mails. During this conversation, the mandarin assumed so serious and anxious an expression of countenance, different from his usual equanimity, that I resolved to question him on my part, to ascertain, if possible, the reasons for his inquisitiveness, and if it was his intention to make use of my information against our armies. "Be not afraid, honourable sir," Meng-kee replied, I am greatly interested in what you say, but not a word of it shall be used to injure you or your evervictorious army. I am more a friend," he added, in a subdued tone of voice, "than I dare almost to tell you." Now, I thought, I shall get at the mystery of all that has puzzled me in my intercourse with the mandarin and his daughter; and so I replied: "Honourable sir, I accept the sincerity of your words, that you do not intend to do me any harm; but I am impressed with the belief that there is more than what is apparent in your manner and that of your daughter towards me, who am a stranger and a foreigner fighting against your government, that you should show me so much attention and kindness." "In saying these words, valiant sir, you have penetrated into the secrets of our hearts, and it is only proper that I should explain." Upon this Meng-kee rose from his seat and walked across the room to one of the book-cases, which he unlocked, and out of its most secret recess brought forth a goodly volume. Then he laid it on the table reverently before his visitor, saying: "There, Christian sir, as you can read the characters of our language, you will see that I cherish the doctrines of your sublime faith, and my daughter also, as set forth in that book, and that is why we honour you and sympathise with your country.' "On looking into the volume, I saw that it was a translation of numerous selected chapters from the Bible, with comments by the missionaries, explanatory of passages not readily to be understood by the Chinese. "Come," said Meng-kee, "let us proceed to the apartments of my daughter, and let her know that I have divulged the secret of our conversion to the Christian faith." It was a joyful meeting, and we three conversed freely upon religious subjects, and the prospect of the spread of Christianity in China. This brought on the subject of Taiping propagandism, and Mengkee produced several decrees of the leader of the movement, setting forth their tenets. "What is the general opinion," he asked, "among your countrymen as to the doctrines they profess? Having read a good deal on the subject, not only in the English newspapers, but in the local press of China, I told him that opinions were divided; some espousing the cause of the Taipings, as the means of regenerating the country and bringing it within the pale of Christian dominion. Not only did they countenance the cause in publications, but they assisted in sending the insurgents arms and ammunition to carry on the insurrection against the Imperial forces. This statement excited the mandarin very much, and caused him to ask rather abruptly, "Do the honourable commanders of your forces agree to this?" "No! not exactly in aiding them to fight, although some sympathise in the cause. But should the Taipings attack any of the towns near our settlements, such as Shanghai, they have been warned that the troops will drive them away with shot and shell." "Ah! we will not say any more on this subject just now, but we will the next time you come; and, honourable sir, say nothing of this to others." I assured him that he had nothing to fear, and after bidding A-Lee an affectionate adieu, I returned once more to my quarters. THE OXFORD UNION. THE society bearing this name not long ago cele brated its fiftieth anniversary by a grand banquet. The speakers on that occasion blew loudly the trumpet of the "little senate" of Oxford as the nursery of orators and statesmen. Without trespassing on the ground which these speakers and which writers in the newspapers have occupied, a short account of the rise, history, and constitution of the Oxford Union may be acceptable to some of our readers. A retrospect of fifty years will bring us back to the | convenient, and most quaintly decorated in some year 1823, when certain of the members of Balliol prehistoric style." College constituted themselves into the "United Debating Society," choosing for their first president D. Maclean, late M.P. for Oxford. The commencement was unpretentious, and the number of members was not so large as to prevent the meetings from being held in the college rooms. But this arrangement was not of a satisfactory nature, as the "Times" informs us that " on the night of an interesting debate fifty or sixty men and all the candles of the staircase would breathe and burn for three hours in a room affording for each pair of full-grown lungs less air than parliament gives to each infant in a well-educated school." Accordingly, as the society extended, rooms were procured in the city to accommodate those who attended the debates. During the early history of the society the president's tenure of office appears to have been very short, in one year there being no less than thirteen of these officers. Troublous times were awaiting the society. Certain of the United Debaters preferred enjoyment of a more juvenile and exciting character than that offered by an ordinary well-conducted debate. The result was that serious disturbances took place, which threatened to prove the ruin of the concern. No provision had been made for the exclusion of offenders, and consequently the only means of procuring peace and a continuation of the institution was by the more serious and orderly portion seceding, and forming their rules anew. This was done in 1826, the society thus constituted assuming the title of the "Oxford Union Society," Mr. Dodgson, of Christ Church, being the first president. It may be thought that want of funds would be one of the very last difficulties which would be likely to present itself in a university scheme. Yet the financial state of the society at one time threatened its dissolution. And this was not the only obstacle which promised to bring its history to an abrupt termination. The college tutors looked upon the scheme with suspicion; they regarded it as a probable cause of distraction from study and as a refuge for the idle. Some parents also objected to the minds of their sons being excited by the political topics of the day. So for a long time the Union was a hardly recognised interloper in academic life. An altercation more violent than that which led to the alteration of the name of the society in 1826 took place in 1830. In the latter year certain members, discontented with the course which the official elections took, formed themselves into a separate community-the Rambler. Some of these Ramblers are not altogether unknown to fame at the present day. Among them were Roundell Palmer, of Trinity, the late Lord Chancellor; Archibald Tait, of Balliol, now Archbishop of Canterbury; and Cardwell, of Balliol, late War Minister. An opposition thus constituted was not to be lightly dealt with. A fierce debate on the question of the expulsion of the disaffected members resulted in their favour by a decisive majority. The writer of a recent article in a periodical informs us that, in the heat of discussion, Tait, refusing to attend to the orders of the president, Robert Lowe, was fined a sovereign. Peace was re-established, and the "Uniomachia" was numbered with the struggles of the past. An idea of the history of this society cannot be obtained in a better way than by passing in review some of the most eminent men who have graced its presidential chair. Of the members of the last Cabinet no less than five were quondam presidents. First and foremost, Gladstone, of Christ Church, was president in 1830; Lord Selborne in 1832; Cardwell in 1833, and again in 1835; Lowe, of University, in 1834; Goschen, of Oriel, in 1853. And of members of the Government not in the Cabinet, Sir John Coleridge occupied the chair in 1843, and KnatchbullHugessen in 1850. Among other statesmen who held office in the society, we may mention the names of Wilson-Patten, J. S. Wortley, Lord Herbert of Lea, J. M. Gaskell, the Duke of Newcastle, Earl Dufferin, Ward Hunt, and Stafford Northcote. The past and present occupants of the Bench also figure prominently in the annals of the society. The Bishop of Chichester was three times raised to its head. The late Bishop of Winchester was president in 1825. Of him as a Union speaker, one of the members has remarked that he was the only man who recalled to him Homer's description of Ulysses, "with words flowing fast and soft as flakes of snow from his lips." At the banquet, touching allusion was made to his absence; "he who had been taken from them by so sudden and strange a shock." It is interesting to notice that three others who bore his honoured name succeeded him at different times in office. To continue our list of bishops, we meet with the names of the late Bishop of Gibraltar; Baring, of Durham; Tait, of Canterbury, who held office as secretary in 1832, as president in 1833; Mackarness, of Oxford; the late Bishop of Salisbury; and Wordsworth, of St. Andrews. H. E. Manning, of Balliol, now Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, was president in 1829. A mere enumeration of the names of other eminent office-bearers will suffice: Earl Stanhope, Earl Beauchamp, the late Earl of Elgin, Right Hon. J. R. Mowbray, M.P. for the University, the Dean of Durham, the Professors of Ancient History, Geometry, and Civil Law, the late Professor Conington, Lord Colchester, Lord Justice Mellish, and last, but not least, the Marquis of Salisbury, "our honoured Lord and Chancellor." Few societies can boast of a more illustrious roll, and we have no fear but that the reputation of the Union will be ably maintained in after-life by recent tenants of its honourable positions. It is worthy of notice that at this fiftieth anniversary the presidential chair was occupied by a son of one to its most distinguished former tenants, the member for Oxford University. Having thus briefly disposed of the historical part of the subject, a few words must be said about the present constitution of the society. As in the case of ordinary clubs, it is supported by the entrance and terminal subscriptions of the members. Nine of these subscriptions, amounting to twenty-two shillings each, place the subscriber on the list of honorary members. Thus the privileges of the Union are secured for life by a payment of about eleven pounds, including the entrance fee of one pound. Any one may be proposed as a member of the society who has resided at least one term in the University. His name, together with those of the Temporary arrangements having proved inade-member proposing him and his two seconders, are quate, in the year 1856 the society moved to the present buildings, described as "a palace, spacious, registered on a notice-board, which is exposed for at least five days before the election. Any member may apply for a ballot on the occasion of any election, in which case one black ball in four will exclude. But this practice is rarely resorted to, no instance of opposition having occurred during the last five or six years. Members of the Cambridge and Durham Union Societies, and the Dublin Historical Society, may take part in the public debates, and make use of the society's rooms. This privilege, so far as it extends to the use of the rooms, is also granted for a month to visitors introduced by members. A large and commodious building is now in the occupation of the society. It comprises two libraries, with every convenience for reading, three readingrooms devoted respectively to periodicals, weekly and daily newspapers, a large writing-room, lavatory, coffee and smoking rooms. The last two of these are recent additions, already extensively patronised. The library, founded in 1830, with T. Dyke Acland, of Christ Church, as first librarian, is from week to week enlarged by the addition of books procured with the consent of the members. It is under the supervision of a librarian, who is always a member of the University. The general management of the society's rooms, and of its financial matters, is entrusted to the treasurer, whose jurisdiction in certain cases is subject to the control of the standing committee. Any important change in the affairs of the Union is effected at one of the two private business meetings which are held in each term. Thus it has lost its character as exclusively a debating society. At an early stage in its history it was thus transformed into a well-managed club with an excellent library, the treasures of which were made available by the permission to members to take books to their colleges. Most of its members enjoyed the privileges of reading in comfort newspapers and periodicals, of writing letters on note-paper which the society stamped for them, and borrowing some useful and many entertaining books, without giving more than a passing thought to the debates which had once been the keystone of the Union. As it is by this "keystone" that the Union has been rendered most famous, it will be interesting to our readers to hear some information about the way in which the debates are conducted. Some member places in a box kept for the purpose a notice of a motion which he is prepared to bring forward for public discussion. If more than one of these notices are found in the box, the committee selects one for the next debate. Due information having been given to the proposer of the acceptance of his subject, he is required to attend the next public meeting. A debate is held every Thursday evening during term, and to this all members of the society, with friends introduced by them, are admitted. There is also a strangers' gallery, especially patronised at commemoration, for the accommodation of ladies and other visitors. At eight o'clock the members of the committee, headed by the president, enter the room. He takes the chair, and calls to order any who do not conform with the customs of the society. A member keeping his hat on is greeted by yells of disapproval from all parts of the room, and these are continued till the offending article is removed. The president reads out the names of those who have been elected since the last meeting, and then calls upon the librarian to read the list of books which are proposed to be added to the library, and each of which may provoke a discussion. matter being arranged, and an opportunity having This been given for any one to ask any questions of any of the officers of the society with regard to their official duties, the public debate is opened by the president calling upon the mover to bring forward his motion. He is allowed half an hour for this, each subsequent speech being confined to twenty minutes' duration. The usages of the Houses of Parliament are generally adopted. In case several members rise at the same time to speak, the preference is given to the one who catches the president's eye. If at any time in the course of the debate a member notices that there are less than fifteen present the House is counted out, and the debate is deferred. Any one may propose the adjournment of the debate, and in the event of this being carried, he is "in possession of the House," and reopens the discussion when the debate is resumed. A new speech may not be commenced after half-past eleven o'clock; the meeting being adjourned if any who wish have not had an opportunity to speak. At any time in the evening, on there being no response to the inquiry of the president, "whether any honourable member wishes to address the House on the subject," he calls. upon the mover for his reply. This being completed, the opinion of the House on the question is sought. This is obtained first by acclamation, and in case of doubt, by a division of the House, the members holding the affirmative going to one side of the room, those maintaining the negative to the other. The result is posted up in the hall, and often finds its way into the daily papers if the motion is of an interesting character. It is no light matter to stand up before an assembly constituted as this one is, where the freest expression is given to sentiments of approval or disapproval. And there is by no means a total absence of those objectionable practices which might have been expected not to have existed here. Some speakers are constantly subjected to that most discouraging sound of shuffling which has been known to make the most determined speakers quail. But if an intelligent and earnest speaker rises, he is always sure to have an attentive and appreciative audience which will amply repay him for his exertions.. There are certain classes of orators who are always popular at the Union. The satirical and the comic are generally well received, and when a hot-headed Irish patriot rises to defend his "counthry,' ," enthusiasm, though of a doubtful character, reaches its height. All shades and degrees of politics are represented: religious questions are expressly excluded. It is a curious fact, noted by the late First Lord of the Admiralty, that there has not been a single occasion on which the navy has been the subject of a debate at the Union. THUNDERSTORM OF 9TH AUGUST, 1843. AMONG the severest thunderstorms recorded in England was that of the 9th August, 1843. This terrific tempest extended over a wide tract of country, but its violence and destructive effects were greatest in Cambridge and the neighbourhood, Fortunately Mr. Glaisher, F.R.S., who has since become so distinguished as a meteorologist, was at that time an assistant at the Cambridge Observatory, and to him we are indebted for a description of the storm. "The ninth of August will be for a long time memorable, on account of the extraordinary storm and accompanying phenomena which occurred in the afternoon. The day previous was sultry, and so was this, but hardly sufficiently so to make the approach of any storm of consequence expected. The morning of this day was fine, with sunshine; the wind until 11 a.m. was from south, after then from north. At 2 p.m. thunder was indistinctly heard in the direction of N.W., and from this time until four o'clock, the distant, though gradually approaching storm, gave unequivocal signs of being of more than ordinary magnitude. The lightning, or rather its reflection, was first seen in the w. and N.W. horizon about 3 o'clock: by 3h. 30m. the lightning itself was visible, and the thunder was then heard in more distant claps, the previous sounds being but the echoes from the masses of clouds which hovered about; these echoes were so numerous that the reverberations of one clap had not subsided before the next occurred, thus causing a continued rumbling since 2 o'clock. much as the gauge did retain, and some years' experience, I think the amount cannot be less than two and a half inches. The wind varied but little from the N. except after the hail-storm, when it blew from the E. for an hour, and then returned to N. The barometer fell but little before it commenced, and then continued stationary. "When the first storm abated, which it did about a quarter past 5, the aspect presented on looking round was dreary and distressing to the highest extent. The streets and roads were like running rivers; Midsummer Common was one sheet of water, in the midst of which a burst drain boiled up like a miniature Icelandic geyser; glass, wherever exposed to the fury of the elements, was of course shivered to atoms, and with such extreme violence had the hail descended, that in some instances it passed through windows almost like a ball from a pistol; trees were half-stripped of their leaves, which were seen lying in layers on the roads, and on apple-trees the fruit was battered to pieces, in some cases pieces being actually scooped out; birds, even rooks and pigeons, were killed in large numbers, and picked up in the country in all directions; the houses in the town were in many parts flooded, the cellars being several feet deep in water, which had also made its way through the roofs, and destroyed furniture and stockutterly destroyed, and the havoc made amongst the crops just ripening for the sickle was of the most lamentable kind. Herein, indeed, the devastation effected by this awful storm is greatest and most to be regretted: harvest had just begun; the bounties of the earth were waiting to be gathered and stored for the comfort and sustenance of man, and in one short half-hour they were swept away or rendered perfectly useless. The effect on the crops where the storm was most violent was very remarkable. In some instances the straw was actually beaten down and broken up into little pieces, almost as if it had been chopped, and the ears were as bare as if they had been regularly thrashed." "From 4 o'clock until 4h. 45m., the storm approached rapidly in an almost due east direction, passing therefore rather northward; some large drops of rain fell in this interval, and the flashes of lightning became very vivid and of a brilliant purple colour. At 4h. 45m., the hail-storm began, and for twenty minutes continued with a violence probably unpre-in-trade in its course; garden-produce was of course cedented in the last century, in the latitude of England. The great size of the hailstones was the first thing to attract attention, for many measured an inch in diameter; some were even larger, and the average size was probably from half to three-quarters of an inch in diameter. They fell as closely as the drops of rain from a waterspout, and this, with their weight, and some accelerating force from a brisk N.E. wind, caused them to do immense destruction. The temperature of the rain was certainly not higher than 40 degrees; the hail was, of course, icy; it fell upon the earth whose temperature was considerably higher, and thus a mist, or almost a steam arose, and made the view still more dreary than the effect of a snow-white ground alone would have presented. "The entire storm went by N.E. to E., and for a time disappeared, though the lightning now and then became visible; at 6 o'clock it had completed three-quarters of a circle, and appeared again in the s. and s.w.; soon afterwards it was evident that Cambridge would have its near approach again, although it was fast getting westward. The character of the lightning in this second appearance was more terrific than before, for the principal portion of every flash was in a vertical direction, and on many occasions several of these vertical streams were visible almost simultaneously; once I counted seven distinctly, at irregular intervals, varying from four to ten degrees; from this circumstance it is much to be feared that considerable destruction has occurred from this cause also. No hail accompanied this appearance of the storm, but a very copious rain fell whilst it was passing from w. to N. Frequent flashes of lightning were visible all the evening, in the N. and N.E. horizon, and there were frequent heavy showers during the night, especially about 1 o'clock, when thunder was again heard distinctly. Unfortunately my rain-gauge was not in a proper condition to receive so much rain without overflowing, and therefore I cannot state accurately the quantity of rain which fell; but estimating from so Mr. Glaisher's graphic description was prepared for the "Cambridge Chronicle," in which paper it appeared on Saturday, Aug. 12, with the following editorial notice of the event: "To-day it is our painful duty to record a storm of thunder and hail more terrific in its character, and more disastrous in its results, than any by which this district has been visited within the memory of living man, or indeed of which history supplies us with an account. Wednesday, the 9th of August, 1843, will hold a conspicuous place in the annals of this and the adjoining counties, and the remembrance of it will never recur without sorrow to the minds of those now living, for to many it brought positive ruin, while very few escaped more or less of the injury with which it was fraught. Experience totally fails to supply us with anything in this latitude approaching the devastation occasioned by the tempest of which we speak, or the terror which it diffused amongst all classes of people during the time of its continuance. "The early part of the day was hot and close, but there was nothing to indicate the approach of such a storm as afterwards visited us. About 2 o'clock there were symptoms of a change in the sunny atmosphere which we had in the morning: clouds began to gather, and the air felt heavy and oppres sive, and between 2 and 3 o'clock, the rumbling of distant thunder was heard. This increased, and |