The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-11-15 00:00:00

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DRE4IOI7L

IN I.ISCOLNSIIIRE.

Inns TRW BOSTON 6.4ZETIR eisit Lvsysawsuras
ABIIIIKTISIIIII9 if 1.110 • • : • '
The dreadful visitation In this part.of the country.
which we have to-day the duty lg.:relating to cur
distant Readers,
.and of recording as matier'of
*Vence for those whcsare our neighbours,.-.is itself
of a nature s° impressive, that we have nothing more
to do to rivet public attention to, the subject, than
relataisartieulars. .
On Saturday mortiloglast, about scree o'eloek,
it'began to,ritin al boeton, and continnedto do so,
throughout the day. • The !lad accompanied the
rain impetuously from the :E,..5. E. and gradually
increased in roughness:• from eleven o'clock inahe
day till six its the evening, 'it blew.tatremely hard;
fad from that twur till nine, a peifict
.harricanc.
The consequence of this continned gale for to many
hours in one point was, that the in the evening
MU in with great rapidity, and rose half an beer
before the expected titnc of full fleet to a
height exceeding by four inches what it is recorded
to have attained en any occasion preceding.—
What is' called 46 a good tide" was expected ;
but the consternation produced by the rise of the
water severe: feet above its usual level, may well be
imagined tohave been excessive. Iluuses which on
no occasion' whatever before bad been invaded .by
the tide, were now, by its ovcrpcering all probable
bounds, fillet '
to a great depth with the may.,
which rushed into kitchens and cellars, and inao-.
dated every, apartment until it feu tidbits level. Whole.
streets were thus circumstanced ; and some were
fur two or three hours inaccessible but to those who
had resolution' enough to wade up to the knees.;
Wormgate, and all the streets and
houses near to tho river, were in the latter predica-
ment ; and as it was night (seven o'clock) and rain
fell heavily, the situatiou of the inhabitants was
most distressing. • •
What. was an extraordinary thing was, 'that the
tide, when It had flowed tq its highest, did: not per.,
ceptiblyi subside for more than an hour. To those
who hail any knowledge. of the way in which such
an effect cask! alone be produced, this was a sure
prognostiCation of an extensive calamity—to the*
It was clear that thesea-batiks bad Volum, or were
overflowed ; and fortunate fur thet.tlowu of Boston
• (but troisfrniscrably unfortunate for the surround.
coatitil). was its that, tkis thing happened ;
• for had cot the tide forind inciiheiWnd less strait.
c•
oed course, bat towed till spent itself
Its accustomed channel, it would have risen;.l
probability, even some feet higher than it did
the town, and have swept alinust every thing be-
fore it, As it happened, the town was saved, and
the neighbouring country deluged. friskney new
sea bank is broken by the title in two or three
places; Lennon new sea bank the same ; of
Frieston•new bank scarcely 'a vestige is left ; the
Old bank also 'in that parish is broken in many
'plides, as is Boston East old Bank, and the hanks
kirbesk Quarter, Wyberton, Frampton, and
losdyke.—lt may be well here to observe, that
'the nett hanks are thotelately made on the inch!.
'sure of the marshes from the sea, but arc not re-
lied upon for the defence of the country at large.
The old sea banks, unhappily for;the country,
have proved insufficient in height, as the surge,
passed over them almost along the whole line :
.and'
thin was the cause of the breaches—the overflow
having first scoured away the bankslsfrom the sum-
mit to the base, on the land side. The situation
of the country, in consequence, from Withal's'
almost to Spalding, a distance of 30 miles, is such.
us exceeds our powers of description: The Intel-
Itgence of distress which we have for two days
hourly had brought in to us, amazes and almostin-
capacitates us from our duty of relating what we
hear.
Of a visitation so awful and so extensive as is
that of which we are writing, much that is exagge-
rated or untrue will surely be reported : aware of
this, we' have been careful tq sift our information ;
and, for ourselves, to keep vordeseription within the
line of our authority. We have two heads of idol.-
mation yet to work under—the losses sustained by
the land-owners and holders in the inundation of the
country, and those experienced by the merchant and,
trader in wrecks and other disasters at sea; antrAread.
ful as the latter must necessarily have been along the
extensive mot of this county in a gale of perhaps
unprecedented violence, we really believe that, in
giving precedence Collie former head of informs.
lion, we are speaking of that which, as far as
worldly, pecuniary considerations may weigh, me-
rits the preference, In few, and perhaps plainer
words,—the loss on shore, we believe, exceeds in
value the loss by sun;—the estimate of human life
being of course out of the consideration.
The foresight of mau had not extended to the for-
mation of a barrier against such a title as that of Sa.
turday night; and therefore the whole extent or the
Eastern coast has probably been seriously affected
by it. The calamity has beery naturally more
severe on the low districts of this County, which
with difficulty find an outfall fur their drainage;
and the tide having once broken into them, pursues
Rs course irresistibly fur miles, MI the fine pos.
faros, the pride of this neighbourhood, have in one
,night been hill under water, and some Mows* of
,•