The National Register.
London, England, 1815-12-03 00:00:00

ILLUMINATIONS.

• • The iPtlinhlntiong nil Monday on acconnt of the Peace, were
.PrivaiehOuses sere as glieimy as if their in!4-
. buants,ll3,l net shame-in those Idessings,• which Were so splen-
didly commemorated by theoffiees.ofothe public ministers.
Thc.se which attracted the chief notice were at., the west' end,
of the town andtowards Westminster,ive mean•Carlton-houie
and the public offices. The theatres displavect no brillianci',
that of Drury-lane having only the word " Peace," without
even an olive branch, and that of Covent-garden a simple
Clown, with the ini ials of his-Niajestv. Somerset-house was
in a blaze of light, and reflected on tte •oppoite windows a•
glow like thafof the setting sun'. Festoons of lamps surround.
e(l. the arches of the. piazzas, and formed so many continued'
o'ffight. At the base of the pillars above the arches, the
words, " Europe in peace, and Eno:land in glory,' formed a
range of variegated letters from one• end of the building to
the other. This legend was surmounted with the royal crown,
,the initials of Fiis Majesty and the Pi ince Regent, intermixe.l
with olive. Carlton house excited much .notice, not from the
.brilliattcv'oflits illamination,hot from the wantof it. It )
fes;oonsoleolonrediamps.hailgingrottnd the. pillars of its et I
on-
ade,—no crowns .nor feathers nor olives, nor G.R.'s,—it was il-
luminated merely with a scanty number of torches like those
carried by the lamplighters, which were not sufficient to shew
the trophy and the lions 1)11 the top of the w3ll. ' The Ad- .
miralty and the Horse Gtfards were elegantly illuminated, but
bah nothing peculiar in their devices. The Treasury and
Downing-stteet made the greatest display. On the front of
the former building were el posed transpatencies tepresenting
the arms of Great Brnain between those of Atistria, Prussia,
Russia, and Belgium, and below the legend " La Belle Alliance,'
with a profusion of olives surrounding the whale. The fotei,,or
office in Downing street, .as might have been eXpof ted; attract-
ed particular no!i.e: it was decorated with four lines of damps
placed above each other, the first forming the letters " Ntiv.
xx. 1815," the second " the Peace of Europe," the third and
fourth crowns and the initials of the Prince Regent and the •
King. The Parliament hone was not illuminated. The rest
of the public °dices had nothing but common emblems and
devices, the Admiralty, retaining its anchor, and all the rest
their clowns and initials. As the iLumination was not general,
and consequently no emulation excited, .there wei e few shops,
or private houses that deserved attention* The. transpa!ency
over We shop of Ackermann, in the Strand, attracted•the
greatest crowd, and appeared to us the most deserving of notice,
both for the ingenuity of its device, and the.correctnes& of its.
execution, 'the Opera. house. had a few lamps suspended
over the arches.of the different doors of admission.., it exhi-
bited likewise, a star, anda transparency, but ste.ther of limn
were very brilliant. The little thean e was no.wise rentarkable.
The French Ambassador's house was elegaaulv but
without any device or peculiar ornantela. 'on one' st!le
word " was displayed in la. ee and . sty,