The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-30 00:00:00

L0N.,04.)N., FRIDAY EVENINC4, MAY 80 1856.

- _ .fi
THE, .e RAC REV' 'RINGS.

• I •
-•( ' <
THEiP,IRERTORKS AND THE ILLUMINATIONS:

• Yesterday was observed as a great public holiday
throughout the whole metropolis.
. The Government had selected, it as the day on
Which the termination of the recent war was to be
publicly commemorated. The new treaty of Paris
was'signed oh the 30th of March, and the ratifica-
lions of that treaty were exchanged on the 27th of
April ; but as it was thought proper that our first
national act on the occasion of the cessation of the
pitiless ravages of warfare should be.an acknowledg-
ment of that Divine interposition which for ever
regulates all our, destinies, the less solemn demon-
stration by which 'it was proposed that the, event
should be celebrated was postponed for a time,
and was. ultimately fixed for the 29th of May,
which is the day on which we are in -the habit of
commemorating the birth of her most gracious Ma-
jesty. We have •no wish whatever to engage here
in the angry discussions of politics ; and'we believe
we are only putting foiward an allegation which
can give rise to no difference of opinion when we
state-that the people of this country were animated
by no such enthusiasm for the new peace 'that the
prolonged delay 'in its 'celebration could excite in
them any.very :violent feeling of impatience. They
were content to leave the matter wholly in the
Arendt of- the Government, ~and the Government
having.resolved that the re-establishment of our
friendly relations with every other nation in the
'world should be welcomed by at least one splendid
spectacle, we were all prepared to make the most
of the amusement which had been provided for us.
From an early hour yesterday morning the streets
of London wore a very unusual aspect. Some of
the shops even of the scowler class did not open at
all, or at least closed some time before noon ; and
in almost all the larger mercantile establishments
—in the great factories nod warehouses—the day
was made a complete holiday, so that the great mass
of the more industrious portion of the population
of the metropolis were left to pass their time 'at
their own unfettered will. The leading thorough-
fares soon became packed with dense masses. Cheap-
side itself became for once the ren, lezvous of a crowd,
not only as large, but also as listless and unoceu-
pied, 'as the Parisian boulevards. We can hardly
say, however, that the scene was quite as gay as
that well-known centre of brilliant indolence. The
people here looked less lively ; the dresses were
less bright ; and, perhaps, in spite of all our
boasted wealth, it will be for ever impossible for the
great mass of Englishmen to present that air of
easy gaiety which comaels one to wonder, and to
believe that in the briiliant French capital nearly
everybody one meets has nothing else to do but to
come forth to see and to he seen, and to live splen
didly and happily on some handsome and perfectly
secured income. , There was not very much in the
streets of London yesterday to excite the 'interest
of the large crowds who filled them. Flags floated
from houses here and there ; and preparations
were being made in every direction for illumina-
tions in the night-time. But the work 'thus ac-
complished necessarily appeared to little advantage
in the unfriendly daylight. Among the devices se-
lected for these displays we noticed more than once
the initials of her Majesty and of the Prince, ac-
companied by those of the, Emperor 'and of the.
Empress of: the French—a very natural memorial
upon such an occasion, as .it seemed-to us, of that
grand alliance which has just authoritatively vin-
dicated the outraged law and saved the menaced
independence of Europe. At the great public
offices arrangements were made for illuminations
on a grand scale : and among those offices Somerset
House was conspicuous for the extent, the variety,
and the brilliant colouring of the emblematic de-
signs by which its frontage was covere d.
Everybody is aware that nothing can contribute
more than fine weather to afloat the progress of a
great out-door festival, and this is an element of
failure or, success to which we must always look
forward in England with considerable doubt and
apprehension. We had yesterday nothing to
complain of under this head. Since the preceding
day the wind had veered round to the north-
east, and we bad, in this terror of anxious
valetudinarians, a good security at least against
what would haie been upon this occasion
the most disagreeable Of all visitations—drenching
showers. The sun never shone throughout the day;
layers of thin grey clouds intercepted his beams ;
but the keen air was to the dense masses of wan-
dering sight-seers bracing and refreshing. At night,
however, it became inconveniently cold ir., the ex
posed parks to any people who bad to maintain for
an hour or two a. stationary position.

The long day wore on somewhat heavily, for there
was little beyond 'the appearance of the growing
crowds to divert one's attention. Each successive
hour added greatly to the numbers of the saunter-
ing masses, who at first passed carelessly in every
direction ; but as evening approached they all set
in steady unbroken streams towards the parks,
which, with their proposed fireworks, naturally
formed the main centres of popular attraction. We
doubt whether so vast a crowd ever thronged the
streets of a great city as that which gathered yes-
terday afternoon in the leading thoroughfares of
London. An immense portion of the inhabitants
of the metropolis itself left their hemes to join in
the gratification of the general curiosity and excite-
ment ;`and powerful reinforcements from every part
of the country came to swell in this instance the
native host of sight-seers. All the railway com-
panies brought to town by excursion trains or by
the.ordinary trains, at the price of a single journey
for a return. ticket, thousands of people from the
districts along their lines, eager, no doubt, to wit-
ness the novel spectacle of, a great national display
in the_shapti of a peace rejoicing.

1.
2.
3.
4.

• ' • rnird Division. ' '
1. Vlight of rockets
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
3. Tourbillons.: •
4. Discharge of ,i-lb. rockets, parschue , _
5. Discharge of I)-i rich shells, serpetits '
. . Fourth Division. I
1. Flight of rockets
2. Batteries of gold streamers'
3. Parachutesbells -,-.-- r
4. ascha,rge of 4-lb.,ropkets. red and green ... . ,
5. Discharge of si-inch shells, blue our yellow 5O
Fifth Div:sion. • -
1. Flight of rockets
, 7. Batteries "of mines, squibs.. 4
3. Tourbillons..: . ... .:.... . . . ....... ... .... : . .." .;.. .
4. Discharge of 1-lb rockets. red and giatilin lOO
5. Discharge of 10-inch shells, tailed . ' lOO
- Sixth Division.
r , 1. Flight of rockets
t. ; ..
2. Batteries of pearl streamers
3. Parachute shells ~ . „
4.5. Dpiisecch"arrggeetroff-4inbCh.rosthlefltss,, grerie'en.:: 1•••
Seventh Division. ' '
1. Flight of rockets
_4-Batteries-of mines, rrquii.,9 - - -------- - - 4
3. Tourbillons ~. - - • •4O
4. Discharge of rockets lOO
... .....
5. Disolvage of rockets OO
Eighth Division.
1. Flight of rockets ............... . . ~.... ~ 2OO
2. Batteries of gold stresmars ,
3.. Parachute shells 4
4.- Discharge of .4-lb. rockets, blue and yellow
5. Discharge of s•inch, shells, variegated
s _ •,. Ninth Division; . r.
1. Fright of rockets
~.
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
. •
•
3: Tourbillons "• ' , 4O
4. Discharge of r-lb,. rockets, bine and. yellow ......100
5, Discharge of 10-inch shells, cractpikopkt - 50
- • Tenth Division, -
1. Flight of rockets
2. Batteries of pearl streamers
3. Parachute shells
4. Discharge of 3.-lb. rockets, green ....
5. Discharge of r A-inch shells, red
Eleventh Division.
1. Flight of rockets
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
•3. Tourbillons - 4O
4. Discharge, of i-lb rockets, parachute '
5. Discharge of 10 inch shells, gold and. silver rain 50
Twelfth Division.
1. Flight of rockets
2. Batteries of gad streamers •
3. Parachute shells
4. Discharge of 2lb rockets, blue and yellow ......
5. Dischtirge of rsi:inch shells, green and red 5O

• • i• 2OO

....... 100
. . ... 50

.. 200

, • Thitteenth Division..
1. Flight of rockets2oo
2. l3,tteries orinines, squibs
3- Tou hilly ns
4. Discharge of 1-Ib. rockets, blue and yellow lOO
5. Discharge of 10 inch abelli, squibs lOO
Fourteenth Division.
1. Flight of rockets 2OO
2. Batteries of pearl streamers

3. Parachute shells • 4
4. Discharge of rockets, blue
5. Disehargi of 5a inch shells, yellow

Fifteenth Division.
1. Flight of rockets
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
3. Tour billons
4. Discharge of 4-11). rockets, parachute
5. Discharge of 10 inch shells. t.ilefl stars
Sixteenth Division.
1 'Flielt of rockets.
2. Batteries of gold streamers

3. Pitrachute shell 4 ~

~ 200

. '4O
.100
.10i

200

4. Discharge of A-lb. rockets, green awl red lO5
'5. Discharge of 5.-inch shells, vari.,.gsted 5O
Seventeenth Division.
1. Flight of rocket's
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
3. Touthillons
4. Discharge of 1-11). rockets, blue ant yellow 5O
i-lb. rockets, di' to
5. Discharge of 10-inch shells, brilliant 5O
Eighteenth ,Division.
1. Flight of rockets
2. Butteries of pearl streamers
3. Parachute shells ' 4
4. Discharge of A lb. rockets, yellow.
5. Discharge of 51-inch stiAls, blue 5O
. , Nineteenth Division.
1. Flight of rockets~..
2a) 2. Batteries of mines, squibs
3. Tnurbillons
4. Discharge of , -lb. rockets, parachute
5. Discharge of 10-inch shells, crie,hers 5O
Twentieth D.vision.
1. Flight of rockets , - 200
2. Batteries a gold streamers 4
...

3. Parachute shells
4. Discharge,of llb. rockets, blue and yellow
5. Discharge of 5-inch shells, green and red. ....
T,wenty-first.Division.
1. Flight of rockets 2OO
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
3. Tourbillons
4. Discharge of 1-lb. rockets, green and red lOO
5. Discharge of 10-inch shells, gold and silver rains 5O
Twenty-second Division.
___

Flight of rockets 2OO
Batteries of pearl streamers ' 4
Parachute shells
Discharge of i-lb. rockets, green and red
„ 1-lb. , blue and yellow
5. Discharge of 10-inch shells, I, (rib
Twenty-thitd Division.
1. Flight of rockets 2OO
2. Batteries of mines, squibs
4

. _
3. Tourbillons
4. Discharge of 1-Ib. rockets, green and red lOO
5. Discharge of 10-inch sholls, tailed I,tars ... 100
Twenty-fourth Division, Finale.
1. Fountain of 12 pr. go; hes . .
2. Flight of rockets
3. Batteries of mines, squibs
Po
cr
bhduktensshe,llasrl streamers:, '. . 7
CO
Red
45; Parachute
6. Discharge of 1-11, rockets Greenßirner
56
Yellow
7. Discharge of 10-inch shells, brilliants- lOO
{
8. Flight of rockets, 210, 660, 840, 1120,1400, 1680,
1960, :240
10,010

. :200

Several hours before the approach of nightgroups
began to eollect in Hyde Park, and as the evening
advanced those groups formed into a mighty as-
semblage. Piccadilly and Oxford-street, the two
main thoroughfares leading to the park, became
between eight and nine o'clock almost absolutely
impassable. But in the park itself 'there was for=
tunately space enough for any amount of visitors
who could by any possibility collect within its pre-
cincts, and, as any one portion of it afforded al-
most as good a position as another for witnessing
the great sight which had brought' so many thou-
sands of people together, there was no reason for
an inconvenient crowding at any particular spot.
One of the arrangements of the evening which de-
serve in our opinion special commendation was Oat
there were no. reserved seats for any class of visio
tors in any of the parks, and that people of every.
rank met on a footing of perfect equality.
The space specialty set apart for the works occu-
pied pefeaps some eight or ten` acres, enclosed
within a high boarding, and stretched in a quad-
rangular form along a portion of the park opposite
that part of Park-lane lying around Grosvenor-gate.
At a few minutes-before half-past nine o'clock the
first rocket shot up to announce' that the spectacle ,
of the night had just begun. Next followed a long
line of smothered fire, rolling masses of white and
red smoke along the whole frontage of the enclimure.
A succession of splendid pyrotechnic displays then
ensued, among which the predominant devices were
masses of rockets, bursting into vast bouquets of
the must brilliant green, pink, blue, .and white
lights, or shaking out their delicate shooting figures
into gerbes or sheaves of wondrous grace -. and
beauty. :We had also a profusion of devolving'
wheels, stars, and other images, filling the heavens
with floods of magical light, and dazzling and per-.
,plexing the eyesOf the beholder. Our readers, how-
ever, will find these sights described more at length'
in other portions of these columns ; and we close
this part of our notice of the business of the
evening by offering the willing testimony of our
unqualified admiration to the unexceptionable con-
duct of the vast mass of the people who assisted at
this interesting exhibition. We did not happen' to
see a single policemen in the park during
evening, and we may add, that if any policeman
were present upon the occasion, there did not at
any moment arise the slightest necessity for the
intervention of his authority.

We ought perhaps. further to observe, that the
illumination of Lord Ward's mansion in Park-lasie
attracted, in presence even of the fireworks them-
selves, a portion of the public notice. The whole
exterior of this fine building was one glowing mass
of brilliant light, arranged in forms of perfect sim-
plicity, but of the most dazzling effect.

•
bein:dnped. . The juvenile shout of " HO, bal-loon
will act with magic-force in precipitating staid house-
• holders and money-grubbing shopkeepers into the streets,
to watch the aerial machine and' its cargo of verdant-
greens in the progress from Vauxhall to -the Essex
mar‘dies. The shrill scream of PSunch at the corner of
the Adelphi will turn aside the sedate and,plodding•mer-
Aot or banker from his course Citiward ; and even
grave diyines, learned barristers, and ,sage legirlators,
forgetful alike of polemics, law, and politics, will stop
to enjoy a laugh at the freaks of the' little wife killer.
,The twang of a banjo, the scraping of a fiddle. and clat-
ter of the " bones," by. a party of Whitechapei diggers,
will sometimes hive the' effect of blocking tip a thorough-.
fare for half.an7hour, and taxing the utmost energies of
a detachment' of police to restore order tind,the usual
regularity of the traffic. And we doubt not that if the
famous Ramo §amee—we know not if he be loner in
the'flesh—were announced to perforre' his juggling feats,
say_ in any publiC place in: the metropolis, ,gratis ; or
that equally famous artist Pam- to go through some .of
his most celebrated poses parliantentccirestzlot. to say
thro'w a summersault from the Trea'snry to the Victoria
tower—there would have been justittch another gather-
ing, animated'iiy just the same sort of. feeling—curiosity,
a loie:of sightseeing, anything. for the -lake 'of excite=
menu—as we hal the distinguished honour Of. mixing
with id the Green Park lastmeening.
• . .
Wei the public,Were invited to partacrpate: in the
" per? rejoicings ;" we went to "see the fireworks."
If there mere any "rejoicings" on the occasion-,—in the
popular sense of rejoicing—they must be eeuiht ftir elset
where-anti In a• very different -region tioni the Green
Park, for of all the multitude who fl4cked thither
we question if there were one in fifty who camo
actuated by any such sentiment. The fact ie, that the
whole affair was simply one of "precedent." Fireworks
bad been let off and public offices illuminated on there-
Aoration of peace in 1815, as 'well a. 3 on similar occasions
previously; our red-tapists, therefore, decide that the
sinanmust be done in 1856, unconscious, as it would
seem to us, how much the national mind has grown
above these things ; that. it has come to regard the ex-
penditure for such purposes as mere wasteful extrava
genes, and is apt to speculate—vulgar soul, !—upon the
works of beneficence and shanty which, judici.msly
plied, the money might have effected. Bat, a truce,to
these refleCtinus, and let us come to the proceedings in
the Green-park,

The situation of this park is familiar to everybody.
Spacious and elevated, with the ground gently sloping
from Piccadilly to Buckingham Palace and the Mall,
perhaps there are few sites better adapted to a pyrotech-
nic display in or near the metropolis. It had teis fur-
ther advantage in the present instance, that beir g fl inked
ou the east by the mansions of several of the principal
nobility, it was, to a certain extent, protected again-t
those winds which are so unpleasantly suggestive of
rheums and catarrhs. Hither, then, from an early hour
in the evenieg, trooped large masses of the population,
as to one of the chief centres of attraction. True, the
weather was anything but auspicious, and involved some
desa tremens ; but we have often seen it as bad at a Green-
wich fa:r, and even twice or thrice at a Derby. The
sky was overcast, and although there was nu rain the
air was raw and cold, deprived of the genial warmth of
spring, verging-upon-summer, by a keen, northeast
wind. Cloaks, over-coats, and mufflers ; warm dresses
and woollen shawls, thick-soled boots and Shoes were,
therefore, the order of the day, and miserable were they
who were without them. Never more hopelessly did Mark
Tapley and his friend Martin Chuzzlewit make the
attempt in the bush . to be " jolly" than the people who
through negligence or wept were thus unfortUnately
circumstanced. To say that the park way crowded on
the occasion would scarcely convey an adequate idea of,
the actual state of things; for as the hour approached for
the introductory discharge of fireworks circulation was
almost entirely put a stop to. Of course it would be ab-
surd to attempt a computation of the numbers 'present ;
we can only state that the space benndel by Piccadilly,
Coretitution-hill, Birdcage-walk, and Bridgewater and
Sutherland Houses, were covered with one vast mass of
people, and that within those limits three or four bun-,
&fed thousand people at least must have congregated.
The aristocratic mansiene in the neighbourhood were
generally 'all of them illuminated ; but we observed little
that was either novel or remarkably ingenious in design.
Most of the devices seemed, in fact, to have done duty
before. There was a constant repetition of crowns, stars,
festoons, garlands, the Royal initials, and Chinese lamps,
and almost the only variation from this order was at
Bridgewater House, the mansion of the Earl of Elles-
mere, the fagede of which was illuminated with foer
columns in red lamps, the two outermost surmounted by
a crown, and the base having the initiateN. and N.;
whilst in front of the Duke of Sutheriand'ii house was
the word Peace, in enormous capitals, also of red lamps.
The enclosure from which the fireworks weredischarged
was situated next Piccadilly, and thus au uninterrupted
view was obtained of the whole from Buckingham Palace
by her Majesty,theßoyal family, the many august visitors
of the Queen, and the Court. Of Lilo fireworks themselves
—of which we have given the programme above—we can
only speak'in terms of admiration. For magnitude, num-
ber, and kaleidoscope brilliancy we cannot imagine the
possibility of their being excelled. The fixe i pieces were
several of them, alike grand and original in design, espe-
cially the Saxon hoop, the six-arm cross, the diamond
piece, the six turning suns, and the two fountains of
twelve pair of ge"•bes de feu, " God save the Queen,"
the pearl streamers, and the flight of ten thousand
rockets, with which the exhibition concluded. But bean-
eiful as all these undoubtedly were to the populace, no-
thing seemed td afford more pleasure or satisfaction than
the immense discharge of rockets, which were so timed
and directed as to present a grouping that for colour,
variety, and effect, we have never before witueesed. Let
the reader fancy the flight of a hundred rockets at a
time, all bursting high above his head, and throwing
out innumerable stars in crimson, blue, and green; again
a flight, and thousands of fiery serpents are pursuing one
• another through the air in the must eccentric and de-
vious manner imaginable ; and yet another flight—lo I
we see showers of golden rain descending softly and
gently, and just disappearing as they approach the
1 earth.

As a pyrotechnic display, then, nothing could have
been more successful on the whole than the exhibition in
the Green Park last night, although a sense of fatigue
began to be very generally manifested long before it was
ceucluded —a circumstance not to be wondered at when
it is recollected that the time occupied was from half-
past 9 until 11 o'clock, during.the whole of which period
the ear was deafened by the constant detonations And
reverberations, and the eye painted by the dazzling in-
tensity and magnificence of the blaze of artificial light
which filled the heavens and illumined the sea of up-
turned faces. •

One' word as to the demeanour of the. people: on • the
occasion. It was, in truth, deserving the, highest credit
and calculated to make one proud of his countrymen.
Noise and chanting enough there were in all conscience
before the exhibition commenced—there was also a little
harmless joking, and squibs and crackers not a few were
somewhat recklessly flung around by the younger portion
of the'crowd, but not a single ewe of misconduct or riot.
ous behaviour did we hear of or observe. Sobriety
marked the'bearing of all those hundreds of thousands,
and they. separated, as they had assembled, in the most
peaceable and orderly manner.