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

THE ?BAC tg REJ, TINOS.

THE FIREWORKS AND THE ILLUMINATIONS.
Yesterday was observed as a great public holiday
throughout the whole metropolis.
The (lovernment 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 on the 30th of March, and the ratifica-
tions 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 ot
commemorating the birth ot 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 forward 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
hands 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 bees provided for us.
Fr om an early hour yesterday morning the streets
of London wore a very unusual aspect. Some of
the shops even of the sma ler 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 and 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. Cileap-
side i,selt became for once the rendezvous of a crowd,
not only as large, but also as listless and unoccu-
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 coin leis one to wonder, and to
believe that in the brilliant 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 frentage was covered.
Everybody is aware that nothing can contribute
more than flue weather to affect 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 hal yesterday nothing to
complain of under this head. Since the preceding
day the wind had veered round to the north-
east, and we had, in this terror of anxious
valetudinarians, a good security at least against
what would have 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 it, the ex-
posed parks to any people who had 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 homes 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 shape of a peace rejoicing.