‘Let us stop and perform our salutations,’ said the prince. ‘There goes another majesty by the grace of God and of Robinson Crusoe (Napoleon). There goes the King of Würtemberg.
‘Up to the present,’ he went on, ‘you have only seen royal fêtes. To-morrow I mean to take you to an entertainment for the people. So much has been accomplished through the people that they can well afford to do something for it. I’ll see you to-morrow.’
The people’s fête is one of the most brilliant solemnities of Vienna. It had been eagerly looked forward to for some time.
Anxious to profit by the invitation of my illustrious guide, I was at his place before midday. Shortly afterwards we set out for the Augarten, where the fête was to take place.
The Augarten is situated on the same island of the Danube as the Prater, by which it is bound on the east. The park, with its thickly-wooded retreats and clumps of trees, presented the most varied and beautiful vegetation, interspersed in all directions by magnificent avenues. The palace, due to Joseph II., is a specimen of simple and elegant architecture. An inscription over the front entrance tells the fact that this amiable prince-philosopher gave up the building for the amusement of the nation.
There was an immense crowd; the weather was splendid; the stands erected for the sovereigns and the celebrities of the Congress were filled with most elegantly dressed spectators of both sexes. The Prince de Ligne preferred to mingle with the crowd, and I was glad of it.
The Austrian veterans, to the number of four thousand, had been invited to the fête. To the strains of military music they marched past the stand of the sovereigns, and afterwards took possession of a number of spacious tents, set apart for their special use. There were military sports at frequent intervals throughout the day.
They opened with foot races, after which came races with small Eastern horses, after the manner of the Barbary horses that contest for speed in the Corso in Rome. In an open-air circus, the trick-riders and acrobats of Bach, who are the rivals of Franconi and Astley of London, performed all kinds of exercises on foot and on horseback. Further on, the Turnplatz was occupied by young men who, to the delight of the spectators, went through a series of gymnastics. To the left of the palace, on a magnificent greensward, there stood a pole a hundred feet high, surmounted by a huge wooden bird with outspread wings. It served as a target to a company of Tyrolese archers, experts with the cross-bow. The prize was a beautiful silver-gilt vase. It was hotly contested for, and finally fell to a son of the celebrated Tyrolese Hofer.
Finally, an enormous balloon rose in the air. The aeronaut’s name was Kraskowitz, and he proved a worthy emulator of Garnerin and Blanchard, for a short time after his ascent he soared majestically above the crowd, waving a number of flags of the various nations whose representatives had forgathered in Vienna.
An hour later, the aeronaut, after a unique view of a splendid scene, came gently down in the island of Lobau, the spot connected with one of the remarkable military feats of modern history.