“Mr. Rawlinson. ‘Not one farthing. The fair is meant for the recreation of honest people, and not for the advantage of blacklegs and gamblers.’
“Clegg. ‘Vell, if this ’ere arn’t a vicked robbery, I never seed one in my life; but the Queen, God bless her, shall know how her subjects are treated, for, if I don’t publish it in all the papers, my name’s not Edward Clegg.’
“The prisoners were then removed.”
There was no demonstration of joy in Hyde Park to celebrate the marriage of the Queen and Prince Albert on Feb. 10, 1840; and the next occasion when any public entertainment took place therein was in thankfulness for the Treaty of Peace between Russia, France and England, signed at Paris in April, 1856. This “Peace Rejoicing,” as it was called, took place on May 29th following, and took the form of a display of fireworks in Hyde, Green and Victoria Parks and on Primrose Hill. We have only to deal with those in Hyde Park, and the best contemporary account of them that I can find is in The Morning Chronicle of May 30, 1856, as follows:—
“Whatever may have been the sentiments with which the conclusion of peace was received, there can be no doubt, whatever, but that the fireworks displayed to celebrate that important event were highly popular. In delaying the period for public rejoicings until several weeks after the exchange of the ratifications of peace, it would almost appear that the Government were anxious that all the conditions of the peace should be fully and fairly discussed, and thoroughly understood, before calling upon the nation to celebrate its rejoicings. It may be, that by postponing the event, we may have appeared to have ignored altogether the existence of electric telegraphs, and those other means of rapid communication and intercourse which were unknown at the last celebration of peace, and professed ourselves unable to believe any news which had not travelled through the old time-honoured channels of official routine.
“It may have been fitting that we should, as was done at Paris, command an illumination, and indulged in our fêtes, immediately the electric spark had conveyed to us the intelligence of the signature of the treaty. But there can be no doubt but that the public rejoicings of last night had more of real value and greater significance, because time had been allowed for calm reflection, and the people thoroughly understood what it was for which they were called upon to rejoice. A grand display of fireworks, such as that which has been for some time past announced, could hardly fail to draw together an immense number of spectators; and, while we would not confound the desire to witness a magnificent spectacle with an assent to the terms of the treaty of peace; still any person who mingled among the crowds would have abundant opportunities of learning from the general tone of the conversation that there was little or no dissatisfaction with the conditions upon which the peace had been obtained, which they were assembled to celebrate.
“Long before the shades of evening began to fall, the immense area of Hyde Park set apart for the public was crowded with a dense mass of individuals, the majority of whom, without, perhaps, either knowing or caring much about the occasion which had called them together, were resolved to be in time to secure good places to see the fireworks. Thousands had already congregated by two or three in the afternoon.
“Towards seven o’clock, all trees commanding a view of the enclosure where the fireworks were prepared had received their share of venturous climbers, whose good positions excited envy, and made them excellent marks, not merely for the jokes, but for the missiles of the vulgar crowd below. A perfect storm of turfs and sods, torn from the grass, was hurled at the people who swarmed the trees, many of whom were speedily dislodged; but others, who had secured the uppermost branches, remained possessors of their positions to the end. Foiled in their attempt to dislodge the arboreal class of spectators, the roughs commenced an indiscriminate assault on the crowd, hurling clods and pieces of turf among the more densely packed masses. The assailants became, in turn, the assailed, and many a long and annoying battle was waged, and no small share of angry feeling created by these discreditable proceedings. Any person with a decent coat or hat was sure to become a mark for the mischievous young urchins who indulged in those freaks, and it was only when some two or three persons had the good sense to administer a little wholesome chastisement to the young rascals, that temporary peace was secured.
“At length the hour of nine o’clock arrived, and a signal rocket sent up announced that the long expected display was about to commence, and it was immediately followed by a grand display of white, red, green and yellow fires, with a continuous discharge of maroons. Scarcely had the brilliant colours ceased, when 100 rockets went screeching and screaming through the air in their graceful course, and shell after shell exploded in rapid succession. Then came wheel pieces and gold streamers, and blue and yellow rockets and green and yellow shells; then pearl streamers, blue and yellow rockets, and serpents and yellow shells, and numbers of fixed pieces and tailed stars, and rocket wheels and Scotch stars, and parachutes and pearl rain, and twelve-pointed stars and crackers, and Saxon hoops and silver rain, and diamond pieces and looking glasses, and kaleidoscopes and Maltese crosses, and turning suns and tourbillons, and five-pointed lances and ten-stars, and a variety of other things known only to the initiated in the mystery of the pyrotechnic art.
“The beauty of the varied coloured showers of fire, the bold careering of the rockets, the graceful curves of the jerbes falling over like sheaves of wheat, formed a scene such as falls to the lot of a generation to witness but once only. The grand tableau, by some strange arrangement, instead of coming as a grand finale to the whole, was discharged about the middle of the proceedings; its effect was grand and effective in the extreme. By far the most imposing part of the spectacle was the aerial portion. The fixed pieces presented but little of novelty or grandeur, and several of them were scarcely worthy of the occasion. Two colossal fountains, showering around a golden shower, were remarkable for their splendour, and were among the most successful of any of the displays.