“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.
“Notwithstanding the enormous masses of people present, there was no vast pressure from the crowds except at the conclusion of the display, when the attempts made to pass through Grosvenor Gate, and the other outlets of the park, were attended with some of those fearful crushes which, somehow or other, appear to be inseparable from a London gathering. The houses of the nobility and others, looking on to the park, were illuminated in splendid style, and conspicuous among the whole of the adjoining mansions was that of Lord Ward, the whole front of the house being literally a blaze of gas jets, formed by lines following the architectural details of the building.”
Being present, I can vouch for the good behaviour of the crowd, also to the general harmlessness of the rocket-sticks, which fell among us in showers. But the light-fingered gentry reaped a great harvest. I, and all our party, lost our scarf-pins, and, on going to Bow Street next day to try and recover mine, a large iron tea-tray full of pins, taken from captured thieves, was brought, and I was told to pick out my own, but I could not find it. The fireworks were made at the Laboratory, Woolwich, and in such profusion that it was said there were enough over for another display.
But what has rendered Hyde Park historically immortal is the choice of it as the site of the “GREAT EXHIBITION OF THE INDUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS,” in 1851, an institution which was claimed to have been foreseen by Chaucer, as evidenced by portions scattered at wide intervals over his _Book of Fame_.[36]