5(57 
LON 
pantine; and in a few minutes the firfl fiiip of the Ame¬ 
rican fleet which lay in her line, and with which flie came 
in contaft, was fet on fire, and added to the magnificence 
of a fcene which, in its real occurrence, has been univer- 
fally allowed to exceed all others in terrific pomp,, viz. 
that of a (hip of war on fire at lea. This frigate was fol¬ 
lowed by a (econd ; and by the two, the whole American 
fleet was fet on fire and demolilhed.—Soon after this the 
fireworks began ; and Hyde Park prefented a phenomenon 
nowhere elfe to be l'een, namely, the water-rockets. They 
commence with a report, which draws the attention of 
the fpedlators to them ; they are then feen whirling about 
■with great rapidity on the furface of the water, imitating 
the rotatory motion of a mill-wheel. In a few feconds 
there is an addition of a very beautiful fountain, which, 
after difplaying its elegant fpoutings for fome time, burfts 
forth with aloud report into what are called water-fnakes. 
Thefe, after flying into the air, defcend again into the 
water, into which they immerge for a minute or two, and 
then rife at the diftance of a few feet; and keep thus con¬ 
tinually bounding in all direftions, till, after various itn- 
jnerfions, at lad they expire in a loud explofion. With 
thefe the exhibition in Hyde Park terminated. 
The Green Park, at an early hour, began to difplay its 
attradtions : befides the Balloon, it was here that the Caf- 
tle-Temple was to be feen : here the royal booth difplayed 
its crimibn tapeltry and its illuminated front; and here 
the fplendid Bridge acrofs Conltitution-hill prefented the 
names of the chief naval heroes of the w’ar.—The attrac¬ 
tions in this quarter were increafed by the prefence, at 
Buckingham-houfe, of the princefles and queen, who had 
invited the regent and 250 of the nobility and gentry to 
dinner, and to view the different exhibitions. The royal 
family paraded the lawn for a (hort time. The duke of 
Cambridge and the princefs Sophia of Gloucefter were 
particularly anxious to fee and underftand the procefs of 
filling the balloon. It was ready to afcend about fix 
o’clock; but its flight was delayed a few minmtes, that 
her majefty and the princefles might witnefs the afcent. 
At twenty minutes part fix, when the cords which held 
the balloon were ready to be cut, it was found that the 
fattening which feeures the network to the valve at the 
top of the balloon had by fome means been difengaged, 
anil was held only by a flight twine. Under thefe circum- 
ttances, the new afpirant to celellial excurfions, Mrs. Henry 
Johnflon, an adtrefs, was informed that (he could not pof- 
iibly accompany Mr. Sadler on his voyage without im¬ 
minent danger to both. The duke of Wellington, hav¬ 
ing afeertained the danger, recommended both to decline 
the voyage. But young Sadler, who is only feventeen 
years of age, feeling for the difappointment of the public, 
and for his own honour, was determined to go up; and 
he afeended about twenty-four minutes pad fix. When 
over the London Docks, the balloon appeared for a (hort 
time nearly ftationary ; and it was not until a 'quantity,of 
ballad was thrown out, that a quicker motion could be 
be given to it. On palling over Deptford, at a confider- 
able height, Mr. Sadler went through a cloud which left 
behind it, on the railing of the car and on various parts 
of the balloon, a thick moifture, which foon became fro¬ 
zen ; and Mr. Sadler, for a (hort time, felt the cold as in- 
tenfe as in winter. Immediately over Woolwich the 
llring which fattened the net, as was apprehended, fud- 
denly broke, and the main body of the balloon was forced 
quickly through the aperture nearly eighteen feet. Mr. 
Sadler, to prevent the danger which threatened him, 
caught the pipe at the bottom of the balloon ; and, by 
hanging on it and the valve-line, he prevented the bal¬ 
loon from further efcaping. The valve, which had for 
fome time refitted every attempt to open it, in confe- 
quence of being frozen, at this time gave way, and, fuf- 
fered the gas to efcape. A fudden drift of wind, whilft 
the balloon was apparently falling into the middle of the 
Thames at Sea Reach, carried it about one hundred yards 
over the marflies on the Eflex fide, when the aeronaut 
ieized the opportunity of making a galh in the balloon 
DON. 
with his knife, which the wind confiderably widened, and 
occafioned the efcape of the gas in great quantities. Mr. 
Sadler’s defeent on this account was rather more precipi¬ 
tate and violent than he could have wiflred. He landed 
however in Mucking Marflies, (ixteen miles below Gravef- 
end, on the Eflex coatt, without futtaining any other in¬ 
jury than a flight fpraiti, in about forty minutes after his 
departure from the Park. A fiflrerman, of the name of 
Manlbridge, fearing that the balloon might fall into the 
Thames, had followed its courfe as nearly as he could with 
his boat, to afford any affiftance in his power. Mr. &. 
with his balloon, was conveyed by him to Graveiend, 
from whence he took a poft-chaife and four to town, anil 
arrived at Buckingham-houfe at half pall three on Tuef- 
day morning. 
Scarcely had the moon rifen in unclouded majefiy— 
“Unveil’d her peerlefs light, 
And o’er the dark her (liver mantle threw,” 
than the bridge and the royal booth were illuminated, and 
the Chinefe lanthorns here and there (howed their fantaf- 
tic tranfparencies ; they were, however, too few in num¬ 
ber, and not fufiiciently lighted to produce much effedr,- 
and were only pretty when viewed in detail. The illu¬ 
minations did not pretend to any extraordinary magni¬ 
ficence; they merely exhibited, amidtt a profufe blaze of 
lamps, the names of all the illuttrious companions of Wel¬ 
lington in the peniniular war, and of the principal naval 
heroes, dead and living, who during the latt twenty years 
have upheld and increafed the maritime glory of their 
country. At ten o’clock a loud and long-continued dif- 
charge of artillery announced the commencement of the 
fireworks, which were, certainly, if not the molt tafteful, 
yet on the grandefl and-molt extenflve fcale that we have 
ever witnefied. From the battlements of the Cattle, at 
one moment, afeended the mod brilliant rockets; pre- 
(ently the walls dilclofed all the rarett and molt compli¬ 
cated ornaments of which the art is fufceptible : the fenfes 
were next aftoniflied and enchanted with a pacific exhi¬ 
bition of thofe tremendous inftruments of deftrudticn ire- 
vented by Col. Congreve. Some notion even of their ter¬ 
rible power might be formed from the difplay of the night, 
and their exceeding beauty could be contemplated divelted 
of its ufual awful afiociations. Each rocket contains in 
itfelf a world of fmaller rockets : as foon as it is difeharged 
from the gun, it bhrlts, and flings aloft in the air innu¬ 
merable parcels of flame, brilliant as the brighteft liars; 
the whole atmofphere was illuminated by a delicate blue 
light, which threw an air of enchantment over the trees- 
and lawns, and made even the motley groups of univerlal 
London become interelling as an alfembly in romance. 
Thefe feveral lmaller rockets then burft again, and a (hower 
of fiery light defcended to the earth, and extended over 
manyyards. Such was one of the beautiful fireworks which, 
during the fpace of two hours, amuled and aftonifbed the 
people.—The public were now' becoming weary, when the 
grand metamorphofis took place of the Fortrefs into the 
Temple of Concord, by the removal of the fortifications, dif* 
playing the Temple moving upon an axis, ornamented w'ith 
allegorical paintings. The upper and lower pictures on 
each fide were connected in fubjedt, thofe beneath being fe- 
quels to the above. They were illurtrative of the Origin 
and Effedls of War—the Deliverance of Europe from Ty¬ 
ranny—the Reftoration of the Bourbons by the aid of tire 
Allies—the return of Peace, and its happy confequences 
—and the Triumph of Britain under the government of 
the Prince Regent.—-On the firft fide, Strife, as deferibed 
by the ancient poets, was reprefented expelled from Hea¬ 
ven, and fent to excite difienfions among men. Jupiter 
is feen (accompanied by other divinities) difmifling her 
from above, and the inhabitants of tire earth are flying, 
terrified at her approach. The lower picture reprefents 
the effect of her defeent. On one fide, the Cyclops are 
forging implements of war. Mars, in his car, driven by 
Bellona, and hurried on by the Furies, is overturning all 
before him. the back-ground are feen towns on fire, 
gf and 
