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[Page 198]

London in magnificence and taste.
But nothing of the kind was even attempted
in London and as I have said before
the Private or isolated portions of
the Public illuminations there exceeded
the same things here. Now of the
fireworks, those fixed pieces only
were let off here and only at one
spot. Those were on a much [crossed out - more] greater
scale than any in London and were
to a corresponding extent more grand
in London. There were some 20-25 fixed
pieces each one being the same at
4 different distinct localities not
one of them so good as the French.
In the matter of rockets the English
beat the French. The former went
twice as high and were [indecipherable] brilliant
and varied. But in London the affair

[Cross-hatched writing]

was too long, and unvaried. It lasted nearly 2½ hours,
here not above half an hour. The crowd here was not
to be compared with that in London. Here in what I may
presume to be the most densely packed spot in close view
of the Emperor & Empress, so close that I could distinguish
their features perfectly I could move about in almost any
direction - slowly, but yet certainly. In London you were borne
along in utter helplessness - if with free along with the stream
good, but if back first, you had no hope of getting yourself
round. Now the extent in each of the 4 great centres of attraction
in London [indecipherable] have been vastly greater than the only one
here. I estimate the numbers in London at 4 to 6 times as