At the termination of the fireworks, the sovereigns strolled through the streets, and were everywhere hailed with unanimous cheers. Then the entire Court repaired to the theatre of the Carinthian Gate to witness the performance of the ballet _Flore et Zéphire_. All the palaces, mansions, and private dwellings were most brilliantly illuminated; and ‘transparencies,’ bearing enthusiastic mottoes, had not been spared. Dancing and music went on throughout the whole of the night; it was, in fact, an uninterrupted scene of magnificence and happiness. Joy prevailed everywhere, a joy due less perhaps to the fête that had been offered to the people than to the hope of a durable peace, the price of which had been paid by many years of constant sacrifices. CHAPTER V The Prater--The Carriages--The Crowd and the Sovereigns--The Sovereigns’ Incognito--Alexander Ypsilanti--The Vienna Drawing-Rooms--Princesse Bagration--The Narischkine Family --A Lottery. I had promised to meet Alexander Ypsilanti in the grand avenue of the Prater, and at the appointed time I was there. To me the beautiful spot teemed with delightful recollections; each scene reminded me of a fête, of a love-tryst, or of a meeting with friends, of dreams, of hopes, of illusions, perhaps gone for ever. During a long pilgrimage in my younger days, I have seen all the renowned public promenades of Europe, and everywhere the people maintained that the one adorning their own capital was superior to any other. I have always preferred the Vienna Prater to the Bois de Boulogne, to Kensington Gardens, to the Wood at the Hague, to the Cascines of Florence, and to all the other vaunted resorts whether at Moscow, Petersburg, or Constantinople; for in the first-named spot are united the beauties of nature that delight the eye, and the sight of a happy condition, comforting and refreshing to the soul.