to whom the whole town
sought to do honour, and perhaps his greatest gratification came by
way of the accounts he gathered of incidents which occurred during his
eventful voyage. At a dinner at which he was being entertained by the
Lord Mayor and judges he learned that a lady seeing his falling oar, and
fancying that he himself was dashed to pieces, received a shock thereby
which caused her death. Commenting on this, one of the judges bade him
be reassured, inasmuch as he had, as if by compensation, saved the
life of a young man who might live to be reformed. The young man was a
criminal whose condemnation was regarded as certain at the hands of the
jury before whom he was being arraigned, when tidings reached the court
that Lunardi's balloon was in the air. On this so much confusion arose
that the jury were unable to give due deliberation to the case, and,
fearing to miss the great sight, actually agreed to acquit the prisoner,
that they themselves might be free to leave the court!

But he was flattered by a compliment of a yet higher order. He was told
that while he hovered over London the King was in conference with his
principal Ministers, and his Majesty, learning that he was in the sky,
is reported to have said to his councillors, "We may resume our own
deliberations at pleasure, but we may never see poor Lunardi again!" On
this, it is further stated that the conference broke up, and the King,
attended by Mr. Pitt and other chief officers of State, continued to
view Lunardi through telescopes as long as he remained in the horizon.

The public Press, notably the Morning Post of September 16, paid
a worthy tribute to the hero of the hour, and one last act of an
exceptional character was carried out in his honour, and remains in
evidence to this hour. In a meadow in the parish of Standon, near Ware,
there stands a rough hewn stone, now protected by an iron rail. It marks
the spot where Lunardi landed, and on it is cut a legend which runs
thus:

Let Posterity know
And knowing be astonished
that
On the 15th day of September 1784
Vincent Lunardi of Lusca in Tuscany
The first aerial traveller in Britain
Mounting from the Artillery Ground
In London
And Traversing the Regions of the Air
For Two Hours and Fifteen Minutes
In this Spot Revisited the Earth.
On this rude monument
For ages be recorded
That Wondrous Enterprise
Successfully atchie