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