On the evening of that day when the innocence of Mr. Torrens was proclaimed, as related in the preceding chapter, King George IV. gave a grand entertainment at Carlton House.
This splendid mansion was that monarch's favourite residence—not only when he was Prince of Wales and Regent, but likewise while he wore on his unworthy brow the British diadem.
Execrable as the character of this unprincipled voluptuary and disgusting debauchee notoriously was, he unquestionably possessed good taste in choosing the decorations of a drawing-room, selecting a paper of a suitable pattern to match particular furniture, and superintending the fittings of a banquetting-hall. Carlton House was accordingly rendered a perfect gem of a palace under his auspices; and there the King loved to dwell, passing his evenings in elegant orgies and his nights in lascivious enjoyment.
The interior of Carlton House was indeed most sumptuous in all its arrangements. The state-apartments were fitted up with a grandeur properly chastened by elegance; and convenience and comfort were studied as much as magnificence. The entrance-hall was paved with veined marble, the roof being supported by Ionic columns from the quarries of Sienna. The west ante-room contained many fine portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds. But the most splendid of all the apartments was the Crimson Drawing-room, which was decorated in the richest and yet most tasteful manner. The rich draperies, the architectural embellishments, the immense pier-glasses, the chandeliers of cut glass, and the massive furniture all richly gilt, evinced the state of perfection which the arts and manufactures have attained in this country.
Adjoining the Crimson Drawing-room was the Rotunda, the architecture of which was of the Ionic order, every part having been selected from the finest specimens of ancient Greece. The ceiling was painted to represent the sky, and was in the shape of a hemisphere. Another beautiful apartment was the Rose Satin Drawing-room, fitted up after the Chinese fashion, and in the middle of which stood a circular table of Sevres porcelain, the gift of Louis XVIII. to the King. Many pictures by the old masters likewise embellished that room.
We must also mention the Blue Velvet Room, remarkable for the refined taste displayed in its decorations,—and the Library, Golden Drawing-room, Gothic Dining-room, Bow Room, Conservatory, Armoury, Vestibule, and Throne Room, the last of which was fitted up with crimson velvet, and produced, when illuminated, a superb effect.
This rapid glance at the interior of Carlton House may serve to afford the reader a general idea of the splendour of that palace,—a splendour almost dazzling to contemplate, if we consider it for a few moments in juxta-position with the deplorable misery of thousands and thousands of cottages, huts, and hovels in which so large a number of the working population are forced to dwell!
But kings and queens care nothing for the condition of their people. So long as their selfish desires can be gratified and all their childish whims or extravagant caprices can be fulfilled, the industrious millions may rot in their miserable hovels, crushed by the weight of that taxation which is so largely augmented by the wants of Royalty!
It is absurd to venerate and adore Royalty; for Royalty is either despicably frivolous, or vilely arbitrary:—and he who admires or adores it, is an enemy to his own interests.
Let us, however, return to the subject of this chapter.