The portal was of considerable dimensions and
of architectural pretension; it was painted of a bright green
colour, the panels gilt. Within the pediment, described in
letters of flaming gas, you read, "THE TEMPLE OF THE MUSES."
Gerard and Morley entered an apartment very long and
sufficiently lofty, though rather narrow for such proportions.
The ceiling was even richly decorated; the walls were painted,
and by a brush of considerable power. Each panel represented
some well-known scene from Shakespeare, Byron, or Scott: King
Richard, Mazeppa, the Lady of the Lake were easily recognized:
in one panel, Hubert menaced Arthur; here Haidee rescued Juan;
and there Jeanie Deans curtsied before the Queen. The room
was very full; some three or four hundred persons were seated
in different groups at different tables, eating, drinking,
talking, laughing, and even smoking, for notwithstanding the
pictures and the gilding it was found impossible to forbid,
though there were efforts to discourage, this practice, in the
Temple of the Muses. Nothing however could be more decorous
than the general conduct of the company, though they consisted
principally of factory people. The waiters flew about with as
much agility as if they were serving nobles.
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