'[23]
[23] Rouge et Noir: the Academicians of 1823.
GEORGE IV.
There are few departments of human distinction in which Great
Britain cannot boast a 'celebrity'--genteel or ungenteel. In the
matter of gambling we have been unapproachable--not only in the
'thorough' determination with which we have exhausted the
pursuit--but in the vast, the fabulous millions which make up the
sum total that Englishmen have 'turned over' at the gaming table.
I think that many thousands of millions would be 'within the
mark' as the contribution of England to the insatiate god of
gambling.
I have presented to the reader the record of gambling all the
world over--the gambling of savages--the gambling of the ancient
Persians, Greeks, and Romans--the gambling of the gorgeous
monarchs of France and their impassioned subjects; but I have now
to introduce upon the horrible stage a Prince Royal, who
surpassed all his predecessors in the gaming art, having right
royally lost at play not much less than a million sterling, or,
as stated, L800,000--before he was twenty-one years of age!
If the following be facts, vouched for by a writer of
authority,[24] the results were most atrocious.
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