atriation of its
supporters that caused the club to be broken up.

'During the same period (from 1810 to 1815 or thereabouts) there was a
great deal of high play at White's and Brookes', particularly at Whist.
At Brookes' figured some remarkable characters--as Tippoo Smith, by
common consent the best Whist-player of his day; and an old gentleman
nicknamed Neptune, from his having once flung himself into the sea in
a fit of despair at being, as he thought, ruined. He was fished out in
time, found he was not ruined, and played on during the remainder of his
life.

'The most distinguished player at White's was the nobleman who was
presented at the Salons in Paris as Le Wellington des Joueurs (Lord
Rivers); and he richly merited the name, if skill, temper, and the most
daring courage are titles to it. The greatest genius, however, is not
infallible. He once lost three thousand four hundred pounds at Whist by
not remembering that the seven of hearts was in! He played at Hazard for
the highest stakes that any one could be got to play for with him, and
at one time was supposed to have won nearly a hundred thousand pounds;
but _IT ALL WENT_, along with a great deal more, at Crockford's.

'There was also a great deal of play at Graham's, the Union, the Cocoa
Tree, and other clubs of the second order in point of fashion. Here
large sums were hazarded with equal rashness, and remarkable characters
started up. Among the most conspicuous was the late Colonel Aubrey, who
literally passed his life at play. He did nothing else, morning, noon,
and night; and it was computed that he had paid more than sixty thousand
pounds for card-money. He was a very fine player at all games, and a
shrewd, clever man. He had been twice to India and made two fortunes.
It was said that he lost the first on his way home, transferred himself
from one ship to another without landing, went back, and made the
second. His life was a continual alternation between poverty and
wealth; and he used to say, the greatest pleasure in life is winning at
cards--the next greatest, losing!

'For several years deep play went on at all these clubs, fluctuating
both as to amount and locality, till by degrees it began to flag. It had
got to a low ebb when Mr Crockford came to London and established the
celebrated club which bore his name.

'Some good was certainly produced by the system. In the first place,
private gambling (between gentleman and gentleman), with its deg