ble for the natural advantages
and beauty of the ground, than from any addition it has received from
art," so says Ralph ("Critical Review of Public Buildings," 1783
edition). In the very earliest maps of the parish a road is marked on
this site, leading northward from the palace. The street was built about
1670, and was first known as Long Street. In the time of the Stuarts it
shared the aristocratic tendency of the square, and had a list of noble
occupiers. It was levelled and made uniform in 1764, having previously
descended from Piccadilly by steps.

St. James's Street has been noted from the very beginning for its clubs,
gaming-houses, and convivial gatherings. Its proximity to the Court
attracted all the fops and beaux, and it was the resort of fashionable
and gay young idlers. Many anecdotes are related of the street, but
chiefly in connection with the clubs, for which it is still famous.
White's (37 and 38) is one of the oldest; it was established about 1698,
and was at first a chocolate-house. It stood near the low end of the
street, on the west side. It was burnt down in 1733, and the present
building, designed by Wyatt, was erected in 1755, and altered nearly a
century later by Lockyer. The gaming-room of the old house forms the
scene of the sixth plate of Hogarth's "Rake's Progress," where the
gamblers are represented intent on their cards, though the flames are
bursting out. It was after the fire that the house became a private
club, and it was long noted as a gambling-house for high stakes and
reckless betting. It is of White's that the story is told that a man
dropped down before the door insensible, and was taken inside. The
members immediately began to bet whether he were dead or not, and when
the physician came to bleed him, those on the affirmative side
protested.

"Brooke's" is now No. 60, on the opposite side of the street from
White's, at the northern corner of Park Place, and was as notorious a
gaming-house as White's. It was of later origin, dating from 1764, and
was originally in Pall Mall. It began life under the name of Almack's.
The play was prodigiously high. Timbs says that it was for rouleaux of
L50 each, and there was generally L10,000 in specie on the table.

"Boodle's," is another celebrated club, which was also named the "Savoir
Vivre." This is now No. 28.

The Cocoa-tree Club recalls by its name an old chocolate house of Queen
Anne's time, a favourite resort of the Tories, often m