To speak correctly of the elegance and taste displayed in the decorations and furniture, not omitting the costly sideboard of richly-chased plate, I can only say it rivalled any thing I had ever before witnessed, and was calculated to impress the young mind with the most extravagant ideas of the wealth and magnificence of the members or _committee_. The Honourable Mr. B----, one of the brothers of the Earl of R----, was the _procureur_ to whom, I found, we were indebted, for the present _honour_--a gay man, of some fashionable notoriety, whose fortune is said to have suffered severely by his attachment to the _orthodox orgies_ at the once celebrated Gothic Hall, when Parson John Ambrose used to officiate as the presiding minister. "Here he is a member of the committee," said Crony, "and, with his brother and the old Lord F----, the Marquis H----, Colonel C----, and the Earl of G----, forms the _secret directory_ of the New Club, which is considered almost as good a thing as a Mexican mine; for, if report speaks truly, the amount ~332~~of the profits in the last season exceeded one hundred thousand pounds, after payment of expenses." A sudden crash in the street at this moment drew the attention of all to the window, where an accident presented a very ominous warning to those within _(see plate)_. "A regular break down," said Echo. "_Floored_" said Transit, "_but not much the matter_." "I beg your pardon, sir," said a wry-mouthed portly-looking gentleman, who stood next to Bob; "it is a very _awkward_ circumstance to have occurred just here: I'll bet ten to one it spoils all the _play_ to-night; and if any of those newspaper fellows get to hear of it, _Fishmongers' Hall_ and its members will figure in print again to-morrow;" and with that he bustled off to the street to assist in re-producing a _move_ with all possible celerity. "Who the deuce was the queer-looking _cawker_?" we all at once inquired of Crony. "What, gentlemen! not know the director-general, the accomplished commander-in-chief, the thrice-renowned Cocker Crockford? (so named from his admirable tact at calculation): why, I thought every one who had witnessed a horse-race, or a boxing-match, or betted a guinea at Tattersall's, must have known the _director_, who has been a notorious character among the sporting circles for the last thirty years: and, if truth be told, is not the worst of a bad lot. About five-and-twenty years since I remember him," said Crony, "keeping a snug little fishmonger's shop, at the corner of Essex-street, in the Strand, where I have often betted a guinea with him on a trotting match, for he was then fond of _the thing_, and attended the races and fights in company with old Jerry Cloves, the lighterman, who is now as well _breeched_ as himself. It is a very extraordinary fact," continued Crony, "and one which certainly excites suspicion, that almost all those who have made large fortunes by the turf or play are men of obscure origin, who, but a