The Club subsequently became Goosetree’s, and after him was taken by a wine merchant and money lender named Brookes, and Brookes’s it is to this day, at 60 St James Street, to which locality it moved from Pall Mall in October 1778. These, with Arthur’s, were all the clubs for the nobility and gentry, until the Regency, when clubs multiplied. There were any amount of gambling houses, but they were public—but, of course, a club was strictly confined to its members. So gambling went on merrily among all classes, as we may see by the following notices from the _Morning Post_: “_5 July 1797._ Is Mr Ogden (now called the Newmarket Oracle), the same person who, five-and-twenty years since, was an annual pedestrian to Ascot, covered with dust, amusing himself with _pricking in the belt_, _hustling in the hat_, &c., amongst the lowest class of rustics, at the inferior booths of the fair? “Is D—k—y B—— w, who has now his snug farm, the same person who, some years since, _drove post chaise_ for T—— y of Bagshot, could neither read nor write, and was introduced to _the family_ only by his pre-eminence at cribbage? “Is Mr Twycross (with his phaeton), the same person who, some years since, became a bankrupt in Tavistock Street, immediately commenced the Man of Fashion at Bath, kept running horses, &c., _secundum artem_? “Is Mr Phillips (who has now his town and country house, in the most fashionable style,) the same who was, originally, a linen draper and bankrupt at Salisbury, and who made his first _family entré_ in the metropolis, by his superiority at _Billiards_ (with Capt. Wallace, Orrell, &c.) at Cropley’s in Bow Street? “Was poor carbuncled P—— e (so many years the favourite decoy duck of _the family_) the very barber of Oxford who, in the midst of the operation upon a gentleman’s face, laid down his razor, swearing that he would never shave another man so long as he lived, and immediately became the hero of the Card Table, _the bones_, _the box_, and the _cock-pit_?” “_5 April 1805._ The sum lately lost at play by a lady of high rank is variously stated. Some say it does not amount to more than £200,000, while others assert that it is little short of £700,000. Her Lord is very unhappy on the occasion, and is still undecided with respect to the best mode to be adopted in the unfortunate predicament.” “_30 June 1806._ The Marquis of H—— d is said to have been so successful at play, this season, as to have cleared £60,000. The Earl of B—— e has won upwards of £50,000, clear of all deductions. A Right Reverend is stated to be amongst those who are _minus_ on this occasion.” “_8 July 1806._ A certain Noble Marquis, who has been very fortunate, this season, in his gaming speculations, had a run of ill-luck last week. At one sitting his Lordship was _minus_ no less a sum than _thirteen thousand pounds_!”