The Sun.
London, England, 1836-10-31 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

THE GREAT METROPOLIS. 2 VoLs.
Saunders and Odey. London.

The work before us is the production of a writer well
and favourably known to the public by his " Random
Recollections" of the Houses of Lords and Commons,
both of which, if we mistake not, went through two
or three editions. The present volumes are likely to
be equally successful, for they discuss themes of ge-
neral, indeed we might almost say of European , in-
terest, in a light, good-humoured, gossiping spirit,
without unduly taxing the reader's patience, or demand-
ing any severe exercise of thought. The author seldom
or never goes deep into his subject ; for the most part,
he contents himself with just skimming its surface,
especially in his details of the domestic habits of the
aristocratic circles, which are evidently the results of
hear-say, not of personal experience. He assures us,
for instance, and in pretty broad terms too, that the
the higher classes are all radically vicious ; that honour
with them is purely a thing of convention, and honesty
fairly laughed to scorn. Now this, though true of
many, is by no means so of the generality of the mem-
bers of the aristocratic circle. They are not a whit
worse than their inferiors, and when the extraordinary
temptations to which the accidents of their birth, for-
tune, and position in society daily subject them are
taken into consideration, the wonder is—not that they
are so depraved—but that they are so exemplary in the
fulfilment of their social duties. It is not because we
have a few raffish Lords, who are a disgrace to their
rank, and repudiated as such, that the whole fraternity
is to be proscribed. We have no more right to visit
the sins of the titled few on the titled many, than we
have to call the whole legal fraternity to account, be-
cause a few unworthy members may be found among
them. We protest therefore—though no great ad-
mirers of aristocracy—against our author's wholesale
condemnation of the higher classes, who, taken en
masse, are neither better nor worse than the rest of the
social community. The great generators of vice in the
metropolis, next to poverty, are, first, wealth ; secondly,
want of occupation ; and we are yet to learn that idle-
ness and fortune are confined exclusively to the Peer-
age. In his rema►ks upon the London hells the author
is more at home. This is a branch of his subject with
which he seems thoroughly conversant, and he has
told us much about Crockford's, and one or two minor
hells, that we did not know before. Country readers,
we take for granted, will read this portion of his work
with avidity, more particularly as it is seasoned with
much piquant anecdotage. . Nor have we any fault to
find with his comments on the Metropolitan Press. In
general they are tolerably correct, and penned in a
frank and cordial spirit, though here and there errors
occur which a little reflection would have rectified. In
speaking of the theatres, the author states that the
Londoners are a play-going set of folks—an observa-
tion the incorrectness of which is sufficiently denoted
by the present critical condition of almost every thea-
trical speculation of the day. On the whole, we
have been much amused with the " Great Metro-
polis." It is a readable work, full of matter, and of
that sort in which almost every reader takes an interest.
We subjoin an extract :

" The history of Crockford is curious. His autobio-
graphy, nothing concealing and nothing extenuating, would
be one of the most readable works which have appeared
for many a day. He was originally a small fishmonger,
without a penny in the world, in the neighbourhood of
Temple Bar. The following copy of an account for fish,
which appeared some years since in a book called Life in
the West,' will give some idea both of the extent of his
business and of the measure of his intimacy with the school-
master :

" ' Mr. A-.

" ' To William Crockford.
a. d.
" April 3 To pair of sowls
5 Sprats 0 3
6 3 vitens
12 7 red herrings 0 6
19 2 makerils

3 5.

" The way in which he is said to have risen in the world
is singular enough. Nature, it appears, has made him a
first-rate mathematician in all that relates to money calcu-
lations. lam assured by those who know him, that the
Member for Middlesex is a mere tyro to him in this respect.
By some inward process—mental arithmetic, I believe, is
the phrase, though it is doubtful if Mr. Crockford knows
what is meant by mental'—by some inward process, he
can calculate, provided there be large stakes in the field,
with an almost absolute certainty, what are to be the re-
sults in certain games. Having early discovered that he
possessed this most useful gift, he began, while yet a fish-
monger in a small way, to pay nightly visits, when the day's
business was over, to a low hell in King's-place, in the
neighbourhood of Pall-mall. Here he commenced his ca-
reer as a gambler by risking a few shillings at English
hazard. Finding himself almost invariably successful, he
was in the habit of proceeding next morning to Billings-
gate, when be laid in a stock of sowls' (soles), flat-fish, &c.
&c. for the day. He was gradually enabled to carry on his
business to greater advantage and on a more extensive
scale ; while his increased profits enabled him to bet at the
den referred to much more heavily than his limited resources
would, in the first instance, admit of. His first great bet,
however, was not in a gaming-house. The author of the
work from which I have copied the account for sowls' and
vitens,' and 4 makerils,' says, that his first step of any
particular note to his present elevation was taking immense
long odds upon an out' horse, which he did upon private
information, given to him by a jockey, that it was to win.'
Soon after this, Crockford purchased, for 1001., the fourth
share of a gambling-bank, at No. .5, King-street, St.
James's. The proprietors of the hell had previously quar-
relled, and certain extraordinary disclosures were the con-
sequence. Amongst other startling facts, it appeared, that
though the den was not of any great note, the system of
plunder had been carried on in it on such an extensive
scale, that in one night the players were pigeoned' to the
tune of 2,0001. One of the proprietors being afraid that
on this disclosure proceedings might be instituted against
them, appropriated to himself his share of the 2,000/., and
then disposed of his interest in the concern, for the above-
mentioned sum of 1001., to Crockford. The three other
partners were persons of the names of Abbott, Austen, and
Holdsworth.

" Having amassed a great deal of money at 5, King-
street, Crockford quitted the business' there, and opened
a hell, with three other person, in 81, Piccadilly, for play-
ing French hazard. In one season, according to the state-
ment of a gentleman who lost to a very considerable
amount, the four proprietors must have divided amongst
them the sum of 200,0001., being 50,000/. to each. That,
however, was the most successful season ever known. In
point of real profit it far exceeds anything realized by the
present princely establishment, because the expenses of
keeping up the latter are ten times as great as were those
of the former. At this place loaded dice were discovered,
as I shall afterwards mention more particularly. Here
again a quarrel took place among the partners about the
division of the plunder, and the establishment was conse-
quently broken up. Crockford then purchased the house
No. 50, St. James's-street, but finding it too small for the
crowds of noblemen and gentlemen who frequented it, he
purchased 51, and subsequently 52 ; when, in 1825, lie
pulled the three houses down, and erected on their site the
present magnificent edifice."

WORDSWORTH'S POEMS. Vol. 1.
Moxon, London, 1836.

This work is to be completed in Six Volumes, and
will, we suppose, include the " Excursion," and the
last published ♦olume " Yarrow Revisited "—one of
the most characteristic of all Mr. Wordsworth's pro-
ductions. The book is got up with great neatness.
and is embellished with a portrait of the author. We
have no doubt that the speculation will be a success-
ful one.

THE TOURIST IN SPAIN.
Jennings, London, 1,836.

The subject of this Annual is well chosen, for all
eyes are at present, turned towards Spain, in consequence
of the civil war now raging there, which threatens, we
fear, to be of far longer duration than could have been
anticipated some months since. With these matters,

however, Mr. Roscoe does not meddle : he makes few
or no allusions to the two great contending parties of
Carlists and Christinos, but contents himself with de-
scribing, in a spirited, graphic style, the impression
made on him by the scenery, public buildings, &c., of
Spain. In his account of the far-famed Escurial—