The Sun.
London, England, 1827-02-05 00:00:00

ANECDOTES OF THE cum OF ST. JAMES'S

(From the New Monthly Magazine.)
FIGHTING Frrvaxatataa.--Whilat on the subject of sinister ad
mission to the Club, the writer cannot do better than relate tl
very singular and whimsical manner in which Mr. Arthur Fitz
gerald forced his way into Brookes's. This personage, it is we.
known, though ly related to one of the first families ii _lit
land
murder Lei was publicly executed in the year 1'786, for
m
had coolly premeditated, and which he sae'
(r' whicher)s he
in a most cruel and cowardly manner. Tir
others perpetrated
fame, or rather infamy,, which encircled his brows, front havinc,
been the survivor in a great many duels, be.nfne at length th,
canoe of the moat ferocious haughtiness, and greatly increased h_
overbearing and quarrelsome disposition. His &telling propen-
sities, however, kept him out of all the first chibs in London, and
rendered him at once both an object Of terror and of hatred ;
and, even when he was introduced et the Court of France, where
single combat was not so much reprehended as in Great Britain,
the young Monarch (the unfortunate Louis the Sixteenth) could
not help showing his ahhorrence of a professed duelist, by utter-
ing a most deserved sarcasm on Fitzgerald, and by refusing to ad-
Mit him a second time to his levee. The gentleman who intro.
duced him (the English Ambassador), having said, " I have the
honour to introduce "to your Majesty Mr. Fitzgerald, an Irishman,
of high descent, who, in his t lie,
e,, has successfully fought no less
than eight„ duels, and always killed his man." The King re-
P.liect—" Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, I have read your famous Eng.
tech history of Jack the Giant Killer, and I think it may be
greatly improved by adding this Irishman's life, by way of Ap-
pendix—let him retire !" His Majesty further observed to the
Ambassador, in the duellist's hearing, that if Mr. Fitzgerald showed
a disposition to quarrel with any of his subjects, he should order
him to quit France in 24 hours.
But, to avoid further digression, the writer has to state, that
Fitzgerald having once applied to Admiral Keith Stewart, to pro-
pose him as a candidate for Brookes's, and the worthy Admiral,
well knowing that he must either fight or comply xVith his request,
chose the latter alternative. Accordingly, ch the night on which
the balloting was to take place (which was only a mere form in
this case; for even Keith Stewart himself had resolved to black-
ball him), the duellist accompanied the gallant Admiral to St.
James's-street, and waited in the moth below whilst the suffrages
were taking, in order to know the ?'sue. The ballot was soon
over, for without hesitatiort hell member threw in a black ball,
and when the scrutiny te;o1, place, the company were not a little
amazed to find not !'yen one white one among the number. How-
ever, the point ',I rejection being carried nem. con. the grand af-
fair now as to which of the members had the hardihood to
annoutece tile same to the expectant candidate. No one would
tuld:ertal.e the office, for the announcement was sure to produce a
etalienge ; and a duel with Fighting Fitzgerald had in almost every
ease, been fatal to his opponents. The general opinion was, that the
proposer, Admiral Stewart, should convey the intelligence, and that
in as genteel terms as possible. But the Admiral, who was certainly
on all proper occasions, a very gallant officer, was not inclined to
go on any such embassy. " No, Gentleman," said he, " pro-
posed the fellow, because I knew you would not admit him; but,
by G—, I have no inclination to riskmy life against that of a mad-
man." " But, Admiral," replied the Duke of Devonshire, " there
being 'lan white ball in the box, he must know that you have
black-balled him as well as the rest, and he is sure to call you
nut, at all events." This was a poser for the poor Admiral,
who sat silent for a few seconds, amidst the half-suppressed titter
of the members ; at length, joining in the laugh against himself, he
exclaimed, "Upon my soul! a pleasant job I've got into. D—n
tit fellow I.—No matter !—I won't go ;—let the waiter tell him
that there was one black ball, and that his name must be put up
again if he wishes it." This plan appeared so judicious, that all
cancel-red in its propriety ; accordingly the waiter was, in a few
mintites, dispatched on the mission.
tti the mean time Mr. Fitzgerald showed evident symptoms
of impatience at being kept so long from his " dear friends "
above stairs ; and frequently rang the bell to know the state of
the poll. On the first occasion, be thus addressed the waiter
who answered his summons : " Come here, my tight little fel-
low; do you know if I am chose yet?" " I really can't say,
Sir," replied the young man, " but I'll see." " There's a nice
little man : be quick, d'ye see, and I'll give ye sixpence when
ye come with the good news." Away went the little man; but
he was in no harry to come bark, for he as well as his fellows
were' sufficiently aware of Fitzgerald's violent temper, and wished
to come in contact with him as seldom as possible.
The bell "rang again, and to another waiter the impatient
candidate put the same question, " Am I chose yet, waither ?"
" The' hallottitig is not over yet, Sir," replied the man. " Not
over yet !" exclaimed Fitzgerald. " But sure, there is no use of
ballotting at all, when my dear friends are all unanimous for me
to costs in. Run, my man, and let me know how they are get-
ting on."

After the lapse of another quarter of an hour, the bell rang so
viole:itiy, as to produce a contest among the poor servants, as to
whose turn it was next to visit the lion in his den ; and Mr.
Brookes, seeing no alternative but resolution, took the message
from the waiter who was descending the staircase, and boldly en-
feted the room with a coffee equipage in his hand. " Did you
call for Coffee, sir ?" said Mr. Brookes, smartly ; " D—n your
coffee, err, and you too," answered Mr. Fitzgerald, in a voice
which made the host's blood curdle in his veins. " I want to
know, stir, and that without one moment's delay, stir, ti I'm chose
yet ?" " Oh, sir," replied Mr. Brookes, who trembled from head
to foot, but attempted to smile away the appearance of fear; " I
beg yoni pardon, sir ; but I was just coming to announce to you,
sir—with Admiral Stewart's compliments, sir—that,—unfortu-
hately,_—there was one black ball in the box, sir; and—conse-
quently, by the rules of the club, sir,—no candidate can be ad-
mitted withont a new election, sir,—which cannot take place,—
by the standing regulations of the' club, sir,—until a month from
this time, sir."
During this address Fitzgerald's irascibility appeared to under-
go considerable mollification; and, at its conclusion, the terrified
landlord was not a little surprised and pleased to find his guest
shake him by the band, which he squeezed heartily between his
°w/I two, saying, " My dear Mr. Brookes, I'm chose, and I give
ye much joy ; for I'll warrant ye'll find me the best customer in
your house; but there must be a small matter of mistake in my
election ; and as I should not wish to be so ungenteel al to make
my sale among my dear friends up stairs:until that mistake is duly
rectified, you'll step up and make my compliments to the gentle-
men and say, as it is only a mistake of one black ball, they will be
so good as to waive all ceremony on• my account, and pro-
ceed to re-elect their bumble servant without any more delay
at all ;—so now, my dear Mr. Brookes, you may put down
the coffee, and I'll be drinking it while the new election is
going on."
Away went Mr. Brookes, glad enough to escape with whole
bones, for this time at least. On announcing the purport of his
errand to the assembly above stairs, many of the members were
panio-struck ; for they clearly foresaw that some disagreeable
circumstance was likely to be the finale of the farce which they
had been playing. Mr. Brookes stood silent for some minutes,
waiting for an answer, whilst several of the members whispered
and laughed, in groups, at the ludicrous figure which they all
cut. At length the Earl of March (afterwards the Duke of
Queensberry) said aloud, " Try the effect of two balls : D—n
his Irish impudence, if two black balls don't take effect upon
him, I don't know what will." This proposition met with un-
animous approbation, and Mr. Brookes was ordered to communi-
cate accordingly.

On re-entering the waiting-room, Mr. Fitzgerald rose hastily
from hie chair, and seizing him by the hand, eagerly inquir-
ed, " Have they elected me right now, Mr. Brookes ?" " I
hope no offence, Mr. Fitzgerald," said the landlord, " but I
am sorry to inform you, that the result of the second balloting is,
that two black balls were dropped in, Sir." "By .1-8, then,"
exclaimed Fitigerald " there's now two mistakes instead of one.
G° backs my dear friend, and tell the Honourable Members that
is a uncivil thi to keep a gentleman waiting below stairs
with nom
one to keep him comp any but himself, whilst they are
enjoying themselves with their Champaigne And their cards, and
their Tokay, up ahoy,.
Tell them to try again, and I hope they
will have better luck next time and make no more mistakes, be-
cause it's getting late, and I
wont be chose to-night at all. So
now, Mr. Brookes, be off with lf and lave the door open
till I see what ,despatch you to,kyeT,use
Away went Mr. Brooke; for .the last time. On announcing
his unwelcome errand, every one saw that
palliative. measures only
prolonged the dilemma ; and General Fitzpat
rickproposed that
Brookes should tell him " his cause Wu hopeless for that be was
p
black-balled all over, from head to foot, and it 'was hoped by all
the members that Mr. Fitzgerald would not persist in thrusting
himself into society where his company was declined:,
This message, it was generally believed, would prove a sick-
ener, as it certainly would have done to any other candidate
under similar circumstances. Not so, however, to Fitzgerald,
who no sooner heard the purport of it than he exclaimed, " Oh,
I perceive it is a mistake
i altogether, Mr. Brookes ; and I must
see to the rectifying of
b.—
myself--there's nothinghkedatinp with
prineip&l.--and so, I'll step up at onoet and put this thing to rights,
without any more unnecessary delay.
In spite of Mr. Brooke's remonstrance, that his entrance into
the einb-roora was against all rule and etiquette, Fitzgerald found
his way up stain, threatening to throw the landlord over the ban-
nisters for endeavouring to stop him. He entered the room with-
out any farther ceremony than a bow, and saying to the members,