Part 10

Club-houses.—During the last forty or fifty years new habits amongst the upper classes have led to the establishment of a variety of _Club-houses_—places of resort unknown to our ancestors. There are at present, including many fifth-rate clubs, about 84 clubs in London. A London club-house is either the property of a private person, who engages to furnish subscribers with certain accommodation, on paying a fixed sum as entrance-money, and a specified annual subscription; or else it belongs to a society of gentlemen who associate for the purpose. Of the first class, the most noted are _Brookes’s_ and _White’s_, both situated in St. James’s Street, The second class of clubs is most numerous: the principal among them being the _Carlton_, _Junior Carlton_, _Reform_, _Athenæum_, _Oriental_, _Conservative_, _Travellers’_, _United University_, _Oxford and Cambridge_, _Army and Navy_, _Guards’_, _United Service_, _Junior United Service_, _Union_, _Arthur’s_, and _Windham_ clubs. The houses belonging to these clubs respectively are among the finest at the West-end of London, and may easily be distinguished in and about Pall Mall, St. James’s Street, and Waterloo Place. No member sleeps at his club; the accommodation extends to furnishing all kinds of refreshments, the use of a library, and an ample supply of newspapers and periodicals in the reading-room. The real object of these institutions is to furnish a place of resort for a select number of gentlemen, on what are really moderate terms. The Athenæum Club, (near the York Column,) which consists chiefly of scientific and literary men, is one of the most important. It has 1,200 members, each of whom pays thirty guineas entrance-money, and seven guineas yearly subscription. As in all other clubs, members are admitted only by ballot. The expense of the house in building was £35,000, and £5,000 for furnishing; the plate, linen, and glass cost £2,500; library, £5,000; and the stock of wine in cellar is usually worth about £4,000. The other principal clubs vary from nine to thirty guineas entrance-fee, from six to eleven guineas annual subscription, and from 600 to 1,500 members. During part of the life of the late M. Soyer, the _kitchen_ of the Reform Club-house was one of the sights of the West-end. The _Garrick Club_, in Garrick Street, W.C., consists chiefly of theatrical and literary men. The same remark applies to the _Arundel_, in Salisbury Street, Strand. The _Whittington Club_, in the Strand, was the humblest of its class, and bore little resemblance to the others; it was rather a literary and scientific institution, with a refreshment department added.

The Albany.—The _Albany_ consists of a series of chambers, or suites of apartments, intended for ‘West-end bachelors.’ No person carrying on a trade or commercial occupation is allowed to live within its limits. There are two entrances, one in Piccadilly and one in Burlington Gardens. The chambers are placed in eleven groups, denoted by letters of the alphabet, A to L. There are about 60 suites of apartments, many of which are occupied by peers, members of parliament, honourables and right honourables, and naval and military officers. Canning, Byron, and Macaulay, are named amongst those who have lived in this singular place.

Hotels and Inns.—It has been conjectured (though probably in excess of the truth) that at all times there are 150,000 strangers residing for a few days only in the metropolis; and to accommodate this numerous transient population, there is a vast number of lodging and boarding-houses, hotels, and other places of accommodation. There are upwards of 500 better-class hotels, inns, and taverns. There are about 120 private hotels not licensed, and therefore do not keep exciseable liquors for sale. There are about 5,200 public-houses licensed to sell wines, spirits, and malt liquors. There are more than 1,964 beer-shops, where malt liquors only are sold.

The fashionable hotels are situated west of Charing Cross—as, for instance, _Claridge’s_, Brook Street, Grosvenor Square; _Fenton’s_, St. James’s Street; _Limmer’s_, George Street, Hanover Square; the _Clarendon_, in New Bond Street; the _Burlington_, in Old Burlington Street; _Grillon’s_, in Albemarle Street; _Long’s_, in Bond Street; the _Palace_, Pimlico; _Wright’s_, Dover Street; _Morley’s_, Trafalgar Square; _Hatchett’s_, Dover Street; _Maurigy’s_, Regent Street; _Marshall Thompson’s_, Cavendish Square; the _Albemarle_, Albemarle Street; the _Hyde Park_, near the Marble Arch; the _Alexandra_, Hyde Park Corner; &c. In and about Covent Garden there are several good hotels for single gentlemen; among others, the _Cavendish_, the _Bedford_, the _New_ and _Old Hummums_, and the _Tavistock_. One or two others, in Bridge Street, Blackfriars, are excellent hotels. Foreign hotels of a medium class are numerous in and about Leicester Square. Another class of hotels or inns are those from which stage-coaches at one time ran, and which were resorted to by commercial and other gentlemen; for example, the _Golden Cross_, (now renovated and extended,) near Charing Cross; the _White Horse Cellar_, Piccadilly; the _Bell and Crown_, Holborn; the _Castle and Falcon_, Aldersgate Street; and the _Bull-in-Mouth_, (now called the _Queen’s_,) opposite the General Post Office, in St. Martin’s-le-Grand. These have all become comfortable middle-class hotels, with railway booking-offices attached; but the fall of the stage-coach trade has lessened their importance to a great extent. To these we may add certain large inn and tavern establishments at other parts of the town—such as the _Bridge House Hotel_, at London Bridge; the _Angel_, at Islington; and the _Elephant and Castle_, Newington Causeway.

The almost universal defect of the older class of hotels in London is, that they are too often private dwellings extemporized for purposes of public accommodation—not buildings erected with the distinct object for which they are used. Hence the London hotels, generally, are confined and awkward in their arrangements—a huddle of apartments on different levels, narrow passages, and the offensive odour of cookery being common. Rarely is there anything to parallel the larger hotels of New York, or the _Hotel du Louvre_ at Paris. The nearest approach to these foreign establishments is found in certain hotels adjoining the railway termini, of recent construction. These are the _Euston_ and _Victoria Hotels_, near Euston terminus; the _Great Northern Hotel_, adjoining the King’s Cross terminus; the _Great Western Hotel_, at the Paddington _terminus_; _the Grosvenor Hotel_, at the Pimlico terminus; the _London Bridge Terminus Hotel_, adjoining the Brighton Railway terminus; the fine _South-Eastern Railway Hotel_, Cannon Street; the _Westminster Palace Hotel_, Victoria Street, Westminster; the _Midland_, at St. Pancras; and the _Charing Cross Railway Hotel_. At these new and extensive hotels the accommodation is on a better footing than in the older and generally small houses. But notwithstanding these additions, it is indisputable that the amount of hotel accommodation is still meagre and defective. The want of large good hotels in central situations, to give accommodation at moderate charges, remains one of the conspicuous deficiencies of the metropolis. The _Langham_, however, in Portland Place, is an excellent hotel. So is the _Salisbury Hotel_, Salisbury Square, Fleet Street. The idea of building a large hotel in the Strand, near St. Mary’s Church, was, by-the-by, abandoned in favour of the new _Globe Theatre_; while that handsome building, the _Inns of Court Hotel_, in Holborn and Lincoln’s Inn Fields, has never yet been properly finished, and is now (1873) a failure.

In and about London, we may mention, are sundry extensive and highly-respectable taverns, which, though principally designed for accommodating large dining and other festive gatherings, lodge gentlemen with every comfort. Among these may be mentioned the _London Tavern_; the _Albion_, in Aldersgate Street; several in Fleet Street, near Blackfriars Bridge; the _Freemasons’ Tavern_, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s Inn Fields; and so forth. There is, besides, a class of taverns whose chief business is supplying dinners and slight refreshments, also the accommodation of newspapers, and which are resorted to chiefly by commercial men. Each of these has a distinct character. _Garraway’s_ and _Lloyd’s_, at the Royal Exchange, were once coffee-houses, but now are associated with marine intelligence, stock-trading, and auctions; and in Cornhill, opposite, the _North and South American Coffee-house_ supplies American newspapers; and here also are to be seen the captains of vessels who are preparing to sail to different ports in the western continent and islands. At the _Jerusalem_ and _East India Coffee-house_, Cowper’s Court, Cornhill, information relating to East India shipping and captains may be obtained. _Peele’s __Coffee-house_, in Fleet Street, is celebrated for keeping files of newspapers, which may be consulted; this accommodation, as respects London papers, may also be had at some other places. Other economical Reading-Rooms are noticed in the _Appendix_.

Chop-houses, Coffee-shops, and Dining-rooms.—The next class of houses of this nature comprises _Chop-houses_, but also doing the business of taverns, and resorted to chiefly by business-men—as the _Chapter_, in Paternoster Row; the _Mitre_, the _Cock_, the _Cheshire Cheese_, and the _Rainbow_, in Fleet Street. Many such houses are to be met with near the Bank of England, in Cheapside, Bucklersbury, Threadneedle Street, Bishopsgate Street, and the alleys turning out of Cornhill. The _Ship and Turtle_, in Leadenhall Street, was a famous turtle-house; and others are noted for some specialty.

London contains a very numerous class of _Coffee-shops_, of a much more humble, though perhaps more useful nature, at which coffee, cocoa, tea, bread and butter, toast, chops and steaks, bacon and eggs, and cold meat, may be obtained at very moderate prices; a few pence will purchase a morning or evening meal at such places; and many working-men dine there also. There are about 1,500 houses of this class in London. There is another class of _Eating-houses_ or _Dining-rooms_, resorted to for dinners by large numbers of persons. _Lake’s_, _His Lordship’s Larder_, and one or two others, in Cheapside; _Izant’s_, and several others in and near Bucklersbury; the _Chancery Dining-rooms_, in Chancery Lane; the _Fish Ordinary_ at the _Three Tuns_ in Billingsgate, and at _Simpson’s_ in Cheapside; and several dining-rooms in and near the Haymarket and Rupert Street—may be reckoned among the number. A good but simple dinner may be had at these houses for from 1s. 6d. to 2s. 6d. At the _St. James’s Hall Restaurant_, in Regent Street; _Blanchard’s_, Regent Street, corner of Burlington Street; the _Albion_, Russell Street, near Drury Lane Theatre; the _London_, Fleet Street, nearly opposite the Inner Temple gate; _Simpson’s_, in the Strand, opposite Exeter Hall; and last, but by no means least, at _Speirs and Pond’s Restaurant_, at Ludgate Station of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway; a very fair dinner may be had, at prices varying from, say, a minimum of half-a-crown up to a greater cost, according to the state of the diner’s tastes and finances. At the _Gaiety Restaurant_, adjoining the Gaiety Theatre, a good dinner may be had. At Cremorne Gardens, too, there used to be a good _table d’hôte_ for 2s. 6d.

Temperance Hotels.—There are several good houses of this character. Among others may be named _The Waverley_, King Street, Cheapside; _Angus’s_, Bridge Street, Blackfriars; _Anderson’s_, Theobald Road; and _Ling’s_, South Street, Finsbury.

THEATRES, CONCERTS, AND OTHER PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.

Theatres.—There are altogether in London a large number. Of these the following are the principal:—_Her Majesty’s Theatre_, on the western side of the Haymarket, is the original of the two Italian Opera Houses in London; it was built in 1790, on the site of an older theatre, burnt down in 1867, and re-built in 1869. It is occasionally unoccupied. The freehold of some of the boxes has been sold for as much as £8,000 each. The Opera Season is generally from March to August; but the main attractions and the largest audiences are from May to July. The _Royal Italian Opera House_, occupying the site of the former Covent Garden Theatre, was built in 1858, on the ruins of one destroyed by fire. The building is very remarkable, both within and without. Under the lesseeship of Mr. Gye, and the conductorship of Mr. (now Sir Michael) Costa, operas have been produced here with a completeness scarcely paralleled in Europe. When not required for _Italian Operas_, the building is occupied usually by an _English Opera_ Company, or occasionally for miscellaneous concerts. The _Floral Hall_, adjoining this theatre, is occasionally engaged for concerts. _Drury Lane Theatre_, the fourth on the same site, was built in 1812; its glories live in the past, for the legitimate drama now alternates there with entertainments of a more spectacular and melodramatic character. The _Haymarket Theatre_, exactly opposite Her Majesty’s, was built in 1821; under Mr. Buckstone’s management, comedy and farce are chiefly performed. The _Adelphi Theatre_, in the Strand, near Southampton Street, was rebuilt in 1858; it has for forty years been celebrated for melodramas, and for the attractiveness of its comic actors. The present lessee, Mr. Webster, has the merit of having introduced many improvements for the comfort of the audience. The _Lyceum Theatre_, or _English Opera House_, at the corner of Wellington Street, Strand, was built in 1834; it was intended as an English Opera House, but its fortunes have been fluctuating, and the performances are not of a definite kind. The _Princess’s Theatre_, on the north side of Oxford Street, was built in 1830; after a few years of opera and miscellaneous dramas, it became the scene of Mr. Charles Kean’s Shakspearian revivals, and now resembles most of the other theatres. _St. James’s Theatre_, in King Street, St. James’s, was built for Braham, the celebrated singer; it was a losing speculation to him; and although a really beautiful theatre inside, its managerial arrangements have been very changeable of late years. The _Olympic Theatre_, in Wych Street, Drury Lane, is small, but well conducted and successful. The _Strand Theatre_, near the Olympic, has been remarkable for its burlesque extravaganzes. The _New Globe Theatre_, Newcastle Street, Strand, and the _Gaiety_, 345 Strand, and lastly the _Vaudeville_, (for comedy, farce, and burlesque,) near the _Adelphi_, are all of comparatively recent erection; so are the _Court Theatre_, near Sloane Square; the _Charing Cross Theatre_, King William Street; the _Queen’s Theatre_, Long Acre, late _St. Martin’s Hall_; and the _Holborn Theatre_. The _New Royalty_, or _Soho Theatre_, in Dean Street, Soho, was once a private theatre, belonging to Miss Kelly, the celebrated actress. The _Prince of Wales’s Theatre_, in Tottenham Street, is the old Tottenham Theatre in a renovated and greatly improved condition. Some of Mr. T. W. Robertson’s best comedies have been produced here within the last few years. _Sadler’s Wells_, near the New River Head, was at one time remarkable for the ‘real water’ displayed in melodramas. The _Marylebone Theatre_, between Regent’s Park and the Edgeware Road; the _Grecian_, in the City Road; the _Britannia_, at Hoxton; the _City of London_, in Norton Folgate; the _Standard_, in Shoreditch; and the _Pavilion_, in Whitechapel, are Theatres noticeable for the large numbers of persons accommodated, and the lowness of the prices of admission. On the Surrey side of the Thames are _Astley’s Amphitheatre_, in the Westminster Road, (the Circus is now removed;) the _Victoria Theatre_, in the Waterloo Road; and the _Surrey Theatre_, in Blackfriars Road. The performances at these several theatres commence at an hour varying from half-past six (some of the minors) to half-past eight (two Opera houses) in the evening, but the most usual hour is seven; and, as a general rule, there is half-price at a later hour in the evening. During the run of the Christmas pantomimes there are a few additional performances at two in the afternoon. It has recently been estimated that 4,000 persons are employed at the London theatres, earning daily food for probably 12,000; and that the public spend about £350,000 at those places annually.

Concerts.—The principal Concert Rooms in London are, _Exeter Hall_, _St. James’s Hall_, _Hanover Square Rooms_, the _Music Hall_, in Store Street, the _Floral Hall_, _Willis’ Rooms_, and the _Queen’s Concert Room_, attached to Her Majesty’s Theatre. All these places are engaged for single concerts; but there are also musical societies and choral bodies which give series of concerts every year. Among these are the _Sacred Harmonic Society_, (Exeter Hall,) the _National Choral Society_, (same place,) the _Philharmonic Society_, (Hanover Square Rooms,) _Mr. Henry Leslie’s Choir_, the _New Philharmonic_, (St. James’s Hall,) the _Musical Society_, the _Musical Union_, the _Glee and Madrigal Society_, the _Beethoven Society_, the _Monday Popular Concerts_, &c. The _Oratorio_ performances at Exeter Hall, by the Sacred Harmonic and National Choral Societies, are considered to be the finest of the kind in Europe. There are occasional _Handel Choral Meetings_ at the same place, under Sir Michael Costa, supported by 1,600 singers.

Tavern Music Halls.—Numerous Rooms connected with taverns have been opened in London, within the last few years, for musical performances. The music is a singular compound of Italian, English, and German operatic compositions, fairly executed, with comic songs of the most extravagant kind; to these are added what the performers please to term ‘nigger’ dances, and athletic and rope-dancing feats—the whole accompanied by drinking and smoking on the part of the audience. The chief among these places are, _Canterbury Hall_, near the Westminster Road; the _Oxford_, in Oxford Street; the _Royal Music Hall_, late _Weston’s_, in Holborn; the _Alhambra_, in Leicester Square; the _Philharmonic_, Islington, near the _Angel_. _Evans’_, in Covent Garden, does not as a rule admit females, though ladies, friends of the proprietor, &c., are occasionally allowed to look down on the proceedings from wired-in private boxes above the line of the stage. _Evans’_ has long been honourably known for its old English glees, catches, madrigals, &c., good supper, and gentlemanly arrangements and audiences. The _Raglan_, the _Winchester_, the _South London_, and others, are of plainer character. Charge, usually 6d. to 1s. Mr. Morton, the former proprietor of _Canterbury Hall_, provided a capital gallery of pictures, (_Punch’s_ ‘Royal Academy over the Water,’) placed freely open to the visitors to the Music Hall.

Entertainments.—There is a class of London amusements, called _Entertainments_, which has come much into fashion within a few years. They generally last about two hours, from eight till ten in the evening. The late Mr. Albert Smith was one of the first to commence these entertainments, with his ‘_Overland Route_,’ ‘_Mont Blanc_,’ and ‘_China_;’ and the names of other well known entertainers are, Mr. Woodin, Mr. and Mrs. German Reed, Mr. John Parry, Mr. A. Sketchley, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Paul, &c. Delineation of character, painted scenery, descriptive sketches, singing, music, ventriloquism—some or all of these supply the materials from which these entertainments are got up. Sometimes the _programme_ of performances is of a less rational character, depending on the incongruities of so-called negro melodists; while occasionally a higher tone is adopted, as in ‘_Readings_,’ by various persons. The principal halls or rooms in which these entertainments are held are the _Egyptian Hall_, Piccadilly; the _Gallery of Illustration_, Regent Street; the minor rooms at _St. James’s Hall_; and the _Music Hall_, in Store Street. The prices of admission generally vary from 1s. to 3s. The leading pages of the daily newspapers, and more especially of the _Times_, will always shew which of these entertainments are open at any particular time.

Miscellaneous Amusements.—The sources of information just mentioned will also notify particulars of numerous other places of amusement, which need not be separately classified. Among these are the _Polytechnic Institution_, Regent Street, (famous for Mr. Pepper’s ‘Ghosts;’) and _Madame Tussaud’s Waxwork_, Baker Street, Portman Square, (a favourite exhibition with country visitors.) To all such places the charge of admission is 1s. Among _Pleasure Gardens_, for music, dancing, tight and slack rope performances, &c., _Cremorne Gardens_, at Chelsea, _St. Helena Gardens_, at Rotherhithe, the _Riverside Gardens_, at North Woolwich, and the _Surrey Gardens_, near Walworth, are the principal; _Vauxhall Gardens_ have disappeared as places of amusement, and have been supplanted by bricks and mortar. The so-called _Tea Gardens_ are much more numerous, and are supported rather by the profit on the beverages sold, than by the fee charged for admission.

A few additional particulars concerning _Free Exhibitions_, _Shilling Exhibitions_, and Exhibitions available only by Introduction, are given in the _Appendix_.

PARKS AND PUBLIC GROUNDS; ZOOLOGICAL, BOTANICAL, AND HORTICULTURAL GARDENS.

Much has been done within the last few years towards adorning the metropolis with health-giving parks and grounds freely open to the public. The gardens of three scientific societies, gradually brought into a very attractive state, are also accessible, though not without payment.