was known to have won at White's 200,000£.; thanks to his notorious
sobriety and knowledge of the game of whist. The General possessed
a great advantage over his companions by avoiding those indulgences
at the table which used to muddle other men's brains. He confined himself
to dining off something like a boiled chicken, with toast-and-water;
by such a regimen he came to the whist-table with a clear head, and
possessing as he did a remarkable memory, with great coolness and judgment,
he was able honestly to win the enormous sum of 200,000£. At Brookes',
for nearly half a century, the play was of a more gambling character
than at White's. Faro and macao were indulged in to an extent which
enabled a man to win or to lose a considerable fortune in one night.
It was here that Charles James Fox, Selwyn, Lord Carlisle, Lord Robert
Spencer, General Fitzpatrick, and other great Whigs, won and lost hundreds
of thousands; frequently remaining at the table for many hours without rising.

On one occasion, Lord Robert Spencer contrived to lose the last shilling
of his considerable fortune, given him by his brother, the Duke of Marlborough;
General Fitzpatrick being much in the same condition, they agreed to
raise a sum of money, in order that they might keep a faro bank. The
members of the club made no objection, and ere long they carried out
their design. As is generally the case, the bank was a winner, and
Lord Robert bagged, as his share of the proceeds, 100,000£. He retired,
strange to say, from the foetid atmosphere of play, with the money in
his pocket, and never again gambled. George Harley Drummond, of the
famous banking-house, Charing Cross, only played once in his whole life
at White's Club at whist, on which occasion he lost 20,000£. to Brummell.
This event caused him to retire from the banking-house of which he was
a partner.

Lord Carlisle was one of the most remarkable victims amongst the players