to honourable mention.

In 1823 the building in which this notable historic dinner took
place was known as The Prince of Wales Coffee House and Hotel.
When it ceased to be an hotel we are unable to state, but in 1890
it was a French Hospital and Dispensary, ten years later it was let
out as offices, and in 1913 it was a foreign club; but the building
is practically the same as it was in 1837.




CHAPTER II

THE "GOLDEN CROSS," CHARING CROSS



Before the "Golden Cross" was given such prominence in The Pickwick
Papers, it formed the subject of one of the chapters in Dickens's
previous book, Sketches by Boz. But although there is a "Golden
Cross" still standing at Charing Cross to-day, and a fairly old inn
to boot, it is not the actual one which figures in these two books
and in David Copperfield.

As a matter of fact, there have been several "Golden Crosses" at
Charing Cross; one, perhaps the first, stood in the village of
Charing in 1643. But the one which claims our attention stood on
the exact spot where now towers the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar
Square, and was the busiest coaching inn in the west end of London.