THE YORK COLUMN.

Five years have now elapsed since the improvements in St. James’s Park were commenced, by order of Government, for the gratification of the people.  We were early in our congratulation, as well as illustration, of the prospective advantages of these plans for the public enjoyment, as will be seen on reference to our tenth volume; and, with respect to the re-disposal of St. James’s Park, we believe the feeling of satisfaction has been nearly universal.

At the period to which we have just alluded, the removal of Carlton House, (for it scarcely deserved the name of Palace,) had been decided on.  The walls were dismantled of their decorative finery, and their demolition commenced; the grounds were, to use a somewhat grandiloquent phrase, dis-afforested; and the upper end of “the sweet, shady side of Pall Mall” marked out for public instead of Royal occupation.  Thus, within a century has risen and disappeared from this spot the splendid abode and its appurtenances; for, it was in the year 1732 that Frederic, Prince of Wales, first purchased the property from the Earl of Burlington; though it was not until 1788 that the erection of Carlton House was commenced for the late King, then Prince of Wales; so that the existence of the Palace must be restricted within forty years—­a term reminding us of the duration of a pavilion, rather than of a kingly mansion.

Upon the precise site of the courtyard and part of Carlton House have been erected two mansions, of splendid character, appropriated to the United Service and Athenaeum Clubs:  the first built from the designs of Mr. Nash, and the latter from those of Mr. Decimus Burton.  They front Pall Mall West, or may be considered to terminate Waterloo Place.

The site of Carlton House Gardens is now occupied by palatial houses, which are disposed in two ranges, and front St. James’s Park.  The substructure, containing the kitchens and domestic offices, forms a terrace about 50 feet wide, adorned with pillars of the Paestum Doric Order, surmounted with a balustrade.  The superstructure consists of three stories, ornamented with Corinthian columns.  The houses at each extremity have elevated attics.  Only small portions of these superb elevations are shown in the Engraving, with the Athenaeum Club House in the distance.

In the space between the two ranges, it was proposed to erect a fountain, formed of the eight column’s of the portico of Carlton House, (which was in elaborate imitation of the Temple of Jupiter Stator, at Rome,[1]) to which eight on the same model were to be added.  The balustraded terrace had been continued fronting the Park with a view to this embellishment.  It however occurred to some guardian of the public weal, that the above space presented an eligible opportunity for a grand public entrance from Pall Mall into the Park.  The idea was mooted in Parliament; but some difficulties arose, from the leases already granted