Transcriber's Note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the originaldocument have been preserved.
On page 47, "Mrs. Read's" should possibly be "Mr. Read's".
On page 100, "Sheridan had no personal dislike" should possibly be"Selwyn had no personal dislike".
Martin Folkes is also spelled Martin Foulkes.
On page 177, "set in half-a-dozen barbers" should possibly be"sent in half-a-dozen barbers".
On page 287, "Woolbidding" should possibly be "Woolbeding".
CLUB LIFE OF LONDON.
Captain Charles Morris.
Engraved by W. Greatbatch from the Original Picture inthe Possession of the Family.
CLUB LIFE OF LONDON
WITH
ANECDOTES OF THE CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES
AND TAVERNS OF THE METROPOLIS
DURING THE 17th, 18th, AND 19th CENTURIES.
BY
JOHN TIMBS, F.S.A.
See Beef-steak Society, p. 143.
IN TWO VOLUMES.—VOL. I.
LONDON:
RICHARD BENTLEY, PUBLISHER IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY.
1866.
PRINTED BY
JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET,
LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
PREFACE.
Pictures of the Social Life of the Metropolis duringthe last two centuries are by no means rare. We possessthem in Diaries, Memoirs, and Correspondence, inalmost countless volumes, that sparkle with humourand gaiety, alternating with more serious phases,—politicalor otherwise,—according to the colour and complexion,and body of the time. Of such pictures themost attractive are Clubs.
Few attempts have, however, been made to focus theClub-life of periods, or to assemble with reasonablelimits, the histories of the leading Associations of clubbableMen,—of Statesmen and Politicians, Wits andPoets, Authors, Artists, and Actors, and "men of witand pleasure," which the town has presented since thedays of the Restoration; or in more direct succession,from the reign of Queen Anne, and the days of theTatler and Spectator, and other Essayists in their wake.vi
The present Work aims to record this Club-life ina series of sketches of the leading Societies, in which,without assuming the gravity of history or biography,sufficient attention is paid to both to give the severalnarratives the value of trustworthiness. From the multitudeof Clubs it has been found expedient to make aselection, in which the Author has been guided by thepopular interest attached to their several histories. Thesame principle has been adopted in bringing the Workup to our own time, in which the customary reticencein such cases has been maintained.
Of inter