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Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
On page 47, "Mrs. Read's" should possibly be "Mr. Read's". Martin Folkes is also spelled Martin Foulkes. On page 100, "Sheridan had no personal dislike" should possibly be "Selwyn had no personal dislike". 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".
[Illustration: CAPTAIN CHARLES MORRIS. _Engraved by W. Greatbatch from the Original Picture in the Possession of the Family._]
ANECDOTES OF THE CLUBS, COFFEE-HOUSES AND TAVERNS OF THE METROPOLIS DURING THE 17TH, 18TH, AND 19TH CENTURIES.
[Illustration: See Beef-steak Society, p. 143.]
LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, PUBLISHER IN ORDINARY TO HER MAJESTY. 1866.
PRINTED BY JOHN EDWARD TAYLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS.
Pictures of the Social Life of the Metropolis during the last two centuries are by no means rare. We possess them in Diaries, Memoirs, and Correspondence, in almost countless volumes, that sparkle with humour and gaiety, alternating with more serious phases,--political or otherwise,--according to the colour and complexion, and body of the time. Of such pictures the most attractive are Clubs.
Few attempts have, however, been made to _focus_ the Club-life of periods, or to assemble with reasonable limits, the histories of the leading Associations of clubbable Men,--of Statesmen and Politicians, Wits and Poets, Authors, Artists, and Actors, and "men of wit and pleasure," which the town has presented since the days of the Restoration; or in more direct succession, from the reign of Queen Anne, and the days of the _Tatler_ and _Spectator_, and other Essayists in their wake.
The present Work aims to record this Club-life in a 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 several narratives the value of trustworthiness. From the multitude of Clubs it has been found expedient to make a selection, in which the Author has been guided by the popular interest attached to their several histories. The same principle has been adopted in bringing the Work up to our own time, in which the customary reticence in such cases has been maintained.