LETTER X.

_CLUBS AND SOCIAL MEETINGS._

Non inter lances mensasque nitentes, Cum stupet insanis acies fulgoribus, et cum Acclinis falsis animus meliora recusat; Verum hîc impransi mecum disquirite.

_Hor._ Sat. lib. ii. [Sat. 2. vv. 4-7].

O prodiga rerum Luxuries, nunquam parvo contenta paratu, Et quæsitorum terrâ pelagoque ciborum Ambitiosa fames et lautæ gloria mensæ.

_Lucan._ lib. iv. [vv. 373-6].

[Sed] quæ non prosunt singula, [multa] juvant.

[_Ovid. Remed. Amor._ v. 420.]

Rusticus agricolam, miles fera bella gerentem, Rectorem dubiæ navita puppis amat.

_Ovid. Pont._ lib. ii. [Ep. 2. vv. 61-2].

Desire of Country Gentlemen for Town Associations--Book-clubs--Too much of literary Character expected from them--Literary Conversation prevented: by Feasting: by Cards--Good, notwithstanding, results--Card-club with Eagerness resorted to--Players--Umpires at the Whist Table--Petulances of Temper there discovered--Free-and-easy Club: not perfectly easy or free--Freedom, how interrupted--The superior Member--Termination of the Evening--Drinking and Smoking Clubs--The Midnight Conversation of the Delaying Members--Society of the poorer Inhabitants: its Use: gives Pride and Consequence to the humble Character--Pleasant Habitations of the frugal Poor--Sailor returning to his Family--Freemasons' Club--The Mystery--What its Origin--Its professed Advantages--Griggs and Gregorians--A Kind of Masons--Reflections on these various Societies.