volume 1, chapter 10.

CLUBS: The Clichy.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1797 (SEPTEMBER).

CLUBS: The French Revolutionary.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1790.

CLUBS: The Hampden.

See ENGLAND: A.. D. 1816-1820.

CLUBS: Dr. Johnson's.

"During his literary career Dr. Johnson assisted in the foundation of no fewer than three clubs, each of which was fully deserving of the name. In 1749 he established a club at a house in Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row, and only the year before he died he drafted a code of rules for a club, of which the members should hold their meetings, thrice in each week, at the Essex Head in the Strand; an establishment which was then kept by a former servant of his old friends the Thrales. Those members who failed to put in an appearance at the club were required to forfeit the sum of two pence. There is an interesting account of one of the meetings of the Ivy Lane Club, at which Johnson presided, in Sir John Hawkins's biography of him. ... The next club with which Johnson became acquainted was the most influential of them all, and was the one which is now chiefly remembered in connection with his name. It was, however, a plant of slow and gradual growth. The first meeting of its members, who exulted in the designation of 'The Club,' was held in 1763 at a hostelry called the Turk's Head, situated in Gerard Street, Soho. {481} 'The Club' retained that title until after the funeral of Garrick, when it was always known as 'The Literary Club.' As its numbers were small and limited, the admission to it was an honour greatly coveted in political, legal, and literary circles. 'The Club' originated with Sir Joshua Reynolds, then President of the Royal Academy, who at first restricted its numbers to nine, these being Reynolds himself, Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Dr. Christopher Nugent (an accomplished Roman Catholic physician), Bennet Langton, Topham Beauclerk, Sir John Hawkins, Oliver Goldsmith, and M. Chamier, Secretary in the War Office. The members assembled every Monday evening punctually at seven o'clock, and, having partaken of an inexpensive supper, conversed on literary, scientific and artistic topics till the clock indicated the hour of retiring. The numbers of the Literary Club were subsequently augmented by the enrolment of Garrick, Edward Gibbon, Lord Charlemont, Sir William Jones, the eminent Oriental linguist, and James Boswell, of biographical fame. Others were admitted from time to time, until in 1791 it numbered 35. In December, 1772, the day of meeting was altered to Friday, and the weekly suppers were commuted to fortnightly dinners during the sitting of parliament. Owing to the conversion of the original tavern into a private house, the club moved, in 1783, first to Prince's, in Sackville Street; next to Le Telier's in Dover Street; then, in 1792, to Parsloe's in St. James's Street; and lastly, in February, 1799, to the Thatched House Tavern in St. James's Street, where it remained until long after 1848."

_W. C. Sydney, England and the English in the 18th Century, chapter 6 (volume 1)._

CLUBS: The King's Head.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1678-1679.

CLUBS: The Kit Cat. "The Kit Cat Club was instituted in 1699. Its most illustrious members were Congreve, Prior, Sir John Vanbrugh, the Earl of Orrery, and Lord Somers; but the members becoming more numerous, the most violent party obtained the majority, and the Earl and his friends were less regular in their attendance. ... The Kit Cat took its name from a pastry-cook [Christopher Katt], whose pies formed a regular dish at the suppers of the club."

_G. W. Cooke, Memoirs of Bolingbroke,