If a _member_ only of a poor family be sick, the _head_ still remains to procure necessaries; but if that head be disordered, the whole source of supply is dried up, which evinces the utility of such institutions. The general custom is to meet at the public every fortnight, spend a trifle, and each contribute six-pence, or any stated sum, to the common stock. The landlord is always treasurer, or father, and is assisted by two stewards, annually or monthly chosen. As honour and low life are not always found together, we sometimes see a man who is rather _idle_, wish the society may suppose him _sick_, that he may rob them with more security. Or, if a member hangs long upon the box, his brethren seek a pretence to expel him. On the other hand, we frequently observe a man silently retreat from the club, if another falls upon the box, and fondly suppose himself no longer a member; or if the box be loaded with sickness, the whole club has been known to dissolve, that they may rid themselves of the burthen; but the Court of Requests finds an easy remedy for these evils, and at a trifling expence. The charity of the club, is also extended beyond the grave, and terminates with a present to the widow. The philosophers tell us, "There is no good without its kindred evil." This amiable body of men, therefore, marshalled to expel disease, hath one small alloy, and perhaps but one. As liquor and labour are inseparable, the imprudent member is apt to forget to quit the club room when he has spent his necessary two-pence, but continues there to the injury of his family. Another of these institutions is the _rent club_, where, from the weekly sums deposited by the members, a sop is regularly served up twice a year, to prevent the growlings of a landlord. In the _breeches club_ every member ballots for a pair, value a guinea, _promised_ of more value by the maker. This club dissolves when all the members are served. The intentions of the _book club_ are well known, to catch the productions of the press as they rise. The _watch club_ has generally a watchmaker for its president, is composed of young men, and is always temporary. If a taylor be short of employment, he has only to consult a landlord over a bottle, who, by their joint powers, can give birth to a _cloaths club_; where every member is supplied with a suit to his taste, of a stipulated price. These are chiefly composed of batchelors, who wish to shine in the eye of the fair. Thus a bricklayer stands at the head of the _building club_, where every member perhaps subscribes two guineas per month, and each house, value about one hundred pounds, is balloted for, as soon as erected. As a house is a weighty concern, every member is obliged to produce two bondsmen for the performance of covenants.