Club Life of London, Vol. 1 (of 2): With Anecdotes of the Clubs, Coffee-Houses and Taverns of the Metropolis During the 17th, 18th, and 19th CenturiesTimbs, John
History
Club Life of London, Vol. 1 (of 2): With Anecdotes of the Clubs, Coffee-Houses and Taverns of the Metropolis During the 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries
Timbs, John
Clubs -- England -- London; Literary landmarks -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social life and customs
"Come, thou soul-reviving cup;
Try thy healing art;
Stir the fancy's visions up,
And warm my wasted heart.
Touch with freshening tints of bliss
Memory's fading dream.
Give me, while thy lip I kiss,
The heaven that's in thy stream.
As the witching fires of wine
Pierce through Time's past reign,
Gleams of joy that once were mine,
Glimpse back on life again.
And if boding terrors rise
O'er my melting mind,
Hope still starts to clear my eyes,
And drinks the tear behind.
Then life's wintry shades new drest,
Fair as summer seem;
Flowers I gather from my breast,
And sunshine from the stream.
As the cheering goblets pass,
Memory culls her store;
Scatters sweets around my glass,
And prompts my thirst for more.
Far from toils the great and grave
To proud ambition give,
My little world kind Nature gave,
And simply bade me live.
On me she fix'd an humble art,
To deck the Muse's groves,
And on the nerve that twines my heart
The touch of deathless love.
Then, rosy god, this night let me
Thy cheering magic share;
Again let hope-fed Fancy see
Life's picture bright and fair.
Oh! steal from care my heart away,
To sip thy healing spring;
And let me taste that bliss to-day
To-morrow may not bring."
The friendship of the Duke of Norfolk and Charles Morris extended far
beyond the Steaks meetings; and the author of the _Clubs of London_
tells us by what means the Duke's regard took a more permanent form.
It appears that John Kemble had sat very late at one of the night
potations at Norfolk House. Charles Morris had just retired, and a
very small party remained in the dining-room, when His Grace of
Norfolk began to deplore, somewhat pathetically, the smallness of the
stipend upon which poor Charles was obliged to support his family;
observing, that it was a discredit to the age, that a man, who had so
long gladdened the lives of so many titled and opulent associates,
should be left to struggle with the difficulties of an inadequate
income at a time of life when he had no reasonable hope of augmenting
it. Kemble listened with great attention to the Duke's _jeremiade_;
but after a slight pause, his feelings getting the better of his
deference, he broke out thus, in a tone of peculiar emphasis:--"And
does your Grace sincerely lament the destitute condition of your
friend, with whom you have passed so many agreeable hours? Your Grace
has described that condition most feelingly. But is it possible, that
the greatest Peer of the realm, luxuriating amidst the prodigalities
of fortune, should lament the distress which he does not relieve? the
empty phrase of benevolence--the mere breath and vapour of generous
sentiment, become no man; they certainly are unworthy of your Grace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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