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
From its commencement the Eccentrics are said to have numbered upwards
of 40,000 members, many of them holding high social position: among
others, Fox, Sheridan, Lord Melbourne, and Lord Brougham. On the same
memorable night that Sheridan and Lord Petersham were admitted, Hook
was also enrolled; and through this Club membership, Theodore is
believed to have obtained some of his high connexions. In a novel,
published in numbers, some five-and-twenty years since, the author, F.
W. N. Bayley, sketched with graphic vigour the meetings of the
Eccentrics at the old tavern in May's-buildings.
DOUGLAS JERROLD'S CLUBS.
One of the chapters in "_The Life and Remains of Douglas Jerrold_," by
his son, Blanchard Jerrold, discourses most pleasantly of the several
Clubs to which Mr. Jerrold became attached. He was of a clubbable
nature, and delighted in wit-combats and brilliant repartees, the
flash of which was perfectly electric.
In this very agreeable _précis_, we find that towards the end of the
year 1824, some young men at a humble tavern, the Wrekin, in the
genial neighbourhood of Covent Garden, with Shakspeare as their common
idol; and "it was a regulation of this Club that some paper, or poem,
or conceit, bearing upon Shakspeare, should be contributed by each
member." Hither came Douglas Jerrold, and he was soon joined by Laman
Blanchard. Upon Jerrold's suggestion, the Club was called the
Mulberries, and their contributions were entitled Mulberry Leaves. In
the Club were William Godwin; Kenny Meadows, the future illustrator of
Shakspeare; W. Elton, the Shakspearean actor; and Edward Chatfield,
the artist. Mr. Jerrold wrote, in the _Illuminated Magazine_, a
touching memoir of the Society--"that knot of wise and jocund men,
then unknown, but gaily struggling."
The Mulberry Club lived many years, and gathered a valuable crop of
leaves--contributions from its members. They fell into Mr. Elton's
hands, and are now in the possession of his family. They were to have
been published, but no one would undertake to see them through the
press--an office which, in most cases, is a very un-thankful one. The
Club did not, however, die easily: it was changed and grafted. "In
times nearer the present, when it was called the Shakspeare Club,
Charles Dickens, Mr. Justice Talfourd, Daniel Maclise, Mr. Macready,
Mr. Frank Stone, etc. belonged to it. Respectability killed it." But
some delightful results of these Mulberry Club meetings are embalmed
in Mr. Jerrold's _Cakes and Ale_, and their life reminds one of the
dancing motes in the latter. Then we hear of other clubs--the Gratis
and the Rationals, of which Jerrold was a member.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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