Club Life of London, Vol. 2 (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. 2 (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
This was the office in which the Council for the Management of the
Duchy of Cornwall Estates held their sittings; for in the Calendar of
State Papers, edited by Mrs. Green, is the following entry, of the
time of Charles, created Prince of Wales four years after the death of
Henry:--"1619, Feb. 25; Prince's _Council Chamber, Fleet-street_.
--Council of the Prince of Wales to the Keepers of Brancepeth, Raby,
and Barnard Castles: The trees blown down are only to be used for
mending the pales, and no wood to be cut for firewood, nor browse for
the deer."
DICK'S COFFEE-HOUSE.
This old Coffee-house, No. 8, Fleet-street (south side, near Temple
Bar), was originally "Richard's," named from Richard Torner, or
Turner, to whom the house was let in 1680. The Coffee-room retains
its olden paneling, and the staircase its original balusters.
The interior of Dick's Coffee-house is engraved as a frontispiece to a
drama, called _The Coffee-house_, performed at Drury-lane Theatre in
1737. The piece met with great opposition on its representation, owing
to its being stated that the characters were intended for a particular
family (that of Mrs. Yarrow and her daughter), who kept Dick's, the
coffee-house which the artist had inadvertently selected as the
frontispiece.
It appears that the landlady and her daughter were the reigning toast
of the Templars, who then frequented Dick's; and took the matter up so
strongly that they united to condemn the farce on the night of its
production; they succeeded, and even extended their resentment to
every thing suspected to be this author's (the Rev. James Miller) for
a considerable time after.
Richard's, as it was then called, was frequented by Cowper, when he
lived in the Temple. In his own account of his insanity, Cowper tells
us: "At breakfast I read the newspaper, and in it a letter, which, the
further I perused it, the more closely engaged my attention. I cannot
now recollect the purport of it; but before I had finished it, it
appeared demonstratively true to me that it was a libel or satire upon
me. The author appeared to be acquainted with my purpose of
self-destruction, and to have written that letter on purpose to secure
and hasten the execution of it. My mind, probably, at this time began
to be disordered; however it was, I was certainly given to a strong
delusion. I said within myself, 'Your cruelty shall be gratified; you
shall have your revenge,' and flinging down the paper in a fit of
strong passion, I rushed hastily out of the room; directing my way
towards the fields, where I intended to find some house to die in; or,
if not, determined to poison myself in a ditch, where I could meet
with one sufficiently retired."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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