[Footnote 25: _English Furniture and Furniture Matters of the 18th Century._ R.S. Clouston, 1906, pp. 84-86.] [Footnote 26: _Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. i., p. 88.] [Footnote 27: Ed. 1784, vol. iv., p. 189.] CHAPTER V The Society of Arts--Its Foundation--Its Removal to the Adelphi in 1774--James Barry and his Famous Paintings--Visited in John Street by Burke and Johnson--The Latter's opinion of his Genius--Description of his Pictures for the Society--The Work of the Society--"Spot" Ward, the Inventor of "Friar's Balsam"--Johnson speaks in the Great Room--Forsaken by his "Flowers of Oratory." INSEPARABLY connected with the romance of the Adelphi, and very interesting on its own account, is the history of the Society of Arts, with its memories, not only of painters, but of Johnson and other celebrities. The Society owes its origin to William Shipley (1714-1803), a drawing-master of Northampton, and brother of Jonathan Shipley, Bishop of St Asaph, the friend of Benjamin Franklin. It was established at a meeting held on March 22, 1754, at Rawthmell's Coffee-house, in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden. Its first president was Jacob, Lord Viscount Folkestone. Its complete designation is "The Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce." Smollett, in his _History of England_ (1757), says, somewhat grandiloquently: "The Society is so numerous, the contributions so considerable, the plan so judiciously laid, and executed with such discretion and spirit as to promise much more effectual and extensive advantage to the public than ever accrued from all the boasted academies of Christendom." The Society had various homes prior to settling in the Adelphi. Its first meetings were held over a circulating library in Crane's Court, Fleet Street. A move was made westward to Craig's Court, Charing Cross, and from there the Society went to the Strand, in rooms opposite the New Exchange, and, in 1759, to apartments in Beaufort Buildings, Savoy.