Note 331 — Chapter XIX · CLUBS.

There were numerous social clubs, the Beefsteak, and the Saturday Club, of which Swift makes frequent mention in his letters to Stella. Take one instance[331]: 'I dined with lord-treasurer, and shall again to-morrow, which is his day, when all the ministers dine with him. He calls it whipping day. It is always on Saturday, and we do indeed usually rally him about his faults on that day. I was of the original club, when only poor Lord Rivers, lord keeper, and Lord Bolinbroke came; but now Ormond, Anglesey, lord Steward, Dartmouth, and other rabble intrude, and I scold at it; but now they pretend as good a title as I; and, indeed, many Saturdays I am not there.[331] He also belonged to a club or society for social converse and the encouragement of literature, which was founded in the latter part of the year 1712. Its meetings were on Thursday, and it was the custom of the members to entertain their brethren in turns. He gave one dinner at the Thatched House[332]: 'it will cost me five or six pounds; yet the secretary says he will give me wine.' But they soon got extravagant, for their very next dinner is noted[333] as 'The Duke of Ormond's treat last week cost £20 though it was only four dishes, and four without a dessert; and I bespoke it in order to be cheap;' and this did not include wine. In this society, when money was raised for a benevolent purpose, the members were assessed according to their several estates: thus, the Duke of Ormond paid ten guineas, Swift half a guinea.