ctober ale, under
Dahl's portrait of Queen Anne, and to trouble with their fierce,
uncompromising Jacobitism the fluctuating purposes of Harley and the
crafty counsels of St. John. The genius of Swift tempered their hot
zeal with the cool air of his "advice." Then the wilder spirits
seceded, and formed the March Club, which retained all the angry
Jacobinism of the parent body, but lost all its importance. There were
wilder associations, like the Hell-fire Club, which, under the
presidency of the Duke of Wharton, was distinguished for the desperate
attempts it made to justify its name. But it was, like its president,
short lived and soon forgotten. There are fantastic rumors of a
Calves' Head Club, organized in mockery of all kings, and especially of
the royal martyrs. It was said by obscure pamphleteers to be founded
by John Milton; but whether the body ever had any real existence seems
now to be uncertain.

{75}

[Sidenote: 1714--Coffee-houses]

Next to the clubs came the "mug-houses." The mug-houses were political
associations of a humbler order, where men met together to drink beer
and denounce the Whigs or Tories, according to their convictions. But
at this time the coffee-houses occupied the most important position in
social life. There were a great many of them, each with some special
association which still keeps it in men's memories. At Garraway's, in
Change Alley, tea was first retailed at the high prices which then made
tea a luxury. The "Rainbow," in Fleet Street, the second coffee-house
opened in London, is mentioned in the _Spectator_; the first was
Bowman's, in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill. Lloyd's, in Lombard
Street, was dear to Steele and Addison. At Don Saltero's, by the river
at Chelsea, Mr. Salter exhibited his collection of curiosities and
delighted himself, and no one else, by playing the fiddle. At the
"Smyrna" Prior and Swift were wont to receive their acquaintances.
From the "St. James's," the last house but one on the south-west corner
of St. James's Street, the _Tatler_ dated its foreign and domestic
news, and conferred fame on its waiter, Mr. Kidney, "who has long
conversed with and filled tea for the most consummate politicians." It
was the head-quarters of Whigs and officers of the Guards; letters from
Stella were left here for Swift, and here in later years originated
Goldsmith's "Retaliation." Will's, at the north corner of Russell
Street and Bow Street, famous for its