urlieus of Covent Garden. The hoarse note
of the drowsy night-guard reverberated through the long aisle of
the now-forsaken piazzas, as the trembling flame of the parish lamp,
flittering in its half-exhausted jet, proclaimed the approach of day;
the heavy rumbling of the gardeners' carts, laden with vegetables for
the ensuing market, alone disturbed the quiet of the adjoining streets.
In a dark angle might be seen the houseless wanderer, or the abandoned
profligate, ~341~~gathered up like a lump of rags in a corner, and
shivering with the nipping air. The gloom which surrounded us had, for
a moment, chilled the wild exuberance of my companions' mirth; and it is
more than probable we should have suspended our visit to the _Finish_,
at least for that night, had not the jocund note of some uproarious
Bacchanalian assailed our ears with the well-known college chant of old
Walter de Mapes, "_Mihi est propositum in taberna mori_," which being
given in G major, was re-echoed from one end to the other of the arched
piazza: at a little distance we perceived the jovial singer reeling
forwards, or rather working his way, from right to left, in sinuosities,
along, or according to nautical phrase, upon __tack and half tack,
bearing up to windward, in habiliments black as a crow, with the
exception of his neckcloth and under vest; but judge our surprise and
delight, when, upon nearer approach, we discovered the _bon vivant_ to
be no other than our old friend Crony, who had been sacrificing to
the jolly god with those choice spirits the members of the Beefsteak
Club,{4} who meet in a room built expressly

4 This Club, which may boast among its members some of the
most distinguished names of the age, including royalty
itself, owed its origin to the talents of those celebrated
artists Richards and Loutherbourg, whose scenic performances
were in those days often exhibited to a select number of the
nobility and gentry, patrons of the drama and the arts, in
the painting-room of the theatre, previous to their being
displayed to the public. It was on one of those occasions
that some noblemen surprised the artist cooking his beef-
steak for luncheon in his painting-room, and kindly
partaking of the _dejeune a la fourchette_, with him,
suggested and established the Beef-steak Club, which was
originally, and up to the time of the fire, held in an
apart-ment over the old Thea