'Any company was better than none; by which Johnson connected himself
with many mean persons whose presence he could command. For this purpose
he established a club at a little ale-house in Essex-street, composed of
a strange mixture of very learned and very ingenious odd people. Of the
former were Dr. Heberden, Mr. Windham, Mr. Boswell, Mr. Steevens, Mr.
Paradise. Those of the latter I do not think proper to enumerate.'
Taylor's _Life of Reynolds_, ii. 455.
It is possible that Reynolds had never seen the Essex Head, and that the
term 'little ale-house' he had borrowed from Hawkins's account. Possibly
too his disgust at Barry here found vent. Murphy (_Life of Johnson_, p.
124) says:--
'The members of the club were respectable for their rank, their talents,
and their literature.'
The 'little ale-house' club saw one of its members, Alderman Clarke
(_ante_, p. 258), Lord Mayor within a year; another, Horsley, a Bishop
within five years; and a third, Windham, Secretary at War within ten
years. Nichols (_Literary Anecdotes_, ii. 553) gives a list of the
'constant members' at the time of Johnson's death.