Immediately after vacating Streatham, Dr. Burney was called upon, by
his great and good friend of Bolt Court, to become a member of a club
which he was then instituting for the emolument of Samuel, a footman of
the late Mr. Thrale. This man, who was no longer wanted for the broken
establishment of Streatham, had saved sufficient money for setting
up a humble species of hotel, to which this club would be a manifest
advantage. It was called, from the name of the honest domestic whom Dr.
Johnson wished to serve, Sam’s Club. It was held in Essex-street, in
the Strand. Its rules, &c. are printed by Mr. Boswell.
To enumerate all the coteries to which the Doctor, with his new
associate, now resorted, would be uninteresting, for almost all are
passed away! and nearly all are forgotten; though there was scarcely
a name in their several sets that did not, at that time, carry some
weight of public opinion. Such of them, nevertheless, that have left
lasting memorials of their character, their wit, or their abilities,
may not unacceptably be selected for some passing observations.