Doings of the Calf's Head Club.—In an old newspaper called The Weekly Oracle, of Feb. 1, 1735, is the following curious paragraph:
"Thursday (Jan. 29) in the evening a disorder of a very particular nature happened in Suffolk Street; 'tis said that several young gentlemen of distinction having met at a house there, calling themselves the Calf's Head Club; and about seven o'clock a bonfire being lit up before the door, just when it was in its height, they brought a calf's head to the window dressed in a napkin-cap, and after some huzzas, threw it into the fire. The mob were entertained with strong beer, and for some time hallooed as well as to best; but taking a disgust at some healths which were proposed, grew so outrageous that they broke all the windows, forced themselves into the house, and would probably have pulled it down, had not the guards been sent to prevent further mischief. The damage is computed at some hundred pounds. The guards were posted all night in the street for the security of the neighbourhood."
E. G. Ballard.
Epitaph by Wordsworth.—There is a beautiful epitaph by Wordsworth in Sprawley Church, Worcestershire, to the wife of G. C. Vernon, Esq., of Hanbury. Wordsworth has made the following slight alterations to it, in his published poems: I quote from the one-volume 8vo. edition of Moxon (1845). The first two lines are not on the tablet. The words within brackets are those which appear in the original epitaph:—
"By a blest husband guided, Mary came
From nearest kindred, Vernon her new name;
She came, though meek of soul, in seemly pride
Of happiness and hope, a youthful bride.
O dread reverse! if aught be so which proves
That God will chasten whom he dearly loves,