Social clubs have also been formed exclusively for women. It would seem that these should have a raison d'etre, especially in the United States, where ladies' luncheon-parties, at which the com pany of no man is expected or desired, are so popular. Women's clubs are, however. in stitutions. There were a number of them in an cient Rome, among them an assembly of matrons known as the 'Minor Semite.' This institution re ceived imperial recognition. It was chiefly occu pied with questions of etiquette—such as the kind of dress that ladies should wear, according to their social position: the question asto who might he driven in carriages drawn by horses and who should be compelled to drive mules: whose sedan chairs should have ornaments of ivory and whose of silver, and other weighty problems. The mod ern ladies' clubs have, therefore, the authority of very ancient example. They would seem to have a reason for existence in the gregarious and social instincts of the sex; but it is •uobable that the popularity of these clubs has been affected by the admission of ladies to certain of the privileges of the men's clubs—a privilege which renders spec ial clubs for women less neees-sary.
There is still another class of clubs, such as the Liederkranz and the Anion in New York, the original purpose of which was musical. These clubs have one point of special interest ; they are German in their origin rather than English. If the English public-house, to which, of course, it was not the custom to admit women, is to be taken as the origin of the typical club of the present day, the German beer-garden may be viewed as the origin of such clubs as the Lieder kranz and the Anion. The German went to the beer-garden in company with his wife and daugh ter, or his sweetheart; and so, in the modern German clubs of New York, the men are usually accompanied by the women.
It seems to be a recent tendency of clubs, par ticularly in the United States, to facilitate, so far as is possible, the admission of ladies to club privileges. In many of the clubs it is possible for members to bring ladies to dine—a thing un heard of in England until twenty years ago, and at that time scarcely known in America. The Bachelors' Club in London, founded about twenty years ago, admitted ladies as visitors un der certain conditions: and that club is one of the most successful in London. Other clubs have been founded which have the same characteris tic: but the innovation has not proved so popu lar in England as in the United States.
The degree to which ladies are to be permitted to share the privileges of men's clubs is becom ing an interesting subject. During certain hours
the club must, in the nature of things, always remain sacred to men. They cannot have that comfort and unrestraint when ladies are present which they can have by themselves. During the morning hours it is natural that the ladies should be excluded. And there are also many men to whom the presence of women in the clubs in the evening would not be agreeable. The divi sion of men into those who prefer to spend their evenings in their domestie circle and those who prefer to pass them with other men seems to be inevitable and permanent.
As we have seen, the modern club, originating in England, has spread all over the world. It is necessary, of course, that the club in each coun try shall have to some extent the characteristics of that country. For instance, in a French club, a newcomer must ask to be introduced to the members of the club, that being, in general, the French habit. His failure to do so would be esented by the members. In England, on the contrary, a man newly admitted would never think of asking to be introduced personally to the members. Certain differences between Eng lish and American society appear in the club life of the two countries. In general, it may he said that there is greater sociability in American than in English clubs. Indeed, the ideals of club life in the two countries are, or at any rate were, essentially dissimilar. Early in this cen tury Englishmen found that it was possible for an individual to live at a club for £600 a year as well as he could live at home for /6000. In the club he could have everything that he could have at home except the privacy of his own house. If he could not quite have that, he wished to have something as near it as might be. Hence the original character of the English club was somewhat solitary and unsocial. Another differ ence between English and American clubs was originally this: The men who founded the great English clubs were either without occupation or at most half employed. The club was, therefore, with them a place to live in and to spend a large part of the day. The American clubs, on the contrary, were originally founded by men fully employed, for purposes of social relaxation. Their early equipment, as a rule, was two or three rooms, where business men could meet outside of business hours and talk. From such a nucleus as this have grown up in our cities the great houses with library, restaurant, billiard-rooms, baths, and other appliances of luxurious living.