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40 Btiil, within the limits of a single house, e.g., of the imperial palace, and probably of other princely establishments, which counted their hundreds or thousands of dependants. Each class of slaves engaged in different domestic occupations had their own clubs. Thus the chef de cuisine (magister coquorum) of Augustus bequeathed a sum of money to the collegium, or club, of cooks, in his imperial majesty s house hold, and there is evidence that there were five or six other clubs in the palace at the same time. We do not know how large each club may have been ; an old inscription tells us of forty seats reserved for a particular club in the amphi theatre at Nimes, but these belonged probably to the officers of the club, not to the ordinary members indis criminately. Sometimes the number of members was limited, either by the original constitution of the body, or by condi tions subsequently imposed by benefactors who did not wish their donations to be frittered awaj and rendered useless by too minute subdivisions. As to the internal organiza tion of the clubs, the general laws and principles which governed their constitution, both in Athens and in Rome, they were moulded, as was only natural, very much after the pattern of the civil institutions of the country. They were republican therefore in spirit, the administration of affairs being wholly in the hands of the members them selves, all of whom had equal rights ; their watchful control was incessant, and their authority absolute ; their officers were elected by universal suffrage, sometimes by acclama tion ; they were called by the same names as were borne by the magistrates of the state, apxorres, qucestores, magistri quinquennales, curatores, &c. ; they were elected annually, and on entering into office they took an oath that they would observe the constitution and laws of the corporation ; and on retiring from office they gave an account of their stewardship to the assembled members, who exercised a right of judgment over them. This judgment seems to have been almost uniformly favourable ; a commendatory decree was voted almost as much a matter of course as a vote of thanks to the chairman of our own public meetings. In Greece this vote was accompanied by the offering of a crown of leaves, of olive, ivy, or poplar, according to the supposed choice of the god or goddess to whom the club was dedicated. In the East, e.g., Bithynia, we find crowns of ribands and flowers ; in Rhodes, Delos, and the adjacent islands, it was not uncommonly of gold, of very little intrinsic worth, however, and provided by special contributions at each monthly meeting. But the most valued part of the reward to these retiring officers (in Greece) seems to have been the proclamation of the honour obtained, which proclama tion took place either after the ceremonies of the chief annual festival, or sometimes on every occasion of meeting. It was also engraved on a column which was set up in some conspicuous spot in or near their place of meeting. When any special services seemed to call for special recognition, the title of benefactor or benefactress was awarded, and this, too, was of course added to the inscription. A still higher and rarer honour was to offer the retiring officer a statue or portrait of himself, either full length or half figure only or sometimes both together, and even more than one of each But only once among Greek inscriptions belonging to these clubs do we find any mention of a salary awarded to the secretary, in consideration of the zeal and justice with which he had attended to the general interests of the community, the exactness with which he had rendered his own reports and accounts, as well as audited those of others who from time to time had been specially deputed to do anything for the club, and his constant devotion to the interests of all the members both collectively and individually Even in this instance, however, the zealous and disinterested secretary or treasurer declined the proffered salary, where upon the club voted him a golden crown, which again he gave up for the decoration of the temple in which they met. And this, indeed, was the usual fate of these complimentary offerings. The officers fulfilled the duties of their post gratuitously, and often at great expense to themselves, just as the civil magistrates were obliged to do ; and it seems to have been pretty generally understood, that any extra ordinary compliments, such as the offer of a statue or portrait, should, if accepted, be carried out at the expense, not of the donor, but of the receiver. In Rome, also, whenever an inscription states that the members of a collegium decree that a statue shall be erected in honour of some patron or benefactor, it is generally added that he undertook to pay for the statue himself (honore contentus, impensam remisit). Besides the acting officials of these clubs, there were also certain honorary patrons, whose connection with them was probably much the same as that of most patrons of benevolent societies in our own day. It was a compliment to invite them to become patrons, and they were expected to contribute to the funds in return. It only remains that we should say a few words about the merely social clubs of pagan times, those clubs which had no other bond of union, either commercial, political, or religious, but which aimed only at the amusement or private advantage of their members. There was nothing in the functions of these clubs to obtain for them a place in the page of history. The evidence, therefore, of their existence and constitution is but scanty. Monumental inscriptions, however, tell us of clubs of Roman citizens in some of the cities of Spain, of a club of strangers from Asia resident in Malaga, of Phoenician residents at Pozzuoli, and of other strangers elsewhere. These all were probably devised as remedies against that sense of ennui and isolation which is apt to come over a number of foreigners residing at a distance from their native country. Something of the same kind of feeling may have led to the toleration of a club consisting of old soldiers who had been in the armies of Augustus ; these were allowed to meet and fight their battles over again, spite of the legal prohibition of military clubs. Another military club of a different kind existed among the officers of a regiment engaged in foreign service in Africa. Its existence can have been no secret, for its rules were engraved on pillars which were set up near the headquarters of the general, where they have lately been found in the ruins of the camp. The contribu tion of each member on admission scarcely fell short of 25, and two-thirds of this sum were to be paid to his heir or representative on the occasion of his death, or he might himself recover this proportion of his original sub scription on retirement from military service. The peculiarity, however, of this aristocratic collegium was this, that it provided that a portion of the funds might also be spent for other useful purposes, e.g., for foreign travelling. It is to be presumed that a member who had availed him self of this privilege thereby forfeited all claim to be buried at the expense .of his club. Clubs were by no means the exclusive privilege of the male sex; in ancient days. Women also were united in similar associations. Their religious sodalities, indeed, were not generally edifying ; but they combined together also for social and political purposes. The most remarkable of these was the great assembly of matrons, called at one time, in a mock-heroic way, &quot;the minor senate.&quot; This ladies club received its title from imperial authority, which also legislated as to the needful qualifications of its members, the times of its meeting, and the subjects of its debates. These concerned the gravest questions of etiquette, such as what dress ladies should wear according to their social rank ; who was to take precedence one of another on public occasions of state, in processions, or other 