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poses. He adds: ''Those meet to-
| gether for the sake of one another's
comany, and to offer sacrifices. When
they meet, they both pay certain hon
ors to the gods, and at the same time
take pleasurable relaxation among
| themcelves."
The officers of all these societies
served without pay; but sometimes
commendatory DEGREES, like votes of
thanks, were accorded to those who
had specially distinguished themselves
by faithfulness and efficiency. Again,
a civic crown, laurel wreath, or
statue was voted to the deserving one
The money to pay for these gifts was
generally raised by subscription
among the members. In Rome, how
ever, it was always provided that the
recipient of the honor should pay for
his own statue, after it was voted him,
practice that commends itself on the
score of civic economy ane popular
virtue. In Greece the merits of the
retiring officer were set forth in pub
lie proclamation, or more enduringly
inscribed on memorial pillar, as dis
coveries in the ruins of ancient cities
have revealed.
The records of these social clubs are
meagre, but few monuments and tab
lets have been found, which have serv-
ed to perpetuate them. Some of the
classic writer's also refer to them. Cic-
ero speaks of the pleasures that he de-
rived from those meetings, and Hor
ace and other Latin poets have sung
their praises. Lipsius cites the regula
tions of an old Roman club that have
come down to us, and, in the. work of
a Greek author are laid down rules for
the government of club symposium.
Analogous to these home institutions
were the clubs of foreigners that exis-
ted in nearly all the important ancient
cities, such as Rome, Athens, Carthage,
and Alenxandria. Much more than in
these generations did the exile from
home depend upon his club relations
with his fellow-countryman to recon-
cile him to absence from his native
land The old soldiers of Augustus
organized themselves into a club, de-
spite the law forbidding such military
associations, and in one of the Roman
regiments of Africa there was club of
officers.
Nor were the women i'm those days
kept outside the bounds of club life.
The Roman matrons had "SOrosis,"
a great assembly that was facetiously
called bv the wits of the time ''the
minor senate" This was unquestionaly
an organization of influence. 1t was
an autocratic social tribunal, regulat-
ing all matters of etiquette, dress, and
precedence. and it was endowed by the
government with a certain amount of
authority and power. There were
other wOmen's clubs, of lesser impor
tance, and so it seems that the club
idea among women, which is generally
regarded as an outcome of woman's
fn-ae-seir1e emancipation, is, after all,
at best only revival. These clubs
were all officered by women, and, in
addition to their other duties, the
members interested themselves in rails
ing funds with which to erect statues
and monuments to deserving or favor
ed individuals.
But for the club in its fullest, richest,
and finest development We must look to
recent generations and to the people of
Western Europe and the United States,
whose civilization has succeed and out
run that of the old Greeks and Romans
and their coevals. The modern club
has become one of the established and
most popular institutions of the age.