Wine is bottled in quarts, pints, and even half-pints, and may be had at
some institutions even in glasses: it is not needless to observe,
moreover, that there is no necessity either of fashion or regulation to
drink it at all. At an inn, a bottle of wine must be ordered for the
"good of the house," that the waiter may not despise you and be surly:
that, in short, the guest may be tolerably accommodated in other
matters; although, perhaps, the wine itself (wretched stuff generally at
inns) is his abhorrence--though he may never drink any thing but water,
and may send the decanter away untouched--the tax must be paid. Besides
this entertainment for the grosser senses, the more refined appetites
are considered. In some clubs, the "Travellers" for instance, a library
is provided; and at most of them, even the most unintellectual, a
library of reference is supplied. Here all the periodicals of the day
are laid upon the tables--both those of Great Britain and of the
continent, together with the newspapers, metropolitan and provincial,
and in some instances the political journals of Paris. This part of the
house may be considered the general resort of the gossippers and
quidnuncs; and here, or in other more commodious places, materials for
writing, paper, pens, lights, &c.
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