KN()\\Li:i)(".i:. 



Jt'Ni:. 1912. 



r 



FlGl'RE 255. 



The very rare silver gilt Badge of the Beggar's Rcnison Club at .'\nstruther, 



Scotland. In the collection of .'\. M. Broadley. 



two flags at cither side; motto. I'nu 

 OUR COUNTKV. 



The reverse of tliis medal isl)eautifull\- 

 reproduced in enamel in the centre of 

 the elaborate badge, surrounded with 

 tine paste ornaments, — now in m\' col- 

 lection. This was probabh- worn hx 

 the President of the Lojal Association, 

 who may have belonged to the fair sex. 



In 1789, after the famous battle of 

 the Regency, a medal was struck both 

 in pewter and gilt bronze in honour 

 of William Pitt, bearing on the reverse 

 the words : " May Britain still flourish 

 under our good King and his virtuous 

 Minister." Another medal of that 

 momentous year shewed the head of 

 Pitt, the Premier, on one side and that 

 of Thurlow, the Chancellor, on 

 the other. From 1 789 onwards 

 Pitt was the object of many 

 medallic honours, but it was 

 not till after his death at the ^ 



beginning of 1806 tiiat in- 

 numerable Pitt Clubs came 

 into existence with a view to 

 perpetuate at once the policy, 

 the patriotism and the memory 

 of the " Pilot who weathered 

 the storm." Of these loyal 

 associations the London Pitt 

 Club is probably the sole 

 survivor, for the non-political 

 Cambridge Pitt Club was 

 founded at a later date, and for 

 a ditTerent purpose. Nearly 

 every Pitt Club had its own p,^ 



distinctive badge, some of them sj,,,^., ^,^,„„i^ ^^j^^, „^. j^^^^^ ^^^.^^ 

 being now extremely rare, but .Mien of Bath, in 1 752. In 



Figure 25o. 

 Gilt and enamel badge given 

 by George 1 1 1 to his physicians 

 after his reco\ery from his 

 mental affliction in 1789. In 

 t!ie collection of A. M. 

 Hroadlev. 



in one or two instances a Pitt com- 

 memorative medal was used, with a 

 special border and suspensory loop 

 added to it. The silver gilt and cameo 

 badge of the parent Pitt Club, that 

 of London, is now reprt)duced (see 

 Figure 254). The original cameo, from 

 which the others were copied, is, I 

 believe, now in possession of Dr. 

 Fletcher, the President and Treasurer 

 of the Cambridge Pitt Club. It was 

 cut about 1 790 bv James Tassie, a 

 British modeller (1735-1799), a full 

 account of whose work will be found 

 in the issue of the Xiiinisniafic Circular 

 of May, 1912. The provincial Pitt 

 Club badges in my possession are those 

 of Liverpool (Wyon. Junr.) 1814. 

 Nottingham (Webb) 1814. .Manchester 

 (Wyon) 181 J, Stirling 1814, Warrington 

 1814, Birmingham 1814, Wolverhamp- 

 ton (Wyon) 1813, Leicester Town and 

 Countrv (W'ebb) no date, P>lackburn 

 (Hallidav) 1814, Rochdale (Webb), 

 1813 and Sheffield 1810. They are all 

 in silver. The finest of them is that of 

 Rochdale, which has on the obverse a 

 profile portrait of Pitt, with the words 

 " Gulielmo Pitt. R. P. O. B." On the 

 reverse is a storm-beaten rock and the 

 legend Patriae coltimen deciis. The 

 majority of the Pitt medals have the 

 motto Xoii sihi seii patriae vi.vit. 



Most of the eighteenth-century clubs 

 land their name was legion) had their 

 distinctive badge. The Beefsteak Club 

 certainly dated from that period, but 

 on the reverse of the large and hand- 

 some silver gilt badge (once the property 

 of Sir Henry Irving) now reproduced, 

 are the following words: — "15 Nov: 

 1803. Founders Sir John Turner, 



Q 



y.0- 



■•if^ 



by William, Duke of Cumberland, to Ralph 

 the collection of A. M. Broadlcv. 



