A few select spirits had separated from the crowd, and formed a fit audience round a far greater teacher.
(RQ:WBsnt IvryGt)
At half-past nine on this Saturday evening, the parlour of the Salutation Inn, High Holborn, contained most of its customary visitors.(..)In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass.