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Article BOARD OF STEWARDS. ← Page 3 of 3
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Board Of Stewards.
attend to his duties at the Festival , or to be formally excused from further attendance by a resolution of the Board . At this very meeting it was evident that the number of guests would exceed four hundred , for the proper arrangement , comfort , and incidental controul of whom , the direct attention of the whole eighteen Grand Stewards ivould be insufficient ; ancl it was equally well known , that four out of the eighteen , were deputed to attend on the Ladiesand that one Member of the
, Board had not conformed to the regulations , and was not expected to he present at the Festival ; so that , in fact , it was certain that not more than thirteen Grand Stewards could be in the Hall , either as Wine Stewards , Hall Stewards , or in direct personal attention on the guests ; ancl yet the Board , by a majority , resolved that the worthy Brother should he excused from attendance , rather than , " without a precedent , " accept the deputed services of the Grand Steward Elect for the same Locl !
ge Can it be wondered at , that twelve Grand Stewards were found to be inadequate to the full performance of their onerous services , when it is remembered that above four hundred ancl fifty guests partook of the banquet ? Is it surprising that , deducting from these twelve the two Wine Stewards , and the two Hall Stewards , the remaining eight should be found inadequate , with an average number of fifty-six persons each their charge ?
Hacl not my colleagues come to the singular resolution of foregoing the assistance of a Grand Steward Elect , in the place of a Grand Steward in Office , I should certainly have proposed to the Board , to invite the assistance of all the Grand Stewards Elect , in keeping order under
their respective banners , and to provide them with rosettes that their authority might be recognised and respected . But to have pressed this in the face of the " no precedent" resolution , would have been either to have it summarily rejected , or to have involved another annoying appeal to the most Worshipful Grand Master . However , succeeding Boards may take the hint , and have the honour , if they can walk without leading strings , of establishing " a precedent , " b y which their own Members
may receive important and appropriate assistance , and the Grand Stewards Elect have the advantage of an earlier initiation into their duties . As it was , being appointed by the Board to take charge of the guests at the Cross Table , and others entitled to sit at it , but who , for want of room , were placed at the upper ends of the three centre tables , numbering altogether about seventy , I was obliged to place the wine tickets for the British Loclge ancl friends , who mustered to the extent of
twenty-four , in charge of a very worthy Past Master , in whose hands I knew my credit would he perfectly safe ; and to request that our excellent Worshipful Master would preserve order , should he find the exercise of his authority at all necessary . Thanks to each and all , there were no complaints made in or of that portion of the assemblage . With no other object at heart but the good of the Craft , ancl in the humhle ancl very sincere hope that wiser heads than mine may follow
out what I have presumed to indicate , I remain , Sir and Brother , Yours very truly , JOHN LEE STEVENS . British Lodge , No . 8 , May , 1 S 3 S .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Board Of Stewards.
attend to his duties at the Festival , or to be formally excused from further attendance by a resolution of the Board . At this very meeting it was evident that the number of guests would exceed four hundred , for the proper arrangement , comfort , and incidental controul of whom , the direct attention of the whole eighteen Grand Stewards ivould be insufficient ; ancl it was equally well known , that four out of the eighteen , were deputed to attend on the Ladiesand that one Member of the
, Board had not conformed to the regulations , and was not expected to he present at the Festival ; so that , in fact , it was certain that not more than thirteen Grand Stewards could be in the Hall , either as Wine Stewards , Hall Stewards , or in direct personal attention on the guests ; ancl yet the Board , by a majority , resolved that the worthy Brother should he excused from attendance , rather than , " without a precedent , " accept the deputed services of the Grand Steward Elect for the same Locl !
ge Can it be wondered at , that twelve Grand Stewards were found to be inadequate to the full performance of their onerous services , when it is remembered that above four hundred ancl fifty guests partook of the banquet ? Is it surprising that , deducting from these twelve the two Wine Stewards , and the two Hall Stewards , the remaining eight should be found inadequate , with an average number of fifty-six persons each their charge ?
Hacl not my colleagues come to the singular resolution of foregoing the assistance of a Grand Steward Elect , in the place of a Grand Steward in Office , I should certainly have proposed to the Board , to invite the assistance of all the Grand Stewards Elect , in keeping order under
their respective banners , and to provide them with rosettes that their authority might be recognised and respected . But to have pressed this in the face of the " no precedent" resolution , would have been either to have it summarily rejected , or to have involved another annoying appeal to the most Worshipful Grand Master . However , succeeding Boards may take the hint , and have the honour , if they can walk without leading strings , of establishing " a precedent , " b y which their own Members
may receive important and appropriate assistance , and the Grand Stewards Elect have the advantage of an earlier initiation into their duties . As it was , being appointed by the Board to take charge of the guests at the Cross Table , and others entitled to sit at it , but who , for want of room , were placed at the upper ends of the three centre tables , numbering altogether about seventy , I was obliged to place the wine tickets for the British Loclge ancl friends , who mustered to the extent of
twenty-four , in charge of a very worthy Past Master , in whose hands I knew my credit would he perfectly safe ; and to request that our excellent Worshipful Master would preserve order , should he find the exercise of his authority at all necessary . Thanks to each and all , there were no complaints made in or of that portion of the assemblage . With no other object at heart but the good of the Craft , ancl in the humhle ancl very sincere hope that wiser heads than mine may follow
out what I have presumed to indicate , I remain , Sir and Brother , Yours very truly , JOHN LEE STEVENS . British Lodge , No . 8 , May , 1 S 3 S .