House steward

“ He then went to the house of the steward, and found he was not at home; he, however, left a message, desiring that the steward would send him word if there was any probability of his being able to purchase the portraits. Accordingly, the steward sent him word that they had been removed, with the family portraits, to the residence of a lady near Manchester, where he might have the satisfaction of seeing them. The old man cannot remember either the name or the address of the lady. ”

“ IX. The Steward is to reside constantly in the house, and to follow no other employment than what relates to this charity. He is to receive the respective provisions and materials for the employment of the women, ordered by the committee, and inspect the weight, measures and quality thereof, and to make regular entries of them; to keep an exact account of all the work done by every respective woman, as the matron shall deliver it to him. ”

“ Helm and party stealthily crept from their hiding place and surrounded the house; then bursting in suddenly upon the revelers, began to make arrests. Such a tumult, such an affray as ensued would be hard to describe.
The slaves fought for their lives and their liberty, and the Captain's party for their property and power. Fists, clubs, chairs, and any thing they could get hold of, was freely used with a strength and will of men who had tasted the joys of freedom. ”

“ The lady's-maid will also use this apartment as a sitting-room, when not engaged with duties which would call her elsewhere. In different establishments, according to their size, means and expenditure of the family, different rules, of course, prevail. For instance, in mansions where great state is maintained, and there is a house-steward, two distinct tables are kept, one in the steward's room for the principal members of the staff, the second in the servants' hall for the other domestics. At the steward's dinner-table, the steward and housekeeper preside ”

“ We have no object in view, but truth, justice,—the greatest good of the Settlement, and of our brethren in general. Israel Lewis has, however, collected large sums of money, for our relief, of which we have not had the benefit. Nearly two years ago, he was appointed agent for the Colony, to collect funds to build a meeting-house, to endow schools, &c. In less than one year he received more than two thousand dollars, which he squandered; and we have neither meeting-house nor schools, nor never will have, so long as the money goes into the hands of Lewis. ”

“ Rebecca Gould, afterwards Rebecca Steward, was born in Gouldtown on the 2d of May, 1820. But Gouldtown a half century ago was not what it is now. It was then almost unbroken forest. The early childhood of this family was passed in a rude little log house, in which one room answered for kitchen, dining-room, parlor and bed-room for eleven souls.
A brave and stalwart father, a slight and sickly mother, seven girls, and two boys, made up that household. A little uncomfortable school house, answering on the Sabbath for church, was the only public building known. ”

“ Some had built a house and barn, cleared land, &c.; but when they wished to pay for their farms, they could get no deed, and were obliged to lose all their labor.
This raised such a general complaint against the land agents, that they finally agreed to pay the squatters for their improvements, if they would leave their farms. An opportunity was soon offered to test their sincerity in this agreement. A shrewd fellow, who had been many years a sailor, named William Smith, had made valuable improvements on land, for which he could get no deed, and then he wished to leave it. ”

“ The steward followed. They found the men in one of the first rooms: not engaged in the examination of its fastenings or its closets (and the whole house abounded in closets and cupboards) , but with their heads together, talking in whispers.
In answer to Mr. Ravensworth's peremptory demand, made in Lord Level's name, that the search should cease and the house be freed of their presence, they civilly replied that they must not leave, but would willingly retire to the kitchen and there await their superior officer, who was on his road to the house: and they went down accordingly. Mr. ”

“ Who art thou, that thou shouldst deny me to eat? By Saint Dunstan, thou hadst best tell me where my breakfast is, if thou wouldst save broken bones!"
"Thy breakfast, Master Fireblaze, is in the pantry," answered the Steward.
"Then fetch it hither!" cried Little John, who waxed angry by this time.
"Go thou and fetch it thine own self," quoth the Steward. "Am I thy slave, to fetch and carry for thee?" ”

“ What he saw no human being knows; but it must have been something awful, for, without a cry, the old steward fell dead in the hall. Perhaps the strangest part of the story is this: that the shadow of a burly man, holding a pistol in his hand, entered by the open door, stepped over the steward's body, and, gliding up the stairs, disappeared, no one could say where. Such is the legend. ”

“ The gentleman had just come from London, and had seen handbills at every conspicuous place, describing me and my horses. I asked him what I should do? He said, 'you are not safe a moment; there is no hope but in flight; avoid the main road, and get to the colony if you can; if you succeed, go to A. Steward; he is an upright man and will never betray you for money,' And here I am: if I am arrested, six months imprisonment, three hundred dollars fine, and the forfeiture of my father's valuable and favorite horses, will be my portion. ”

“ At the rise of the curtain there is a moment of intense silence. Then The Steward enters and commences to clear the table of the few dishes which still remain on it after the Captain's dinner. He is an old, grizzled man dressed in dungaree pants, a sweater, and a woolen cap with ear flaps. His manner is sullen and angry. He stops stacking up the plates and casts a quick glance upward at the skylight; then tiptoes over to the closed door in rear and listens with his ear pressed to the crack. What he hears makes his face darken and he mutters a furious curse. ”

“ We have now, as is well known, only a Lord High Steward, or Major domus, on particular occasions, for which he is especially created: but the Lord Steward of the Household is an officer of great power and high dignity in the Court of our kings. A Major domus regiae occurs, as far as I know, but once in our Ante-Norman history, and may there probably denote only the dapifer or seneschal: he is mentioned by Florence, an. ”

“ He was only partly dressed; and all people agreed that he had been sitting up reading in his own room, where there were many traces of blood, and was suddenly fallen upon and killed, before his master.’
Now, be it observed, it is not the author himself who asserts that the steward’s body was found; he has put the words in the mouth of one of his characters. ”

“ Steward had established a grocery and provision store on Buffalo Street, in a part of Abner Wakelee's building, opposite the Eagle Hotel. He put up his sign, a very plain and proper one, and at night, some competitors, whom he knew, as well as he could know anything which he could not prove, smeared his sign with black paint, utterly destroying it! But the misguided men who stooped to such an act—the victims of sensuality and excess—have years ago ended their journey, and passed to the bar of a higher adjudication. ”

“ At the head of the domestic circle, with my uncle, she appeared to have a clear and high notion of home economy. Her house was a house of order, pleasure, books, the Bible, religion, and prayer. Every member of her family was taught that noble and divine idea of liberty in love. The erring were made to feel the weight of guilt keenly, and the force of love [63] deeply. The well disposed were not flattered to ruin, but urged to grace. She reared her children for heaven and God. If any of them should fail to enjoy the end of her life in their behalf, she will still have her reward. ”

“ There was no one there, and Stewart, following with the candle, saw that the hall was empty. They stood for a moment listening, but not a sound disturbed the stillness of the house.
The girl motioned him back into the room and closed the door softly. Then, replacing the pitcher gently, she caught up a pile of Stewart’s socks and stuffed them tightly under the door. Finally she set a chair snugly against it—for there was no lock—and turned to Stewart with a little sigh of relief.
“There,” she said in a low tone; “no one can see our light nor overhear us, if we are careful. ”

“ Thus, the steward gives tiles to the slater, planks to the carpenter, colors to the painter, lime and bricks to the mason—the very same lime that we have in our teeth—in fact, he has got everything that can be wanted in his storehouse, and it is to him that every one applies in time of need.
Now our body also is a mansion, and has its steward too. But what a steward—how active! what a universal genius I how inefficient by comparison are the stewards of the greatest lords! He goes, he comes, he is everywhere at once ”

“ To learn the speeches of each land.'
'Who shall go with him?' said the lady;
'Husband, we have no more but he;'
'Madam,' he saith, 'My head steward,
He hath bin true to me.'
She cal'd the steward to an account,
A thousand pound she gave him anon;
Sayes, Good Sir Steward, be as good to my child,
When he is far from home.
'If I be fals unto my young lord,
Then God be [the] like to me indeed!'
And now to France they both are gone,
And God be their good speed. ”

“ If real stewards were as faithful and indefatigable as you, landlords might get on better than they do. You can’t think how he plagues me with his business details, Miss Tempest.”
“I can,” said Lady Mary, freely. “I think he is terribly conscientious.”
“All the more so, that he is not going to be a steward long,” answered Lionel, in a tone through which ran a serious meaning, light as it was. “The time is approaching when I shall render up an account of my stewardship, so far as Verner’s Pride is concerned.”
“What do you mean by that?” cried John Massingbird. ”

“ But we find in every place a steward, and in each town the king's reeve or the lord's reeve. These acted for the overlord, whoever he was, and saw that the villeins and cottiers did their proper proportion of work at the right time; they saw that the lord's tolls at the markets, fairs, and ferries, were properly enforced. The steward was a most important officer in every town and village, and a great deal of power was in his hands. ”

“ Proclamation for silence having been made by the [Pg 418] Lord Steward's serjeant-at-arms, the commission was read, the lords standing up, uncovered. Then his Grace, making obeisance to the lords, reseated himself; and Garter, and the Black Rod, with their reverences, jointly presented the white staff, on their knees, to his Grace. Thus fully invested with his office, the Lord Steward took his staff in his hand and descended from the woolsack to a chair prepared for him on an ascent before the throne. ”

“ Then again my soul replied, I will fear no evil; in God alone will I put my trust. When I found I had to wait awhile longer, I thought I would look around on this side of Jordan, for I had been so anxious to get home to my Father's House, and so busy looking beyond, that I had not noticed anything on this side so much; and in the glory of light that beamed across the river, I had not noticed the poisonous flowers that spread their baneful influence over all the land, or the muddy, filthy pools, sending up their miasmatic odors, poisoning the air ”

“ The steward comes upon the scene, and is angry to find the child in such company. When the child gives his name as Poor Disaware, the steward denounces him as a thief who had robbed his own father; but the duke speaks kindly to the boy, and makes him his stable-groom. One day, when he is watering a gelding, the horse flings up his head and hits the child above the eye. The child breaks out, Woe worth thee, gelding! thou hast stricken the Lord of Lorn. I was born a lord and shall be an earl; my father sent me over the sea, and the false steward has beguiled me. ”

“ She entered the cottage with the friendliest beam in her bright blue eye, and it was with the softest tone of her frank cordial voice that she accosted the widow. But she was no more successful than the Steward had been. The truth is, that I don't believe the haughtiest duke in the three kingdoms is really so proud as your plain English rural peasant, nor half so hard to propitiate and deal with when his sense of dignity is ruffled. ”

“ But better I love my life.
Would ye have me go to John Steward’s castle,
To tryst away his wife?’—
IX
‘Do not I give you meat?’ he says,
‘Do not I give you fee?
How daur you stop my errand
When that I bid you flee?’
X
This little man John one while he yode [342] ,
Another while he ran;
Until he came to John Steward’s castle
I wis he never blan [343] .
[Pg 216] XI
He ask’d no porter’s leave, but ran
Up hall and bower free,
And when he came to John Steward’s wife,
Says, ‘God you save and see!
XII
‘I come, I am come from Childe Maurice—
A message unto thee! ”

“ In no part of the Royal Household was there any real discipline, order, or dignity about the domestic work. The servants themselves often did not know who was responsible for certain duties, and, servant-like, were always careful never to do anyone’s work but their own. The great officials themselves were said not to know which parts of the Castle or Palace were under the charge of the Lord Steward or the Lord Chamberlain. When George III. was King the Lord Steward had charge of the whole Palace except the Royal apartments ”