A Discourse Before the New England Society in the City of New-York, December 22, 1851 (Electronic book text)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. Excerpt from book: Section 3REPOKT, ETC. The Annual Dinner of the New England Society, in the city of New-York, in Commemoration of the Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers of New England, at Plymouth, in 1620, took place at the Astor House, on Thursday, December 23, 1851. The large dining hall was appropriately decorated for the occasion, and two hundred and forty gentlemen, members of the Society and their guests, sat down, at 6 o'clock, to tables furnished with the taste and profusion for which the Astor House is so justly celebrated. Hon. Moses H. Grinnell, President of the Society, presided, assisted by Messrs. Simeon Draper, George Curtis, and Paul Babcock, as Vice-Presi- dents. After the cloth was removed, the President rose, and calling to order, said: Gentlemen,I must ask your indulgence for a few moments before proceeding to give you the regular toasts prepared for this occasion. In the first place, we, the members of the New England Society, desire to hear a report from our Committee of Arrangements and Invitations. The Chairman of that Committee will be kind enough now to report. Mr. Bonney, Chairman of the Committee of Arrangements, said: Mr. President And Gentlemen,Your Committee of Arrangements were selected, I believe, with reference to their supposed capacity for acting rather than for speaking, and our report, in words, will now be very brief. We considered our chief duties performed, and our best report made, when we introduced you to this room, and presented the entertainmentprovided for you ; and that report, we are happy to say, appears to have been favorably received, discussed and accepted. (Applause.) We have only now to add, that, under the direction of the Society, we addressed letters of invitation for this occasion to a large number of gentlemen, whose presence tonight would have been most gra...