get off, and with a strong easterly wind they would be sure to be driven against the pier. A pier by itself would be objectionable, for it would give refuge to no vessel, and there would be no commerce to make it pay. Ald. Rock argued that the promoters had only altered their plans to suit what they gathered had been the view of the Council. Their motives were clear enough. An engineer and a lawyer were wanting employment, and if they could get it and benefit the town at the same time, he saw no objection to the course. The question for the Council was whether or not the scheme was a good one. If the thing could be tested without putting the borough to any expense, he saw no reason why it should not have a fair trial. He would move that the Council should forward the necessary memorials if Messrs. Birch and Manning would cause to be deposited a sufficient sum of money to cover all the expenses of the preliminary enquiry. Coun. Bromley characterised the plan as a scheme to get office work in drawing out plans which were not intended to be carried out, the cost of which the Council would be asked to pay. Coun. Howell found it was one the management of which and the tolls of which the Council could have nothing to do with. He wished to move that the Town Clerk be instructed to write to the parties, telling them the Council would give their moral support to a scheme for a harbour, but they declined to be the memorialists. Coun. Gausden thought if the project were left in the hands of Messrs. Manning and Walker, they would hear no more about it. Mr. Rock withdrew his motion, and Mr. Howell’s amendment was carried unanimously.
Address to the Queen – The last meeting of the Council in 1861, as well as the last item here noticed of their proceedings was a special one on Saturday, the 21st of December, for the purpose of agreeing to an address of condolence to Her Majesty in the hour of her bereavement. The Mayor wore a funeral scarf over his robe of office, as well as the official mourning on the left arm. The maces were covered with crape(sic), and the members, generally, were in mourning. The Mayor said the occasion, which has caused me to call you together is a very sad and painful one. It is to pass a vote of condolence on account of the great loss which has fallen upon our beloved Sovereign, and which has caused a sorrow so deep that it is felt from the palace to the cottage – from the highest to the lowest in the land. No man in this country could have done more to purify the hearts and tastes of its people than did the deceased Prince. Her Majesty can now no longer receive the support and consolation of her late and beloved consort in the trials and troubles of life; and in her deep affliction I call on you, gentlemen, to pass a vote of condolence to Her Majesty, to be presented through the Secretary of State for the Home Department at the earliest opportunity, and -
