the hospitality was no part of the duty of the Mayor-(hear, hearand he should be very happy to see every invitation sent out to any person as a councillor put an end to. If he, as a mere councillor, was invited to a party, he would much rather not be invited.

Mr. HAMOND said he was somewhat in the difficult position of his friend Mr. Gregson. He had hoped the time for divisions in the Council, either as regarded the Mayoralty or Shrievalty had gone by, to give place to better feelings; and until within the last few days he certainly was not aware that Mr. Morrison was to be proposed for the Chief Magistracy of this town. He should have been very happy, indeed, to have supported Mr. Morrison in such candidature. He re-echoed all that his friend Mr. Gregson had said of him. He believed he had great and remarkable business habits; and he brought these business habits to bear on his duties in the Council in a very eminent degree. But at the same time, he could not ignore the fact that the other candidate who had been proposed by Mr. Ald. Cowen had great and serious claims upon them. He had long servitude. No slur had been cast upon him for the way in which he had performed his duties as councillor for these many years; and he must confess that when the Council delighted to honour a man, and elected him unanimously to the office-an office not inferior to that of chiefmagistrate he alluded to that of Sheriff, he had always understood that, should the gentleman so honoured by the suffrages of the Council be disposed at any time to serve the office of Chief Magistrate, that the shrievalty was but a stepping-stone to the Chief Magistracy of the borough. Now, in what position were they to be placed if they preferred the claims of Mr. Morrison to those of Mr. Angus? Mr. Angus had been a member of that Council for seventeen years; and he was sure every gentleman, however he might be disposed to vote upon the present occasion, would give them credit for the way-the independent way, the satisfactory way-in which he had performed his duties, especially to the ward he represented, and to the borough in which he had been so long an inhabitant. They had also, as he had said before, elected him to the Shrievalty, and now what were they about to do? They were about to ignore long and faithful servicewith all due respect for his friend, Mr. Morrison-with junior service, untried service, excepting for the space of two years. Now, on what grounds did the friends of Mr. Morrison propose him? Why, that he was all that they could wish for, were it not for the candidature of Mr. Angus. He admitted that Mr. Morrison's claims, but he could not ignore the fact Mr. Morrison was but a junior member amongst them; and he would much prefer--and he hoped it was even yet possible that, considering the juniorship of Mr. Morrison in the Council, and the length and tried, and he might add, the valuable services of Mr. Angus, they might be spared having a contest that day, and that they might elect their Chief Magistrate, as he ought always to be elected, by the unanimous voice of the Council. (Hear, hear.) He threw that out to the proposer of Mr. Morrison, He was sure Mr. Bell could not be insensible to the fact of how desirable it was

at all times to avoid any party feeling, and that, with one voice, they should re-echo the public sentiment and public feeling; and if he should be disposed to withdraw the candidature of Mr. Morrison this time, no man would with greater sincerity vote for Mr. Morrison on another occasion than he would. He trusted that as Mr. Ald. Hunter was elected unanimously to the office, so his successor might be. He earnestly trusted that this might be the case, and that they should be spared having any division either on the future or present occasion, either for the office of Chief Magistrate or that of Sheriff. With these remarks, he trusted their chief magistrate might be elected unanimously.

Mr. HARFORD said he accepted, with all the force of the argument, the claims of any gentleman whose services as to seniority might have commended themselves to the confidence of his colleagues in that Council; but he said it with very deep regret-and he certainly would rather that he had not been called upon to say it, because he had a very great dislike to giving pain to any person-but he must confess, as to the observations about the services of Mr. Angus, that they had done anything but make a favourable impression upon his mind. He could not forget-and he spoke to the consciences of those gentlemen with whom he had very frequently had the honour to co-operate he could not forget the particular occasions on which Mr. Angus had been present with them in spirit, but absent in the flesh. (Hear, hear, and a laugh.) He did not care what a man's opinions were. He had no wish to show the slightest disrespect to any gentleman for the opinions he expressed, but he had a profound respect for the man who would at all times, at all costs, and at all hazards, come forward in the Council to endorse those opinions he was known to have. He did not think that their private opinions were private property as public servants. They should not absent themselves when they had a public duty to discharge. It was the incumbent duty of every man to express the honest convictions of his own heart; and he believed the town expected that they should be present there to endorse their own opinions, accepting the responsibility of error or approval as might happen. He came there with the sincerest desire that he should not be obliged to make any remarks, but give a silent vote; but after the remarks of his friends, Mr. Hamond and Mr. Gregson, he could not, with due regard to himself, or any sense of manliness, avoid giving expression to his own feelings as to why he voted for Mr. Morrison, a junior member of the Council, and against Mr. Angus. The reason was that he had not that confidence in Mr. Angus, when his vote was received, that they should have. The opinions of Mr. Morrison, on the other hand, whether they were right or wrong, whether they were in accord with his own or with the people's, in the minority or the majority, would always be faithfully expressed and manfully adhered to. He regretted exceedingly having had to make these remarks, but it was from no ill-will or ill-feeling to the gentleman whose candidature for the office of Mayor he opposed.

Mr. Ald. BLACKWELL did not intend to make a speech of any length, but he could not refrain from expressing his concurrence in the remarks of Mr. Gregson and Mr. Hamond on this subject. There was no individual who would more heartily welcome Mr. Morrison to the chair than he did, at the proper time, and in the absence of another claimant or candidate such as Mr. Angus. (Hear, hear.) He should be very glad, indeed, if Mr. Morrison would withdraw for the present year; and he had no doubt that next year would witness the attainment of all that was desired for him.

Mr. Ald. INGLEDEW rose for the purpose of supporting the proposition for putting Mr. Angus in the chair which the Mayor had so ably filled during the last year. He would merely mention that he had worked with Mr. Angus as a member of one of the committees of this borough, and in other public capacities, and he found him always exceedingly intelligent, very attentive to his duty, showing great aptitude for business, and at all times courteous and kind; and he had no doubt that, if elected to that chair, he would give satisfaction to the Council and the town at large. Reference had been made to his creed. ("No, no ;" ""Morrison's creed.")

Mr. HAMOND: Mr. Morrison's want of creed.

Mr. INGLEDEW said that Mr. Angus, although he was a Nonconformist, was not one of those who would pull down the Church of England. (Cries of "Order" and "Question.") He had contributed to the support of St. Nicholas Steeple, and that showed that he was not going to pull down the body of the Church. (Renewed cries of Question.") He was sure that Mr. Angus would demean himself in that respect in the same manner as any other gentleman.

Mr. TONE, amid considerable confusion, rose to order, but immediately resumed his seat.

Mr. Ald. BELL said an appeal had been made to him to withdraw his candidate. He felt that he could not consent to that. It would be an admission that the imputation of presumption could justly be attributed to Mr. Morrison. He could not forget that up to that time they had had some difficulty in getting a Mayor. When Mr. Perkins was proposed, he accepted by telegraph; the year Mr. Dodds held office they had great difficulty; and last year they were in some doubt as to whether Mr. Hunter's domestic position would allow him to take the office-(cries of "No, no," and "Order")—and on this occasion they applied as a dernier resort to Mr. Morrison. ("Divide, divide.")

The question was then put to the vote and the proposition of Mr. Ald. Cowen carried by twenty-five to twenty-four. The following is the list of names of those who voted on each side:

FOR MR. ANGUS.-Aldermen Ingledew, Blackwell, Dodds, Ridley, Cowen, M.P., and Wilson; Messrs. Curry, J. Robinson, T. Robinson, Gregson, W. Dickinson, H. Milvain, I. Temple, jun., J. O. Scott, H. W. Newton, R. B. Brown, Wm. Stewart, T. P. Barkas, C. F. Hamond, J. B. Falconar, G. Forster, Joseph Cowen, jun., Jonathan Angus, Edward Beck, and Thomas Clark-25.

FOR MR. MORRISON.-The Mayor; Aldermen Laycock, Bell, Hedley, Pollard, and Nichol; the Sheriff; Messrs. Hunnam, M'Allum, G. Stewart, G. W. Hodge, T. Oliver, W. L. Harle, G. Harford, W. J. Hutchinson, W. Charlton, C. S. Smith, B. Plummer, T. Dove, T. Stokoe, Thomas Forster, R. B. Sanderson, J. F. Tone, and A. Potter-24.

ABSENT.-Aldermen Hodgson and Sillick, and Messrs. Daggett, Burrell, Parker, W. Hawthorn, John Mawson, and Perkins-8.

DECLINED VOTING.-Mr. Henry Angus and Mr. J Morrison-2.

At the close, a somewhat exciting scene occurred. There was an equality of votes for each candidate-twenty-four on each sidewhen Mr. Milvain, who had been overlooked in the regular order, suddenly tendered his vote in favour of Mr. Angus, who was thus, amid loud cheers, declared to be elected to the office of ChiefMagistrate.

The MAYOR-ELECT, having taken the customary oaths, and been invested with the chain of office, said: Gentlemen of the Council, I beg to thank you very sincerely for the honour you have done me, in placing me, by a majority, in the position which I now occupy. I did not seek it for myself. Your votes have been entirely unsolicited, so far as I am personally concerned; and I value them the more on that account. I can only say that I shall do my best to perform the duties of that important office in a way that I hope will be satisfactory to all. I have been more accustomed in my pursuits, as you all know, from early manhood, to try to attain the useful rather than the ornamental; and I hope I shall be able to give satisfaction to this great community-the metropolis of the north-by doing my duty in that way. I would thank Mr. Ald. Cowen and Mr. Robinson in particular for the manner in which they have nominated and seconded my appointment to this office. I again thank you all for the honour you have done me. (Applause.)

ELECTION OF THE SHERIFF.

On the motion of Mr. BARKAS, seconded by Mr. Ald. INGLEDEW, Mr. Mawson, who had been suddenly called away to the Continent, was unanimously elected to the office of Sheriff for the ensuing year.

VOTE OF THANKS TO THE EX-MAYOR.

On the motion of Mr. Ald. BELL, seconded by Mr. GREGSON, and supported by Mr. HARLE, a vote of thanks was accorded by acclamation to Mr. Ald. Hunter for his services as Mayor during the past year.

The Ex-MAYOR, in responding, said: Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, I have received so many acts of kindness at the hands of this Council -and the last, is perhaps, the one that I appreciate more than allas prove that my conduct during the time I have served the office of Mayor has been acceptable. I have also to thank the inhabitants of this town generally, for the kindness and courtesy they have shown to me and my wife during my term of office. The consideration and

forbearance I have received at your hands will always have in my mind a lasting impression of gratitude. (Applause.) There have been great changes both political and social-during the past year; but in public sentiment, there is no change in any respect with respect to the office you hold. I believe at no period in the history of the Corporation of Newcastle, was its Mayor held in greater respect than now; and if you have the same pleasure that I have had, you will have no occasion to regret having been placed in that chair. I am very much obliged to you, gentlemen. (Applause.)

VOTE OF THANKS TO THE EX-SHERIFF.

On the motion of Mr. Ald. NICHOL, seconded by Mr. PLUMMER, a cordial vote of thanks was also tendered to Mr. Cail for his services as Sheriff, and the routine business of the Council was afterwards proceeded with,

[END OF MR. ALD. HUNTER'S MAYORALTY.]