68 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

reached the Lieutenant Governor the zrst of August. On the following day His Excellency proceeded to the Council Chamber, where a guard of honor was drawn up composed of the troops of' the Garrison, commanded by Captain Ruxton. His Excellency then informed the Council of the melancholy intelligence of the King’s death, and announced the accession to the Throne of Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence, as William the Fourth. The oath of allegiance to the new Sovereign was administered to His Excellency, the members of the Council, and several other gentlemen. A Proclamation having been issued and signed by His Excellency, was read by the Herald, first in the Council Chambers, then on the Barrack Square, at the head of King’s Wharf, and at the Market Place, at each of which it was received with enthusiastic cheers. A ' Royal Salute was then fired from the guns of the Battery; after which the colors were lowered to haltimast, and minute guns to the number of sixty commenced firing for the deceased monarch. The colors hung at half-mast for seven days, at the close of which they were removed from the flag-staff.

Material for the erection of a new jail on Pownal Square having been collected, the ceremony of laying the corner stone on the 25th was performed by the Worshipful Master and Brethren of St. John’s Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons in full regalia. A parchment scroll dated 25th August, 1830, hearing the name of the Governor, John Ready, and His Majesty William the Fourth, together with some coins were put into a glass vessel, hermetically sealed, then deposited in the stone. The ceremony being ended, the Brethren returned in procession to their Lodge.

Later in the year the brig Mary arrived from Tobermony with 330 passengers, natives of Skye, and the bark Nz'zvzts, with 80 more from Norfolk and Suffolk.

In 183x Parliament met on the 3rd February. the opening being attended by the usual display of a guard of honor and artillery salutes. The presence of the fair sex added consider- ably to the splendor of the occasion. The King’s birthday was celebrated on the 28th'May, it being the day of his nativity, and His Majesty in his 65th year. The troops on garrison duty here were relieved by the arrival of a detach- ment of the 8th Regiment, Captain Machen.