PRESENTATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 803, 21 December 1870, Page 2

PRESENTATION.

Yesterday the members of the City Council and their Clerk proceeded by special, coach to the residence of his Worship the Mayor, on the Ferry road, for the purpose of presenting the testimonial to Mrs Dune in, which we have already described. On arrival, the Councillors were received by his Worship and Mrs Duncan, and were conducted through the beautifully laid out grounds and choicely stocked conservatories, each of which afforded great scope for pleasurable examination. Next proceeding to his Worship's residence, the Councillors partook of an elegant dejeuner in the dining room. After due consideration had been paid to thedelicacies provided, Councillor Jameson, as senior member of the Council and; future Mayor, rose to present the testimonial. In doing so, he remarked upon the great pleasure he experienced in discharging the onerous duty that had > devolved upon him, and expressed a hope that the child whose birth the testimonial was intended to commemorate would be an acquisition in every sense of the word to the province. He then handed the epergne to Mrs Duncan, accompanied by the following address engrossed on parchment : — " City Council Chambers, " Christchurch, 20th Dec, 1870. " Mrs Duncan,—"Madam, — We, the members of the City Council,, take the earliest opportunity of congratulating you on the birth of your son, and have much pleasure in presenting to you the accompanying testimonial to mark the event during the year of your husband's Mayoralty. " We sincerely hope the infant may grow up, and be a comfort and happiness to you both. " We desire to expre&B our appreciation of the very efficient manner in which your husband (Andrew Duncan, . Esq.), has discharged the duties of Mayor during his year of office, now about to expire — those duties being performed with much kindness and courtesy to all. " John Anderson, J. P. Jameson, W. Calvert, Hy. Sawtell, M. B. Hart, E. B. Bishop, W. Pratt, W. Jones, F. Hobbs, George Gordon, Town Clerk." Mrs Duncan replied as follows : — "Mr Jameson, and members of the City Council of Christchurch. " I have to thank you very sincerely for the kind congratulations you have been pleased to express towards myself and baby, and trust that kind Providence may spare him to mc, and that I may be enabled to so train him up that he may become a source of joy to myself, and a useful member of society. " The unexpected and handsome present you have this day given, me. to commemorate the birth of my baby I will cherish as an heirloom of priceless value, and will further look upon it as an evidence of your appreciation of my husband's action in the responsible office of Mayor. " The duties connected with the office of Mayor, I know, have been rendered comparatively light, by the kind consideration you have always shown towards him; ; for which consideration accept my sincere and heartfelt regards. " Isabella Duncan.'^ This concluded the formal portion of the proceedings, and the party shortly afterwards returned to town. The epergne has already been described, but we may state, that on one of the shields atthe base of the epergne was the inscription— " Presented to Mrs A.. Duncan,, by the members of the Christchurch City Council as a memento of the birth of a son during the Mayoralty of A. Duncan, Esq.," and on the cradle suspended from a projecting branch of the epergne was the inscription, "Alexander Storrie Duncan, born Nov. 28, 1870."