The affairs of the borough are now conducted by a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen common council. The election is on the 1st of November, when six annually go out of office : they are elected by the burgesses, the aldermen and mayor by the town council.
The following is a particular account of the battle of Hastings, selected from the first authorities .
BATTLE OF HASTINGS .
William, Duke of Normandy, assembled three thousand vessels, great and small, at the mouth of the river Dive, and selected an army of sixty thousand men from the different bands which poured in from all quarters, anxious to join in the dangerous enterprise. They had listened greedily to the dazzling prospects held out to them of place and power, in return for the services they would render him in his invasion of England. The more daring the enterprise, the more it accorded with the romantic spirit of the age. Everywhere was the fame of the intended invasion spread, and multitudes flocked to tender their services, with that of their vassals and retainers ; all alike impelled with the desire of acquiring fame under one whose power, courage, and abilities, had long been acknowledged.
While William was making these mighty preparations, that he might increase the number of Harold's enemies he prevailed on the ill-will of Tosti, to join his brother the king of Norway, in ravaging the northern coasts of England. Tosti having got together sixty ships in the ports of Flanders, joined Halfager on the coast of Northumberland, who came with an armament of three hundred ships, and sail-
