70 



ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



to become the first minister of tlie Dominion, while I was — as I am still — 

 the chief clerk of the House of Commons. It was my good fortune 

 to hear the Honourable William Young, the leader of the Liberal 

 l)arty. lie belonged to a Scotch family who came to Nova 

 Scotia in 1815, when he was still a lad, and several members of 

 whom besides himself were conspicuous in the public allairs of the 



CHIKF JUSTICE SIR W. YOUNG, KNT. 



maritime provinces. His father was an able member of the assembly 

 for years and wrote under the pseudonym of " Agricola"^ a number of 

 valuable letters which gave a decided stimulus to agriculture on scientific 

 ])rinciples. His brother George was a journalist and literary man of no 



' " The Letters of Agricola on the Principles of Vegetation and Tillage written 

 for N'ova Scotia and published first in the Acadian Recorder by John Young, 

 Secretary of the Provincial Agricultural Board, etc., Halifax." Printed by Holland 

 & Co., 1H22. 8vo., half roan, xvi., 1G2 and index of 10 pp. In Campbell's " History of 

 Nova Scotia," a dull though .-iccurate book, so far as it goes, I find the following 

 anecdote of Mr. John Young and Mr. James Boyle I'niacke : " In a debate in the 

 House of Assembly on a grant of money for the importation of horses for the 

 province, several members exi)ressed their ojjinion as to the most suitable breed. 

 John Young was in favour of horses for farming purposes, of which he was con- 

 sidered a good jiulge. James B. Uniacke was in favour of importing hor.ses, half- 

 blood, and in his remarks sj)okc sarcastically about the kind of hor.ses kept by Mr. 

 Young, who lived at Willow Park, and which were occasionally employed in driving 

 agricultural produce to market. Mr. Uniacke was an eloiiuent speaker, graceful in 

 manner and appearance, and by his ready wit and a sly allusion to Mr. Young's 

 cabbages, turned the laugh of the House against that gentleman. Mrs. Uniacke 

 was a lady possessed of a large fortune at the time of her marriage, but happened, 

 like many of the very best of her sex, not to be remarkable for her beauty. Mr. 

 Young, who had sat dreamily listening to Mr. Uniacke, bv-andby rose to reply, and 

 with a complacent smile beaming on his countenance, said: 'We. in Scotland, 

 Mr. Speaker, select our horses upon the same principle that some gentlemen select 

 their wives— not for their beauty but for their sterling worth.' All eyes were 

 immediately on Mr. Uniacke, and there followed a universal burst of laughter." 



