DEATH OF JOHN STEW'ART. 79

in the assembly “to prevent the spread of infectious dis-

7

eases.’ A day of fasting was appointed in the month of

May, and, happily, the island was not visited by a pestilence

which, in other places, laid tens of thousands in the grave.

In this year an act was also passed to provide for the con-

veyance of the mails between Charlottetown and Pictou, by . a steam vessel, a grant of three hundred pounds yearly

having been voted for that purpose. The service was ac-

cordingly performed by the Steamer Pocahontas, which ran

twice a week to Pictou,—the cabin passage—money being

twelve shillings currency. In the following year the census

was taken, from which it appeared that the population of” the island, which, in 1827, had been twenty—three thousand,

had increased to thirty-two thousand. An act was also

passed in this year by which the duration of the assembly

was reduced from the period of seven to that of four years.

In May, 1834, Governor Young went to England, whence he returned in September, as Sir Aretas W. Young. In June of the same year died John Stewart, of Mount Stewart, at the age of seventy~six. He came to the Island in 1778. He was speaker of the house of assembly for a number of‘ years, and was one of the most useful public men of his day. We have read much of his private and official cor- respondence, which has led us to form a high opinion of his integrity, industry, and zeal. His book on the island, pub- ~ lished in 1806, is a reliable work, so far as facts are con-» cerned, though not written with the grace and freedom which distinguished the letters of his contemporary, John Stuart, the London agent of the island.

A general election took place towards the close of 1834, . and the new house met in January, 1835. A dispute arose between the assembly and the council, respecting the revenue hills, which led to the necessary supplies not being granted,“