76
MEMORIES OF MY LIPP
quite as a matter of course, a neat box containing a pair of duelling pistols ready for use.
I may add that a special meeting of the Union was forthwith called, for which it was obviously necessary to provide an exceptionally strong but neutral President. A man known as " First Trinity " Young (I forget his Christian name), who died in
early life or he might have highly distinguished
himself, was selected for the purpose, and he executed admirably his most difficult task. It gave me a lesson in administration. He began with a brief but emphatic request for cordial support from both sides, adding that every question had more than one aspect. Humorous but apt remarks were thrown out by him now and then. An equally patient hearing was given to all parties, and a few occasional interniptions were firmly rr.prf-F;scd. The meeting parted with its members much more disposed towards working relations than before; so the extremity of the crisis was passed.
Its consequence was, however, the constitution of an opposition society, called the " Historical," in which more attention should be paid to decorum and to the amenities of debate than had latterly been customary in the Union. About sixty members joined it, and, partly because I was then living out of College in a house where there was a possible meeting room, I was asked to preside, which I did. My old friend Dr. H. Holden . (1823-1896), with whom I was speaking some few years ago of this very incident, assured me that among the active members of the "Historical" was Stanley, afterwards the 15th Earl of Derby (1826-1893). He entered the University
