children eventually form a part of the aristocracy of the country, if
the father gives them a suitable education.

There is one thing, however, to be said in favour of the gentleman--
namely, his education, which fits him for offices and professions which
must remain for ever out of the reach of the half-ignorant. It is,
therefore, only in agricultural pursuits, and mechanical operations,
that the working man is able to obtain a superiority; and then only if
he be sober and industrious, for whiskey has been the great bane of the
colony. Hundreds of our cleverest mechanics, and many of gentler blood,
have fallen victims to its influence.

It is said that temperance societies have done a great deal towards
checking this evil, and that the new society, the "Sons of Temperance,"
will complete what the others began. I am quite willing to admit it as
a fact, because I believe that the practice of temperance has gained
ground, both in Canada and the United States. But I am unwilling to
allow that the means taken to effect that much-desired object are the
best that might be adopted. Indeed, I think, in some instances, the
endeavour to prohibit the use of fermented drink altogether, has been
carried to unchristian lengths.

I believe that, if the same amount of money had been expended in
propagating the gospel, as has been laid out by these total abstinence
societies, more real converts to temperance would have been gained,
because principle and true religion would have been the bases on which
the reformation was founded.

Throughout the whole Bible and Testament, there is not a single command
to abstain totally from either wine or strong drink; but there is a