..* %. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. ^ c/ ■»/ 1.0 I.I «ii||||IM 1125 ilM |||||Z2 116, ll"l^ 2.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 -* 6" — ► % V] /. ^^ e: '/ /S^ Photographic Sdences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716)872-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. L'Institut a microfilmd le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-§tre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mdthode normale de filmage sont indiqu^s ci-dessous. D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur I I Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaur^e et/ou pellicul6e I I Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque □ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur □ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes □ Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaur^es et/ou pellicuj^es y Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachet<6es ou piqu6es n D D n Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents □ Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es □ Showthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of print varies/ Quality in^gale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du materiel supplementaire D D Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La reliure serree peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge intdrieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajoutdes lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque cela 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. D Orly edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages whollv or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errat^, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 film6es d nouveau de faqon d obtenir la meilleure image possible. D Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppldmentaires: This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est film6 au taux de reduction indiqud ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: La Bibliothdque de la Ville de Montreal L'exemplaire film6 fut reproduit grfice d la g^ndrositd de: La Bibliothdque de la Vi!le de Montreal The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of tK ' Iginal copy and in keeping with the filmi(.t4 notit'.. ct specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6X6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet^ de l'exemplaire film6, et en conformit6 avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont filmds en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, selon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmds en commengant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — »> (meaning "CON- TINUED "), or the symbol V (meaning "END "). whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — »- signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmds d des laux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichd, il est filmd d partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche 6 droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n^cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 . ^ Y" f^r" — ^ m L*fcn v« » V 32658 (10,000 Copies.) ' / 7V OUR S^ 6 Letter II. Sip, — ITavinf^ endeavoured in my first letter, to sliow that human lej^islution cannot create a ri^hl, and that no rij^ht, j)roperly so called, can exist apart fVoni the moral government of God, I now proceed, iu the second place, to in(juire WHAT ARE OUR RIGHTS ? These may ho enumerated under tlnvc p^'ueral heads — the rjfrht of person, the rif^ht of projnrtj/, and the right of conscience, 'riie&o are sonictimes called ''natural W|i^/*7y," because their existence doea not dej)end on the special enactments of human legislatures. "NV'o iniglit also call them divine rif^hfs, inasmuch as they are tli<' gift of the J)iviiie Author of our being, and are designed to be ccjually the licritage of every one of our race. The first and second may be for- feited to the law by crime ; but "lilierty of conscience" is the indis- putal)le right of even the felon in his cell. The British Constitution, of which you and I, Sir, as British subjects, are, ])erhaps, ecpudly proud, distinctly recognizes these rights. It declares them to be in- violahle, not only as the birtliright of the monarch, but equally so as the birthright of the meanest peasant. TIIKSB ARE ' vTESTED RIGHTS," rights vested in man by his ^Maker, to be prized and enjoyed equally by all ; and, Sir, they nmst not be wantonly invaded. It is not the midnight assassin only, who invades the right of per- son ; nor the concealed burglar only, who disregards the right of property ; nor the religious persecutor only, who tramples on the right of conscience. You, Sir, do not need to be told how often crime has found a sanctuary in the Temple of Law ; nor how fre- quently and flagrantly men's moral and political rights have been out- raged by the infliction of legal wrong. Sir, the iiistouy ok Chris- tian Legislation ifoES not furnish a more fearful and painful EXAMPLE OF MORAL AND LEGAL WRONG, THAN IS EVERY DAY SEEN IN THE LEGALIZED RUM-TRAFFIC OF CANADA ! ! But I am anticipating the question, " ITow far are our rights af- fected by the legalized manufacture and sale of Alcoholic Beverages? Let us sec how the traflic operates. 1. It invades the right of person. Labotired arguments hero are altogether unnecessary. A. simple statement of undeniable facts will be (juite sufficient to establish the truth of my assertions. The Liquor "i raffic destroys health. Is not this an invasion of the right of per- son ? It blasts the fairest repviaiion. And that, Sir, looks like an invasion of right. It often consigns the drunkard to a premature Ill and dishonovrcd f^mvc. If that is not an invasion of tlic rijj:lit of person, 1 know not what is. IJut that is not all. Drink arms tlio (Ininkanl, wliilo in lift', with the fury of a wildhoust, ("iusiii- have a sys- tem in existence among us, by which thousands of Her Majesty's liege subjects are every year consigned to ])rematin*e death : and that system is sanctioned and protected in its work of ruin by the solemn decisions of a Christian Legislatin*e ! And when an Jlonourable and honoureii member of that Legislature endeavoured to carry through the House a Bill for the supj)ression of the accursed liquor trallic, you, Sir, were among the stoutest opposers of the Bill ! ! J ask, Sir, respectfully but earnestly, does not your course of action on this question involve in it an invasion of the Coxstitutio.val Uiciirs of Britisli sulijects in Canada ? Does not that trartic, the destruction of which you have so resolutely opposed, invade the right of ])ersou? 2. The Rum Trajfic invades the. ris;ht of propertj/. It will not do to say that the value of an alcoJK '<", bevei-age must be determined by the facility or diir-ulty with whicn such article can be olitained, as is manifestly the case with many articies of commerce (as railroad iron for example). For, with whatever ease or trouble an article may be ])rocun',d, its vse is supposed to confer some benefit. But this is not the case with al(!oiioIic drinks. The eirect of their use is invariably to inflict more or less of injury. A mercantile firm or a Kaiiroad Conijiany may become banki'upt without sundering the ]»onds of society, or seriously disturbing its arrangements. But the License svstem strikes at the verv root of the sociul compact. In all the ramihcations of society, that system, as a mighty disturbing force, has produced pecuniary derangement and distress. Let us suppose that Cnnaihi fui-nishes to her ovn\ Distilleries 500,000 bushels of rye annually. This is worth c?:}00,000. The dis- tillers convert this grain into whiskey, and then sell it back to the country for $800,000. You, Sir, enjoy the reputation of being a cle- ver financier : perluips you can calculate how soon, at this rate, Ca- nada will become rich by her Liquor 'I'l-aHic. Hodge takes a bushel of rye to the distiller, and gets 3s. for it. lie then buys the whiskey made from a bushel of rye, for which he pays 8s. When will llodge have accumulated a fortune ? But let us look again at facts. 8 Tlio trafRc robs the drunkard. It tnkos his monoy •oithont rcnder- \w\f lilni ii ('()n('S|)oii(rm(|uiviil('nt. Is not llmt an inva- sion of tilt! riglil of proiM'ity '/ You may say, " the dninkard is a consent inj( party." I shall CMi;l(!avour, in the coui-so of this argu- ment, to show that this is not alwiiys the ca8e ; but sujjposin^i,' it wero BO, t}ie drunkards wifv and rhildrcii are not cnnsenimu; parlicif, and TJiKY are r(Med btj thin trajjic. Do you not know, Kir, tlint this ac- cursed Liquor system of ours, licensed and upheld by Christian law- givers, has, in thousands of instances, sent the wives and children of drunkards, with " latnenlation and mourninj,' and wo," ])ennil(!ss and IViendlesa to the street ? Is the right of property respected in theso cases ? Again, the liiqnor system, by inducing poverty and ignorance, and l)y debasing the moral sentiments, gives rise to fravd, theft, robbery, and a host of minor ollences against society. The spirit-vender robs the drunkard, and the drunkard in turn robs his merchant and me- chanic ; our streets are filled with pauj)ers, and our jails with felons ; legions of functionaries are employed to administer criminal justice ; the Hum TraHic furnishes them witli nine-tenths of their unhappy •work ; and tiik soi)t:H and industkiois akk enormously taxkd to PAY THE Exi'KNSE. Does all this, Sir, accord with your ideas of "the right of property ?" With great respect, Yours. ly » « LETTEnlll, RtR,— T boliovc it mny bo stilted with trutli that, ns a p^onoral rule, large Ibrluiics, honestly accnnuilatcd, are the growth of years. There are exeoptions, e(M'taiiily ; but as a rvir, Ik lest toil or honest profit does not bring sudden wealth. And it is ,i fair infi'renec from this doctrine, that any bu>iness wliusc; mtUiral trndrrtrt/ is to bring sudden "wealth to those engaged in it, must be morally and politieally wrong ; more especially ifsueli business brings as suddi-n poverty and ruin to those who su})port it. 'J'ry the Li(pior trallic by this standard of judgment. Home of the Distilleries, Breweries and "Hotels" of Canada aro worth many thousands of dollars; many of the JJeer and Sjjirit Maim- fuetories of Oreat Britain are worth millions. Among the lower orders of li({Uor viMiders in Britain and America, there are nmny, it is true, who, through drunkenness and prodigality, keej) themselves wretchedly poor. Jlut the calculating j)uldican who has an eye to his profits, knows very well that a single barrel of whiskey may contain the germ of sudden and enormous wealtfi. And while the manufacturers and venders of Alcoholic Drinks are amassing wealth, which in many individual cases is very great, and which, in the aggre- gate, is almost past calculation ; how are the consumers of theso drinks aCfected by the trallic ? This, sir, is a very grave (piestion. A business transaction between my tailor and myself may be a nnitiud benefit ; but are the whiskey seller and the whiskey drinker equally benefitted by the business transactions of the ]iar-room ? I could name many individuals in this Province, who. a few years ago, wero common labouring men, but who, by investing their first earnings in a barrel of whiskey, a jug of brandy and a tavern " license,'' are now in a position of pecimiary indejx'iidence. There might be nothing object- ionable in this, if the calling in whicli these ])ersons are engaged had, like the manufacture of iron or cloth, conferred any substantial benefit on those who have contributed moi-t to its suj)port. But what is the real state of the case ? "Why, just this : Avhile the venders of "strong drink" have been amassing wealth, and intlulging themselves and their families in every luxury tliat nature and art afibrd, their "customers," or numy of them at least, have, through the direct influence of the liquor trailic, sunk to the lowest condition of poverty. I defy any man to name a liquor selling establishment on the globe, that has not been, directly or indirectly, a curse and a pest to society. And to assert that the drunkard is a consenting party to his own and his family's ruin, is a bitter mockery of human weakness. You, sir, know perfectly well that the unutterable horrors of the drinking system have been fastened upon society by the habits of ages." You can not but know also that thousands have, through the indiscretion of their parents, become incipient drunkards in Iheir very childhood. Fhysi- olpgical science has demonstrated that a drunken mother may com- 10 wunicate a love of alcoholic rlrinks to lier chilrl "before it sees {he light. And you know too, that ut this moment, there are thousands in this Trovince who are hohling up their manacled hands, and with earnest entreaties and hitter tears, bc'i^s'ing you to aid in striking the decisive l)Iow tluit shall Ibrever free them from the galling chains of their worst enemy. For those persons there is Ijut one hope left, namely, the Legal Proscription of the Liquor Trajjic. I was not a little surprised, sir, when I learned, through the public prints, that you had offered a determined opposition to Mr. Cameron's Prohibitory rii(iuor Bill. That a public man of your experience and observation in all matters relating to the material interests of a nation; that a minister of the Crown possessing the financiering abilities for which you generally receive credit, and the patriotism to which you lay claim ; should be cither unable to discover, or unwilling to acknowledge, that the tradic in alcoholic beverages involves in it a most flagrant invasion of the constitutional right of property ; is cue of those painful exhibitions of obtuseness or perlidy in great men, that sometimes astonish the world. But that you, Sir, should have the temerity to htSnd up in your place in Parliament, as the public apologist and defender of the rum traffic ; a trallic whose history is written in tears and blood— a traffic whose path is strewn with the wrecks of wasted fortunes, ruined health and blasted reputation — a traffic which, on every sea, and in every land has left its victims weltering in blood, and caused the wail of sorrow and the shriek of despair to ascend to heaven, as if invoking the vengeance of Cod on the supporters and defenders of the foul moral wrongs which it lias perpetrated ; seems to me to have been one of the tnost astounding and hiuniliating spectacles ever witnessed or heard of in a christian land ! You will perhaps deny that you are the " apologist and defifnder" of the drunkard making sj'stem ; but if your uncompromising hostility to the princij)le of Mr. Cameron's Anti-Li(iuor Bill does not fairly entitle you to that bad distinction, I know not what could. It may not be improper, while on this point, to say a few words about your moral-suasion doctrines. The position you took in the Parliamentary debate on Legal Prohibition, was, in one of its aspects, somewhat amusing. Did you imagine, Sir, when making that dolorous moral-suasion speech of yours, that your honourable colleague, Mr. Cameron, would some day enter the Legislative Assembly Room, like another Oliver Cromwell, with a regiment of " teetotalers" at his heels, to drive you and all other "license system" defenders from the House with sword and bayonet ? The facility with which a wise man may make himself rif'iculous is truly surprising. But more seriously, Sir, what would you have us use moral suasion for ? Is it to dissuade the drunkard from his habits of drunkenness ? Do you acknowledge then that drunkenness is wrong? And if so, how will you defend that system of which drunkenness is the legitimate I »-» I A/ .1 11 and inevitable result ? Are you quite consistent with yourself, Sir f You may say, " the law does not sanction drunkenness." Btit it docs sanution'ihe manufacture and sale of the beverages which cause all the drunkenness in the land. And, Sir, in the name of all public and private morality, an;l of all conmion sense, on what princi[)le will you defend that abominable system out of which drunkenness, with its long train of bitter evils so naturally sprinj^^s ? To talk about " moderation" is idle and vain ; since it is a very dam^erous moderation that almost invariably leads to shameless excess. More ou this point iu my next. With great respect, Yours. 12 Letter IV. Sir,— I conclndod my last letter by inquiring -what you Tvould hava the advocates of Legal Prohibition use moral suasion for. Permit me now to ask, to whom shall we address our moral suasion argu- ments ? Shall we thus address the drunkard ? I have already shown that thousands arc so hopelessly enslaved by drink, that no remedy short of the legal proscription of alchoholic beverages, as an article of trade, can effect their redemption. And to talk to temper- ance men about using moral suasion with the drunkard, at the same time that you would uphold that system which must, so long as it exists, most thoroughly neutralize all their efforts to emancipate this Province frjm the thraldom of the vice of drunkenness, is little better than insult and derision. I feel indignant, Hir, when I hear men — especially men who, like yourself, ociiupy positions of trust, honour and responsibility in their country's service — talk of moral suasion, as a means of rescu- ing the victim of strong drink from a vice which grows out of the rum legislation of this country, as naturally, as thorns grow out of the stalk of the Canada Thistle. Really, Sir, it is bad enough, in all conscience, that a people should be deeply ivjured, both in person and property, without being outrageously insulted in their moral feelings- Shall we use moral suasion argument with the spirit vender ? I presume. Sir, you are acquainted with the history of Negro Slavery in the British West India Islands. You must know something too of the agitation which, a few years ago, so seriously affected the English nation, on the question of giving the Negroes their liberty. And if you have read the stormy debates which arose in the British House of Commons, when the philanthropic Wilberforce came so nobly forward to advocate the heaven-born rights of British Slaves, — their rights of "person, property and conscience," — and, if possible, to induce the British Parliament, to recognize their rights in a legisla- tive enactment ; perhaps you can tell how many English Statesmen were ready to cry out with loyal horror, ^^ Moral suasion, moral siuision!" But suppose Wilberforce, and Coke, and Knibb had used no other means than moral suasion, to induce the AVest India Slave holders to abandon their unholy traffic in human flesh, how would the case of British AVest India Slavery probably stand at the present time? I fear. Sir, our boast of //?jc/'/j/ — of British Fkkedom — would be about as unmeaning as that of American Slaveowners in the Southern States of the neighbouring Republic. And, Sir, I have no hope that any of the means hitherto employed in this Province, for suppressing the evilg of the Liquor Traffic, will prove completely effectual, or even compara- tively so. To reach the conscience of the rum-seller by moral suasion is about impossible, for he has, or seems to have no conscientious scruples whatever about the morality of his lousiness, so long as he can make it a source of pecuniary profit to himself. The man who, with full know- ledge of the mischief he is doing, will cater to the vitiated appetites of his fellow men, aud poison his ueighboui* to deatji for pecuniary ( «, /^S 13 gain, will not be very readily reaehed by moral suasion. He may be "affected to tears" by the " Suasion" of the Statvlt Book ; but by no other nieans whatever. Nothiufr but the strong- arm of the civil power can ever crush the system which is inflictintr on our country the innumerable and appallinj^ evils ofinlemperance ; and surely it is high time that jjower was applied. Before I leave the subject of moral suasion, I beg liberty to ask another question. For what object should moral suasion be employed, upon a question which concerns an entire comvivttiti/, if it is not to induce such a state of pvblic sentiment as will loud to legislative action and legislative reform ? The friends of temperance, Sir, are using moral suasion; not merely for the purpose of saving individual drunkards, or of making the spirit vender ashamed of his legalized iniquity ; but for the purpose of correcting public sentiment on a question of national morality. And, Sir, ])ublic sentiment is coming vp to a more elevated tone. You and others of your way of thinking succeeded in the late Parliament, in gagging the prayer of 80,1)00 petitioners for a Prohibitory Liquor Law. Pehups you may ere long nave an opportunity to oppose the prayer oi Half a Million. If you can do no better, I hope you will at least "make a virtue of necessity," and vote for Total Prohibition. Never will the rights of person and property be sacredly regarded until the traffic in inebriating beverages shall have been placed, by the voice of wise and beneficent legislation, on the degraded level of a fla- grant crime against human Society. Already has God denounced it as a Bin against the Divine Government. The civil ruler is morally bound therefore, to denounce it as an infraction of wholesome human law. And the onus of responsibility which thus rests upon the legislator, he may not attempt to throw upon the shoulders of any subonlinate civil officer or body. One of the great l»lun^pirituous Liquors f in other words, AuTiionizED BY LEGrSLATIVE E.VACTMEXT TO TEACH THE GrADATIOXS OF DrUX- KEXXESS, FROM THE IxCEPTIVE TO THE PLUPERFECT DeOREE, AC- couniXG TO THE MOST Approved Method of jNIoderx Discovery. To the efficiency of the Masters and the cxpertness of the Disciples, let the Criminal Court, the Jail, the Penitentiary, and the Scaflbld, bear witness ! Seriously, Sir, the state of society is too appalling to be contemplated without a shudder. Through all the ramifications of the social body. Intemperance has sent its baneful influences ; and among all classes of persons, the drinking habits of society have found apologists. Am I not right then, Sir, in making the assertion that " to sanction, by legislative p/'oi'/s/o/i, a traffic of which the aforenamed evils are I' te n 7 17 legitimate frvits, is to dvhase the national conscience hy lawr' Wo soinotiincs hear politicians talk of "national character/^ "the public faith," Ac., and these suppose a puhlic conscience. Well, we have a public conscience ; but it is half drowned in irhiskey, beino- "kept under by the vveioht of a Bum License Statute, tied to its neck f Fortunately, however, tlie public conscience of Canada, is not too deeply debased, to feel how deeply it is outraged. Already its voice is heard, and ere long, I trust, its solemn protest against the legaliyed depravities ol the Hum traffic will be respected. More on this point in ray next. With great respect, yours. 18 I Letter VI. Sir,— I stated in my last that the License Laws of Canada invade the rights of conscience, iuasumcli as they "aro both insultinjj: and op- pressive to the consciences of those wlio, notwitlistanding their con- Bcientious objections to the wliole Liquor System, are compelled, year after year, to witness its deinoralizinji^ efl'ects on tlie community, and to contribute of tlieir lionest L'ains towards the expense of punisliing crimes, most of which are induced by the direct operation of the Li(pior Laws." It is not only by a direct attack upon the civil and religious liber- ties of the subject, nor by an attempt to coerce a man's religious or political belief into conformity to human standards, that the rights of conscience are invaded. Conscience may be pained — offended — by the crimes which are committed against law ; but when the most monstrous and fearful ini(|uities are jjractised in open day, in violation of the law of Cod, and tlie rights of liunian society : and when such inicpiities are committed by the authoritii and vnder the aegis of a Christian Legistatvre, then conscience is not only offended — it is out- raged — it is PKKSKci'TKn. And is it necessary — rather is it possible, — to enumerate the frightful evils under which society groans, by reason of the presence and operation of the legalized liquor trallic of Ca- nada ? Shall I tell how that traffic paralyzes men's physical energies? How it extinguishes the light of their reason ? How it crushes out their very souls ? How it makes the drunkark's wife a widow, and his children orphans ? How it blots out the sentiment of self-resi)ect, transforming the once honorable and honored man into a whiskey- guzzling, tobacco-chewing bar-room loafer — a polluted, cringing rep- tile of the dust ? How it drags its unluip[»y victims down to the lowest depths of poverty and wretchedness ? How it impels them to the connaission of foulest crimes ? Mow it consigns them to the common jail, the State prison, the penal colony and the gallows ? Week after week the public newspajiers convey to their readers the intelligence of some diabolical outrage against property or life ; some instance of murder, or suicide, or '"accidental death," produced by the maddening intoxication of alcoholic drink. Pick up almost any public print that comes to hand ; and in looking over its items of news, you meet with articles under such captions as these : — " Death by Intemperance ;" " Another Victim of the Liquor Traffic f^ " Drunkenness and Murder ,•" " Intemperance and Suicide',^ ^'C, t}«c. Or perhaps your eye catches the heading, " Coroner's Inquest ,■" and then you read the particulars of some appalling case of death by in- temperance, and of a " Verdict in accordance with the facts ;" or if the Jury of Inquest chanced to be composed of the venders and /;/ 19 soakers of stronpr flriiik, the verdict will porliaps be, " Did hi/ the vi- sitation of (jod ;" ( ! ! !) ami thus the horrors of the scene uro crowned by a (larin;i: blasphcniy, in which it is sou^iht to make Divino Providence res})onsiblc for the united guilt of the drunkard, the drunkard tna/ccr, and the makers of the drunkard maker ! ! ! Permit me, Sir, to ask if, in your Oj)iiiion, these thing's are trifliiif^ or unimportant? Ts there no cause of complaint on the part of those who have the conscience to see and feci and dc])]ore the sad elTect of the licpior (rallic in Canada? Or is there any " whinin<^ cant" in the assertion that the conscience, the moral feelings, the Chiustianitv, of the sober poition of the Canadian people, are grossly insulted, and wickedly trampled uj)on by the laws whicl), in utter contempt of all the remonstrances of Christian men, and of all the denunciations of Jehovah Himself, iSr MAKE DRUNKENNESS A NATIONAL SIN ? ,aaf You will observe. Sir, tliat, in discussing this subject, I have seemed to confound civil and moral rights. I may Just exjjlain that the reason why I have not noticed the philosoohical distinctions that obtain between them, is that I consider them to be no more than ia.v ruoimuTouY Li'iuoR Law will brin^^ back security to the younj^MUjd unwary ; Hobriety to the intemperate ; peace and ])lenty to the homes and families of redeemed inebriates ; a hi<:;her de