mother will sometimes quiet an unruly
child by threatening the portentous intervention of the cure.

Yet he is the universal friend. His relation to his people is not merely
official; it is affectionate, personal. The confessional makes him
familiar with the intimate details of nearly every one's life. On all
the joyous and sad crises, at births, marriages, and deaths, he is at
hand with sympathy, comfort and support. When he goes on a journey he
looks up not merely his own but his parishioners' friends and is welcome
everywhere. He is the general counsellor, the reconciler of family
quarrels, the arbitrator in differences, the guardian of morals. The
seigneur at Malbaie found the priest enquiring as to the manner in which
the male and female servants of the Manor were lodged.

Colonel Nairne thought that the Church was too willing to see the people
remain ignorant; with her the primary virtue is obedience. But it is
not less true that on moral questions, such as sobriety and purity, the
Church has always shown great vigilance and zeal. In the old days there
was a mighty struggle between the Bishop of Quebec and the governor
Frontenac as to the sale of intoxicating liquors, and the Church is
still keen for temperance. It is due to her that public drinking places
are unknown in most Canadian villages. At Murray Bay it happened
recently that, by some lapse in vigilance, the party favourable to the
granting of licenses got the upper hand. The results were immediate and
deplorable. Summer visitors frequently found their drivers under the
influence of liquor and the habitant, usually courteous and respectful,
was now often rude and quarrelsome. The sudden fall made one realize how
slight might be the strength of virtue due merely to the absence of
temptation. The Church saw the danger. In the following winter she began
a systematic temperance campaign. For some ten days daily services were
held at which eloquent denunciations of intemperance roused the people.
Every effort was made to ensure attendance at these services and the
parish church, a great structure, was well filled daily. Hundreds signed
the pledge and by the next summer all was changed. No one was licensed
to sell liquor and the community was sober. If the relapse had been
rapid it must be admitted that the recovery was not less so.

The cure and his assistants do their work with the precision and
regularity of a business man in his office. They watch education