and more affecting and more endearing relationship than to any earthly father, and that Father is in heaven; that he has a hope far transcending every earthly hope—­a hope full of immortality—­the hope, namely, that that Father’s kingdom may come; that he has a duty which, like the sun in our celestial system, stands in the centre of his moral obligations, shedding upon them a hallowing light which they in their turn reflect and absorb,—­the duty of striving to prove by his life and conversation the sincerity of his prayer that that Father’s will may be done upon earth as it is in heaven.  I understand, sir, that upon the broad and solemn platform which is raised upon that good foundation, we invite the ministers of religion of all denominations—­the de facto spiritual guides of the people of the country—­to take their stand along with us; that, so far from hampering or impeding them in the exercise of their sacred functions, we ask, and we beg them to take the children—­the lambs of the flock which are committed to their care—­aside, and lead them to those pastures and streams where they will find, as they believe it, the food of life and the waters of consolation.

* * * * *

“Permit me in conclusion, to say, both as an humble Christian man and as the head of the civil government of the province, that it gives me unfeigned pleasure to perceive that the youth of this country, of all denominations, who are destined in their maturer years to meet in the discharge of the duties of civil life upon terms of perfect civil and religious equality—­I say it gives me pleasure to hear and to know that they are receiving an education which is fitted so well to qualify them for the discharge of these important duties, and that while their hearts are yet tender and their affections yet green and young, they are associated under conditions which are likely to promote among them the growth of those truly Christian graces—­mutual respect, forbearance, and charity.”

The position of the building is well chosen, being surrounded with cultivated ground sufficiently extensive to be usefully employed in illustrating the lectures given on vegetable physiology and agricultural chemistry.  The rooms are all very lofty, airy, and scrupulously clean.  A notice at the entrance warns you—­“The dirty practice of spitting not allowed in this building;” and as far as eye could discern, the notice is rigidly obeyed.  I was told that a specific had been found to cure the filthy habit.  I mention it for the benefit of hotel-keepers and railway-conductors, in all places where such a relic of barbarism may still find a welcome.  On a certain occasion, the lecturer having received undeniable proof that one of the students had violated the above-mentioned regulation, stopped in the middle of one of his sublimest flights, repeated sonorously the notice, called the culprit by name, informed him that his endeavour to dissipate his filth into infinity by the sole of his shoe was useless, and ordered him forthwith to take his handkerchief out and wipe it up clean.  Disobedience was expulsion:  with crimson cheek he expiated his offence by obedience to the order, and doubtless during the hushed silence in which he completed his labour, he became a confirmed anti-expectorationist.