OUR ISLAND STORY V, .87

The. first temperance Society established in this Island, was formed at Bedeque in the year 1827. The Rev. Robert S. Patterson, pas- tor of the Presbyterian Church there, was its chief promoter, and the Rev. Charles Tupper,‘ father of Sir Charles Tupper, was sub— sequently one of its active members. It was a forerunner of the ' organization of the Sons of Temperance in this Island and was, without doubt, a factor in the development of the Bedeque District as one of the most temperate and prosperous communities in the Island. '

In response to petitions for the passage of a PrOhibitory Liquor Law, a committee of the Legislature reported in the year 1852 that “ the use of ardent spirits as a beverage is demomoralizing to society; and, by impoverishing the people who indulge in it, essentially

retards the prosperity of the country which they inhabit—Resolved, I therefore, that it is expedient to prohibit by law the importation and distillation of all spirituous liquors at present used as a bever- - age.”_ - But the only result of this decision of the Legislature was the passage of an amendment to the license law providing that no tav—

ern license should be granted until recommended by the Grand

Jury of the County. In the year 1856, only four tavern licenses

were so recommended for Charlottetown and only five for the whole of Queens County outside ‘of Charlottetown. A committee of the Legislature, in the same year, recommended the passage of a bill to prohibit by law the manufacture, importation and sale of intoxi~ cants except. for medical, mechanical and religious purposes. 'A bill ' ‘to this end was actually passed by the House of ASsembly, but re- jected by the Legislative Council.

In the year 1864 a branch of the Independent Order of Good Templars was added to the Temperance organizations of this colony; and, in the same year, His Lordship Bishop McIntyre and the Clergy of the Roman Catholic Church organized a pledge signing-crusade for the reduction of “The Liquor Evil.” In like manner, a Church of England Temperance Society was formed.

, Then a branch of the Dominion Temperance Alliance was

established with the late Mr. Fred. W. Hales as president and the

late Rev. George W. Hodgson, Incumbent of St. Peter’s Cathedral,