42 EURAL LIFE IN CANADA 



througli a sense of duty to others. Efficient help is 

 given in the solution of more than one direct problem 

 bj actions such as this. Dutv is the source of energy. 

 The drain meanwhile is real. Our question is only 

 as to the validity of the principle. I visited recently a 

 farm home in the county of Dundas. My host, after 

 having — according to the farmer's manner — shown me 

 something of his barns, brought me to his office. It was 

 furnished with roll-top desk, desk telephone, safe, and 

 reference library. Everything about home and farm 

 was in keeping therewith. Yet the household consisted 

 of husband and wife, hired woman and hired man. But 

 there were three sons and two daughters in the city. The 

 eldest son is a graduate — with honors in mathematics — 

 of Toronto University, and has passed the examinations 

 of the Institute of Actuaries of Great Britain. The 

 other sons are graduates in Medicine and in Science of 

 McGill University. The eldest daughter is a graduate 

 of the Conservatory of Music at Toronto. The children 

 will not consent to the sale of the farm. It is still the 

 home of their pride, the scene of their happy vacations 

 and reunions. Such cases are not uncommon. But does 

 it follow that the country must deteriorate ? Can we 

 afford to obey the mandate: 



Go, bind your sons to exile, 

 Send forth the best ye breed. 



That depends solely on the spirit of those who remain. 

 If part go that they may achieve something worth while, 

 their very going proves a spur to all who take pride in 

 their success. For centuries the achievements of Scot- 

 land's sons abroad were the very pulse of life to her sons 

 at home. But when hopelessness or dissatisfaction is 



