A friend of mine was changing her residence a short time ago. She wished to retain throughout the day the men who were employed in removing her furniture; she therefore provided a dinner for them at her own house, to prevent the necessity of their returning home. Some meat-pies were warmed for them, which had been made the previous day; and this, with the addition of hot potatoes, made a nice dinner. As the men left in the evening, they thanked her for their good dinner, especially that she had taken the trouble to have it made _hot_ for them; “for you see, ma’am,” they added, “there is such nasty air in the places where we sleep, that we never care to eat when we get up in the morning; nor yet much at any other time, except it is made tasty, like, for us.” If such is the case, whence is the strength for labour to come? The workman’s livelihood depends upon his ability to work. He may not leave off to rest because he is tired. This is a sad subject, and it reveals to us the great source of intemperance. Is it any wonder that, if a man has a few pence in his pocket, he cannot pass the doors of a public-house without feeling a strong temptation to go in and purchase what, though imparting no strength, enables him to forget for a time the miseries of his existence? There are two things which I cannot understand: 1st, That the government should do so little for the people in the way of sanitary reform; and, 2d, that the people should so seldom ask them to do more. It is a matter of much regret that the only subjects which our legislators take up, when they come among their constituents, are such topics as “Extension of the Franchise,” “Vote by Ballot,” “Electoral Districts,” “Foreign Policy;” while Education, Temperance, and Sanitary Science are completely excluded. It would be interesting to go through the Parliamentary reports of a year, and note what proportion of time the representatives of the people spend in doing or saying anything that has reference to the moral and physical elevation or general well-being of their constituents. I am quite willing to acknowledge that my want of appreciation of what is actually done may arise from an inability to comprehend the magnitude and importance of these subjects to the country. But, granting this, may it not at the same time justly be said, “These ought ye to have done, and not to have left the other undone?” I must confess that, up to the present moment, I cannot comprehend how _anything_ can be more advantageous to the country than the elevation of its own people. This need not, at the present day, be undertaken hopelessly. Enough has already been accomplished, through Ragged Schools alone, to shew what can be done. Most of the evils from which our poor people suffer are fortunately removable. They do not arise from bad climate, unfruitful soil, determined hostility on the part of the governed, or determined oppression on the part of the governors.