"I spent three months (1837) with this teacher, during which time an incident occurred which had much to do with shaping my future destiny. One day at the noon recess, after disposing of our lunch, the teacher called us up to his desk. He proceeded to speak of the evils of drunkenness, which had become very apparent in our neighborhood, telling us that unless we were very careful, some of us might become victims of this fearful evil. He closed by informing us that he had discovered a safeguard against the danger, and then proceeded to read a temperance pledge which he had drawn up and signed himself. " Now," said he, " I would like as many as are willing to give me their names." At first, the appeal seemed to be only to the boys, for up to that time I had never seen or heard of such a thing as a drunken woman. I resolved to be on the safe side, however, and consequently put down my name.
"I am happy to say that pledge has never been violated since. This, no doubt, was the beginning of temperance work in the schools of Canada, and if not scientific, it was, at least, eminently practical. Our teacher took the pledge with him to the homes, and in this way obtained many signatures. Would that every common-school teacher from that day to the present had pursued a similar course. I believe Canada would now be free from the curse of the liquor traffic. Someone has said : "The star of hope for the temperance reform is over the schoolhouse."
"The late lamented Mr. Crooks, Minister of Education for Ontario, instituted the movement of scientific instruction on the effects of alcohol in the schools, in response to a petition from the WCTU. This movement has spread through the different provinces of the Dominion, and we hope to see a law on the statute books of each province, requiring every teacher to teach temperance in the schools, with as much interest as he does any other branch of instruction."〔Youmans, pp. 38, 39〕