the only remedy available in
such need as hers. No cry from her despairing heart had risen to heaven;
the strength she lacked had not been sought from Him Who only can save
from the thraldom of sin, and so, with the stain of uncancelled guilt
upon her conscience, she hastened to an untimely end.

As she lay dying with mind weakened by long excess, they sought in vain
for some sign of penitence, for some words to assure their sad hearts
that the darkness of approaching dissolution was gilded by hues of hope
and trust in the forgiving mercy of God through Christ. Day after day
the sufferer's lips were sealed in an obstinate silence that struck
dismay into the hearts of the watchers. She was dying without hope it
seemed; but the prayer of faithful friends rose that the intercession of
the Great High Priest might be made, and prove effectual for His
wandering child.

Still the shadows deepened until it became evident that the mother's
hours were numbered.

"I will watch beside her now, my dears," said the husband, dismissing
his children for a brief period. Taking his seat beside the motionless
form, he sent up a petition for help. Then, stooping over his wife, he
said: "Eliza, dear, would you not like me to pray for you?"

The dying woman opened her eyes and faintly whispered: "No."

"Shall I send for a minister to come and pray with you, then, dear?"

Mrs. Stewart roused herself with a great effort, and with energy
exclaimed: "No, _He has prayed for me_, and that is enough." They were
her last words. Before the next morning she had passed away, leaving to
husband and children the faint comfort of her dying testimony: "He has
prayed for me."

Say, gentle reader, whether being assured of the thousand parallel cases
which exist in this civilised land of ours, you will dare to place
temptation in the way of your sister, by advocating the use of alcohol
as the necessary stimulant which alone can nerve the failing heart and
brain to meet the exigencies of her daily life, thus placing before her
unwary feet the stumbling-block over which she may fall never to rise?
It may be that you who proffer the well-meaning advice are moderate in
the use of your own alcoholic luxuries, and cannot understand the
mysterious attraction they may hold for another; yet, surely to you is
uttered the divine warning: "Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour
drink, that puttest thy bottle to him." And you, sister, plying your
household tasks