mercy upon me; Lord, be thou my helper."
He sunk down exhausted; he could say no more. That prayer was heard; and
a voice from heaven seemed to reply, "I will help thee; I have seen thy
struggles, and I will now say to thine enemy, 'Hitherto thou hast
come--but no further.'"

A physician was consulted as to the probability or possibility of
medicine being rendered effectual to stop the disposition to
intemperance. The poor man would have suffered the amputation of all his
limbs, could so severe a method have freed him from his deadly habit,
which, like a vulture, had fastened upon his very vitals. Eagerly did he
begin to take the simple medicine prescribed--a preparation of
steel--with earnest prayer to God for help in this last struggle for
life; but faith and prayer proved the best of remedies; he persevered,
and conquered; and be it said to the honor and glory of the Lord God
Almighty, who sent his angel to whisper in the poor man's ear, "I will
help thee," that from the latter end of September, 1816, to the present
hour, nearly twenty years, _not so much as a spoonful of spirituous
liquor, or wine of any description, has ever passed the surface of that
man's tongue_.
#/

The above account of his own experience, was given by Mr. Hall, a
merchant of Maidstone, Kent, at the anniversary of the British and
Foreign Temperance Society, May, 1836.

Mr. Hall stated, in conclusion, that he had since been aiming to be
useful to his fellow-men, and had written a Tract, the object of which
was to call drunkards, and all sinners to repentance, of which more than
one hundred thousand copies had been circulated. See Tract No. 349.

Has the reader a relative, friend, or neighbor, who drinks his daily
drams, and is plunging into that awful gulf which yearly swallows up its
thousands of victims? Let the above history suggest a duty, and
encourage to its performance. This is not a solitary instance of victory
obtained over powerful and raging appetite. There is evidence that tens
of thousands of persons in the United States, who were once intemperate,
have become sober, useful citizens; and not a few of them ardent
Christians. And this has been effected, not by despising and reproaching
them, but chiefly through the divine blessing on _the kind personal
influence of friends_, excited by no other motive than Christian
benevolence and love of their fellow-men. The self-despair of the
intemperate mind arises, in a great measure, from