Nor would it have comforted her much to assure her that hers was a better defence than any distiller in the country could make.

Even the whisky itself gave her little relief; it seemed to scald both stomach and conscience, and she vowed never to take it again.

But alas! this time is never the time for self-denial; it is always the next time.

Abstinence is so much more pleasant to contemplate upon the other side of indulgence! Yet the struggles after betterment that many a drunkard has made in vain, would, had his aim been high enough, have saved his soul from death, and turned the charnel of his life into a temple.

Abject as he is, foiled and despised, such a one may not yet be half so contemptible as many a so-counted respectable member of society, who looks down on him from a height too lofty even for scorn.