they called them to the Most High, none at all would exalt him." But Jesus pleads for his people with God, and sends his Spirit to plead with them for him. And now the Lord heard his poor backsliding child be-moaning himself: "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the Lord my God." And the Lord replied, "Ephraim is my dear son; he is a pleasant child; for since I spake against him I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore my bowels are troubled for him. I will surely have mercy upon him. I will heal his backsliding; I will love him freely; for mine anger is turned away from him."

Richard was sparring one night, in a boxing-saloon, with a black man; and, striking a tremendous blow, the blood streamed down the negro's face. At the instant, the Holy Ghost reminded him that God "giveth to all life, and breath, and all things: and hath made of one blood all nations of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth; "for there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek; for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him; for

whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

He left the room, and went to his lodg ings; and there, while on his knees, the Lord fulfilled to him all his gracious promises to his backsliding people. He thus relates his experience of this restoring mercy: "I said, 'He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit; so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.' And the Lord answered me, 'I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.' So he put the ring on my hand, and shoes on my feet. Then I rose from my knees, after having been pleading for about four hours for the Lord to forgive me for Christ's sake. And I cried :

to my

"Lord, thou dost this moment save,
And to full salvation bless;

Redemption through thy blood I have,

And perfect righteousness.'

"Through thy blood I have it; not through my prayers or tears, but through the precious blood of Christ."

The next day he went to chapel, and joined the Wesleyan Society at Openshaw, near Manchester; and from that time, though with much, doubtless, to grieve over, he has walked consistently with God.

A little while after this his right hand was caught and broken by the wheel of a lurry.* In spite of the pain, and of the fear of being unable now to earn his living, he was made to feel that it was all for the best. God spoke to his heart, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;" and he felt that neither earth nor hell should draw him back from his Lord again. He was taken to the infirmary at Manchester, and was greatly tried by the fear of losing his hand altogether. He went one day to have it dressed, and the doctor, finding the inflammation very great, said he thought he should be obliged to take it off.

"Nay, I will not lose my hand," said Weaver.

"Then it will kill you," replied the surgeon.

* A truck used on railways.

"Kill me?"

"Yes."

"Then, die or not, my hand. sha'n't be cut off," replied the patient. "If I die, heaven will be my home; I don't fear death."

"Don't you?"

"No; Christ has taken away the fear of death, and I sha'n't let you take my hand

off."

He stood while a poor fellow's arm was amputated, but still refused to lose his own hand. The surgeon continued to dress it from day to day, and as Weaver believed, in answer to prayer, the inflammation subsided, and it began to heal. The hand remains, however, permanently and seriously injured.

CHAPTER III.

RICHARD now began to think of settling in life; and in January, 1853, he was married to a young woman who had been converted to God some years before, and who has always been a blessing to him, a helpmeet for him, becoming in some sort to him as a man that which his dear and faithful mother had been to him as a boy.

He often speaks with thankfulness of God' mercy in preserving him from being unequally yoked with an unbelieving wife, and reminds young men and young women of the question, full of solemn interest, "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" The only wise God commanded of old time for our learning, “Thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Neither shall a garment of linen and woollen come upon thee." And more directly and explicitly in the New Testament he has said, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and