enemy, and He fought against them." Then instantly drop your weapons of rebellion. Yield to His love's resistless power. Cease to do evil, learn to do well. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice, and grieve not the Holy Spirit.

3 Kindle your affection. Not only read of His love, sing of His love, and meditate on it; but love Him who has first loved you. Let your vision swell, your hearts glow, your bosom heave, your rapture rise, and cordially receive Him into the most honoured recesses of the soul. Let love beget love. Let your soul overflow with gratitude for all His kindness towards you. Delightfully surrender your spirit to His sway. Seek in all things to please Him. Value, above silver or gold, His presence in your soul. Read attentively the Word which He has given you, and diligently attend the ordinances which He has established. Nourish His influences, cultivate His graces, spread your affections that you may catch His gales of peace, and be wafted more pleasantly, swiftly, and safely to the haven of eternal repose. And not only let His love kindle your love to Him, but to one another. If you love Him that begat, love those who are begotten of Him. As by one Spirit you have been baptised into one body, and made to drink into one Spirit, keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If there be any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind, and with that charity which the Spirit has caused to glow in your breast, grasp the whole family of man.

4. Afford you Consolation. If the Spirit is love, no good thing will He withhold from you; all your need will He supply. He will guide you through every perplexity, preserve you from every danger, defend you from every enemy, comfort you in every trouble. He is the Comforter, and can give joy, when all around would give you sorrow. You cannot expect too much grace from Him; He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think. He is now saying,-Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it; I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing, and I will cause the shower to come down in his season: there shall be showers of blessings. What encouragement have you here, not only to pray for yourselves, but for a revival of the work of God. This is Paul's argument "I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me." Through Christ we have access by one Spirit to the Father; "And he that searcheth the heart, knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God." If you would like to witness the stability and extension of the work of God, the Spirit is infinitely more disposed to grant a revival, than you are to witness it. If you fervently, unitedly, and believingly pray, "Come from the four winds, O breath, breathe upon the slain, that they may live," the super-human impulse shall be given, the dead and the dry shall live, and stand upon their feet, an exceeding great army, the living, the living to praise God, as we do at this day.

Weak Points:

No. I.

THE title will probably indicate to the reader, that we are nearing dangerous and somewhat forbidden ground. It is not unlikely, that nests of hornets may be let loose upon the daring intruder. My judicious friend on the right, if he knew the nature of the task the writer has set himself, would, I am certain, anxiously whisper, caution! But what can he do? Here is the heading in an old book, which he has kept for the purpose of dotting down roughly, outlines of subjects about which to write at some unknown periodto be sent to the Editor of the United Methodist Free Churches' Magazine either to appear in his columns, or to be consigned to that doleful basket which stands under the editorial table, the receptacle of those hopeful effusions known as "rejected communications."

Here it is, "Weak Points," marked down in the old book, next on the list demanding attention. It has now been there for a very long time. Once down there it must not be shirked, nor can the pen be put through it until it is satisfactorily disposed of; and though on approaching nearer the topic seems more formidable than ever, yet an attempt at least must be made to grapple with, and if possible, conquer the difficulties by which it is surrounded.

Pardon me, gentle reader, for starting off with the very blunt and plain statement, that we all have what we frequently call "Weak Points." Many of us are, perchance, oblivious of their existence. We may flatter ourselves that there is no special or particular failing about us, which could be called by this name; but, nevertheless, we may rest assured that it is not only there, but that it is also manifest to a large circle of our friends, and palpably apparent, without a single exception, to every one of our enemies.

It is said that Thetis, a goddess of the sea, in order to make her son Achilles invulnerable, dipped him in the river Styx. But unfortunately for him, when he was immersed, the maternal hand held him by the heel. There and there only was he not touched by the wonderful waters. And yet, alas! it was just in this very part he was mortally wounded by Paris at the siege of Troy, and fell the victim of a single, obscure "weak point." It is easy to draw the parallel. It is just possible that you and I may imagine that the stream of favourable circumstances in which we have fortunately been immersed, has made us almost invulnerable-impervious to all assults from without. Depend upon it, however, we do well to add that little, but important word almost; for we may rest assured there is some particular part, which, like the heel of Achilles, demands especial care and watchfulness. One perfect man only hath trodden this fair earth of ours. All else have exhibited some special and particular failing. You take up a volume of history, and you mark well the parts which individual men have taken in the worlds' great drama; what is it that so frequently excites your attention, but

not your surprise? Is it not the "weak points" of many of these mighty actors gleaming through this world's great play; and are you not often watching the powerful influence of these very failings, not only upon themselves, but upon the destinies of the nations by which they are surrounded? History confirms the statement often uttered by each of our lips, "Every man has his weak point."

We have all heard of those objectors to the Bible, who, strange to say, complained because the lives of Scripture worthies were not perfect, who positively stumbled at the fact, that its narrative revealed weak points in its grandest characters. Surely such quibblers must have been hard run for cause of complaint. If Bible heroes had been represented blameless, without spot or blemish, these grumblers would have been the first to point out the unfairness and onesidedness of the book, and the foremost to hold up this very fact as a triumphant proof of its fictitious character.

I am not quite sure whether we may not even, speaking physically, say that every man has his weak point. Of this, I am certain, at least, that the majority of us are not in this respect perfectly sound. It is true that, when viewed as merely physical beings, it is manifest that we are pre-eminently adapted to be the "lords of creation,"that there is here "a great gulf" between even such a distinguished personage as Mr. Gorilla and ourselves-that our exquisitely fine organization-the elasticity of our physical constitution to adapt itself to all climates-the marvellous formation of each distinct part of our frame-all mark us out to be supreme over all terrestrial beings. And yet how frequent is it even here to meet with what we are accustomed to regard as a "weak point." Sometimes, it is a single feature of the outward man, which spoils the beauty and harmony of the whole; sometimes we meet it in the form of a complaint, when, for instance your friend, in reply to your query after his health, informs you that he would be perfectly well, if it were not for some particular "weak point" from which he suffers, and over which he has to exercise especial care.

But all this by way of introduction to what may follow in future papers; for, after all, when you speak of a man's "weak points," you refer more to his mental and moral nature. This random thought about "weak points" in the physical world (what we, humanly speaking, regard as such) does not imply any reflection on the wise and good Creator. We venture no opinion as to how they arise, all that we note is the existence of the fact. This we know, that out of what we regard as evil, our Heavenly Father brings good; that departures from what we term the normal state of things, are nevertheless found to be under the control of wise and gracious laws, working out the beneficent purposes of infinite love. Even failings in form, in feature, and what, for the want of a better expression, we call "weak points" in a man's internal physical condition, will, under the Divine blessing, be of service to us in this probationary state. Is there not truth in plain writing like the following from the pen of an eminent clergyman of the Church of England, with which I venture to conclude this introductory paper ?-" There

is no doubt that physical unsoundness is often a cause of mental excellence (I think he should have said an accidental cause). Some of the best women on earth are the ugliest. Their ugliness cut them off from the enjoyments of the gaieties of life; they did not care to go to a ball room and sit all the evening without being asked to dance; and so they learnt to devote themselves to better things. You have seen the pretty sister a frivolous flirt; the homely sister, quietly devoting herself to works of Christian charity. Ugly people, we often hear it said, cry up the beauties of the mind. It may be added, that ugly people possess a very large proportion of these beauties."

South Shields.

A. W. P.

Farrative.

DAYLIGHT; OR, THE REVELATION OF CHARACTER. By the Author of "John Wimbleton."

CHAPTER I.

HOME AND ITS DIFFICULTIES.

"The Lord blesseth the habitation of the just."-SOLOMON.

On the right hand, as you pass out of Kingsly for Norwood, stands a very humble dwelling, tenanted by a worthy family of somewhat corresponding pretensions. The origin of the building certainly dates in days long gone by. The front elevation and back part, as well as one of the gables, were supported by a massive framework of sturdy oak, stout enough, according to modern architects, for a building of much larger dimensions. The interstices between the framework were filled in with bricks and stones, and in the first instance were joined together by a material no more adhesive than clay. But in the course of time, and by degrees, mortar had found its way there, which added both to the stability and sightliness of the cottage; so that the walls which formerly had a most rugged and unequal appearance, and through which the winds, assisted by the rain, made themselves many an aperture, very much to the discomfort of the inmates, were now not only dry and warm, but wore the appearance of neatness and ease. Its covering at first was, doubtless, thatch, which has been continued to the present time. The evenness of its surface, and the regularity with which the eves were cut, gave proofs both of industry and skill. Some parts of the roof had a mossy appearance, and the ridge was encouraged to grow garlic, and such like plants. The ivy had made large advances, in covering the front and one gable; and, together with currants and rose trees, and honeysuckles, in summer time, left little of the walls to be seen. Of course the rooms were low, though pretty large. If a man, a little above the average height, and on whose head fashion had put a high crowned hat, should walk into the room without care, he would be likely to chafe and injure either his hat or

the ceiling. And in the chambers there was required, both for room and breathing purposes, all the space up to the ridge tree. But it is surprising how clean and neat it was made to appear by a little plastering, joinering, painting, and papering occasionally.

Nor was the garden less attractive. The cottage stood some ten or twelve yards from the line of the turnpike fence, surrounded by a garden of pretty ample dimensions, and on gently rising ground facing the south-west sun.

The site, like many others in the hamlet, was on what is commonly called the "waste land," where patches of ground of various sizes had been taken in, and on which cottages, from time to time, had been erected. A good number of them, by an untributary possession for a certain term of years, had become the possessor's own freehold. But other occupiers, by the management of the lord of the manor's steward, who had induced them to pay acknowledgement in some form or other, had failed to make the premises their own. Such was the position of Thomas Bloomfield, the occupier of the cottage and garden now in question.

It was in the middle of July, at the close of a sunny day, that John Roberts took a walk with his pipe towards the dwelling of his neighbour. He had had a hard day's work in the hayfield; but having got his supper, and rested an hour or so in the little yard before his door, it seemed to increase the pleasure of his rest to walk out with his pipe, when the sun had withdrawn his fiery rays.

After a leisurely saunter, of about three hundred yards, he came, as has been stated, to Thomas Bloomfield's dwelling, where he met with another neighbour, namely, Timothy Britton, who was equally at leisure, and sitting down on the grassy bank, they held the following conversation.

"Well, this day has been a warm 'un," says Timothy; "it's made your jackets smoke in the hayfield, I'm sure."

"Thou't right, lad; it has," replied John, resting his pipe on his knee, to give his lips full freedom of speech. "I've had many a sweat and burn among th' hay, but I don't know when I were melted and burned like to day. I've been picking into th' waggon, morst o' th' day, and thee knows there 'o no loiter-pins about that work, when th' stack's pretty near, and plenty of horse strength. But one mun stick to it abit e barvest time; for ar master's none o' the worst on'em. He knows when abody's done a day's work, and he'll pay for it when its done. Not like some o' those neger driving farmers, who'd work you through all th' daylight as God sends, in th' longest day, and if they could have their way 'd give you nought for't when you'd done. No, no; he's not that man. He's good, we both his table and pocket. So as one does't mind working both abit harder and longer for such a master."

"Thou talk's about heat; look here. Has'nt brought out Thomas' roses? Why the ground is covered with leaves. My word, it has made work with 'um," said Timothy.

"But what a chap he is for flowers; isn't he?" said John.

"Eh, dear, thou need't say flowers. What isn't he a chap for, as