A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

A HAPPY NEW YEAR! Let wisdom breathe the wish for all mankind, young and old, rich and poor, joyful and sorrowing; and she wishes to those who lived through that NewYear, that they might live unto the Lord: to those who died in that New-Year, that they might die unto the Lord: to those to whom much is given, that they might use the good and precious things of earth, as not abusing them: to those from whom much is taken that they might sorrow, not as without hope; for a happy New-Year is coming; a Year that shall never grow old.

Once is a magic spell,

To wake a train of thought;
To bid the past survive again,
The present be forgot.

Once! speaks of other days,

Of hopes and fears gone by;
It tells of pleasure's banished rays,
And proves their vanity.

Once! tells us time hath flown,

And much with it hath fled;

Once speaks of all we've loved or known
The absent, changed, or dead.

Once whispers we were blest,

But turns that bliss to pain;

Recalls the friends we once possessed,

The hopes we nursed in vain.

Once bids us to be wise,

And earthly hope subdue;

Since all that here can charm our eyes,

Once charmed, and cheated too.

Now ready, price 2d. ; or in stiff covers, interleaved price 4d.,
THE BAPTIST ALMANACK FOR 1865.

Post free to any address for thirteen stamps,

A Carte de Visite Portrait of "The Village Preacher." Robert Banks, 9, Crane court. Fleet street, London.

London: Printed by ROBERT BANKS, 9, Crane-court, Fleet-street E.C. Published by G. J. Stevenson, 54, Paternoster-row, E.C; sold by most Booksellers.-Price One Halfpenny.

VOL. XV.

FEBRUARY, 1865.

No. 160.

THE

DANGER-SIGNAL, AND THE BEACON OF HOPE; OR,

A

GEORGE GROVES, AND HIS COTTAGE
AT LYNMOUTH.

CHRISTIAN friend at Brighton presented us with the following soul-shaking, and wonderful narrative; with permission to use it; and, in presenting it to the readers of CHEERING WORDS, we trust it will act as a DANGER-SIGNAL, cautioning them not to presume on narrow precipices; and as a BEACON OF HOPE, when in stormy and in trying paths they tread.

Lynmouth was the scene of Dr. Bell's labours. We always think of him with gratitude; and the following little Lynmouth narrative will be acceptable we know.

Lynmouth! beautiful Lynmouth! never have I truly enjoyed its rare scenery until this summer, when for awhile I rambled amongst the woods, rocks, and streams of this wonderful place. One very bright morning, such as might almost lead the unreflecting to say, there can be no sorrow under this clear sky, amongst such scenery! my landlady came into my room, to tell me of George Groves, whose petition had been brought to her, that she might obtain assistance for him from the inmates of her house. Much interested in the account, I resolved the next day to visit George. Beautiful indeed is the situation of his cottage; close by, the Lyn rushes over the masses of rock, which, by obONE HALFPENNY.

structing its peaceful course, cause those falls which form one of the lovely characters of this scenery. I will not attempt description, but in the words of the psalmist say, "All thy works praise thee." George was sitting in his little bedroom, and glad I was to see the Bible open before him. After speaking together of its contents, he gave me an account of the dreadful accident by which he was disabled, and of the kind skill and care of the medical friend who attended him. George was working in a quarry near Waters' Meet, a stone gave way above him, the sharp point of which fell on his instep, and his foot was nearly severed in two. The shock caused by the falling stone almost precipitated George down the side of the quarry; he lay for some time in great agony, before he was discovered; when he was carried home to his poor wife, who told me she had not yet recovered the effects of the shock she felt, when her husband was brought bleeding, and as she thought dying, into their cottage. George told me that every one was surprised his foot has been saved, as amputation is generally the result of such an accident; indeed, he added, "if it had not been for Mr. —, it never could have been preserved; he has spared no trouble, often coming twice in the day to see me." Yet it will be long before George can anticipate being able to use his foot; with returning spring, and not before, he may hope, he is told, again to labour; until then, deeply will his faith and patience be tried. As I turned to go down-stairs, George said to me, "If you will please, Ma'am, to look on the dresser, you will see a glass case, containing a Bible, which if you like to open will tell its own history.' This I did, and found three volumes of a handsomely bound Bible. In the first page was written something to this effect: "This book is presented to George Groves as a testimony of the approbation of the undersigned individuals for his noble conduct in rescuing a fellow creature from death at the peril of his own life:" then followed a list of the subscribers' names, concluding the page with the apostle's words, Rom. v. 7, 8.

I asked George's little girl, who had followed me down-stairs, if she thought her father would tell me about this Bible. "Oh yes, Ma'am, I am sure he will," was the answer; and soon I was

with George again, listening to his account of the wonderful rescue of Mr. R., a gentleman from London, who fell over one of the highest points of rock near Lynmouth. I was exceedingly interested in the narrative; and as it occurred to me that the afflicted man's time must pass rather heavily, I asked him if he would write what he had related to me. George seemed much pleased with this request, and the following is his simple statement as nearly as possible in his own language.

"It was on a fair summer evening, and I, with three other men was sitting on the beach at Lynmouth, when we discovered a smack, belonging to Ilfracombe, coming round Countisbury Foreland. Our attention was drawn to her by her being so near the shore; but owing to the flood tides and the lightness of the breeze she soon disappeared from our view. It was not long before we saw her again, and then she had hoisted a flag as a signal for a boat. Accompanied by three other men, I went out to her to see what she wanted. When we came along side of the vessel, the men on board told us that the captain had seen a human being in the foreland cliff, and that they had made some efforts to rescue him, but without effect. When we heard this, we proceeded with the greatest speed to the bottom of the foreland cliff; there nothing was to be seen or heard but the howling sea against the rocks, and now and then a solitary sea gull flying over our heads. My comrades put me on shore, to see if I could get a sight of the object of our search. At length I found a hat and walking stick; from the state of both, I was certain they had come from the top of the rock, and I next expected to find the corpse of their owner. Just as this thought was passing through my mind, I heard a cry from the boat, "We see the man." I answered them, Where?' They told me, about half way up the cliff, a distance from the shore on which I stood, of about two hundred feet in height. I beckoned to my companions to take me into the boat, for I knew there was no possibility of my getting him from the shore. When I got into the boat I soon saw where he was; but he looked to me more like a bird floating in the air than a human being. I took the long rope which the captain had given the men, to serve in rescuing the person they had seen in the

rock; we rowed again to the back part of the point, where I was put on shore, one man from the boat came with me; and a difficult job I had to climb the rock, for the rope was heavy, and I soon found my mate had enough to do to take care of himself. I climbed up over the cliff, and came at last to a sheep's track, this I followed, as the day was far spent, and the night was fast approaching: at last I came in sight of the poor unhappy man. I was so overcome that I was like a person just taken from a warm bath; the perspiration fell from my forehead, almost blinding me. As I now came into a more dangerous part of the cliff, I went some twenty or thirty yards further down, for the purpose of speaking to him, not being able to render him any assistance from that place. I went down on my knees, and offered up a short prayer to God to strengthen me, to keep my head steady and my footsteps sure. I then spoke gently to the man, and asked him how he came there. He said, 'I came from the top.' Then I thought to myself, what a merciful God is ours! for to see him in such a situation, most people would have said that he could not have remained there one minute. With the psalmist I could only say, 'Thou knowest my down-sitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. I had now to return by the same way which I had gone down, and I reached the place where I had left the rope, and by this time the man who had followed me from the boat was there also. I took up the rope, and we went on together. We had a loose stony path to pass over, which was very dangerous, as the slipping of one stone would have sent us down the cliff. We passed this, and I went on as fast as I could. On looking back for my companion, I saw him without any shoes on his feet, and grasping at every thing he could lay hold of. I said to him, John, is your head going round?' he said, 'Yes, it does.' So I helped him down a little lower, on a mound of earth, about the size of a man's hat: there I left him, and went on by myself, until I came to the very edge of the perpendicular part of the cliff; here I again saw the gentleman, who was, I should think, thirty feet to the eastward of me. Without perilling my own life I could not