A child's fall was miraculously softened, showing God's mercy and care.
The substance of the following story was related by the Rev. Mr. S—, at a meeting of the Young Men's Bible Society, of Baltimore, March, 1822.
He stated, that at a meeting of a Bath (England) Bible Association, he was present when there was a call for volunteer speakers, and a stranger came forward and made the following statements. He said, that in the county of Devon, there lived a man, desperately and notoriously wicked, and of so cruel and ferocious a disposition, as in some instances to extinguish his natural affection for his own offspring. One day, taking his little son by the hand, who was big enough to walk, he strolled towards the cliffs, which in those parts overhang the sea, and laid himself down upon the grass. His playful little son meanwhile amused himself with picking up pebbles and throwing them down at the feet of his father, who in a churlish rage, having two or three times bidden him desist without being obeyed, gave vent to his anger, and with a kick, which prostrated the child upon the ground, left the poor creature screaming with anguish and walked away. The unhappy little sufferer having so far recovered as to regain his feet, wandered so near the cliff as to fall over, and was precipitated into the sea; but the air in his dress, (for he still wore infantile garments,) broke the force of his fall, and prevented him from immediately sinking. It happened that the beat of a man-of-war, which was lying in the offing, was just then returning from a watering place, and seeing an object floating on the water rowed up to it, took him in, and carried him on board the ship. The sailors made a pet of him and called him "Little Jack;"
and when he had become old enough for the service, made him a powdermonkey, (a title given to those who carry cartridges to the gunners.)
This ship with some others of an inferior size, having had a severe engagement with the enemy, and many being wounded, little Jack, the powdermonkey, was employed to wait upon the surgeon. Among the wounded who were brought from other vessels for surgical aid, was a man, both of whose legs were shot away by a chain shot, and the bones so shattered as to prevent any hope of cure from amputation. Death had indeed already begun to play around his heart. While he lay in these mortal agonies, he fixed his eyes steadfastly upon little Jack, and having yet power to speak, asked the boy who he was, and whence he came? He told him what the sailors had related to him, and which was all he knew of himself.
The wounded man, who recognized the features of his son in the boy, was now convinced it must be he. I am, said he, that ungodly and brutal father, who left you upon the cliff, (relating the particulars,) from whence you must have fallen into the sea. Beginning to grow uneasy, I returned to the place where I had left you; but you had disappeared.
All my researches proved in vain; I could gain no tidings of you. Supposing that you had perished through my cruelty, I became frantic with grief, and was on the point of putting an end to my
14L existence; but finally, in hopes of finding some relief from my misery, I entered on board a ship-of-war. Having returned from a cruise, while lying in port, a gentleman (a member of a Bible Society) came on board, and asked permission of the captain to distribute some Bibles among the ship's company.
It fell to my lot to receive one, which became the means of my conversion to God; and now I have redemption in the blood of Jesus Christ, even the forgiveness of all my sins. I have but a few moments to live; the pains of death are upon me; I have no will to make, not having any thing to leave you save this Bible, taking it from his bosom and presenting it to him in the language of David to Solomon, "and thou Solomon my son know thou the God of thy fathers; if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; and if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever." As he ended the quotation his voice faltered, and he sank in death. The speaker, said Mr. S., admitted that so strange a story might seem incredible, but the tears starting from his eyes, he put his hand into his bosom, drew out a book, and said, "This is the Bible, and I am Little Jack!"
