them--
prospects which, he had no doubt, would be fully realised ere long. He
referred also to the condition of the miners of the neighbourhood, and
alluded to the fact that the neighbouring mines, Wheal Owles and Levant,
were also in a flourishing condition; a matter, he said, for which they
had reason to be profoundly thankful, for the distress in the district
had been severe and prolonged. The manager's voice deepened at this
point, and he spoke with pathos, for he had a kindly heart, and his
thoughts were at the moment with many a poor miner, in whose little
cottages the effects of gaunt poverty could be traced in scanty
furniture, meagre fare, and careworn brows. He remembered, too, that
only the week before he had seen poor blind John Batten carried to his
grave, and had heard the sobs of the bereaved widow, as she attempted to
tell him how the brave man had forgotten himself to the very last, when
he put his wasted hand on her head, and said, "I'm goin' to leave thee,
Mary, for a time; but cheer up, dear lass, I'll be with Jesus soon, an'
have my sight restored, and look wance more 'pon the faces of the dear
boys, an' 'pon your own sweet face too, dear lass, when we meet again in
heaven."

There was one of the miners and shareholders of Botallack who did not
die, but who lived to enjoy the fruit of his labour and the sunshine of
prosperity. James Penrose recovered--not only his health, but also, in
some degree, his sight. One of his eyes had indeed been entirely
destroyed by the explosion which had so nearly killed him, but the other
was partially restored. A long period elapsed, however, ere he was able
to go about. Then he found his circumstances so much improved that it
was not necessary to resume work underground. Botallack, in which all
his savings had been invested, continued steadily to improve, and from
the income derived from this source alone he was enabled to live without
labouring. But Penrose was not the man to sit down in idleness. Wesley
never had a more earnest follower than this miner of St. Just.
Thenceforth he devoted himself to preaching, teaching, and doing good as
his hand found opportunity, and, being an active man as well as
conscientious, he laboured to the end of his days in the service of his
Lord more energetically than he had ever toiled in the mines.

Penrose and David Trevarrow had always been staunch friends. After the
accident to the former, they became more closely un