Do    you  think  I    should  be  where  I

am  to-day
With  funds  in  the  Bank  and  the  Stocks

— though  they're  sinking
Almost  a  quarter,  I'm  sorry  to  say  ? —
Never,  sir.     But   there's   a    God  up

in  heaven
Who    always  takes    care   of  respect-
able folk  ;
And  what  better  proof  of  it  could  there

be  given  ? —
I  feel    that   my  faith    is    placed  firm

on  a  rock.
I    had   not   a   shilling    once ;    but    I

determined
That  I  would  take  warning  by  what  I

had  seen ;
And  look  to  me   now :    not  a   judge

ever  ermined
Drinks    better     port    wine,-    with    a

conscience  more  clean ;
My  wife  is  a  model ;  my  children  are

pictures ;
My  business   is   thriving ;    my  home,

come  and  see
How  its  happiness  wholly  refutes  all

your  strictures.
And  tells  a  plain  tale  for  my  Maker

and  me.
Oh,  I'm  grateful  to  Him !     Yes ;  of

course,  I've  had  losses  ;
There  is  no  life  without  ups  and  downs

here  below ;


But  mine  have  been  mostly  benevolent
crosses.
Where  the  balance  came  right,  as  the
ledgers  will  show.
So  in  me  He  finds  nothing  but  thank-
fulness truly

That  I  am  not  like  some  who  have
wasted  His  gift.
That  I  never  gave  way  to  a  passion
unruly.
And  when  things  at  the  worst  were,
I  always  made  shift

To  believe  in  His  providence  ;  and  I

have  seen  it.
For  every  thing  throve  with  me  well

from  the  first ;
I  am  sure  not  an  hour  of  my  life,  or

a  minute,
But  He  faithfully  saw  to  my  hunger

and  thirst.
But  it  all  depends,  sir,  on  doing  your

duty,
And  carefully  laying   your  doubts  on

the  shelf.
