Faith in God

Faith in God

I knew a widow, very poor,

Who four small children had;

The oldest was but six years old -

A gentle modest lad.

And very hard that widow toiled,

To feed her children four:

And honest pride the woman felt,

Though she was very poor.

To labor, she would leave her home -

For children must be fed;

And glad was she, when she could buy

A shilling's worth of bread.

And this was all the children had,

On any day, to eat;

They drank their water, ate their bread,

But never tasted meat.

One day the snow was falling fast,

And piercing was the air;

I thought that I would go and see

How these poor children were.

Ere long, I reached their cheerless home -

'Twas searched by every breeze;

When going in, the eldest child

I saw upon his knees.

I paused to listen to the boy -

He never raised his head;

But still went on, and said - "Give us

This day our daily bread."

I waited till the child was done,

Still listening as he prayed -

And when he rose, I asked him why,

The Lord's Prayer he had said?

"Why, Sir," said he, "this morning, when

My mother went away,

She wept, because she said she had

No bread for us to-day.

"She said we children now must starve,

Our father being dead;

And then I told her not to cry,

For I could get soome bread.

"Our Father," Sir, "the prayer begins;

Which makes me think that He,

As we have no kind father here,

Would our kind father be.

"And then, you know, the prayer, too,

Asks God for bread each day;

So in the corner, Sir, I went -

And that's what made me pray."

I quickly left that wretched room,

And went with fleeting feet;

And very soon was back again,

With food enough to eat.

"I thought God heard me," said the boy;

I answered with a nod -

I could not speak - but much I thought

Of that boy's Faith in God.

Dr. Hawkes, the Rector

New Series 2:29, p. 116

1841.09.18

The following lines, descriptive of fact, were sent to the children of the Sunday School at St. Thomas' Church, in this city, by Dr. HAWKES, the Rector: -