The Maidstone Miracle:
OR, THE
Strange Kentish Wonder.
Being an Account of a Charitable Farmer who, by Divine Providence, had a vast
Crop of Corn which grew in a Field which was neither Plow'd nor Sow'd for several
Years, it being look'd upon to be a Reward of his Christian Charity, etc.
To the Tune of, Russel's Farewel, etc.
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WE have a God enthron'd above,
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who does our actions mind,
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And sends us tokens of his love,
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we by experience find;
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Who ever does the poor relieve,
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they lend unto the Lord,
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From whom no doubt they shall receive;
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a blessing for reward.
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Are man shall want a recompence,
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for acts of charity,
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Our blessed Lord without offence,
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works miracles we see;
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In order to encrease the store,
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of those whom he will bless,
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Such who reliev'd and fed the poor,
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in times of sad distress.
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A whealthy yeoman lives in Kent;
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and when bread-corn was dear,
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Unto the poor relief he sent,
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their drooping hearts to chear;
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Nay he was often heard to say,
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I'll give one part in five
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Of my encrease, so that I may
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but keep the poor alive.
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If all rich farmers far and near,
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had such a conscience bore,
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Then corn had never been so dear,
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for to have starv'd the poor;
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Still as he heard how others rais'd,
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his very heart did bleed;
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He often said, the Lord be prais'd,
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I'm sure there's no such need.
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So merciful a man was he,
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such conscience did he make,
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That when the poor in want he see,
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he did compassion take;
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All grand oppression he refrain'd,
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as witness well I can,
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And as a blest reward, he gain'd
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the love of God and Man.
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For by a miracle alone,
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his land this summer bore;
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The like before was never known,
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in any age before;
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And so you'll say when you shall hear,
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what I in brief unfold;
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Thousands came flocking far and near,
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this wonder to behold.
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Sixteen acers of fallow land,
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where turnips lately grew,
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Bears stately corn we understand,
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both wheat and barley too:
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It does the best of barley yield,
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wheat, wry, thick, tall, and strait;
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They neither plow'd nor sow'd this field,
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yet the encrease is great.
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On many of the stalks appears,
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to all spectators view,
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Some twenty, thirty, forty ears,
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a wonder strange and true;
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A vast encrease we understand,
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sent by the Lord above,
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To grow upon this farmer's land,
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as pledges of his love.
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The honest man that owns the ground,
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where all this corn does grow,
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He does in charity abound;
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the same he will bestow,
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On those that round about him dwell,
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who has young children small,
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For he God's blessings will not sell,
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the poor shall have it all.
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Both wheat and wry and barley too,
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he'll part with to the poor,
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For he accounts it is their due,
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if there was ten times more;
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According as they stand in need,
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he will devide the grain.
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Since God was pleas'd to sow the seed,
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the poor shall reap the gain.
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A man of greater charity,
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scarce ever yet was born,
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Some thousands daily flock to see,
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his stately field of corn;
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All thankful hearts praising the Lord,
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which does this wonder see,
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The which was sent as a reward
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of christian charity.
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