Autograph Manuscript Signed, an untitled holograph poem by the Scottish writer and artist James Ballantine, beginning 'Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is Kind'.

1p., landscape 8vo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Well presented, with the second blank leaf neatly inserted into a windowpane border. The poem is sixteen lines long, arranged in four stanzas, neatly written out on a piece of wove paper. The first stanza reads 'Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is Kind | And bear ye a' lifes changes, wi a calm an' tranquil mind | Though pressed an' hemmed on every side, hae faith, an' ye'll win through | For ilka blade o grass keeps its ain drap o dew'. The poem was first published in Ballantine's 'Poems' (Edinburgh, 1856, pp.31-2), under the title 'Ilka Blade o' Grass keps its ain Drap o' Dew'. This manuscript text shows some slight variation in spelling from the printed version. The poem was reprinted as the opening piece in Ballantine's 'One Hundred Songs' (Glasgow, 1866).