CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN.
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CHRIST BLESSING LITTLE CHILDREN.
"Suffer little children to come unto me—for of such is the kingdom of heaven."Matthew xix. 14.
If ever in the human heart
A fitting season there can be,
Worthy of its immortal part,
Worthy, O blessed Lord, of thee;
'Tis in that yet unsullied hour,
Or ere the world has claimed its own;
Pure as the hues within the flower,
To summer and the sun unknown;
When still the youthful spirit bears
The image of its God within,
And uneffaced that beauty wears,
So soon to be destroyed by sin.
Then is the time for faith and love
To take in charge their precious care,
Teach the young eye to look above,
Teach the young knee to bend in prayer.
This work is ours—this charge was thine
These youthful souls from sin to save;
To lead them in thy faith divine,
And teach its triumph o'er the grave.
The world will come with care and crime,
And tempt too many a heart astray;
Still the seed sown in early time
Will not be wholly cast away.
The infant prayer, the infant hymn,
Within the darkened soul will rise,
When age's weary eye is dim,
And the grave's shadow round us lies.
The infant hymn is heard again,
The infant prayer is breathed once more,
Reclasping of a broken chain,
We turn to all we loved before.
Lord, grant our hearts be so inclined,
Thy work to seek—thy will to do;
And while we teach the youthful mind,
Our own be taught thy lessons too.