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For dower of blessèd children,
For love and faith's sweet sake,

For high mysterious union

Which nought on earth may break.

Be present, awful Father,

To give away this bride,

As Eve Thou gavest to Adam
Out of his own pierced side;

Be present, Son of Mary,

To join their loving hands,
As Thou didst bind two natures
In Thine eternal bands;

Be present, Holiest Spirit,

To bless them as they kneel,
As Thou for Christ, the Bridegroom,
The heavenly spouse dost seal.

Oh, spread Thy pure wing o'er them,
Let no ill power find place,
When onward to Thine Altar
The hallow'd path they trace.

To cast their crowns before Thee
In perfect sacrifice,

Till to the home of gladness

With Christ's own Bride they rise.

The Child.

REV. JOHN NEWTON.

QUIET, Lord, my froward heart,

Make me teachable and mild;

Upright, simple, free from art,

Make me as a weanèd child:

From distrust and envy free,

Pleased with all that pleases Thee.

What Thou shalt to-day provide,
Let me as a child receive;
What to-morrow may betide,
Calmly to Thy wisdom leave:

'Tis enough that Thou wilt care;
Why should I the burden bear?

As a little child relies

On a care beyond his own; Knows he's neither strong nor wise, Fears to stir a step alone;

Let me thus with Thee abide,

As my Father, Guard, and Guide.

Children Praising Christ.

Thus preserved from Satan's wiles,
Safe from dangers, free from fears,
May I live upon Thy smiles,

Till the promised hour appears,

When the sons of God shall prove
All their Father's boundless love!

Children Praising Christ.

JAMES MONTGOMERY.

WHEN

HEN Jesus left His Father's throne,
He chose an humble birth;

Like us, unhonour'd and unknown,
He came to dwell on earth.

Like Him, may we be found below
In wisdom's paths of peace;
Like Him, in grace and knowledge grow,
As years and strength increase.

Jesus pass'd by the rich and great

For men of low degree;

He sanctified our parents' state,
For poor like them was He.

Sweet were His words, and kind His look,
When mothers round him press'd;
Their infants in His arms He took,

And on His bosom bless'd.

Safe from the world's alluring harms,
Beneath His watchful eye,

Thus in the circle of His arms

May we for ever lie!

377

When Jesus into Salem rode,

The children sang around;

For joy they pluck'd the palms, and strowed Their garments on the ground.

Hosanna our glad voices raise,

Hosanna to our King!

Should we forget our Saviour's praise,
The stones themselves would sing!

Hymn for a Child.

REV. JOHN S. B. MONSELL, D.D.

OD of that glorious gift of grace

By which Thy people seek Thy face,

When in Thy presence we appear,
Vouchsafe us faith to venture near!

Confiding in Thy truth alone,

Here, on the steps of Jesus' throne,
We lay the treasure thou hast given
To be received and rear'd for Heaven.

Lent to us for a season, we
Lend him for ever, Lord, to Thee!
Assured that, if to Thee he live,
We gain in what we seem to give.

Large and abundant blessings shed,
Warm as these prayers, upon his head!
And on his soul the dews of grace,

Fresh as these drops upon his face!

The Childhood of Christ.

Make him and keep him Thine own child,
Meek follower of the Undefiled!
Possessor here of grace and love;
Inheritor of Heaven above!

The Childhood of Christ.

BISHOP REGINALD HEBER.

Y cool Siloam's shady rill,

BY

How sweet the lily grows;

How sweet the breath beneath the hill
Of Sharon's dewy rose:

So such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod ;
Whose secret heart with influence sweet
Is lifted up to God.

By cool Siloam's shady rill

The lily must decay;

The rose that blooms beneath the hill

Must shortly fade away;

And soon, too soon, the wintry hour

Of man's maturer age

Will shake the soul with sorrow's

And stormy passions' rage.

power

O Thou whose infant feet were found
Within Thy Father's shrine,

Whose years with changeless virtue crown'd
Were all alike divine:

Dependent on Thy bounteous breath,

We seek Thy grace alone

In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still Thine own.

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