as ye would be forgiven!
In this we see the power divine,
Which shall transform our earth to heaven.

2 O, not the harsh and scornful word
The victory over sin can gain,
Not the dark prison, or the sword,
The shackle, or the weary chain.

3 But from our spirits there must flow
A love that will the wrong outweigh;
Our lips must only blessings know,
And wrath and sin shall die away.

4 'Twas heaven that formed the holy plan
To win the wanderer back by love;
Thus let us save our brother, man,
And imitate our God above.

IX. MISCELLANEOUS.

443. C. M. Keble.

Teaching Little Children.

1 O, say not, think not, heavenly notes
To childish ears are vain,--
That the young mind at random floats,
And cannot reach the strain.

2 Was not our Lord a little child,
Taught by degrees to pray,
By father dear and mother mild
Instructed day by day?

3 And loved he not of heaven to talk
With children in his sight,
To meet them in his daily walk,
And to his arms invite?

4 And though some tones be weak and low,
What are all prayers beneath,
But cries of babes, that cannot know
Half the deep thought they breathe?

5 In his own words we Christ adore;
But angels, as we speak,
Higher above our meaning soar
Than we o'er children weak.

6 And yet his words mean more than they,
And yet he owns their praise;
O, think not that he turns away
From infants' simple lays!

444. C. M. Heber.

The Holy Child.

1 By cool Siloam's shady rill
How sweet the lily grows!
How sweet the breath, beneath the hill,
Of Sharon's dewy rose!

2 Lo, such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God!

3 O Thou who giv'st us life and breath,
We seek Thy grace alone,
In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still Thine own!

445. C. M. Flint's Coll.

Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me.

1 See Israel's gentle Shepherd stand
With all-engaging charms!