t in words. Some
might have thought Jesus too busy or children too insignificant. In
reality it was not so, and he believed that if Jesus came in this year
into London, He would act now as He did then. Sometimes people
forget--the butler forgot Joseph. Jesus Christ never changes. The
preacher endeavoured to bring out what the text teaches about Jesus and
children:--1. It taught that Jesus is attractive to children. Some men
and women children don't like at all; others they go to cheerfully and
willingly. Jesus Christ draws them to Him just as the sun the flowers.
He is spoken of as the Sun of Righteousness. Why is a child not afraid
to walk through the valley of the shadow of death? It is because he sees
Jesus, and when he has passed through on the other side there is Jesus,
the most attractive in all that land. 2. The text taught that Christ
takes a deep interest in children. It was clear the Apostles did not, or
they would not have tried to prevent them from coming forward. He takes
the same interest now. It was to Him children had to be grateful for
bodies and souls, for kind friends, and the comforts of life. All power
is given to Him in heaven and on earth. Salvation is the gift of Christ,
and that is another proof of the interest He takes in children. If any
boy there had no father or mother, sister or brother, or friend, if he
stood in this cold world alone, let him take this thought with him--in
the morning as he rose from his humble cot, in the evening as he retired
to rest--Jesus cares for me. Here the preacher paused while the children
refreshed themselves by singing "The Pilgrims," the boys asking, the
girls replying, and all joining in the chorus, the last verse of which
is--

"Come, oh, come! and do not leave us;
Christ is waiting to receive us,
Christ is waiting to receive us,
In that bright, that better land."

Mr. M'Auslane resumed. The text taught (3), Jesus prays for children.
It is true we have not the prayer, but, nevertheless, he believed that
Jesus prayed. The account in Matthew implies that He did. His prayer
would, in all probability, be that God would be the protector of these
children, and guide them all through life to the heavenly, happy land.
There was a young man once condemned to die. His brother, who had lost
an arm in the service of his country, went and pleaded for him. The
judges were overcome, not by his eloquence, but by the sight of the st