Said the children up in heaven:
“‘My little darling, arise and come
To the place prepared in thy Father’s home,
The home that my children live in.’
Let’s go and watch at the gates of pearl,
Ready to welcome the new little girl,”
Said the children up in heaven.
“Far down on the earth do you hear them weep?”
Said the children up in heaven,
“For the dear little girl has gone to sleep!
The shadows fall and the night-clouds sweep
O’er the earth that we used to live in:
But we’ll go and open the gates of pearl--
Oh, why do they weep for their dear little girl?”
Said the children up in heaven.
“Fly with her quickly, O angels dear,”
Said the children up in heaven.
“See, she is coming! Look there--look there!
At the jasper light on her sunny hair,
Where the veiling clouds are riven!
Ah, hush, hush, hush!” All the swift wings furl,
For the King himself at the gates of pearl
Is taking her hand, dear, tired little girl,
And leading her into heaven!
CHILDREN’S PRAISES
Around the throne of God in heaven
Thousands of children stand--
Children whose sins are all forgiven,
A holy, happy band,
Singing, Glory, glory,
Glory be to God on high.
What brought them to that world above,
That heaven so bright and fair,
Where all is peace and joy and love,
How came those children there?
Because the Saviour shed his blood
To wash away their sin:
Bathed in that pure and precious blood,
Behold them white and clean,
Singing, Glory, glory,
Glory be to God on high.
THE CHRIST CHILD
Come, let us all adore him;
Our hearts’ pure love we bring
To him, the Babe who came from heaven,
The little children’s King.
[Illustration: Nativity scene]
THE CHRIST CHILD
O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM
O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie;
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light,
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee to-night.
O holy child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
Oh, come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.
—_Phillips Brooks._
CRADLE HYMN
Martin Luther J. E. Spilman
1. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay--
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.
2. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus! look down from the sky,
And stay by my cradle till morning is nigh.
3. Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.
ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY
Once in royal David’s city
Stood a lowly cattle-shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for his bed.
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.
He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable,
And his cradle was a stall.
With the poor and mean and lowly
Lived on earth our Saviour holy.
For he is our childhood’s pattern,
Day by day like us he grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us he knew.
And he feeleth for our sadness,
And he shareth in our gladness.
And our eyes at last shall see him,
Through his own redeeming love,
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above.
And he leads his children on
To the place where he has gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see him, but in heaven,
Set at God’s right hand on high,
When like stars his children, crowned
All in white shall wait around.
STAR OF THE EAST
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning
Dawn on our darkness and lend us thine aid;
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid
Cold on his cradle the dewdrops are shining
Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore him, in slumber reclining,
Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all!
RING OUT THE BELLS FOR CHRISTMAS
Ring out the bells for Christmas,
The happy, happy day,
In winter wild the holy Child
Within the cradle lay.
Oh, wonderful! the Saviour
Is in a manger lone;
His palace is a stable,
And Mary’s arm his throne.
On Bethlehem’s quiet hillside,
In ages long gone by,
In angel notes the glory floats,
“Glory to God on high.”
Yet wakes the sun as joyous
As when the Lord was born,
And still he comes to greet you
On every Christmas morn.
Where’er his sweet lambs gather
Within his gentle fold,
The Saviour dear is waiting near,
As in the days of old.
In each young heart you meet him,
In every guileless face
You see the holy Jesus
Who grew in truth and grace.
Then sing your gladsome carols,
And hail the new-born Son;
For Christmas light is passing bright,
It smiles on every one.
And feast Christ’s little children,
His poor, his orphan call;
For he who chose the manger
He loveth one and all.
WHILE SHEPHERDS WATCHED THEIR FLOCKS BY NIGHT
While shepherds watched their flocks by night,
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down,
And glory shone around.
“Fear not,” said he--for mighty dread
Had seized their troubled mind--
“Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind.”
“To you, in David’s town this day,
Is born of David’s line
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord,
And this shall be the sign:
The heavenly Babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapt in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid.”
Thus spake the seraph, and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels praising God, and thus
Addressed their joyful song:
“All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace:
Good-will henceforth, from heaven to men,
Begin and never cease.”
[Illustration: 5 Cherubs]
[Illustration: Holly]
Christmas Carol
Joyously the angels sang
Long ago at Christmas.
Every note of praise which rang
Told the birth of Jesus.
Shepherds wondering looked around,
Tidings heard of Jesus.
Upon a manger soon they found
Christ, the baby Jesus.
So may we to-day behold
In our hearts this Jesus.
—_Marie Belle Coles._
[Illustration: Holly]
[Music:
CHRISTMAS CAROL
Marie Belle Coles K. E. C.
Joyously the angels sang Long ago.. at Christ-mas;
Ev’ry note of praise which rang Told the birth of Jesus.
Repeat for last stanza
]
CRADLE HYMN
Hush, my dear, lie still and slumber;
Holy angels guard thy bed;
Heavenly blessings without number
Gently falling on thy head.
Soft and easy is thy cradle;
Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay
When his birthplace was a stable,
And his softest bed was hay.
See the kindly shepherds round him,
Telling wonders from the sky;
Where they sought him, there they found him,
With his virgin mother by.
Lo, he slumbers in the manger
Where the hornèd oxen fed!
Peace, my darling, here’s no danger,
Oxen stand not near thy bed.
Mayst thou live to know and fear him,
Trust and love him all thy days;
Then go dwell forever near him,
See his face and sing his praise!
—_Watts._
HEROES AND PATRIOTS
God wants the boys with all their joys,
That he as gold may make them pure,
And teach them hardness to endure;
His HEROES brave he’ll have them be,
Fighting for truth and purity.
[Illustration: Children playing soldiers]
HEROES AND PATRIOTS
YOUNG SOLDIERS
Oh, were you ne’er a schoolboy?
And did you never train,
And feel the swelling of the heart
You ne’er will feel again?
Did you never meet, far down the street,
With plumes and banners gay,
While the kettle, for the kettledrum,
Played your march, march away?
It seems to me but yesterday,
Nor scarce so long ago,
Since all our school their muskets took
To charge the fearful foe.
Our muskets were of cedar-wood,
With ramrod bright and new;
With bayonet forever set,
And painted barrel, too.
We charged upon a flock of geese
And put them all to flight,
Except one sturdy gander
That thought to show us fight.
But ah! we knew a thing or two--
Our captain wheeled the van;
We routed him, we scouted him,
Nor lost a single man!
Our captain was as brave a lad
As e’er commission bore;
And brightly shone his new tin sword;
A paper cap he wore.
He led us up the steep hillside,
Against the western wind,
While the cockerel plume which decked his head
Streamed bravely out behind.
We shouldered arms, we carried arms,
We charged the bayonet,
And woe unto the mullein-stalk
That in our course we met.
At two o’clock the roll we called,
And till the close of day,
With fearless hearts though tired limbs,
We fought the mimic fray
Till the supper-bell, from out the dell,
Bade us march, march away.
HOW BIG WAS ALEXANDER, PA?
“How big was Alexander, pa,
That people call him great?
Was he like old Goliath tall,
His spear a hundred weight?
“Was he so large that he could stand
Like some tall steeple high,
And while his feet were on the ground
His hands could touch the sky?”
“Oh! no, my child; about as large
As I or Uncle James.
’Twas not his stature made him great,
But greatness of his name.”
“His name so great? I know ’tis long,
But easy quite to spell;
And more than half a year ago
I knew it very well.”
“I mean, my child, his actions were
So great he got a name
That everybody speaks with praise
Who tells about his fame.”
“Well, what great actions did he do?
I want to know it all.”
“Why, he it was that conquered Tyre
And leveled down her wall,
“And thousands of her people slew,
And then to Persia went,
And fire and sword on every side
Through many a region sent.
“A hundred conquered cities shone
With midnight burnings red;
And, strewed o’er many a battle-ground,
A thousand soldiers bled.”
“Did _killing people_ make him great?
Then why was Abdel Young,
Who killed his neighbor training-day,
Put into jail and hung?
“I never heard them call _him_ great.”
“Why, no--’twas not in war,
And him that kills a single man
His neighbors all abhor.”
“Well, then, if I should kill a man,
I’d kill a hundred more;
I should be great, and not get hung
Like Abdel Young before.”
“Not so, my child, ’twill never do;
The Gospel bids be kind.”
“Then they that kill, and they that praise,
The Gospel do not mind.”
“You know, my child, the Bible says
That you must always do
To other people as you wish
To have them do to you.”
“But, pa, did Alexander wish
That some strong man would come
And burn his house and kill him, too,
And do as he had done?
“And everybody called him great
For killing people so--
Well, now, what right he had to kill
I should be glad to know.
“If one should burn the buildings here,
And kill the folks within,
Would anybody call him great
For such a wicked thing?”
THE HEROIC BOY
The boy stood on the burning deck,
Whence all but him had fled;
The flames that lit the battled wreck
Shone round him o’er the dead.
Yet beautiful and bright he stood,
As born to rule the storm;
A creature of heroic blood,
A brave though childlike form.
The flames rolled on--he would not go
Without his father’s word;
That father, faint in death below,
His voice no longer heard.
He called aloud--“Say, father, say
If yet my task is done!”
He knew not that the chieftain lay
Unconscious of his son.
“Speak, father!” once again he cried,
“If I may yet be gone;”
And but the booming shots replied,
And fast the flames rolled on.
Upon his brow he felt their breath,
And in his waving hair,
And looked from that lone post of death
In still yet brave despair;
And shouted but once more aloud,
“My father, must I stay?”
While o’er him fast, through sail and shroud,
The wreathing fires made way.
They wrapped the ship in splendor wild,
They caught the flag on high,
And streamed above the gallant child
Like banners in the sky.
There came a burst of thunder-sound--
The boy--oh, where was he?
Ask of the winds that far around
With fragments strewed the sea,
With mast and helm and pennon fair
That well had borne their part--
But the noblest thing that perished there
Was that young faithful heart.
—_Mrs. Hemans._
THE LEAK IN THE DIKE
A STORY OF HOLLAND
The good dame looked from her cottage
At the close of the pleasant day,
And cheerily called to her little son
Outside the door at play:
“Come, Peter, come! I want you to go,
While there is light to see,
To the hut of the blind old man who lives
Across the dike, for me.
And take these cakes I made for him--
They are hot and smoking yet;
You have time enough to go and come
Before the sun is set.”
Then the good wife turned to her labor,
Humming a simple song,
And thought of her husband, working hard
At the sluices all day long,
And set the turf ablazing
And brought the coarse black bread,
That he might find a fire at night,
And find the table spread.
And Peter left the brother
With whom all day he had played,
And the sister who had watched their sports
In the willow’s tender shade;
And told them they’d see him back before
They saw a star in sight,
Though he wouldn’t be afraid to go
In the very darkest night!
For he was a brave, bright fellow,
With eye and conscience clear,
He could do whatever a boy might do,
And he had not learned to fear.
Why, he wouldn’t have robbed a bird’s
nest,
Nor brought a stork to harm,
Though never a law in Holland
Had stood to stay his arm.
And now with his face all glowing,
And eyes as bright as the day
With the thoughts of his pleasant errand,
He trudged along the way;
And soon his joyous prattle
Made glad a lonesome place;
Alas! if only the old blind man
Could have seen that happy face!
Yet he somehow caught the brightness
Which his voice and presence lent,
And he felt the sunshine come and go
As Peter came and went.
And now, as the day was sinking
And the winds began to rise,
The mother looked from her door again,
Shading her anxious eyes.
She saw the shadows deepen
And birds to their homes come back,
But never a sign of Peter
Along the level track.
But she said: “He will come at morning,
So I need not fret or grieve;
Though it isn’t like my boy at all
To stay without my leave.”
But where was the child delaying?
On the homeward way was he
And across the dike while the sun was up
An hour above the sea.
He was stopping now to gather flowers,
Now listening to the sound
As the angry waters dashed themselves
Against their narrow bound.
“Oh, well for us,” said Peter,
“That the gates are good and strong
And my father tends them carefully,
Or they would not hold you long.
You’re a wicked sea,” said Peter;
“I know why you fret and chafe;
You would like to spoil our lands and homes,
But our sluices keep you safe.”
But hark! through the noise of waters
Comes a low, clear, trickling sound;
And the child’s face pales with terror
And his blossoms drop to the ground.
He is up the bank in a moment
And, stealing through the sand,
He sees a stream not yet so large
As his slender childish hand.
‘_Tis a leak in the dike!_ He is but a boy,
Unused to fearful scenes;
But young as he is he has learned to know
The dreadful thing that means.
A leak in the dike! The stoutest heart
Grows faint that cry to hear,
And the bravest man in all the land
Turns white with mortal fear;
For he knows that the smallest leak may grow
To a flood in a single night;
And he knows the strength of the cruel sea
When loosed in its angry might.
And the boy! He has seen the danger,
And shouting a wild alarm,
He forces back the weight of the sea
With the strength of his single arm
He listens for the joyful sound
Of a footstep passing nigh;
He lays his ear to the ground, to catch
The answer to his cry.
And he hears the rough winds blowing
And the waters rise and fall,
But never an answer comes to him
Save the echo of his call.
He sees no hope, no succor,
His feeble voice is lost;
Yet what shall he do but watch and wait
Though he perish at his post?
So, faintly calling and crying
Till the sun is under the sea,
Crying and moaning till the stars
Come out for company,
He thinks of his brother and sister
Asleep in their safe warm bed;
He thinks of his father and mother;
Of himself as dying--and dead;
And of how, when the night is over,
They must come and find him at last;
But he never thinks he can leave the place
Where duty holds him fast.
The good dame in the cottage
Is up and astir with the light,
For the thought of her little Peter
Has been with her all the night.
And now she watches the pathway
As yester eve she had done;
But what does she see so strange and black
Against the rising sun?
Her neighbors are bearing between them
Something straight to her door;
Her child is coming home, but not
As he ever came before.
“He is dead,” she cries, “my darling!”
And the startled father hears,
And comes and looks the way she looks
And fears the thing she fears:
Till a glad shout from the hearers
Thrills the stricken man and wife--
“Give thanks, for your son has saved our land
And God has saved his life!”
So there in the morning sunshine
They knelt about the boy;
And every head was bared and bent
In tearful, reverent joy.
’Tis many a year since then; but still,
When the sea roars like a flood,
Their boys are taught what a boy can do
Who is brave and true and good.
And every man in that country
Takes his small son by the hand
And tells him of little Peter
Whose courage saved the land.
They have many a valiant hero
Remembered through the years,
But never one whose name so oft
Is named with loving tears.
And his deed shall be sung at the cradle,
And told to the child on the knee,
So long as the dikes of Holland
Divide the land from the sea.
“IN GOD WE TRUST”
No need of blazoned shield
To mark our country’s story;
No need of battle’s gory field
To tell of fame and glory;
These are but baubles in the dust;
Here rests our fame--“In God we trust!”
He whose unerring hand
Guides nations in their blindness
Doth wield at once, in every land,
The scepter of his kindness.
He is the Good, the Great, the Just:
This is our strength--“In God we trust!”
But speed the day when we,
A great and glorious nation,
In right and might, on land and sea,
Are Christ’s in imitation,
Striving for this--and strive we must--
Our motto is, “In God we trust!”
[Illustration: A bell]
MY COUNTRY, ‘TIS OF THEE
My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride,
From ev’ry mountain-side
Let freedom ring.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
Sweet freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake,
Let all who breathe partake,
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.
Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing:
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light;
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.
THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS
The breaking waves clashed high
On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed,
And the heavy night hung dark
The hills and waters o’er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore.
Not as the conqueror comes,
They the true-hearted came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame:
Not as the flying come,
In silence and in fear:
They shook the depths of the desert gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.
Amidst the storm they sang,
And the stars heard, and the sea;
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free.
The ocean eagle soared
From his nest by the white wave’s foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roared--
This was their welcome home.
[Illustration: People being helped ashore from boat]
What sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels from the mine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?
They sought a faith’s pure shrine.
Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod--
They have left unstained what there they found,
FREEDOM TO WORSHIP GOD.
—_Mrs. Hemans._
THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS
MRS. HEMANS MARY ANNE BROWNE
The breaking waves dashed high On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky Their giant branches tossed;
And the heavy night hung dark The hills and waters o’er,
When a band of exiles moor’d their bark On the wild New England
shore.
MY OWN, MY NATIVE LAND
Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said,
“This is my own, my native land!”
Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned,
As home his footsteps he hath turned
From wandering on a foreign strand!
If such there breathe, go, mark him well:
For him no minstrel raptures swell:
High though his titles, proud his name,
Boundless his wealth as wish can claim,
Despite those titles, power, and pelf,
The wretch, concentered all in self,
Living, shall forfeit fair renown,
And, doubly dying, shall go down
To the vile dust from whence he sprung,
Unwept, unhonored and unsung.
—_Sir Walter Scott._
INDEX
Answer to a Child’s Question, 102
Ark and the Dove, The, 148
Asleep, 80
At Close of Day, 77
Baby-jumper, The, 22
Baby, Sleep, 19
Bees, The, 113
Before the Sabbath, 199
Best Day, The, 202
Bird’s Nest, The, 99
Bit of a Sermon, A, 211
Blackberry-girl, The, 40
Blind Boy, The, 35
Boy and the Lark, The, 100
Boy’s Faith, A, 37
Brook, The, 25
Bud, The, 151
Busy Bee, 112
Busy Little Farmer, 67
Butterfly, The, 119
Captive Bluebird, The, 97
Chickens, The, 91
Children Praising the Saviour, 195
Children’s Praises, 218
Children’s Prayer, 190
Child’s Self-examination, 72
Christmas Carol, 228
Cold Water Boy, The, 52
Commandments, The, 197
Country Music, 124
Cradle Hymn, 230
Cruel Sport, 98
Daisy’s Prayer, 69
Dapple Gray, 167
Dawn of Day, 49
Dear Little Heads in the Pew, 205
Dear Mamma, 12
Death and the Resurrection, 213
Dolly Going to Sleep, 170
Don’t Kill the Birds, 101
Evening Prayer, 192
Eye-peep Hour, 50
Father of the Fatherless, The, 192
Father’s Will, The, 9
First Prayer, The, 191
Fly, The, 113
Folded Wings, 55
For Mother, 14
Generous Heart, The, 67
Gentle Bossy, 88
Givers, The, 206
Go and Tell Jesus, 185
God is in Heaven, 177
God, the Creator, 178
God’s Name, 198
Going to Rest, 77
Golden Rule, The, 62
Good Name, A, 65
Good-night, 21, 73
Good Shepherd, The, 185
Grandpa and Me, 31
Happy Childhood, 156
Happy Helen, 59
Happy Land, The, 215
“He Giveth Us All Things,” 164
Hen and Chickens, 91
Heroic Boy, The, 238
Ho for Slumberland, 78
Honest Boy, The, 60
How Big was Alexander, Pa? 235
How I Love, 58
How Selfish It Is! 44
Hushaby, 18
“In God We Trust,” 247
Is It You? 68
I will be Good To-day, 60
I Would Follow Thee, 189
Jack Frost, 139
Jesus, Tender Shepherd, 191
John White and His Kite, 166
Kindness to Animals, 87
Kitty and Mousie, 86
Lamb’s Lullaby, The, 122
Landing of the Pilgrims, The, 249
Leak in the Dike, The, 240
Learning to Walk, 22
Lie, The, 61
Like Jesus, 184
Little, but Wise, 83
Little Dog, 84
Little Fish, The, 127
Little Neighbors, 36
Little Star, 73, 162
Love at Home, 28
Love One Another, 26
Love Your Little Brother, 24
Mary and Her Little Lamb, 125
Master Has Come Over Jordan, The, 182
Meddlesome Mattie, 63
Merry Fly, The, 118
Merry Raindrops, 149
Missionary Ship, The, 209
Moon, The, 162
Morning, 21, 50
Morning Hymn, 187
Morning Prayer, 189
My Brother, 23
My Country, ’Tis of Thee, 248
My Doll, 170
My Father Blessed Me, 15
My Kite, 166
My Little Pony, 168
My Mother, 13
My Pussy, 84
My Shadow, 172
My Tame Squirrel, 120
Naughty Chick, The, 90
Never Forget to Pray, 186
Newcomer in Heaven, The, 216
North Wind, The, 141
Of What are Your Clothes Made? 126
Oh, What Can Little Hands Do? 195
O Little Town of Bethlehem, 221
Once in Royal David’s City, 223
Orphan Flower-girl, The, 40
Papa is Coming, 14
Peacock, The, 111
Persevere, 66
Pet Lamb, The, 129
Poor Robin, 93
Praise, 188
Precious Treasure, A, 197
Preparing for the Sabbath, 200
Pretty Bee, 117
Prince Comes! The, 16
Reindeer and the Rabbit, The, 128
Ring Out the Bells for Christmas, 225
Robin Redbreast’s Secret, 94
Robin Redbreasts, The, 93
Run and Play, 173
Sabbath Morning, 201
Sabbath School, The, 204
Samuel, 209
Saturday Night, 171
Setting Sun, The, 159
Seven Times One, 158
Shadows, The, 70
Sled-ride, The, 165
Sleep, Baby! Sleep! 20
Sleigh-ride, The, 164
Snow, The, 138
Snow-bird’s Song, The, 103
Snowdrop, The, 150
Snowflakes, 139
Snow-shower, The, 142
Song to Bring Sleep, A, 74
So Safe! 179
Sparrow in the Snow, The, 104
Spider and the Fly, The, 114
Squirrel’s Arithmetic, The, 121
Star of the East, 224
Stars are Coming, The, 161
Sum of the Commandments, 199
Summer-time, 155
Sun, Moon and Stars, 160
Swarm of Bees, A, 210
Sweetly Sleep, 20
Swing, The, 169
Sympathy, 27
Temperance Song, A, 95
Ten Commandments, The, 199
That Sweet Story of Old, 179
Thinking of Mercies, 46
Through the Year, 137
Thunderstorm, The, 154
Time, 56
Trust and Try, 65
Turtle-doves, The, 108
Two Little Tempers, 62
Up Early, 55
Violet, The, 152
Voice of Spring, The, 146
Walk in Spring, A, 147
Wanderings of the Birds, The, 107