PART IV.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION.

FAIN, O my child, I'd have thee know,
The God whom angels love:

And teach thee feeble strains below,
Akin to theirs above.

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TEACHING LITTLE CHILDREN.

O when thy lisping tongue shall read
Of truths divinely sweet,

May'st thou, a little child indeed,

Sit down at Jesus' feet.

I'll move thine ear, I'll point thine eye —
But ah! the inward part -

Great God, the Spirit! hear the sigh
That trembles through my heart!

Break, with thy vital beam benign,
O'er all the mental wild!

Bright o'er the human chaos shine,
And sanctify my child.

MRS. VOKE

TEACHING LITTLE CHILDREN.

O SAY not, think not, heavenly notes
To childish ears are vain,

That the young mind at random floats,
And cannot reach the strain.

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