And now, O Lord, to me impart
An innocent and grateful heart,
That after my last sleep I may
Awake to Thy eternal day.

It is to be regretted that the greater poets did not consecrate their powers to such a work. What noble verses we might have had, if a man like Charles Kingsley had written verses for children, suffused with the spirit of his lovely poem addressed to a child, which I cannot forbear quoting:—

My fairest child, I have no song to give you:
No lark could pipe to skies so dull and gray;
Yet, ere we part, one lesson I can leave you
For every day.

Be good, sweet maid, and let who will be clever :
Do noble things, not dream them all day long;
And so make life, death, and that vast forever
One grand, sweet song.

The only hymnal of any merit for children of the Roman Catholic Church, is that issued by the Rev. Henry Formby, under the title of "School Songs.' Concerning the authorship of the hymns included in this book, the Editor gives no hint; some are probably from his own pen. This is one of the best:

When Jesus halted on his way,

And many throng'd to see,

:

Though some forbade, yet would He say,
"Come, little ones, to me."

O, happy then that infant band

That gathered round His knee,
And happy they who kiss'd the hand
That bled to set them free.

Had I been near Him on that day,
His gracious smile to see;

Had I been near to hear Him say,
"Come, little ones, to me

O, what were then a throne above,
Or seraph's seat on high,

Compared with one sweet glance of love
From that all pitying eye!

Yet hast Thou not, my Lord and God,
Though on Thy throne above,
Still here on earth Thy own abode,
The altar of Thy love?

O, thither, then, let me repair,

Thy gracious smile to see,

And hear Thee say, in stillness there,

"Come, little one, to Me."

Though no hymnal for children of any great value has been issued by the Roman Catholic Church, yet many in that communion] have written good hymns for children; among whom may be named Father Stansfeld, Jane E. Leeson (who late in life joined that communion), and the Sister Mary Clare of Kenmare, whose Easter Hymn I append :

Hark, the angels bright are singing

In the glorious Easter sky:

Jesus from the grave has risen,

Jesus now no more may die.

Alleluia, alleluia, this is what the angels say,
Alleluia, alleluia, we will sing with them to-day.

Pilate's soldiers tried to keep
Jesus fast within the grave;
And they put a seal and stone
Upon the entrance to the cave.
Alleluia, alleluia, &c.

But when three days passed away,
At the awful midnight hour,
Jesus rose all gloriously

By His own almighty power.
Alleluia, alleluia.

We must die as Jesus died,

But we, too, from death shall rise,

Then with Him, if we are good,

We shall reign beyond the skies.
Alleluia, alleluia.

Father Faber's hymn to the Guardian Angel, "Dear Angel, ever at my side," is usually altered and addressed to Jesus in children's hymn books, but it is not quite congruous to its altered object. The following is better suited to its purpose :

Jesus, gentlest Saviour,
God of might and power,
Thou Thyself art dwelling
In us at this hour.

Nature cannot hold Thee,
Heaven is all too strait,
For Thine endless glory,
Or Thy royal state.

Out beyond the shining
Of the farthest star,
Thou art ever stretching
Infinitely far.

Jesus, gentlest Saviour
Thou art in us now;
Fill us full of goodness
Till our hearts o'erflow.

Yet the hearts of children
Hold what words cannot,
And the God of wonders
Loves the lowly spot.

As men to their gardens
Go to seek sweet flowers,
In our hearts dear Jesus

Seeks them at all hours.

Pray the prayer within us
That to heaven shall rise;
Sing the song that angels
Sing above the skies.

Multiply our graces,

Chiefly love and fear;
And, dear Lord, the chiefest,

Grace to persevere.

Oh! how can we thank Thee
For a gift like this-
Gift that truly maketh
Heaven's eternal bliss.

Ah! when wilt Thou always
Make our hearts Thy home?
We must wait for heaven,
Then the day will come.

Now at least we'll keep Thee
All the time we may;
But Thy grace and blessing
We will keep alway.

Even the Jews have, of late, felt the need of hymns for the use of the children in their schools. A few years ago, a selection from "The Book of Praise for Children," edited by myself, was prepared and published by a Jewish lady, and, strange to say, its origin frankly acknowledged on the title page, and the name of the Editor of the original book given. Not a single hymn by any Jewish writer was added, probably because they have never entered on this field.

It is pleasant to note that the sickly sentimentalism which once prevailed in not a few children's hymns, in which they were made to express disgust at earth, and longing for heaven, such as in "Here we suffer grief and pain," and "I want to be an angel," is, save in quarters least spiritually enlightened, dying out, and before long will probably be regarded as a folly of the past. To help on such a result, I edited and published, thirteen years ago, "The Book of Praise for Children," which, I have been glad to know, was the beginning of a more healthy style of children's hymnal; but, in spite of all that has since been done, and all the improvement that has been made, the ideal children's hymnal is yet a thing of the future. The existing materials are now ample, and all that is wanted is an Editor with sufficient critical discrimination to discern the really good, and sufficient courage rigorously to exclude the unworthy.

472

CHAPTER XXII.

MISSION HYMNS.

In most great revivals of religion, alike in ancient and modern times, song has played a very important part. This was the case in early times both in the Eastern and Western Churches, and later-in the days of the Reformation-both in Germany and England. But in such times there does not seem to have sprung up, as in later ones, a distinct type of hymns, but the ordinary ones of the Church were deemed suitable. The great Methodist revival of the last century would seem to have been the first which gave birth to a class of hymns specially written for revival services. That movement, however, was fortunate in having for one of its leaders a really great hymnist, perhaps the greatest the Church has yet produced. The hymns of Charles Wesley, however, though suffused with religious feeling, full of emotional expression, and cast in forms eminently adapted to fit them for popular use, were nevertheless so touched with the essentially poetic nature of their author that they were adopted not only in the gatherings of the rude and unlettered, but also in the ordinary worship of the Churches. Doubtless hundreds, if not thousands, of his hymns were used during the first Methodist revival which have since been neglected, and are now only to be found