Cousin Hatty's Hymns and Twilight Stories

Excerpt

THE FIRST HYMN.

God made the bright, round sun;

He made the pretty flowers;

The little birds, the trees, the clouds

The rain that falls in showers.

He made papa, mamma,

And baby brother, too;

And mother says He looks from Heaven,

And sees each thing I do.

Then I must try to be

Pleasant, and sweet, and mild;

For the good God who made me loves

A kind, obedient child.

Now again the yellow sun

Shines upon my window-pane;

Now anothor day's begun,

I can laugh and play again.

I must try to-day to be

Kind in all I say and do;

Then will God be pleased with me,

And mamma will love me too.

For she says that God above

Loves to see a little child

Sweet and gentle as the dove,

Like the pretty lamb so mild.

EVENING HYMN.

Now the sun hath gone to rest,

Stars are coming faint and dim,

And the bird within his nest

Sweetly sings his evening hymn.

Have I tried mamma to mind?

Was I gentle in my play?

Have I been a true and kind,

Pleasant little girl to-day?

Then will God take care of me

Kindly, through the long dark night;

Bright and happy, I shall see

Once again the morning light.

Why, what a frightful face is this!

And what has happened, sir, amiss?

Come, let me wipe these tears away,

And see no more cross looks to-day.

If Kate did throw your blocks about,

She's very sorry, I've no doubt;

And here she stands to tell you so,

And build another house, I know.

No tears and crying here must be,

So have a pleasant smile for me.

There, that will do,—now run away,

And kindly with your sister play.

I MUST NOT BE SELFISH.

When I play with little children

I must very gentle be;

I must always do to others

As I'd have them do to me.

I must like to give and lend them,

If they want my prettiest toy;

More than my delight and pleasure

I must love my playmate's joy.

Children who are kind and loving

God above is pleased to see;

Let me ever this remember,

Ever sweet and pleasant be.

Stop, naughty pussy! that's not fair!

Jump down this minute from the chair!

You've eaten my nice slice of bread.

And here are only crumbs instead.

I for a minute left the room

To listen to the "Buy a broom,"

And now I think it's quite too bad

That you my luncheon should have had.

Her mother said, "My dear, if you

Had done what you were told to do,

And put the plate upon the shelf,

You might have had the bread yourself.

"But if you have no thought nor care,

And leave your luncheon on a chair,

You must not blame poor pussy-cat;

She knows no better, dear, than that.

"The one who left her bread about

Upon the chair, while she went out,—

The one who hangs her head for shame,—

My little girl's the one to blame!"

STUDY FIRST.

No, Robbie! you can go away;

I am not ready yet to play;

For I must learn these words to spell,

That I may say my lesson well.

How sad our dear mamma would look,

To find that I had left my book!

And if I disobeyed her so,

My play would not be gay, I know.

I'll learn my lesson very soon,

And then I'll run with you till noon;

So, Robbie, you can go away,

And presently I'll come and play.