"Room, in the Kingdom, for Childhood--for children the chiefest seat! Such shall be dear to the King, He shall gather them round His feet. In their joy He shall greatly rejoice, and their sadness shall make Him sad. Yea, their joy shall turn earth into heaven, and their gladness shall make men glad, As they tell of the stable of Bethlehem." * * * * * Sometime it will dawn, that Gospel. Then shall shine This stable, brighter than the Orient sun; And men shall worship at this humble shrine, Where, all unmarked, Redemption's work's begun. The dumb brutes know; yet, for man's sake I go, By other signs to stir him in his sleep. My errand now--some few prepared I know-- To light the hillsides where they watch their sheep. X. Mother and Child "_The Christ Child lay in Mary's lap, His hair was like a crown.... And all the flowers looked up to Him, And all the stars looked down._" --G. K. CHESTERTON. Mother and Child Mother and Child! Symbol eternal, and Fact, Prediction sublime! Read the sweet story of Love, upheld in the arms of Time! Mother and Child! Read the great story of Earth, struggling up through her Sorrow and Pain, Till, chosen the Bride of God, she bring forth, washed clean of all stain, Truth undefiled. Far back in the youth of the world, out of water and mist and slime, I see thee, Earth-Mother, arise, both Mother and Daughter of Time-- Stern, sacrificially cruel, with passionate spirit aflame, Cybele, Ishtar, Isis, adored under many a name, Striving through waste and through weakness, onward and upward ever, Slain for Love's sake and slaying, yet failing in sacrifice never, Bearing with anguish of heart, big with the life of the morrow, Lifting our soul from the soil, thy Body transfixed with our sorrow-- Till, lo, the fair fruitage of life, upheld in thine arms for a Throne, Opens eyes to the kiss of God, His Child, yet thy very own. Far back ere the brooding wing of the Spirit o'er Chaos stirred, God thought of Creation to be, and His Thought took flesh as the Word-- Child of eternal Love, awaiting the fulness of days, Downward descending in dreams, seeking our earthward ways, Struggling for birth through the ages, piercing through many a cloud, Worshipped at many an altar, wherever faces were bowed, Or hands uplifted to Heaven in passionate yearning to see In thy Face the transfiguring vision of life-giving Deity. Till, lo, the idea of God, His Child, thou art brought to birth, Making glad all thy brethren to be, and thy Mother the travailing earth.