S.M. For Parents on the Baptism of a child.

1 FATHER, our child we place
Where we thy children kneel;
For thou hast made the sign of grace
To him, to us, the seal.

2 Thine own a moment claim,
Then lend him to our love,
Marked as thine own, - and bid the name
Be registered above.

3 Rites cannot change the heart,
Undo the evil done
Or with the uttered name impart
The nature of thy Son.

4 To meet our desperate want,
There gushed a crimson flood:
O from His heart's o'erflowing font
Baptize this soul with blood!

5 Be grace from Christ our Lord,
And love from God supreme,
By the communing Spirit poured
In a perpetual stream!

6 So cleanse our offering;
Then will we, at thy call,
This pledge accepted, daily bring
Ourselves, our house, our all.