Page:Infants in Heaven.pdf/5



death of a child is necessarily painful to the natural feelings of parents and sympathizing friends. From the first hour of his birth he is a beloved object. His sweet smiles, in wakeful moments or peaceful slumber, which are caused by angelic influences, his opening mind, his artless ways, and even the very trouble he gives, all serve to endear him to a parent's heart. Day by day his growth is watched, his health is cared for, and every hour his father's power and mother's love protect him. Each new achievement is registered in fond hearts; and ardent love produces lively hope, and the parent's mind is filled with visions of his child's future fame and welfare.

But death comes and breaks down these vain hopes, and the parents are overwhelmed with the shock. They become like "Rachel weeping for her children, and will not be comforted because they are not."* The minister, friends, and neighbors, come in to console, and sometimes to reprove, their excessive grief. But still the parents mourn on,