h, in memory of the words which said, 'Suffer little
children to come unto me, and forbid them not'; and was perhaps the
origin of the superstitious calumny which ascribed to the Nazarenes the
crime which the Nazarenes, when victorious, attributed to the Jew, viz.
the decoying children to hideous rites, at which they were secretly
immolated.

And the stern paternal penitent seemed to feel in the innocence of his
children a return into early life--life ere yet it sinned: he followed
the motion of their young lips with an earnest gaze; he smiled as they
repeated, with hushed and reverent looks, the holy words: and when the
lesson was done, and they ran, released, and gladly to his knee, he
clasped them to his breast, kissed them again and again, and tears
flowed fast down his cheek--tears, of which it would have been
impossible to trace the source, so mingled they were with joy and
sorrow, penitence and hope--remorse for himself and love for them!

Something, I say, there was in this scene which peculiarly affected
Apaecides; and, in truth, it is difficult to conceive a ceremony more
appropriate to the religion of benevolence, more appealing to the
household and everyday affections, striking a more sensitive chord in
the human breast.

It was at this time that an inner door opened gently, and a very old man
entered the chamber, leaning on a staff. At his presence, the whole
congregation rose; there was an expression of deep, affectionate respect
upon every countenance; and Apaecides, gazing on his countenance, felt
attracted towards him by an irresistible sympathy. No man ever looked
upon that face without love; for there had dwelt the smile of the Deity,
the incarnation of divinest love--and the glory of the smile had never
passed away.

'My children, God be with you!' said the old man, stretching his arms;
and as he spoke the infants ran to his knee. He sat down, and they
nestled fondly to his bosom. It was beautiful to see that mingling of
the extremes of life--the rivers gushing from their early source--the
majestic stream gliding to the ocean of eternity! As the light of
declining day seems to mingle earth and heaven, making the outline of
each scarce visible, and blending the harsh mountain-tops with the sky,
even so did the smile of that benign old age appear to hallow the aspect
of those around, to blend together the strong distinctions of varying
years, and to diffuse over infancy and manhood the light o