ILLUSTRATED IN A SELECTION FROM THE POETS. BY H. M. R. "Oh children they are holy things And angels shield with guardian wings BLACKWOOD'S MAG. LONDON: HARVEY AND DARTON, GRACECHURCH-STREET. 1841. 830. MANY minds will respond to the truth of the sentiment so well expressed by Mr. Milnes, that it is "the duty of every man to dispense what has sprung up freshly and purely in his own moral being, if he possesses the artistic means necessary to convey it agreeably to others."* May it not then be hoped that in the more humble task of following the steps of the gifted, and gathering the flowers which have sprung up around their path, it will not be considered an unworthy or ungrateful service to present, in a collected form, some of the beautiful poetry which has been so profusely offered at the shrine of childhood? The expression of the feelings excited by the contemplation of children,-who may be * Poems of Richard Monckton Milnes, vol. i. |