The Baptism of the Peasant and the Prince

I climbed a poor and narrow stair,
The prince's christening day ;
I sought a cottage bed, for there
A travail'd woman lay.

With covering thin, and scanty vest,
Her babe was on her arm :
It was the strong love in her breast
That kept that infant warm.

I came, a country minister,
A servant of the Lord ;
To bless that mother's child for her,
With Water and the Word.

The dim light struggling o'er the room
Scarce reached the lowly bed :
And thus 'mid woe, and want, and gloom,
The Sacrament was shed.

Then said I — for the woman smiled
As she took back her son —
" Be glad ! for lo ! that little child,
Is 'mong God's children, one.

" Henceforth it hath a name on high,
Where blessed angels shine :
Nay, one will leave his native sky,
To watch this babe of thine.

" Be glad ! this very day they meet,
In a far loftier scene,
With blessing and with vow to greet
The offspring of a Queen.

" Bright faces beam in bannered halls,
Around the noble boy :
And princes teach the echoing walls
The glory of their joy.

" Yet will the self-same words be said,
Our lips have utter'd now ;
And water, such as here we shed,
Must bless that princely brow.

" One Cross the twain shall seal and sign,
An equal grace be poured :
One Faith, one Church, one Heaven, will join
The labourer and his lord."

" Thanks be to God ! " in language mild,
The humble woman said :
" Who sends such kindness to my child,
Here in its mother's bed :

" And bless our Queen with health and grace,
Her's is a happy reign :
O ! one smile of her baby's face
Pays her for all her pain,"