Lord, shall Thy children come to Thee? Bishop S. Hinds. [Confirmation.] In Sonnets and other Short Poems, chiefly on Sacred Subjects. By Samuel Hinds, D.D. , Lond., B. Fellowes, 1834, p. 65, is the following:—
"Confirmation Hymn.
"Lord, shall Thy children come to Thee ?
A boon of love divine we seek:
Brought to Thy arms in infancy,
Ere hearts could feel or tongue could speak,
Thy children pray for grace, that they
May come themselves to Thee this day.
“Lord, shall we come, and come again?
Oft as we see yon Table spread,
And, tokens of Thy dying pain,
The wine pour'd out, the broken bread;
Bless, bless, O Lord, Thy children's prayer,
That they may come and find Thee there.
“Lord, shall we come, come yet again?
Thy children ask one blessing more —
To come, (not now alone and then,)
When life and death and time are o'er,
Then, then to come, O Lord, and be
Confirmed in heaven, confirmed by Thee!"
When this hymn was included in the Psalms & Hymns for the Use of Rugby School Chapel, circa 1843 (1850 ed. No. 51), the following stanza by H. J. Buckoll, was added as stanza iii., thus making a hymn of 4 stanzas:—
Lord, shall we come? not thus alone
At holy time, or solemn rite?
But every hour till life be flown,
Through weal or woe, in gloom or light,—
Come to Thy throne of grace, that we
In faith, hope, love, confirmed may be."
In addition to writing this stanza, Buckoll made a few alterations in, and repunctuated Bishop Hinds's text. Two forms of the hymn have thus come into use, the first the original, and the second the Hinds-Buckoll text. The latter is that usually given in the Public Schools hymn-books.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
