When mothers of Salem Their children brought to Jesus, The stern disciples drove them back And bade them depart:But Jesus saw them ere they fled, And sweetly smiled, and kindly said, "Suffer little children to come unto Me." "For I will receive them, And fold them in My bosom; I'll be a Shepherd to those lambs, O drive them not away! For if their hearts to Me they give, They shall with Me in glory live: Suffer little children to come unto me." How kind our Saviour To bid those children welcome! But there are many thousands who Have never heard His name; The Bible they have never read; They know not that the Saviour said: "Suffer little children to come unto me." O soon may the heathen Of every tribe and nation Fulfil Thy blessed word, and cast Their idols all away; O shine upon them from above, And show Thyself the God of love; Teach the little children To come unto Thee.