Hold Fast to the Right

Kneel down by the side of your mother, my boy.
You have only a moment, I know,
But stay till I give you this parting advice;
It is all that I have to bestow.

Refrain:

Hold fast to the right, hold fast to the right,
Wherever your footsteps may roam.
Forsake not the way of salvation, my boy,
That you learned from your mother at home.

You will leave here to seek your employment, my boy.
By the world you have yet to be tried;
But in the temptations and trials you meet,
May your heart to the Savior confide.

I gave you to God in your cradle, my boy,
And taught you the best that I knew;
And as long as His mercies permit me to live,
I shall never stop praying for you.

You will find in your satchel a Bible, my boy;
It’s the book of all others the best:
It will help you to live and prepare you to die,
And lead to the gates of the blest.